GWR Mogul 7325

GWR Mogul 7325
7325 at Kidderminster, June 2019
Built By	GWR Swindon Works
Configuration	2-6-0
Power class	GWR: D, BR: 4MT
Axle load class	GWR: 93xx Red, 73xx Blue
Status	Out of service
Loco Number	7325
Other Numbers	9303, 98425 (TOPS)
History
Built	1932
Designed By	George Jackson Churchward
Type	GWR 4300
1964	Withdrawn from service
1975	Arrived on SVR
1992	Entered SVR service
2000	Withdrawn for overhaul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 (originally numbered 9303) is a GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0 (mogul) steam locomotive intended for mixed traffic duties including cross country passenger services, long goods, parcels and excursion trains.

Having introduced a range of standard locomotives designed for heavier services, GWR CME George Jackson Churchward asked his lead draughtsman Harold Holcroft to produce "...a 2-6-0 with 5 foot 8 inch wheels, outside cylinders, the No. 4 boiler and as many standard parts as could be used". The resulting 4300 class first appeared in 1911 and proved successful with 322 built by 1925, sometimes incorporating detailed differences. A final batch of 20 built in 1932 incorporated further design changes by Churchward’s successor, Charles Collett. These included the introduction of side window cabs, outside steam pipes, a screw reverser, 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, 7325 (originally 9303) is often referred to on the SVR as the "Collett Mogul".

Moguls were allocated to local sheds including Shrewsbury and Worcester (both from 1934), Kidderminster Shed (from 1946) and Stourbridge Junction (from 1950). Locos (not including those with Red axle load restrictions) operated excursions on the Kidderminster – Bewdley – Stourport triangle from the 1930s. In the late 1950s 4 moguls were allocated to Kidderminster Shed to work coal trains from Alveley Colliery to the power stations at Stourport and Buildwas and sugar beet trains to Foley Park. Reallocations meant that, for example, eighteen class members were allocated to Kidderminster at some point in their service.

Contents

9303/7325 in service

The locomotive was completed at Swindon to Lot No. 276. She first entered service in February 1932 as GWR number 9303, and began life allocated to Penzance. The following year 9303 moved to London's Old Oak Common Shed, spending the next 20 years at sheds in the London area. 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 BR 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 April 1964.

7325 in preservation

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, being an early Churchward example which saw service in France during World War I with the British Army's Railway Operating Division and which is now preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre).

In mid-1972 the newly-formed Great Western Locomotive and Carriage Society made '9303' its first target for preservation. The following year the Society merged with the Great Western Rolling Stock Fund to become the 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.

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,

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. In 1982 another 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, and a further raffle organised by the SVRA Stourbridge Branch was held in spring 1988. The locomotive was re-wheeled in July 1988 and the boiler put back in the frames in 1989, with restoration continuing as funds permitted. Although the owning group 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.

Between 1995 and 1998, 7325 made the following appearances on the main line:

Date	Tour name	Route	Notes	Web	SVR 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

Having entered service in 1992, it was anticipated that 7325 would be in use until 2002. However the locomotive succumbed to a severely leaking boiler in August 2000 during that year’s ‘boiler crisis’. Following a quick cosmetic restoration the locomotive was placed on exhibition at the Steam Museum in Swindon, initially for ‘a couple of years’. In late 2005 the SVR announced that the locomotive would return in time for the planned opening of The Engine House in May 2007. After the delay due to the 2007 Storm Damage, 7325 was eventually shunted into the Engine House on 16 March 2008 ready for the public opening five days later. At the Engine House the 'footplate' was accessible to allow visitors to climb aboard and learn how to operate a steam locomotive, and for weddings and civil ceremonies.

• 

  7325 in The Engine House

In September 2018 the SVR commented that 7325 would take its place in the restoration queue before 7819 Hinton Manor, after work on locomotives under overhaul had progressed. In 2019, for their 50th year, the Association launched a fund to return the Mogul to the Collett GWR condition as 9303. A new chimney, smokebox, boiler refurbishment and ‘bottom end’ are required to get the locomotive into running order. A number of supporters have already formed the Collett Mogul Supporters Group to help with the overhaul. The Association's web site stated “A possible start [on overhaul] could be made during 2019/20.”

In March 2019 7325 was moved from the Engine House to storage in the Kidderminster Carriage Shed, being replaced in the Engine House by 7819. 7325 was available for footplate visits and photographs outside for the first time in many years when displayed in the dock platform at Kidderminster for the duration of the "Step Back to the 1940s" event in June/July 2019. The locomotive had featured in the wartime-set 1998 made-for-TV film Goodnight Mister Tom, having been cosmetically repainted into somewhat dirty condition with no markings on the tender to disguise its more modern livery. This condition was re-created for the 2019 appearance.

See also

Steam Locomotives
Goodnight Mister Tom
Classes of locomotives used on the Severn Valley Branch in commercial service

Links

Great Western (SVR) Assoc. 9303 page
GWR 4300 Class on Wikipedia
The Collett Mogul Supporters Group on Facebook