GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill - Pre-grouping locomotives: gwrbsh61

GWR 0-4-2T Class 517 No 566 is seen shunting stock on the up middle road in the shadow of the hotel at the South end of Snow Hill station circa 1904. Designed by Armstrong the 517 class were built at Wolverhampton works and were the precursor of the 14xx class much beloved by GWR enthusiasts as the epitome of what a branchline locomotive should look like. The first batch Nos 517 to 570 were equipped with a saddle tank and built between 1868 and 1869 with a 13ft 7in wheelbase with inside bearings to the trailing wheels. Later variations to the design had sides tanks instead of saddle tanks and saw the wheel base extended to 15ft for locomotives built between 1873 and 1883 whilst from 1884 the wheelbase was extended to 15ft 6in. It is thought that the saddle tank must have limited the view of the crew and would have been removed from No 566 when it visited the works for a major overhaul or replacement of its boiler.

back