Churchward 4700 class 2-8-0

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4700 Class was a class of nine 2-8-0 steam locomotives, designed by George Jackson Churchward. They were introduced in 1919 for heavy mixed traffic work. Although primarily designed for fast freight, the class also sometimes hauled passenger trains, notably heavy holiday expresses in the summer months.
At the end of the First World War, the running department of the GWR identified the need for a larger version of the successful GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0 incorporating the Swindon No. 1 boiler. They envisaged a smaller version of the successful Saint class 4-6-0 with 5 ft 8 in (1.727 m) driving wheels - the intermediate of Churchward's three standard wheel sizes, for express goods trains. However, Churchward preferred a 2-8-0 design for this purpose
The prototype of the new class was built at Swindon railway works in May 1919 (Lot 214) and was the last design by Churchward. It was numbered 4700. According to the RCTS monograph, the design was not successful as built because the No.1 boiler proved to be inadequate for such a large engine. In May 1921 it was therefore rebuilt with a newly designed and larger Swindon No. 7 boiler. However, according to Cook it was built with a Standard No. 1 boiler as the intended design of a larger boiler, the Standard No. 7, was not yet ready.
Eight further locomotives with the larger No. 7 boilers and detail differences were ordered by Churchward in 1921 (Lot 221), but these only appeared after his retirement. These were numbered 4701 to 4708. Although they were mechanically successful locomotives, their large size severely restricted their route availability and so no more examples were built. Churchward’s successor Charles Collett later rebuilt a Saint Class with 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m) wheels to form the Hall Class which was a far more versatile mixed traffic locomotive. Later, Collett would produce the 6800 Grange Class which was exactly as the traffic department had originally envisaged: a 4-6-0 with Std. No.1 boiler and 5'8" driving wheels. The class were originally fitted with 3,500 imperial gallons (16,000 l; 4,200 US gal) tenders but during 1933/4 these were replaced by 4,000 imperial gallons (18,000 l; 4,800 US gal) tenders.
The class were primarily used on fast overnight freight services on the London, Exeter and Plymouth, London-Bristol and London, Birmingham and Wolverhampton routes. In later years they were often used on heavy relief passenger services to the West of England during the summer months

4700

https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-b7LFtFt

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
4702


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-j3TcsHZ

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

4703

https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-r9gWRmX

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

4704

https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-6BGs29W

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years


4705


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-pWxmm24

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

4706+4707


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-GqJRTQw

4706+4707 Old Oak Common 3/11/63
railway-photography.smugmug.com
4706+4707 Old Oak Common 3/11/63
4707

https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-SS8Dk7T

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

4708


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/GWRSteam-1/Churchward-Locomotives/Churchward-Tender-Locomotives/Churchward-4700-class/i-KqZJbCw

Churchward 4700 class - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

Neil