View source for GWR 4000 Class 4003 Lode Star

{{Short description|Preserved 1907 British 4-6-0 locomotive}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:GWR 4000 Class 4003 ''Lode Star''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=December 2014}}
[[File:Lode Star GWR 4-6-0.JPG|thumb|4003 ''Lode Star'' in 2010]]
'''''Lode Star''''' is the only remaining [[GWR 4000 Class]] locomotive. It is preserved at the [[National Railway Museum]] in [[York]], England.

''Lode Star'' was designed by [[George Jackson Churchward]] and was built in 1907, one of the first locomotives in its class to be built.

The design of the locomotive was influenced by de Glehn, a French engineer. He used four cylinders on his locomotives, which Churchward copied. By using four cylinders it meant the locomotives were both powerful and fast.

''Lode Star'' survived into the [[British Railways]] era, and was finally withdrawn in 1951. At this point it had covered 2,005,898 miles. ''Lode Star'' was preserved at the [[Swindon Steam Railway Museum|Great Western Museum]] in Swindon from 1962, and was transferred to the [[National Railway Museum]] in [[York]] in 1992, where it was a static non-working exhibit. In 2010 ''Lode Star'' was moved to Steam Museum in Swindon, as a static non-working exhibit. In November 2015 it was moved back to the [[National Railway Museum]]<ref name="Back Home">{{cite magazine
|title=Back home! Swindon legends go back on display
|magazine=The Railway Magazine
|date=2 December 2015
|volume=161
|issue=1,377
|page=9
|publisher=[[Mortons Media Group]]
|location=Horncastle, Lincs
|issn=0033-8923}}</ref> where in June 2019 it was on the publicly open pit, permitting examination of the underneath of the locomotive including the inside cylinders and valve gear.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://roysrailpage.22web.org/frame/4003.html Image of the locomotive in service during the 1920s]
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140419013512/http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/What%20to%20See/Pages/lars.aspx

[[Category:Preserved Great Western Railway steam locomotives|4003]]
[[Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1907]]
[[Category:Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain]]
[[Category:4-6-0 locomotives]]
[[Category:Individual locomotives of Great Britain]]


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