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GWR Great Western Railway Steam Locomotive Pacific Class 111 at Paddington in 1910
Built in 1908, No 111 ‘The Great Bear’, the GWR’s only pacific stands at Paddington in about 1910 at the head of a West of England express. With its unusually long smokebox door handles, No 111 was instantly recognisable. It was coupled to a tender which appeared to be unsuitably small for such a large locomotive. The Great Bear was too heavy for any routes other than the London-Bristol main line and was rebuilt into a 4-6-0 ‘Castle’ type in 1924. The fine copper capped chimney seen here was replaced by a plain cast version before the rebuilding - illustrating the lack of esteem in which this locomotive was held by the operating staff. It also lost the brass worksplate seen here on the central splasher.