GWR 2301 Class (Dean Goods)

The GWR 2301 Class, known as the Dean Goods, is a class of British 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by William Dean for goods work. Swindon Works built 260 of them between 1883 and 1899. The class broke with earlier GWR practice by using inside frames only, and the boiler design changed while they were being built. Twenty were rebuilt in 1907 as 2-6-2 tank engines of the 3901 Class. In the First World War 62 went to France with the Railway Operating Division and some on to Salonika, and in the Second World War the War Department requisitioned over a hundred, many of which served in France. Fifty-four passed to British Railways in 1948, mostly working Welsh branch lines because of their light axle loads, and number 2538 was the last withdrawn in May 1957. Number 2516 has been preserved.