GWR 655 Class
Encyclopedia
Class 655 of the Great Western Railway
was a class of 52 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotives designed by George Armstrong
and built at the GWR's Wolverhampton Works. They were built in three lots between 1892 and 1897:
They were in effect a continuation of the 645 Class
, with longer frames though using the same 4'6" wheels and 15'6" wheelbase, and they were the last of the larger type of tank engine to be built at Wolverhampton. Pannier tanks were later fitted to all of them, apart from No. 1772, between 1912 and 1930. They were nearly all Northern Division engines until the 1920s, though later Weymouth had as many as five. Withdrawal started in 1928, but 21 continued into British Railways ownership. Nos. 1782 and 2719 survived until November 1950.
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...
was a class of 52 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotives designed by George Armstrong
George Armstrong (engineer)
George Armstrong was in charge of standard gauge steam locomotives for the Great Western Railway at Stafford Road Works, Wolverhampton from 1864 to 1897...
and built at the GWR's Wolverhampton Works. They were built in three lots between 1892 and 1897:
- Nos. 655, 767 and 1741-1750 (Lot A3, 1892)
- Nos. 1771-1790 (Lot B3, 1892-4)
- Nos. 2701-2720 (Lot E3, 1896-7)
They were in effect a continuation of the 645 Class
GWR 645 Class
The GWR 645 Class was a class of 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotives designed by George Armstrong and built at the Wolverhampton railway works of the Great Western Railway . Thirty-six were constructed between 1872-3, of which three were built for the South Wales Mineral Railway , two for the Carmarthen...
, with longer frames though using the same 4'6" wheels and 15'6" wheelbase, and they were the last of the larger type of tank engine to be built at Wolverhampton. Pannier tanks were later fitted to all of them, apart from No. 1772, between 1912 and 1930. They were nearly all Northern Division engines until the 1920s, though later Weymouth had as many as five. Withdrawal started in 1928, but 21 continued into British Railways ownership. Nos. 1782 and 2719 survived until November 1950.