GWR 3800 Class
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| Power type | Steam |
|---|---|
| Builder | Great Western Railway |
| Configuration | 4-4-0 |
| Cylinders | 2 |
| Cylinder size | 18in diameter x 30in stroke |
| Career | Great Western Railway |
The Great Western Railway County Class were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten. Two more batches followed in 1906 and 1912 with minor differences.
The biggest change cosmetic with the straight footplate of the first thirty replaced with a graceful curved drop to each end necessitating deeper cab sides on the last ten in 1912.
This class were subject to the 1912 renumbering of GWR 4-4-0 locomotives, which saw the Bulldog class gathered together in the series 3300-3455, and other types renumbered out of that series. The County Class took numbers 3800-3839.
They were the last new GWR 4-4-0 design and by far the most modern, with inside frames and outside cylinders. They were designed as a part of Churchward's standardisation plan, but were found to have a front end too powerful for the wheel arrangement and all were withdrawn by the early 1930's. They were designed, at least in part,for the Hereford to Shrewsbury LNWR line over which the GWR had running powers, but were expressly forbidden to use 4-6-0 locomotives on at the time. The 4-4-0 Counties were in effect a shortened GWR 2900 Class, providing engines powerful enough for the trains but with the requisite four coupled wheels.
The key components were all proven but the combination was somewhat unhappy, and perhaps the least successful Churchward design. From the outset they were found to be rough riders but otherwise effective locos. All other GWR 4-4-0's were inside cylindered and none had a piston stroke greater than 26", whereas the 'County' had a 30" stroke driving a meagre 8' 6" wheelbase.
They were also the basis for the 'County tank' design, which was a 4-4-2T using the same basic design as the County excepting a smaller and lighter boiler, the addition of tanks, bunker, trailing axle and of course absence of tender.
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