ILL-INFORMED REGARDING ‘ILFRACOMBE GOODS’

With reference to the article by Richard Foster in SR486, members of the LSWR ‘0395’ class were never dubbed ‘Ilfracombe Goods’ – this sobriquet was applied to a similar class of eight 0‑6‑0s designed by W.G. Beattie, built by Beyer Peacock and delivered between 1873‑1875 and in 1880.

All eight were in service on the Ilfracombe line but, following a couple of derailments, 0‑6‑0s were generally not favoured on passenger trains, and were superseded by various classes of 4‑4‑0s and widely distributed around the system.

All were withdrawn by 1913, but six were sold to light railways. The last to survive was No. 0324, scrapped by the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway in late 1941… a quite remarkable career. Adrian Norris, Dalton‑in‑Furness, Cumbria