The GWR 1854 Class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives designed by William Dean and constructed at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. The class used similar inside frames and chassis dimensions to the 1813 Class of 1882-4. In this they differed from the intervening 1661 Class, which had reverted to the double frames of the Armstrong era. Thus the 1854 Class belongs to the "mainstream" of GWR 0-6-0T classes that leads towards the larger GWR pannier tanks of the 20th century.

GWR 1854 class
No. 1793 after rebuilding with pannier tanks
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilliam Dean
BuilderGWR Swindon Works
Order numberLots 79, 83, 85, 88, 89, 98
Serial number1159–1178, 1201–1220, 1241–1260, 1301–1340, 1433–1452
Build date1890–1895
Total produced120
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte0-6-0T
 • UICC n2t
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Frame typeInside, plate
CylindersTwo, inside
Career
Operators
DispositionAll scrapped

Production

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The 120 1854s were built in six batches between 1890 and 1895:

Table of orders and numbers[1]
Year Quantity Lot No. Works Nos. Locomotive numbers Notes
1890 20 79 1159–1178 1854–1873
1890–91 20 83 1201–1220 1874–1893
1891 20 85 1241–1260 1701–1720
1892 20 88 1301–1320 1721–1740
1892–93 20 89 1321–1340 1751–1770
1895 20 98 1433–1452 905–907, 1791–1800, 1894–1900

Rebuilding

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The engines were rebuilt during their working lives with various forms of boiler and saddle tanks, and they were also rebuilt as pannier tanks between 1909 and 1932 as Belpaire fireboxes were fitted. Most of the class worked in the GWR's Southern Division, the majority of them in South Wales. Two examples were to be found in the GWR London Division at time of nationalisation. Numbers 907 and 1861 were allocated to 81E (Didcot) in August 1950.[2] All achieved one million miles (1,600,000 km), and 23 of the class passed into British Railways stock in 1948, the last of them being withdrawn in 1951.[3]

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 3 September 1942, a Luftwaffe Ju 88 aircraft attacked the area around Castle Cary station and goods yard. No. 1729 was hit by a bomb, killing the driver. Another bomb hit a signal box, killing the signalman.[4] No. 1729 was later scrapped, and was one of two GWR locomotives damaged beyond repair in Britain during World War II. The other was GWR 4900 Class No. 4911 Bowden Hall.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Allcock et al. (1968), pp. 27–27.
  2. ^ Allan (1975), Locoshed Book, nos. 1–9999, pp. 5,6.
  3. ^ le Fleming (1958), pp. E63–E67.
  4. ^ Bryan (1995), p. 115.
  5. ^ Stewart-David & Wood (2014), p. 50.

Sources

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  • Allcock, N. J.; Davies, F. K.; le Fleming, H. M.; Maskelyne, J. N.; Reed, P. J. T.; Tabor, F. J. (1968) [1951]. White, D. E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part one: Preliminary Survey. Kenilworth: RCTS.
  • Bryan, Tim (1995). The Great Western at War 1939–1945 (1 ed.). Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-479-4. OCLC 60238810.
  • le Fleming, H. M. (April 1958). White, D. E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part five: Six-coupled Tank Engines. RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-35-5. OCLC 500544510.
  • Stewart-David, David; Wood, Peter (2 July 2014). "The role of railways in the Second World War". The Railway Magazine. 160 (1, 360). Horncastle, Lincs, UK: Mortons Media. ISSN 0033-8923.
  • British Railways Locomotives 1948–50. Shepperton: Ian Allan. March 1975. ISBN 0-7110-0401-3. 577 DM 375.