GWR 4930 Hagley Hall

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4930 Hagley Hall

4930 Hagley Hall in Service

4930 Hagley Hall is a GWRGreat Western Railway CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 4900 Hall Class locomotive. The Hall class was a mixed traffic locomotive, serving a similar role on the GWRGreat Western Railway to that carried out by the StanierWilliam Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932-1944 ‘Black 5’ on the LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway. StanierWilliam Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1932-1944 worked for the GWRGreat Western Railway before moving to the LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway, and the Black 5 drew on many of the Hall’s design features.

Like the Black 5, the Hall was rated 5MTThe 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. by BRBritish Rail or British Railways post-nationalisation; although its wide cylinders meant it was mainly restricted to ex-GWRGreat Western Railway routes.

4930 was built in May 1929 at the GWRGreat Western Railway’s Swindon Works and entered service at the Wolverhampton Stafford Road Depot. It was withdrawn from service by BRBritish Rail or British Railways at Swindon in December 1963 after a working life of 1,295,236 miles. The locomotive was acquired by Woodham's scrap yard at BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. in May 1964.

4930 Hagley Hall in Preservation

4930 was bought by SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) in June 1972 and was moved from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. to Bewdley on 6th January 1973. It entered service 6 years later in 1979 following restoration.

In September 1979 it double headed with fellow SVRSevern Valley Railway locomotive LMSLondon Midland & Scottish Railway 5000 from Hereford to Chester and return with the SVRASevern Valley Railway Association “The Inter-City” charter.

4930 hauled the official reopening train for Kidderminster Town Station on 30th July 1984. It made a number of other mainline appearances, notably a storming double-headed run with 7819 Hinton Manor over the South Devon banks during the GWRGreat Western Railway 150 celebrations in 1985.

4930 was withdrawn from service in October 1986 following failure of several boiler stays. It has not steamed since, spending the intervening years in store and on static display at the Designer Shopping Complex (sited on the former GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon Works), and latterly in The Engine House at Highley. It was moved from there to Bridgnorth on Sunday 6th October 2013 for the long-awaited overhaul to begin.

4930 is still owned by SVRSevern Valley Railway(H), but has its own support group, the Friends of Hagley Hall.

4930’s sister locomotive 4936 Kinlet Hall has visited the SVRSevern Valley Railway on several occasions.

Its current overhaul will also allow it to run with the correct Collet style tender rather than its HawksworthFrederick Hawksworth, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1941-1948 style one following an exchange with te custodians of 6990 Witherslack Hall.

Sources

Friends of Hagley Hall Retrieved 23 January 2015

See also

Steam Locomotives
List of preservation groups