Time Capsules - Old Photographs from the past

1008 County of Cardigan at Kingswear in the 1950s

The County Class of GWR 4-6-0 locomotives comprised 30 that were built between 1945 and 1947, although all were scrapped in the early 1960s. They were designed by the Great Western Railway Chief Mechanical Engineer Frederick W. Hawksworth, and were used to test ideas for a new 4-6-2 Pacific class, although that did not come about.

One unique identification feature is the full-length splasher over the wheels (rather than having a separate splasher for each wheel).

September 1964 saw the official withdrawal of the last member of this Class, and it became extinct as none of them were preserved. However, the G.W. County Project was launched in December 2004, to recreate a County Class locomotive, at Didcot, utilising the frames of Modified Hall Class no. 7927 Willington Hall and Stanier 8F boiler from no. 48518. The County Class boiler was derived from the Stanier 8F design. There is a Web site dedicated to this, called the 'gwcountyproject', showing monthly progress on the replica.

Marking the contribution of Vale of Glamorgan Council and Barry scrap yard, it was agreed the completed locomotive should bear the identity 1014 'County of Glamorgan'.

Photo © The Step Back Through Time Collection
Text courtesy of Peter Langsdale