GWR River Class

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GWR 69 River class
GWR River Class No. 70 Dart.jpg
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Designer William Dean
Builder Swindon Works
Order number103
Serial number(none)
Build date1895–1897
Total produced8
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 2-4-0
   UIC 1B n2
Gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.6 ft 8 in (2.032 m)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm)
Career
Operators Great Western Railway
Numbers69–76

The 69 Class designed by William Dean for the Great Western Railway consisted of eight 2-4-0 tender locomotives, constructed at Swindon Works between 1895 and 1897. Nominally they were renewals of eight 2-2-2 engines that carried the same numbers, these themselves having been renewals by George Armstrong at Wolverhampton of 2-2-2 s designed by Daniel Gooch as long ago as 1855.

In truth the Dean engines were in effect new engines, the only re-used parts being some recently fitted boilers of Swindon pattern. They had 6 ft 8 in (2.032 m) driving wheels and 17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm) cylinders. 2-4-0 s, being mixed-traffic engines, were not usually named on the GWR, but all of the 69s did carry names, as follows:

The "Rivers" were originally allocated to Oxford, and later moved to the Bristol division. They were not long-lived as 2-4-0 s, the last being withdrawn in 1918. [1]

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References

  1. Tabor 1956, pp. D43–D44.

Sources