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The GWR 5101 Class or 'Large Prairie' is a class of
The 5101 Class were medium-sized tank engines used for suburban and local passenger services all over the Great Western Railway system. The class was an updated version, by Collett, of Churchward's 1903 3100/5100 Class.
The original 40 members of the 3100 class were renumbered 5100 and 5111 to 5149 in 1927. The first batches of 5101s filled in the numbers 5101 to 5110 and extended the class from 5150 to 5189. They were little changed from the Churchward locomotives as they then were, but had an increased axle loading of ; the maximum permitted for the ‘Blue’ route availability. Bunkers were of the standard Collett design with greater coal capacity. The 5100 number series was exhausted in 1934, and further new locomotives were numbered from 4100. The last 20 were built after nationalisation.
As both freight and passenger traffic on branch lines declined post-World War II with increasing volumes of private
5101 tank class
The 4150 Fund
The 5164 Website
4160 History
{{GWR Locomotives 2-6-2T locomotives 5101 Class Railway locomotives introduced in 1929 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 1′C1′ h2t locomotives Mixed traffic locomotives
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 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 of 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 ...
.
History
The 5101 Class were medium-sized tank engines used for suburban and local passenger services all over the Great Western Railway system. The class was an updated version, by Collett, of Churchward's 1903 3100/5100 Class.
The original 40 members of the 3100 class were renumbered 5100 and 5111 to 5149 in 1927. The first batches of 5101s filled in the numbers 5101 to 5110 and extended the class from 5150 to 5189. They were little changed from the Churchward locomotives as they then were, but had an increased axle loading of ; the maximum permitted for the ‘Blue’ route availability. Bunkers were of the standard Collett design with greater coal capacity. The 5100 number series was exhausted in 1934, and further new locomotives were numbered from 4100. The last 20 were built after nationalisation.
As both freight and passenger traffic on branch lines declined post-World War II with increasing volumes of private motor car
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded a ...
s, and replacement on urban services by diesel-powered rail cars, the bulk of the class found itself allocated to various mainline support duties, mainly banking and piloting, often on the South Devon Banks
The South Devon Banks are a series of steep inclines on the ex- GWR railway line linking Exeter and Plymouth in Devon, England. These two cities are separated by the rocky uplands of Dartmoor forcing the early railway surveyors to propose that the ...
on the Exeter to Plymouth Line, or around the Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Weste ...
on the South Wales Main Line
The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...
.
A number of the class - 4110, 4115, 4121, 4144, 4150, 4156 and 4160 - ended their operational lives allocated to the major locomotive shed (88E) at , undertaking piloting and banking duties through both the Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Weste ...
and the associated goods yard. Assistance was needed by all heavy trains through the Severn Tunnel, which entailed: of 1-in-90 down to the middle of the tunnel; then a further at 1-in-100 up to ; a short level then more at 1-in-100 to . However, the pilot locomotive usually came off at Pilning. Several of this group were sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers and consequently have survived into preservation.
Accidents and incidents
*On 30 November 1948, locomotive 4150 was running round its train at when it was in collision with a passenger train hauled by 5022 ''Wigmore Castle'', which had overrun signals. Eight passengers were injured.Withdrawal
The below list shows when all of the original 5101's and later 4100's were withdrawn from service.Preservation
Ten of the class were preserved after withdrawal in the 1960s (six built in the 1930s before World War II and four built after the war in the late 1940s, one of which under the British Railways banner). As of 2017, five have run in preservation, two are under restoration, one is still in scrapyard condition and two have acted as donor locomotives for other projects:Models
Graham Farish manufacture a model of the Large Prairie in N scale. Hornby have manufactured two models of the class in 00 gauge in both Great Western and British railway liveries; the first was based on a 1980's Airfix model of the engine, the second was a 2020 re-tooled model with a 5 pole motor. Dapol have a 00 gauge model due for release in q4 2021; this has both GWR and BR livery versions planned. Heljan are planning on producing a model of the large prairie in O gauge in 2017.See also
* GWR 3100/5100 Class (1906) * GWR 3150 Class * GWR 6100 Class * GWR 3100 Class (1938) *GWR 8100 Class
The Great Western Railway (GWR) GWR 5100 Class (known as the 3100 class between 1912 and 1927) was a class of 2-6-2T side tank steam locomotives. It was the first of a series of broadly similar classes used principally for suburban passenger ...
* List of GWR standard classes with two outside cylinders
References
*External links
5101 tank class
The 4150 Fund
The 5164 Website
4160 History
{{GWR Locomotives 2-6-2T locomotives 5101 Class Railway locomotives introduced in 1929 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 1′C1′ h2t locomotives Mixed traffic locomotives