GWR Small Prairie 4566
| GWR Small Prairie 4566 | |
|---|---|
 4566 at Bridgnorth | |
| Built By | GWR Swindon Works |
| Configuration | 2-6-2T |
| BR rating | 4MT |
| Status | In Service |
| Loco Number | 4566 |
| History | |
| Built | 1924 |
| Designed By | George Jackson Churchward |
| Type | GWR 4500 |
| 1970 | Arrived on SVR |
| 1975 | First steamed in preservation |
| 1986 | Re-entered service |
| 2006 | Re-entered service |
| Technical | |
| Length | 63ft 2¼" |
| Weight | 57t |
4566 is a GWR Churchward 4500 2-6-2T 'Small Prairie', a class of small mixed traffic locomotives mainly used on branch lines. They were a common sight on the Severn Valley Branch from the 1920s; the last use there being in 1961.[1] The class was rated 4MT by British Railways.
Contents
4566 in service
4566 was built in Swindon in 1924 and entered service at Newton Abbot. Post-War, the locomotive worked in the far south west, including allocations to St. Ives and Penzance sheds. 4566 was notable for being the last steam locomotive overhauled at Newton Abbot works, completed on 15 July 1960, being ceremonially driven out of the works by the chairman of the local urban district council (a mainline diesel driver).[2]
The engine was withdrawn from BR service at Plymouth Laira shed in April 1962 having achieved 967,914 miles in preservation,[1][3] arriving at Barry in August of that year.[4]
4566 in preservation
4566 was the 8th locomotive to leave Barry and the first from there destined for the SVR.[4] She arrived at Bewdley by rail, diesel hauled, on 25 August 1970.[5] Restoration at Bewdley began shortly afterwards, and was completed in time for the locomotive to enter service in July 1975, the 10th anniversary of the formation of the SVR.[1] The following year 4566 was used in filming of Walt Disney's live action film Candleshoe, with the locomotive also appearing in the 1977 TV movie Silver Blaze.
By late 1979, 4566 had suffered a crack in the drag box and was also suffering from leaking boiler tubes,[6], leading to the locomotive being withdrawn for overhaul mid-way into her first ten year ‘ticket’. Having reached the front of the queue, the overhaul also included a new bunker, new side tanks and new slide bars,[7] and was eventually completed with a return to steam in June 1986.[8]
In 1988, 4566 made another TV appearance in Hannay. Two years later, Sunday 13 May 1990 saw the normal summertime Table C timetable in use, requiring 5 steam locomotives. The SVR achieved a rare ‘full house’ by rostering GWR 4566 along with SR 34027 Taw Valley, LMS 46443, LNER 3442 The Great Marquess and BR Standard 75069.
4566 spent the summer of 1991 on hire to the Llangollen Railway, evidently successfully as a repeat visit took place the following year. The last full year of this ticket, 1995, also involved a period of hire, this time to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. 4566 was then withdrawn for overhaul at the beginning of 1996.
Following another period out of service, the most recent overhaul was completed in late 2006 with an entry into service in early 2007. In May of that year, 4566 was used on a steam-hauled revenue earning freight charter, taking a load of pipes to Trimpley Reservoir for Severn Trent Water.
4566 began this ticket in GWR green livery, but in early 2014 was repainted in BR black livery with the early ‘cycling lion’ crest. November 2016 marked 4566’s last gala appearance at the November ‘Season Finale’. As of December 2016[update] 4566 is operational but will shortly be withdrawn from service at the end of the boiler’s ’10-year ticket’.
4566 is owned by the 4566 Group.
Gallery
4566 with a local service at St Ives, 23 April 1960.
See also
References
Links
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