The Legendary GWR Steam Locomotives Of George Jackson Churchward

A look at some of the legendary steam locos designed by George Jackson Churchward!

Thanks for watching!

0:00 Churchward's Background
3:02 City Class
7:48 2800 Class
11:40 GWR Railmotor
15:35 County Class
20:16 Star Class
24:40 4300 Mogul

[RCassinello]

It's worth noting that Churchward was eventually killed by a GWR Castle in 1933, as he didn't realise it was approaching on the line he was standing on. The Castles were a derivation of his own Star class design. There's a bitter irony in there.

[Interpidstrains]

You missed the Saint, and yes I know that the tooling is old, but it was the beginning of the 2 cylinder mixed freight engines for the GWR, and helped with the LMS Black 5 as well

[RCassinello]

I was lucky enough to see City of Truro whilst lineside at the West Somerset Railway's spring gala in 2005. Great looking engine. Basically the epitome of Edwardian GWR.

[mkaustralia]

“It’s not a locomotive, he’s a very naughty boy!”😂😂😂

[robertsparks]

I very much enjoy these videos that show a series of locomotives and how they fit into railroad history. Thanks.

[juliannaudimanche]

Fun fact! GWR number 3707 (a city class) used to carry the name of my country! Malta

[aflyingfish]

As a shareholder of 2807 and a volunteer on the line she runs on I must say I'm rather green with envy that you've got her in your collection! That said, it's great to see a closer look at one of these models and I'm pleased it's 2807 representing her class!

[ManiaChat]

Intresting, GWR has some great locomotives, great video - :)

[vectorbrony]

So the GWR built locomotives outside frames as that was something they were familiar with from the days of the Broad gauge days. It gave more room for the cylinders and valve gear inside. The frames being on the outside also improved their stability at speed and their centre of gravity. Like a lot of things on the GWR they had a style they liked to keep. Like the next to zero weather protection.

[NWRJ_WStudios]

For me Sam it has to be the 2800, I absolutely love that class. I've gotten a model of one No.2812 and it's such a great runner.

Cheers Jasper & Willow

[joek]

A great video that is a refreshing change of pace. We get to see various locos from your collection, getting to see lots running time and a bit of history! Really enjoyed the time spent watching this! 🤗

[DeafIaint]

The City : A Churchward boiler on a Dean chassis

[alansteelbat]

I think Churchwards prairie tanks deserve a mention, the large prairie starting with prototype No'99 built in 1903 eventually developing into the 8100 class under Collett. Also the small prairies of the 4400 class and later varients.

[CaseyJonesNumber]

15:57 the GWR had LOTS of 4-4-0s - you even showed one earlier, namely City of Truro! What you really meant to say was "Outside cylinder 4-4-0s..."

[speleokeir]

An enjoyable video Sam.

One thing you didn't mention was Churchward's idea of having six loco classes to meet all criteria and using standard parts. This is a major reason why the GWR were the most efficient railway. And also why many of their locos look much the same, being essentially upgrades on earlier designs, especially when it came to the 4-6-0s.

Another advantage GWR had was inheriting Brunel's fantastic track, which as well as being very straight and level for the most part, were also more roomy having been built for his broad gauge. This meant GWR locos had a very generous gauge to work with compared to other companies.

In the 1970s BR chose the London to Bristol line to test the new class 43 HST because it had the best track in the country which would allow really fast runs. My best friends dad was a guard on some of the prototype HST's test runs.

[neilbucknell]

Hi Sam - you've overlooked the small prairies (45xx) modelled for many years by Bachmann. Churchward's contribution to locomotive design stretched to superheating and higher pressure boilers leading to increased power and efficiency, and developing standard components (boilers, wheels, cylinders) that could be used to create a whole locomotive fleet with interchangeable parts, making both design and repair much more efficient. The reason why there were not many new designs after the 43xx moguls was the little matter of the First World War!

[SirFrederickBanbury]

Hey Sam, my schedule has been tight recently, which is why I haven't been able to leave comments for you much, but I still do enjoy them, and I hopefully will get more chances to leave info and stuff around! Despite being a Gresley, Chapelon, Porta, and Bulleid fan, I must say that Churchward was an excellent CME, with the best one liner of any engineer I've ever heard.

[dretety]

Excellent new video.
A learning curve for me and a grand output from you.
Very entertaining and instructional.
Thank you Sam.

[patricksmodels]

These railway history videos are always interesting.
I remember seeing long military trains here in Italy during the Cold War in the 80s with coaches and flatbed wagons loaded with lorries, tanks, artillery pieces etc, usually hauled by 1930s vintage FS E626 and E428 electric locomotives.

[kclassproductions]

The GWR has some very nice-looking locomotives, the City Class is one of my favorite locomotives.