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History
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6000 Class or King class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for express passenger work and introduced in 1927. They were the largest locomotives built by the GWR, apart from the unique Pacific (The Great Bear). The class was named after kings of the United Kingdom and of England, beginning with the then reigning monarch, King George V, and going back through history. They handled the principal GWR expresses on the mainline from London to the West of England and on the GWR main line to Birmingham and Wolverhampton, until 1962 when the class was withdrawn.
By 1918 it was apparent to the GWR Chief mechanical engineer George Jackson Churchward that his Star Class 4-6-0 locomotives would soon be incapable of handling the heaviest West of England expresses without assistance. He, therefore, proposed fitting the 6 ft (1.83 m) diameter boiler used on his 4700 Class 2-8-0 onto a 4-6-0 chassis, in 1919, to create a more powerful express locomotive, but was prevented from doing so by the weight restrictions on the GWR main line. The future problem was therefore left for his successor, C.B. Collett to solve.
Although Collett was nominally responsible for the design of the class, the detailed work was undertaken by his Chief draughtsman Frederick Hawksworth.
Twenty locomotives were ordered from the GWR Swindon Works in 1927 (Lot 243). The first locomotive No. 6000 King George V, appeared in June 1927. It was followed by five others (6001-6005) a month later. The remaining fourteen (6006-6019) appeared at almost weekly intervals between February and July 1928. The second batch of ten locomotives (6020-6029 Lot 267) appeared between May and August 1930.
It was originally intended that the class be named after notable cathedrals, but, following an invitation to feature a GWR locomotive in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's (B&O) centenary celebrations, the GWR decided to make them more notable by naming the class after British Kings.
Following the death of King George V in 1936, No. 6029 ‘King Stephen’ was renamed ‘King Edward VIII’ after his successor; and following the abdication of the latter in the same year, No. 6028 ‘King Henry II’ was renamed ‘King George VI’ after the new King.
The class proved to be successful and able to cope with the heaviest express trains at a higher-speed timetable average than the "Castle". Due to their size and weight, the King class was however restricted to the London-Taunton-Plymouth (via both Bristol and Westbury) and the London-Birmingham-Wolverhampton (via Bicester) main lines. The class was therefore used on the GWR's crack expresses such as the Cornish Riviera Limited until the end of regular steam hauled express services on the Western Region of British Railways, although they needed assistance for the heaviest services over the South Devon Banks between Newton Abbot and Plymouth. They were unable to serve in Cornwall, due to the weakness of the Royal Albert Bridge, and so when they were hauling the Cornish Riviera Limited, they had to be swapped for a 'Castle' or 'Hall' at Devonport.
The entire class was withdrawn in 1962 and replaced by the Western Region's short-lived diesel-hydraulic Western Class locomotives.
3 locomotives still exist with current locations (as of 2021) being 6000 King George V on static display at the STEAM - Museum of the Great Western, 6023 King Edward II at the Didcot Railway Centre and 6024 King Edward I at the West Somerset Railway.