Gresley 3-cylinder V2 2-6-2. This is the first of the class 60800 Green Arrow. The class of 184 locomotives were often referred to as 'Green Arrows'. Photographed at Peterborough, early '60's.
Another Green Arrow, this time topping the grade at Stoke Summit, heading north with a fitted perishables train.
That third cylinder is very well hidden on those engines, unlike, say the UP 9000's and SP 5000's. Interesting locomotives.
All the Gresley engines look similar, even though they built for different roads. I take it that Mr. Gresley was a very influential engine designer. I may be wrong, but didn't Gresley design the valve mechanism for the third (inside) cylinder on the Union Pacific 9000 Class 4-12-2? GWR 5572 was a wee thing, but kinda cute. What is interesting is that both pilot wheels were nearly as big as the drivers...or maybe the drivers were nearly as small as the pilot wheels...can't really tell.
Absolutely right Hank. Gresley was the Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway, and before that of the Great Northern Railway. He designed his famous 'conjugated' valve gear to drive the valves on an inside cylinder from the motion of the outside valve gear, thus saving one full set of (not very accessible) gear between the frames. It was applied to all his pacifics, including the world steam record holder, Mallard, also the V2 and even the V1/V3 tank locomotives and his 2-8-0 freight locomotives, and a few others. Yes, it was used on the UP 9000's, but I believe it was replaced by having two sets of valve gear on one side of the locomotive and one set on the other! The gear was fine if well maintained, but poor maintenance led to wear in the pins allowing the center cylinder valve to overrun so that this cylinder was notched up more than the outside pair, which caused the middle big end to overheat and fail on occasion. Yes, the 45XX and 55XX class tanks on the GWR were very small wheeled, for branch line use, where speed was not an issue, but accelleration was useful.
Another type of ex-GWR 2-6-2T, this is photographed in Paddington station, London. They are larger than the 45XX and have larger wheels for use on outer suburban passenger trains.
Is the 2-6-2 you show at Paddington station the same class, or at least similar to GWR 4144 that I saw at Didcot? I'm sure that the volunteer engine maintainers at Didcot would be much happier if the GWR had used Gresley's design for 5051 and her sisters.....
Another Ivatt LMS 2-6-2T, but sadly this time in Barry Docks scrapyards, South Wales, awaiting scrapping
From the American perspective, their coal and water storage capability appears extremely limited. What were their ratings in tonnes and gallons? In other words, what was their normal mainline run in miles before requiring refueling and rewatering?
Would have to check up on capacities, but water was no problem as virtually every station had a water column, and the runs were fairly short so they could carry enough coal for a shift.
