The Great Western Railway experienced the trauma and disruption of the end of the broad gauge in 1892 and were faced with equipping the network with suitable motive power, especially in Devon and Cornwall where the last track conversion had taken place. West of Newton Abbot, the GWR had relied on a variety of 4-4-0, 2-4-0, 0-4-2 and 0-4-4 side and saddle tanks, often doubled-headed, and Dean set about designing a sturdy outside-framed powerful 4-4-0 with 5ft 8in coupled wheels, the 'Dukes', to tackle increasing loads over the heavily graded main line. Then, Churchward came to assist the ailing Locomotive Superintendent, using his knowledge and experience of American and continental practice to develop the Dean designs. He improved the efficiency and performance of the boilers, using the Belgian Belpaire firebox, then developed the tapered 'cone' boiler, and applied it to the chassis of the 'Duke's to form the 'Camel' class, later known as the 'Bulldogs', which eventually numbered 156 locomotives. Finally, in the 1930s when engines of the 'Duke' route availability were still required but their frames were life-expired, their boilers were matched with the stronger frames of the 'Bulldogs' to form the 'Dukedog' class, which lasted until the 1950s, particularly on the former Cambrian lines in mid-Wales. This book recounts the design, construction and operation of these small-wheeled outside-framed locomotives with many rare photos of their operation in the first decade of the twentieth century as well as in more recent times.

This volume covers all the large wheeled outside frame classes of 4-4-0 tender Locomotives, that once ran on the Great Western Railway.The book has full details on each of the classes with good quality pictures, diagrams names, and number lists.This work is also very useful to model makers, giving full details of mechanical and livery changes that took place from the 1900s through to the early 1930, when all except the preserved 3440, City of Truro, were withdrawn and scrapped.

This first volume on the LNER 4-4-0 locomotives describes the design, construction, history, operation and performance of the Great Northern, Great Central and Great Eastern examples, classified by the LNER at the Grouping as classes, D1 - D4, D5 - D12 and D13 - D16 respectively. It covers from their emergence in the late nineteenth century to their demise in the mid or late 1950s and their performance at their peak operation times, mainly in the inter-war years of LNER ownership. It also includes the former Midland & Great Northern Railway engines that were later absorbed by the LNER as classes D52 - D54.

This book is a comprehensive history of all the 0-6-0 tender locomotives built by the Great Western Railway or by railways absorbed by the GWR from the very earliest broad gauge engines designed by Daniel Gooch to the Collett 2251 class of the 1930s some of which were still under construction at nationalisation. It includes the Joseph Armstrong ‘Standard Goods’ and the famous Dean Goods, many of which served overseas in the two world wars. The text of 40,000 words describes the design, construction and operation of eight GW and five ‘Absorbed’ broad gauge classes, and thirteen GW and thirteen ‘Absorbed’ standard gauge classes. The book has over 250 black and white and 30 color photos, weight diagrams and drawings.

This book is a comprehensive history of all twenty-six classes of four coupled tank engines commissioned by the Great Western Railway or built at their Wolverhampton and Swindon Works, from the Broad Gauge 2-4-0 and 4-4-0 tanks of the 1840s and 1850s to the well known Collett 0-4-2 branch line engines of classes 48XX (later renumbered 14XX) and 58XX of the 1930s. As well as the Broad Gauge engines, the strange looking ‘Covertibles’ of William Dean, a number of experimental ‘one-off’ designs, the numerous Wolverhampton 0-4-2Ts of the ‘517’ class and the Swindon built ‘2-4-0 ‘Metro Tanks’ are described with – where known – their allocation and operation. The book includes twenty weight diagrams and nearly 300 photographs, over 50 in color. The four-coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western from other companies at or before 1923 will be featured in a separate volume to follow.

This book is a comprehensive history of the four coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western Railway – locomotives of nine Broad Gauge companies, nineteen Standard Gauge companies, mainly in the South West which became part of the GWR between the 1870s and 1914, and a further eighteen companies, mainly in South Wales absorbed by the GWR in 1922 and 1923 at the formation of the ‘Big Four’ Grouping. The locomotives described and illustrated range from the 4-4-0 Broad Gauge saddle tanks of the South Devon and Bristol & Exeter Railways to the large 4-4-4 tank locomotives of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, not forgetting the numerous and varied 0-4-0 pug saddle tanks of the Swansea Harbour Trust and the Powlesland & Mason company. The book includes thirty-two weight diagrams and nearly 200 photographs, many of exotic and rare locomotives.

The author’s second volume about the Great Western’s classic express locomotives covers their final six years in British Railways service. In 1960 the Castles, many now modernized with double chimneys and 4-row superheaters, were still in charge of most of the Western Region’s expresses, but by the summer of 1963 their regular express work was limited to the London – Worcester route. Their declining numbers in the last couple of years covered special summer and relief trains, parcels and freight work, deputizing for failed or unavailable diesels and a flurry of excursions and railtours where their prowess could still be demonstrated. The author worked and lived alongside them in these years and the book includes much of his own personal experience on the footplate, on their trains and on shed. The book recaps briefly their first 25 years and covers their history, operation and performance in their final years and is copiously illustrated including over 100 color photographs.