GWR 6000 Class 6000 King George V

The GWR 6000 Class locomotive No. 6000 King George V is a preserved British express passenger steam locomotive and the first of the Great Western Railway's King Class. It was designed under chief mechanical engineer Charles Collett to haul heavy express trains of thirteen or more carriages, and it was completed at Swindon Works in June 1927. Named after the reigning monarch, it was shipped to the United States in August 1927 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad centenary celebrations, where it was given the bell and plaque it still carries. It ran for the Great Western and then British Railways until December 1962, covering 1,910,424 miles, and was later preserved in the national collection. In 1971 it became the first steam locomotive to run on the British Railways mainline after the steam ban, which is often credited with reopening the mainline to steam. It remains part of the national collection.