GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Rowington Junction & Troughs: gwrrj2160a

An unidentified GWR 4-4-0 County Class locomotive with class A headcode (indicated by the red lamps on either end of the buffer beam) hauling an up express over Rowington troughs. The County Class were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten. Two more batches followed in 1906 and 1912 with minor differences. They were designed by Churchward, who used standard components to produce a four-coupled version of his Saint Class 4-6-0s. They were the last new GWR 4-4-0 design and by far the most modern, with inside frames and outside cylinders. They were designed as a part of Churchward's standardisation plan, but were found to have a front end too powerful for the wheel arrangement and all were withdrawn by the early 1930s. They were designed, in part, for the Hereford to Shrewsbury LNWR line over which the GWR had running powers, but on which they were expressly forbidden to use 4-6-0 locomotives. The 4-4-0 Counties were in effect a shortened GWR 29xx Class, providing engines powerful enough for the trains but with the requisite four coupled wheels.

The first two coaches with the clerestory roofs are restaurant cars in the distinctive Great Western Railway chocolate and cream livery carrying the central garter crest. Although this livery was reintroduced in 1922, it was not until April 1927 that the fussy lining of mouldings and pseudo panels was discontinued, which allows the photograph to be dated to after this. The coach roof vents indicate that the kitchens in both restaurant cars are centrally positioned, which corresponds to the diagram H7 layout. Four 56 foot long, ganged composite (originally third class) restaurant cars were built to this diagram (lots 1010 and 1011) at a cost of £1,770 each. They could seat eight first class and eighteen other class passengers in separate saloons. Officially called Dinning Cars they were initially used in January 1903 as part of the Paddington – Newport - Cardiff and Paddington – Torquay / Exeter services. After 1907 they were renumbered 9518 to 9521 and shortly after this were displaced from the prestige services by a fleet of newly built restaurant cars. They were transferred to secondary express routes and it is known that a pair was used on the Paddington to Birmingham (via Didcot and Oxford) express services. The last of the four restaurant cars to remain in service was No 9518 (previously No 7580) being withdrawn in 1936 and recovered for preservation. It is currently in storage with the Great Western Society at Didcot. Behind the two restaurant cars is a rake of four toplight corridor coaches, but Carriage Working Documents indicate that further coaches would have been added at either Banbury or Oxford.

Robert Ferris

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