George Jackson Churchward – 1857-1933
By Ian Crowder

2007 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth George Jackson Churchward.  Regarded as the father of modern Great Western locomotive design, his influence was far-reaching.

Born in Devon, he came from a family with no engineering background.  He served his apprenticeship at the Newton Abbot works of the South Devon Railway before going on to Swindon, where he fulfilled various management roles before being appointed assistant to the then chief mechanical engineer, William Dean, in 1897.  Assured that he would eventually replace Dean, he set about developing his standardisation plan which envisaged using less than a dozen locomotive designs with a standard range of boilers, fittings, cylinders, motion, wheels and tenders.

American influence

His thoughts were heavily influenced by North American boiler practice and French valves and motion.  His first venture was the ‘City’ class 4-4-0, the prototype of which was a rebuild of one of William Dean’s Atbara class 4-4-0 express locomotives, in 1902.  The locomotive combined Dean’s distinctly Victorian double-frame , inside-cylinder chassis but it carried one of the first examples of Churchward’s new tapered boiler (eventually becoming the standard No. 4 boiler) with Belpaire firebox: a design not only built in the thousands in various sizes by the GWR but was also taken to the LMS by Stanier and on to British Railways with its Standard classes.

The ‘City’ class was a huge success and won for Churchward world-wide recognition. One new-build (as opposed to an Atbara rebuild) member of the class went on to record a speed in excess of 100mph in 1904; thus underlining Churchward’s status as a leading locomotive engineer and survival to this day of the engine that performed the feat: no. 3440 City of Truro.

Over the first 20 years of the 20th century, Churchward went on to manufacture at Swindon works a series of 2-cylinder and 4-cylinder locomotives that were substantially superior to anything else then being produced in Britain.  His trademarks were the 4-6-0 configuration providing maximum adhesion for the challenging routes through Devon to Plymouth, and his distinctive, tapered, domeless boiler. His boilers promoted good water circulation; the narrow, flat-topped Belpaire firebox made efficient use of the high-calorific value steam coal available; superheating, high boiler pressure and large steam space at the hottest part of the boiler resulted in fuel economy and efficiency that was the envy of other railway companies.

After the City class, Churchward went on to design the County class 4-4-0. With inside frames and outside cylinders, these engines were powerful and fast, but had a reputation for rough riding due to their short wheelbase.  Nevertheless, they incorporated all of Churchward’s basic principles and are instantly recognisable as setting the standard for all future GWR locomotives.

The most notable locomotives built by Churchward were the first 2-8-0 to run in Britain – the 2800 class; and the Saint 2-cylinder and Star 4-cylinder classes of 4-6-0. 

Two and Four cylinders

The prototype of the 2800 class was no. 97 (later 2800) which was completed in 1903, using the new standard No. 1 boiler with a pressure of 200lb/sq.in. and 18in diameter outside cylinders. The first production batch of the class (including no. 2807 which is currently being restored at Toddington), started emerging from Swindon works in 1906.  They were undoubtedly the most powerful locomotives in Britain and one member of the class set an unbeaten record of hauling a train in excess of 2,000 tons.

During 1902/3, three locomotives were built with different boiler and valve arrangements.  Running as two-cylinder 4-4-2s, they were compared with three DeGlehn four-cylinder compounds ordered from the Société Alsacienne in France. The result was firstly, the Saint class 4-6-0 which set the standard for all future two-cylinder 4-6-0s designed at Swindon. This includes Collett’s Hall class mixed-traffic 4-6-0, the first of which was a Saint rebuild.

The prototype four-cylinder Star was built in 1906 using experience gained from the Saint and DeGlehn prototypes.  The class used the French cylinder arrangements (but without the complexities of compounding); Walschearts valve gear, the DeGlehn bogie and the new standard No. 1 boiler with standard No. 3 superheater.  It was a true masterpiece.  The first was initially turned out as a 4-4-2 and later converted to 4-6-0 and this very successful design became the forerunner of the later Castles and Kings.

Tank locomotives

Churchward’s skills were also applied to tank locomotives. Following the success of the 2800 class, he went on to design the only 2-8-0 tank locomotive class ever to run in the UK, again to meet the need to handle mineral traffic over the steeply graded lines in South Wales.  These engines – and a more powerful Collett version – reliably did what they were designed for right until the end of steam.

But for commuter traffic Churchward developed a 2-6-2 tank locomotive that offered rapid acceleration and good turn of speed. The prototype, no. 99 (later 3100) emerged in 1903 and the class went into production two years later.  Equipped with the standard no. 2 boiler, the class eventually numbered 290 locomotives which could be found all over the Western system and were particularly associated with Birmingham commuter trains. During production and at overhauls, the engines received improvements including outside steam pipes, larger tanks and bunkers and increased boiler pressure. One of the later examples, no. 4160, is an occasional visitor to Toddington.

A smaller version of the 2-6-2 was also produced, inevitably becoming known as the ‘small Prairie’ to distinguish it from the larger version.  Intended for rural passenger and freight traffic, no. 115 was produced in 1905 to work over the hilly west-country branch lines. This engine was an immediate success and eventually 175 were built – again, with various improvements over the years. No. 5542, currently resident at Toddington, is one of the later versions, completed at Swindon in 1928. Large numbers of both the small and large Prairies survived to the end of steam.

The Pacific experiment

No article about Churchward can ignore his foray into the Pacific (4-6-2) wheel arrangement, in the shape of The Great Bear. This proved to be the only locomotive of this wheel arrangement ever to be built by the GWR and while being over 50 per cent more powerful than the Star class, it was also a third heavier and thus was restricted to the Paddington-Bristol route.  It was ungainly, not terribly pretty and was prone to derailing on sharp curves.  While the Great Western publicity department championed the locomotive’s considerable power the concept was not taken any further. Without doubt there were the makings of an exceptional design if it was persued but Churchward’s successor, Collett, dismantled the locomotive after only 16 years of operation. Churchward was said to have been very upset by its demise.

Retirement

Having set the standard for the GWR right through to the end of steam in the 1960s, Churchward retired in 1922 but continued to live in a GWR-owned house in Swindon and maintained an interest in what was going on in the works.  Churchward died one foggy day in December 1933. He was hard of hearing and had poor eyesight by then and, looking at what he thought was a defective piece of track at Swindon was tragically run over by an express hauled by one of his own locomotives.

Churchward never married and is buried in the churchyard at Christ Church, Swindon.

Churchward County class 4-4-0 no. 3810 County of Wicklow, one for the first batch with square end frames, having its fire dropped.  The County class was a natural successor to the City and it carried all the hallmarks of Churchward’s subsequent designs. Gone was the Dean double frame; in were outside cylinders with inside valves; standard No. 4 boiler and on later members of the class the elegant curved frame ends. Built for cross-country trains, the Counties were very powerful and combined with the short wheelbase became known as ‘Churchward’s Rough Riders’  They were often used for the more prestigious services over the Cheltenham-Straftord route.

Churchward Saint class 4-6-0 no. 2902 Lady of the Lake as built, before outside steam pipes were fitted. This locomotive was built in 1906, yet the resemblance to the later Hall class is obvious. The first allocation of this engine was Old Oak Common. In 1910, it hauled the first 2-hour express from Birmingham to Paddington and a well-wisher threw a horseshoe on to the footplate. The horseshoe was permanently fitted to the engine and it carried it until withdrawn in 1949 – paradoxically the same year that Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway resident Modified Hall no. 7903 Foremarke Hall, a direct descendent of the Saint class, emerged from Swindon works.

A pure four-cylinder masterpiece: Churchward’s Star class, which inspired the later Castle and King classes. This is no. 4015 Knight of St. John, as built in 1908. The class later received the familiar ‘elbow’ steam pipes to the outside cylinders that are a feature of the Castle class. 4015 was withdrawn at Swindon in 1951.

In 1908, Churchward produced the UK's first 'pacific': no. 111 The Great Bear.
This four-cylinder locomotive was large and extremely powerful: it produced 50
per cent more power than the Star 4-6-0 but was so heavy that it could only
work between Paddington and Bristol. The other unique feature was that the
engine was coupled to the only eight-wheel tender built by the GWR.
Nevertheless, it had covered half a million miles by the time it entered
Swindon works in 1925 needing heavy repairs and the decision was taken to
dismantle it.  The parts were used to build a Castle class 4-6-0 which carried
the same number, 111, but was named Viscount Churchill. This engine lasted
until 1953.

All photographs are copyright STEAM picture library www.steampicturelibrary.com.

Sources: G. J. Churchward - A Locomotive Biography by Col H C Rogers, (Allen & Unwin, London, 1975); www .greatwestern.org.uk the Great Western archive; www.wikipedia.org; City of Truro, Main Line Centenarian by Michael Rutherford (Friends of the National Railway Museum, 2003; City of Truro 102.3: the return of a Great Western legend; DVD distributed by Oakwood Video Library, 2006.