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GWR Route: Birmingham and Henley in Arden Railway Company

Lapworth to Henley in Arden Branch Line: gwrha2815

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 28xx class No 2856 reverses a class H 'through freight' train on to the Henley Goods line

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 28xx class No 2856 reverses a class H 'through freight' train on to the Henley Goods line in the late 1950s. The BR (Birmingham District) Sectional Appendix allowed trains to proceed to the Goods yard at the old Henley Station with either the locomotive leading or at the rear, but the train was restricted to a maximum of 25 wagons plus engine and brake van. Parallel with the Henley Goods Line was the down refuge siding, which could hold 42 wagons plus engine and brake van. Freight trains were reversed into refuge sidings when a faster passenger train needed to pass.

No 2856 was built in April 1918 at Swindon Works as part of lot 210, whose 28 locomotives had been ordered to assist with the demands of shifting Navy coal (see GWR Index 6). These engines had been designed at the turn of the century by Great Western Railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME.) – GJ Churchward, for heavy freight work and they formed the backbone of the company's express freight services. They had an E power classification, but were initially restricted to the main Red routes, until reclassified for the lighter Blue routes in July 1919 (see Engine Map). The same design continued to be built with few modifications for almost fifty years. Only the purchase of the cheap war surplus 2-8-0 ROD locomotives stopped the expansion of the class during the interwar years.

After experimenting to improve locomotive designs, CME. GJ Churchward produced a range of standard boilers and mechanical parts, which greatly improved the efficiency of locomotive construction and maintenance. The 28xx class was fitted with the 14 foot 10 inch long Standard No 1A boiler also used on 20xx, 29xx, 40xx, 49xx and 68xx class locomotives. No 2856 originally had a superheated full coned barrel version of this boiler (type D4). The outside steam pipes were fitted in May 1951.

No 2856 was originally allocated to Pontypool Road Shed (PPRD), but was for many years prior to nationalisation allocated to Old Oak Common (PDN). In the photograph, on the smokebox door is the shed code plate (84E), which indicates the locomotive was allocated to Tyseley shed at this time. No 2856 was finally withdrawn from Southall Shed (81C) in April 1964 and sold for scrap to Birds (Swansea) Ltd.

Robert Ferris

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