Courtesy of Wikipedia
The
Firefly was a class of
broad gauge 2-2-2 steam locomotives used for
passenger services on the
Great Western Railway. The class was introduced into service between March 1840 and December 1842, and withdrawn between December 1863 and July 1879.
Following the success of the
Star class locomotives introduced to the Great Western Railway by Daniel Gooch, Gooch set to work to develop a new class based on
North Star, but with larger boilers. The result was the
Fire Fly, later followed by 61 similar locomotives designated the same class.
From about 1865, the Fire Fly Class locomotives became part of the
Priam Class, along with the
Prince Class locomotives.
The original Fire Fly is said to have covered the 30.75 miles (49.49 km) from
Twyford to
London Paddington in 37 minutes, an average speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), which was unprecedented in 1840.