GWR Metropolitan Class

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GWR Metropolitan class
Metropolitan Railway, Praed Street Junction.jpg
Metropolitan tank locomotive beneath Praed Street. looking towards Edgware Road
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Designer Daniel Gooch
Builder
Serial number
  • Kitson: 976–981
  • VF: 484–489
Build date1862–1864
Total produced22
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 2-4-0 T , seven rebuilt as 2-4-0
Gauge 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Leading dia. 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) [1]
Driver dia.6 ft 0 in (1,829 mm) [1]
Wheelbase 15 ft 6 in (4,724 mm)
Water cap.718 imp gal (3,260 l; 862 US gal)
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size 16 in × 24 in (406 mm × 610 mm) [1]
Career
Operators Great Western Railway
Withdrawn1871–1877
DispositionAll scrapped

The Great Western Railway Metropolitan Class 2-4-0 T broad gauge steam locomotives with condensing apparatus were used for working trains on the Metropolitan Railway. The equipment was later removed, though the class continued to work suburban trains on GWR lines in London. The class was introduced into service between June 1862 and October 1864, and withdrawn between June 1871 and December 1877.

Twenty-two locomotives were built to the 2-4-0 T tank locomotive arrangement from 1862 to 1864. [1] The locomotives were built by three workshops, each with a different naming system. The first two batches were delivered concurrently by the Vulcan Foundry (named after insects), and Kitson & Co. (named after foreign monarchs). These were followed by a batch from the railway's own workshops at Swindon, that were named after flowers.

Around 1865, seven of the class were rebuilt as 2-4-0 tender locomotives: Hornet, Mogul, Azalia, Lily, Myrtle, Violet, Laurel. [2]

All were withdrawn between 1871 (Czar) and 1877 (Rose & Shamrock). [2]

Locomotives

Built at Swindon, it ran as a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. Named after the flower, the azalea.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry. Named after the insect, the bee.
Built by Kitson & Co. Named after a bey who was a Turkish chieftain.
Built at Swindon. Named after the flower, the camellia.
Built by Kitson & Co. The czar was the emperor of Russia.
Built at Swindon. Named after a symbolic flower, the fleur-de-lis.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry. Named after the insect, the gnat.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry, it was later altered to a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. Named after the insect, the hornet.
Built by Kitson & Co. A kaiser was an emperor of Austria or Germany.
Built by Kitson & Co. A khan was an Asian leader.
Built at Swindon, it ran as a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. Named after the tree, the laurel.
Built at Swindon, it ran as a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. After withdrawal the boiler was sold to the Telegraph Construction Company who used it as a stationary boiler on board the SS Great Eastern. Named after the lily family of flowers.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry. Named after the insect, the locust.
Built by Kitson & Co, it was later altered to a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. A mogul was the leader of the Mughals.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry. Named after the insect, the mosquito.
Built at Swindon, it ran as a 2-4-0 tender locomotive. Named after the myrtle genus of flowering plants.
Built at Swindon. Named after the flowering shrub, the rose, the symbol of England.
Built by Kitson & Co. The shah was the ruler of Persia.
Built at Swindon. Named after the flowering plant, the shamrock, the symbol of Ireland.
Built at Swindon. Named after the thistle family of flowering plants, the symbol of Scotland.
Built at Swindon. Named after the flower, the violet.
Built by the Vulcan Foundry. Named after the insect, the wasp.

Related Research Articles

Great Western Railway British railway company (1833-1947)

The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest and west of England, the West Midlands and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft —later slightly widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in —but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892.

4-4-0 Locomotive wheel arrangement

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2-6-0 Locomotive wheel arrangement

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul.

Vulcan Foundry

The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire.

Locomotives of the Great Western Railway List of railway locomotives used by the Great Western Railway

The first Locomotives of the Great Western Railway (GWR) were specified by Isambard Kingdom Brunel but Daniel Gooch was soon appointed as the railway's Locomotive Superintendent. He designed several different 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge types for the growing railway, such as the Firefly and later Iron Duke Class 2-2-2s. In 1864 Gooch was succeeded by Joseph Armstrong who brought his standard gauge experience to the workshops at Swindon. To replace some of the earlier locomotives, he put broad gauge wheels on his standard gauge locomotives and from this time on all locomotives were given numbers, including the broad gauge ones that had previously carried just names.

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Joseph Armstrong (engineer) English locomotive engineer

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The 26 Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-4-0ST locomotives were broad gauge 4-4-0ST steam locomotives. They first entered service in 1855 and the last was withdrawn in 1892. The Bristol and Exeter Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876.

Bristol and Exeter Railway 4-2-2 locomotives

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Vale of Neath Railway 0-6-0ST locomotives were 0-6-0ST steam locomotives for working the heavy goods traffic on the Vale of Neath Railway and its associated lines in Wales. The first of 13 broad gauge locomotives entered service in 1854 and the last was withdrawn in 1886. The remaining four were standard gauge locomotives.

The GWR 378 Class was a class of 30 standard-gauge 2-2-2 steam locomotives on the Great Western Railway in Britain. They were introduced in 1866, and the class remained intact until 1898. Several were altered to the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, and the last was withdrawn from service in 1920.

The Daniel Gooch standard gauge locomotives comprise several classes of locomotives designed by Daniel Gooch, Superintendent of Locomotive Engines for the Great Western Railway (GWR) from 1837 to 1864.

Indian locomotive class WG

The Indian Railways WG class was a type of broad gauge 2-8-2 goods locomotive introduced in the 1950s. 2,450 of the class were built between 1950 and 1970.

Indian locomotive class XP

The Indian locomotive class XP was a class of experimental 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotives used on 5 ft 6 in broad gauge lines in India.

Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-2

The Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-2 of 1860 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sheppard 2008 , p. 28, Metropolitan, 2-4-0T
  2. 1 2 Sheppard 2008 , p. 24, Metropolitan, 2-4-0
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