GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill - Grouping Period Locomotives: gwrbsh3048

Great Western Railway 4-6-0 49xx (Hall) class No 4916 ‘Crumlin Hall’ entering Snow Hill with an up class A express in 1934. The Great Western Railway Hall class proved to be a most successful mixed traffic locomotive and the class eventually totalled 330 locomotives built between 1928 and 1950. They had a standard No 1 boiler operating at 225lb and developing a tractive effort at 85% of 27,275lbs (Power Group D). The maximum axle weight was 18tons, 19cwt, which limited the locomotives to main lines and a few branch lines (Route Classification Red), but they found both freight and express passenger work in abundance. For more information about locomotive classification on the Great Western Railway see 'Route Map'.

No 4916 was built in March 1929 at Swindon Works as part of lot 254 and was initially allocated to Gloucester Shed (GLO).At the start of 1934, No 4916 moved from Oxley Shed (OXY) to Swindon Works for a general overhaul and boiler change before being allocated to Stafford Road Shed (SRD) at Wolverhampton in February 1934, where No 4916 remained until returning to Oxley Shed north of Wolverhampton in July 1935. No 4916 was withdrawn from Swindon in June 1964 having travelled over 1,287,830 miles (This was the last recorded mileage taken in December 1963).

The tender (number 2210) is a 3,500 gallon late Churchward standard pattern of lot A106. These were built between March and December 1923 and had 7ton of coal capacity. Behind the tender is a corridor brake third coach with a roof-board indicating the destinations. This coach appears to be a left handed diagram D56 with steel side panels and no toplights. A number of the diagram D56 coaches were converted or built as ambulance stock during the First World War, subsequently being repurchased from the War Department and restored to passenger coaches at Swindon Works after the war. Some of these coaches need major restoration and emerged with their body mouldings replaced with steel panelwork and toplights removed (leaving a noticeable space above the windows), so this is probably one of these. The diagram D56 brake third coach was fifty-seven feet long with; three third class compartments, a centrally located guard’s compartment and long luggage area with two double doors on each side to facilitate unloading.

This photograph is displayed courtesy of the HMRS (Historical Model Railway Society) and copies can be ordered directly from them using the link HERE, quoting 'AEV032'.

Robert Ferris

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