| Great Western Railway 1500 Class | |
|---|---|
| No. 1502 at Didcot 1957 | |
| Power type | Steam |
| Builder | British Railways, Swindon Works |
| Order number | Lot 373 |
| Build date | 1949 |
| Total produced | 10 |
| Configuration | 0-6-0PT |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Driver diameter | 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in (1.410 m) |
| Minimum curve | 31⁄2 chains (230 ft; 70 m) |
| Wheelbase | 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) |
| Locomotive weight | 58 tons 4 cwt (130,400 lb or 59.1 t) |
| Boiler pressure | 200 lbf/in² (1.4 MPa) |
| Cylinders | Two, outside |
| Cylinder size | 17.5 × 24 in (445 × 610 mm) |
| Valve gear | Walschaerts |
| Valve type | Piston valves |
| Tractive effort | 22,515 lbf (100.15 kN) |
| Career | British Railways, National Coal Board |
| Power class | GWR: C BR: 4F |
| Number | 1500–1509 |
| Axle load class | GWR: Red |
| Locale | Great Britain |
| Withdrawn | BR: 1959–1963, NCB: 1970 |
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1500 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive. Despite being a GWR design, all ten (nos 1500–1509) were built by the Western Region of British Railways in 1949.
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Coming from a railway company with a well-developed standardisation policy, the 15xx was a strange design finale. Unlike all their forebears, they had outside cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear, and a very short wheelbase of 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) to go round curves of 3.5 chains (230 ft; 70 m). Above footplate level they were very similar to the 9400 class. The surprises were below the (very small) footplate, where they resembled the USATC S100 Class that the GWR and other railways had used during the Second World War. Although a sound design, they had limited usefulness as they were route-restricted by their high weight and were unsuitable for fast running because of their short wheelbase. Largely confined to empty stock workings at London Paddington station, their lives were short; for example 1509 lasted barely ten years in BR service. Like the 1600 and 9400 classes, their construction now appears to have been of doubtful value.
The onset of dieselisation and the decline in traffic on the railway network consigned the 1500s to scrap long before they were life-expired. However 1501 has enjoyed regular use at the Severn Valley Railway in preservation for far longer than its life in public ownership.
1501 was one of the first of the class to be withdrawn in 1961 but was sold with 1502 and 1509 to the NCB for use at Coventry, which led to its preservation in 1970 on the Severn Valley Railway (SVR). The three locos were sent to Andrew Barclay Sons & Co., in Kilmarnock, Scotland for overhaul before delivery to the NCB. All three locomotives were purchased by the SVR; 1502 & 1509 providing spares for the restoration of 1501, their remains cut-up and scrapped at Cashmore's, Great Bridge in October 1970. In 2006 1501's boiler certificate expired and it was withdrawn from traffic, the locomotive is currently undergoing overhaul.[1]
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