GWR 388 class

The GWR 388 class was a large class of 310 0-6-0 goods locomotives built by the Great Western Railway. They are sometimes referred to as the Armstrong Goods or Armstrong Standard Goods to differentiate from the Gooch Goods and Dean Goods classes, both of which were also large classes of standard goods locomotives.

Armstrong Goods
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerJoseph Armstrong
BuilderGreat Western Railway
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0
Gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
and 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Driver dia.5 ft 0 in (1,524 mm)
Wheelbase15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Cylinder size17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm)
dia × stroke
Career
OperatorsGreat Western Railway
Class388 Class

Use

Despite their description as goods engines, for many years they were also used on passenger trains; the class that principally replaced them was Churchward's mixed-traffic 2-6-0s, the 4300 Class of 1919-21. They were used throughout the GWR system where the gauge permitted; principally in the Northern Division to start with.

War service

While the service overseas of Dean's 2301 Class during two world wars is well known, the service of the 388 Class in World War I is less often documented. Six of the class were sent to Serbia in 1916, two of them returning in 1921; and 16 of them were shipped to Salonika in 1917, though the first batch of eight was lost at sea. After the war four of them entered the stock of the Ottoman Railway; another four were returned to the GWR in 1921.

Numbering

The 388 class were built in several batches between 1866 and 1876; many locomotives were given numbers from recently withdrawn locomotives, so they do not run in a continuous series, or even in order of construction.[1]

Locomotive numbers
  • 21 - 27, 29, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 41 - 44, 46, 48, 50 - 53
  • 116, 117
  • 238, 298, 300
  • 370, 371, 388 - 399
  • 400 - 412, 415, 416, 419 - 438, 445 - 454, 491 - 499
  • 500 - 516
  • 593 - 612, 657 - 699
  • 700 - 716, 776 - 799
  • 800 - 805, 874 - 893
  • 1012 – 1014, 1082 - 1115
  • 1186 - 1215

Broad gauge

Twenty locomotives were converted to 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge from 1884 and reconverted to standard gauge in 1892.

Withdrawal

There were numerous withdrawals from around 1920. After 1930 the few survivors were at Oxley, Stourbidge and Wellington, and the last was withdrawn in 1934. As with all Armstrong classes, none was preserved.

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References
  1. Tabor 1956, pp. D57-D67.
  • Reed, P.J.T. (February 1953). White, D.E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part 2: Broad Gauge. Kenilworth: The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0-901115-32-0. OCLC 650490992.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tabor, F.J. (February 1956). White, D.E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part four: Six-wheeled Tender Engines. Kenilworth: The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Casserley, H.C.; Johnston, S.C. (1966). Locomotives at the Grouping: Great Western Railway. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-0555-9.
  • Russell, J.H. (1975). A Pictorial Record of Great Western Engines, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86093-398-9.
  • Waters, Laurence (1999). The Great Western Broad Gauge. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2634-3.
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