Newly ex-works in gloss black with no insignia. With pannier 2148 which was withdrawn in February 1952 but worked as works shunter until the autumn of 1953.
Based on a saddle tank design of Trevithick's introduced in 1873 by the Cornwall Mineral Railway , and with their distinctive sloping cylinders and Allen valve gear the five of the " 1361 " class built by the Great Western Railway in 1910 by Churchward were intended mainly for use in confined dock areas .
1363 had a varied life , initially allocated from new to St. Blazey in Cornwall in June 1910 , but its primary home was at Plymouth's Laira Motive Power Depot , where it spent its life working in the Great Western Docks at Millbay as well as acting as Depot Pilot engine at Laira, and my shedbook shows that in 1956 in company with 1361 and 1364 she was one of the three of her class there , with 1362 being at Taunton and 1365 allocated to Swindon.
Withdrawn in November of 1962 a twist of fate saved 1363 from being cut up probably at Swindon , as her front coupling hook was accidently pulled away from her buffer beam thus making it impossible to tow the engine and she was returned back into storage at Laira's " Roundhouse " .
A member of the Great Western Society accordingly seized the opportunity to purchase 1363 and in June of 1964 she was moved to Totnes Quay , the temporary home of a number of preserved locomotives , before spending eight years at Bodmin , still within the care of the Great Western Society , before her final move in March of 1977 to the Society's now permanent base at Didcot , where this little engine is cared for today.