This book is a comprehensive history of the four coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western Railway - locomotives of nine Broad Gauge companies, nineteen Standard Gauge companies, mainly in the South West which became part of the GWR between the 1870s and 1914, and a further eighteen companies, mainly in South Wales absorbed by the GWR in 1922 and 1923 at the formation of the 'Big Four' Grouping. The locomotives described and illustrated range from the 4-4-0 Broad Gauge saddle tanks of the South Devon and Bristol & Exeter Railways to the large 4-4-4 tank locomotives of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, not forgetting the numerous and varied 0-4-0 pug saddle tanks of the Swansea Harbour Trust and the Powlesland & Mason company. The book includes thirty-two weight diagrams and nearly 200 photographs, many of exotic and rare locomotives. AUTHOR: David Maidment was a senior manager with British Railways, with widespread experience of railway operating on the Western and London Midland Regions culminating in the role of Head of Safety Policy for the BRB after the Clapham Junction train accident. He retired in 1996, was a Principal Railway Safety Consultant with International Risk Management Services from 1996 to 2001 and founded the Railway Children charity (www.railwaychildren.org.uk) in 1995. He was awarded the OBE for services to the rail industry in 1996 and is now a frequent speaker on both the charity and his railway career and author of five novels, a book of short stories, two non-fiction works on street children and over fifteen books for Pen & Sword's locomotive portfolio series, the royalties from all being donated to the charity. 200 b/w illustrations
