GWR 1400 Class - Precursors

Precursors

Like the 48xx/14xx, the 517 Class was a lightweight loco for branchline work; it was built at Wolverhampton Works between 1868 and 1885.

In this period evolutionary changes included:

• 517-570 – with 13' 7" wheelbase, inside bearings to trailing wheels, and saddle tanks built 1868-1869.

• 571-576 – with 13' 7" wheelbase, outside bearings and side tanks built 1869-1870

• 826-836, 838-849, 1154–1165, 202-05, 215-222, 1421–1432, 1433–1444, 1465-1482 – all with 15' wheelbase with side tanks built 1873-1883

• 1483-1488 – with 15' 6" wheelbase and side tanks built 1884-1885

Later gradual changes included: Belpaire fireboxes, boilers rated at 165psi as opposed to 150 psi, full cabs, extended bunkers and the progressive conversion of short wheelbase locos to 15' or 15' 6". From 1924 onwards, several were converted to run with an autocoach, and in this configuration were the direct ancestors of the 48xx class.

In this form, the updated 517's were but a small step away from the 48xx. The wheelbase was still 15' 6", the boiler still rated at only 165 psi, and the wheels 5' 2" and 3' 8". New was the Collett-style cab and bunker and the boiler nominally to a new design. A three bar crosshead was added to the motion. This was a 1924 innovation introduced with the GWR 5600 Class and also seen in the 1930s-built 54xx, 64xx and 74xx classes.

After the War, all the 4800's were renumbered in the 14xx series in order that some of the 2800 Class 2-8-0s, rebuilt for oil-firing, could be renumbered in the 48xx series.

The twenty 1933-built 5800 Class locos were almost identical. The defining feature between the two classes of locomotive was that the 48xx was fitted for autotrains with a mechanical system linking them and the autocoach. The autocoach was a specialist coach, designed for this purpose, which could also be used with the 517's, the GWR 5400 Class, the GWR 6400 Class and the older GWR 2021 Class. In later life, lack of auto gear was the cause of earlier scrapping of the newer locos as there was no work for them. They were all gone by 1959.

The auto-fitted locos fared little better; scrapping commenced in 1956 and all were withdrawn by early 1965. By the early 1960s several had been 'in store' (parked in an out-of-the-way siding with a tarpaulin over the chimney) for some time, being occasionally steamed to replace failed diesels.