GWR 1854 Class

The GWR 1854 Class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives designed by William Dean and constructed at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. The class used similar inside frames and chassis dimensions to the 1813 Class of 1882-4. In this they differed from the intervening 1661 Class, which had reverted to the double frames of the Armstrong era. Thus the 1854 Class belongs to the "mainstream" of GWR 0-6-0T classes that leads towards the larger GWR pannier tanks of the 20th century.

GWR 1854 class
No. 1793 after rebuilding with pannier tanks
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer William Dean Builder GWR Swindon Works Order number Lots 79, 83, 85, 88, 89, 98 Serial number 1159–1178, 1201–1220, 1241–1260, 1301–1340, 1433–1452 Build date 1890–1895 Total produced 120
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0T  • UIC C n2t Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Frame type Inside, plate Cylinders Two, inside
Career Operators Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways Disposition All scrapped

Production

The 120 1854s were built in six batches between 1890 and 1895:

Table of orders and numbers

Year	Quantity	Lot No.	Works Nos.	Locomotive numbers	Notes
1890	20	79	1159–1178	1854–1873
1890–91	20	83	1201–1220	1874–1893
1891	20	85	1241–1260	1701–1720
1892	20	88	1301–1320	1721–1740
1892–93	20	89	1321–1340	1751–1770
1895	20	98	1433–1452	905–907, 1791–1800, 1894–1900

Rebuilding

The engines were rebuilt during their working lives with various forms of boiler and saddle tanks, and they were also rebuilt as pannier tanks between 1909 and 1932 as Belpaire fireboxes were fitted. Most of the class worked in the GWR's Southern Division, the majority of them in South Wales. Two examples were to be found in the GWR London Division at time of nationalisation. Numbers 907 and 1861 were allocated to 81E (Didcot) in August 1950. All achieved one million miles (1,600,000 km), and 23 of the class passed into British Railways stock in 1948, the last of them being withdrawn in 1951.

Accidents and incidents

• On 3 September 1942, a Luftwaffe Ju 88 aircraft attacked the area around Castle Cary station and goods yard. No. 1729 was hit by a bomb, killing the driver. Another bomb hit a signal box, killing the signalman. No. 1729 was later scrapped, and was one of two GWR locomotives damaged beyond repair in Britain during World War II. The other was GWR 4900 Class No. 4911 Bowden Hall.

Sources

• Allcock, N. J.; Davies, F. K.; le Fleming, H. M.; Maskelyne, J. N.; Reed, P. J. T.; Tabor, F. J. (1968) [1951]. White, D. E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part one: Preliminary Survey. Kenilworth: RCTS.
• Bryan, Tim (1995). The Great Western at War 1939–1945 (1 ed.). Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-479-4. OCLC 60238810.
• le Fleming, H. M. (April 1958). White, D. E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part five: Six-coupled Tank Engines. RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-35-5. OCLC 500544510.
• Stewart-David, David; Wood, Peter (2 July 2014). "The role of railways in the Second World War". The Railway Magazine. 160 (1, 360). Horncastle, Lincs, UK: Mortons Media. ISSN 0033-8923.
• British Railways Locomotives 1948–50. Shepperton: Ian Allan. March 1975. ISBN 0-7110-0401-3. 577 DM 375.