GWR Locomotive - Caerphilly Castle

Contributed by STEAM

GWR Locomotive - Caerphilly Castle

Caerphilly Castle was designed and built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon. It was built in 1923 and was the prototype of the Castle Class - a now iconic class of locomotive. Built in the heyday of the roaring Twenties, Caerphilly Castle is an attractive locomotive and was once proclaimed to be "The most powerful express passenger locomotive in Britain."

In the 1920s and 1930s railway companies fought to have the fastest and most powerful steam engines. They pushed technology to the limits to acheive success.

In 1932 a Castle Class locomotive hauling carriages became the fastest train in the World. And although the record has since been broken, the Great Western Railway Castle Class locomotives have remained record breaking legends!

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  • 1 comment
  • 1. At 22:05 on 11 January 2012, blacklab58 wrote:

    My father was a fireman on this beautiful engine and he would take us to the Science Museum every so often to see her in her glory. It was like watching an old friendship every time we visited her, sadly when she left London, it wasn't so easy to visit, but I know if he were alive today, we'd be making a trip to Swindon. I will however be taking my son, niece and nephews to see "Grandad's Train" as soon as we can.

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Location

Swindon

Culture
Period

1923

Theme
Size
Colour
Material

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