GWR 7819 Hinton Manor

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7819 Hinton Manor in service

7819 Hinton Manor is one of three GWRGreat Western Railway CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 7800 Manor class locomotives based at the SVRSevern Valley Railway, the others being 7802 Bradley Manor and 7812 Erlestoke Manor.

The Manor Class 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive was designed as a lighter version of the GWRGreat Western Railway Grange Class, giving a wider Route Availability. The first 20, of which Hinton Manor was the last, were built between 1938 and 1939 and incorporated parts from old GWRGreat Western Railway 4300 Class Moguls. BRBritish Rail or British Railways built a further 10 in 1950 and rated the class 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..

7819 was named after the manor house at Hinton near Oxford. Built in 1939, 7819 began life at Carmarthen, moving to Oswestry in July 1943. Apart from periodic transfers to Whitchurch, this remained 7819’s principal home for the next 20 years.

In March 1963, 7819 moved to Machynlleth. 7819 regularly headed the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ from Shrewsbury and on 10 August 1963 double-headed the Royal Train with 7822 for HM The Queen's visit to Pwllheli.

7819 moved to Shrewsbury in January 1965, before being withdrawn by BRBritish Rail or British Railways at the end of the same year.

7819 Hinton Manor in preservation

7819 arrived at the SVRSevern Valley Railway in 1973, having been bought through the Hinton Manor Fund, with SVRSevern Valley Railway Company help.

Restoration was completed in the late summer of 1977, and 7819 was a prolific performer in the years that followed both on the SVRSevern Valley Railway and on the main line. The latter included the GW150 celebrations in 1985, when 7819 travelled to Plymouth, Swindon, Avonmouth and Newport, and also the 1987 Cambrian Cardigan Bay Express special service steam services visiting Aberystwyth and Pwllheli.

In 1990 7819 conveyed HRH The Duke of Gloucester from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth for the official opening of the railway's boiler repair shop. The Duke drove 7819 for part of the journey.

Following a loan to the Nene Valley Railway in late 1994, 7819 was placed in storage awaiting major repairs. Since then the locomotive has been cosmetically restored and is currently on static display in the MacArthur Glen shopping complex, Swindon.

The locomotive is owned by The SVR Charitable Trust.

See Also

Steam Locomotives

Links

SVR Charitable trust web site