GWR 4000 Class 4003, named Lode Star, is the only remaining Star class locomotive. It is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York, UK.
Lode Star was designed by George Jackson Churchward and was built in 1907, one of the first locomotives in its class to be built.
The design of the locomotive was influenced by de Glehn, a French engineer. He used four cylinders on his locomotives, which Churchward copied. By using four cylinders it meant the locomotives were both powerful and fast.
Lode Star survived into the British Railways era and was finally withdrawn in 1951. At this point, it had covered 2,005,898 miles. Lode Star was preserved at the Great Western Museum in Swindon from 1962, and was transferred to the National Railway Museum in York in 1992, where it was a static non-working exhibit. In 2010, Lode Star was moved to Steam Museum in Swindon, as a static non-working exhibit. In November 2015, it was moved back to the National Railway Museum where, in June 2019, it was on the publicly open pit, permitting examination of the underneath of the locomotive including the inside cylinders and valve gear.
Lode Star is probably the only known GWR survivor of its class that has never run in the preservation era, but with nine surviving Manor classes, eighteen surviving Hall classes, eight surviving Castle classes, and three surviving King classes, it's currently unlikely it will ever run again anytime soon, at least for now.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Image of the locomotive in service during the 1920s
- https://web.archive.org/web/20140419013512/http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/What%20to%20See/Pages/lars.aspx
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