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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill - British Railways Period Locomotives: gwrbsh1305

An unidentified ex-GWR 4-6-0 Modified Hall class locomotive is seen with snow on the ground shunting in the yard to the North of Snow Hill station

An unidentified ex-GWR 4-6-0 Modified Hall class locomotive is seen with snow on the ground shunting in the yard to the North of Snow Hill station. The Modified Halls marked the most radical change to Swindon Works' practice since Churchward's time as chief mechanical engineer. Hawksworth's use of plate frames throughout the design was a daring break with Churchward's practice. The cylinders were cast separately from the smokebox saddle and bolted to the frames on each side. A stiffening brace was inserted between the frames and extended to form the smokebox saddle. The exhaust pipes leading from the cylinders to the blastpipe were incorporated into this assembly.

The first of the Modified Halls was outshopped from Swindon in 1944. It carried plain black livery and was unnamed. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, British Railways continued construction of this Great Western class until 1950 with some Modified Halls being equipped with a flat, high-sided Hawksworth tenders. Once Hawksworth became Chief Mechanical Engineer many earlier locomotives also received these tenders so a Hawksworth tender does not necessarily mean a Hawksworth locomotive.

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