The GWR 56 Class were

tender locomotive A tender or coal-car (US only) is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood, coal, oil or torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, s ...

s designed for the Great Western Railway by Joseph Armstrong and built at

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

between 1871 and 1872.

Design and construction

There were 11 engines in the class, of which the prototype, No. 56 itself, was built in 1871; the remaining ten were numbered 717–726 and appeared the following year. They were built on Lot numbers 27 and 29 respectively. They were larger and longer than Armstrong's 439 and

481 __NOTOC__ Year 481 ( CDLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maecius without colleague (or, less frequently, year ...

classes, and the original

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s were of the type used for his goods engines. The driving wheels were in diameter.

Use

Ahrons states that Nos. 56, 717, 719, 720 and 724 were allocated for 20 years to Weymouth, and that the rest were at Bordesley for even longer, hauling trains to Chester and Hereford. All ran more than a million miles, and they were withdrawn between 1903 and 1919.

Accident

On 12 November 1894, locomotive No. 720 was hauling a boat train that was derailed at Yetminster,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

due to flood damaged track.

References

Sources

* * * {{GWR Locomotives 0056 2-4-0 locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1871 Passenger locomotives