The GWR 2721 Class was a class of
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s. They were designed by
William Dean and built at the
Swindon Works of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
between 1897 and 1901.
Design
They were not a new design, being a straightforward development of the 120-strong
1854 Class dating back to 1890. This lineage had begun with
George Armstrong's 645 Class in 1872 and continued via the
1813 Class (in 1882), the 1854 Class, and finally ended in 1948 with the
GWR 9400 Class
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 9400 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive, used for shunting and banking duties.
The first ten 9400s were the last steam engines built by the GWR. After nationalisation in 1948, another 200 we ...
. The differences over 76 years were undeniably a gradual evolution, with increases in boiler pressure and heating surface the more important, enclosed cabs and larger bunkers cosmetic but functional. The biggest change was the fitting of a
Belpaire firebox
The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and squa ...
necessitating a pair of
pannier tank
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...
s, as the square-topped firebox is not compatible with a curved saddle tank. Highlighting the gradual nature of the changes are the subtle differences between the 1854 and 2721 classes, confined to a small increase in wheel size by , fluted rods and
coil springs all round, at least then new. When later rebuilt with pannier tanks they were the direct predecessors of the
GWR 5700 Class of 1929. No. 2756 was sold to the Rhondda And Swansea Bay Railway, becoming their No. 33. It regained its old number when the R&SBR was absorbed by the Great Western in 1922.
Accidents and Incidents
Pannier tank 2785 was severely damaged in an air raid at Newton Abbott in 1940, but was repaired and returned to service.
British Railways
Forty-three of them survived into
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
(BR) ownership in 1948, by which time all had been rebuilt with pannier tanks. Their numbers were 2721–2800 (the last being renumbered 2700 in 1912 to make room for the pioneer
GWR 2800 Class). Withdrawals started in 1945 and were complete by 1950 by which time the last of the replacement 57xx's (in the 96xx series) were in service.
Models
Hornby Railways manufacture a model of the 2721 in
OO gauge.
See also
*
GWR 0-6-0PT – ''list of classes of GWR , including table of preserved locomotives''
References
*
{{GWR Locomotives
0-6-0ST locomotives
0-6-0PT locomotives
2721
Railway locomotives introduced in 1897
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Scrapped locomotives