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 ...

(GWR) 2884 Class is a class of

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

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 ...

. They were Collett's development of Churchward's earlier 2800 Class and are sometimes regarded as belonging to that class.

History

The 2884s were designed for heavy freight work and differed from the original Class 2800 engines (Nos. 2800-2883) in a number of respects, the most obvious being that a more modern Collett side window cab was provided and that they were built with outside steam

pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...

Production

83 of the 2884 class were built between 1938 and 1941. Those built during the war did not have the side window to the cab, and the side window on the others was plated over. This was to reduce glare, as a precaution against enemy air attacks. The windows were reinstated after the war. The locomotives were so popular with the ex-Great Western crews that the

British Railways Western Region The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great We ...

operating authorities wanted more of the class built after nationalisation in 1948; however, this request was turned down in favour of

BR Standard Class 9F The British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 195 ...

Oil firing

Between 1945 and 1947, coal shortages caused GWR to experiment with oil fired 2800

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...

. Eight of the 2884 class were converted and renumbered from 4850. The experiment, encouraged by the government was abandoned in 1948 once the extra maintenance costs were calculated and the bill had arrived for the imported oil.

1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials

The year 1948 also saw one of the 2884 class, No.3803 (now preserved), emerge remarkably successfully from the

1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials The 1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials were organised by the newly nationalised British Railways (BR). Locomotives from the former "Big Four" constituent companies ( GWR, LMS, LNER, SR) were transferred to and worked on other regions. Officiall ...

against more modern engines including the

LMS 8F The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Class 8F is a class of steam locomotives designed for hauling heavy freight. 852 were built between 1935 and 1946 (not all to LMS order), as a freight version of William Stanier's successfu ...

and the

WD Austerity 2-8-0 The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nic ...

and

WD Austerity 2-10-0 The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-10-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced during the Second World War in 1943. Background The Austerity 2-10-0 was based on the Austerity 2-8-0, and was designed to have intercha ...

. It took the appearance in 1954 of the British Railways

BR standard class 9F The British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 195 ...

2-10-0 to displace the 2800s from their main role of mineral haulage. Nevertheless, there was still work for them right up to the end of steam on the Western region in 1965. Six decades of service testify to the fundamental excellence of Churchward's original conception. Patchway down freight geograph-2927190-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Patchway down freight geograph-2927190-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Withdrawal

Preservation

Nine examples of the 2884, were saved from

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Bar ...

scrapyard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and ...

Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Barry ( cy, Y Barri; ) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Bar ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and four of these engines have operated in preservation.

Models

Hornby Railways Hornby Railways is a British rail transport modelling, model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was pr ...

manufacture a model of the 2884 Class in

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...

Dapol Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge, OO gauge and ...

produce a model in

N gauge N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the ''gauge'' (the distance between the rails) is . The term N ''gauge'' refers to the track dimensions, ...

References

* *

External links

The Story of the GWR 28XX 2-8-0s

No. 3862
under restoration at

Northampton and Lamport Railway The Northampton and Lamport Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway in Northamptonshire, England. It is based at Pitsford and Brampton station, near the villages of Pitsford and Chapel Brampton, roughly north of Northampton. Overvie ...

Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd
{{GWR Locomotives 2-8-0 locomotives 2884 Class Railway locomotives introduced in 1938 Freight locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain