OUGD603 - Extended Practice - LCA 170 Years - Content Research - GWR Iron Duke

"The Great Western Railway Iron Duke Class 4-2-2 was a class of 7 ft ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge steam locomotives for express passenger train work. The prototype locomotive, Great Western, was built as a 2-2-2 locomotive in April 1846, but was soon converted to a 4-2-2 arrangement, with the leading wheels set rigidly within the sandwich framing, rather than in a separate bogie.^[1] The remainder of the class entered service between April 1847 and July 1855.

Locomotives of the Iron Duke class were extremely fast and had an estimated top speed of about 80 mph (130 km/h). They were used to haul the Flying Dutchmanexpress train which, for several decades, was the world's fastest train. In 1852 the daily service from London Paddington Station to Exeter (194 miles or 312 km) was achieved with an average speed of 53 mph (85 km/h); with the flatter section between London and Swindon covered at an average speed of 59 mph (95 km/h)."