At the head of an express passenger working 1019, County of Merioneth was one of the two of her class allocated to 82C ( Swindon ) Motive Power Depot in the mid ' fifties and at the time of this photograph. Not renowned for high speed running, particularly when compared with the Castles, the thirty members of the County class were, however, useful engines, well able to tackle severe gradients in addition to being surefooted when starting from rest and these attributes coupled with their 280lb. boiler pressure made them well suited to duties on the far West of England lines in particular, with no less than nine of the class being allocated to Plymouth's Laira, Penzance and Truro Motive Power Depots during thr mid ' fifties. The year 1962 saw the first withdrawals in the class, with 1003, 1007 and 1022 being the first three to go, and 1011 County of Chester the last to survive being condemned in 1964. None of the class were preserved, but an example is now under construction at Didcot in the shape of a new 1014, County of Glamorgan .