GWR 5101 Class

5101 Class member 4176 banks a mixed-freight train up the bank towards Dainton tunnel, from Newton Abbot towards Plymouth on the Exeter to Plymouth Line in South Devon, 1961

The 5101 Class were medium-sized tank engines used for suburban and local passenger services all over the Great Western Railway system. The class was an updated version, by Collett, of Churchward's 1903 3100/5100 Class.

The original 40 members of the 3100 class were renumbered 5100 and 5111 to 5149 in 1927. The first batches of 5101s filled in the numbers 5101 to 5110 and extended the class from 5150 to 5189. They were little changed from the Churchward locomotives as they then were, but had an increased axle loading of 17 long tons 12 cwt (39,400 lb or 17.9 t); the maximum permitted for the ‘Blue’ route availability. Bunkers were of the standard Collett design with greater coal capacity. The 5100 number series was exhausted in 1934, and further new locomotives were numbered from 4100. The last 20 were built after nationalisation.[1]

As both freight and passenger traffic on branch lines declined post-World War II with increasing volumes of private motor cars, and replacement on urban services by diesel-powered rail cars, the bulk of the class found itself allocated to various mainline support duties, mainly banking and piloting, often on the South Devon Banks on the Exeter to Plymouth Line, or around the Severn Tunnel on the South Wales Main Line.

A number of the class - 4110, 4115, 4121, 4144, 4150, 4156 and 4160 - ended their operational lives allocated to the major locomotive shed (88E) at Severn Tunnel Junction, undertaking piloting and banking duties through both the Severn Tunnel and the associated goods yard.[2] Assistance was needed by all heavy trains through the Severn Tunnel, which entailed: 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of 1-in-90 down to the middle of the tunnel; then a further 3.5 miles (5.6 km) at 1-in-100 up to Pilning; a short level then 3.5 miles (5.6 km) more at 1-in-100 to Patchway. However, the pilot locomotive usually came off at Pilning. Several of this group were sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers and consequently have survived into preservation.

• On 30 November 1948, locomotive 4150 was running round its train at Lapworth when it was in collision with a passenger train hauled by 5022 Wigmore Castle, which had overrun signals.[3] Eight passengers were injured.[4]

The below list shows when all of the original 5101's and later 4100's were withdrawn from service.

Ten of the class avoiding scrapping in the 1960s (six built in the 1930s before WW2 and four built after WW2 in the late 1940s, one of which under the British Railways banner). As of 2017, five have run in preservation, one is under active restoration, two are essentially in scrapyard condition and two have acted as donor locomotives for other projects:

Number	Built	Withdrawn	Service Life	Owner	Current Location	Status	Notes	Image
5164	Nov 1930	Apr 1963	32 Years, 5 months	5164 Preservation Group	Barrow Hill Engine Shed	Boiler certificate expired 5 January 2014	Normally located at the Severn Valley Railway, currently on display at Barrow Hill MPD for at least 12 months.
5193	Oct 1934	Jun 1962	27 Years, 8 months	West Somerset Railway plc	West Somerset Railway	Operational (Donor locomotive)	Originally built in 1934, withdrawn in 1962 and recovered from Woodham Brothers scrapyard in 1979. Rebuilt by the West Somerset Railway into a 2-6-0 resembling a small boilered version of the GWR 4300 Class, which has been numbered 9351. Returned to service in 2019 following an overhaul.
5199	Nov 1934	Mar 1963	28 Years, 3 months	Llangollen Railway	Llangollen Railway	Operational	Overhaul completed 23 November 2014
4110	Oct 1936	Jun 1965	28 Years, 8 months	Dartmouth Steam Railway	East Somerset railway	Under restoration	Sold in May 2015 by GWR Preservation Group Limited of Southall Railway Centre to WSR plc. Moved to Minehead 16 June 2015. Sold in January 2019 to the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway. On 10 January it was moved to the East Somerset railway for restoration to begin. There it will run for three years.
4115	Oct 1936	Jun 1965	28 Years, 8 months	Great Western Society	Didcot Railway Centre	Donor locomotive	Built October 1936, withdrawn from service in June 1965. One of the "Barry Ten", she was sold to the Great Western Society, Didcot in 2010, to act as a donor locomotive for the creation of two new locomotives:[5] GWR 4700 Class 2-8-0 No. 4709, to which it will donate: front end extension frames and cylinder sub-assembly; six of the eight 5 ft 8in driving wheels required; frame stays; footplate supports; brake hangers; vacuum brake cylinder and reservoir; weighshaft and bearings GWR 2221 Class County Tank 4-4-2T, to which it will donate its boiler.
4121	Dec 1937	Jun 1965	27 Years, 6 months		Tyseley Locomotive Works	Unrestored, partially stripped	Stored at Tyseley in a partially stripped down state
4141	Aug 1946	Mar 1963	16 Years, 7 months		Epping Ongar Railway	Awaiting completion of repairs	Returned to steam in 2012 after an overhaul, but currently out of service awaiting boiler repairs.
4144	Sept 1946	Jun 1965	18 Years, 8 months	Great Western Society	Didcot Railway Centre	Operational	Returned to steam in 2015 after an overhaul. On loan to the Kent & East Sussex Railway for the 2020 season.
4150	Jun 1947	Jun 1965	17 Years, 11 months	4150 fund	Severn Valley Railway	Restoration in progress
4160	Sept 1948	Jun 1965	16 Years, 8 months	4160 Ltd	Llangollen Railway	Under Overhaul	Overhauled in 2007, operated on the West Somerset Railway. Sent to the Llangollen Railway in January 2016 for overhaul

Graham Farish manufacture a model of the Large Prairie in N scale. Hornby have manufactured a model of the class in 00 gauge in both Great Western and British railway liveries. Heljan are planning on producing a model of the large prairie in O gauge in 2017 [6]

• GWR 3100/5100 Class (1906)
• GWR 3150 Class
• GWR 6100 Class
• GWR 3100 Class (1938)
• GWR 8100 Class

Wikimedia Commons has media related to GWR 5101 Class.

• 5101 tank class
• 4144 - 2-6-2T
• The 4150 Fund
• The 5164 Website
• 4160 History