GWR 5205 Class

They were designed for short-haul coal trips{{cite book |last=le Fleming |first=H.M. |editor-last=White |editor-first=D.E. |title=The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part nine: Standard Two-Cylinder Classes |date=February 1962 |publisher=RCTS |page=J38-J42 }} from coal mines to ports in South Wales. They were based on the 4200 Class which had been introduced by the Great Western Railway in 1910. The 5205 series were of the same general design and 70 of the 5205 class were built, 5205-5274. They retained the straight frames of the 4200s, but had outside steam pipes and {{cvt|19|in|mm}} diameter cylinders so were slightly more powerful than their predecessors. In later years, many would be rebuilt to incorporate the 5275 raised footplate.

Twenty 5205s, 5255-5274 were converted to the 7200 Class in 1934/6.

Twenty more locomotives to the same general design were built from 1930. This series had curved frames at the front with a raised section of frame over cylinders which were of the same size as the 5205 series. These were 5275 to 5294. These were all rebuilt as 7200 Class in 1934 without seeing significant use as a consequence of the stock market crash of 1929, with welsh coal traffic decreasing immensely shortly before the 5275’s were built. Ten more, 5255-5264 were built in 1940 due to Coal traffic rising as WWII picked up, these reusing numbers from 5205 class members which had also been rebuilt into the 7200 Class.

The 5205s and 5275s were largely used in South Wales alongside 4200 class engines, working the profitable coal traffic. They also saw use on Iron Ore trains and general freight traffic. A few found their way onto the Midland region and performed banking duties on the Lickey Incline.

Three examples of the 5205 class have been preserved with two of them 5224 and 5239 having run in preservation. No members of the 5275 class have been preserved in their original form, but two survive in rebuilt form in the 7200 class.

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In 2012, Hornby released models of the 5205 class in both BR black and GWR green. {{cite web|url=https://www.modelraildatabase.com/classes/details/246/|title=Model Rail Database|publisher=Model Rail Database|access-date=13 September 2015 }}

• List of GWR standard classes with two outside cylinders

{{Commons category|GWR 5205 Class}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{RCTS-LocosGWR-1|year=1968}}

{{GWR Locomotives}}

5205

Category:2-8-0T locomotives

Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1923

Category:Freight locomotives

Category:Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain

Category:1′D h2t locomotives