GWR Route: The North Warwickshire Line

GWR Route: Stratford on Avon to Hatton

Stratford on Avon Station: gwrsa3897

GWR 2-6-2T 5101 class Large Prairie No 4113 standing at the Birmingham end of platform No 3 at Stratford on 15th June 1958

Great Western Railway 2-6-2T 5101 class Large Prairie No 4113 standing at the Birmingham end of platform No 3 (the bay loop line) at Stratford on 15th June 1958. The two road locomotive shed on the right behind the locomotive closed in September 1962. This shed had opened in 1911 and had always been a sub-shed to Tyseley. The single story building with the hipped roof on the left behind the locomotive was originally the ground floor (lock room) of the first Stratford East Signal Box which was repositioned in August 1933.

Locomotive No 4113 was built at Swindon Works in October 1936 as part of lot 292. The 5101 class introduced in 1929, was an updated version of the 31xx (later 51xx) class, the first of which had been built in 1903. Externally the 5101 class differed from their predecessors by having curved drop ends, flanged motion plate and outside steam pipes. The cab roof was lowered and the coal bunker extended to hold four tons. The water tank capacity remained the same at 2,000 gallons. The class were adorned with copper capped chimneys and brass safety valves. The superheated standard No 2 long coned boiler operating at 200 lbs produced a tractive effort at 85% of 24,300lb, placing the locomotive in power class D. The maximum axle weight was 17 tons, 12 cwt, which limited the locomotives to main lines and some branch lines (Route colour Blue).

The power, speed and particularly the acceleration of these locomotives made them ideal for suburban passenger duties where there was a requirement for frequent stops with heavy loads, but they were also used extensively on main line banking duties. No 4113 was initially allocated to Swindon Shed (SDN), before transferring to the South West and then finally Worcester Shed (85A) in October 1953, No 4113 was withdrawn from there in November 1965 just prior to the closing of Worcester Shed. The last recorded mileage (28th December 1963) was 753,814.

Robert Ferris

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