GWR 3800 Class

The Great Western Railway 3800 Class, also known as the County Class, were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten. Two more batches followed in 1906 and 1912 with minor differences. They were designed by George Jackson Churchward, who used standard components to produce a four-coupled version of his Saint Class 4-6-0s.
== Construction ==
The first locomotive, No. 3473 County of Middlesex, was built at Swindon Works in May 1904, with the following nine completed by October 1904. They were initially fitted with parallel-sided copper-capped chimneys, which were soon replaced by tapered cast iron chimneys. The second batch, of twenty, were built between October and December 1906. This batch had tapered cast iron chimneys from the start. A third and last batch of ten were built between December 1911 and February 1912. On these the footplates had curved drop ends at the cab and front bufferbeam. They were also fitted from new with a superheater and top feed. Chimneys were a larger version of the copper-capped type of the first batch. Coupled wheels had independent springing, without the compensating beams fitted between the axleboxes on Churchward's 4-6-0s. The cylinder block, including the piston valves and smokebox saddle, was constructed from two castings from the same pattern, bolted back to back, each casting containing one half of the saddle. The cab, boiler and coupled wheels were attached to plate frames. The cylinder block was carried on two bar frames, bolted to the front end of the plate frames. The piston valves were driven by Stephenson valve gear. The class were fitted with the Standard No. 4 boiler. One locomotive, No. 3805 County Kerry was fitted with a smaller Standard No. 2 boiler between November 1907 and May 1909.
Table of orders and numbers
Year 	Quantity	Lot No.	Works Nos.	Locomotive numbers	Notes
1904 	10 	149 	2056–2065 	3473–3482 	renumbered 3800, 3831–3839 in 1912
1906 	20 	165 	2209–2228 	3801–3820 	
1911–12	10 	184 	2416–2425 	3821–3830 	
== Operation ==
They were the last new GWR 4-4-0 design and by far the most modern, with inside frames and outside cylinders. They were designed as a part of Churchward's standardisation plan, but were found to have a front end too powerful for the wheel arrangement and all were withdrawn by the early 1930s. They were designed, in part, for the Hereford to Shrewsbury LNWR line over which the GWR had running powers, but on which they were expressly forbidden to use 4-6-0 locomotives. The 4-4-0 Counties were in effect a shortened GWR 2900 Class, providing engines powerful enough for the trains but with the requisite four-coupled wheels.
The key components were all proven but the combination was somewhat poor, and perhaps the least successful of Churchward's designs. From the outset they were found to be rough riders but were otherwise effective locos. All other GWR 4-4-0s were inside-cylindered and none had a piston stroke greater than 26 inches, whereas the 'County' had a 30-inch stroke driving a meagre 8 ft 6 ft wheelbase.
The County Class used the same cylinders and motion as Churchward's six-coupled locomotives and required the same mass to counterbalance the reciprocating parts of the motion. However the weight required had to be divided between four driving wheels rather than six. The heavier balance weights produced a high level of wheel hammer blow; at six revolutions per second the hammer blow was 8 tons, compared with the 3.6 tons of the inside-cylindered City Class and the 6.4 tons of the six-coupled Saint Class. The left hand trailing axleboxes often developed hammering, which was caused by the amount of counterbalancing used.
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 County Class took numbers 3800–3839.
3833 County of Dorset was the first to be withdrawn, in February 1930. By the end of 1933 all had gone, the last survivor being No. 3834 County of Somerset, withdrawn in November of that year.
They were also the basis for the 'County Tank' GWR 2221 Class design, a 4-4-2T using the same basic design as the County but with a smaller and lighter boiler, and the replacement of the tender by the addition of side tanks, bunker and trailing axle.
Name	Numbers	Numbers 	Name
Name	First 	Second (1912)	Name
 	3473 	3800 	County of Middlesex
 	3801 	3801 	County Carlow
 	3802 	3802 	County Clare
 	3803 	3803 	County Cork
 	3804 	3804 	County Dublin
 	3805 	3805 	County Kerry
 	3806 	3806 	County Kildare
 	3807 	3807 	County Kilkenny
 	3808 	3808 	County Limerick
 	3809 	3809 	County Wexford
 	3810 	3810 	County Wicklow
 	3811 	3811 	County of Bucks
 	3812 	3812 	County of Cardigan
 	3813 	3813 	County of Carmarthen
 	3814 	3814 	County of Chester
 	3815 	3815 	County of Hants
 	3816 	3816 	County of Leicester
 	3817 	3817 	County of Monmouth
 	3818 	3818 	County of Radnor
 	3819 	3819 	County of Salop
 	3820 	3820 	County of Worcester
 	3821 	3821 	County of Bedford
 	3822 	3822 	County of Brecon
 	3823 	3823 	County of Carnarvon
 	3824 	3824 	County of Cornwall
 	3825 	3825 	County of Denbigh
 	3826 	3826 	County of Flint
 	3827 	3827 	County of Gloucester
 	3828 	3828 	County of Hereford
 	3829 	3829 	County of Merioneth
 	3830 	3830 	County of Oxford
 	3474 	3831 	County of Berks
 	3475 	3832 	County of Wilts
 	3476 	3833 	County of Dorset
 	3477 	3834 	County of Somerset
 	3478 	3835 	County of Devon
 	3479 	3836 	County of Warwick
 	3480 	3837 	County of Stafford
 	3481 	3838 	County of Glamorgan
 	3482 	3839 	County of Pembroke
==Preservation==
No members of the class were preserved. However, the Great Western Society took the decision to create the next locomotive in the sequence, 3840 County of Montgomery. The project has been handed over to the Churchward County Trust and 3840 will be based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway following its construction at Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham. The locomotive is being built with both new parts, such as the driving wheels which have been cast using the pattern created for GWS Saint Class 2999 "Lady of Legend", and recycled standard parts recovered from former Barry scrapyard locomotives including the Standard No. 4 Boiler, the pony truck wheel set, 2 x pony truck axle boxes, 4 x horn guides and 2 x eccentric sheaves from 5205 Class 2-8-0T 5227, and 4 x driving wheel axle boxes from 2800 Class 2-8-0 2861.
== Models==
Hornby Railways manufacture a model of the 38xx in OO gauge. 3mm Scale Model Railways manufacture a model kit of the 38xx in TT gauge. Hornby manufactured between 1931-1936 electric and clockwork tin-plate models of the 3821 County of Bedford in 0 gauge.
Category:4-4-0 steam locomotives
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Category:GWR 3800 Class
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Category:Built in 1912
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