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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill Station: gwrbsh2486

Great Western Railway 0-4-2T ‘517’ class No 838 at the southern end of Snow Hill Station, circa 1900.

Great Western Railway 0-4-2T '517' class No 838 at the southern end of Snow Hill Station, circa 1900. There were several variations of '517' class locomotives as the class was gradually improved and most of the locomotive were rebuilt several times in their lifetime as the design evolved. Early examples had Saddle Tanks on a 7 foot 4 inch + 6 foot 4 inch wheelbase, but by 1873 all the new locomotives in the class were being built with 620 gallon Side Tanks on a 7 foot 4 inch + 7 foot 8 inch wheelbase. One of these was No 838, which was built in February 1874 at Wolverhampton Works as part of lot S. It originally had a boiler with a raised firebox and dome placed centrally on the middle ring of the boiler (type R3) and the boiler pressure was 140 lb. At this time the driving wheels were 5 foot diameter and the cylinders 15 inch. This produced a tractive effort at 85% of 10,710 lb. Improvements during the 1880s. included the provision of cabs and the introduction of 16 inch cylinders. In November 1897 the locomotive was rebuilt at Swindon Works with the frames extended backwards and the rear wheels moved back by 6 inches to give a 7 foot 4 inch + 8 foot 2 inch wheelbase. A similar raised boiler was fitted, but the dome was further back (type R4). The locomotive received a typical low fronted / deep straight back ‘Swindon’ coal bunker. The maximum axle weight was 11 tons 16 cwt allowing the locomotives to travel on all lines (route colour – uncoloured). The photograph shows the locomotive in this rebuilt form.

Designed for light suburban passenger duties in urban centres, the majority of the 517 class were initially based in the Wolverhampton Division, but from 1904, auto-apparatus started to be fitted allowing the locomotives to be used with auto-trailers on duties where railmotors had previously been used. These auto-trains operated branch line passenger services across the network and a large number of the locomotives fitted with auto-apparatus were therefore redeployed to other Divisions. Those 517 class locomotives not fitted with auto-apparatus tended to be relegated to shunting duties. It is not known if No 838 was fitted with auto-apparatus but in January 1924 No 838 was fitted with a Belpaire boiler with top feed apparatus (type BR4). The locomotive was known to have been allocated to Bristol shed (SPM) in January 1921 and was withdrawn from Newton Abbott shed (NA) in December 1929.

Robert Ferris

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