GWR 4300 Class

The GWR 4300 Class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by George Jackson Churchward for the Great Western Railway for mixed traffic duties. A total of 342 were built between 1911 and 1932, as a tender version of the 3150 class tank engine, combining the outside cylinders of the Saint, the wheels of the 31XX 2-6-2 tank and the Standard No. 4 boiler in superheated form. Because Swindon Works could not keep pace, an order was placed with Robert Stephenson and Company in 1921 for fifty locomotives, of which the first 35 were built by the company between April 1921 and January 1922, while the remaining fifteen were built at Swindon from parts manufactured by the Stephenson works. One hundred of the earlier engines were withdrawn between 1936 and 1939, and the last six examples survived until 1964.