Churchward proposed a 5ft 8in wheeled 4-6-0 for mixed traffic duties in
1901 and it was seriously considered in 1905, but it took until 1936
before his successor, Charles Collett, realized the plan by persuading
the GWR Board to replace many of the 43XX moguls with modern standard
mixed traffic engines that bore a remarkable likeness to the Churchward
proposal. David Maidment has written another in his series of
'Locomotive Portfolios' for Pen & Sword to coincide with the
construction of a new 'Grange' at Llangollen from GW standard parts to
fill the gap left by the total withdrawal and scrapping of one of that
railway's most popular classes - to their crews at the very least. As
well as covering the type's design and construction, the author deals
comprehensively with the allocation and operation of the eighty
locomotives and in particular has researched their performance and
illustrated it with many examples of recorded logs from the 1930s as
well as in more recent times. As in previous volumes, the author has
added his own personal experiences with the engines and has sourced more
than 250 photos, over 40 of which are in color.