Rolling Stock

Some details of the railway vehicles remaining on the railway.



RDB 975046 (Lab 11)

S13436 (FK)

731411 (LMS Brake Van)

LDS55625 (SR Brake Van)

Access warning

Please note that stock is stored at Meldon, and Meldon yard is NOT open to the public. The yard is in a privately owned quarry site, and the quarry working restrictions are still in force. Please do not trespass.

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Some Dartmoor Railway alumni:

All the stock of the former Dartmoor Railway has now gone, and all that remains is just DRA's 4 vehicles. Quite a lot of the departed stock is utterly unlamented, but some vehicles are remembered fondly and we've kept tabs on their fates, as follows:

- D4167

LMS brake van 731411, FK 13436 and class 08 D4167. High time we finished repainting the wasp stripes. Photographer: Philip Wagstaff Date taken: 17/10/2015

08937, originally numbered D4167, was built at British Railway’s Darlington works and entered service on 24th May 1962 at Laira. During its time with the Dartmoor Railway it carried the name 'Bluebel Mel'.

It has a 350 horsepower English Electric 6KT 6 cylinder diesel engine of approximately 90 litres capacity. It weighs 49 tons and has a maximum speed of 15 m.p.h.

996 Class 08 shunters were produced between 1952 and 1962, and over 60 examples have been preserved, making them the most numerous class of preserved locomotive in the UK. Around 100 are still operational on industrial sidings and the main British network.

On 6th December 1969, D4167 was allocated to Newton Abbot. Following the introduction of the BR TOPS scheme, it was renumbered 08937 in March 1974. On 22nd March 1975, 08937 was reallocated back to Laira though remained working in the Newton Abbot area and in April 1975 air brakes were fitted. From the 1980s onwards it could be found working in the Exeter area including Riverside Yard, City Basin, and short trips to Exmouth Junction where the wagon repair shop was located.

Towards the end of its working life for BR, 08937 was based at Meldon Quarry. BR sold the quarry in 1994 and 08937 transferred into the care of the new quarry owners Camas (later Aggregate Industries). In 2000, 08937 worked the first Dartmoor Pony services between Okehampton and the new station at Meldon Viaduct.

In May 2025 D4167 disappeared up the A30 on a low loader, apparently to Aggregate Industries' Merehead Quarry site in the Mendips. We don't think it's coming back.

- Tank Wagon

The former Meldon Quarry tank wagon is now in excellent hands on the Great Central Railway, being restored to form part of their extensive and very active goods wagon collection. More details here.

- Wickhams

Photographer: Epping & Ongar Railway Date taken: 15/09/2021

The Wickham trolley (10841) and its trailer (8385) arrived at the Epping and Ongar Railway in Essex in September 2021.

The team leader of the restoration group explained a little about their plans: "The immediate plan is to service the engine, mechanical parts etc., and ensure operational reliability. The next phase will be to carry out some bodywork repairs, including the roof-supporting angle irons, after which will come a full repaint into a more-suiting livery (as yet undecided.)

Long term, once a second bench is fitted, some modifications will be made to allow safe passage of fare-paying passengers, something that has proven popular at Midsomer Norton for example."

In July 2025, 10841 and 8385 moved on from the E&OR to the Weardale Railway.


In late January 2023, the other Wickham (10842, the one which was pranged, turned into a trailer and finished its days piled high with Polar Express garbage), along with the orange Robel trolley, were acquired by the splendid Rail Trolley Trust and removed to the Tanat Valley Light Railway. We once harboured hopes of restoring the second Wickham ourselves, but the opportunity slipped away. It's comforting to know it's in good hands.

- Thumpers in Scotland

Thumper 1132 at Brechin Photographer: Caledonian Railway

The much loved Thumper 1132 along with the unrestored 1128, were removed from Meldon by road in May 2021. They are now a very long way from the Southern Railway, on the Caledonian Railway at Brechin in Angus, Scotland. They have acquired both as 3-car units. 1132 is operational.

- Flying Falcon

Flying Falcon in Meldon Quarry yard in 1998 Photographer: Unknown

Flying Falcon is a 0-4-0 diesel hydraulic shunter built by John Fowler of Leeds in 1962, works number 4220016. Originally built for Groby Granite in Leicestershire, it was resident at Meldon throughout the Dartmoor Railway period, of little use without train brakes. In 2021 it departed for the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust, where it is being restored (as at 2024).

- Darfield No 1

Darfield No 1 departing Okehampton platform 2 with a train for Meldon, probably in 2007 Photographer: Unknown

Darfield No 1's residency seemed to coincide with the period of peak optimism on the Dartmoor Railway, and it is remembered with much affection. It is an 0-6-0ST built by Hunslet of Leeds as Works No 3783. It was built in 1953 for the National Coal Board, working mainly at Darfield Main colliery near Barnsley until the early 1970s. After moving around various heritage railways it was hired by the Dartmoor Railway between mid 2006 and mid 2008. It is now (2024) operational on the Chasewater Railway, carrying the name Holly Bank No 3.

A fuller history is published here.

- S103

S103, sometimes known as Firefly, the privately owned 1952 built Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T type PLA, Works Number 1864, having been under restoration at Meldon for a very long time, departed in summer 2024. We don't know its destination.