GWR Mogul 7325

GWRGreat Western Railway MogulLocomotive with a 2-6-0 wheel configuration 7325
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2000	Withdrawn for overhaul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
Steam Locomotives

7325 under restoration at Bewdley in 1979, showing "Saved for S.V.R.!" on the tender, typical of locomotives saved from scrapping

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.

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.

7325 in preservation

The locomotive arrived from Barry Scrapyard on 13 August 1975 in convoy with GWR 2857. In Autumn of that year a raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch helped raise funds for the purchase of locomotive, while in 1982 another SVRA raffle was held to raise funds for work on the boiler and tender. A further raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch was held in spring 1988.

Although the owning group The Great Western (SVR) Association customarily refer to the locomotive by its earlier number 9303, the locomotive first entered 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
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. The Association's web site stated “The plan is to replace the missing weight at the next overhaul so that it can once again run as 9303, a true Great Western engine.” In addition, it states “A possible start [on overhaul] could be made during 2019/20.” In September 2018 the SVRSevern Valley Railway commented it would take its place before 7819, after work on locomotives under overhaul had progressed.

See also

Steam Locomotives

References

Links

Great Western (SVR) Assoc. 9303 page
GWR 4300 Class on Wikipedia