GWR Star out now.

[tnleeuw01]

Thanks Dave!

--Tim

[kirkheath]

Now that you say it, I probably am! Which also explains why I couldn't find it.

I was already beginning to wonder - should I look up the Dukedogs - but still thought it was with the Stars I read about this nameplate moving.

Thanks.

--Tim

It was the Dukedogs that peed off a selection of older director types of the GWR about names. The story goes that Collett was getting annoyed by regular requests from various minor aristocrats and GWR directors to have locomotives named after them. He gladly obliged and seeing it was in the 1930s at the height of GWR big 4 cylinder building period they expected that was what their names would be on so were less than impressed when the distinctly Victorian looking Dukedogs appeared bearing their names. Not long after the names were indeed moved onto a batch of Castles.

Would that explain the batch namesake to the likes of; Earl of Mount Edgcumbe etc...

[Dave4468]

Yea, I think most if not all of the Earl named Castles were named taken from the Dukedogs.

[GWRKINGCLASS]

Yes, nearly all of the Earl names were originally on the Dukedogs. Earl of Mount Edgcumbe was originally on number 3200 (Renumbered to 9000 in 1946 for a new batch of 2251s taking up the 3200 number series).
The only exception was No. 5063 Earl Baldwin, which seems to have been an additional Earl nameplate added in addition to recognise the PM at the time. This was not on a dukedog before, but it also had an increased curvature.

[tnleeuw01]

There's a nice feature of the GWR Star engine that I noticed the other day, that I didn't see on any other steam engine: when you are in the outside view ('2' view), you see both the firebox doors and the regulator moving in the cab when you move them with the keyboard.
Nice detail, I don't recall someone else mentioning it already!

Cheers,

--Tim