GWR No. 36
Encyclopedia
Great Western Railway
No. 36 was a prototype 4-6-0 steam locomotive constructed at Swindon Works in 1896, the first 4-6-0 ever built for the GWR and one of the first in Britain. It was designed by William Dean (engineer) and le Fleming comments that "the design is unusual and entirely Dean of the later period, including the only large boiler ever built entirely to his ideas."
No. 36 had double frames for the 4' 7+1/2" coupled wheels and an outside-frame bogie; cylinders were 20" x 24". The long boiler and raised round-topped firebox create a harmonious impression, and the loco acquired the nickname "The Crocodile". Among its innovative features included the use of Serve tubes
. Designed for heavy freights through the Severn Tunnel
, it proved itself exceptionally capable. It was probably due to Dean's declining state of health and Churchward's increasing influence
that the loco did little work away from Swindon, remained a prototype, and was withdrawn by Churchward in 1905 with the low mileage of 171,428.
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...
No. 36 was a prototype 4-6-0 steam locomotive constructed at Swindon Works in 1896, the first 4-6-0 ever built for the GWR and one of the first in Britain. It was designed by William Dean (engineer) and le Fleming comments that "the design is unusual and entirely Dean of the later period, including the only large boiler ever built entirely to his ideas."
No. 36 had double frames for the 4' 7+1/2" coupled wheels and an outside-frame bogie; cylinders were 20" x 24". The long boiler and raised round-topped firebox create a harmonious impression, and the loco acquired the nickname "The Crocodile". Among its innovative features included the use of Serve tubes
Internally riffled boiler tubes
Internally riffled boiler tubes are used to evaporate water into steam inside boilers of thermal power plants. Because of their internally riffled shape, they are more efficient. The boiling crisis takes place later, thus allowing for greater heat transfer between the pipe and the fluid inside the...
. Designed for heavy freights through the Severn Tunnel
Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....
, it proved itself exceptionally capable. It was probably due to Dean's declining state of health and Churchward's increasing influence
George Jackson Churchward
George Jackson Churchward CBE was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922.-Early career:...
that the loco did little work away from Swindon, remained a prototype, and was withdrawn by Churchward in 1905 with the low mileage of 171,428.