GWR 3201 Class
Encyclopedia
The 3201 or Stella Class was a class of standard gauge
2-4-0
steam locomotive
designed by William Dean and built at Swindon Works for the Great Western Railway
in 1884/5. They were part of an interesting standardisation scheme of Dean's, whereby he designed four classes with similar boilers, double frames, and cylinders, but of different wheel layouts. The present class was close in design to the 3501 Class
, built initially as 2-4-0T "convertibles" for the broad gauge.
To start with there were just five 3201s. Curiously, the prototype, No.3201 (December 1884), was immediately sold to the Pembroke and Tenby Railway. It returned to the GWR in 1896 and was named Stella, carrying the name until 1902. Nos. 3202-3205 followed in summer 1885. Then between 1892 and 1895 the class enlarged to 25 locomotives, as the broad gauge 2-4-0Ts were gradually converted to standard gauge tender locomotives. But, as Tabor comments laconically, "... the uniformity was very short-lived, as the class soon acquired a remarkable variety of boilers."
The original Stellas worked in the Bristol division but after the gauge conversion of 1892 all 25 locos migrated to Cornwall, where they worked the principal trains west of Newton Abbot until the arrival a few years later of the 3252 or Duke Class
. After that the class became widely dispersed; by 1915 many were at Chester or Croes Newydd, others at Birmingham or Stourbridge. Later some went to central Wales. Withdrawal took place between 1919 and 1933.
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
2-4-0
2-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
designed by William Dean and built at Swindon Works for the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
in 1884/5. They were part of an interesting standardisation scheme of Dean's, whereby he designed four classes with similar boilers, double frames, and cylinders, but of different wheel layouts. The present class was close in design to the 3501 Class
GWR 3501 class
The GWR 3501 Class were ten broad gauge 2-4-0 locomotives built by the Great Western Railway.They were built in 1885 as 2-4-0T tank locomotives, but five were rebuilt in 1890 as 2-4-0 tender locomotives for working express trains between Exeter and Plymouth...
, built initially as 2-4-0T "convertibles" for the broad gauge.
To start with there were just five 3201s. Curiously, the prototype, No.3201 (December 1884), was immediately sold to the Pembroke and Tenby Railway. It returned to the GWR in 1896 and was named Stella, carrying the name until 1902. Nos. 3202-3205 followed in summer 1885. Then between 1892 and 1895 the class enlarged to 25 locomotives, as the broad gauge 2-4-0Ts were gradually converted to standard gauge tender locomotives. But, as Tabor comments laconically, "... the uniformity was very short-lived, as the class soon acquired a remarkable variety of boilers."
The original Stellas worked in the Bristol division but after the gauge conversion of 1892 all 25 locos migrated to Cornwall, where they worked the principal trains west of Newton Abbot until the arrival a few years later of the 3252 or Duke Class
GWR 3252 Class
The Great Western Railway Duke Class 4-4-0 steam locomotives for passenger train work, built in five batches between 1895 and 1899 for express working in Devon and Cornwall. William Dean was their designer, possibly with the collaboration of his assistant, George Jackson Churchward...
. After that the class became widely dispersed; by 1915 many were at Chester or Croes Newydd, others at Birmingham or Stourbridge. Later some went to central Wales. Withdrawal took place between 1919 and 1933.