GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Rowington Junction & Troughs: gwrrj2155

Great Western Railway 43xx class 2-6-0 No5317 steams over Rowington toughs with class H headcode (indicated by the red lamps on the centre and left of the buffer beam) on a long unfitted (i.e. no vacuum brake) up freight, circa 1929. The official Service Time Table (STT) of that year identifies a ‘Goods and Empties’ train running under a class H headcode from Oxley sidings (dep 13:00) to Banbury yard (arr 18:58). This train had intermediate stops in the goods yards at; Queens Head (14:37–15:00), Soho and Winson Green (15:06-16:00), Hockley (16:06-16:15), Leamington (17:19-17:30) and at the OIC Ironstone sidings (18:25-18:40).

The first five wagons in the train are empty private owner (PO) open wagons with external framing and side doors. It is thought that these open wagons belong to ‘TARSLAG (1923) Ltd’, who had a significant fleet of several hundred open wagons used for transporting untreated furnace slag and the processed road surfacing material. Tarslag recovered furnace slag from William Sparrow’s Stow Heath Furnaces near Wolverhampton and the Earl of Dudley’s Round Oak Steelworks. At Brettell Lane near the later location, Tarslag had a private siding in 1929. Tarslag also had a private siding adjacent to the Tees Bridge Ironworks of Pease and Partners Ltd in South Stockton on the LNER. It should be noted that interconnection between the Great Western Railway and the LNER took place at Banbury.

Locomotive No 5317 was completed on 16th July 1917 at Swindon Works as part of lot 206 with the average cost of the locomotives in this lot recorded as £3,312. These were part of a very successful class of mixed traffic locomotives designed by Chief Mechanical Engineer George Churchward and introduced in 1911. Unsurprisingly the 43xx class had all the typical Great Western Railway features of the period; tapered domeless boiler, belpaire firebox, drumhead smokebox, superheating, topfeed combined with safety valve bonnet and graceful curved drop ends. No 5317 was turned out in unlined green with brass features painted over in deference to the period of austerity brought about by the continuing world war. The war also increased the demand for freight engines, both at home and abroad, with eleven 43xx class locomotives supplied to the Railway Operating Division and shipped to France in 1917 for use on the Western Front. These had been returned by the end of 1919, at which point the class contained 180 locomotives. With the usefulness proven, construction continued apace and by 1932 the class contained a total of 342 locomotives.

The 43xx class locomotives were fitted with standard No 4 boilers operating at a pressure of 200 lb, which produced a tractive effort, at 85% of 25,670 lbs, classifying the locomotive in power group D. The maximum axle weight was originally 18 tons, 4 cwt, but in 1917 soon after this particular locomotive was built, this was reduced to 17 tons, 13 cwt by moving forward the pony truck fulcrum. Those locomotives modified were marked with a red ‘K’ on the cab side until all the class had been completed. The axle weight limited the locomotives to main lines and some branch lines – route colour Blue.

Over time minor modifications changed the locomotive's appearance; after 1926, shorter safety valve bonnets were gradually introduced and after 1928, when new cylinders were required on older locomotives, a new pattern with outside steam pipes were fitted. These assisted maintenance by improving access to the boiler tubes. It is not known when the shorter safety valve bonnet was fitted to No 5317, but this locomotive received new cylinders with outside steam pipes in October 1944.

No 5317 was initially allocated to Newport shed (NPT) in South Wales and was known to have been allocated there in January 1921. In January 1934, No 5317 was known to have been allocated to the Swindon stock shed, but in January 1938 was allocated to Stafford Road shed (SRD) in Wolverhampton. In December 1947 just prior to nationalisation, this locomotive was allocated to Banbury shed (BAN) and was also known to have been allocated there in August 1950. No 5317 was withdrawn from Tyseley shed (84E) in week ending 5th November 1956 having completed 1,169,742 miles. The locomotive was recorded as being cut up at Swindon on 29th December 1956.

The 43xx class locomotives were normally paired with standard Churchward tenders of 3,500 gallon water capacity and which could hold 7 tons of coal. They were fitted with a water scoop arrangement for replenishing the tank from water troughs like those at Rowington. In 1934 No 5317 was known to be paired with tender No 2110. This was a 3,500 gallon standard Churchward tender built in 1918 under lot A100.

Photographer - Gordon Tidey

Robert Ferris

back