GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Spa - GWR Locomotives: gwrls2063

GWR 157 Class 2-2-2 No 157 is seen ready to depart from Leamington station's up platform whilst at the head of an express to Paddington. The founder member of the class, No 157 was one of ten constructed at Swindon Works to Lot 51 in 1878-9. Designed by William Dean the class was originally regarded as a reconstruction or renewal of Joseph Armstrong's own 157 Class of 1862. But, as was often the case, these Dean engines were new, and had more in common with Armstrong's more recent, and larger, Queen Class, than with the original 157s. The latter had themselves been rebuilds of engines originally built by Sharp, Stewart & Company, which was probably the source of the enduring nickname Sharpies for the new engines. They were also known as Cobhams, after the name carried by No 162 throughout its life. Another locomotive, No 158, later carried the name Worcester whilst No 163 may have been named Beaufort, though this seems uncertain. The GWR numbered them sequentially from No 157 to No 166. In their original state they were regarded by some as among the most beautiful engines ever built for the GWR. Some of the class were allocated to Wolverhampton whilst others were allocated to Westbourne Park near Paddington. They worked on express trains alongside the Queen Class. Most of the class were withdrawn in 1903-6, though No 165 survived until December 1914.

back