The GWR 439 Class, nicknamed the Bicycle Class because of its unusual appearance, was a series of six mixed-traffic engines designed by Joseph Armstrong for 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 ...

, and built at Swindon Works in 1868. The "Bicycles" worked at Northern Division sheds, running between Wolverhampton and Chester.

Design

Numbered in the series 439–444, the running plate of these inside-framed locomotives was raised, without splashers, above each of the large ()

driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...

s, rather giving the impression of bicycle wheels and mudguards.

Rebuilding

Most of the class was renewed at

Wolverhampton railway works Wolverhampton railway works was in the city of Wolverhampton in the county of Staffordshire, England. It was almost due north of the city centre, and is commemorated with a small display of level crossing gates and a plaque. Known as the Staffo ...

under George Armstrong in 1885 and 1886; the renewals were more conventional in appearance, with large splashers, but the class's nickname stuck. At first the renewals also ran on the same routes as their predecessors, though later some were transferred further south.

References

Sources

* * {{GWR Locomotives 0439 2-4-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1868