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7325 arrived at [[Barry Scrapyard]] in November 1964. It was one of only two members of the class preserved and the only "Collett mogul" (the other, No. 5322, is an early Churchward example which saw service in France during World War I with the British Army's Railway Operating Division. Plans were announced in January 1967 for 5322 to be acquired for preservation on the SVR<ref>SVR News 4</ref> but this did not take place and the locomotive is now preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre<ref>[https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/72/5322-43xx-class Didcot Railway Centre]</ref>).
In mid-1972 the newly-formed Great Western Locomotive and Carriage Society made '9303' its first target for preservation.<ref>SVR News 25</ref> The following year the Society merged with the Great Western Rolling Stock Fund to become the [[Great Western (SVR) Assoc. |The Great Western (SVR) Association]]. By spring 1974 volunteers were working on the locomotive at Barry, with the purchase being finalised in May 1974 with the aid of a loan in order to avoid a price increase proposed by Dai Woodham in June of that year.<ref>SVR News 31, 32, 87</ref>
The locomotive arrived from [[Barry Scrapyard]] on 13 August 1975 in convoy with [[GWR 2857 Heavy Goods Loco|GWR 2857]].<ref>SVR Stock Book Ninth Edition (SVR News 36 states 20 August)</ref> In Autumn of that year a [[:Category:SVR fundraising lotteries| raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch]] helped raise funds for the purchase of locomotive,<ref>SVR News 39</ref>
The small restoration team at Bewdley was headed by Pete Simpson who was also responsible for the restoration of [[4566]] and [[5164]]. Restoration of the mogul began in earnest once those locomotives were completed in July 1975 and October 1979 respectively.<ref>SVR News 87,157</ref> In 1982 another [[:Category:SVR fundraising lotteries|SVRA raffle]] was held to raise funds for work on the boiler and tender which were to be done as a contract job at Bridgnorth,<ref>SVR News 63</ref> and a further [[:Category:SVR fundraising lotteries|raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch]] was held in spring 1988.<ref>SVR News 89, 90</ref> The locomotive was re-wheeled in July 1988<ref>SVR News 90</ref> and the boiler put back in the frames in 1989, with restoration continuing as funds permitted.<ref>SVR News 93</ref> Although the owning group the [[Great Western (SVR) Assoc. |The Great Western (SVR) Association]] customarily refer to the locomotive by its earlier number 9303, the locomotive first entered SVR service in summer 1992 as no 7325.
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==Links==
[http://www.gw-svr-a.org.uk/9303.html Great Western (SVR) Assoc. Association 9303 page]<br>
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_4300_Class GWR 4300 Class on Wikipedia]<br>
[https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627196624047687/ The Collett Mogul Supporters Group on Facebook]
