GWR 3700 Class

The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains.
==Construction==
In September 1902 a member of the Atbara Class, no. 3405 Mauritius, was reboilered with a tapered domeless boiler and Belpaire firebox. The locomotive was the first GWR 4-4-0 to be fitted with a tapered boiler; the boiler became the prototype for Churchward's Standard No. 4 boiler. In March 1903 the first of the City Class, no. 3433 City of Bath, was completed. It was fitted with the final form of the Standard No.4 boiler, with slightly curved sides and a tapered top to the firebox. Another nine locomotives were completed in May 1903. Between February 1907 and December 1908, nine Atbaras were rebuilt with this boiler and incorporated into the City Class. All members of the class were withdrawn between October 1927 and May 1931.
==Details==
Locomotives rebuilt from Atbara Class
First No	Second No	Name 	Built 	Rebuilt 	Withdrawn	Notes
3400 	3700 	Durban 	Aug 1901	Apr 1907	Nov 1929 	
3401 	3701 	Gibraltar	Aug 1901	Feb 1907	Aug 1928 	
3402 	3702 	Halifax 	Aug 1901	Dec 1908	Apr 1929 	
3403 	3703 	Hobart 	Sep 1901	Feb 1909	Aug 1929 	
3404 	3704 	Lyttleton	Sep 1901	Oct 1907	Sep 1928 	Renamed Lyttelton in June 1920
3405 	3705 	Mauritius	Sep 1901	Sep 1902	Sep 1928 	
3406 	3706 	Melbourne	Sep 1901	Jan 1908	Jun 1929 	
3407 	3707 	Malta 	Sep 1901	Nov 1908	Apr 1929 	
3408 	3708 	Ophir 	Oct 1901	May 1907	Oct 1929 	Renamed Killarney in September 1907
3409 	3709 	Quebec 	Oct 1901	Nov 1907	Sep 1929 	
Locomotives built new as City Class
First No	Second No	Name 	Built 	Withdrawn	Notes
3433 	3710 	City of Bath 	Mar 1903	Sep 1928 	
3434 	3711 	City of Birmingham	May 1903	Jul 1930 	
3435 	3712 	City of Bristol 	May 1903	May 1931 	Last to be withdrawn
3436 	3713 	City of Chester 	May 1903	Dec 1929 	
3437 	3714 	City of Gloucester	May 1903	Nov 1929 	
3438 	3715 	City of Hereford 	May 1903	Oct 1929 	
3439 	3716 	City of London 	May 1903	Apr 1929 	
3440 	3717 	City of Truro 	May 1903	Mar 1931 	Preserved
3441 	3718 	City of Winchester	May 1903	Oct 1927 	First to be withdrawn
3442 	3719 	City of Worcester 	May 1903	Apr 1929 	Renamed City of Exeter
==Modifications==
Superheating of the boiler was first applied to no. 3702, Halifax in June 1910. All of the class had been fitted with superheaters by 1912. Boiler feed was originally by clack valves fitted to the underside of the barrel. Top feed was introduced in 1912 and new cast iron chimneys in 1921. The slide valves were replaced by 8 in (20.3 cm) semi-plug piston valves from 1914. All the engines were fitted with steam reversing gear but only a few, including no. 3716 City of London, had the gear replaced by the screw reverse. The Dean suspension bogie was replaced by a bogie developed from the type used on the de Glehn Atlantics.
==Accidents and incidents==
*On 8 August 1913, locomotive No. 3710 City of Bath overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with a passenger train at Yeovil Pen Mill station, Somerset. Two people were killed.
==City of Truro==
The most famous locomotive in the class, 3440 City of Truro (later renumbered 3717), is reputedly the first steam locomotive to travel in excess of 100 mph, on 9 May 1904. It was the 2000th locomotive to be built at Swindon, leaving the works in April 1903.
==Withdrawal==
Withdrawal of the class began in 1927 with 3718 City of Winchester which was withdrawn in October 1927, the engines working life being only just over 24 years. Regular withdrawal of the class began in August of the following year and by July 1930 only two engines were left in service on the GWR, these being 3712 City of Bristol and 3717 City of Truro. 3717 was the first of the final two engines to be withdrawn as it was withdrawn in March 1931 & 3712 followed two months later in May of the same year.
Only one member of the class has survived into preservation, this being 3440/3717 City of Truro.
Table of withdrawals
Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Numbers withdrawn	Quantity	Locomotive numbers
1927	20 	1 	1 	3718
1928	19 	4 	5 	3701/04/05/10
1929	15 	12 	17 	3700/02–03/06–09/13–16/19
1930	3 	1 	18 	3711
1931	2 	2 	20 	3712/17
==Preservation==
Historically significant because of its famed 1904 run, City of Truro was a prime candidate for preservation, whereas the rest of the class were scrapped. It is owned by the National Railway Museum, York. It was last restored to full working order in 2004 and, as of 2009, is frequently loaned for operation on UK main lines and heritage railways. As of 2021, 'City of Truro' is on static display.
==List of Locomotives==
This class were subject to the 1912 renumbering of GWR 4-4-0 locomotives, which saw the Bulldog class gathered together in the series 3300–3455, and other types renumbered out of that series. The City Class took numbers 3700–3719, previously used by Bulldog locomotives.
Numbers	Numbers 	Name 	Name
First 	Second (1912)	First 	Second
3400 	3700 	Durban 	
3401 	3701 	Gibraltar 	
3402 	3702 	Halifax 	
3403 	3703 	Hobart 	
3404 	3704 	Lyttelton 	
3405 	3705 	Mauritius 	
3406 	3706 	Melbourne 	
3407 	3707 	Malta 	
3408 	3708 	Ophir 	Killarney
3409 	3709 	Quebec 	
3433 	3710 	City of Bath 	
3434 	3711 	City of Birmingham	
3435 	3712 	City of Bristol 	
3436 	3713 	City of Chester 	
3437 	3714 	City of Gloucester	
3438 	3715 	City of Hereford 	
3439 	3716 	City of London 	
3440 	3717 	City of Truro 	
3441 	3718 	City of Winchester	
3442 	3719 	City of Worcester 	City of Exeter
==Models==
Bachmann Branchline manufacture a model of City of Truro in OO gauge for sale through the National Railway Museum. In December 2014 Bachmann Branchline launched a commemorative World War I Ambulance Train pack. The train pack contains a model of 3711 City of Birmingham in World War I khaki livery, three Midland coaches in crimson lake and six World War I figures.
In the early 1960s there was a Kitmaster OO scale (1:76) plastic construction kit to build a model of 3440 City of Truro, which was later produced by Airfix and now DAPOL.
Category:4-4-0 steam locomotives
Category:4-4-0 locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Four-coupled locomotives
Category:Great Western Railway locomotives
Category:Built in 1903
Category:Built in 1901
Category:Swindon Works locomotives