GWR 4-6-0 Identification
No, they don't all look the same! There are a good number of features that can be used for identification. Here's a selection.
| Saint | Star | Castle | King | Hall | Grange | Manor | Modified Hall | County | |
| Four Cylinder - deep slide bars with tapered ends, cylinders set back from smokebox over rear bogie wheel, cylinder cover under smokebox projecting forward, outside valve rod in front of cylinder | Y | Y | Y | ||||||
| Double bend steam pipes | some | Y | Y | ||||||
| Two Cylinder - plain slidebars, cylinders between bogie wheels under smokebox, outside valve rod behind cylinder | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Straight steam pipes | some | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| First and second driving wheels nearly touching | Y | Y | Y | ||||||
| Splasher not significantly covered by cab | Y | Y | |||||||
| Last quarter of rear splasher covered by cab. | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| Nearly half of rear splasher covered by cab | Y | ||||||||
| Single continuous splasher | Y | ||||||||
| Full length frames - visible above footplate under smokebox | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| Side window cab | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Raised footplate section over cylinder | Y | Y | |||||||
| Double chimney | some | some | some | ||||||
| Safety valve cover between last boiler ring and firebox | Y | Y | |||||||
| Safety valve cover over last boiler ring | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Safety valve cover between last two boiler rings | Y | ||||||||
| Long smokebox, extending well back from saddle | Y | Y | |||||||
| Number | 2900-2998 (2999 built in preservation) |
4000-4072. Note that 4000, 4009, 4016, 4032 and 4037 were later converted to castles |
4073-4099, 5000-5099, 7000-7037. Conversions 100(A1), 111, 4000, 4009, 4016, 4032, 4037. |
6000-6029 | 4900-4999, 5900-5999, 6900-6958 | 6800-6879 (6880 built in preservation) |
7800-7829 | 6959-6999, 7900-7929 | 1000-1029 |
There are other features of course, but these are intended to be easy to spot even if you don't have other locomotives in the same photo to compare with.
The Saint and Star are basically the same, except that the Star has four cylinders, and because of that a different frame design, visible in front of the smokebox. Saints, Stars, Halls and Granges all have the same size boiler.
The Castle is basically a Star with a bigger boiler and cab.
The King is the biggest of all, also with four cylinders, and with a very large boiler. It is something of an odd man out with different wheel spacing and bogie to the others.
The Hall was based on the Saint, but is a mixed traffic locomotive with smaller wheels.
The Grange is similar to a Hall with slightly smaller wheels and the footplate raised over the cylinders.
The Manor is a lighter and shorter Grange with a smaller boiler.
The Modified Hall is based on the Hall with different cylinders and a frame design more akin to the Star.
The County has a chassis very similar to the Modified Hall, but with a bigger boiler.
And here are some profiles.
