Steam locomotives - Great Western Railway: books (1/4)

Great Western Railway Stars, Castles and Kings

Great Western Railway Stars, Castles and Kings examines the history and workings of these legendary classes of passenger steam locomotives, the first of which, the North Star, was built in 1906.

Richly illustrated with over 200 photographs, the book includes illustrated explanations of how Great Western Railway steam engines work; details of the engines' work on named expresses and in ordinary service; overview of the survivors, heritage organizations and their futures; technical specifications and timelines of each class and finally, GWR and British Rail Motive Power Depot codes and train head codes.

Great Western Castle Class 4-6-0 Locomotives 1923-1959

The Great Western Castles were one of the most successful locomotive designs of the twentieth century in terms of both performance and efficiency. Designed by Charles Collett in 1923, based on the 1907 Churchward 'Star' class, 155 were constructed almost continuously, apart from the war years, between 1923 and 1950, in addition to fifteen rebuilt 'Stars' and one rebuilt from the Great Bear pacific.
Many were modernised with increased superheat and double-chimneys in the late 1950s and the class continued to be the mainstay of all Western Region express passenger services to the West Country, South Wales, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands until replaced by the WR diesel hydraulic fleet in the early 1960s.

This book covers their design in a chapter written by Bob Meanley, who masterminded the restoration at Tyseley Works of the Castles Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and Clun Castle, and their history, operation and performance from the high speed of the 1930s through to their rejuvenation in the 1950s, leaving experience of their last years and preservation to another volume.
David Maidment had close experience of the class when working at Old Oak Common between 1957 and 1962 and includes his personal experiences there and on the road from his first encounter with one as a six-year old boy. The book includes 350 photographs, some 40 in colour, and 23 detailed Swindon technical drawings.

British Steam: GWR Collett Castle Class

The 'Castle' class 4-6-0 locomotives designed by Charles Collett and built at Swindon Works were the principal passenger locomotives of the Great Western Railway. The 4-cylinder locomotives were built in batches between 1923 and 1950, the later examples being constructed after nationalisation by British Railways.
In total 171 engines of the class were built and they were originally to be seen at work all over the Great Western Railway network, and later working on the Western Region of British Railways.

In addition to inspiring other locomotive designers the 'Castle' class engines were proved to be capable of outstanding performances, and when introduced were rightly described as being 'Britain's most powerful passenger locomotives'. Some of the 'Castles' survived in service for over 40 years, and individually clocked up just a little short of 2 million miles in traffic.

In this book, Keith Langston provides a definitive chronological history of the iconic class together with archive photographic records of each GWR 'Castle' locomotive. Many of the 300 plus images are published for the first time.
In addition background information on the origin of the names the engines carried, including details of the many name changes which took place, are also included. The extra anecdotal information adds a fascinating glimpse of social history.

Collett Castle Class is a lavishly illustrated factual reference book which will delight steam railway enthusiasts in general and in particular those with a love of all things Great Western!

Great Western Castle Class 4-6-0 Locomotives - The Final Years 1960- 1965

NEW

The author's second volume about the Great Western's classic express locomotives covers their final six years in British Railways service. In 1960 the Castles, many now modernised with double chimneys and 4-row superheaters, were still in charge of most of the Western Region's expresses, but by the summer of 1963 their regular express work was limited to the London - Worcester route.
Their declining numbers in the last couple of years covered special summer and relief trains, parcels and freight work, deputising for failed or unavailable diesels and a flurry of excursions and railtours where their prowess could still be demonstrated.

The author worked and lived alongside them in these years and the book includes much of his own personal experience on the footplate, on their trains and on shed. The book recaps briefly their first 25 years and covers their history, operation and performance in their final years and is copiously illustrated including over 100 colour photographs.

Castles: The Final Years 1954-1965

A lovely photographic album which concentrates on the final decade of operation for the 'Castles', from 1954 when they were in their golden years to the withdrawal of the final members of the class from the Western Region in 1965, and includes some illustrious names such as Caerphilly Castle and Pendennis Castle.

Following an informative introduction outlining the development of the class, the book is illustrated with 'Castles' year by year throughout the region, showing wide variations in the class and its operations.

The book contains approximately 200 mono and 30 colour photographs, most of which are previously unpublished and drawn from the archives of the Great Western Society at Didcot, and accompanied by extended captions.
The photographs also include detailed close ups of Pendennis Castle currently being restored at Didcot.