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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Lapworth Station: gwrl2327

An ex-Great Western Railway 4-6-0 49xx (Hall) class locomotive races through Lapworth Station on the down main line with a northbound express on Sunday 23rd May 1965

An ex-Great Western Railway 4-6-0 49xx (Hall) class locomotive races through Lapworth Station on the down main line with a northbound express on Sunday 23rd May 1965. On the other side of the island platform in the bay is British Railways built Ivatt (Class 2F) 2-6-0 locomotive No 46442.

The Great Western Railway Hall class proved to be a most successful mixed traffic locomotive and the class eventually totalled 330 locomotives built between 1928 and 1950. They had a standard No 1 boiler operating at 225lb and developing a tractive effort at 85% of 27,275lbs (Power Group D). The maximum axle weight was 18tons, 19cwt, which limited the locomotives to main lines and a few branch lines (Route Classification Red), but they found both freight and express passenger work in abundance.

The locomotive in the photograph was initially thought by the photographer to be No 5988 ‘Bostock Hall’, which was built in November 1939 at Swindon Works as part of lot 327. Robert Ferris had doubts which were subsequently confirmed when John Hyde wrote, 'The locomotive is a Modified Hall, 6959 class and therefore cannot be 5988'. It is Robert's best guess that the locomotive is British Railways built 4-6-0 No 6984 'Owsden Hall which was built by Swindon works in February 1948 and which remained in service until December 1965 when it was withdrawn from 82E Barrow Road shed in Bristol.

Locomotive No 46442 was built in February 1949 at Crewe works. The 2F-B class was an Ivatt (LMS) design with a tapered boiler and 128 locomotives were built following their introduction in 1946. Locomotive No 46442 remained in service until October 1966 when it was withdrawn from 2A Tyseley shed and scrapped at Cashmores in Newport.

Robert Ferris

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