Steam Trains Castle Class and Manor Class 4-6-0 #railway #railways #trains

Steam Trains  Castle Class and Manor  Class 4-6-0

Episode 7 of 8

Castle Class 4-6-0
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Charles Collett
Builder GWR / BR Swindon Works
Order number Lots 224, 232, 234, 280, 295, 296, 303, 310, 317, 324, 357, 367, 375
Build date 1923–1950
Total produced 171

The 4073 or Castle Class are 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway, built between 1923 and 1950. They were designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains. They could reach speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h).

Background
The origins of this highly successful design date back to the Star Class of 1907 which introduced the basic 4-cylinder 4-6-0 layout with long-travel valves and Belpaire firebox that was to become characteristic of Great Western Railway (GWR) express passenger locomotives. The Star class was designed to take the top express trains on the GWR, with 61 in service by 1914, but after World War I there was a need for an improved design. To meet this need, Chief Mechanical Engineer George Churchward had in mind an enlarged Star class design with a standard No.7 boiler, as fitted to his GWR 4700 Class express freight 2-8-0.[4] However, this combination would have taken the axle load over the 20-ton limit then set by the civil engineers, and in the end, nothing came of the idea.

Accidents and incidents
On 30 November 1948, a passenger train hauled by 5022 Wigmore Castle overran signals and was in collision with locomotive 4150, which was running round its train at Lapworth. Eight passengers were injured.

On 12 November 1958, a freight train, hauled by GWR 4700 Class 2-8-0 No. 4707, overran signals and was derailed at Highworth Junction, Swindon. Locomotive No. 5009 Shrewsbury Castle was hauling a newspaper train which collided with the wreckage.


Manor Class 4-6-0
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Charles Collett
Builder GWR/BR Swindon Works
Order number Lot 316, Lot 377
Build date 1938–1939 (7800-7819), 1950 (7820-7829)
Total produced 30

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 7800 Class or Manor Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. They were designed as a lighter version of the Grange Class, giving them a wider Route Availability. Like the 'Granges', the 'Manors' used parts from the GWR 4300 Class Moguls but just on the first batch of twenty. Twenty were built between 1938 and 1939, with British Railways adding a further 10 in 1950. They were named after Manors in the area covered by the Great Western Railway. Nine are preserved.


Background
Although successful mixed-traffic designs, neither the Hall nor the Grange 4-6-0 classes were able to cover the full range of duties previously undertaken by the 4300 Class 2-6-0 locomotives due to their ‘red’ weight classification. By the late 1930s a lighter version of the Grange class was urgently required for those cross-country and branch line duties forbidden to heavier locomotives. A new lighter (Swindon No.14) boiler was therefore designed, and as with the Grange Class, the driving wheels and motion components were recovered from withdrawn members of the 4300 Class. The Manor class, with an axle loading of just over 17 tons, could be utilised on many lines from which the heavier Granges were barred.