Old Build – New Build GWR

David Bradshaw reveals how arguably ‘forgotten’ locomotives are at the heart of the recreation of GWR types thought to have been lost forever.

In 1959 the last of the Great Western Railway ‘Saint’ class engines was withdrawn from service, albeit rebuilt with smaller driving wheels and a new cab, and in 1965 the last of the ‘Castles’ was withdrawn. These designs date back to 1903 for the

‘Saints’, and 1907 for the ‘Stars’ from which the ‘Castle’ class was directly descended. The ‘Saints’ and ‘Stars’ were the work of George Jackson Churchward who, when appointed chief mechanical engineer of the GWR in 1902, set himself the task of improving manufacturing standards and producing a range of standard locomotives using as many common parts as possible. So successful was he that the other railways were left floundering in his wake.

With the 78th Churchward ‘Saint’ class 4-6-0, No 2999 Lady of Legend, having been created in preservation and launched in 2019, and with four more revived types all currently under construction – two Great Western ‘County’ classes, a Churchward 4-4-0

(No 3840 County of Montgomery )anda Hawksworth 4-6-0 (No 1014 County of

Glamorgan), a Collett ‘Grange’ class 4-6-0

(No 6880 Betton Grange) and a Churchward ‘4700’ class 2-8-0 (No 4709) – and with a ‘County’ 4-4-2 tank under active consideration, now is perhaps a good time to take a closer look at these designs and understand how the legacy of Churchward’s 1902/03 standardisation policy has helped these projects reach their current stage.

It is worthwhile reading the pertinent paragraphs in Harold Holcroft’s book, An Outline of Great Western Locomotive Practice 1837-1947, to see just how forward thinking Churchward was in the way that his standard designs were developed. As an example, his description of the cylinder design is as follows: ‘The pattern for the cylinders carried alternative saddles for the boilers, one to suit the smokeboxes of the No 1 and No 4 boilers and one to suit Nos 2 and 3, as these differed in diameter of smokebox and vertical distance between the horizontal centre lines of the cylinders and boilers.’ What this meant in practice was that only two cylinder designs were applied to eight locomotive types – one version was fitted to the ‘2800’ class 2-8-0, the ‘2900’ (‘Saint’) class 4-6-0, the ‘3150’ 2-6-2 tanks, the ‘3800’ 4-4-0 ‘Counties’, and later the ‘4200’ 2-8-0 tanks and the ‘4300’ Moguls, leaving only the ‘3100’ 2-6-2 tank and 4-4-2 ‘County Tank’ with the second version.

Holcroft then went on to highlight the other standard items, which were boilers, axleboxes, piston rods, slidebars, crossheads, piston valves, horn blocks, springs and axles, and also assemblies such as pony trucks and bogies, and the driving wheels, of which there were only three sizes – 4ft 7½in, 5ft 8in and

6ft 8½in. The motion was standard except for differences in the length of the extension rods. There were just two connecting rod lengths, either 6ft 10½in or 10ft 8in, which sufficed for all the two-cylinder designs, including the later ‘4700’ class and the ‘Halls’, ‘Manors’ and ‘Granges’. The ‘County’ 4-6-0 was something of an exception to this as much of the motion, whilst being of the same basic dimensions, had been strengthened to cope with the very high boiler pressure of 280psi, whereas all the others had boilers pressed to 200 or 225. Backhead and other fittings, such as safety valves and injectors were of course standard, and to add further value to his policy, standard boilers were also fitted to non-standard designs, such as the ‘Stars’, ‘Aberdares’, ‘Cities’, ‘Atbaras’, ‘Flowers’ and ‘Bulldogs’, many absorbed engines and even the French Atlantics.

So, moving the story forward through to modern times, much criticism has been delivered on the decision to sacrifice a number of surviving ex-GWR locomotives to assist the process of manufacture of a series of ‘new builds’ aimed at filling some of the more obvious gaps in the ranks of GWR designs. A quirk of fate allowed a number of ex-Great Western locomotives withdrawn by British Railways to evade the cutter’s torch as a result of being sold as scrap to Woodham Brothers of Barry and then not being scrapped, with the result that some Great Western designs have survived in considerable numbers, yet others, regrettably, have not. It is with this in mind that these projects have been launched.

Those of us involved with these projects are so fortunate to be able to take advantage of this wonderful heritage so many years on. The revolutionary standardisation policy adopted by Churchward for his new locomotives allowed him to mix and match components,

particularly but not exclusively for his twocylinder designs, and this has allowed rapid and relatively inexpensive trouble free construction of these designs to take place, and it is this approach that has allowed the Great Western Society (GWS) and the Betton Grange Project to fill a number of key gaps in the ranks of the Great Western Railway’s locomotive collection.

Background

The idea of taking this approach appears to have come from the late Pete Rich, a member of the Great Western Society based in South Wales. He was heavily involved in the acquisition and restoration of Churchward Mogul No 5322 and as long ago as 1970 came forward with the idea of filling one highly significant gap by utilising one of the many original ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0s languishing in Barry scrap yard as the building block for a reincarnated ‘Saint’. The last example of this wonderful ground-breaking design, No 2920 Saint David, was withdrawn from service in 1953 after covering over two million miles in its 46 years of service. Pete suggested that No 4942 Maindy Hall be purchased to provide key items for the construction of the ‘Saint’ class. The heritage railways of today are a million miles from those of 1970, with some early railways purchasing newly pensioned off steam locomotives direct from industry and immediately putting them in service, while small groups of willing volunteers came together to buy the best of the Barry engines that were perceived as worth saving and where any engineering issues were thought to be manageable – in a nutshell, the idea of building a ‘Saint’ was nothing short of revolutionary.

The GWS had the foresight to purchase Maindy Hall, with the locomotive departing from Barry in April 1974, and the scheme was successfully launched in 1995. Excellent progress was made, with early successes being a new set of 6ft 8½in driving wheels to replace the redundant 6ft versions on Maindy Hall, and an inside steam pipe cylinder block was cast using new patterns. The original frames were retained, with 4¼in being shaved from the top to modify them to the ‘Saint’ profile. The locomotive, numbered 2999 would be named Lady of Legend to the design of the early versions of the ‘Saint’ class – the ‘Ladies’ (Nos 2901-10).

With the ‘Saint’ on the way, the possibility of filling another gap, that of the Hawksworth ‘County’ 4-6-0, resulted in my approach to Richard Croucher the then chairman of the GWS (in 1997) to see if he felt the idea had any traction. The possible availability and use of badly stripped Hawksworth ‘Modified Hall’ No 7927 Willington Hall still located at Barry but under the ownership of the Vale of Glamorgan Council led to an approach to see if the council was prepared to release the locomotive, which had many parts in common with the ‘County’, together with the boiler from a Stanier ‘8F’ (No 48518), also council-owned, which was very similar in design to the County No 15OA boiler. As this is not a story of the building of No 1014 County of Glamorgan, I will fast forward to the final negotiations with the owners of the locomotives in question, an exercise that became something altogether more complex, with the GWS being persuaded to take on the

building of not one but three replica locomotives, a Hawksworth ‘County’ 4-6-0, a Churchward ‘County’ 4-4-0 and a

Churchward ‘4700’ class 2-8-0, with the council agreeing to construct a ‘County’ 4-4-2 tank itself. The evolved GWS plan now encompassed Churchward ‘2800’ class 2-8-0 No 2861 and two Collett engines, ‘5101’ class 2-6-2T No 4115 and ‘5205’ class 2-8-0T No 5227, which had all likewise failed to find a new home since reaching Barry docks as scrap in the 1960s.

This huge task was only made feasible by the standardisation policies initially developed by G J Churchward the CME of the Great Western Railway from 1902 to 1922 and, significantly, carried on by his successors,

C B Collett and F W Hawksworth. Having made that observation it has to be qualified a little, as even in the rarefied climate of the Swindon drawing office there were minds concentrated on improvement in design, which inevitably led to differences in components, particularly when production runs covered periods as long as 20 years. Nevertheless, the policy was massively effective and has led to a much more straightforward approach to recreating replicas than for scratch-built new builds. Those who are creating the Great Western ‘new build’ locomotives might be excused for asking, when is ‘new build’ not ‘new build’ but really back-converting?

The new locomotives The Churchward ‘Saint’ class 4-6-0

The ‘Saint’ was the first truly modern 4-6-0 to be produced in the UK and was developed through the production of three prototypes, Nos 100 Dean (later William Dean), 98 (named Vanguard in 1907, and then Ernest Cunard within the year), and 171 (Albion from 1904) – they appeared in February 1902, March 1903, and December 1903 respectively. Ultimately expanded to a class of 77 locomotives, the ‘Saints’ were hugely successful and were the progenitors of 330 ‘Hall’ class locomotives.

All the production ‘Saints’ were fitted with the No 1 taper boiler (also used by Churchward’s ‘Star’ class 4-6-0s and ‘2800’ class 2-8-0s),

6ft 8½in driving wheels, two 18in x 30in outside cylinders (later enlarged to 18½in) and Stephenson’s inside valve motion, something that was common to many of Churchward’s other standard designs. The No 1 boiler was developed through the Edwardian era until it reached its final stage – fully coned with superheater and top feed. Many years on, Hawksworth fitted a larger, three-row superheater to this boiler and used it for his ‘Modified Halls’.

Visually and mechanically speaking, the ‘Saints’ came in a number of versions: the unique No 100 William Dean (later No 2900) with different cylinders and frames; 4-6-0s Nos 171 Albion (briefly named The Pirate in 1907 before reverting to Albion, and running as No 2971 from 1913) subsequently converted to 4-4-2 and then converted back, and 2972-78 and 2901-10 and 2998. A number of the class (Nos 2979-87) appeared initially as 4-4-2s to make a direct comparison with the three French Compounds purchased by the GWR. These Churchward Atlantics all had a straight running plate and lever reverse but were later converted to 4-6-0s with a curved running plate. Finally, between August 1907 and April 1913 ‘Saints’ Nos 2911-55 were completed as 4-6-0s and came with screw reverse and a curved running plate to improve their appearance following criticism of the earlier engines, which looked somewhat stark.

The version chosen to replicate was the early, straight frame version, which allows the Great Western Society the option of converting it to a 4-4-2 at some future date. It should be noted that an attempt was made to preserve No 2920 Saint David, the last survivor, but to no avail.

The key items utilised from donor engine No 4942 Maindy Hall were the main frames, suitably modified to take the larger driving wheels, the bogie (less its smaller wheels), all axleboxes, horn guides, springs, the No 1 boiler and the motion. The two connecting rods, however, came from another engine at Barry, No 2874, although they were originally fitted to ‘Saint’ class No 2906 Lady of Lynn .A society member donated a safety valve bonnet that is believed to be from a ‘Hall’, so the lower shape was suitable for the radius of the No 1 boiler, and this was converted to a tall

type by adding a spun metal new top section. The chimney was likewise from a GWS member. It was bought directly from Swindon in the 1960s, its documentation confirming previous use on a ‘Grange’. For re-use on the ‘Saint’, it needed a new cap top section and to be fitted with a capuchon. Items discarded were the 6ft driving wheels, the 3ft bogie wheels, the cylinder block, and extension frames. To complete the engine, a new set of 6ft 8½in driving wheels and 3ft 2in bogie wheels to an original Churchward design were manufactured, along with a new inside steampipe cylinder block and many other smaller items. No 2999 Lady of Legend was successfully steamed in 2019.

The Churchward ‘County’ class 4-4-0

This medium-powered express passenger 4-4-0 was considered to be a smaller version of the ‘Saint’ and they shared many common components. Whilst very successful, the class was made redundant by the introduction of a large number of what in many ways were modified versions of the ‘Saints’, the ubiquitous ‘Hall’ class. In fact the first ‘Hall’ (No 4900) was converted from ‘Saint’ No 2925 Saint Martin by the straightforward expedient of fitting smaller (6ft) driving wheels and a Collett side-window cab. The ‘County’ was one of a number of standard classes sketched out by Churchward in his 1902/03 grand plan and was the first to go into volume production, with no less than 20 being built straight off the drawing board. Development of the standard No 4 boiler with which the class was equipped, along with the ‘City’, ‘Aberdare’ and ‘3150’ classes, continued for some time, with the fitting of superheater and top feed at the end of the decade, by which time the ‘4300’ class Moguls and the ‘4200’ class 2-8-0 tanks had also received this very efficient boiler. A total of 743 locomotives were fitted with the No 4, with some even up-rated to a higher pressure and with a three-row superheater replacing the original two-row version.

There were two different versions of Churchward’s ‘Counties’, the first 30 had straight running plates and lever reverse, and the final ten had cylinders that lined up with the centre-line of the driving wheel, were fitted with screw reverse and had a Holcroft curved running plate. The original bogies were different, but these were eventually standardised with the use of a version of the De Glehn bogie that was retro-fitted to the early locomotives. The final ten had brass ornamentation on the cab ends and splashers, which was missing on the first 30. The cylinders fitted to the final ten ‘Counties’ were standard with those used on the ‘Court’ series of the ‘Saint’ class 4-6-0, the 6ft 8½in driving wheels were to a new design and the horn guides differed from the originals. Items such as valve gear and axleboxes were standard, with the short connecting rod common to ‘3100’ (later ‘5100’), ‘3150’, ‘4200’, ‘4300’, ‘4700’, ‘5205’, ‘5101’, ‘6100’, ‘8100’, ‘7200’, new ‘3100’ (‘3150’ rebuilds) and ‘9300’ classes. Once the boilers had reached their final stage of development, no significant changes to the Churchward ‘Counties’ took place other than the fitting of tapered chimneys during World War I. They were effectively declared redundant along with the other large wheeled 4-4-0s due to the introduction of large numbers of the Collett ‘Hall’ class, with the last survivor, No 3834 County of Somerset, withdrawn from service in 1933.

The new Churchward ‘County’ follows on from the 1912 renumbering scheme

(Nos 3800-39) as 3840 and it will carry the name County of Montgomery, which was never carried by any of the 40 Churchward ‘Counties’; it is based on last ten members of the original class. Donor items obtained for this locomotive are: the No 4 boiler from Churchward 2-8-0T No 5227, one bogie wheelset from No 5227 and one from Churchward 2-8-0 No 2861, which also provided the driving axleboxes. The horn guides are from Collett 2-6-2T No 4115 and No 2861, and the spring hangers are from No 4115. One crosshead, recently located, originated from No 5224 (which itself was

saved from Barry and is preserved). The boiler from No 5227 was No 5212, built in 1923 as stock, and was first fitted to 2-8-0T No 5229 in 1924. It was later fitted to Nos 5230, 5360, 7314, 5310 and lastly to No 5227 during 1955. The boiler’s total mileage when sent to Woodham Brothers was 779,682.

The new items required for the build are the plate frames and extension frames, bogie, springs, driving wheelsets, most of the motion, cylinder block and most of the smaller components. A suitable tender (No 2143) was built for stock (1 December 1920) and it was first paired with Mogul No 6315 on 1 January 1921. It later ran behind Nos 6314, 6315 (again), 2857, 2840, 5364, 6385, 6339, 6361, 2861, 2837, 2890, 5360, 6330, 6818, 6344, 6373, 6394, 6317, 6368, 5396, 2824, 2884, 3851, 3846, 3843 and 3822, which it was still behind at Barry – it has been obtained for use behind No 3840. County of Montgomery is expected to steam in 2028.

The Churchward ‘4700’ class 2-8-0

In 1919, reacting to the need for a more powerful mixed traffic engine, Churchward opted for an enlarged ‘4300’ rather than defaulting to the mixed traffic 4-6-0 which he had sketched out when defining his range of standard designs in 1903 but was never built. By adding an extra set of driving wheels and a larger Standard No 1 boiler, already utilised for some of his other standard designs, he created the first of his legendary ‘4700’ class 2-8-0s. The production series (Nos 4701-08) were built new with a much larger No 7 boiler in 1922 and new-design outside steampipe cylinders of 19in diameter. No 4700 was converted to this arrangement soon afterwards.

The class was highly regarded by the operating authorities, which used them for fast fitted freight work and passenger duties, the latter particularly during the summer. In the mid-1950s, a time when the class could have been expected to be withdrawn from service as ‘life expired’, Swindon built ten new boilers, some of which saw little service as the whole class was withdrawn from service between 1961 and 1964. A proposal was made to name the class after broad gauge engines but this was sadly dropped. The class remained unmodified during its lengthy service, with the obvious exception of

No 4700 rebuilt in 1922 with the larger boiler and new outside steampipe cylinders.

The new 2-8-0 engine, promoted as the ‘Night Owl’ thanks to the core nocturnal fast fitted freight work at the heart of the class’ operations, will carry the number 4709 and will utilise three sets of 5ft 8in driving wheels from 2-6-2 tank No 4115, all the axleboxes from No 5227, extension frames and the pony truck (suitably modified) from No 4115, and horn guides from No 5227. A tender

originally attached to No 4942 Maindy Hall will be restored for use with No 4709. Much of the inside motion has come from various donor engines.

The new items required for the build are the plate frames and one set of driving wheels (now completed), much of the motion, in particular the connecting and coupling rods, most of the smaller components, a new cylinder block modified to permit main line running, one now cast, and a new No 7 boiler. No 4709 is expected to steam around 2026.

The Collett ‘Grange’ class 4-6-0

The ‘Grange’ was in effect the 5ft 8in mixed traffic locomotive proposed by Churchward in his 1903 standardisation scheme but not built. However, following a requirement by the traffic department in the early 1930s for more powerful mixed traffic locomotives, Collett decided to ‘rebuild’ all 342 of the ‘4300’ class Moguls as 4-6-0s, utilising the existing driving wheels, motion and tenders, but with new frames, the standard bogie, a new design of cylinders and the larger standard No 1 boiler. In effect Charles Collett pre-empted what is being undertaken now by some 80 years.

The programme included 20 engines on the new ‘Grange’ chassis but with a smaller, lighter (No 14) boiler – named after manors, this design had wider route availability than the ‘Granges’. The rebuilding programme ended in 1940 with only 80 ‘Granges’ and 20 ‘Manors’ completed. This plan was not continued after World War II and many of the remaining 242 Moguls soldiered on until virtually the end of Western Region steam. Meanwhile, the ‘Granges’ and ‘Manors’ continued the use of Churchward’s hybrid frames with forged extension frames bolted on to rear plate frames. The ‘Grange’ was regarded by many enginemen as the best of the mixed traffic engines, better than a ‘Hall’ despite sharing its boiler with that class. It has been concluded that the ‘edge’ these locomotives appear to have had was due to the larger steam chest found in the new design of cylinder introduced to allow the Mogul valve gear to be re-used.

Remarkably, nine locomotives of the ‘Manor’ class have been preserved, but sadly no ‘Granges’ survived to reach Barry scrap yard, despite a number lasting until the end of Western steam in December 1965. An attempt was made to save Tyseley shed’s No 6853 Morehampton Grange, a fine example, but its salvation was 50/50, a case of either/or with No 7029 Clun Castle, with the ‘Castle’ saved and the ‘Grange’ cut up by G Cohen & Sons in the early months of 1966. However, in 1999 a project was launched to correct this loss by constructing the 81st member of the class, numbered 6880 and allocated the name Betton Grange. The chosen name and number are those that would have been allocated to the next ‘Grange’ had the building programme not been curtailed due to the outbreak of World War II.

Building a ‘Grange’ by utilising existing components is in keeping with the way the class was constructed originally. Items used in the ‘new build’ have been a set of 5ft 8in driving wheels from Prairie tank No 5199 – it was originally intended to use the historically correct Churchward-style driving wheels that had been fitted to Collett era 2-6-0 No 7325 (the wheelsets were removed by the Severn Valley Railway when its wheels were replaced by those rescued from Prairie tank No 4156 scrapped at Barry in 1980) but due to casting

faults found in the Churchward wheels (going back to when they were first manufactured at Swindon) it was decided to use those from Collett 2-6-2T No 5199 instead. To avoid further complications, the coupling rods from No 5199 were also swapped. The bogie has been borrowed from another Barry wreck, No 5952 Cogan Hall, and the boiler utilised is that from No 7927 Willington Hall made surplus when its chassis was used for the ‘County’ 4-6-0 project. This boiler is classified ‘AK’ and used higher superheat than the standard No 1 used for most of the ‘Granges’. However, five ‘Granges’ received this boiler, so the decision to use it doesn’t break any historical taboos. These locomotives were

Nos 6807 Birchwood Grange, 6834 Dummer

Grange, 6837 Forthampton Grange, 6838

Goodmoor Grange and 6851 Hurst Grange ,so in effect Betton Grange will emulate these.

The axleboxes used on No 6880 are from No 4115, and hornguides and connecting rods are also from ex-Barry locomotives. Other smaller items came from a variety of sources. One of the axleboxes on the bogie from Cogan Hall was found to be stamped ‘6821’, so it had clearly seen service with Leaton Grange. The major new components produced for Betton Grange are the plate frames, extension frames and cylinders, which were the first GWR-style cylinders cast using polystyrene patterns. For the first time, extension frames for a GWR design were not forged but machined from solid as there are no forges in this country capable of turning out such a complex item. A tender chassis has been purchased from Tyseley locomotive works and it will be the basis for a new Collett 3,500 gallon tender. At the time of writing, No 6880 Betton Grange is expected to steam in late 2021.

The Hawksworth ‘County’ class 4-6-0

CME Charles Collett retired at the age of 70 in 1941, to be replaced by F W Hawksworth who although limited in what he could achieve by the impact of World War II, set about modernising the ‘Hall’ design without losing its fundamental excellence. The result was the ‘Modified Hall’, which retained much of the original but utilised plate frames throughout, along with bolt-on cylinders of the same dimensions and a new design of plate frame bogie. The No 1 boiler (AK) was retained but with a larger three-row superheater, and the motion was the standard Stephenson variety found on all of the Churchward/Collett two-cylinder engines. Part of the way through the production run, a new more powerful 4-6-0 appeared, utilising the ‘Modified Hall’ chassis and mated to a boiler part way between the No 1 and No 8 (Castle) boiler. The new standard 15OA boiler was derived directly from that used on William Stanier’s ‘8F’ and it was ‘Great Westernised’ by the fitting of standard safety valves and a fully coned boiler seven inches longer than that used on the ‘8Fs’.

The bottom end of the firebox was reshaped to accommodate the new 6ft 3in diameter driving wheels, and the new boiler was strengthened to take an increase in working pressure from 225 to 280psi. To accommodate the increased power that this gave the engine, certain motion parts were strengthened, in particular the coupling rods and connecting

rods. Some other non-standard features made their appearance – the cab and tender were increased in width from 8ft to 8ft 6in, a dimension found on Stanier LMS engines, and a double-chimney on the first engine, No 1000 County of Middlesex, but the rest of the locomotive was largely standard Great Western.

The new ‘County’ class was the most powerful two-cylinder 4-6-0 to be built in the UK and was regarded by many to be the ultimate development of Churchward’s ‘Saint’ class 4-6-0. When launched, it was thought to be the two-cylinder equivalent of the ‘Castle’, although in practice the ‘County’ never matched the capability of the latter, particularly as the output from the smaller No 15 boiler was limited by the size of the grate and a questionable draughting arrangement. Following the hugely successful work by Sam Ell on re-draughting the ‘Castles’, ‘Kings’, ‘Manors’, ‘Granges’ and ‘Modified Halls’, the ‘County’ steaming problems were finally addressed and a very useful engine emerged, albeit with a much lower double-chimney, which depending on your view (Hawksworth said it ruined his engine) you either liked the rather brutish appearance of the front end or hated it – handsome is as handsome does. Completed between August 1945 and April 1947, the 30 ‘Counties’ ultimately fell foul of the British Railways Modernisation Plan of 1955, which led to their premature withdrawal. The last of the class was No 1011 County of Chester, which was withdrawn in November 1964; an attempt at its subsequent salvation regrettably proved unsuccessful.

Naturally, given the arrangement with

Vale of Glamorgan Council in regard to securing ‘Modified Hall’ No 7927 Willington Hall, it is appropriate that the new build locomotive will be No 1014 County of Glamorgan. Re-used from the ‘Modified Hall’ are the frames, cylinders, bogie, axleboxes, springs and other small items. Only minor alterations were made to the frames by Dave Owen at Llangollen Engineering to accommodate the new larger 6ft 3in driving wheels. New items required have been the connecting and coupling rods, crossheads, slidebars, a new cab and superstructure, a new boiler barrel, smokebox and saddle. Whilst the Stanier ‘8F’ boiler used for the class had

its origins in Crewe, examples were built at Swindon during the war and the boilers designed by William Stanier and his team were very similar to those produced by his former employer, the GWR.

The ‘County’ tender was a Hawksworth flat-sided all-welded version with the tank 6in wider than standard, although the same newdesign frames created for the ‘Modified Halls’ and ‘7000’ series ‘Castles’ were used. For the new build, the running gear for the new frames was taken from a Collett 4,000 gallon tender. The order for the plate-work for the new tender tank was delivered on 23 March 2021. No 1014 County of Glamorgan is expected to steam in 2023.

Further thoughts

To conclude, Churchward’s genius was not in inventing the new but in learning about and developing existing ideas from wherever they came, France, the USA etc, and applying logic, organisation and best practice to GWR locomotive design. His 1902/03 plan was not the final version but a base line for further development. Whilst his four-cylinder ‘Star’ class 4-6-0 was not in the plan, he was sufficiently flexible in his thinking to allow it to accommodate alternative approaches. The ‘Stars’ were the direct result of the decision to import three De Glehn four-cylinder Compound Atlantics from France to compare with his two-cylinder 4-6-0s (the ‘Saints’).

The result of all his work and that of the quality team he built around him has allowed us to recreate those of his and his successor’s designs that unfortunately didn’t survive the cutter’s torch. Often referred to as the ‘Churchward Revolution’, George Churchward gave the Great Western Railway a standardised locomotive stock that was technically so advanced that his designs were barely outclassed half a century later.

For the engineers and other leading lights of the preservation movement in the 21st century, Churchward’s gift has come in two forms, the first, the ready availability of standard parts, and the second, in much lower building costs than would have been the case had everything been produced from scratch. A good example is the cost of building No 1014 County of Glamorgan, which is likely to be circa £1,250,000 (albeit with a considerable amount of voluntary labour) compared to the £4 million plus likely cost for a full new build.

Even at this late stage it is possible to consider extending the number of missed/missing classes. With at least one yet to be restored ‘Hall’ still around, either No 2920 Saint David, (the last but one of Churchward’s two-cylinder express engines) or No 4900 Saint Martin (the precursor of the ‘Halls’) could be resurrected without expending huge amounts of cash. This could also have applied in the case of the ‘Star’ class where on two separate occasions the idea of back-converting two different ex-Barry ‘Castles’ was considered as a result of the National Railway Museum declining to allow the return to steam of No 4003 Lode Star due to it having a ‘unique Swindon paint finish’. Given that it had the later elbow steam pipes removed when it was restored at Swindon but didn’t have the brass beading replaced, the finished article doesn’t represent any particular period of the GWR, and so in its present condition it has compromised historical merit – restoring Lode Star to 1914 condition would be a very different matter. With the ‘Castle’ opportunities gone, it would still be possible to recreate a working ‘Star’ but it would be much more expensive as only a spare No 1 boiler and a set of axleboxes would be available. Other opportunities, not strictly linked to Churchward’s standard designs, could be a ‘Bulldog’ utilising an existing standard No 2 boiler, and a ‘Dean Goods’ where two suitable boilers and some other components have survived.

Frank Dumbleton Bookends of the GWR 4-6-0 story, in preservation we find Churchward ‘Saint’ No 2999 Lady of Legend (a class not seen since 1953) and Hawksworth ‘County’ No 1014 County of Glamorgan (a type last in service in November 1964). In this form they had never previously met, as the ‘County’ re-draughting programme and distinctive double-chimney came in 1956. The austere look was not to everyone’s liking, and perhaps this pairing’s Edwardian and post-war heritage is something of a ‘beauty and the beast’. No ‘Saint’ or Hawksworth ‘County’ went to Barry scrap yard and thus enjoyed the great escape that has allowed us to enjoy so many GWR types into modern times. This view at the Didcot Railway Centre was brought about by 50 years of investment and vision by the Great Western Society and its dedicated members. In truth, while the ‘Saint’ was in action from 2019, this 13 August 2020 photograph shows the ‘County’ from its best angle, given that a new smokebox is fitted but that the boiler (donated by Stanier ‘8F’ No 48518) was at the time on Merseyside undergoing overhaul.

I Krause/Kidderminster Railway Museum In the twilight of its career and in a condition typical of the era, recorded approaching Oxford with an up freight is GWR Collett 4-6-0 No 4942 Maindy Hall. Completed at Swindon Works in July 1929, it would be withdrawn from Didcot shed on 28 December 1963, and then sold as scrap to Woodham Brothers. The rush to modernisation meant the usual routine of scrapping at railway works was insufficient for the number of locomotives for disposal, so scrap merchants stepped in, but an unexpected quirk was that many of the 297 ex-BR steam locomotives bought as scrap by Woodham Brothers and awaiting cutting at Barry would be given a lifeline by the rather easier option of scrapping wagons instead, and 213 locomotives would be saved.

Oakwood Visuals Pete Rich is seen at his drawing board at home on 6 October 2012, while undertaking drawings for the Churchward County Trust.

Peter Chatman Purchased from Woodham Brothers in 1971 and on the road in April 1974 as the 51st departure from Barry, Maindy Hall is seen at Didcot on 14 May 1976 and all is quiet. Even given the Saint Martin history of ‘Saint-to-Hall’, the idea of reversing that process was perhaps a little too revolutionary for the times. The best part of another 19 years would pass before work began in earnest on the ‘Hall-to-Saint’ back-conversion.

Bob Sweet A trip to Barry Island is all very nice, but for Churchward ‘2800’ 2-8-0 No 2861 it was a very long stay, and the sea air was not kind. Reaching Barry soon after 6 October 1963, this view was recorded at the former Barry locomotive shed on 4 May 2010, a big day for announcements in regard to finding homes for the last engines, the GWS and its various locomotive groups, John Buxton of Cambrian Transport Ltd, and the Vale of Glamorgan council finding the collective will to think big. As is evident, the sheet metal of the locomotives was scrap, and precious metals had long since been removed, but the re-use of boilers and many of the castings from this and four other long-stay Barry stalwarts has propelled a new era of GWR new builds.

Oakwood Visuals Out in the cold, parked up at the rear of the Cambrian Transport Ltd premises beside Barry station on 7 December 2010 are three engines with a surprising future – ‘5101’ class 2-6-2T No 4115, ‘5205’ class 2-8-0T No 5227, and Churchward ‘2800’ No 2861, and a tender. Very soon, none will exist as themselves, but No 1014 County of Glamorgan, No 2999 Lady of Legend, No 3840 County of Montgomery, ‘Night Owl’ 2-8-0 No 4709 and No 6880 Betton Grange would all benefit from their contribution.

J Randford Collection/Kidderminster Railway Museum Within the batches of GWR ‘Saint class engines were naming themes, the ‘Scotts’ (4-6-0s and 4-4-2s), ‘Ladies’, ‘Saints’ and ‘Courts’, 20 of the first named being followed by a Lot 164 order for another 10 engines, Nos 2901-10. The last built of this batch, No 2910 Lady of Shalott, is seen circa 1920 passing Twyford East signal box with an express passenger train. Recalling a character in the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, this particular locomotive was new in May 1906 and would be withdrawn in 1931. The straight frame of these locomotives is that chosen by the GWS for Lady of Legend, which is effectively the 11th ‘Lady’, and it is of note that the whistle from Lady of Shalott has been donated to the project.

J Marshall Collection/Kidderminster Railway Museum The evolution of the ‘Saints’ includes the remarkable No 171, which was completed as an un-named 4-6-0 in December 1903, it was named Albion in the February, and went on to start and end its career as a 4-6-0, but it also served as a 4-4-2, as seen. The desire to have a level playing field of comparative testing with the De Glehn Atlantics saw Albion rebuilt, and it served as such from October 1904 until July 1907. For its last six months as a 4-4-2 it was named The Pirate, doubtless to fit with the dozen Sir Walter Scott inspired names (seven of the series were not so named). Meanwhile, Churchward had 13 of his ‘Scott’ engines built as 4-4-2s, the first of these being rolled out new in February 1904, with their conversion to 4-6-0 in 1912/13. Numerically, Albion immediately preceded the ‘Scotts’ as both No 171 and then 2971 from 1913, its favoured name off topic with other locomotives. Notably, Albion was unique in being converted to Atlantic, but the GWS has engineered Lady of Legend so that it can make the same transition.

Peter Chatman A ‘Hall’ class safety valve bonnet donated for use on Lady of Legend is seen on 20 May 2013 after its metal spinning addition.

Kidderminster Railway Museum Collection Churchward standardisation in action at Acton pre-September 1931, with an express 4-4-0 and a mixed traffic 2-6-0 clearly sharing the same boiler type, No 4, and also common motion, amongst other things. The leading locomotive is ‘County’ class 4-4-0 No 3821 County of Bedford, and the Churchward Mogul is unidentified; it may in time evolve to become a ‘Grange’. County of Bedford is one of the final ten ‘Counties’ built in 1911/12 and incorporating a number of changes, including top feed and superheat, a lower centreline of the cylinders, screw reverse, and a curve at the front of the footplating. Completed at Swindon Works to Order No 184 as Works No 2416, County of Bedford would only serve for 19 years and 9 months. The template for the Churchward County Trust is the evolved design as shown.

Frank Dumbleton A new era of Edwardian elegance is upon us, this 7 August 2019 view capturing No 2999 Lady of Legend in use on the branch line section at Didcot Railway Centre. The cost of the ‘Saint’ project has been calculated at £825,000, which has all come from donations and bequests. Already an award winner, the steaming of Lady of Legend acts as inspiration to those at the heart of other new build GWR projects.

Churchward County Trust A Swindon Works drawing illustrates the cab and splashers for the final batch of 4-4-0 ‘Counties’, Lot 184. One of the many costs of creating new build locomotives is for the drawings to be recreated on the CAD system (computer aided design) to allow certain cost-saving manufacturing processes to take place, and there are plenty of components where the drawings are no longer available or the copies that exist have been reduced from huge general arrangements and detail has been lost in the process. Not needing to handle fragile drawings or create new is a huge benefit that can be brought about by refurbishing original castings.

Bob Sweet One of eight GWR 2-8-0Ts to survive into preservation (five Churchward ‘4200s’ and three of Collett’s successor), No 5227 is seen at the demob event for the last of the so-called ‘Barry Ten’ on 4 May 2010. A significant donor in the pool of spares, its No 4 boiler was key to the Churchward County Trust plan. No 5227 enjoyed a typically lengthy career for its type, from June 1924 through to the start of February 1963, with the haulage of coal traffic being its steady work.

Locomotive axleboxes from No 2861.

Recycled horn guides from Nos 2861 and 4115, and spring hangers (new and off No 4115).

Premier Patterns Traditional practice was to use hardwood patterns as the first stage of getting castings, but this is a lengthy and expensive process, with the pattern just put into store once one or two castings have been made. By embracing modern technology, CAD drawings can be used to programme the cut of thick polystyrene sheets, a cheap material that, once cut and assembled, has a hardening spray added for durability. This view records the completed poly-patterns for the Churchward County Trust’s cylinders, created from the CAD work of Elliot Powick. Within the cylinders, complicated passages for incoming steam and outgoing exhaust are created as slices of material with the necessary apertures, and these are then assembled like a layer cake, as seen. Patterns such as this are single-use – they stay in the mould and vanish upon contact with the molten metal.

G E S Parker Collection/Kidderminster Railway Museum A broadside view of Churchward ‘4700’ 2-8-0 No 4702 within Old Oak Common roundhouse. Paired with a small 3,500 gallon tender, its overall bulk is something to behold – the No 7 boiler is of 6ft diameter, with an 8ft long smokebox, but the payoff for the power (estimated as a tractive effort of 30,460lb) was an 82 ton weight and a restrictive axle load of 19 tons 12cwt. Thus the domain of the ‘4700s’ saw them working into and out of London from Wolverhampton, Bristol and Laira. Capable of running fitted freights at 55mph, a series of named trains (each of 60-70 wagons) saw them deliver the goods overnight – in August 1930 these included ‘The Tamar’, ‘The Hampton’, ‘The Devonshireman’, ‘The Stour’, ‘The Searchlight’, ‘The Hackney’, ‘The Racer’ and ‘The General’. With just nine in the class, in that era any substitute cover might be in the form of a ‘Castle’.

The new frames cut for County of Montgomery, this view looking along the locomotive from front to back. It was recorded in January 2021 at Tyseley locomotive works.

Kidderminster Railway Museum Collection In September 1951 ‘4700’ class 2-8-0 No 4703 passes through Wantage Road station with an up goods. The fitted freight work ran six-days-aweek, but at the height of summer and the operational stresses that summer passenger operation brought about, the ‘4700s’ found themselves able to step in on such work. No 4703 was new in March 1922 to Stafford Road shed, but at nationalisation it was at Laira. It became a St Phillips Marsh stalwart in the 1950s, being on hand by August 1950 and not being moved away, to Southall, until autumn 1962. Its lifetime mileage of 1,651,245 was noted upon withdrawal from Old Oak Common, with No 4707 on 11 May 1964 as the last members of the class; both were scrapped by A King & Sons of Norwich.

A January 2014 view in the workshops of the Llangollen Railway shows the marriage of the extension frames of No 4115 with the new metal of the main plate frames of No 4709.

Lynne Moore Above right: Wearing a Tyseley shedplate, its new home now the locomotive is in the final lead up to a milestone first steaming, this view records Betton Grange in early 2021. The chimney is that from No 6868 Penrhos Grange, so is seen in the previous view. The chance to once again see a ‘Grange’ in action is much anticipated.

Roger Venning/Kidderminster Railway Museum Released to traffic in mid-February 1946, at 6.15pm on 10 June that year we find yet to be named Hawksworth ‘County’ class 4-6-0 No 1014 standing by the signal box in Taunton station’s platform 5 with a down Bristol to Taunton stopping train. A Bristol (Bath Road) engine from new, a name would follow in March 1948, County of Glamorgan, the lengthy splasher ideal for a modern looking straight plate.

M Higgins/Kidderminster Railway Museum Seen in its final condition with an ‘AK’ boiler and its three-row superheater, and thus a sleeker chimney, GWR ‘Grange’ class 4-6-0 No 6837 Forthampton Grange is resplendent in ex-works condition at Swindon shed. The date is not recorded, but an 87F shedplate and its somewhat roving allocation pins it down to a period as a Llanelly engine, from the four weeks ending 8 October 1960 through to a move to Cardiff East Dock in the first week of 1964. Few BR era ‘Grange’ sightings recall these ‘5MT’-rated engines in such fine condition, in passenger green that is fully lined out and adorned with the later BR crest, black engines or unlined green being more usual. Withdrawal came on 21 July 1965.

J Randford Collection/Kidderminster Railway Museum Above: The career of No 6868 Penrhos Grange spanned the period March 1939 through to 26 October 1965, when withdrawn from Oxford shed, its home since November 1963, and put into store. Sold as scrap, No 6868 and its 4,000 gallon tender were taken apart at Banbury shed, a one-off, and the process proved rather drawn out, with partial cutting witnessed on 22 January, while this view was recorded nearly two months later, on 20 March 1966, and there was still something to be seen towards the end of April! The scrap merchant was J Friswell of Banbury and some parts did survive. Remarkably, two are in the mix for a new life in steam – the safety valve cover has found a home with No 1014 County of Glamorgan, while the chimney, seen defiantly tall mid-scrapping, now adorns No 6880 Betton Grange.

C Smith/Kidderminster Railway Museum Nine months after its last heavy general overhaul, No 1014 County of Glamorgan by now has around 750,000 miles to its name but is looking unloved when recorded at Shrewsbury shed on 21 April 1963. There is no number or shedplate on the smokebox door, Shrewsbury being home for this 4-6-0 since its transfer from Neyland in the four-weeks ending 9 March 1963. No 1014 is in its final form, complete with double-chimney gained in May 1958 – the first post-developmental fitting of these was on No 1022 County of Northampton in May 1956. I cherish memories of the ‘County’ 4-6-0s on the lines around Shrewsbury, doubtless inspiring my work with the 1014 GWR County Project. The original locomotive was transferred to Swindon in September 1963 and it was not finally withdrawn until 24 April 1964. Bought as scrap by John Cashmore in Newport, by the end of September 1964 County of Glamorgan was on hand for cutting.

1014 GWR County Project A key event for the creation of a new 4-6-0 ‘County’ was the securing of Hawksworth ‘Modified Hall’ No 7927 Willington Hall, which is recorded in November 2005 as it prepares to depart from Barry by road for Llangollen. No less than six other ‘Modified Halls’ exist in preservation, so the evolution from Hawksworth ‘5MT’ to ‘6MT’ in the fullness of time provides something very different, and the fitting of the post-1956 double-chimney will create both the distinctive look and see a ‘County’ in its most efficient form. Of course, not everything from the five engines – Nos 2861, 4115, 5227, 7927 and 48518 – found a new home in the short term, but a pool of spares will now aid the continued running of other locomotives too.

Frank Dumbleton Standardisation is key, and this view from 22 August 2015 records how Swindon Works was adept at re-use as engines came and went through overhauls. This is a driving wheel axlebox assembly that ended its BR days on No 7927 Willington Hall and, as was the practice, it has duly been stamped ‘1014’. However, this is not the first change of ownership, with historic stamps denoting No 5012 Berry Pomeroy Castle, No 6820 Kingstone Grange, large Prairie No 8104, and Hawksworth ‘County’ use on No 1006 County of Cornwall.

Oakwood Visuals The firebox of ‘8F’ No 48518 is seen at LNWR Heritage in Crewe on 6 May 2016, when on hand for modification to complete a Swindon Standard 15OA (three-row) superheat boiler. Only the base was altered (it is upside down in this view), the work in part due to the wheel size difference between an ‘8F’ and a ‘County’. A new coned boiler barrel has also been made, and Heritage Boiler Steam Services Ltd is completing the boilerwork.

1014 GWR County Project The chassis of Willington Hall after its front-end modification to lower the buffer beam assembly by 1½in, a necessity caused by the differing sizes of the driving wheels between the ‘Modified Hall’ (6ft) and ‘County’ (6ft 3in). The view is most likely taken soon after the frames arrived at Didcot from Llangollen in June 2006.

1014 GWR County Project Connecting rods need to cope with huge stresses so are forged to provide dense metal through a repetitive process of heating up and pounding to control the grain, this view recording a new ‘County’ connecting rod at Ufone Precision Engineers Ltd of Dudley. The Black Country still has remarkable ability in engineering, the original forging being undertaken in Halesowen by Somers Forge, with Ufone machining the forging down to size.