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. 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until December 1965 when it was withdrawn from 82E Barrow Road shed in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46442 remained in service until October 1966 when it was withdrawn from 2A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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