Description (1957) |
Collett 4-cylinder 4-6-0's with 6' 8½" wheels, a development of Churchward's 'Star' class. The majority of them are named after castles, and although there are some deviations from this general rule, the class as a whole is known as 'Castles'. Nos. 4073-4099, 5000-5082, 5093-5099 and 7000-7037 were built new at varying periods between 1923 and 1950, but the rest are rebuilds. Nos. 4000, 4009, 4016, 4032 and 4037 were rebuilt from 'Star' to 'Castle' class between 1925 and 1929. No. 4009 Shooting Star was subsequently renumbered and renamed 100A1 Lloyds in 1936. Nos. 5083-5092 were formerly 'Star' class locomotives Nos. 4063-4072, which were named after abbeys, and reconstructed in 1937-40 retaining their 'Abbey' names. The remaining engine, No. 111, was a reconstruction of the Great Western's only 'Pacific', The Great Bear, which was converted from 4-6-2 to 4-6-0 in 1924. It retained its old number 111, but was renamed Viscount Churchill. A certain amount of renaming has taken place amongst the class; the name Ogmore Castle has been carried by no less than three engines: first on No. 5080 which later became Defiant, then on No. 7007 which was subsequently renamed Great Western, and finally on the new No. 7035 built in 1950. No. 7037 is named Swindon to commemorate the fact that it was the last express passenger engine of G.W.R. design to be built at the famous works. In February 1952, No. 4082 Windsor Castle and No. 7013 Bristol Castle exchanged names and numbers, as it was desired that the funeral train conveying the late King George VI on his last journey to Windsor should be hauled by a locomotive bearing an appropriate name. The original No. 4082, which King George had once driven on a visit to Swindon; was unfortunately not in suitable condition at the time. The two locomotives remain under their changed identities. Only one of the earlier rebuilt engines, No. 4037, still remains in service, but the rest of the class, from No. 4073 onwards, were still running in 1958. |