GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill: gwrbsh49

GWR large prairie 5101 class 2-6-2T No 5102 waiting with some clerestory coach stock on the up main line with a red tail lamp on the buffer beam, circa 1929-30. Locomotive No 5102 was built in November 1929 at Swindon Works as part of lot 257. This class became the mainstay of suburban services in the Wolverhampton Division until displaced by diesel multiple units (DMUs) In the 1950s. They were an up-dated version of the 31xx class large prairies, which had been introduced in 1903 and had proved very successful. The 5101 class locomotives were fitted with a superheated standard No 2 boiler operating at a pressure of 200 lbs. They had a tractive effort at 85% of 24,300 lbs and were allocated a power group D. With a maximum axle weight of 17 tons, 12cwt they could work over all main lines and some branch lines (i.e. Blue route class). A blue circle with the letter 'D' inside is visible on the cab side in the photograph. The side tank capacity was 2,000 gallons of water and the bunker held four tons of coal. The first few locomotives (including 5102) were built without Automatic Train Control (ATC), but this was fitted between September 1930 and August 1931.

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