GWR Premier Class
Encyclopedia
The Great Western Railway
Premier Class 0-6-0
broad gauge steam locomotive
s for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between February 1846 and May 1847, and withdrawn between March 1866 and June 1872.
These were the first locomotives built at Swindon railway works, albeit with boilers supplied to the company. They were larger than the existing Hercules Class
but still with hatcock fireboxes. Just six months after the last one left Swindon, production of the even larger Pyracmon Class
had started.
From about 1865, the Premier Class locomotives became part of the Fury Class, along with the Hercules Class
locomotives.
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
Premier Class 0-6-0
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
broad gauge steam locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between February 1846 and May 1847, and withdrawn between March 1866 and June 1872.
These were the first locomotives built at Swindon railway works, albeit with boilers supplied to the company. They were larger than the existing Hercules Class
GWR Hercules Class
The Hercules Class were four broad gauge steam locomotives for the Great Western Railway. They were the first 0-6-0 locomotives, being built in 1842 by Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company...
but still with hatcock fireboxes. Just six months after the last one left Swindon, production of the even larger Pyracmon Class
GWR Pyracmon Class
The Great Western Railway Pyracmon Class 0-6-0 broad gauge steam locomotives for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between November 1847 and April 1848, and withdrawn between August 1871 and December 1873...
had started.
From about 1865, the Premier Class locomotives became part of the Fury Class, along with the Hercules Class
GWR Hercules Class
The Hercules Class were four broad gauge steam locomotives for the Great Western Railway. They were the first 0-6-0 locomotives, being built in 1842 by Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company...
locomotives.
Locomotives
- Ajax (1846 - 1871)
- AjaxAjax (mythology)Ajax or Aias was a mythological Greek hero, the son of Telamon and Periboea and king of Salamis. He plays an important role in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War. To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus , he is called "Telamonian Ajax," "Greater...
is the name of a Greek mythological hero. HMS Ajax formed part of Admiral Nelson's fleer at the Battle of TrafalgarBattle of TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805. The name had previously been carried on one of the unsuccessful Mather, Dixon locomotivesGWR Mather, Dixon locomotivesThe first 19 locomotives ordered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway included six 2-2-2 Mather, Dixon locomotives. They were built by Mather, Dixon and Company unsuccessful and rapidly replaced by the Star Class locomotives ordered by Daniel Gooch once he had been appointed as...
built in 1838.- Argo (1846 - 1855)
- The original ArgoArgoIn Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.-Legend:...
was Jason's ship in Greek mythology.- Bellerophon (1846 - 1870)
- BellerophonBellerophonBellerophon or Bellerophontes is a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside of Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a...
is the name of a Greek mythological hero. HMS Bellerophon was one of the most famous ships at the Battle of TrafalgarBattle of TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805.- Bergion (1847 - 1870)
- This locomotive was named after BergionBergionIn Greek mythology, Bergion or Dercynus was a son of Poseidon and brother of Alebion. The two brothers engaged into battle with Heracles at Liguria of North-Western Italy.This version was mentioned in Aeschylus' play Promētheus Lyomenos, now lost....
, son of PoseidonPoseidonPoseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
in Greek mythology.- Briarcus (1847 - 1870)
- This locomotive was named after Briarcus, a minor character in Greek mythology.
- Brontes (1847 - 1872)
- BrontesBrontesBrontes may refer to:* Brontes, a cyclops of Greek mythology, whose name means 'thunder.'* Brontë family; notably:** Charlotte Brontë** Emily Brontë** Anne Brontë....
is one of the Greek mythical monsters known as the CyclopsCyclopsA cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
.- Dreadnought (1846 - 1871)
- This is a common name for large British naval ships, the HMS DreadnoughtHMS Dreadnought (1801)HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy 98-gun second rate. This ship of the line was launched at Portsmouth at midday on Saturday, 13 June 1801, after she had spent 13 years on the stocks...
serving when this locomotive was built was launched in 1801.- Fury (1846 - 1871)
- The furies were the female personification of vengeance in Roman mythology.
- Jason (1847 - 1870)
- This locomotive was named after JasonJasonJason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
. a hero of Greek mythology.- Premier (1846 - 1869)
- The name, which means first, had previously been carried on one of the Mather, Dixon locomotives of 1838.
- Telica (1846 - 1870)
- The volcano TelicaTelicaTelica is a municipality in the León department of Nicaragua. It is located just north of the city of León. The population is 8,776.It is the birthplace of former Major League Baseball player Tony Chévez....
is in Nicaragua.- Vesuvius (1846 - 1870)
- This locomotive was named after Vesuvius, a famous volcano in Italy.