GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Queens Head Yard: gwrqhy2006

Another view of ex-GWR 68xx Class 4-6-0 No 6820 'Kingstone Grange' storming past Queens Head Signal Box on 19th September 1964. The 68xx Class or Grange Class was a mixed traffic class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. There were 80 in the class, all built at the Swindon works replacing the 43xx Class of 2-6-0 tender locomotives which had been introduced by the GWR in 1911 and by 1932 numbered 342 in service. It had been intended to replace all of the 43xx Class in this way, but the Second World War stopped the programme. The Granges were effectively a smaller-wheeled version of the GWR Hall Class. In service they were reliable performers and with their power and mixed traffic characteristics they could handle most duties on the network including the haulage of perishable goods, such as fruit and broccoli, and for excursion trains.

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