Great Western, 0-6-2 Tank Classes
Absorbed & Swindon Designed Classes
Reeks: Locomotive Portfolios
David Maidment
- Descriptions
- and
- hundreds
- of
- photos
- of
- these
- tank
- engines
- that
- played
- a
- major
- role
- in
- Welsh
- coal
- mining
- and
- passenger
- rail.After
- tackling
- the
- Great
- Western
- Railway’s
- pannier
- tanks
- in
- a
- previous
- Locomotive
- Portfolios
- volume,
- David
- Maidment
- seeks
- out
- descriptions
- and
- photographs
- of
- the
- GW
- 0-6-2
- tank
- engines,
- the
- majority
- of
- which
- were
- built
- by
- the
- Rhymney,
- Taff
- Vale,
- Barry,
- and
- other
- Welsh
- railways
- from
- the
- last
- decade
- or
- so
- of
- the
- nineteenth
- century
- onward.
- The
- engines
- of
- eight
- different
- companies,
- absorbed
- by
- the
- GWR
- in
- 1922,
- are
- described
- and
- illustrated,
- as
- well
- as
- the
- way
- in
- which
- many
- were
- modernized
- and
- rebuilt
- at
- Swindon
- or
- Caerphilly
- Works
- in
- the
- 1920s.GWR
- Chief
- Mechanical
- Engineer
- Charles
- Collett
- was,
- however,
- faced
- with
- a
- motive
- power
- crisis
- in
- the
- mining
- valleys
- at
- the
- Grouping,
- as
- many
- of
- the
- companies
- had
- economized
- on
- essential
- maintenance
- as
- the
- GW’s
- takeover
- drew
- near,
- and
- he
- had
- to
- hurriedly
- design
- a
- standard
- 0-6-2T
- to
- complement
- and
- bolster
- their
- work
- as
- the
- powerful
- GW
- 2-8-0Ts
- were
- too
- heavy
- and
- wide
- for
- many
- of
- the
- Cardiff
- valleys.
- These
- engines,
- the
- 56XX
- &
- 66XX
- classes,
- became
- part
- of
- the
- South
- Wales
- scene
- between
- 1925
- and
- 1964,
- mainly
- running
- the
- coal
- traffic
- between
- pits
- and
- docks,
- although
- they
- dominated
- Cardiff
- Valley
- passenger
- services
- until
- the
- influx
- of
- BR
- 3MT
- 2-6-2Ts
- and
- GW
- 41XX
- 2-6-2Ts
- in
- 1954
- and
- 1955.
- With
- around
- 300
- black
- &
- white
- photographs,
- this
- book
- takes
- a
- wide-ranging
- look
- at
- these locomotives.
