GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hatton Bank: gwrhb2231

Ex-GWR 4073 (Castle) Class 4-6-0 locomotive ascending Hatton Bank with a twelve coach down Summer Saturday special in 1960. The locomotive is thought to be No 5026 'Criccieth Castle'. The 'Castle' class locomotives, designed by Charles Collett in 1923 as a compromise to keep within the 20 ton maximum axle load restrictions, proved to be the most power passenger locomotives of their day. With four x 16 inch cylinders and a new standard No 8 boiler operating at 225lb pressure, the locomotive developed a tractive effort at 85% of 31,625lb and was classified in Power Group D.

Built in April 1934 at Swindon Works No 5026 was as part of lot 295. This batch was the first to be built with the aid of Zeiss precision optical alignment equipment, which greatly improved accuracy and this in turn gave smoother operation, reducing the wear and maintenance requirements. No 5026 was initially allocated to Newton Abbot shed (NA) and like the remainder of the class, No 5026 was used on the prestigious West of England expresses, but as numbers increased the locomotives could be found at the head of express trains on every principle route. Altogether 171 ‘Castle’ class locomotives were built and they proved to be a very successful design. All saw service with British Rail with No 5026 at Laira shed (LA) outside Plymouth, just prior to nationalisation in December 1947. In March 1959, No 5026 was known to have been allocated to Stafford Road shed, Wolverhampton and in October that year improvements were made with the fitting of a double chimney and 4 row superheater. No 5026 was finally withdrawn from Oxley shed (84B) north of Wolverhampton in November 1964 and sold to Cashmores at Great Bridge for disposal.

Robert Ferris

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