Exe was the name given to one of three Manning Wardle 2-6-2T locomotives built in 1898 for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,...

. All three were scrapped when the line was closed in 1935.

Exe, like all the locomotives on the L&B, was named after a local river with a three letter name: in this case the River Exe

River Exe

The River Exe in England rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon...

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The tradition of naming L&B steam locos after local rivers continues into the 21st Century, with Lyd, a replica of Lew (the fourth locomotive built to this basic design), operational on the Ffestiniog railway

Ffestiniog Railway

The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....

 and the Welsh Highland Railway

Welsh Highland Railway

The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...

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Closer to The L&B, the railway's trust currently owns one steam locomotive - renamed Axe - although it did not serve on the historic L&B, is operational on the new line, currently centred at Woody Bay.