GWR 4003 'Lode Star' on shed at Tyseley Locomotive Works.
'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'Lode Star' survived into the British Railways era, and was finally withdrawn in 1951.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 Great Western Museum in Swindon from 1962, and then transferred to the National Railway Museum in York in 1992, where it was a static non-working exhibit.
