Entering service with the LB&SCR as No. 78 Knowle, the locomotive was moved into storage by the Southern Railway in September 1935, but when the Isle of Wight Railway found itself with a shortage of light engines, Knowle was overhauled, fitted with an extended bunker and shipped to the island in May 1929, taking the number W4 and the name Bembridge. Push-pull equipment was fitted and the Terrier worked the lighter lines out of Newport, being renumbered as W14 in April 1932. The opening of a bigger 26ft turntable at Bembridge in 1936 allowed heavier 0-4-4T O2 locomotives to work the smaller lines and W14 Bembridge became surplus to requirements, being returned to the mainland in May that year.
Number 78 was among the last Terriers in service and has been be preserved. Following years of display at the Butlins Minehead holiday centre she has been restored to service at the Kent & East Sussex Railway, painted in BR lined black livery which she carried while working the Tenterden line under British Railways ownership.
Technical Specification & Detail
Finish Standard
Length 105mm
DCC Ready
Era 2 (1870 - 1922)
Class A1 Terrier
Designer William Stroudley
Entered Service 1878
Minimum Curve R1
Age Suitability 14+
Motor 3 Pole Skew Wound
Wheel Configuration 0-6-0