GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Tyseley Shed: gwrt330

GWR 2-8-0 No 2804, a 28xx class locomotive, is seen standing fully coaled ready for its next trip outside Tyseley's roundhouses circa 1939. Built at Swindon works in October 1905 No 2804 remained in service until it was withdrawn in July 1959 from Banbury shed to be scrapped the following month at Swindon works. Frank Dumbleton writes, 'on 8th January 1921, the sixteen year-old GWR 2-8-0 locomotive No 2804 started her journey to the Glenfarg Trials on the North British Railway (NBR). No 2804 left Swindon on the morning of Saturday 8 January 1921 in the charge of chief inspector CT Read, driver WH Lovesey and fireman F Cockram. They travelled via Banbury, then on the Great Central Railway (GCR) to York. They stopped for the Sunday at York, and on Monday 10 January continued the journey over the North Eastern Railway (NER), to reach Edinburgh that day'.

Frank continues. 'The trials took place on Wednesday 12 January, on the 6½ mile bank between Bridge of Earn and Glenfarg, which had a ruling gradient of 1 in 74, on the NBR's now closed line between Edinburgh and Perth. No 2804 was tested against an NBR 0-6-0 No 46 and an NER 0-8-0. No 2804 pulled a 590 ton train up the incline successfully although had trouble on another occasion with a 686 ton train when falling snow clogged the gravity sanders and the train stalled. The 0-6-0 successfully managed a train of 477 tons and the 0-8-0 managed a 755 ton train albeit in fine weather! No 2804 returned to the GWR on Friday and Saturday 14 and 15 January 1921, via Doncaster and over the GCR to Banbury'.

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