Portraits of 'Castles' : Portraits of Every Western Region Castle Class Locomotive,with Footplate Comments by Holden, Bryan & Leech, Kenneth H - 1981

Stafford, England: Moorland Publishing Company, 1981. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Good. 128 pages b/w photos - The GWR 4073 Class or Castle class locomotives are a group of 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway. They were originally designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains. A development of the earlier Star Class, 171 Castles were built, over a 27-year span from August 1923 to August 1950. They were numbered 4073 - 4099; 5000 - 5099; 7000 - 7037. Although most were built new, 16 locos were rebuilt from older locomotives - 15 Star Class locomotives; and the Great Western Railway's sole 4-6-2 locomotive, number 111 The Great Bear. The Castle class was noted for superb performance overall, and notably on the Cheltenham Flyer during the 1930s: for example, on 6 June 1932 the train, pulled by 5006 Tregenna Castle, covered the 77.25 miles from Swindon to Paddington at an average speed of 81.68 mph start-to-stop (124.3 km at an average speed of 131.4 km/h). This world record for steam traction was widely regarded as an astonishing feat.