GWR 1981 Class

The GWR 1981 Class was a series of inside-cylinder 2-4-0 mixed-traffic tender locomotives built for the Great Western Railway from 1859, representing the standard GWR mixed-traffic express type during the broad-gauge era. Introduced under Daniel Gooch's later tenure and continued under Joseph Armstrong, the class provided the GWR with capable mixed-traffic locomotives during the complex period when the railway was progressively converting its famous 7 ft broad gauge to the standard 4 ft 8½ in gauge used by the rest of the network.

The GWR's broad gauge — the 7 ft 0¼ in specified by Brunel — was one of Victorian railway history's most distinctive features. Broad-gauge locomotives offered the wider gauge's advantages of more stable running and generous loading gauge. The 2-4-0 wheel arrangement gave the class the combination of leading guidance and coupled driving wheels suited to both express and general goods working.

All remaining broad-gauge locomotives including the 1981 Class were rendered redundant overnight at the final elimination of broad gauge in May 1892. None was preserved; the GWR's broad-gauge heritage is represented by the replica Iron Duke at the National Railway Museum, Swindon.