GWR 1500 Class

Great Western Railway 1500 Class

No. 1502 at Didcot 1957

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder British Railways, Swindon Works Order number Lot 373 Build date 1949 Total produced 10

Specifications Configuration 0-6-0PT Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in (1.410 m) Minimum curve 3 1⁄2 chains (231 ft; 70 m) Wheelbase 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) Loco weight 58 long tons 4 cwt (130,400 lb or 59.1 t) (62.9 short tons) Boiler pressure 200 lbf/in2 (1.4 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 17.5 in × 24 in (444 mm × 610 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type piston valves

Performance figures Tractive effort 22,515 lbf (100.15 kN)

Career Operators British Railways, National Coal Board Power class GWR: C BR: 4F Numbers 1500–1509 Axle load class GWR: Red Locale Great Britain Withdrawn BR: 1959–1963, NCB: 1970 Disposition One preserved, remainder scrapped

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1500 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive. Despite being a GWR design, all ten (nos 1500–1509) were built by the Western Region of British Railways in 1949.

Coming from a railway company with a well-developed standardisation policy, the 15xx was a strange design finale. Unlike almost all their forebears, they had outside cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear, and a very short wheelbase of 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) to go round curves of 3.5 chains (231 ft; 70 m). Above footplate level they were very similar to the 9400 class, and shared the same Standard no.10 boiler. The surprises were below the (very small) footplate, where they resembled the USATC S100 Class that the GWR and other railways had used during the Second World War.

Although a sound design, the class had limited usefulness as they were route-restricted by their high weight and were unsuitable for fast running because of their short wheelbase. Largely confined to empty stock workings at London Paddington station, their lives were short; for example 1509 lasted barely ten years in BR service. Four of the class, 1506 to 1509, were based in Wales, Newport Pill, Ebbw Junction & Cardiff Canton, 1508 was withdrawn from that last shed. Like the 1600 and 9400 classes, their construction now appears to have been of doubtful value.

The onset of dieselisation and the decline in traffic on the railway network consigned the 1500s to scrap long before they were life-expired. However 1501 has enjoyed regular use at the Severn Valley Railway in preservation for far longer than its life in public ownership.

1501 was one of the first of the class to be withdrawn in 1961, but was sold along with 1502 and 1509 to the National Coal Board for use at Coventry Colliery. The three locos were sent to Andrew Barclay Sons & Co., in Kilmarnock, Scotland for overhaul before delivery to the NCB. All three locomotives were purchased in 1970 by the Severn Valley Railway. Locomotives 1502 and 1509 were used as sources of spares for the restoration of 1501. The remains of 1502 and 1509 were cut up and scrapped at Cashmore's, Great Bridge in October 1970.