GWR 9400 Class

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 9400 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive, used for shunting and banking duties.

Great Western Railway 9400 class
9405 at Paddington in 1947
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerFrederick Hawksworth
Builder
Order numberGWR Lot Nos. 365, 382–387
Serial number
  • RSH: 7450–69, 7547–96, 7611–40
  • WGB: 2910–2959
  • YEC: 2443–72, 2544–53, 2575–84
Build date1947–1956
Total produced210
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0PT
 • UIC
  • C h2t (10)
  • C n2t (200)
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.4 ft 7+1⁄2 in (1.410 m)
Minimum curve
  • 5 chains (330 ft; 100 m) normal,
  • 4.5 chains (300 ft; 91 m) slow
Wheelbase15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Length33 ft 2 in (10.11 m) over buffers
Width8 ft 7 in (2.616 m)
Height12 ft 5+1⁄2 in (3.797 m)
Axle load19 long tons 5 cwt (43,100 lb or 19.6 t) (21.6 short tons) full
Loco weight55 long tons 7 cwt (124,000 lb or 56.2 t) (62.0 short tons) full
Fuel typeCoal
Water cap.1,300 imp gal (5,900 L; 1,600 US gal)
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		17.40 sq ft (1.617 m2)
BoilerGWR Standard No. 10[1]
Boiler pressure200 lbf/in2 (1.38 MPa)
Heating surface1,347 sq ft (125.1 m2)
 • Tubes1,245.7 sq ft (115.73 m2)
 • Firebox101.7 sq ft (9.45 m2)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size17+1⁄2 in × 24 in (444 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort22,515 lbf (100.15 kN)
Career
Operators
Class9400 or 94XX
Power class
  • GWR: C
  • BR: 4F
Numbers9400–9499, 8400–8499, 3400–3409
Axle load classGWR: Red
LocaleWestern Region
Withdrawn1959–1965
Preserved9400, 9466
DispositionTwo preserved, remainder scrapped

The first ten 9400s were the last steam engines built by the GWR. After nationalisation in 1948, another 200 were built by private contractors for British Railways (BR). Most had very short working lives as the duties for which they were designed disappeared through changes in working practices or were taken over by diesel locomotives. Two locomotives survived into preservation, with the oldest of the class, 9400 as part of the National Collection.

Design
Newly built 8432 in 1953.

The 9400 class was the final development in a long lineage of tank locomotives that can be directly traced to the 645 Class of 1872. Over the decades details altered, the most significant being the adoption of Belpaire fireboxes necessitating pannier tanks.

The 9400 resembled a pannier tank version of the 2251 class, and indeed shared the same boiler and cylinders as the 2251, but was in fact a taper-boilered development of the 8750 subgroup of the 5700 class. The advantage was a useful increase in boiler power, but there was a significant weight penalty that restricted route availability. The 10 GWR-built locomotives had superheaters but the remainder did not.

The first ten 9400s were built by the Great Western and were the last steam engines built by the company. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, private contractors built another 200 for British Railways.

The 9400s were numbered 9400–9499, 8400–8499 and 3400–3409. BR gave them the power classification 4F.

Build details
Table of orders and numbers[2]
Lot No.Fleet Nos.ManufacturerSerial Nos.DateNotes
3659400–9409Swindon Works—1947
3829410–9459Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns7547–75961950–1951
3839460–9489Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns7611–76401950–1953
3848400–8449W. G. Bagnall2910–29591949–1954
3858450–8479Yorkshire Engine Company2443–65/67–71/66/721949–1952
3868480–8499Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns7450–74691952under subcontract from Hudswell Clarke
3879490–9499Yorkshire Engine Company2544–25531954–1955under subcontract from Hunslet Engine Company
3873400–3409Yorkshire Engine Company2575–25841955–1956under subcontract from Hunslet Engine Company

No. 3409 was the last locomotive built for British mainline use by private contractors, as well as the last steam locomotive built for British Railways to a pre-nationalisation design. It was ordered by GWR in December 1947 and delivered by Yorkshire Engine Company in October 1956.[3]

Operations
9474 ECS working into Paddington
8464 with a freight train

The 9400 class migrated to most parts of the former GWR, with many based in South Wales and at Old Oak Common. Here they were used on Paddington empty stock work right up to the end of steam on the Western Region of British Railways. A familiar sight at the buffer stops at departure side in 1964–1965 was a filthy 9400 class locomotive devoid of number plates simmering at the head of a rake of British Railways Mark 1 coaches.

Numbers 8400 to 8406 served as bank engines on the Lickey Incline after its transferral to the Western Region.

Preservation
9466 at Tyseley

Two have been preserved:

GWR/BR No. TOPS No. Home base Notes Image
9400n/aSwindon Steam Railway MuseumPart of the National Railway Collection9400 in the steam museum
946698466West Somerset RailwayThe locomotive is operational and mainline certified. Frequent visitor to the Mid-Norfolk Railway, the Metropolitan Line and other lines running charters, including a special funeral train for its owner. Formerly based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre privately owned by Dennis B Howells until his death in 2018,[4] the locomotive was subsequently sold to JJP Holdings South West Ltd and was based at the West Somerset Railway after a short return visit to the Mid-Norfolk Railway.[5] It was resident at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway where it was to remain until its boiler ticket expires at the end of 2025.[6][7] It has since moved back to the West Somerset Railway in early 2022 following analysis of weight restrictions on the line which concluded that the locomotive was safe to operate on the line once again. It will operate on the West Somerset Railway until its boiler ticket expires in 2025.[8]9466 Didcot

See also
  • GWR 0-6-0PT – list of classes of GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank, including table of preserved locomotives

References
  1. Champ, Jim (2018). An Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Transport. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-4738-7784-9. OCLC 1029234106. OL 26953051M.
  2. Whitehurst 1973, pp. 32, 70, 73–74.
  3. Atkins 1999, p. 51.
  4. "Home". 9466 Locomotive Group. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. "(home)". Mid-Norfolk Railway. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. "Virtual Engine Shed". Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  7. "Steam Locomotive 9466 set for Ecclesbourne stay until 2025". Rail Advent. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  8. "Pannier steam locomotive to see out boiler ticket in Somerset". Rail Advent. Retrieved 23 February 2022.

Sources
  • Atkins, Philips (1999). The Golden Age of Steam Locomotive Building. Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers and the National Railway Museum. ISBN 0-906899-87-7. OCLC 468585665.
  • Russell, J.H. (1975). A Pictorial Record of Great Western Engines.
  • Whitehurst, Brian (1973). Great Western Engines, Names, Numbers, Types and Classes (1940 to Preservation). Oxford, UK: Oxford Publishing Company. pp. 32, 70, 73–74, 82, 102, 158. ISBN 978-0-9028-8821-0. OCLC 815661.

Further reading
  • Derry, Richard (2008). The Pannier Papers No.1 94XX 84XX 34XX. The Irwell Press.
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