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) 2301 Class or Dean Goods Class is a class of British

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangement ...

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 ...

s. Swindon railway works built 260 of these goods locomotives between 1883 and 1899 to a design of

William Dean William, Will, Bill or Billy Dean may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Dean Howells (1837–1920), American novelist and playwright * Bill Dean (1921–2000), British actor * Billy Dean (born 1962), American country music singer ** '' ...

. The 2301 class broke with previous GWR tradition in having inside frames only and changes were made in the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

design during the period that they were being built. The first twenty engines were originally domeless though all were provided with domed boilers in due course. They were numbered 2301–2360 and 2381–2580 (2361–2380 were of the 2361 class, which were similar visually but had outside frames).

Construction

Rebuild as 3901 class

In 1907, twenty Dean Goods (numbers 2491-2510) were rebuilt as

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The major ...

T 'Prairie' tank locos, forming the new 3901 class numbers 3901-3920.

War Service

In 1917, 62 engines were taken over by the Railway Operating Division and sent to France. 46 of these engines returned to England in the early summer of 1919, but the other 16 had been sent on to

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at the beginning of 1918. Two of these engines, nos 2308 and 2542, were sold to the Ottoman railways and renumbered 110 and 111. No 111 was withdrawn in September 1929, but 110 lasted until the 1950s. Of the 14 engines remaining at Salonika, five were written-off and the other nine returned to England in April 192

At the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the War Department requisitioned 100 of these engines from the GWR and the GWR had to hastily reinstate some engines that had been recently withdrawn. The requisitioned engines were fitted with Westinghouse brakes and 10 were fitted with pannier tanks and condensing gear. All were painted black with their WD numbers painted on. In December 1940, the War Department requisitioned a further 8 engines. The War Department renumbered the locomotives 93 to 200. At the time of the German invasion of France, 79 of these engines had been shipped to France. Some of the engines were destroyed in the retreat to Dunkirk whilst the remainder were used on the French railways by the German occupation forces. After the war, between 22 and 26 engines were sent to China under

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auspices, and 30 were returned to the UK, but were deemed unfit for service and

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered m ...

ped. No.2435 (WD no.188) was sent to France in 1940 and was used in Silesia and then in Austria between 1944 and 1948 when it was claimed by the Russians before being handed back to the Austrians in 1952. Two further engines, nos. 2419 and 2526 (WD nos. 106 and 132). One locomotive, no.2489 (WD no.142), was in eastern Germany at the end of the War and was taken into

Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR ''(German Reich Railways)'' was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's rail ...

stock as 53 7607; it was withdrawn in 1955. The remaining engines are assumed to have been scrapped. Of the engines that remained in England, most of them worked at War Department and Ordnance depots around the country, though in 1943, 6 were shipped to Tunisia and thence to Italy. Some locomotives of the class have the unusual distinction of being shipped overseas in both World Wars. 32 of the 108 locomotives requisitioned during the Second World War had been previously requisitioned during the First World War, and of those 32, 24 were again sent overseas.

British Railways

Fifty-four locomotives passed to British Railways in 1948, mostly being used on Welsh branch lines due to their light

axle load An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...

s. They were progressively replaced by new BR standard class 2 2-6-0 engines, and no 2538 was the last to be withdrawn in May 1957.

Preservation

One locomotive, no. 2516 (built 1897), has survived into preservation. 2516 is currently a static exhibit at Swindon Steam Railway Museum, with the

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displayed far behind; visitors consequently have a clear view into the driving cab (see pictures).

Models

Three companies have released models of the Dean Goods class: Oxford Rail in 2017 in Great Western (no 2475 & 2534), RoD Khaki (no 2308) and British Railways Black (no 2409) liveries. Mainline Model Railways made a Dean Goods class in GWR Green (no 2516) and BR black (no 2538) in 1983. Hornby Model Railways have released R2064/A/B/C (nos 2468, 2322, 2526, 2579), R2210 (no 2579) and R2275/A (nos 2322 & 2538)

References

Sources

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External links