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Description
When the Grouping Act of 1923 went into effect, the GWR came out even larger than it had been before, with almost every other southern Welsh colliery railway and feeder line it had not managed to purchase being finally absorbed under the GWR's banner. With this came a surplus of non-standard engines which the railway had to do something with. While many of these engines were 'Westernized,' meaning they were fitted with Swindon standard components like boilers, bearings, and fittings, something else would be necessary. Enter the 56xx 0-6-2 tanks. 200 Were built under the auspices of C.B Collett between 1924 and 1928, with 150 being built at Swindon and another 50 by Armstrong Whitworth. They were designed to replace the various Welsh engines the GWR had inherited at the beginning of the decade, and because of their abundance in the Welsh coalfields they earned the nickname "Taffy Tanks." All 200 of the class passed into BR ownership in 1948 and continued to serve until withdrawals began in 1962. All of them were gone by then end of steam on the Western Region in 1965, but nine members of this class survive in preservation today.

Description
When the Grouping Act of 1923 went into effect, the GWR came out even larger than it had been before, with almost every other southern Welsh colliery railway and feeder line it had not managed to purchase being finally absorbed under the GWR's banner. With this came a surplus of non-standard engines which the railway had to do something with. While many of these engines were 'Westernized,' meaning they were fitted with Swindon standard components like boilers, bearings, and fittings, something else would be necessary. Enter the 56xx 0-6-2 tanks. 200 Were built under the auspices of C.B Collett between 1924 and 1928, with 150 being built at Swindon and another 50 by Armstrong Whitworth. They were designed to replace the various Welsh engines the GWR had inherited at the beginning of the decade, and because of their abundance in the Welsh coalfields they earned the nickname "Taffy Tanks." All 200 of the class passed into BR ownership in 1948 and continued to serve until withdrawals began in 1962. All of them were gone by then end of steam on the Western Region in 1965, but nine members of this class survive in preservation today.