GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Spa - Grouping Locomotives: gwrls159

GWR 4-4-0 No 3711 'City of Birmingham' on an up local passenger service with a Horse Box van behind the tender circa 1930. Built at Swindon works as No 3434 as part of Lot 1994 in May 1903 'City of Birmingham' was subsequently renumbered No 3711 in 1912. The City Class had the large No 4 tapered boiler and belpaire firebox from new, but received an extended smokebox, top feed and were superheated in November 1910. When built these locomotives represented the state of the art of the double frame, inside cylinder technology and they were used successfully on the Great Western Railway’s crack expresses, but with a few years the outside cylinder 4-4-0 Counties and the larger 4-6-0 locomotives would result in them being gradually reallocated to secondary duties in the Northern Divisions. No3711 was allocated to Leamington shed until withdrawn in July 1930.

Horse Box vans were used to transport valuable horses to hunts and race meetings. Within the van there was a stock compartment which could be partitioned to provide individual stables for three horses or left open as a loose box for a mare with her foul. There was also a separate fodder / tack compartment (closest to the tender) and a passenger compartment for the groom(s). House Box vans (GWR telegraphic code PACO) where fitted with vacuum brakes and oil boxes. They were classified as passenger stock and painted brown. Horse box vans were normally positioned next to the engine when traveling in passenger trains to ensure a smoother ride for their precious cargo. This horse box van is either a diagram N12, N13 or N14 (these were all similar designs), of which about 240 were built between 1914 and 1930.

Robert Ferris

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