# Fire Queen

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***Fire Queen*** is an early [steam locomotive](/source/Steam_locomotive) built by [A. Horlock and Co](/source/A._Horlock_and_Co) in 1848 for the [Padarn Railway](/source/Padarn_Railway). It is the only surviving locomotive from that railway, and it is preserved at the [Vale of Rheidol Railway](/source/Vale_of_Rheidol_Railway).

## History

*Fire Queen* was one of two identical locomotives built for the [Padarn Railway](/source/Padarn_Railway), which connected the [Dinorwic Quarry](/source/Dinorwic_Quarry) near [Llanberis](/source/Llanberis) in north Wales with the port at [Y Felinheli](/source/Y_Felinheli). The railway was opened in 1840 using [horses](/source/Horse) to pull the [slate](/source/Slate) trains. It replaced the even earlier [Dinorwic Railway](/source/Dinorwic_Railway) which opened in 1824.[1]

The two locomotives, *Fire Queen* and *Jenny Lind*, were built by marine engineers A. Horlock and Co. They were the only railway locomotives built by this company. The locomotives were based on an 1847 [patent](/source/Patent) of [Thomas Crampton](/source/Thomas_Crampton), which specified a locomotive with [driving wheels](/source/Driving_wheel) positioned at the ends of the [boiler](/source/Boiler) driven by steeply inclined cylinders placed between the wheels. The locomotives lacked a frame, and the wheels and cylinders were attached directly to the boiler.

They were delivered to the railway in 1848 and continued working until 1886.[2] *Jenny Lind* was scrapped, but *Fire Queen* was placed in a small shed at the quarry workshop, [Gilfach Ddu](/source/Gilfach_Ddu). It stayed there until the quarry closed in 1969 at which time it was sold to John Smith MP and loaned to the nearby [Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum](/source/Penrhyn_Castle_Railway_Museum). It remained on display there until January 2024, when it was moved to the [Vale of Rheidol Railway](/source/Vale_of_Rheidol_Railway).[3]

## References

1. *Penrhyn Castle Industrial Museum*. 3rd. ed. The National Trust. 1982.

1. "Spruce up for "Fire Queen"". *North Wales Weekly News*. 26 November 1970. p. 17.

1. "Six locomotives re-homed in Penrhyn museum reshuffle". *Steam Railway*. No. 554. 1–28 February 2024. p. 14.

## External links

- [*Fire Queen* at the Industrial Railway Society archives](http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/29/Fire_Queen.htm) (with photographs)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fire Queen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Queen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Queen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.