Locomotive Achilles Class - Windsor, UK
Posted by: ToRo61
N 51° 28.990 W 000° 36.623
30U E 665919 N 5706265
The Dean Single, 3031 Class, or Achilles Class was a type of steam locomotive built by the British Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1899.
Waymark Code: WMHNEP
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/27/2013
Views: 8
In 1982 British Railways and Madame Tussauds restored the Windsor railway station, creating an exhibition called Royalty and Railways.
The visitors would be greeted by a scene on the platform depicting the arrival of The Royal Train, complete with figures of station staff and a full size replica train.
A full-size replica steam locomotive GWR 3031 Class named The Queen was built at Steamtown, Carnforth, and this was combined with an ex-London, Brighton and South Coast Railway tender (that had later been a sludge tanker at Guildford loco depot) and fittings from a GWR tender. The locomotive's bogie and rear wheels are also from another GWR tender, butthe large driving wheels are only half complete (the lower half) and they do not sit directly on the rails. This allowed the loco to be rolled into position when the exhibition was built. The replica loco was completed in December 1982 and delivered by road.
The exhibition closed in the late 1990s and almost all of the exhibits were taken away. The locomotive The Queen was too expensive to remove, so rather than being cut up, it was instead incorporated as a feature of a restaurant on the concourse.
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