This is a list of the names of broad gauge railway locomotives built in the United Kingdom during the heyday of that gauge (which ended in that country by 1892 with the final triumph of standard gauge). Throughout the history of railways many locomotives have been named (just as many have been numbered, and many have borne both a name and a number), but Britain's Great Western Railway, the prime exponent of the broad gauge, was noted for being an enthusiastic namer throughout its long existence, and perhaps less interested in numbering - although all locomotives carried numbers.
The name of the first locomotive of a batch was often the name by which the whole class was known, such as Fire Fly or Victoria.
As with other named locomotives, broad-gauge ones drew their names from a wide variety of sources. As well as the many names from Greek, Roman and other mythologies, locomotives were named after famous people, literature, flora, fauna, towns, and geographical features, as well as imagery suggestive of speed and power:
- Mythology – Banshee, Osiris, Peri, Python, Venus
- Famous people – Brunel, Dido, Euripides, Iron Duke, Victoria
- Literature – Ivanhoe, Mazeppa, Robin Hood, Ulysses
- Flora and fauna – Bee, Hawk, Lily, Shamrock, Zebra
- Towns – Bristol, Reading, Swindon, Wickwar, Windsor
- Geography – Exe, Hecla, Severn, Stromboli, Yeo [1]
- Speed- and power-imagery – Comet, Fire Ball, Hurricane, Lightning, Rocket
Key
This list covers the 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge locomotives of the following railways:
