Great Western: Manor Class

By Laurence Waters

The 30 Manor class 4-6-0s were designed by CB Collett in 1938, and built by the Great Western, and the Western Region at Swindon in two batches, 20 in 1938/9, and 10 in 1950. In order to save money the first 20 members of the class were built using parts from withdrawn 4300 class 2-6-0s, and were coupled to refurbished Churchward 3,500 gallon tenders. The lighter 4-6-0s Manors were given blue route classification which allowed them to work over many secondary lines.The construction of the Manors completed the final stage of Colletts plan to provide a full range of 4-6-0 tender locomotives for Great Western passenger services.Over the years the Manors saw extensive use on services in the South West, West Wales and ex-Cambrian Lines in North Wales. They provided motive power for both the Pembroke Coast Express and the Cambrian Coast Express. Many of the class lasted to the end of steam traction on the Western Region, with the last examples being withdrawn in November 1965. Remarkably of the original 30 members of the class no fewer than 9 have survived.In this book, author Laurence Waters charts the history of the class from their construction at Swindon in 1938, right through to the final withdrawals in 1965. Using many previously unpublished black and white, and colour photographs, accompanied by informative captions, each member of the class is illustrated. This book should appeal to those interested in the history of Great Western Locomotive development as well as modellers of the Great Western and Western Region.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473869493

Laurence Waters

A retired professional photographer and photography teacher, Laurence Waters has written or contributed as co-author to numerous books on local history subjects. He has an Oxford University Diploma in English Local History. His main interest, however, is the Great Western Railway and over the years he has written a number of books on the subject. Laurence is currently the Honorary Photo Archivist of the Great Western Trust at the Didcot Railway Centre.

Book preview

THE GREAT WESTERN MANOR CLASS

On 19 January 1938 the first of a new class of lightweight mixed traffic 4-6-0s, no 7800 Torquay Manor, entered service, but the story of the Manor class can be traced back to the early years of the last century, when on 1 June 1902 G. J. Churchward took over the role of Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Western Railway from William Dean. At this time many of the Great Western’s main passenger services were in the hands of 4-4-0 types such as Badmintons, Dukes, Bulldogs, and Atbaras. All of these fine locomotives had over the years proved to be admirable performers, but by the turn of the century there was a need from the traffic department for more powerful locomotives that would not just speed up the services but also haul the increasingly heavier loads. It was at this time that Churchward outlined his scheme to construct up to six new ‘standard‘ locomotive classes that would meet the future needs of the traffic department. He soon set about constructing a number of prototype locomotives to replace the ageing 4-4-0s. The results saw the introduction of the highly successful 2 cylinder Saint and 4 cylinder Star class 4-6-0s, and importantly for the Manor story, the 2 cylinder 4300 mixed traffic class 2-6-0 locomotives. Apart from his successful locomotive designs, another important and far reaching decision taken by Churchward was the introduction of standardised components into Great Western locomotive design, a decision that not only proved invaluable to the Company over the years but is of great benefit today in the preservation of ex-Great Western locomotives.

4300 class 2-6-0 no 4363 pictured here at Exeter on 14 July 1936; it is coupled to Churchward 3,500 gallon tender no 1902. Built in February 1919 as 5363 it was renumbered 8363 in January 1928, withdrawn in September 1937 and, according to Great Western records, it is probable that its driving wheels and motion were used for the construction of Manor no 7800. Great Western Trust

The first member of the class, no 7800 Torquay Manor, was completed at Swindon on 19 January 1938. It is pictured here outside a shop at Swindon in unlined Great Western green. It was initially allocated to Wolverhampton Stafford Road, prior to moving to Banbury. Great Western Trust

C. B. Collett had taken over from Churchward as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922. C. B. Collett was born in London on 10 September 1871; his early experience was in marine engineering but he joined the Great Western Railway in May 1893, working first in the drawing office, then progressing through the system at Swindon, becoming works manager in 1912 and Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer in May 1919.

In his time as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western, Collett had continued Churchward’s policy of modernising the passenger locomotive fleet by producing a variety of 4-6-0 designs, including the 4 cylinder Kings and Castles, followed by the 2 cylinder mixed traffic Halls and the 5’ 8’’ driving wheel Granges, and Manors. Interestingly it was Churchward who first considered the idea of producing a 2 cylinder mixed traffic 4-6-0 with 5’ 8" driving wheels but his idea was never followed through until taken up again by Collett with the introduction of the Granges in 1936. In producing all of these fine 4-6-0 locomotives, Collett carried forward the principles of locomotive design first set by Churchward all those years ago. During his time at Swindon Collett instigated a complete modernisation of workshop practice and greatly improved the manufacturing methods, which in turn produced the bonus of an increase in locomotive mileage between overhauls.

As previously mentioned the story of the Manors can be traced back to 1911, the year that G. J. Churchward introduced his very successful ‘go anywhere’ mixed traffic 2 cylinder 4300 class 2-6-0s. The 4300s soon became the ‘workhorses’ of the Great Western, their wide versatility in hauling both passenger and goods services over both main and secondary routes made them an instant success. The 4300s were basically a tender version of the equally successful Churchward 3150 class 2-6-2 tanks. The bulk of the class with their Blue route availability were able to work over much of the Great Western system. The exception being the 8300 and 9300 members of the class; these had heavier front ends to try and improve both ride and front bogie wear, these were restricted to Red Routes. (In later years many of the surviving 8300 and all twenty of the 9300s had their front end weight reduced also bringing them into the Blue Route availability). With some 342 locomotives being built between 1911 and 1932 it could be argued that they were Churchward’s most successful class. However, by the 1930s the operating department were asking Swindon for more modern and powerful locomotives that could handle heavier loads and of course allow faster services to be run. One proposal was to rebuild the 4300s with a four-wheel front bogie and a number 1 boiler, but this was not done and in 1936 a decision was made to replace many of the older 4300 class 2-6-0s with two new classes of 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives. The two new classes were the Granges and Manors and although both classes had new frames, as a money saving exercise they were constructed using recycled parts from the 4300 Moguls. Accordingly, between 1936 and 1939 100 of the older 4300 class 2-6-0s were withdrawn for conversion. Collett had actually planned to replace some 300 of the 2-6-0s with Granges and Manors, but with the Second World War on the horizon the decision to construct more Granges and Manors was at first postponed and then abandoned, leaving just eighty Granges and twenty Manors being constructed. The Manors were essentially just a smaller and lighter version of the Grange Class, and were Collett’s final 4-6-0 design but because they initially suffered from indifferent steaming they were arguably his least successful. The Granges, however, proved to be particularly successful and popular with the crews so it is slightly surprising that although no more Granges were built, a further 10 Manors were, being constructed by the Western Region in 1950.

No 7801 Anthony Manor was completed at Swindon on 21 January 1938. It was allocated the name Ashley Manor, but this was never carried. It is pictured here in the yard at Salisbury on 12 June 1938. It