#0211
GWR 439 Class
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Swindon Works· from 1868· class of 6 British 2-4-0 locomotives
what is it?
The GWR 439 Class, nicknamed the Bicycle Class because of its unusual appearance, was a series of six 2-4-0 mixed-traffic engines designed by Joseph Armstrong for the Great Western Railway, and built at Swindon Works in 1868. The "Bicycles" worked at Northern Division sheds, running between Wolverhampton and Chester.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 158 years ago, in 1868.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1868
- in service from
- 1868
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Swindon Works
- designer
- Joseph Armstrong
- operators
- Great Western Railway
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- wheel arrangement
- 2-4-0
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5514967, Wikipedia: GWR 439 Class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.