#1847
GWR 4700 Class
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Swindon Works· from 1919· class of 9 two-cylinder 2-8-0 locomotives
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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. GWR 4700 class 2-8-0: Flying Stag· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. GWR 4700 Class 2-8-0 4706: RuthAS· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Image from page 367 of "Railway and locomotive engineering - a practical journal of railway motive power and rolling stock" (1901): Internet Archive Book Images· CC0
what is it?
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4700 Class was a class of nine 2-8-0 steam locomotives, designed by George Jackson Churchward. They were introduced in 1919 for heavy mixed-traffic work. Although primarily designed for fast freight, the class also sometimes hauled passenger trains, notably heavy holiday expresses in the summer months.
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 107 years ago, in 1919.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.1 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 45 years (1919–1964).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1919–1923
- in service from
- 1919
- retired
- 1964
- status
- retired
- number built
- 9
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Swindon Works
- designer
- George Jackson Churchward
- operators
- Great Western Railway, British Rail, Western Region of British Railways
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- wheel arrangement
- 2-8-0
- length
- 20.1 m
- weight
- 83.3 t
- nicknames
- Night Owls
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5514974, Wikipedia: GWR 4700 Class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.