This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(December 2014) |
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The Great Western Railway (GWR) 9400 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive, used for shunting and banking duties.
The first ten 9400s were the last steam engines built by the GWR. After nationalisation in 1948, another 200 were built by private contractors for British Railways (BR). Most had very short working lives as the duties for which they were designed disappeared through changes in working practices or were taken over by diesel locomotives. Two locomotives survived into preservation, with the oldest of the class, 9400 as part of the National Collection.
The 9400 class was the final development in a long lineage of tank locomotives that can be directly traced to the 645 Class of 1872. Over the decades details altered, the most significant being the adoption of Belpaire fireboxes necessitating pannier tanks.
The 9400 resembled a pannier tank version of the 2251 class, and indeed shared the same boiler and cylinders as the 2251, but was in fact a taper-boilered development of the 8750 subgroup of the 5700 class. The advantage was a useful increase in boiler power, but there was a significant weight penalty that restricted route availability. The 10 GWR-built locomotives had superheaters but the remainder did not.
The first ten 9400s were built by the Great Western and were the last steam engines built by the company. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, private contractors built another 200 for British Railways.
The 9400s were numbered 9400–9499, 8400–8499 and 3400–3409. BR gave them the power classification 4F.
Lot No. | Fleet Nos. | Manufacturer | Serial Nos. | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
365 | 9400–9409 | Swindon Works | — | 1947 | |
382 | 9410–9459 | Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns | 7547–7596 | 1950–1951 | |
383 | 9460–9489 | Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns | 7611–7640 | 1950–1953 | |
384 | 8400–8449 | W. G. Bagnall | 2910–2959 | 1949–1954 | |
385 | 8450–8479 | Yorkshire Engine Company | 2443–65/67–71/66/72 | 1949–1952 | |
386 | 8480–8499 | Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns | 7450–7469 | 1952 | under subcontract from Hudswell Clarke |
387 | 9490–9499 | Yorkshire Engine Company | 2544–2553 | 1954–1955 | under subcontract from Hunslet Engine Company |
387 | 3400–3409 | Yorkshire Engine Company | 2575–2584 | 1955–1956 | under subcontract from Hunslet Engine Company |
No. 3409 was the last locomotive built for British mainline use by private contractors, as well as the last steam locomotive built for British Railways to a pre-nationalisation design. It was ordered by GWR in December 1947 and delivered by Yorkshire Engine Company in October 1956. [3]
The 9400 class migrated to most parts of the former GWR, with many based in South Wales and at Old Oak Common. Here they were used on Paddington empty stock work right up to the end of steam on the Western Region of British Railways. A familiar sight at the buffer stops at departure side in 1964–1965 was a filthy 9400 class locomotive devoid of number plates simmering at the head of a rake of British Railways Mark 1 coaches.[ citation needed ]
Numbers 8400 to 8406 served as bank engines on the Lickey Incline after its transferral to the Western Region.
Two have been preserved:
GWR/BR No. | TOPS No. | Home base | Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
9400 | n/a | Swindon Steam Railway Museum | Part of the National Railway Collection | |
9466 | 98466 | West Somerset Railway | The locomotive is operational and mainline certified. Frequent visitor to the Mid-Norfolk Railway, the Metropolitan Line and other lines running charters, including a special funeral train for its owner. Formerly based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre privately owned by Dennis B Howells until his death in 2018, [4] the locomotive was subsequently sold to JJP Holdings South West Ltd and was based at the West Somerset Railway after a short return visit to the Mid-Norfolk Railway. [5] It was resident at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway where it was to remain until its boiler ticket expires at the end of 2025. [6] [7] It has since moved back to the West Somerset Railway in early 2022 following analysis of weight restrictions on the line which concluded that the locomotive was safe to operate on the line once again. It will operate on the West Somerset Railway until its boiler ticket expires in 2025. [8] |
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