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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hatton Bank: gwrhb1482

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 30xx class ‘ROD’ No 3028 progressing slowly up Hatton bank on the down relief line with a heavy train

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 30xx class ‘ROD’ No 3028 progressing slowly up Hatton bank on the down relief line with a heavy train of iron ore hoppers from the OIC quarries near Banbury. The new bridge brickwork is from where the overbridge collapsed following a heavy winter rain. These locomotives became known as the ROD’s because they were built for the Railway Operating Division (R.O.D.) of the Royal Engineers for service in France in the later stages of the First World War. They were based on the Great Central Railway's 2-8-0 8K class locomotives designed by JG J.GRobinson. No 3028 was built in 1918 by the Nasmyth, Wilson & Co Ltd (with works No 1281) and given the number No 1725 by the Railway Operating Division. With the end of the war in November 1918 surplus ROD engines were initially stored and then offered for sale. No 3028 was purchased by the Great Western Railway in June 1925 as one in a batch of eighty engines bought from the ROD at the discounted price of £1,500 per engine.

This locomotive was originally given the number No 3024, but after a few months operation was withdrawn to Swindon for assessment and an overhaul which included being fitted with a new ‘MB’ boiler with a copper firebox, Swindon superheater, top feed and Great Western Railway pattern safety valve, but like the other ROD engines retained its steam brake. When this overhaul was completed in September 1926 this engine was renumbered No 3028 and placed into service. No 3028 was known to have been allocated to Neath shed (NEA) in January 1934 and prior to nationalisation, in December 1947, was allocated to Croes Newydd shed (CNYD). This locomotive was allocated to Stourbridge Junction shed (84F) in April 1952. No 3028 was withdrawn from Oxley shed in Wolverhampton (84B) in August 1956 and scrapped in the same year at Swindon Works.

Robert Ferris

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