Castle & Kings At Work
- Castle & Kings At Work
- The hyperbole of modern writers and enthusiasts for the steam engines of yesterday often includes terms like classic, great or the best. few locomotive classes can stand up to such epithets - indeed, closer examination of the facts often leads to an entirely different view
- Nevertheless, ther are some classes about which everyone agrees and two of these - the Great Western's Castles and Kings - rank among the most successful types of steam locomotive ever built.
- The story of these classic 4-6-0 four-cylinder express passenger engines begins on the GWR immediately after World War I, when the then Chief Mechanical Engineer, G.J.Churchward, designed his Star class. The Stars were to provide the basis for C.B.Collett, Churchward's successor, to produce in 1923 No.4073 Caerphilly Castle - the first of the Castle class. 178 locomotives followed No.4073 over the next 28 years, into service that was to last until the mid-1960s. Few other express passenger locomotive designs proved so durable as standard types - or so adaptable, for the history of the Castles is one of continued modification by both Collett and his successor F.W.Hawksworth.
- The King class had a very similar design and development lineage - although only 30 engines were constructed between 1927 and 1936. from the start, however, few locomotives have enjoyed such popularity or have become legends in their own lifetime, in the way that the majestic Kings did. The King class must surely be placed among the top achievements of British steam design of all time - from 1927 when No.6000 King George V was chosen to lead the procession of engines at Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Centenary Exhibition to their final heyday following Hawksworth's improvements to draughting
- Michael Rutherford analyses these remarkable locomotives in a book that will be indispensable to enthusiast or historian
- 1982, Hardback, 144 pages, 8¾" x 12"
- Ian Allan Publishing
- ISBN 0711012105
- New — N/A
- Pre-Owned — SOLD
Order or Enquire - Ian Allan Publishing
- Reprinted by Guild Publishing
- 1986, Hardback, 144 pages, 8¾" x 12"
- Guild Publishing
- Print No.CN8701 - No ISBN
- New — N/A
- Pre-Owned, excellent — £10.00
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