Great Western Railways

The Great Western Railway was also known as "God's Wonderful Railway", since it was deemed by many to be the epitome of railway design. That is a very Anglocentric view, but nevertheless reflects the passion with which some people upheld all things GWR. For my money, the distinctive copper capped chimneys and brass safety valve surrounds served to set the GWR sufficiently apart and thereby sanctify them!

Image : dir=br/gwr/ page=index 72913 bytes, 800x600 pixels
Date : June 2004, catalogued 04 Sep 2004
Photographer : Stewart Hughes
Medium : email digital image
Description : Stewart writes:
here's a beautiful shot of a Dukedog currently in superb condition and at Sheffield Park on the Bluebell Line. It's 9017 4-4-0 Earl of Berkeley and is the same class as the famous City of Truro.
Having not heard of a "Dukedog class before, I looked it up - it was not in my trusty little Observer's Book of Railway Locomotives of Britain , although it was mentioned as 3217 Earl of Berkeley in Gerald Nabarro's Steam Nostalgia book, and a photo of its chassis appears at 3217-1 (above). A bit of digging on the web, and I found this:
"Dukedog" were an combination a Bulldog and a Duke, this loco is older than the "building" date suggests. The 1938 rebuild of 3217 used the frames from "Bulldog" No.3425 (built 1906) and boiler and cab from "Duke" class No.3282 (originally named "Chepstow Castle" and built in 1899). A few of the class carried the names of Earls, but 3217 did not receive its allocated name until preservation days.
(from Paul Pettit's Heritage Railway Photograhs )

4073 Caerphilly Castle

4160

4277

4588

5700 Class Pannier Tank

Castle Class

Image : dir=br/gwr/ page=index 103766 bytes, pixels
Date : 24 May 1980, catalogued 16 Jan 1999
Photographer : John Hurst
Medium : Kodachrome, slide number 9307
Description :
According to Sir Gerald Nabarro in his book "Steam Nostalgia", there were 3 locomotives named Drysllwyn Castle (5051,5076,7018), and that none of them existed in 1972. Yet here it is on the 24 May 1980, taking part in the Rocket 150 Cavalcade. The loco is not listed in the Cavalcade Guide Book, so unless some gentle reader can fill me in, I'm afraid I can't really say very much about this loco at all!

Paul Gill (paul@versatile-system.com) writes:

"Saw your photo of this locomotive, and your question about its name. During the 50's and 60's this loco sported the name of Earl Bathurst which is how I saw it at Oxford Station during my trainspotting days in the early 60's.

"When the Great Western Society bought it from Barry scrapyard they chose to have it display alternately both names. Drysllwyn Castle was the name it had in its earlier years. When I saw it again in 1990 at Didcot it had the Earl Bathurst nameplates again, so I have never seen it as Drysllwyn Castle ."

My thanks to Paul for this update.

King Class

Image : dir=br/gwr/ page=index 109118 bytes, 886x597 pixels
Date : Aug 1999, catalogued 09 Sep 2000
Photographer : Stewart Hughes
Medium : digital camera (Sony DSC-505), image location KingEdwardI
Description : Stewart Hughes writes:

This is a detail of King Richard I the pride of the GWR system and as a child my very favourite class of loco. 6000 class 4-6-0 6024. The shed plate 81A shows it lived at Old Oak Common shed which was the main GWR shed at Paddington, the London terminus. This stunning restoration is at the shed at the Didcot Railway Centre.

I spent my youth living first at High Wycombe, on the Paddington - Wolverhampton line, then at Burnham on the Paddington west coast main line. Kings were used on virtually all long distance express passenger trains on those two lines.

(Am I getting overly nostalgic??!!)

Manor Class

Miscellaneous

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