GWR Route: The North Warwickshire Line

GWR Route: Stratford on Avon to Hatton

Stratford on Avon Station: gwrsa3035

Ex-Great Western Railway 0-6-0 2251 Class No 2257 is seen providing banking assistance to an up express service from Stratford upon Avon on 23rd May 1959. Between Stratford upon Avon and Wilmcote there was a one mile, twenty-five chain incline with a ruling gradient of 1 in 75, followed by several lesser inclines to the summit at Earlswood Lakes (see 'gwrwe2888'). A banking engine was kept at Stratford upon Avon to provide assistance up these inclines and instructions in the BR Appendix to the Service Time Table issued in April 1953 stated that: Assisting Engines travelling from Stratford upon Avon to:

Wilmcote only, must be run at the rear uncoupled.
Bearley East, must be coupled to the rear van to Bearley West Box and uncoupled from Bearley West Box to Bearley East Box.
Hatton or Earlswood Lakes, must be coupled to the rear van throughout.

Note – When assistance is provided beyond Wilmcote, the driver of the Assisting Engine must only use steam when running up inclines. When running over falling gradients he must not push the Train, the speed being controlled by the Train Engineman.

The tail lamps on both the last coach and the tender would suggest that the assisting locomotive is uncoupled and therefore only proceeding as far as Wilmcote, where it would fall back once in sight of the Signal Box.

No 2257 was built by Swindon works in April 1930 as part of lot 261. Having inherited a number of relatively light lines from the Cambrian and MSWJ Railways at the Grouping, the Great Western Railway needed a locomotive which could operate on these lines. The 2251 class with their maximum axle weight of 15 tons, 15 cwt (Route Colour – Yellow) and tractive effort at 85% of 20,155 lb (Power Group - B) proved suitable for this task and became known as very versatile mixed traffic engines. No 2257 was initially allocated to Stafford Road Shed (SRD) and prior to nationalisation was allocated to Tyseley Shed (TYS). No 2257 remained in service until September 1964 when it was withdrawn from Reading shed (81D) to be scrapped by J Cashmore's of Great Bridge.

From John Turner's '53A Models of Hull Collection', a photograph by the late James S Doubleday.

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