1600 0-6-0T BR Hawksworth 1600 – 1669 – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

Power Classification	2F
Introduced	1949 – 1955
Designer	Hawksworth
Company	BR (GWR design)
Weight	41t 12cwt
Driving Wheels	4ft 1.5ins
Boiler Pressure	165psi
Cylinders	Outside – 16.5in x 24in

These were the direct descendants of the 1901 and 2021 classes of 1874 and 1897.

	1901 class with full cab – 1874
	2021 class – 1897
	1600 class – 1949

They were designed for shunting and light branch line work and the 70 were built to replace the older locomotives. They were noticeably smaller than most other GWR pannier tanks as they were designed for routes with low clearance. They also had spherical joints fitted to the rear pair of coupling rods to allow a small degree of sideways movement.

In 1957 1646 and 1649 were transferred to work the branch line between Dornoch and The Mound in Scotland. They replaced the two ex Highland Railway 0-4-4T engines (55051 and 55053 LMS class 0P) which had been specifically retained to work that branch. Both 1646 and 1649 were withdrawn from service in December 1962 – 1646 from Perth and 1649 from Helsdale.

Drummond 1905 – 55051 and 55053

1628 was loaned very briefly to McAlpine in late 1964.

1600 and 1607 were sold for further service in industry (1600 in 1959 and 1607 in August 1965), being finally scrapped in December 1963 and September 1969 respectively. Apart from 1638 which was preserved all of the other members of the class were withdrawn by 1966 with the last being 1628 which soldiered on until September 1966 when it ended its service at Croes Newydd depot at Wrexham.

As with many other steam locomotives built at this time, the class was introduced at the eleventh hour for this type of motive power and withdrawals began very early. The worst case of waste of the class was 1652 which was based at Swansea East Dock which was built in December 1954 and withdrawn in January 1960.

1669 was the last GWR designed locomotive to be built at Swindon when it was completed in May 1956.

Number in Service.

31^st December

1949	20
1950	30
1951-1953	50
1954	55
1956-1958	70
1959	64
1960	55
1961	50
1962	39
1963	15
1964	3

The three locomotives still in service at the end of 1965 were amongst the last few GWR engines still in service – all of them were tank engines. The final three 1600 class engines in service were all withdrawn from Croes Newydd depot.

Locomotives still in service at the end of 1965.