The Steam Locomotive Paintings of WG Eaton

The order in which the paintings appear along with the accompanying narratives have been reproduced using Wilf’s own hand written notes. The collection represented below serves as a testament to Wilf’s knowledge and enthusiasm for Steam Locomotives and stands on it’s own as a thoroughly readable document. Click on the thumbnail images to view a larger version of each picture. The enlarged pictures have been digitally compressed specifically for use on the internet. Small file sizes make them accessable quickly. They therefore only provide an indication of the quality and attention to detail contained within the original pictures.

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WGE001

A Midland & South Western Junction Railway 4-4-0 locomotive No.2 working a Cheltenham-Southampton in the period following World War 1. The company became a component of the Great Western Railway in 1922 at the time of the amalgamation of the old companies.

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WGE002

The Cambrian Railway was the largest railway in Wales to be absorbed by the Great Western. The other railways taken over were chiefly dock and coal lines in South Wales. The Cambrian Railway locomotive works were situated at Oswestry, which was outside Wales, in the county of Shropshire. This picture shows Cambrian 4-4-0 locomotive No.68 hauling a passenger train approaching Barmouth station. The period was during the 1920's.

WGE003

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was to build a railway on which trains could attain high speeds. The 7ft ¼ inch broad-gauge was introduced in on the Great Western Railway in 1835. It was accepted on the grounds of safety and speed. However, in the 1870's, the Great Western set about converting their whole broad-gauge system to that of 4ft 8 ½ inch gauge which was finally completed in 1892. This picture shows an express train at speed in the 1870's.

WGE004

In 1847 Locomotive Superintendent, Daniel Gooch, built the first of his Iron Duke 8ft Singles of the 4-2-2 wheel arrangement at Swindon for the Great Western Railway. These were remarkable locomotives and were capable of fast speeds. By 1855 thirty one of the class had then been built and lasted for the remaining period of the broad-gauge until 1892. This picture shows Iron Duke Locomotive 4-2-2 'Bulkeley' at speed on the Cornishman Express. Note the third rail on each track which marked the end of the broad-gauge on the Great Western Railway.

WGE005

In 1892 Wm. Dean built the 3232 class 2-4-0 locomotives at Swindon for the Great Western. They had single frames and driving wheels 6ft 8 ½ inches in diameter. They were designed for secondary main line trains and also operated on the Weymouth and South Wales services. This picture shows a Dean 3232 class 2-4-0 Locomotive No.3239 on a Weymouth Express passing Taplow at speed in the late 1890's. These locomotives had outside frames painted Indian red up to 1896 and the coach liveries upper panels were cream and chocolate brown during the period 1864-1909.

WGE006

In 1903 G.J. Church ward introduced the 4-4-0 City class locomotive on the Great Western. They were fast runners and gained many records. The 'Cities' were put on the most important express services such as the Cornish Riviera Express. Ten locomotives of this class were originally built and later ten locomotives of the 'Athara' class were rebuilt to conform to them. The 'City' class had 6ft 8 ½ inch coupled wheels and all the class were withdrawn from service by 1931. 4-4-0 locomotive No.3440 'City of Truro' is seen working the Cornish Riviera Express from Paddington to Plymouth around 1905.

WGE007

Great Western Railway Superintendent William Dean built locomotives of the 4-2-2 Achilles class between 1894 and 1899. They looked resplendent with their brass fittings, orange and black lining on dark green boilers, cabs and tenders together with Indian red frames. The Great Western Railway locomotives were built to carry on the tradition of the fastest broad-gauge engines before them. 4-2-2 locomotive No.3028 'Wellington' is seen at the head of an express train in the early 1900's.

WGE008

In February 1908 the first Pacific 4-6-2 4-cylinder locomotive was built by the great Western Railway at Swindon. The driving wheels were 6ft 8 ½ inches in diameter. The Great Western Railways' 4-6-0's were already outstanding in size and power but this locomotive dwarfed them. It was designed by C.J. Church ward as an enlarged version of his excellent Star class 4-6-0 4-cylinder locomotives but, because of her size and weight, she was restricted to the London-Bristol main line. 4-6-2 4-cylinder locomotive No.111 'The Great Bear' emerges from Twerton Tunnel at the head of a London (Paddington) - Bristol Express.

WGE009

The GWR built 30 locomotives of the 2-cylinder 4-6-0 'Saint' class between 1906-7. Named after 'Ladies' and 'Saints', they were forerunners of 25 more locomotives named after 'Courts' and these were built between 1911 and 1913. The Saints were extensively used over the GWR system and proved to be very fast and reliable locomotives. In working order they weighed 112 tons and had a boiler pressure of 225 pounds per square inch. A North to West express is seen in the vicinity of Patchway, near Bristol, hauled by Saint class locomotive No.2903 'Lady of Lyons'.

WGE010

In 1924 C.B. Collett rebuilt No.2925 'Saint Martin', a 1907 designed 4-6-0 2-cylinder 'Saint' class locomotive, replacing the original 6ft 8 ½ inch with 6ft 0 inch diameter driving wheels. This locomotive became the prototype of the 'Hall' class introduced in 1928. The class was named after Country Halls in the Great Western territory and up to 1947 a total of 281 engines of this class were built at Swindon. The Halls were used on express passenger and fast freight services over the GWR system and were a powerful design. They were painted Swindon green, lined in orange and black with the armorial transfer between the GWR lettering on the tender. A Birkenhead-Paddington Express is depicted leaving Wellington (Shropshire) hauled by a 4-6-0 2-cylinder Hall class locomotive No.4957 'Postlip Hall'.

WGE011

With the introduction of the County class locomotives, turned out of Swindon in 1945, the Great Western Railway presented the final development of the mixed traffic locomotive. They had a high steam pressure of 280 pounds per square inch and were 2-cylinder locomotives with 6ft 3inch diameter driving wheels. At the beginning of their career they were mostly used on express train working. Altogether thirty engines were built by F.W. Hawksworth and their names were taken from English and Welsh counties. 4-6-0 County class locomotive No. 1024 'County of Pembroke' is seen at the head of an express train approaching Shrewsbury from Chester.

WGE012

The graceful lines of 4-6-0, 4-cylinder King class locomotive No. 6002 'King William IV' is depicted at the head of the Cornish Riviera Express in the summer of 1934 passing through the Berkshire countryside. They were the super Great Western engines in all respects and were the culminating stage in the 4-cylinder six-coupled locomotive design. They were the heaviest 4-6-0 locomotive in Great Britain with a working order tonnage of 135 tons 14cwts and a steam pressure of 250 pounds per square inch.

WGE013

GJ Church ward, of the Great Western Railway, proceeded to build a 4-4-2 4-cylinder simple locomotive. This was numbered 40 and was named 'North Star' which, in 1909, was converted to a 4-6-0 locomotive bearing the same name. She was finally fitted with a super heater and re-numbered 4000 in 1913. Seventy three 'Stars' were built at Swindon between 1907 and 1923 and were excellent locomotives. This class of locomotive formed the design basis of the Castles and Kings that followed at Swindon from 1923 onwards. Star class locomotive No. 4035 'Queen Charlotte' is seen here at the head of a West of England Express in 1932.

WGE014

The Great Western Railway was noted for its speed, comfort and punctuality on its famous trains. One such train was the Cheltenham Flyer. Very efficient locomotive work was required to achieve and maintain high speeds on a track that offered little gravitational assistance and no engines in Britain ran with more freedom at high speeds than the Great Western Castles. Locomotive No. 5000 4-6-0 'Launceston Castle' is depicted here on the Cheltenham Flyer at speed near Didcot en route to Paddington, London.

WGE015

In 1927 the Great Western Railway built the 4-6-0 4-cylinder locomotives of the King class. They represented the ultimate development of the Church ward 4-cylinder 4-6-0 design. They had 6ft 6inch driving wheels and the four cylinders carried high pressure steam. The first engine of the class, No. 6000 'King George V', had the honour of representing Great Britain at the Centenary celebrations of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the USA in 1927. The Centenary Medals of this American railway company were awarded to King George V together with a large brass bell which was mounted on the buffer beam. At home the introduction of the Kings made possible some accelerations of the West of England services and the thirty engines of this class were employed on the heaviest express passenger traffic to and from London. 4-6-0 4-cylinder locomotive No. 6023 'King Edward II' is seen at the head of the Torbay Limited Express.

WGE016

The most famous express service on the Great Western Railway was that covered by the down and up Cornish Riviera Express which came into service in July 1904. The non-stop run to Plymouth covered a distance of 245 miles and the run was made in 265 minutes. When this express first ran in 1904 it was made up of five corridor coaches and a dining car. In later years the formation was altered to fourteen coaches of the latest stock. The express carried eight independent sections, seven of which were slipped at appropriate points, and six coaches remained when Penzance was finally reached. King class locomotive 4-6-0 No.6026 'King John' is seen passing through Berkshire at the head of the Cornish Riviera Express made up of 1935 Centenary coach stock.

WGE017

The Great Western Railway 4-4-0 County class was one of the 2-cylinder designs turned out at Swindon. They were part of GJ Church wards plan for complete standardisation of GWR locomotive stock and, in fact, they were the only outside cylinder 4-4-0's built by the GWR. They had the same taper boilers as the 4-4-0 Cities before them together with 6ft 8 ½ inch driving wheels and they were a very fast and powerful design. These locomotives were intended for work on secondary routes which were unsuitable for heavier 4-6-0's. However they were frequently seen on expresses between Paddington and Birmingham and on occasions worked even further north to Chester and Birkenhead. The class was built at Swindon between 1904 and 1912 and were named after counties served by the GWR in England, Wales and South West Ireland. A Kent Coast Express is shown travelling north from Reading to Birkenhead behind GWR 4-4-0 County class locomotive No.3837 'County of Stafford'.

WGE018

The Great Western Railway had important connections with three other main line companies operating cross-country services between important centres. One of these services was operating in conjunction with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway using the North to West route which came down from Manchester to Shrewsbury and thence to Plymouth and Penzance. The GWR operated the trains from Shrewsbury to the south. A Great Western Railway 4-6-0 4-cylinder locomotive No.4046 'Princess Mary' of the Star class is seen hauling a North to West express near Church Stretton in the 1930's.

WGE019

The Southern Railway, for many years, operated the Continental Boat Train traffic. Before the amalgamation of the original railways in 1923 this service was performed by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The Golden Arrow Pullman express operated in later years from London (Victoria) to Dover. This train was hauled by the Merchant Navy and West Country 4-6-2 3-cylinder Pacifics, and the illustration reveals Pacific No.21C4 'Cunard White Star' hauling the train to Dover. The Southern Merchant class locomotives had a steam pressure of 280 psi and coupled wheels 6ft 2 inches in diameter. Their total weight in working order was 142 tons 10cwt.

WGE020

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway became a component of the Southern Railway in 1923. The railway works were situated at Brighton and some remarkable designs of locomotives were produced there. D. Earle-Marsh built a superheated version of the Brighton Atlantic in 1911. These operated the Southern Belle, the all Pullman 60 minute express between London and Brighton. These 2-cylinder locomotives had a steam pressure of 170 psi with driving wheels 6ft 7 inches in diameter and weighed, in working order, 107 tons 7 cwts. Atlantic 4-4-2 2-cylinder locomotive No.422 is shown hauling the Brighton Belle in the London, Brighton and South Coast period.

WGE021

After the end of World War 1 decisions were made by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway to make Victoria Station, London the terminus for dealing with Kent Coast and Continental traffic. The L. class 4-4-0's of the old South Eastern and Chatham were built to cope with the heavy summer traffic which continually built up in the South Eastern section, and these locomotives came into the Southern Railway group in 1923. The engines had 6ft. 8in. diameter driving wheels, and a boiler pressure of 160 pounds per square inch. The illustration shows 4-4-0 locomotive No. 772 hauling a Kent coast express in 1920.

WGE022

Southern Railway King Arthurs' were used extensively in the early 1930's on the Continental Boat Trains from London Victoria to Dover. The locomotive illustrated here is 4-6-0 No. 768 'Sir Balin' and was originally a boat train engine and was later transferred to duties in the West Country. The locomotives had 6ft. 7in. driving wheels and their steam pressure was 200 pounds per square inch. The weight in working order was 138 tons and 10cwts.