GWR 56 Class

The GWR 56 Class were 2-4-0 tender locomotives designed for the Great Western Railway by Joseph Armstrong and built at Swindon Works in 1871-2.

GWR 56 Class
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerJoseph Armstrong
BuilderGWR Swindon works
Build date1871-1872
Total produced11
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte2-4-0
Gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.6 ft 0 in (1.829 m)
Fuel typeCoal
Cylinderstwo
Career
OperatorsGWR
Withdrawn1903 - 1919

Design and construction

There were 11 engines in the class, of which the prototype, No. 56 itself, was built in 1871; the remaining ten were numbered 717-726 and appeared the following year. They were larger and longer than Armstrong's 439 and 481 classes, and the original boilers were of the type used for his goods engines. The driving wheels were 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m) in diameter.

Use

Ahrons states that Nos. 56, 717, 719, 720 and 724 were allocated for 20 years to Weymouth, and that the rest were at Bordesley for even longer, hauling trains to Chester and Hereford. All ran more than a million miles, and they disappeared between 1903 and 1919.[1]

Accident

On 12 November 1894, locomotive No. 720 was hauling a boat train that was derailed at Yetminster, Dorset due to flood damaged track.[2]

References
  1. Tabor 1956, pp. D30-D31.
  2. Earnshaw 1990, p. 7.

Sources
  • Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-37-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tabor, F. J. (February 1956). White, D. E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part four: Six-wheeled Tender Engines. Kenilworth: RCTS.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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