GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Shed: gwrls3836

Another view of ex-GWR 4-6-0 No 6855 'Saighton Grange' standing below the coal stage at Leamington shed in March 1962. The warning notice seen above the locomotive was directed to locomotive crews shunting the coal wagons into the coaling stage. It states 'Caution. Engines must not pass this arch'. The Grange Class or 68xx Class was a mixed traffic class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive, built from 1936 to 1939 to replace the GWR 43xx Class 2-6-0. There were eighty members of the class, all built at the Swindon works, using some reconditioned parts from withdrawn 43xx Class locomotives. The Granges were effectively a smaller-wheeled version of the GWR Hall Class. The wheels, valve motion and tenders were taken from the withdrawn engines, reconditioned and then used in the construction of the new locomotives; the components from one old locomotive were spread amongst more than one of the new engines.

Trevor Bennett

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