By David Maidment
Published by Pen and Sword in 2018, 224 pages. Square Hardback - c.25cm by 25cm (N7630)
Brand New Book
From the inside front fly leaf: The Great Western Railway had two classes of tender locomotives named after counties. The first class of two cylinder 4-4-0 tender locomotives, designed by George Jackson Churchward, were introduced in the 1900s to provide efficient motive power, including lines on the 'North & West' route between Hereford and Shrewsbury, owned jointly by the Great Western and L.N.W.R.
The 4-4-0 counties were in service until the early 1930s, when they were withdrawn and replaced by more modern motive power. They were paralleled in design by the county 4-4-2 tanks, which operated suburban services in the London area and were also withdrawn in the early 1930s.
In 1945, the Great Western introduced the County 4-6-0 tender locomotives, designed by F W Hawksworth. These two cylinder machines had a high pressure boiler that was meant to give the same tractive effort as a Castle class 4-6-0 four cylinder locomotive,
After modifications and boiler pressure reduction, the County class 4-6-0s operated in express and semi fast train service, until the last members of the class were withdrawn in 1964.