GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hatton Bank: gwrhb96

GWR 4-4-0 33xx or Bulldog class No 3377 is seen climbing Hatton Bank approximately 1 mile east from Hatton on the down main line. The track nearest to the photographer is the down goods line. The photograph was taken circa 1947/48. Built at Swindon as No 3429 ‘Penzance’ in May 1903 No 3377 had straight frames, which gave a more austere look, but was cheaper than the curved frames on the first batch of engines in the class. It was built with a Standard No 2 parallel domeless boiler with a high raised Belpaire firebox. In November 1906 this boiler was replaced with a Standard No 2 tapered boiler, which was coned for two thirds its length (This was a variation on current American practice, but the Belpaire firebox was retained as this allowed the done to be dispensed with). Superheating was fitted in April 1913.

In 1912 the class was renumbered and No 3377 had the Name ‘Penzance’ removed by the traffic department in August 1930, to avoid potential confusion with a train destination. No 3377 was withdrawn from Worcester Shed (85A) in March 1951. The Bulldogs had a tractive effort of 21,060 lbs (group B) and were route colour Blue. They were initially used for secondary express work, but were gradually displaced from these passenger duties by newer locomotives. The first withdrawals started in 1930 following the introduction of the 4-6-0 49xx ‘Hall’ class, but these were useful engines and withdrawal was protracted.

Robert Ferris

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