The Great Western Railway had an uninterrupted life of over a century to develop its locomotive designs as it was barely unaffected by the Grouping of 1923. As a result its locomotive history is a long and interesting one. For an explanation of numbering and classification, see British Locomotive and Multiple Unit Numbering and Classification.

Contents

1 Background 1.1 1912 Renumbering 1.2 Post-Nationalisation 1.3 Withdrawal 2 Great Western Railway Broad Gauge Locomotives 2.1 Sir Daniel Gooch Locomotives (1837-1864) 2.2 Joseph Armstrong Locomotives (1864-1877) 3 Great Western Railway Standard Gauge Locomotives 3.1 Joseph Armstrong Locomotives (1858-1864) 3.2 George Armstrong Locomotives (1864-1897) 3.3 William Dean Locomotives (1877-1902) 3.4 George Jackson Churchward Locomotives (1902-1922) 3.5 Charles Collett Locomotives (1922-1941) 3.6 Frederick Hawksworth Locomotives (1941-1949) 4 Locomotives of Constituent Companies 4.1 Vale of Rheidol Railway

Background

1912 Renumbering

In December 1912, the GWR undertook a renumbering of its 4-4-0 locomotives so that locomotives of the same class were numbered consecutively. This desirable aim was made more important following the rebuilding of some Duke and Atbara locomotives to Bulldog and City class designs.

Class	Original Numbers	New Number Range
Atbara	3373-3412	4120-4148 (others rebuilt to City)
Badminton	3292-3311	4100-4119
Bird	3731-3745	3441-3455
Bulldog (ex-Duke)	Various (from 3253-3331)	3300-3319
Bulldog (new build)	3332-3372, 3413-3432, 3443-3472, 3701-3730	3320-3440
City (ex-Atbara)	3400-3409	3700-3709
City (new build)	3433-3442	3710-3719
County	3473-3482, 3801-3830	3800, 3831-3839 (3801-3830 not renumbered)
Duke	3252-3291, 3312-3331	3252-3291 (others rebuilt to Bulldog)
Flower	4101-4120	4149-4168
(Prototypes)	16, 14, 7, 8	4169-4172

Post-Nationalisation

British Rail continued to build GWR designs (the 1000, 1500, 1600, 4073 and 6959 classes in particular) immediately after Nationalisation. When the first BR Standard steam locomotives started to arrive, they were often compared unfavourably to ex-GWR locos, and the Western Region decided to take forward experiemnts with diesel-hydraulic and gas turbine locomotives.

Withdrawal

Withdrawal of ex-GWR locomotives took place earlier than for the other 'Big Four' companies as the Western Region took the decision to be the first to end steam traction. A handful of locomotives that had been transferred to other regions did survive for longer however. Ironically, because the Barry scrapyard received large numbers of ex-GWR locomotives, proportionately more survive today in preservation than the locomotives of the other companies.

Great Western Railway Broad Gauge Locomotives

Sir Daniel Gooch Locomotives (1837-1864)

• Early Broad Gauge Locomotives
• Ariadne Class
• Banking Class
• Bogie Class
• Caesar Class
• Caliph Class
• Firefly Class
• Iron Duke Class (First design)
• Leo Class
• Metropolitan Class
• Premier Class
• Prince Class
• Pyracmon Class
• Star Class
• Sun Class
• Victoria Class
• Waverley Class

Joseph Armstrong Locomotives (1864-1877)

• Hawthorn Class
• Iron Duke Class (Second design)
• Sir Watkin Class
• Swindon Class

Great Western Railway Standard Gauge Locomotives

Joseph Armstrong Locomotives (1858-1864)

George Armstrong Locomotives (1864-1897)

William Dean Locomotives (1877-1902)

• Dean Goods Class: 23xx, 24xx, 25xx
• Aberdare Class: 2600–2680
• Dean Single Class: 3000–3080
• Duke Class: 3252–3291 (1912 number range)
• Bulldog & Bird Classes: 3300–3455 (1912 number range)
• 3600 Class: 3600–3630
• Badminton, Atbara & Flower Classes: 4100–4172 (1912 number range)

George Jackson Churchward Locomotives (1902-1922)

• The Great Bear: 111
• 1361 Class: 1361–1365
• County Tank Class: 2221–2250
• 2800 Class: 2800–2899, 3800–3866
• Saint Class: 2900–2998 (with gaps)
• City Class: 3700–3719
• County Class: 3800–3839
• Star Class: 4000–4072
• 4200 Class: 42xx, 52xx
• 4300 Class: 43xx, 53xx, 63xx, 73xx, 93xx
• 4400 Class: 4400–4410
• 4500 Class: 4500–4574
• 4700 Class: 4700–4708

Charles Collett Locomotives (1922-1941)

• 1366 Class: 1366–1371
• 2251 Class: 2200–2299; 3200–3219
• Earl Class: 3200–3228 (later 90xx)
• Castle Class: 4073–4099, 5000–5099, 7000–7037
• 4575 Class: 4575–4599, 5500–5574
• 4800 Class: 4800–4874 (later 14xx)
• Hall Class: 4900–4999, 5900–5999, 6900–6958
• 5100 Class: 51xx, 41xx, 61xx, 81xx, 31xx
• 5400 Class: 5400–5424
• 5600 Class: 5600–5699, 6600–6699
• 5700 Class: 57xx, 67xx, 77xx, 87xx, 97xx, 36xx, 37xx, 46xx, 96xx
• 5800 Class: 5800–5819
• King Class: 6000–6029
• 6400 Class: 6400–6439
• Grange Class: 6800–6879
• 7200 Class: 7200–7253
• 7400 Class: 7400–7449
• Manor Class: 7800–7829

Frederick Hawksworth Locomotives (1941-1949)

• County Class: 1000–1029
• 1500 Class: 1500–1509
• 1600 Class: 1600–1669
• Modified Hall Class: 6959–6999, 7900–7929
• 9400 Class: 9400–9499, 8400–8499, 3400–3409

Locomotives of Constituent Companies

Vale of Rheidol Railway

GWR 7-9