GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Harbury Cutting and Tunnel: gwrhc1487

Ex-Great Western No 4997 'Elton Hall' storms through the imposing southern brick portal of Harbury tunnel (73 yards long) on a crisp 10th April 1954. Sporting the Class A express headlamp code, this is a Wolverhampton to Newbury race special. No 4997 Elton Hall was a 4-6-0 two cylinder 49XX (Hall) Class mixed traffic locomotive built at Swindon in March 1931 (as part of Lot 268). This was a very successful locomotive design resulting in prolific construction and the 49XX class eventually numbered 330 engines, built over twenty two years between 1928 and 1950. No 4997 was known to have been initially allocated to Oxford shed in March 1931, allocated to Hereford shed in December 1934, to Neyland shed in December 1947 and to Oxley (Wolverhampton) shed in October 1959. No 4997 was withdrawn from Oxley shed in October 1961 and scraped at Swindon.

Robert Ferris

back