GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Shirley Station: gwrsh2957

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-6-0 43xx class No 5332 on a down class H ‘through freight’ on Saturday 29th August 1959. For details of Great Western and British Railways Lamp headcodes see Headcodes.

No 5332 was built in November 1917 at Swindon Works was part of Lot 207 and in 1922 this locomotive was known to be allocated to Shrewsbury shed (SLP). This was the ninth lot of locomotives from the 43xx class, which had been an immediate success when introduced in 1911 and eventually numbered 342 engines. They were mixed traffic engines operating both goods and passenger turns, although their primary duty was working secondary freight traffic. Following a problem with flange wear on the leading coupled wheels, an additional casting was added behind the front buffer beam of sixty-five locomotives in the 53xx series to improve their weight distribution. Modified in January 1928 No 5332 was renumbered as No 8332. The two ton increase in weight had the desired effect on wheel wear, but resulted in the modified locomotives being restricted to Red classified routes and in 1944 they were restored to their original lighter condition to increase their operational flexibility and allow them to work on Blue routes. Blue routes were limited by permanent way capabilities to locomotives with axle weights under 17 tons 12 cwt. The restored locomotives were also given back their original number at the same time and in the case of No 5332 this occurred in June 1944. As No 8332 the locomotive was known to have been allocated to Oxley shed (OXY) in Wolverhampton in January 1934. In December 1947, in its No 5332 guise the locomotive was recorded as allocated to Wellington shed (WLN) and was later withdrawn from Carmarthen shed (87G) in October 1961 and scrapped at Swindon Works two months later.

Robert Ferris

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