GWR 7800 - Manor Class

Arguably one of the most attractive locomotives to emerge from Swindon Works, the Great Western Railway 78xx Manor class was the final 4-6-0 design to emerge during the Collett era. Introduced in 1938, the Manors were go-anywhere replacement for the 43xx Mogul and other older 4-4-0s and even re-used some components from withdrawn locomotives. With a new boiler design (Standard No.14) they were over 5 tons lighter than a Grange and nearly 13 tons lighter than a Hall with accompanying tender and their maximum 17t 5cwt axleload brought them nicely under the GWR’s ‘blue’ classification allowing them to be used on important weight restricted routes across the network.