GWR 1000 Class

The Great Western Railway 1000 Class or County Class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. Thirty examples were built between 1945 and 1947, but all were withdrawn and scrapped in the early 1960s. No examples were preserved but a replica locomotive is under construction.

GWR 1000 "County" class
1013 County of Dorset at Gloucester Eastgate railway station, 1953.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Frederick Hawksworth Builder GWR Swindon Works Order number Lots 354, 358 Build date August 1945 – April 1947 Total produced 30
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-0  • UIC 2'Ch2 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Leading dia. 3 ft 0 in (914 mm) Driver dia. 6 ft 3 in (1,905 mm) Minimum curve 8 chains (528 ft; 161 m) normal, 7 chains (462 ft; 141 m) slow Length 63 ft 0 ^1⁄4 in (19.21 m) Width 8 ft 11 ^1⁄8 in (2.721 m) Height 13 ft 5 in (4.089 m) Axle load 19 long tons 14 cwt (44,100 lb or 20 t) (22.1 short tons) full Adhesive weight 59 long tons 2 cwt (132,400 lb or 60 t) (66.2 short tons) full Loco weight 76 long tons 17 cwt (172,100 lb or 78.1 t) (86.1 short tons)full Tender weight 49 long tons 0 cwt (109,800 lb or 49.8 t) (54.9 short tons) full Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 7 long tons 0 cwt (15,700 lb or 7.1 t) (7.8 short tons) Water cap 4,000 imp gal (18,000 l; 4,800 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 28.84 sq ft (2.679 m^2) Boiler GWR type 15 Boiler pressure 280 psi (1.93 MPa) later reduced to 250 psi (1.72 MPa) Heating surface:  • Tubes and flues 1,545.0 sq ft (143.54 m^2)  • Firebox 169.0 sq ft (15.70 m^2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 254.0 sq ft (23.60 m^2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 18.5 in × 30 in (470 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Stephenson Valve type piston valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 32,580 lbf (144.92 kN), later reduced to 29,090 lbf (129.40 kN)
Career Operators Great Western Railway British Railways Class GWR: 1000 Power class GWR: D BR: 6MT Numbers 1000–1029 Axle load class GWR: Red Retired September 1962 – November 1964 Disposition All original locomotives scrapped; replica under construction

Background

These locomotives were the final and most powerful development of the two-cylinder Saint Class introduced in 1901 and included several features that had already been used on the successful Modified Hall class.[1]

The Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GWR Frederick W. Hawksworth had hoped to design a new 4-6-2 (Pacific) express locomotive for post war traffic, when he took up office in 1941 but had been prevented by the war from doing so.[2] This scheme was not entirely dead in 1945 when he was given the authority to build another batch of mixed traffic 4-6-0s. Rather than build more examples of existing designs, Hawksworth introduced the County Class as a testbed for a number of the ideas he hoped to incorporate into the Pacific at a later date.[3] Hawksworth was not subsequently allowed to build his Pacific, as there was no need for further express passenger locomotives.

Design

In addition to the innovations already adopted for the Modified Hall class, the new class contained several further changes from usual Great Western practice including the use of double chimneys on certain members and a high boiler pressure of 280psi (although this was later lowered in an attempt to reduce maintenance costs). The boiler was a development that used the tooling for the LMS Stanier Class 8F boiler, Hawksworth being able to study this design closely when 8Fs were being built at Swindon as part of the war effort.[1] The class initially had a tractive effort of 32,580 lbf (144.92 kN), which was =1,000 lbf (4.45 kN) greater than a Castle Class locomotive, although the tractive effort was reduced to 29,090 lbf (129.40 kN) when the boiler pressure was lowered. The class had continuous splashers over the driving wheels and, when named, straight nameplates, making them immediately recognisable from other 4-6-0 classes. They were also fitted with Hawksworth’s 4,000 imp gal (18,000 l; 4,800 US gal) slab-sided tenders, but the County tenders had a water tank six inches wider than the tenders built for the Modified Halls and retro-fitted to many earlier designs.

Some of the early design studies for what became the County included outside Walschaerts valve gear which would have been a major break from traditional GWR designs. In the event the standard inside Stephenson link motion of the Churchward and Collett two cylinder classes was used. The GWR 1500 Class, also designed by Hawksworth, used outside Walschaerts[lower-roman 1] as did the steam railcar units designed under Churchward and the narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol 2-6-2T.

Production

The first batch of twenty were built at Swindon Works and delivered between August 1945 and March 1946 (Lot No. 354). They were originally unnamed and were planned to be numbered in the 9900 series, but this was changed to 1000-1019 before introduction.[1] A second batch of ten further locomotives (1020-1029) were built between April 1946 and April 1947 (Swindon Lot 358). The second batch were given names English and Welsh Counties previously used on the GWR 3800 Class of 4-4-0 tender locomotives that were part of George Jackson Churchward's locomotive standardisation programme in the early days of the 20th century.

Operation

1011 'County of Chester' at Bristol Temple Meads 1963

The Counties had a mixed reception: some traditionalists regarded them as ‘non-standard, expensive and unnecessary,’[4] others considered them a successful, free steaming design, well suited to express or freight work and a fitting finale to GW two-cylinder 4-6-0 development. According to O.S. Nock ‘their best and really brilliant work was done north of Wolverhampton where they ran very heavy trains with conspicuous success.’[5]

1019 County of Merioneth at Bristol Temple Meads, 1960

British Railways

After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 all 30 Counties continued to do useful work throughout the Western Region of British Railways, working with Castles on expresses to and from Paddington as well as more menial freight and parcels tasks. BR gave the Counties the power classification 6MT.[6] Speedometers were fitted to the class from 1950 and modified double from 1956.

Withdrawal

Withdrawals of the class took place between September 1962 and November 1964. No. 1011 County of Chester was the last of the class withdrawn. It was placed in storage before being sold to Cashmore’s scrapyard in Newport where it was cut up in March 1965, and all were scrapped.

Table of withdrawals

Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Number withdrawn	Quantity withdrawn	Locomotive numbers
1962	30	9	9	1003–04/07/15/17–18/22/26/29.
1963	21	13	22	1001–02/05–06/08–09/16/19/21/23/25/27–28.
1964	8	8	30	1000/10–14/20/24.

Preservation

However a replica is being built at the Didcot Railway Centre, home of the Great Western Society. When completed it will take the name and number of No. 1014 County of Glamorgan in recognition of the late Dai Woodham's Barry Scrapyard in Glamorganshire from which many withdrawn steam locomotives were saved for preservation. Also Glamorganshire County Council donated the frames and boiler for the project. The replica is based around the frames from Modified Hall Class 7927 Willington Hall and the boiler from LMS Stanier 8F 48518. The boiler from the Hall will be used in the replica Grange project at the Llangollen Railway. It will also have a number of smaller original parts off scrapped County locomotives including the chimney from 1006 County of Cornwall.

Models

Hornby Railways manufacture a model of the 10xx in OO gauge.

Stock list

Number	Name	Built	Withdrawn	Scrapped	Notes
1000	County of Middlesex	August 1945	July 1964	Cashmore, Newport
1001	County of Buckingham	September 1945	May 1963	Cashmore, Newport
1002	County of Berks	September 1945	September 1963	Ward, Sheffield
1003	County of Wilts	October 1945	October 1962	Cashmore, Newport
1004	County of Somerset	October 1945	September 1962	Cashmore, Newport
1005	County of Devon	November 1945	June 1963	Cashmore, Newport
1006	County of Cornwall	November 1945	September 1963	Cooper, Sharpness	Chimney donated to replica 1014 County of Glamorgan project[7]
1007	County of Brecknock	December 1945	October 1962	King, Norwich
1008	County of Cardigan	December 1945	October 1963	Cashmore, Newport
1009	County of Carmarthen	December 1945	February 1963	Swindon Works
1010	County of Caernarvon	January 1946	July 1964	Cashmore, Newport	Name originally spelled County of Carnarvon
1011	County of Chester	January 1946	November 1964	Cashmore, Newport	Last to be withdrawn. Regulator donated to replica 1014 County of Glamorgan project
1012	County of Denbigh	February 1946	April 1964	Cashmore, Newport
1013	County of Dorset	February 1946	July 1964	Cashmore, Newport
1014	County of Glamorgan	February 1946	April 1964	Cashmore, Newport	Replica under construction
1015	County of Gloucester	March 1946	December 1962	Cashmore, Newport
1016	County of Hants[8]	March 1946	September 1963	Ward, Sheffield
1017	County of Hereford	March 1946	December 1962	Ward, Sheffield
1018	County of Leicester	March 1946	September 1962	King, Norwich
1019	County of Merioneth	April 1946	February 1963	Cashmore, Great Bridge
1020	County of Monmouth	December 1946	February 1964	Hayes, Bridgend
1021	County of Montgomery	December 1946	November 1963	Hayes, Bridgend
1022	County of Northampton	December 1946	October 1962	Ward, Sheffield
1023	County of Oxford	January 1947	March 1963	Swindon Works
1024	County of Pembroke	January 1947	April 1964	Swindon Works	Reverser donated to replica 1014 County of Glamorgan project
1025	County of Radnor	January 1947	February 1963	Cashmore, Great Bridge
1026	County of Salop	January 1947	September 1962	Ward, Sheffield
1027	County of Stafford	March 1947	October 1963	Cooper, Sharpness
1028	County of Warwick	March 1947	December 1963	Birds, Risca
1029	County of Worcester	April 1947	December 1962	Cashmore, Newport

Notes

1. Lack of clearance around the large and low-set cylinders of the 15xx required a modified layout for the anchor link from the crosshead

See also

• List of GWR standard classes with two outside cylinders

References

1. le Fleming 1960, p. H37.
2. Nock 1984, pp. 94-96.
3. Nock 1984, p. 97.
4. Marshall, John (1978). A biographical dictionary of railway engineers. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. p. 109. ISBN 0715374893.
5. Nock 1984, p. 98.
6. le Fleming 1960, p. H39.
7. "Locomotive - Initial Progress (2005)" (PDF). 1014 The G.W. County Project. 2005. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
8. le Fleming 1960, p. H38.

• le Fleming, H.M. (November 1960) [1953]. White, D.E. (ed.). Part 8: Modern Passenger Classes. The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway (2nd ed.). Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-19-3.
• Nock, Oswald Stevens (1984). British Locomotives of the Twentieth Century. 2: 1930-1960. London: Book Club Associates.
• Whitehurst, Brian (1973). Great Western Engines, Names, Numbers, Types and Classes (1940 to Preservation). Oxford, UK: Oxford Publishing Company. pp. 16, 103, 124. ISBN 978-0-9028-8821-0. OCLC 815661.

External links

• 1000 'County' class
• GWR Class 1000 4-6-0 County
• Details of County to be built at Didcot Railway Centre