GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Shed: gwrls228

GWR 81xx Class 2-6-2T No 8100, the first of a class of ten locomotives, is seen at Leamington on 12th February 1939. The class were formed when ten members of the 51xx series were rebuilt with 5 foot 6 inches driving wheels and 3 foot pony truck wheels. They retained the No 2 boiler but pressed to 225 psi as was the case with the 61xx class. The 51xx class locomotives converted were: Nos 5100 (the 1903 renumbered prototype No 99), 5123, 5118, 5145, 5124, 5126, 5120, 5116, 5133 and 5115 being renumbered as No 8100 to No 8109 inclusive. The 81xx class were intended to bolster the 61xx class on London suburban duties, with the smaller driving wheels giving a supposed benefit of better acceleration. Whatever the practical advantage in performance, the class became widely dispersed and locos were used alongside their predecessors indiscriminately. The last forty locomotives constructed of the 2-6-2T wheel configuration were additions to the 41xx series, being built during the final years of the GWR, and the first and second years of British Railways (Western Region) control.

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