Although outwardly very similar to earlier 4-6-0 designs, the ‘County’ class represented a considerable revolution in GWR locomotive practice. Apart from the double blastpipe and chimney, the class was fitted with a new boiler, built with the experience that Swindon Works had acquired during the war when building Stanier ‘8Fs’. Other changes included a new design of tender and non-standard diameter driving wheels. Designed by the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the GWR, F. W. Hawksworth, they were destined for a relatively short life, as a result of dieselisation: all 30 members of the class being withdrawn by the end of 1964. Whilst none were preserved at the time, the Great Western Society at Didcot has plans to recreate one of the class.
The book includes some 250 mono illustrations portraying the development and operations of the class. Alongside the photographs, the author’s detailed narrative and captions provide the reader with a comprehensive account of a locomotive type that has been overshadowed by other 4-6-0 classes as a result of its relatively short career.
Author: Laurence Waters
Format: HB 112 pages
Publisher: OPC
Pub date: Oct 2006
ISBN 10: 086093604X
ISBN 13: 9780860936046
List Price: £19.99
