Bert

Bert was a A1 "Terrier" that worked for the Wellsworth & Suddery Railway (W&S) from 1874 to 1913.

Biography
Bert was built at Brighton Works in July 1873 following the twinning of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) as a batch of five A class "Terriers" built for the W&S that year and arrived at Brendam a month later. His first duties was for suburban passenger work before the beginning of full W&S express services under the D2 class 0-4-2s under construction.

Livery
Bert is painted in the standard Wellsworth & Suddery Railway Maroon livery.

From 1895 to 1900, Bert was painted in a blue version of the Wellsworth & Suddery livery.

Basis
Bert is based off the LB&SCR A1, commonly nicknamed "Terriers". They were introduced in 1872 and designed by William Stroudley, who based the design on the "Lochgrom" tanks he designed for the Highland Railway (HR) in 1869. They were designed for suburban trains in London and named after suburbs, most which they never got to visit. Originally, they were fitted with a "donkey pump" which worked off the motion but was later replaced by steam injectors for safety reasons. 50 were built at Brighton Works from 1872 to 1880 and were slowly replaced by more modern Billinton designs and 17 were reboilered to become the A1X class while the others were either sold or scrapped.

Trivia
Bert's name and unusual livery in the 1890s was reused on a locomotive for the 15-inch gauge Arlesdale Railway.

Despite his exact build date being unknown other than his build month, Bert's age can be calculated as follows:


 * In Rivalry (set in 1894), Bert was 20-21 years old.
 * When he was scrapped in 1913, Bert was either 39 or 40 years old.