
In 1901 the Great Western co-owned the line between Hereford and Shrewsbury with the London and North Western railway. As part of this joint ownership, the LNWR refused to allow 4-6-0 locomotives to run on the line.
George Jackson Churchward’s solution was the 3800 class, basically a shortened version of the 4-6-0 Saints. The drawback however was that the locomotive was too powerful for its 4-4-0 configuration, and suffered terribly for it.
Soon they gained the nickname “Churchward’s rough riders”