GWR 3800 Class

The GWR 3800 Class, also known as the County Class, was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger work, introduced in 1904. George Jackson Churchward designed it from standard components as a four-coupled version of his Saint Class 4-6-0. The first locomotive, number 3473 County of Middlesex, was built at Swindon Works in May 1904, and further batches followed in 1906 and in 1911 to 1912, the last with superheaters and top feed. They had inside frames, outside cylinders and the standard No. 4 boiler. The front end proved too powerful for the wheel arrangement, so the class was the last new GWR 4-4-0 design, and all were withdrawn by the early 1930s. No members of the class were preserved.