4-6-0 Class 68xx Grange GWR Profile and Models

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6800 Class or Grange Class was a mixed-traffic class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive, built to replace the GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0. There were 80 in the class, all built at the Swindon works, using some reconditioned parts from withdrawn 4300 Class locomotives. The Granges were effectively a smaller-wheeled version of the Hall Class. The wheels, valve motion and tenders were taken from the withdrawn engines, reconditioned and then used in the construction of the 100 new locomotives; the components from one old locomotive were spread amongst more than one of the new engines. They were all named after Granges in the area covered by the GWR. Although built to a thirty five-year-old design, in service they proved to be reliable performers. With their power and mixed traffic characteristics they could handle most duties on the network. The entire class was withdrawn from service between 1960 and 1965 and no examples were preserved.

(Information provided via Wikipedia)

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