By David Maidment. Part of the Locomotive Portfolios series of books from Pen & Sword Publishing, which examines different steam locomotive types in detail.
The majority of 0-6-2 tank locomotives operated by the Great Western Railway were built by the Rhymney, Taff Vale, Barry and other Welsh railways from the last decade or so of the nineteenth century onwards. Great Western 0-6-2 Tank Classes: Absorbed and Swindon Designed Classes begins by looking at the engines of eight different companies, absorbed by the GWR in 1922. Each class is described and illustrated, and the modernisation or rebuilding of many of these locomotives, which took place at Swindon or Caerphilly Works in the 1920s, is well detailed.
Many of the early companies had economised on essential maintenance prior to the GWR’s take-over, leading to something of a motive power crisis in the mining valleys at the Grouping. Charles Collett hurriedly designed a new standard 0-6-2T as the powerful 2-8-0Ts were too heavy and wide for many of the Cardiff valleys. These engines, the 56XX & 66XX Classes, became part of the South Wales scene between 1925 and 1964.
Great Western 0-6-2 Tank Classes: Absorbed and Swindon Designed Classes covers the early classes and the later GWR-designed examples. The book contains nearly 40,000 words, complemented by around 300 black & white photographs. 284 pages. Hardback