English: A very curious locomotive shunting at Taunton.
View westwards, towards Taunton station, Exeter etc.: ex-GWR London, Bristol, Taunton and Southwest main line. Taken on impulse from a passing train – hence the poor quality, the scene shows an ex-GW 0-6-0T with an unusual history. This is No. 5 Portishead, a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Stroudley 0-6-0T built at Brighton in 1877 as A1 Class No. 43 Gipsy Hill, rebuilt to A1X in 1919, bought by the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway in December 1925 as their No. 2 Portishead. The impecunious WC&P Railway was closed abruptly in May 40 and its stock bought by the GWR, which found only two (GWR Nos. 5 and 6) of its engines serviceable. They were first put to work on the Bristol Harbour lines but No. 6 lasted only until January 1948. No. 5 was then transferred to Taunton, and later to Newton Abbot, until January 1950 when it was stored at Swindon and until it was withdrawn in March 1954. On the left is one of Taunton's several GWR 2251 Class 0-6-0s, No. 2267 with an ex-ROD tender.