3717 City of Truro, GWR 3700 City Class

A preserved GWR City Class 4-4-0 express passenger locomotive, built at Swindon Works in 1903 as G. J. Churchward's No. 3440 — the 2,000th locomotive to be constructed at Swindon Works. Withdrawn from Great Western Railway service in March 1931 and preserved, initially at the LNER museum at York, then at the Science Museum, and later the National Railway Museum and STEAM Museum at Swindon.

3717 City of Truro is the most historically contested locomotive in Britain — claimed to be the first steam locomotive in the world to exceed 100 mph. On 9 May 1904, while hauling the Ocean Mails special from Plymouth to Paddington, railway journalist Charles Rous-Marten timed the locomotive at 8.8 seconds over a quarter-mile on the descent of Wellington Bank in Somerset — corresponding to 102.3 mph. The timing was not made public for three years and was never officially confirmed by a second timekeeper, keeping the claim unofficial. The GWR suppressed the speed figure initially due to public concern about train safety, only publicising it in 1922. Controversy over the measurement has continued ever since, but the weight of expert opinion holds that a speed very close to 100 mph was indeed achieved. The locomotive was so historically significant that it was preserved on withdrawal in 1931 — unusually early for a locomotive that was merely a 4-4-0 express engine — at the direct request of GWR CME Charles Collett, who offered it to the LNER museum at York when the GWR board declined to fund preservation themselves.

Last recorded at the STEAM Museum, Swindon, owned by the National Railway Museum. Operating status: Static display. Current livery: GWR Brunswick green.

Location, livery and operating status last confirmed pre-2024 and subject to change. Check with the owning organisation or heritage railway for current information.