GWR locomotive numbering and classification
Encyclopedia
The GWR
was the longest-lived of the pre-nationalisation railway companies in Britain, surviving the 'Grouping' of the railways in 1923 almost unchanged. As a result, the history of its numbering and classification of locomotives is relatively complicated. This page explains the principal systems that were used.
The exception to this rule was that any broad gauge locomotives the GWR absorbed from other railways (in particular, the South Devon Railway
and Bristol and Exeter Railway
) were given numbers in the 2000-2199 series. This applied even where locomotives had carried names under their previous owner (indeed, these names were usually removed by the GWR) and even when the locomotives had originally belonged to the GWR and had been sold out of stock.
Towards the end of the broad gauge era, a number of locomotives were built to a design that enabled them to be easily converted from one gauge to the other (hence the term 'convertibles' used for these locomotives). These engines also carried numbers in the standard gauge series, whether or not they were running in broad gauge form.
New locomotives were identified as being paid from either revenue or capital account. Initially an effort was made to treat the numbering of locomotives bought out of revenue differently from those out of capital, including by re-using old numbers left vacant following withdrawal, using a duplicate number system (unusually, giving the new locomotives an A suffix - other railways tended to apply such notation to the old locomotive being replaced) and, for a few years, using the series 1000 (later 1001) upwards. In 1875 the sequential system starting at 1 reached 1000 and then jumped to 1116, the other side of the latter range of numbers still carried.
's leadership, blocks of numbers were allocated for different locomotive types, as follows:
The only exceptions to these principles under Dean were use of the 20xx, 21xx, and 27xx series for goods tank engines after the end of broad gauge operations. Experimental locomotives and other small classes continued to be numbered in gaps left following withdrawals in the number series below 1000.
, the system applied by William Dean broke down, and new classes simply took the next free block of hundred numbers starting at xx01, with experimental engines numbered in odd gaps in the earlier series of numbers, usually below 110.
At the same time, a change was made so that new classes usually commenced from the number xx00. There was a certain amount of renumbering so that the prototype locomotives for existing classes took the appropriate xx00 number before the series used by production locomotives. Thus, from this time on, numbers below 2000 were mainly occupied by old, absorbed or otherwise non-standard locomotives, including the experimental diesel locomotives used by the GWR.
The bulk of the locomotives absorbed were renumbered into gaps in broad number ranges according to their wheel arrangement
. Locomotives from the following railways were included in this scheme: Alexandra Docks Railway, Barry Railway, Cambrian Railways
, Cardiff Railway
, Midland and South Western Junction Railway
, Port Talbot Railway, Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway
, Rhymney Railway
, South Wales Mineral Railway, Taff Vale Railway
, Vale of Rheidol Railway
, and Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
.
Locomotives from the Brecon and Merthyr Railway
, Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway and Neath and Brecon Railway
were also renumbered according to their wheel arrangement, but used a different set of number ranges.
The number ranges used for all these locomotives are set out below, but note that those engines that had previously been sold out of stock by the GWR regained their original GWR numbers, and were not allocated new numbers in these ranges:
The locomotives inherited by the GWR from other concerns were renumbered as follows:
However, the classes of locomotives inherited at the Grouping in 1923 continued to be referred to by the classification allocated to them by their original owner.
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 the longest-lived of the pre-nationalisation railway companies in Britain, surviving the 'Grouping' of the railways in 1923 almost unchanged. As a result, the history of its numbering and classification of locomotives is relatively complicated. This page explains the principal systems that were used.
- For information about individual classes and locomotives, see: Locomotives of the Great Western RailwayLocomotives of the Great Western RailwayThe first Locomotives of the Great Western Railway were specified by Isambard Kingdom Brunel but Daniel Gooch was soon appointed as the railway's Locomotive Superintendent. He designed several different broad gauge types for the growing railway, such as the Firefly and later Iron Duke Class 2-2-2s...
Broad Gauge Era
From the start, the GWR gave names only to its broad gauge locomotive stock. However, many classes carried 'themed' names, e.g. stars or signs of the zodiac, which aided identification of locomotives to some extent. See List of broad gauge (7 feet) railway locomotive namesThe exception to this rule was that any broad gauge locomotives the GWR absorbed from other railways (in particular, the South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway Company
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel-Chronology:* 1844 South Devon Railway Act passed by parliament...
and Bristol and Exeter Railway
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter.The company's head office was situated outside their Bristol station...
) were given numbers in the 2000-2199 series. This applied even where locomotives had carried names under their previous owner (indeed, these names were usually removed by the GWR) and even when the locomotives had originally belonged to the GWR and had been sold out of stock.
Towards the end of the broad gauge era, a number of locomotives were built to a design that enabled them to be easily converted from one gauge to the other (hence the term 'convertibles' used for these locomotives). These engines also carried numbers in the standard gauge series, whether or not they were running in broad gauge form.
Standard Gauge 1854-1875
Initially standard gauge locomotive numbering was a simple sequential system, starting from 1. Numbering in this series, which included new locomotives and those absorbed from other railways, eventually reached 1297.New locomotives were identified as being paid from either revenue or capital account. Initially an effort was made to treat the numbering of locomotives bought out of revenue differently from those out of capital, including by re-using old numbers left vacant following withdrawal, using a duplicate number system (unusually, giving the new locomotives an A suffix - other railways tended to apply such notation to the old locomotive being replaced) and, for a few years, using the series 1000 (later 1001) upwards. In 1875 the sequential system starting at 1 reached 1000 and then jumped to 1116, the other side of the latter range of numbers still carried.
Standard Gauge 1875-1902
Under William DeanWilliam Dean
William Dean was the Chief Locomotive Engineer for the Great Western Railway from 1877, when he succeeded Joseph Armstrong. He retired from the post in 1902 and was replaced by George Jackson Churchward...
's leadership, blocks of numbers were allocated for different locomotive types, as follows:
| Numbers | Types |
|---|---|
| 1298 to 1400 | Absorbed standard and narrow gauge locomotives |
| 1401 to 1500 | Passenger tank locomotives |
| 1501 to 2000 | Goods tank locomotives |
| 2001 to 2200 | Absorbed broad gauge locomotives (later reused for goods tank locomotives) |
| 2201 to 3000 | Goods tender locomotives |
| 3001 to 3200 | 4-2-2 express passenger locomotives |
| 3201 to 3500 | 2-4-0 and 4-4-0 express passenger locomotives |
| 3501 to 3600 | Passenger tank locomotives |
The only exceptions to these principles under Dean were use of the 20xx, 21xx, and 27xx series for goods tank engines after the end of broad gauge operations. Experimental locomotives and other small classes continued to be numbered in gaps left following withdrawals in the number series below 1000.
Standard Gauge 1902-1912
Under George Jackson ChurchwardGeorge 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:...
, the system applied by William Dean broke down, and new classes simply took the next free block of hundred numbers starting at xx01, with experimental engines numbered in odd gaps in the earlier series of numbers, usually below 110.
1912 Renumbering
In December 1912 (the official date being 28 December), the GWR undertook a renumbering of some of its locomotives — mainly 4-4-0 classes — so that locomotives of the same class were numbered consecutively. This desirable aim was made more important following the rebuilding of some Duke and Atbara locomotives to Bulldog and City class designs. A few of the changes were connected with a decision that blocks of numbers for each class should start at xx00 rather than xx01 as previous.| Class | Original Numbers | New Number Range | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atbara GWR 4100 Class In 1897 the Great Western Railway introduced the Badminton class express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives as a development from the earlier Duke class... |
3373-3412 | 4120-4148 | 3382 scrapped 1911; 3400-3409 rebuilt to City |
|
| Badminton GWR 4100 Class In 1897 the Great Western Railway introduced the Badminton class express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives as a development from the earlier Duke class... |
3292-3311 | 4100-4119 | ||
| Bird GWR 3300 Class The Bulldog and Bird were classes of 4-4-0 steam locomotives used for passenger services on the Great Western Railway. These two classes were broadly similar, so are treated together here. Twenty locomotives were rebuilt from Duke Class locomotives; the rest were built new... |
3731-3745 | 3441-3455 | ||
| Bulldog GWR 3300 Class The Bulldog and Bird were classes of 4-4-0 steam locomotives used for passenger services on the Great Western Railway. These two classes were broadly similar, so are treated together here. Twenty locomotives were rebuilt from Duke Class locomotives; the rest were built new... (ex-Duke) |
Various (from 3253-3331) | 3300-3319 | ||
| Bulldog (new build) | 3332-3372, 3413-3432, 3443-3472, 3701-3730 | 3320-3440 | ||
| City GWR 3700 Class The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains.-Construction:... (ex-Atbara) |
3400-3409 | 3700-3709 | ||
| City (new build) | 3433-3442 | 3710-3719 | ||
| County GWR 3800 Class The Great Western Railway County Class were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten... |
3473-3482, 3801-3830 | 3800, 3831-3839 | 3801-3830 not renumbered | |
| Duke 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... |
3252-3291, 3312-3331 (various, total 40) | 3252-3291 | others rebuilt to Bulldog | |
| Flower GWR 4100 Class In 1897 the Great Western Railway introduced the Badminton class express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives as a development from the earlier Duke class... |
4101-4120 | 4149-4168 |
| Class | Wheel arrangement | Original Numbers | New Number Range | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 455 (Metro) GWR 455 Class The GWR 455 Class, also called the "Metropolitan" or "Metro" Tanks, was a series of 140 2-4-0T tank locomotives built for the Great Western Railway, originally for their London suburban services, including running on the underground section of the Metropolitan Railway, the source of their nickname.... |
2-4-0T | 3600 | 3500 | |
| 2600 (Aberdare) GWR 2600 Class The Great Western Railway 2600 Class or Aberdare Class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotive built between 1900 and 1907. They were a freight version of the 3300 and 4120 classes designed for hauling coal trains between Aberdare and Swindon. The class began in 1900 with a prototype, No. 33,... |
2-6-0 | 33 | 2600 | |
| 2721 GWR 2721 Class The GWR 2721 Class was a class of 0-6-0 saddle tank steam locomotives. They were designed by William Dean and built at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway between 1897 and 1901.... |
0-6-0T | 2800 | 2700 | |
| 2800 GWR 2800 Class The Great Western Railway 2800 Class is a class of steam locomotive designed by G.J. Churchward for heavy freight work. They were the first 2-8-0 class in Great Britain.... |
2-8-0 | 97 | 2800 | |
| 2900 (Saint) GWR 2900 Class The Great Western Railway 2900 or Saint Class were a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives for passenger train work. Number 2925 Saint Martin was later rebuilt as the prototype Hall Class locomotive, and renumbered 4900.-Prototypes:... |
4-6-0 & 4-4-2 | 98,100,171-190 | 2998,2900,2971-2990 | |
| 3100 GWR 3100 Class The Great Western Railway 3100 Class was a class of 2-6-2T side tank steam locomotive. This was developed from one of George Jackson Churchward's pioneer designs; the experimental No 99... |
2-6-2T | 99 | 3100 | |
| 3600 GWR 3600 Class The Great Western Railway 3600 Class was a class of 2-4-2T side tank steam locomotive, designed by William Dean and built at Swindon in three lots in 1900-1903:* 3600 * 3601-3620 * 3621-3630... |
2-4-2T | 11 | 3600 | |
| 4000 (Star) GWR 4000 Class A Star class locomotive was a particular type of steam locomotive of the Great Western Railway. The prototype was an experimental locomotive, North Star , constructed with the 'Atlantic' 4-4-2 wheel arrangement for comparative trials with 4-cylinder compound locomotives of the de Glehn type that... |
4-6-0 | 40 | 4000 | |
| 4400 GWR 4400 Class The Great Western Railway 4400 Class was a class of 2-6-2T side tank steam locomotive. They were introduced in 1904 for work on small branch lines.- External links :*... |
2-6-2T | 115, 3101-10 | 4400-10 | |
| 4500 GWR 4500 Class The Great Western Railway 4500 Class or Small Prairie is a class of steam locomotive. They are 2-6-2T type. A total of 75 were built; 55 were built in four batches between 1906 and 1915. A fifth batch of 20 locos was built in 1924, during Collett's tenure at Swindon. The first two batches were... |
2-6-2T | 2161-90 | 4500-29 | |
| Cornwall Min. Rly | 0-6-0T | 1400 | 1398 |
Standard Gauge 1912 onwards
From the time of the 1912 renumbering, a system was adopted for new locomotives where the second digit indicated the broad type of locomotive. For example, express passenger locomotives had x0xx numbers and large mixed traffic tender locomotives were x9xx. When a class numbered more than 100 locos, rather than continue the numbers consecutively the second digit remained constant (e.g. 4900 Class included 4900-4999, 5900-5999, and 6900 onwards).At the same time, a change was made so that new classes usually commenced from the number xx00. There was a certain amount of renumbering so that the prototype locomotives for existing classes took the appropriate xx00 number before the series used by production locomotives. Thus, from this time on, numbers below 2000 were mainly occupied by old, absorbed or otherwise non-standard locomotives, including the experimental diesel locomotives used by the GWR.
1923 Renumbering
In 1923, the GWR absorbed a number of small railway companies as part of the Grouping. The locomotives that it inherited were renumbered into gaps in the number series below 2199 left vacant by the withdrawal of older locomotives. Many of these engines were withdrawn after a short period of time, but those that survived in 1946 were subject to another renumbering to rationalise the system further (see below).The bulk of the locomotives absorbed were renumbered into gaps in broad number ranges according to their wheel arrangement
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
. Locomotives from the following railways were included in this scheme: Alexandra Docks Railway, Barry Railway, Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904...
, Cardiff Railway
Cardiff Railway
The Cardiff Railway came into being from the need to service Bute Docks, so as to provide facilities for the traffic to and from the Docks. The railway was only 11 miles in length, a fact which belied its importance, since it provided both the Taff Vale Railway and the Rhymney Railway, inter alia,...
, Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway was, until the 1923 Grouping, an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland and London and South Western Railways allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton.-Formation:The M&SWJR...
, Port Talbot Railway, Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway
Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway
The Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway connected the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley to the Swansea Bay ports.Connecting with the Taff Vale Railway at Treherbert, it had branches to Aberavon and Port Talbot docks. It was later extended to Swansea and a branch to Neath was added, bringing the total...
, Rhymney Railway
Rhymney Railway
The Rhymney Railway was virtually a single stretch of main line, some fifty miles in length, by which the Rhymney Valley was connected to the docks at Cardiff in the county of Glamorgan, South Wales.-History:...
, South Wales Mineral Railway, Taff Vale Railway
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...
, Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vale of Rheidol Railway
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...
, and Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in Powys, Wales. The line is around long and runs westwards from the town of Welshpool via Castle Caereinion to the village of Llanfair Caereinion. The track gauge is ....
.
Locomotives from the Brecon and Merthyr Railway
Brecon and Merthyr Railway
The Brecon and Merthyr Junction Railway was one of several railways that served the industrial areas of South Wales and Monmouthshire. It ranked fifth amongst them in size, although hemmed in by the Taff Vale Railway and Great Western Railway...
, Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway and Neath and Brecon Railway
Neath and Brecon Railway
The Neath and Brecon Railway linked the Vale of Neath Railway at Neath with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway at Brecon and also via a connection from Colbren Junction, it linked to the Swansea Vale Railway at Ynysygeinon Junction ....
were also renumbered according to their wheel arrangement, but used a different set of number ranges.
The number ranges used for all these locomotives are set out below, but note that those engines that had previously been sold out of stock by the GWR regained their original GWR numbers, and were not allocated new numbers in these ranges:
| Wheel Arrangement Whyte notation The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal... | Main Number Range | BMR, BPGVR and NBR Range |
|---|---|---|
| 0-4-4 0-4-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles... T |
2-23 | |
| 2-6-0 2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul... |
24 | |
| 4-4-4 4-4-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. In the United States, this arrangement was named the... T |
25-27 | |
| 0-6-2 0-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle... T |
30-603 | 11-1375, 1668-1833 |
| 0-6-0 0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels... T |
604-843 | 2161-2199 |
| 0-6-0 0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels... |
844-1013 | |
| 4-4-0 4-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels... |
1014-1128 | |
| 4-4-0 4-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels... T |
1129-1184 | 1392 |
| 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.... T |
1189-1197 | 1400-1458 |
| 2-6-2 2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:... T |
1199-1213 | |
| 4-4-2 4-4-2 (locomotive) Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle... T |
1301-1306 | 1391 |
| 2-4-2 2-4-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle... T |
1307-1326 | |
| 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.... |
1328-1336 | |
| 0-4-0 0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven... T |
1338-1343 | |
| 0-6-4 0-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles.... T |
1344-1357 | |
| 0-8-2 0-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .... T |
1358-1386 | |
| 0-8-0 0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels... |
1387-1390 |
The locomotives inherited by the GWR from other concerns were renumbered as follows:
- Ex-Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light RailwayCleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light RailwayThe Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway was a pre-grouping railway company that served part of south Shropshire.Everard Calthrop was appointed Consulting Engineer in 1900, responsible for surveying the route and preparing the construction plans, and the line opened in 1908...
0-6-00-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...
T engines became 28-29. - Locomotives from the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway, Powesland and Mason and Swansea Harbour Trust were absorbed after the original numbering series had been drawn up, and these were fitted into available gaps without reference to the original number ranges. In some case they took the numbers of other absorbed engines that had already been withdrawn.
- In the 1940s, the Corris RailwayCorris RailwayThe Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....
and Weston, Clevedon and Portishead RailwayWeston, Clevedon and Portishead RailwayThe Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway was conceived and built initially as a tramway to link the three small North Somerset coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead in the 1880s.-Overview:...
were absorbed. The four engines inherited from these two concerns took GWR numbers 3-6.
1946 Renumbering
By 1946, the majority of the locomotives inherited at the 1923 Grouping had been withdrawn, as had most of the older GWR engines numbered below 2000. In order to tidy up the gaps in this number range, it was decided to renumber the surviving locomotives from each pre-Grouping company together. The series used were:- 1: ex-Ystalyfera Tin Works
- 7-9: ex-Vale of Rheidol RailwayVale of Rheidol RailwayThe Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...
- 30-96: ex-Rhymney RailwayRhymney RailwayThe Rhymney Railway was virtually a single stretch of main line, some fifty miles in length, by which the Rhymney Valley was connected to the docks at Cardiff in the county of Glamorgan, South Wales.-History:...
- 193-399: ex-Taff Vale RailwayTaff Vale RailwayThe Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...
and Barry Railway - 421-436: ex-Brecon and Merthyr RailwayBrecon and Merthyr RailwayThe Brecon and Merthyr Junction Railway was one of several railways that served the industrial areas of South Wales and Monmouthshire. It ranked fifth amongst them in size, although hemmed in by the Taff Vale Railway and Great Western Railway...
- 1140-1147: ex-Swansea Harbour Trust
- 1150-1153: ex-Powesland and Mason
Application by British Railways
When the GWR was nationalised as part of British Railways in 1948, its steam locomotives retained their numbers unchanged and new steam engines built to GWR designs continued to be allocated numbers in the same way as the GWR had done. However, its diesel locomotives were completely renumbered. They took numbers 15100-15107 in the 15xxx series allocated to pre-Nationalisation design diesel shunters.- see: British Rail locomotive and multiple unit numbering and classificationBritish Rail locomotive and multiple unit numbering and classificationA number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for locomotives and multiple units operated by British Railways , and this page explains the principal systems...
Classification
A very simple system was adopted, whereby the name (for broad-gauge locomotives) or number of the first locomotive in a class became the classification for all locomotives in that class (e.g. 'Sun Class', '4000 Class'). After the end of the broad gauge, names were applied to principal passenger and mixed-traffic standard-gauge locomotives. These were often based on a single theme, which could also lend its name to describe a class, for example 'Stars', also known as the '4000 Class', whose names included 'North Star', 'Rising Star' etc.However, the classes of locomotives inherited at the Grouping in 1923 continued to be referred to by the classification allocated to them by their original owner.