GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill Station: gwrbsh3009

Ex-Great Western Railway 4-6-0 78xx (Manor) class No 7816 'Frilsham Manor' with a long train of empty stock passes through the tunnels just north of Birmingham Snow Hill Station on the Down Main line carrying a class C lamp headcode in 1961 (for more details of this train identification system, see 'headcode'). Empty carriage stock was stored at Queens Head Sidings and brought to Birmingham Snow Hill when required.

No 7816 was built in January 1939 at Swindon Works as part of lot 316. It was classified as a renewal with parts donated from 2-6-0 locomotive No 4399, but this might have been more of an accountancy exercise with only the wheels and motions being reused from the earlier locomotive, which had been withdrawn in May 1938. The 4-6-0 ‘Manor’ and ‘Grange’ class locomotives were designed to replace these 43xx class mixed traffic locomotives which had proved to be very successful. The new locomotives were to be more powerful, but in the case of the 'Manor' class to also have the same route availability (Route Colour – Blue) see 'Engine Map' for more details of the Great Western Railway's locomotive classification system. Both 'Manor' and 'Grange' class locomotives used standardised parts, but to reduce the weight on the 'Manor' a new boiler design (Standard No 14) to be designed. This had the latest 158 tube / 72 element superheating in a coned domeless (code ZA) boiler attached to a Belpaire firebox and with an operating pressure of 225lb, which produced a tractive effort at 85% of 27,340lb (Power Group D). Initially the steaming capability of the 'Manor' class locomotives was found to be poor, but in 1952 experiments with No 7818 showed that a 25% reduced blastpipe area and increased grate airspace (achieved by modifying the firebars) improved the draughting and the locomotive’s performance. All the class were subsequently modified, with No 7816 being altered at Swindon Works in March 1954. No 7816 was initially allocated to Neyland Shed (NEY) where it was principally employed on Fish trains from Milford Haven to Gloucester. After moving to St Blazey Shed (83E) in November 1952, No 7816 was allocated to Tyseley Shed (84E) for a year between September 1960 and September 1961, before it moved again, this time to Stourbridge Junction Shed (84F). In August 1962 No 7816 was recorded as having travelled 777,585 miles and was allocated to Reading Shed (81D). Three years later No 7816 was withdrawn from Gloucester Shed (85B) in November 1965 and subsequently sold as scrap to Cashmores of Newport.

The tender in the photograph is a 3,500 gallon Churchward pattern from lot A87, built in early 1914 (No 1889). It could hold seven tons of coal.

Robert Ferris

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