The
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...
(GWR) 2800 Class is a class of
Churchward-designed 2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels ...
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
.
History
The class was designed by
George Jackson Churchward
George Jackson Churchward (31 January 1857 – 19 December 1933) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922.
Early life
Churchward was born at ...
for heavy freight work. They were the first
2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels ...
locomotive class in Great Britain.
The prototype, originally numbered 97 but later renumbered 2800, appeared in 1903. Construction of the production series commenced in 1905 and continued until 1919. The
2884 Class which appeared in 1938–1942 was developed from the 2800 class and is sometimes classified with it.
Prototype
No. 97 was originally outshopped in lined black livery and undertook two years of trials before the type went into production. Initial results suggested that only the front end needed further development and where the boiler of No. 97 was parallel for the first four segments, the production series had the familiar taper boiler. Initially the boiler pressure of the 2-8-0 was set at with diameter cylinders. Tractive effort started out at but was increased substantially in the production engines by enlarging the cylinder diameter to and raising the steam pressure to . The piston valves were enlarged to .
Production
The most visible difference between No. 97 and the first of the 1905 production batch was the higher pitch of the boiler ( opposed to ). At first the prototype was given a tender but almost without exception the 2800s were harnessed to the variety throughout their working lives.
Superheating
In thermodynamics, superheating (sometimes referred to as boiling retardation, or boiling delay) is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling. This is a so-called ''metastable sta ...
was incorporated into the class from 1909 with No. 2808 the first to be retro-fitted. Other modifications centred on improving the weight distribution, altering smokebox lengths and fitting larger diameter chimneys.
The 84 2800s built by Churchward were constructed over more than a decade and remained the GWR's principal long haul freight engines throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The only serious problem met with in traffic was with the sealing of the internal steam pipes and beginning in 1934 most of the class had them replaced with outside pipes. This change, along with a side-window cab, were the only notable changes for the later construction when a
further 83 locomotives were build over a mere 3 years from 1938.
Operation
The 2800 class was particularly used for hauling heavy trains of coal from the South Wales coalfields to the large conurbations served by the GWR, and large numbers were allocated to sheds in South Wales, but the type was the main heavy freight type on the GWR and was used across the network. Due to the variety of freight flows it was found that individual locomotives could spend extended periods away from their home shed and a container was added to the left hand valence which carried details of boiler washout dates to ensure that this necessary activity was carried out in a timely manner.
There was no differentiation in duties between the original 2800 class of 1905 and the modified 2884 design of the 1930s.
At the outbreak of
World War 2
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
an order was placed for 60 additional locomotives for use in France, but this was cancelled following the evacuation at Dunkirk, the 10 engines that had already been completed being included in the GWR stocklist.
Oil firing
Between 1945 and 1947, coal shortages caused
GWR to experiment with
oil fired 2800
locomotives
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; th ...
and 12 of the 2800 class were converted. They were
renumbered into the 4800 series, which necessitated re-numbering the entire
4800 class autotanks into the 1400 series, and reclassified as 1400 class. The experiment, encouraged by the government was abandoned in 1948 once the extra maintenance costs were calculated and the bill had arrived for the imported oil.
Accidents and incidents
*On 6 January 1932, locomotive No. 2808 was hauling a freight train was in collision with a milk train at Didcot East Junction. The locomotive was extensively damaged. Ten wagon were destroyed and seventeen more were damaged. The milk train had overrun signals.
*On 15 January 1936, locomotive No. 2802 was hauling a freight train that became divided at ,
Oxfordshire. An express passenger train collided with the rear portion of the freight due to errors by the guard and signalman. Two people were killed.
Withdrawal
Preservation
Six 2800 Class locomotives survive, these being
2807, 2818, 2857, 2859, 2873, 2874, along with nine 2884 class locomotives. A seventh survivor was used to provide parts for other projects. Only two members of the class have so far operated in preservation, these being 2807 and 2857. Currently only 2857 is operational, whilst 2807 is under overhaul which began in early 2020. One of the class, No. 2857, briefly operated on the main line in 1985.
2861, built in 1918, was one of the "
Barry Ten" and eventually broken up for parts at the
Llangollen Railway
The Llangollen Railway () is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that ...
in 2014 and the frames scrapped. The cylinder and saddle block, along with several other components, are being used in the construction of the next
GWR 4700 Class 2-8-0 No. 4709.
Models
Hornby Railways
Hornby Railways is a British rail transport modelling, model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was pr ...
manufacture a model of the 28xx in
OO gauge
OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...
.
See also
*
List of GWR standard classes with two outside cylinders
References
Citations
References
*
*
*Classic British Steam locomotives
*
External links
2800 class
{{GWR Locomotives
2800
2-8-0 locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1903
Freight locomotives
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain