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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hatton Bank: gwrhb1462

An unidentified ex-GWR 2-6-0 43xx class with a Northbound Express ascending Hatton Bank on the Down main line dated August 1959

An unidentified ex-GWR 2-6-0 43xx class with a Northbound Express ascending Hatton Bank on the Down main line dated August 1959. Many of the early locomotives of this class had been withdrawn by August 1959 and the locomotive's appearance would suggest the 63xx / 73xx variation. These were constructed between 1920 and 1925 either at Swindon Works or by Robert Stephenson & Co. The final batch (Lot 230 in 1925) were built with outside steam pipes, but most of the earlier engines had these fitted from 1944 onwards. In the winter of 1959 the reporting number system changed with the first number indicating the destination area (e.g. 9XX was for Hereford, LMS via Shrewsbury, Birkenhead or Cambrian Coast). Prior to this the first number indicated the origin of the train (e.g in the late 1930’s 9XX indicated trains originating from Southern Railway stations, and post WW2 9XX indicated trains originating from Paddington using the Northern routes).

Robert Ferris

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