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GWR Castle Class locomotive 5054

GWR Castle Class locomotive 5054 went into service by Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1936 with the name Lamphey Castle and renamed Earl of Ducie in 1937. It was withdrawn from service in 1964. The Castle class were steam locomotives were built at the Swindon Works from 1923 to 1950. It was the most powerful express locomotive in Britain at the time. Most of the 171 locomotives built were retired by 1965. The Castle class locomotives hauled the Cheltenham Flyer, which held the record for the express train with the highest travel speed. The highly successful design of the Castle class goes back to the Star class of 1907. This class laid the design foundations that were common to the successful GWR express locomotives: a four-cylinder engine with a long-stroke round valve acting on a chassis with three coupled axles and a leading bogie, and Belpaire vertical boilers. The Star class was developed to haul the GWR's high-quality express trains, and by 1914 61 locomotives were in service. After the First World War, a more powerful locomotive was needed. To meet this need the GWR had an enlarged Star class in mind. The result was a well-proportioned locomotive with a tractive force increased from 124 to 140 kN, but which still maintained the 20-ton axle load. The Castle class locomotives were built with minimal dimensional changes. From No. 5013, the shape of the front cowling over the inner cylinders was changed, and from 5043 the locomotives were fitted with a shorter chimney. The locomotives built before 1926 were delivered with a tender that held 16 m³ of water, after which the water capacity was increased to 18 m³. All locomotives were named after castles in Great Britain, with the exception of locomotives 5043–5063, which were also initially named after castles, but were then given the names of British nobles in 1937.

 

 
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