GWR Queen Class

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GWR 55 Queen class
GWR Queen Class Ans 05373-0692.jpg
Locomotive No. 999 Sir Alexander ca. 1885
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderGWR Swindon Works
Order numberLots 33, 34
Serial number482, 583–602
Build date1873–1875
Total produced21
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 2-2-2
   UIC 1A1 n2
Driver dia.7 ft 0 in (2.134 m)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 18 in × 24 in (457 mm × 610 mm)
Career
Operators Great Western Railway
Numbers55, 999–1000, 1116–1133
Withdrawn1903–1914
DispositionAll scrapped

The Queen Class was Joseph Armstrong's last class of 2-2-2 express engine for the Great Western Railway, larger than the Sir Daniel Class of about a decade earlier. They worked express trains for almost 30 years, and were in effect the predecessors of the larger Singles of William Dean.

Contents

The locomotives

The "Queens" started life as a single prototype, No. 55 Queen herself, built at Swindon in 1873. A further 20 locomotives were constructed in 1875, numbered 999, 1000 and 1116–1133. No. 999 was named Sir Alexander and sometimes the later series is referred to as the Sir Alexander Class, though in fact the locomotives were essentially the same as No. 55. [1] They all had 7 ft 0 in (2.134 m) diameter driving wheels and 18-by-24-inch (457 mm × 610 mm) cylinders. The class's duties were the expresses on the London-Swindon-Gloucester and London-Wolverhampton routes. [2] Accordingly, No. 55 became the principal GWR royal locomotive, carrying the royal coat of arms for royal journeys, though sometimes this decoration was applied to other, substitute engines.

As with many GWR locomotives of the time, the individual members of the class were much modified in detail, at Wolverhampton as well as Swindon, with the addition of cabs, different chimneys and various types of boiler; some in their later years had Belpaire fireboxes, which gave a much more modern appearance. After 1900, the class was demoted to secondary duties in various parts of the system, and all were withdrawn between 1903 and 1914. All but a handful of these engines had one million miles (1,600,000 km) to their credit at the time of withdrawal.

Names

Ten of the class carried names, as follows:

References

  1. Holcroft (1953), p. 70.
  2. Tabor (1956), pp. D12–D15.
  3. Tabor (1956), p. D13.

Sources