WE S T E RN T IME S S PE C IA L CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY
£14.95
WESTERN TIMES B R SPECIAL
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY AUTUMN 2023
(W)
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY SPECIAL AUTUMN 2023
Contents Introduction
3
Before the Castles
5
The Birth of a Legend
8
A Great Western Thoroughbred
15
Design Development and Improvement
22
The Non-Castles
41
Castles on Shed
62
Operating in Cornwall
68
Double-Heading in Devon
74
In the Works
77
The ‘Super Castles’
80
Lengthening Shadows: The Twilight of Regular Service
85
Life After Death
90
A nearly new No. 4074 Caldicot Castle stands in the shed yard at Old Oak Common in the Spring of 1924. This second member of the class was completed at Swindon by December 1923 and was officially allocated to OOC in April 1924 following the completion of the running trials depicted opposite. All ten of the first batch of locomotives built to Lot. 224, were initially sent to the London shed before returning to Swindon Works for initial overhauls around a year after delivery. The Transport Treasury.
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY THE 1925 LOCOMOTIVE EXCHANGES
heavier express locomotives of the home team were hard pressed to cover the same distance in under seven. There were other important messages learned during that momentous event, but the first impression was the most powerful. This was backed up over the following four days, where the visitor’s timings with the same load varied between 5 minutes 42 seconds and 5 minutes 57 seconds. Thus these performances only varied by a mere 15 seconds.
The supremacy of the canal system in inland transport was short-lived but nonetheless had lasting influence upon the engineering and route alignment of the succeeding railway network, sometimes with totally unexpected effects. In London, the Regent’s Canal presented a barrier to the extension of two important routes that had their termini in close proximity. The Midland Railway started from an edifice that was more cathedral than station and strode across the canal in a style that complemented the lasting grandeur of St. Pancras. Slightly to the east, the Great Northern lurked in a rather dingy building that has always struck this observer as resembling a cavern, an impression exacerbated by the maw of Gasworks Tunnel at the station throat and the difficult climb through that and Copenhagen Tunnel. Departure was thus quite different from that terminus to the west where the engineer of ‘the finest work in England’ had shown foresight in ensuring a gentle downward gradient to help heavy departing trains on their way. The challenge to a visiting locomotive on exchange trials in 1925 was obvious and immediate, and in truth the visitor during five days of tests did let its side down by slipping, albeit once only and for a few seconds before regaining its feet. Supporters of the host company were dubious of the its ability to cope with the challenges and some partisan arch-sceptics voiced doubts on the first day whether the puny contestant would be able to clear the two notorious tunnels at all with 475 tons of teak passenger vehicles behind the tender. These doubts were quickly dispelled when with shot gun blasts from its chimney, Pendennis Castle stamped its way through Finsbury Park, 2.6 miles from King’s Cross, in under six minutes. The larger,
Above: The explosive departure from London King’s Cross that became synonymous with the performance of No. 4079 Pendennis Castle during its trial on the LNER in April/May 1925. This sepia toned image is reproduced from a postcard titled ‘Today’s Great Locomotive Test’ and has had certain detail picked out in silver to give relief. Note also the missing last two digits of the number, possibly as a result of the GWR’s preference to send No. 4082 Windsor Castle to the exchange trials, denied due to it being under repair in Swindon Works at the time. Left: No. 4079 Pendennis Castle heads north through Harringay on the Down through line. The train is thought to be the 10.10am King’s Cross - Grantham on 1 May 1925. In spite of the LNER playing down the results of the Exchange Trials, Nigel Gresley was to take note of some of the findings, such as adoption of the GWR-style long travel valve gear in modifications to his fleet of Pacifics. Great Western Trust Collection.
13
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY
Above: Safely back to normal, No. 5005 attracts admirers as it approaches Teignmouth on 14 July 1959 with a north to west passenger service. The lug or snifting valve can be seen on the centre of the inside valve casing. R C Riley (RCR 13864).
MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES
– Automatic Train Control was fitted to Nos. 4084-95 and to No. 5003 upwards as built. The earlier locomotives were so equipped within a relatively short period.
Locomotives were progressively modified in the light of experience in a number of ways:
– Cab porthole windows which harked back to the Dean era were fitted in pairs in the cab front above the firebox on the earlier locomotives. These may have been useful with lower, smaller boilers but they seemed to serve no practical purpose with the Standard No. 8 boiler and were soon blanked out or plated over.
– Air raid precautions included replacement of cab side windows with a metal plate. Due to post-war shortages, some locomotives had only one cab window restored initially; this exercise was completed in 1947. Also framing was installed on tenders to support canvass sheeting that entirely enclosed the rear of the cab, a measure which must have made footplate conditions almost intolerable.
– Cab roof gutter which slanted down towards the leading corner of the cab roof was unique to No. 4073 and soon removed. – Cab side handrails were fitted horizontally just below the lower line of the window on locomotives up to No. 5097 Sarum Castle. This handrail was set slightly lower on the oil-burners to allow room for the sliding shutter over the side window. The final forty had L-shaped handrails, following the leading profile of the window and extending about half-way up the vertical side. To the eagle-eyed observer in 1952, this feature on No. 4082 would have provided further evidence of the deceit vis-à-vis No. 7013. – Coupling rod knuckle joints, judging from photo evidence were fitted ahead of the connecting rod big end up to No. 5012 and more conventionally to the rear on later locomotives. 33
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY When new Nos. 7010-3 plus Nos. 4089/ 91/ 5010/ 21/ 23 were experimentally painted in light green, lined red and grey before sense prevailed and lined mid-chrome green was restored (and applied to representatives of the other regions) in a style very similar to the prewar days. Main differences from about mid-1949 were reduction of cab lining to a rectangular panel below the side-window and cut-out, and elimination of lining on the firebox bands. A nice touch before adoption of BR’s ‘cycling lion’ tender emblem was the application of BRITISH RAILWAYS on a few engines in traditional GWR Egyptian font, colour and shading. The only official change thereafter was introduction of the ‘ferret and dartboard’ emblem in 1957, in replacement of BR’s ‘cycling lion’. Left: No. 5050 Earl of St Germans stands at Newton Abbot on 6 February 1960, having just arrived with the 8.00am from Plymouth. The reduction of the cabside lining under British Railways to no longer encircle the window is clearly evident, as is the straight cabside handrail below the window. Also prominent is the route code disc and power classification letter (Red = over 17 tons 12 cwt axle weight, D = 33,000 lbs tractive effort). The abundance of brass beading embellishment contrasted particularly well with the green and orange, black, orange lining. Peter W Gray. Below: Pictured in the final livery guise bestowed upon the class, No. 5087 Tintern Abbey stands awaiting the ‘right away’ from Newport. The last style of British Railways emblem sits centrally on the somewhat slab-sided Hawksworth 4000-gallon water capacity tender, which also appears to be stocked to its 6-ton maximum load of coal. Gerald Daniels.
39
WESTERN TIMES SPECIAL No. 5043 EARL OF MOUNT EDGCUMBE Numerically-speaking, the largest renaming exercise concerned the ‘Earls’ Nos. 5043 to 5063, the first twenty of which had originally been affixed or allocated to 4-4-0s then being created in 1936-8 through marriage of Bulldog Class frames with Duke Class boilers. These types dated from the 1890s, and the result was useful ‘new’ locomotives of distinctly old-fashioned appearance. Reportedly the Earl names were hurriedly transferred to Castles following a complaint that it was inappropriate to be associated with such antiquelooking machinery. The identity of the complainant remains undisclosed but the real reasons might have been a little more complex.
Thus No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe recognised an individual who served as a board member from February 1924 until March 1943. This was a title with dynastic connections as the family name of St. Aubyn was carried by Bulldog No. 3367/ 3355 until September 1930 and also Colonel The Honourable C E Edgcumbe was a director between August 1891 and February 1915. Another case of multiple recognition was No. 5048 Earl of Devon (family name Courtenay) which was the title of a director of the Bristol & Exeter Railway although the name cannot be traced in the GWR director lists. The family seat is Powderham Castle (No. 4080) with another, Holker Hall (No. 6911) at Cartmel in Cumbria. Multiple recognition also concerned No. 5046 Earl Cawdor whose predecessor Viscount Emlyn (4-2-2 Achilles Class No. 3071, withdrawn October 1914) had been chairman of the company 1895-1905. The family’s country seat was Stackpole Court (No. 2948).
Batches of 4-6-0 passenger locomotives with themed names were usually allocated in alphabetical order. At first sight the Earls were applied on a random basis, with no obvious logical order. However, Nos. 5043-9 related to individuals who had been or were GWR directors.
An impeccably well turned out No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe stands at the entrance to Old Oak Common shed on 30 March 1957. It is paired to Hawksworth 4000g tender No. 4095. This photograph was taken just over a year before the locomotive was to receive a double chimney during a Heavy Intermediate overhaul at Swindon. R C Riley (RCR 10378). Right: A detailed view of the nameplate taken on the platform at Newton Abbot on 12 August 1957. Note how the plate diameter does not match that of the wheel splasher. J Robertson.
48
WESTERN TIMES SPECIAL Left: Despite the onset of dieselisation across the region, Castles continued to dominate Worcester services when this photograph was taken on 19 August 1962. Adorned with the ‘Cathedrals Express’ headboard, No. 7023 Penrice Castle stands in Worcester shed yard with 0-6-0PT No. 9401 in the background. This Castle had been a resident of Canton from entering service in July 1949 until August 1960 when it was transferred to Worcester, its home until a final move to Oxley in June 1964, followed by withdrawal in February 1965. The double chimney was fitted in May 1958 and when the recording of steam locomotive mileages was abandoned at the end of 1963, it had clocked up over 730,600. R C Riley (RCR 16748).
Locomotive Withdrawal Numbers (By Year)
1950 - 1
1960 - 7
1951 - 2
1961 - 4
1953 - 1
1962 - 54
1957 - 1
1963 - 48
1958 - 1
1964 - 37
1959 - 3
1965 - 12
The mass cull of the class began in 1962, and led to depressing scenes such as this captured alongside ‘A’ Shop at Swindon on 24 June 1962. The assignment of condemned locomotives awaits transfer to John Cashmore Ltd at Newport for scrapping. Locomotives from L-R are: 5035 Coity Castle, 5024 Carew Castle, 5006 Tregenna Castle, 4085 Berkeley Castle, 5090 Neath Abbey, 43xx class, Hall class, 4086 Builth Castle. R C Riley (RCR 16615).
86
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY No. 7029 CLUN CASTLE Allocations: Newton Abbot (May-50), Old Oak Common (Jul-62), Gloucester (Oct-64).
Entered service - 25 May 1950 Withdrawn - 31 December 1965 Final mileage - 618,073 (to end 1963) Present location - Tyseley Locomotive Works
No. 7029 Clun Castle waits at Wrexham General on Sunday 5 March 1967, whilst working the return leg of the Stephenson Locomotive Society ‘Farewell to the GWR Birmingham-Birkenhead Service’ special.
STUFFED AND MOUNTED It is probably fitting to conclude this ‘Castle Centenary Special’ by documenting the journey of the doyen of the class into preservation and posterity. There can be no doubt that of all the locomotives selected for inclusion in the National Collection, Caerphilly Castle was amongst the most important. The rationale behind the decision is described in a charming letter (opposite) from the BR(W) General Manager. Swindon Works staff were deeply conscious of their responsibilities in the safeguarding of this precious piece of British engineering history. Their care and devotion produced a stunning result by presenting an example of the class as it first operated in 1923. It is fortuitous that the photographer R C ‘Dick’ Riley exploited his cordial relations with BR(W) personnel in the London Division to chart its passage in June 1961 from the railway to its first preservation home in the Science Museum, South Kensington (see overleaf). 95
WE S T E RN T IME S S PE C IA L CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY
£14.95
WESTERN TIMES B R SPECIAL
CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY AUTUMN 2023
(W)