Rapido 954004 OO Gauge GW County 4-6-0 1019 'County of Merioneth' BR Lined Black Early Crest

As World War II raged on, the Great Western Railway realised there was a growing need to expand their fleet of locos.

In the usual Great Western tradition, Hawksworth developed the design from the existing family of mixed traffic locos descended from the 4-6-0 Saint. However, so it could compete with the powerful 3-cylinder locos of the LNER and LMS this new design needed to be modernised. It also needed to be easy to service and repair, as the railway had lost many of its shed staff and labourers due to wartime austerity.

Hawksworth's new design flew in the face of anyone believing that all Great Western locos look the same. This unconventional loco would be designated the 1000 Clas, though it was more commonly known as the County. It would be the last of the 4-6-0s built by the GWR.

Hawksworth drew inspiration from further afield, adding distinctly LMS and LNER features. These included a joined single splasher rather than one over each wheel, and a tall flat-sided tender. When combined with features previously implemented on the Modified Hall Class, it resulted in a thoroughly modernised GWR loco design. The County followed the Modified Hall in its use of plate frames and separate cylinder castings, while the crew's life was made easier by the installation of a hopper ashpan.

The County's most identifiable feature is its GWR No.15 boiler, which was pitched higher than anything previously built by the GWR.

This new type of boiler was very similar to that of the Stanier 8F, and this is no coincidence; Swindon Works built 80 8Fs from 1943 through to 1945. The No.15 boiler was pressed to 280 PSI working pressure, dwarfing the 225 PSI of the Castle Class and generating a far greater tractive effort. On paper, this made it the most powerful 2-cylinder loco produced by the GWR and theoretically, it should have matched the Castles performance.

Between 1945 and 1947, the GWR built 30 County Class locos at Swindon Works. They were later named after English or Welsh Counties, omitting the Shire part of their name as traditionally Shire and County mean the same thing. Emblazoned on a long straight nameplate, even this distinctive feature was considered non-standard, as traditionally the GWR used a curved plate fixed to the outside of the splasher.

The County received a mixed reception from enthusiasts. Some loved the design, seeing it as a swansong of the Saint design and the GWR overall, whereas others thought of them as expensive and entirely non-standard.

Working as a true mixed-traffic loco the County's mainline duties included express trains such as the Cornishman and the Cheltenham Spa Express, as well as milk and fast freight work.

Achieving a top speed of 99 mph on test, the County sadly underperformed. This wasn't helped by the poor quality of coal that was available at the time. Though the GWR denied reports of rough riding, there are tales of locomotive crews being cautious about taking Counties over 70mph due to the rough ride. In the beginning, their claimed high performance caused them to be rostered for 'Castle' duties, which they struggled to maintain.

Working under such high pressure caused problems for the Counties, and under BR ownership in the mid-to-late 1950s, the working pressure was lowered. BR also used this as an opportunity to improve the loco's draughting, fitting them with a double chimney. With the boiler now topped off at 250 PSI its overall tractive effort also dwindled.

Although all 30 of the Counties were inherited by BR, the entire class were withdrawn between 1962 and 1964 in line with the rundown of steam on the Western Region and the rise of diesel-hydraulics.

The last working example was No.1011 County of Chester, which completed the County Fairwell railtour between Birmingham and Swindon in September 1964. Sadly, none survived into preservation.

Despite the unfortunate fate of County Class, significant efforts are being made to bring them back into the public eye. The Great Western Society has 1014 The GWR County Project, a bold initiative to bring an 'authentic as possible' rendition of the class back to life, utilising the frames of a Modified Hall and a Stanier 8F boiler. With an impressive amount of work completed, No.1014 County of Glamorgan is well on the way to joining her Western counterparts as a working member of Didcot's fleet.

- Red backed number & name plates
- Single Chimney
- Speedo Fitted
- Parallel Buffers
- Suitable for operation on 2nd Radius curves (438mm or greater)
- Working dynamic firebox flicker
- 21-pin DCC decoder socket
- MoPower stay-alive capacitors
- 2 factory-fitted speakers in all models
- Sprung buffers
- Museum quality paint finish
- Smooth & powerful mechanism
- Highly detailed
- NEM coupler pockets