GWR 3201 Stella Class

The GWR 3201 Stella Class was a series of inside-cylinder 2-4-0 express and mixed-traffic tender locomotives designed by William Dean and introduced at Swindon Works in 1884, named after stars and celestial objects in the tradition that Dean applied to several of his express locomotive classes. The Stella Class was part of Dean's systematic modernisation of the GWR's express and mixed-traffic fleet in the 1880s, providing capable 2-4-0 locomotives for the secondary express and mixed-traffic working that formed a large proportion of GWR passenger operations outside the principal main-line express services.

The 2-4-0 wheel arrangement was by the mid-1880s beginning to give way to the 4-4-0 on the more important express duties, as the additional leading bogie of the 4-4-0 gave better stability at higher speeds. Dean's Stella Class occupied the niche where the 2-4-0's simplicity and moderate speed capability still served well — on the semi-fast services, branch passenger trains, and secondary expresses that the GWR operated across its extensive network in the West of England, South Wales, and the Midlands.

The Stella Class gave service through the 1880s and 1890s before being superseded by Dean's own 4-4-0 express designs and Churchward's more modern types. None was preserved.