In 1959 the last of the Great Western Railway 'Saint' class engines was withdrawn from service, albeit rebuilt with smaller driving wheels and a new cab, and in 1965 the last of the 'Castles' was withdrawn. These designs date back to 1903 for the 'Saints', and 1907 for the 'Stars' from which the 'Castle' class was directly descended. The 'Saints' and 'Stars' were the work of George Jackson Churchward who, when appointed chief mechanical engineer of the GWR in 1902, set himself the task of improving manufacturing standards and producing a range of standard locomotives using as many common parts as possible. So successful was he that the other railways were left floundering in his wake.With the 78th Churchward 'Saint' class 4-6-0, No 2999 Lady of Legend, having been created in preservation and launched in 2019, and with four more revived types all currently under construction - two Great Western 'County' classes, a Churchward 4-4-0 (No 3840 County of Montgomery) and a Hawksworth 4-6-0 (No 1014 County of Glamorgan), a Collett 'Grange' class 4-6-0 (No 6880 Betton Grange) and a Churchward '4700' class 2-8-0 (No 4709) - and with a 'County' 4-4-2 tank under active consideration, now is perhaps a good time to take a closer look at these designs and understand how the legacy of Churchward's 1902/03 standardisation policy has helped these projects reach their current stage.
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