Great Western Star Class Locomotives

In service the Stars proved to be both free-running and reliable locomotives, and for many years were used to haul the Great Westerns top link services, including the world-famous Cornish Riviera Express. The introduction of the Collett Castle Class 4-6-0s in 1923, and the King Class 4-6-0s in 1927, saw the Stars relegated to secondary passenger, freight and parcels services. A number of Stars were rebuilt by Collett as Castles, including the prototype no. 4000 North Star, but the remaining Stars continued to give good service. At Nationalisation in 1948, 47 of these locomotives passed into Western Region ownership. In this book, Laurence Waters charts the history of the class from the prototype, right through to the final workings in October 1957. Using many previously unpublished photographs from the Great Western Trust photographic collection, accompanied by informative captions, every member of the Class is illustrated.