GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Handsworth & Smethwick: gwrhs1589

Ex-GWR 57xx class 0-6-0PT No 8767 is seen running bunker first whilst at the head of a four wagon local coal service in March 1966. Built between 1929 and 1950 some 863 were built, making them the second most-produced British class of steam locomotive. The GWR had favoured Pannier Tank locomotives since 1911 when they had started rebuilding saddle tank locomotives built between 1870 and 1905 into this style. By 1929 these older locomotives were in need of replacement. The first 57xx class locomotives were almost identical in appearance to several of the older converted locos (e.g. classes 645, 1701, 1854, 2721) and had round spectacles (windows) in the cab front, but those built after 1933 from 8750 onwards had rectangular windows and a slightly different cab profile virtually identical to the style introduced with the GWR 5400 Class in 1931. Whilst they can be viewed as a simple update of the GWR 2721 Class, the Collett improvements were worthwhile and the class became as synonymous with the GWR as Castles and Kings, lasting until the end of steam on the Western Region of British Railways.

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