GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill Station: gwrbsh1759

Great Western Railway 33xx (Bulldog) class 4-4-0 No 3399 'Ottawa' with an up express destined for Stratford-upon-Avon approaches the north end of Snow Hill Station in the Summer of 1938. The first coach is a ganged corridor brake third (diagram D127) with the deep windows on the corridor side of the coach extending almost from the cantrail to the waist. This was the recently introduced sixty-one foot long, large windowed ‘sunshine’ excursion stock. Behind the locomotive in the new yard sidings is a brake van (telegraphic code Toad) and some older non-corridor suburban coach stock. This locomotive was built at Swindon Works in February 1904 as part of lot 148. The locomotive originally carried No 3461, but this was changed in December 1912 as part of the general renumbering scheme designed to group locomotives of a similar power together. The locomotive was built with a Churchward Standard No 2 short coned domeless boiler with a belpaire firebox (D2 type).

This was changed to a Standard No 2 fully coned domeless boiler (type D3) in March 1907 and in December 1910, the locomotive was fitted with a boiler with a 12/72 type (12 tube and 72 element) superheater. Top feed apparatus appeared a few years later. Along with these physical improvements to the design, boiler pressure was also gradually increased, until it was standardised at 200 lbs. This gave a tractive effort at 85% of 21,060 lbs and placed these locomotives in Power Group B. The design changes had also increased the overall weight and the maximum axle weight was 17 tons, 12 cwt, which restricted these locomotives to the main lines and some branch lines (Blue routes). In 1934, No 3399 was paired with a diagram A17, 3,000 gallon tender (No 1017). This tender was built in 1893, ten years before the locomotive, but was at Swindon having its coal rails replaced with solid fenders when the locomotive was built, so this locomotive and tender may have been paired together since 1904. The tender shown in the picture is a 3500 gallon one, and the cabsheets of the loco have been flared out at the rear to match the bodywidth of the tender. Russ Elliott writes, 'Subsequent to the 1934 pairing with a 3000g tender, it was fitted with a 3500g one, as depicted in the picture. (In time-honoured GWR fashion of passing down tenders from the tender pool, many Bulldogs were inheriting 3500g tenders from the larger express locos at the time, the latter being paired with newer 4000g ones.) It's a complex saga, but I suggest something like the following is added to the end of the second para: "The tender shown in the picture is a 3500 gallon one, and the cabsheets of the loco have been flared out at the rear to match the bodywidth of the tender'.

The locomotive was originally allocated to Oxford shed (OXF) for secondary passenger duties. In January 1921, No 3399 was known to have been allocated to Swindon works (SDN). While in both January 1934 and January 1938, this locomotive was known to have been allocated to Banbury Shed (BAN). By this time the 4-6-0 mixed traffic 'Hall' class locomotives were displacing the 'Bulldog' class locomotives from their traditional role and they were being used for all kinds of subsidiary roles, including main line freight work such as coal traffic and perishable specials. No 3399 was finally withdrawn from Chester shed (CHR) in October 1947. Following this, Mr JB Thorn, the European Manager of Canadian National Railways, arranged with the Great Western Railway for the nameplate to be shipped to Canada on board White Star Liner 'SS Asia' and the nameplate was officially donated to the City of Ottawa in November 1948. In 2010, the nameplate and presentation plaque were repatriated to the UK for auction.

Robert Ferris

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