Historians and students of locomotive development will continue to debate the Great Western Railway's locomotive policy for years to come. The latter years of Charles Collett's reign are viewed as a period of stagnation while successor Hawksworth is often criticised for playing it safe by building a two-cylinder 4-6-0 and not a four-cylinder ‘Pacific’.
It is, therefore, easy to forget that from 1902 until the late 1920s, the GWR led the way in locomotive development.
George Jackson Churchward showed incredible foresight when he combined the latest thinking from France and the United States with his own radical ideas to create a superlative locomotive. What made his vision extra special was that he then used parts to create a standardised range of locomotives in order to cover all traffic requirements. Not only were the designs a success but they were built to a standard that other railways could only dream of.
It is no exaggeration to say that for the first quarter of the 20th Century, the GWR really did have the best locomotives.
Until personal matters diverted his attention, Charles Collett built on Churchward's foundations. If Churchward's ‘Saint’ was the blueprint for every two-cylinder mixed traffic 4-6-0 that followed, Collett's first design would have the same effect on express passenger power.
That design was, of course, the famous ‘Castle’.
It's 100 years since No. 4073 Caerphilly Castle emerged from Swindon Works. Join Steam World as we pay tribute to this remarkable design by looking at the lives of ten particular ‘Castles’.
4073 Caerphilly Castle
Entered service: August 11 1923
Allocated (alphabetical, from new): Bristol Bath Road, Bristol St Philips Marsh, Cardiff Canton, Landore, Old Oak Common, Swindon
Withdrawn: May 10 1960
Fate: Restored for display at the Science Museum (June 1961-September 1996). Now on display at STEAM-Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon.
GWR management soon got over how much it cost to build Churchward's engines when they realised what a publicity coup it was to have Britain's most powerful locomotive. But, by the early 1920s, new 4-6-0s and 4-6-2s from the Lancashire & Yorkshire, Great Northern and North Eastern had taken that title away from Swindon.
Collett's first task
