City of Truro - The truth

[Marvin]

...Churchward's alleged comment "What did that young man want to build it for? We could have sold him ours!"

Would he really have done that though, or was it just a GWR man being typically supercilious towards the competition? After all, when LMS wanted to buy locos from GWR, they weren't interested.

[coachmann]

Had the LMS been able to buy 50 or so GWR 'Castles', they would have been totally non-standard by LMS standards of the day. RH drive on the West Coast? Strongly built chassis with good main bearings and long-lap valves and long travel pistons? 4-6-0's that were economical on coal? It was all foreign to the mandarins at Derby and the 'Castles' would have been rebuild with 4F axleboxes, safety valves on the firebox, cab roofs lowered to Midland loading gauge, and paired with Fowler tenders before entering traffic!!!

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Don't forget they'd have to have left hand drive as well! A Castle in red with a Fowler tender? Yuk! Although with the Collett tender? Doesn't the Hall in Hogwarts red look good?

[kudu]

...Churchward's alleged comment "What did that young man want to build it for? We could have sold him ours!"

Would he really have done that though, or was it just a GWR man being typically supercilious towards the competition? After all, when LMS wanted to buy locos from GWR, they weren't interested.

He was indeed being supercilious, but towards his own Pacific, not Gresley's. He was required to build it by the directors for publicity purposes, and doesn't it show? I don't believe it was particularly intended to test a larger boiler - certainly not at Churchward's instigation - though a larger boiler was presumably a consequence of the project.

[Similar pressures on Collett caused the Kings to have larger cylinders and smaller driving wheels (bringing TE over 40,000 lbs) and to place that ridiculous streamlining on 5005 and 6014. Yet weren't they already ahead of the field by anticipating the HST with their streamlined railcars, the best UK examples of art deco on rails?]

Kudu

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

I have to say that I reckon the "razor edge" styled cars looked rather better than the early streamliners which appear sorta, i dunno, bulbous?

I wonder what would have happened regarding gas turbines had 1948 and all that never happened?

[Coboman]

I must say I think the decapod is the ugliest steam loco I have ever seen, the firebox sides are awful and the smokebox looks like it's been squished Any uglier? post away!

By far the uglyest and possiably one of the most useless engines ever made.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up! One of the few old GW engines I recognise - a Kruger. Yuk.

Try this for elegance:

Culled from Wikipedia. Innit amazing what a difference the boiler can make?

[LNER Fan 60008]

I seem to remember a photo of one of those 2-6-0s being used for bomb testing. They were white washed.

Does anyone have such a photo? I cannot remember what website they were on.

[60800]

I could make better frames than that out of a cardboard box! and that thing behind the smokebox, what the hell is it? I bet it was a god-awful ride, it looks stupidly rigid and the tender is just a joke

[Solario]

and that thing behind the smokebox, what the hell is it?

It is the sand box.

There were 2 versions of the Kruger, 4-6-0 & 2-6-0, nominally designed by William Dean but in reality likely to be by Churchward.
They were one of his failures, designed 1899, most withdrawn or rebuilt into Aberdares by 1906.

A truly ugly locomotive.

[LNER Fan 60008]

Reminds one of a wooden toy train, somehow. I think if it had a smoke box like that 2-6-0, then it may not be as bad.

And remove that wannabe dome behind the smoke box, too.

[coachmann]

I seem to remember a photo of one of those 2-6-0s being used for bomb testing.

Why bomb a photo?

[Blink Bonny]

I seem to remember a photo of one of those 2-6-0s being used for bomb testing.

Why bomb a photo?

I guess to test the accuracy of bomb sights! Though it would depend on how big the enlargement was....