GWR 1854 Class
Encyclopedia
GWR 1854 is a class of tank locomotive
designed by William Dean and constructed at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. The class used similar inside frames and chassis dimensions to the 1813 Class
of 1882-4. In this they differed from the intervening 1661 Class
, which had reverted to the double ("sandwich") frames of the Gooch
and Armstrong
eras. Thus the 1854 Class belongs to the "mainstream" of GWR 0-6-0 tank classes that leads towards the larger GWR pannier tanks of the 20th century.
The 120 1854s were built in six batches between 1890 and 1895:
The engines were rebuilt during their working lives with various forms of boiler and saddle tanks, and they were also rebuilt as pannier tanks between 1909 and 1932 as Belpaire firebox
es were fitted. Most of the class worked in the GWR's Southern Division, the majority of them in South Wales. Two examples were to be found in the GWR London Division at time of nationalisation. Numbers 907 and 1861 were allocated to 81E (Didcot) in August 1950. All achieved a million miles, and 23 of the class passed into British Railways stock in 1948, the last of them being withdrawn in 1951.
Tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
designed by William Dean and constructed at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. The class used similar inside frames and chassis dimensions to the 1813 Class
GWR 1813 Class
The Great Western Railway's 1813 Class was a series of 40 0-6-0 side-tank engines built at Swindon Works in two lots of 20 engines each:* Nos. 1813-1832 * Nos...
of 1882-4. In this they differed from the intervening 1661 Class
GWR 1661 Class
The 1661 Class was William Dean's second design of tank locomotive for England's Great Western Railway. Like the 1813 Class which preceded them, there were 40 1661s, turned out at Swindon in two batches:* Nos. 1661-1680 * Nos...
, which had reverted to the double ("sandwich") frames of the Gooch
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet was an English railway and transatlantic cable engineer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885...
and Armstrong
Joseph Armstrong (engineer)
Joseph Armstrong was a British locomotive engineer and the second locomotive superintendent of the Great Western Railway...
eras. Thus the 1854 Class belongs to the "mainstream" of GWR 0-6-0 tank classes that leads towards the larger GWR pannier tanks of the 20th century.
The 120 1854s were built in six batches between 1890 and 1895:
- 1854-1873 (Lot 79, 1890)
- 1874-1893 (Lot 83, 1890–91)
- 1701-1720 (Lot 85, 1891)
- 1721-1740 (Lot 88, 1892)
- 1751-1770 (Lot 89, 1892-3)
- 905-907, 1791–1800, 1894-1900 (Lot 98, 1895)
The engines were rebuilt during their working lives with various forms of boiler and saddle tanks, and they were also rebuilt as pannier tanks between 1909 and 1932 as Belpaire firebox
Belpaire firebox
The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...
es were fitted. Most of the class worked in the GWR's Southern Division, the majority of them in South Wales. Two examples were to be found in the GWR London Division at time of nationalisation. Numbers 907 and 1861 were allocated to 81E (Didcot) in August 1950. All achieved a million miles, and 23 of the class passed into British Railways stock in 1948, the last of them being withdrawn in 1951.