GWR Star Class

The Great Western Railway Star Class were 2-2-2 broad gauge steam locomotives used for passenger train work, designed by Robert Stephenson and introduced into service between November 1838 and November 1841, then withdrawn between April 1864 and September 1871. Twelve were manufactured and, unusually, were given the romantic or colloquial names of astronomical bodies, such as North Star, Morning Star and Evening Star. North Star and Morning Star were built in 1836 by Robert Stephenson and Company for the New Orleans Railway, which could not accept them, so they were sold to the Great Western Railway and altered to its seven foot gauge, and Daniel Gooch then ordered ten more of basically the same design from Stephenson. Many parts of North Star, dismantled in 1906, were later recovered to build a replica now at the Swindon Steam Railway Museum.