BR, Castle Class, 4-6-0, 5013 'Abergavenny Castle' - Era 5
Product Information
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Description
By the time Charles Collett took over from George Churchward as Chief Mechanical Officer of the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1921, holiday traffic from London to Devon and Cornwall was demanding heavier trains and the GWR management were devoting proportionally more money and resources to West of England services, from Paddington, than to any other routes. Collett's solution was to take the basic 4-6-0 layout of the existing Star Class, keeping the same frame layout and wheel spacing and adding a newly designed No.8 boiler which was both larger and lighter.The result was the GWR Class 4073, or ‘Castle’ Class, with which Collett could both supplement the Stars and replace them on the heaviest expresses.
The Castle's tractive effort was 31,625lbs at 85% boiler pressure compared to the Star's 27,800lbs, whilst the grate area was increased to 29.4 ft2 in the Castle, from the 27.07 ft2 in the Star. The bar-frame bogie was of standard Swindon design, the superheater was the No.3 type as used in the Star and the top-feed device for introducing water into the boiler through the steam was of the standard GWR pattern.The GWR publicity machine made much of the Castle’s roomy cab, with side windows and comfortable seats for the driver and fireman, with a canopy extending rearwards for shelter. The copper-capped chimney and polished brass safety-valve cover, along with a fully lined livery, was reinstated, a welcome change to the austere post-war look and on August 23, 1923, No.4073 Caerphilly Castle went on display at Paddington Station. The original tender attached to the class was the standard low-sided six ton, 3,500 gallon type, but despite the Castle’s average coal consumption being one of the lowest in the country it was changed for a 4,000 gallon design during 1926.
As the Castles became available, they were entrusted with many of the GWR’s high profile express services, including the Bristolian and the Cheltenham Flyer and they regularly registered high speed runs, 100mph being attained on several occasions. The advent of the 'King' Class locomotives in 1927 could have displaced the Castles from the main services but their restricted route availability because of their weight limited their rostering and the Castle class remained the most useful Great Western express passenger engines, operating right across the region. From August 1923 to August 1950, 155 Castle Class locomotives were built new at Swindon Works, in ten lots for the GWR and two lots for British Railways’ Western Region and a further sixteen were converted from other classes.
In 1932 there were improvements to the boiler and firebox area and further changes followed in 1946, when a higher degree of superheat was added to the Castle boiler. From 1956 the fitting of double chimneys to selected engines, combined with larger superheaters, further enhanced their capacity for sustained high-speed performance, but by December 1965, the last of the class were withdrawn from traffic.5013 Abergavenny Castle was built at Swindon in June 1932, entering traffic at Newton Abbot on June 27th. During the course of its lifespan, the locomotive served throughout the GWR region, from Penzance to Carmarthen, before finally being withdrawn from Llanelly in July 1962.

Hornby
Hornby is a household name and is famous as the UK's brand leader in the model railway hobby with its high quality 00 gauge (1:76) models and accessories.
Safety Notice
Detailed scale model. Not suitable for children under 14 years.Please refer to the safety notes in the enclosed instruction leaflet. Colours and contents may differ from those illustrated. Please retain these details and the address for future reference.
Colour and contents of products may vary from those illustrated
Technical Specification & Detail
Gauge | 00 |
DCC Type | DCC Ready |
Period | Era 5 (1956 - 1968) |
Operator/Livery | Late BR, Lined Green |
Entered Service | 1930 |
Minimum Curve | 2nd Radius + (438mm) |
Age Suitability | 14+ |
Motor | 5 Pole Skew Wound. Loco Drive |
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To write a great review:
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- Avoid mentioning any personal information (email address, telephone numbers) and time-sensitive material.
- Just be honest! You're an expert on this item. Share your experience with others. We will never reject a review just because it's negative.
We will reject reviews that contain:
- Customer service issues. Please contact Customer Services instead if you have experienced a specific issue that needs to be addressed.
- Any mention of competitors.
- General issues or discussion. Your review is on this specific item and what you think of it, it's not a place for debate and discussion on wider subject matters.
- Clear signs that you don't own the item.
- Profanities, distasteful language, promotional material and/or external links. This applies to nicknames too.
What happens next?
- We'll check your review and approve it as soon as possible. Should it not be possible for us to approve your review for the website, it'll appear (with a message from our team) in your Account area.
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