Cabside of GWR 6000 ('King') Class 4-6-0 6024 'King Edward I' on the West Somerset Railway, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, England.
The Great Western Railway's 6000 or 'King' Class was introduced in 1927, and consisted of thirty locomotives built between then and 1930 (although in fact a further locomotive had to be built after the original 6007 'King William III' was destroyed in a serious accident in 1936). The first of them, 6000, was named after the then reigning monarch, King George V, and the remainder after the kings that preceded him (in chronological order), although 6029 'King Stephen' and 6028 'King Henry II' were subsequently renamed 'King Edward VIII' and 'King George VI' respectively. Built partly for publicity reasons, to reclaim the title of Britain's most powerful express locomotive, they would remain Britain's heaviest and most powerful 4-6-0. So heavy were they, in fact, that they were very limited in their route availability (indicated by the Double Red symbol on the cabside), being largely restricted to the lines from Paddington to Wolverhampton and to Plymouth, but on these they ruled supreme until dieselisation, which saw the whole class withdrawn in 1962 (although 6018 'King Henry VI' was retained for a final special run 28th April 1963). 6000 was officially preserved; the rest went for scrap, but the hulks of two, 6023 'King Edward II' and 6024 'King Edward I', both withdrawn in June 1962, were not broken up immediately, and both were eventually saved for preservation. In view of the damage that its twin had suffered, 6024 was the first to be rescued, bought for £4,000 in 1973. It returned to steam in 1989 and since 1990 it has worked extensively on main line specials. It is owned by the 6024 Preservation Society
Size: 3386px × 5100px
Location: Bishops Lydeard , Somerset, England
Photo credit: © David Knighton / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 4-6-0, 6000, 6024, 60xx, april, bishops, britain, british, cab, cabside, class, edward, engine, england, english, great, gwr, king, kingdom, locomotive, lydeard, number, numberplate, preservation, railway, society, somerset, spring, steam, uk, united, west, western
