GWR French compound 4-4-2 No 104 emAlliance/em, fitted with a superheated Swindon boiler, departs from Paddington with an express for Oxford in c1927.br/ br/Peter Kerslake says quot;A fine portrait of 104 quot;Alliancequot; departing Paddington in 1927, this locomotive in conjunction with sister engine 103 quot;Presidentquot; having been built in Belfort, France in 1905, both being purchased for the G.W.R. by Mr. Churchward and arriving at Swindon Works in June of 1905.br/ Larger than 102, the the first of the three of such purchased locomotives, both 103 and 104 worked the West of England passenger rosters from Paddington, later seeing service on the Worcester and Wolverhampton lines and during 1913 being shedded at Oxford, with 104 seen here finally being withdrawn by the Great Western in September of 1928, so this is a late view of quot;Alliancequot; in her working life.br/ Mr. Churchward had followed with great interest the development of foreign locomotives during his early days as Chief Mechanical Engineer at Swindon and had been impressed with the fine performances of the French Compound design in their home country, subsequently purchasing the three Compounds for evaluation on G.W.R. Top Link passenger duties.br/ It was those tests which resulted in the development of the front bogies used on many of the later classes emerging from Swindon in later years.quot;br/ br/br/ Photo: Bernard Whicher/Rail Archive Stephenson