Information AboutGwr 4073 Class |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GWR 4073 CLASS | |
| great western railway locomotives | |
| 4073 | |
| 4-6-0 locomotives | |
| 1923 introductions | |
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The Castle class locomotives were a group of 4-6-0 steam locomotive of the Great Western Railway . They were originally designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett , for working the company's express passenger trains. HISTORY A development of the earlier Star Class , one hundred and sixty-five (165) were built, over a 25 year span from August 1923 to August 1950 . They were numbered 4073–4099; 5000–5099; 7000–7037. Although most were built new, sixteen locos were rebuilt from older locomotives—fifteen Star Class locomotives; and the Great Western Railway 's sole 4-6-2 locomotive, number 111 ''The Great Bear'' . The Castle class was noted for superb performance on the '', pulled by 5006 ''Tregenna Castle'', the train covered 77 miles (124 km) from Swindon to Paddington at an average speed of 81.68 miles per hour (131.45 km/h). This world record for steam traction was widely regarded as an astonishing feat. In 1926, number 5000 ''Launceston Castle'' was loaned to the London, Midland And Scottish Railway where it ran trials between London to Carlisle . It was rumoured that LMS tried to persuade GWR to build a batch of Castles for use on the West Coast Main Line. Withdrawal started in the 1950s; the last to be withdrawn was ''Clun Castle''. Eight survive in preservation as either working examples or static exhibits, including 4073 ''Caerphilly Castle'' , 4079 ''Pendennis Castle'' , 5029 ''Nunney Castle'' , 5043 ''Earl Of Mount Edgcumbe'' (Banbury Castle), 5051 ''Earl Bathurst'' (Drysllwyn Castle), 5080 ''Defiant'' (Ogmore Castle), 7027 ''Thornbury Castle'' , and 7029 ''Clun Castle'' . SPECIFICATIONS Cylinders: 4; 16 in (406 mm) diameter, 26 in (660 mm) stroke Valve gear: inside cylinders – Walschaert 's; outside cylinders – derived from inside cylinders via rocking bars. Valves: piston valves Boiler presure: 225 lbf/in² (1.55 MPa) Driving wheel diameter: 6 ft 8.5 in (2.04 m) Tractive Effort: 31,625 lbf (140.675 kN) Engine weight: 79 Ton s 17 cwt (81.1 Mg ) Tender weight: 46 tons 14 cwt (47.44 Mg) LIST OF LOCOMOTIVES REFERENCES Collett & Hawksworth Locomotives—A Pictorial History, Brian Haresnape, Ian Allen Ltd, 1978, ISBN 0-7110-0869-8 EXTERNAL LINKS
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