GWR 1000 County Class

By the end of the Second World War the Great Western Railway's motive-power fleet was tired and the post-war fuel situation was worsening. Frederick Hawksworth, who had succeeded Collett as GWR CME in 1941, recognised that the post-war coal supplied to British railways would be of lower quality than pre-war and that locomotives needed to extract more work per pound of fuel burnt to maintain timekeeping.

His response was the County Class, an intermediate-size two-cylinder 4-6-0 with a 280 psi boiler, the highest pressure of any GWR class. The high pressure was Hawksworth's adaptation of the Stanier-school approach (with which he was familiar through GWR-LMS technical exchanges), higher pressure compensating for poorer fuel by allowing the engine to extract more work from each pound of steam.

The first engine, No. 1000 County of Middlesex, was completed at Swindon Works in August 1945, the same year as the Second World War ended. Production followed swiftly: 1001–1019 in the first batch through 1946; 1020–1029 in the final batch in 1947. The total was 30 engines, the smallest production run of any GWR Hawksworth express class.

The class was named after English and Welsh counties served by the GWR, Middlesex, Bucks, Berks, Cornwall, Devon, Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Hereford, Brecknock, Cardigan, Salop, Stafford, Worcester and so on. The naming was a deliberate publicity choice that reinforced the GWR's territorial identity, the company served fewer counties than the LMS or LNER, and the County Class names emphasised this regional character.

The Counties worked the principal Paddington–Plymouth and Paddington–South Wales expresses through the late 1940s and 1950s. The high boiler pressure delivered the high tractive effort it had been designed for, and the class was widely admired by Old Oak Common and Bristol Bath Road crews for its capability on the heaviest expresses.

The high boiler pressure was, however, a mixed blessing. Maintenance proved difficult at 280 psi; boilers required more frequent inspection and the boiler stays were subject to higher fatigue loading than at the GWR's standard 225 psi. From 1956 BR progressively reduced the boiler pressure to 250 psi to alleviate these issues. The reduction reduced tractive effort from 32,580 lbf to 29,100 lbf and the class's reputation for high performance suffered correspondingly.

From 1957 a small number of Counties received double chimneys to improve steaming at the reduced boiler pressure. The double-chimney Counties were among the most distinctive late-life GWR express engines, but the modification could not fully compensate for the pressure reduction.

Withdrawal began in 1962 with the introduction of the Western Region's diesel-hydraulic Type 4 fleet. The class was completely withdrawn by November 1964, making it one of the shorter-lived GWR-era classes, with most engines having only 17–19 years of service. None of the 30 Counties was preserved.

An intermediate-size two-cylinder 4-6-0 of late-GWR Hawksworth design, distinguishable from the Hall Class by its taller boiler (the unique high-pressure GWR Standard No. 15 pattern) and from the Castle Class by the absence of the Castle's inside cylinders. The class wore late-GWR Middle Chrome Green with full lining; BR lined Brunswick green from 1949. The double chimney fitted from 1957 onwards (after the BR pressure reduction) gave the class a distinctive late-life appearance. Class names were carried on brass nameplates over the centre splashers, County of Middlesex, County of Bucks, County of Berks, County of Cardigan, County of Glamorgan, County of Carmarthen and so on.

1000 County of Middlesex, first of class, completed at Swindon in August 1945. The first of the 30 Counties and the prototype that demonstrated the design to GWR officials. Withdrawn 1962, scrapped.

1014 County of Glamorgan, under construction as a new-build engine by the 1014 County of Glamorgan Locomotive Trust at the Didcot Railway Centre. The engine takes the original number 1014 from a withdrawn County, using the boiler from BR Standard 7 No. 70016 Ariel and other recovered parts. Construction has been ongoing for many years; the engine is partly assembled but is at the time of writing not yet complete or operational.

1029 County of Worcester, last of class, completed at Swindon in April 1947 just before the post-war material rationing made further construction impossible. Withdrawn 1964; scrapped.

GWR / BR Western Region service (1945–1964): the entire class was allocated to the Western Region for the Paddington–Plymouth and Paddington–South Wales expresses. Major County allocations were at Old Oak Common (London, the largest contingent), Bristol Bath Road, Newton Abbot, Cardiff Canton, Plymouth Laira, and Wolverhampton Stafford Road. The class also worked occasional cross-country services from Birmingham to the West of England.

BR pressure reduction era (1956–1964): from 1956 BR reduced the County's boiler pressure from 280 psi to 250 psi because of maintenance difficulties at the original pressure. The change reduced tractive effort from 32,580 lbf to 29,100 lbf and the class's reputation for high performance. From 1957 a small number received double chimneys to improve steaming at the lower pressure.

GWR (1945–1947): Middle Chrome Green with full GWR lining (black and orange), polished brass safety-valve casing, copper-capped chimney, and the GWR roundel or "Great Western" lettering on the tender. The brass nameplates carrying the county names were a notable feature.

British Railways early (1948–1956): initially Middle Chrome Green retained; from 1949 BR lined Brunswick green with the early lion-and-wheel emblem; from 1956 the late BR crest. The class was not turned out in BR mixed-traffic black, its express role kept it in the lined green livery throughout its career.