This book is a comprehensive history of the four coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western Railway – locomotives of nine Broad Gauge companies, nineteen Standard Gauge companies, mainly in the South West which became part of the GWR between the 1870s and 1914, and a further eighteen companies, mainly in South Wales absorbed by the GWR in 1922 and 1923 at the formation of the ‘Big Four’ Grouping. The locomotives described and illustrated range from the 4-4-0 Broad Gauge saddle tanks of the South Devon and Bristol & Exeter Railways to the large 4-4-4 tank locomotives of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, not forgetting the numerous and varied 0-4-0 pug saddle tanks of the Swansea Harbour Trust and the Powlesland & Mason company. The book includes thirty-two weight diagrams and nearly 200 photographs, many of exotic and rare locomotives.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Engineers
• Chapter 2 The Broad Gauge Locomotives
  • Bristol & Exeter Railway
  • Carmarthen & Cardigan Railway
  • Llynvi & Ogmore Railway
  • South Devon Railway
  • South Wales Mineral Railway
  • Torbay & Brixham Railway
  • Vale of Neath Railway
• Chapter 3 Standard Gauge Locomotives absorbed by the GWR before 1914
  • Birkenhead Railway
  • Bristol & Exeter Railway
  • Bristol Port Railway
  • Festiniog & Blaenau Railway
  • Liskeard & Looe Railway
  • Llanelly Railway & Dock Company
  • Llynvi & Ogmore Railway
  • Manchester & Milford Railway
  • Monmouthshire Canal Co.
  • Newport, Abergavenny & Hereford Railway
  • Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway
  • Severn & Wye and Severn Bridge Railway
  • South Devon Railway
  • Shrewsbury & Chester Railway
  • Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway
  • Shrewsbury & Hereford and Tenbury Railways
  • Watlington & Princes Risborough Railway
  • West Cornwall Railway
  • West Midland Railway
• Chapter 4 Locomotives absorbed by the GWR 1914–23
  • Alexandra Dock Railway
  • Barry Railway
  • Brecon & Merthyr Railway
  • Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway
  • Cambrian Railways
  • Cardiff Railway
  • Midland & South Western Junction Railway
  • Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway
  • The Midland & South Western Junction Railway
  • Neath & Brecon Railway
  • Port Talbot Railway
  • Rhymney Railway
  • Swansea Harbour Trust Railway
  • SHT - Powlesland & Mason Engines
  • Vale of Rheidol Railway
• Chapter 5 Locomotives acquired by the GWR after 1923
  • Weston, Cleveland & Portishead Railway
  • Ystalavera Tin Mine
  • Corris Railway
  • Wantage Tramway
• Chapter 6 Preservation
• Appendix
• Bibliography