GWR Mogul 7325
GWRGreat Western Railway MogulLocomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration 7325 | |
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7325 in The Engine House | |
Built By | GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon Works |
Configuration | 2-6-0 |
Power class | 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. |
Status | Out of service |
Loco Number | 7325 |
Other Numbers | 9303 |
History | |
Built | 1932 |
Designed By | George Jackson ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 |
Type | GWRGreat Western Railway 4300 |
1975 | Arrived on SVRSevern Valley Railway |
2000 | Withdrawn for overhaul |
Technical | |
Length | 58ft 1¼" |
Weight | 62t 0cwt |
Tractive effort | 25,670 lb |
Pressure | 200 lb/sq in |
7325 (formerly numbered 9303) is a GWRGreat Western Railway 4300 Class 2-6-0 (mogul) steam locomotive.
7325 in service
The 4300 class was a ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 design first introduced in 1911, but this particular locomotive is one of a batch built in 1932 which incorporated design changes by ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922’s successor, Charles CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941. These changes included the introduction of side window cabs, outside steam pipes, a screw reverse, and a weight attached to the buffer beam to place more weight on the leading pony wheels and reduce wear on the leading driving wheels. As a result of these modifications, this locomotive is often referred to on the SVRSevern Valley Railway as the “CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 MogulLocomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration”.
The locomotive first entered service in February 1932 as GWRGreat Western Railway number 9303, and began life allocated to Penzance. Between 1947 and 1950 the locomotive was allocated to Reading.[1]
In 1953, 9303 moved to Tyseley, followed by Banbury two years later. In 1958 No 9303 was renumbered by BRBritish Rail or British Railways as 7325, who also modified the locomotive to remove the additional buffer beam weight in order to increase its route availability. After further allocations to Ebbw Junction (Newport) and Severn Tunnel Junction, 7325 was withdrawn from service at Pontypool Road in July 1963.[2]
7325 in preservation
The locomotive arrived from Barry Scrapyard on 13 August 1975 in convoy with GWR 2857.[3] In Autumn of that year a raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch helped raise funds for the purchase of locomotive,[4] while in 1982 another SVRA raffle was held to raise funds for work on the boiler and tender.[5] A further raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch was held in spring 1988.[6]
Although the owning group The Great Western (SVR) Association customarily refer to the locomotive by its earlier number 9303, the locomotive first entered SVRSevern Valley Railway service in summer 1992 as no 7325.
Between 1995 and 1998, 7325 made the following appearances on the main line:
Date | Tour name | Route | Notes | Web | SVRSevern Valley Railway News |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 May 1995 | Kidderminster-Newport-Gloucester-Worcester | D/H with 7802 from Gloucester. L/E from Worcester due to hot box on tender. | 115-44 | ||
04 Nov 1995 | Stourbridge - Bristol - Swansea | D/H with 70000 Britannia, 7325 failed at Swansea due to hot box on tender. Possible duplicate of 11 November[7] | |||
11 Nov 1995 | Stourbridge - Bristol - Swansea | D/H with 70000 Britannia from Bristol | 117-2 | ||
18 May 1996 | Steam on the Met | London Underground 'Steam on the Met' (2 weekends) | SBJ | ||
19 May 1996 | Steam on the Met | London Underground 'Steam on the Met' (2 weekends) | SBJ | ||
25 May 1996 | Steam on the Met | London Underground 'Steam on the Met' (2 weekends) | SBJ | 119-58 | |
26 May 1996 | Steam on the Met | London Underground 'Steam on the Met' (2 weekends) | SBJ | ||
27 May 1996 | Steam on the Met | London Underground 'Steam on the Met' (2 weekends) | SBJ | ||
11 Jan 1997 | Taffy Apple | Worcester-Hereford-Swansea-Gloucester-Worcester | D/H with 42968 | 122-4 | |
25 Oct 1997 | Meldon Meanderer | Bristol - Exeter - Meldon Quarry | D/H with 42968 | 125-70 | |
08 Nov 1997 | Pilgrims Progres | Exeter - Plymouth - Bristol | D/H with 42968 | 125-70 | |
15 Nov 1997 | Hardy Flyer | Bristol Temple Meads - Yeovil Pen Mill - Bristol | D/H with 42968 | 126-48 | |
22 Nov 1997 | Lickey Incliner | Bristol-Bromsgrove-Stourbridge-Gloucester | D/H with 42968, first preserved steam on the Lickey Incline | 126-2 | |
31 Jan 1998 | Inclined Salopian | Gloucester - Lickey Incline - Bescot | D/H with 42968 | 126-49 | |
21 Mar 1998 | Chester Chuffer | Bescot-Chester + return | SBJ | ||
For further information on sources and references, see The Severn Valley Railway on the main line |
7325 last saw service in August 2000 and was on display in The Engine House from its opening until March 2019, when the locomotive moved to storage in the Kidderminster Carriage Shed. At the Engine Shed the 'footplate' was accessible to allow visitors to climb aboard and learn how to operate a steam locomotive, and for weddings and civil ceremonies.
In 2019, for the Association’s 50th year, it launched a fund to return the MogulLocomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration to the CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 GWRGreat Western Railway condition as 9303. A new chimney, smokebox, boiler refurbishment and ‘bottom end’ are required to get the locomotive into running order. A number of supporters have already formed the CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 MogulLocomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration Supporters Group to help with the overhaul.[8] The Association's web site stated “A possible start [on overhaul] could be made during 2019/20.”[9] In September 2018 the SVRSevern Valley Railway commented it would take its place before 7819, after work on locomotives under overhaul had progressed.[10]
The locomotive was available for footplate visits and photographs outside for the first time in many years when displayed in the dock platform at Kidderminster for the duration of the 2019 1940s weekend event. The locomotive's relevance is that it had featured in the wartime-set 1998 made-for-TV film Goodnight Mister Tom.[11]
See also
Steam Locomotives
Goodnight Mister Tom
References
- ↑ GWR Archive Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ↑ BRDatabase Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 39
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 63
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 89, 90
- ↑ Shown as 4 November in Siviter (2008)
- ↑ 9303 Appeal leaflet (Retrieved 3 May 2019)
- ↑ GW(SVR)A website (Retrieved 10 March 2019)
- ↑ Express Points September 2018
- ↑ Severn Valley Railway 1940s event organiser updates on Facebook, 8 May 2019
Links
Great Western (SVR) Assoc. 9303 page
GWR 4300 Class on Wikipedia
The Collett Mogul Supporters Group on Facebook
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