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GWR 4930 Hagley Hall

12 bytes removed, 18:54, 27 December 2020
Boiler back at Bridgnorth Dec 2020
4930 Hagley Hall is a GWR Collett 4900 Hall Class locomotive. The Hall was a mixed traffic locomotive, serving a similar role on the GWR to that carried out by the Stanier ‘Black 5’ on the LMS. Stanier worked for the GWR before moving to the LMS, and the Black 5 drew on many of the Hall’s design features. Like the Black 5, the Hall was rated 5MT by BR post-nationalisation, although its wide cylinders meant it was mainly restricted to ex-GWR routes.
==4930 Hagley Hall in Serviceservice==
4930 was built in May 1929 at the GWR’s Swindon Works and entered service at the [[Wolverhampton#Wolverhampton Railway Works | Wolverhampton Stafford Road Depot]]. As well as Wolverhampton’s Stafford Road and Oxley depots, other pre-War shed allocations included Chester, Tyseley and Leamington as well as brief periods in the south west.
In Adrian Vaughan’s biography ‘Signalman’s Twilight’, he recounts that on 29 June 1963 4930 was the only spare locomotive available to replace a Western class diesel which failed near Swindon when working a Milford Haven to Paddington express. Supposedly restricted to working low class goods services due to her run-down condition, Hagley Hall was nevertheless timed at 82mph passing Didcot and covered the 53 miles from Didcot to Paddington in 45 minutes.<ref>Signalman’s Twilight, Adrian Vaughan, Chapter 12</ref> Following this swansong, 4930 was withdrawn from service by BR in December 1963 after a working life of 1,295,236 miles.<ref>[http://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&type=S&id=4930&loco=4930 BR database. Stephenson Loco Society records have November 1963] (Retrieved 18 November 2019)</ref> The locomotive was acquired by [[Barry Scrapyard | Woodham Brothers scrap yard]] at Barry in May 1964. [[Viscount Cobham]] obtained one of the original 'Hagley Hall' nameplates from Lord Beeching, which he lent to the [[Richard Dunn]] to have copies cast in preparation for the locomotive's recovery from Barry and subsequent restoration.<ref>SVR News 43, "Viscount Cobham", Obituary by R.H. Dunn</ref>
==4930 Hagley Hall in Preservationpreservation==
===Arrival at the SVR===
4930 was bought by SVR(H) in June 1972 and was moved from Barry to Bewdley by rail, arriving on 6th January 1973. A six year restoration began, initially at Bewdley and completed at Bridgnorth. A portion of the restoration was led by the late Ray Tranter.
4930’s long-awaited overhaul began with a move from the Engine House to [[Bridgnorth Loco Works]] on 6 October 2013. In March 2017 the [[Friends of 4930 Hagley Hall | Friends of Hagley Hall]], in partnership with Severn Valley Engineering Services, formulated a detailed programme for completion of the overhaul. This "''2020 Vision''" envisaged a return to steam in 2020.<ref>[http://www.4930hagleyhall.org.uk/news/news.html Friends of Hagley Hall News update 7 March 2017 '4930 Our 2020 VISION']</ref> This was stymied by the [[2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic]] and {{As of|2020|10|lc=y}} the latest target date is 2022.<ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/bloct20 Branch Lines October 2020]</ref>
*As part of the overhaul, 4930 will run with the correct Collett style tender rather than her previous Hawksworth style one, following an exchange with the custodians of [[6990 Witherslack Hall]] on 8 October 2013. In 2017 the new tender tank was delivered for work on restoring the tender to continue. By March 2019 the new tender tank was fitted to the refurbished and rewheeled tender chassis.
*By August 2015 the boiler had been lifted from the frames. On 10 April 2018 it departed from Bridgnorth by road for the workshops of Northern Steam Engineering Ltd. at Stockton, where overhaul commenced. A 'warming fire' was lighted The overhaul completed and the boiler returned in November December 2020 as it moves toward completion.
*The cylinder block was removed and examined. This revealed that the cylinders had been previously patched, and were therefore considered beyond repair. New cylinder blocks were produced: 3D Computer Aided Design work by Stafford Road Design Ltd., casting by Shakespeare Foundry in Preston, Lancashire and machining by Harco Engineering. Machined cylinders returned to Bridgnorth on 14 June 2019.<ref>Railway Magazine, July 2019, p.72</ref>
*The driving wheels were removed from the frames on 14 July 2018, so they could be sent to the South Devon Railway for fitting new tyres.
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