Broad Gauge Engines of the Great Western Railway Part 4 : 1853-1874

Of the photographs of members of the relatively small ‘Victoria’ Class that have come down to us to date, a disproportionate number of them show engines from the second batch, which were all named after prominent engineers. The 1856-built engines carried the names of contemporary reigning monarchs, headed by Victoria – naturally. The second built and the longest lived at twenty-four years and four months was Napoleon, pictured here in the locomotive yard at Swindon and probably photographed following its final heavy repair in the mid-1870s, when it no doubt acquired the extended roof to the spectacle plate. The engine is attached to an express tender – still with its iron ‘coffin’ – just one of at least three different tender types which ran behind members of the class at various times. Initially intended for working on the South Wales Railway, which was equipped with short turntables, one of the four-wheeled, slotted-frame type would have been attached originally, tenders which may well have been designed specifically for use with this class. The engine is in the Armstrong livery and has also acquired one of his shallow lipped chimneys. Otherwise, Napoleon is much as built in August 1856. Incidentally, the Napoleon commemorated here is not Napoleon Bonaparte but his successor, Emperor Napoleon III, leader of the Second Empire from 1851 and latterly our ally during the Crimean War, which had ended only weeks before the engine was built.

Taken at Uffington circa 1889-90, this remarkable photograph shows a train of empty fish and meat wagons heading westward behind an unidentified ‘Swindon’ Class 0-6-0, no doubt at some speed as was normal with these workings. The engine is in the later condition with Dean cab and fittings but not yet fitted with the vacuum brake. In 1886, the return empties was due to pass Foxhall Junction, Didcot at 9.10am and arrive at Swindon Transfer at 10.15am, having been recessed at Shrivenham to allow a faster train to pass. Further expresses overtook at Swindon, where an hour was allowed to shunt empty vehicles and for locomotive purposes. The three fish wagons in the train are of interest, the two rear vehicles both being fitted with guard’s accommodation and provided with hand brakes. Since the train has no continuous brake, both of these brakes will probably be manned. The covered van was used to convey sides of meat, whilst the leading open is an older 6-wheeled fish wagon dating from about 1877 and built upon an old coach underframe. Fish, at this time, was salted and packed in barrels for transport from Cornwall. The standard gauge horseboxes on the left are also of interest. The vehicle nearest to the camera is probably privately owned but the two following are respectively GWR diagrams ‘N1’ and ‘N2’ – the ‘N1’ dates from 1876 while the ‘N2’ from the mid-1880s. Some of the latter were built for the broad gauge and then converted in 1892. There is also some interesting infrastructure to be seen too, not least of which is the top of the original Uffington Signal Box above the rear of the fish train.