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About this blog

I'm mulling over a supplement to my GWR locomotive development book.
New sketches I prepare will appear here (in small size).  Comments and corrections on the original (be nice!) and suggestions for content in the supplement welcome.
 

If you are planning a model of any of the locomotives featured in this blog you are very welcome to contact me and I'll see if there's anything I can do to assist you in researching for your model. 

 

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/An-Introduction-to-Great-Western-Locomotive-Development-Hardback/p/14507

 

 

 

Entries in this blog

Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway L1 Class

The L1 class were built as L class 2-4-2 saddle tanks with double frames. By GWR days two of them had been converted to 0-6-2T, given new design boilers based on those of the K class, and called class L1. A third conversion had been scrapped in 1921. The rebuilds presented an odd appearance, since the 2-4-2s had a small rise in the footplate over each crank on the drivers, but this was not repeated over the new leading driving wheel. The 0-6-2s, allocated diagram J, were scrapped in 1922 and 192
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway A and A1 Classes

The A class could be considered an enlarged S class 0-6-0T, and the S class a smaller R class 0-6-2T. The As had a smaller boiler than the Ms and Rs.They had 4ft 4½in driving wheels like the S class, the Rs having 4ft 6in. Stephenson’s delivered 10 As in 1910, and Hudswell Clarke 6 more in 1911. The A1s were essentially the same as the As except that the boiler was pitched higher, had a Belpaire firebox and was fitted with top feed. There were also small differences to the frames. Thre
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR 1392/1393 Class 0-6-0T (ex Cornwall Mineral Railway)

An interesting class, not least because they were significant as being the basis of the design of the 1361 and 1366 classes.   In their original form the locomotives did not look much like this, being side tanks with no back to the cab and intended to be used in pairs operated by a single crew. They were built by Sharp Stewart for the Cornwall Minerals Railway. The designer is a little obscure. Its apparently credited to an F. Trevithick.  Francis Trevithick, son of the great pioneer,
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR 248 and 253 Class 0-6-0s

Bit of a veteran this time. These are  technically absorbed locomotives. 248 (upper sketch) is one of a class of five delivered to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway in 1854/5. They were an E.B. Wilson standard design. 253 (lower sketch) is one of seven more, with differences to the frames, were bought by the the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. These lines merged into the West Midland Railway, which in turn was taken over by the GWR to form a significant part of the narro
JimC

JimC in GWR Locomotive Sketches

7
Cardiff Railway Locomotive Sketches

Cardiff Railway 33 Class

These large 0-6-2Ts were built by Kitsons in 1908, and, according to RCTS, with the obvious exception of tanks and bunker, were virtually identical to Taff Vale O4s. Its not immediately obvious to me why this should be, as the O4s were never built by Kitsons. I shall be interested when I get to the Taff Vale classes. The obvious feature of the class of 3, in common with some other Cardiff classes, was the long tanks, heavily sloped at the front. I can't make my mind up whether I like this or not
Smaller Absorbed Line Sketches

ex P&M Brush built 0-4-0s 795 and 921

Powlesland and Mason were not really a railway as such. They provided cartage and locomotive haulage on the trackwork of the Swansea Harbour Trust, which also owned its own locomotives. At the grouping they had nine 0-4-0ST from five different manufacturers. These two, built in 1903 and 1906, were among the last steam locomotives built by the Brush Electrical Engineering Co. This is the same Brush company, give or take a few mergers and acquisitions, that was and is a significant builder of dies
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR 3511 Class

Not to be confused with the 0-4-2T 3521s that ended up as 4-4-0s, these were 2-4-0Ts that ended up as 2-4-0s.  Built in 1885, the ten double framed 3511 2-4-0Ts were a tank engine version of the Stella class 2-4-0s, a part of a Dean standardisation exercise that also included the 2361 outside frame version of the Dean Goods and the 1661 0-6-0ST. All had major components in common. They were a much larger engine than the Metros with 17in by 26in cylinders and class P (Dean Goods) boilers. Origina
JimC

JimC in GWR Locomotive Sketches

4
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway R Class (AR)

The last new locomotives for the Rhymney were ordered in February 1920, about the time when serious planning for the grouping started in the Cabinet (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7735748). Four were delivered by Hudswell Clarke in July and September 1921, and six from Beyer Peacock in December. They were slightly different in detail from the pre war R class. The classification AR doesn't seem to have ever been used in practice or officially but was certainly present on a
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR/WR 15xx Class (1948)

I was mulling over the design of the (to me at least) strangely appealing 1948 15xx. It was a pure GWR design, and it appears from the NRM drawings list that it was actually on the drawing boards as early as 1944. As Cook tells us it was designed as a "24 hour shunter", not needing to be serviced over a pit: a worthy aim, but rendered largely obsolete by the early 350HP diesel shunters that were being introduced at the same time. I've seen an interesting comparison made between the GWR 0-6-0PTs
JimC

JimC in GWR Locomotive Sketches

7
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway R Class

Stephenson’s built the first three locomotives of the R class in 1907. Although based on the design of the Ms, they had quite different boilers with a slightly larger barrel and a Belpaire firebox, and cylinders with the valves between the cylinders rather than above as in the Ms. Two more Rs followed in 1909. The last batch of Rs, known semi officially as the AR class, were delivered in 1921 and will follow in another entry. The Rs are commonly held to be the major influence on the GWR 56x
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway S Class

The S class were four powerful and heavy shunting engines, delivered by Hudswell Clarke in 1908. They bore a definite family resemblance to the R class 0-6-2T, with the same coupled wheelbase but a shorter boiler, a round topped firebox and smaller driving wheels. Their original boilers were replaced with A class boilers by the grouping. They joined the GWR as 608-611. In 1930, all were rebuilt with superheated Standard 10 tapered boilers and new GWR style larger bunkers. They were renumber
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway S1 Class

These were essentially updates of the S class (qv), slightly longer and with larger bunkers, and based on A1 class 0-6-2T design features. They also had a slightly larger boiler with a Belpaire firebox. They were delivered in 1920 by Hudswell Clarke. They were numbered 604-606. Plans to reboiler them with Standard 10 boilers were never acted on, although one did receive an enlarged GWR style bunker. They did acquire GWR safety valves and covers and some additional tank fittings. They were renumb
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway M Class

The last of the outside framed classes had been delivered to the Rhymney in 1900, and from then on the locomotives took on a much more modern appearance. The first were what was later to be called the M class, and the  detailed design is usually credited to Robert Stephenson & Co. All subsequent locomotives for the Rhymney, other than a pair of locomotives which started life as railmotor units, bore a distinct family resemblance. These locomotives form a complicated and rather incestuous gro
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Locomotive Sketches

Well, I've covered all the main Barry classes in varying levels of detail as my fancy and my sources permit. The other absorbed lines won't be nearly as simple - the Barry Railway was founded late and had a particularly organised and disciplined locomotive policy. There are some obvious books on the Barry Railway locomotives for those who wish to learn more. My main references have been "The Barry Railway Diagrams and photographs of Locomotives Coaches and Wagons" by Eric R Mountford, Oakwood Pr
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway E Class

A class of five small lightweight 0-6-0T, numbered 781-5 by the GWR. Two survived to join British Railways but were gone by 1950, whilst three went to industrial use in the 1930s and lasted to 1958/60. Only one received a really major GWR rebuild, which included a non standard Swindon designed boiler as well as GWR style cab and bunker.  There are complexities around the E class bunkers! 781, 783 and 785 had an upward extension of the bunker with coal plates in Barry days, but 782 and 784 d
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway C Class

Built by Sharp Stewart, the C class originally comprised four small 2-4-0T, without the standard boiler used by most Barry Railway classes. In 1898 two were converted to 2-4-2T, and the other two, one also converted to 2-4-2T, were sold to the Port Talbot Railway. Both the Barry locomotives were gone by 1928, even though one received a major rebuild with a Metro boiler.     
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway L Class

These ten locos, built in 1914, discarded the old Barry standards and were a bigger loco overall with a much bigger boiler and a very large bunker. They were generally considered successful with the exception of a serious and strange flaw. When running forwards the rear coupled wheels had a tendency to switch points as they passed through them, sending the trailing bogie down the other branch. In reverse, they were fine. Naturally this resulted in an immediate derailment, and this was usually co
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway K Class

This first sketch is aimed at being post war, but pre grouping.   In 1899, the Barry railway desperately needed some new locomotives, but all British builders were at full capacity. To resolve this, the five locomotives of the K class was ordered from Cooke Loco and Machine Co in the USA. It seems the Barry railway really wanted something as close as possible to the B1 class and the Americans wanted to build something as close as possible to their standard product. The result was a dec
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR 322 Class Tank Engines

I'm not sure how I came to omit a sketch of this class from my book, but I certainly did. I included the tender version. Perhaps I was unsure how many drawings of similar looking pre-group pannier tanks should be included.    They have one of the more complex histories. The 322 class tale started in 1864. They were thirty 0-6-0 tender engines,  entirely of Beyer Peacock design, twenty ordered under the Gooch regime (322-341) and the rest (350-359) by Joseph Armstrong. They had plate (n
JimC

JimC in GWR Locomotive Sketches

5
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway D Class

I've rather struggled with this one. There were only four of them, and they were all built by one builder. How difficult can it be? Well, one source of confusion was that I had 4 drawings, one Barry weight diagram, two GWR weight diagrams and a distorted photo of a drawing by Trefor L. Jones, whose work is generally excellent, but I think may have been struggling with some of the same issues. They were contradictions all over the place. I also had few photos, and all of those were front 3/4 view
Rhymney Railway Locomotive Sketches

Rhymney Railway K Class 0-6-2ST/0-6-2PT

These were a version of the J class with a larger bunker, but I found more subtle differences than I expected. Again its very heavily indebted to the excellent WRRC volume on the Rhymney. This sketch represents a locomotive rather earlier in its career than the J class sketch, with the rather unusual long brass number plate.   Note that this one has Ramsbottom safety valves rather than the pop valves on the J. There was a horrific accident with one of these locomotives where a fit
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway J Class

The J Class. Another fairly early version of this sketch. Interesting to compare the J class 2-4-2T with the G Class 0-4-4T. They both use the standard Barry boiler and cylinders, but the J is a longer and heavier locomotive with considerably more coal and water capacity. Sadly I don't know enough about locomotive design to understand the pros and cons of the 0-4-4 and 2-4-2 wheel arrangements. I need to focus a bit more on the differences between the Sharp, Stewart and Hudswell Clarke versions
Barry Railway Locomotive Sketches

Barry Railway H Class

This is a early version sketch of a Barry H class. There are some puzzles. Photos appear to show a much narrower dome than the various weight diagrams, Barry and GW, which I've tried to reproduce. More problems come from the underframe being in shadows on most photographs. No brakes shoes on the leading driving wheel, and although I've drawn them the same, I have a suspicion the brake gear on the second pair of drivers was different to the other two. Finally the best profile shot of the L/H side
Smaller Absorbed Line Sketches

GWR 666 Class (ex Alexandra Docks & Railway or Brecon & Merthyr Railway, ex ROD, ex Inland Waterways. Kerr Stuart Victory Class)

The 'Victory' class was a class of ten built in 1917 for the Inland Waterways and Docks dept. Post war they were sold off by the Railways Operating Department, mostly to collieries. There's a detailed history here at Planet industrials.    The ADR bought two of these from the ROD. They had outside cylinders and were quite powerful locomotives. They were numbered 666/7 on absorption. They received a moderate Swindon rebuild. Another had been purchased by the Brecon & Merthyr. This l
GWR Locomotive Sketches

GWR Large Prairie Bunkers and Rear Tanks

I've sketched out the obvious principal variations in Large Prairie bunkers visible in Russell, both drawings and photos. I'm making the assumption that the lines of close spaced rivets on the bunker side did indeed follow the top seam of the water tank. It sees to me there must have been variations in coal and water capacity. I shall have to take a closer look at the RCTS volume.    
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