GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Warwick Station: gwrw2188

Great Western Railway 2-6-2T 45xx class small prairie No 4558 arriving at Warwick with a down passenger in the late 1930s. The stock appears to be corridor coaches so at least one is likely to have been separated at Leamington Spa from one of the two Paddington to Birmingham services that contained a portion to be forwarded to Stratford upon Avon. These were the 10:10 and 14:10 London to Birmingham down express services.

The first coach is a corridor brake composite toplight with three third and three first class compartments. It is probably a diagram E83 coach of which fifteen were built as lot 1138 completed in December 1907. The second coach is also a corridor brake composite, but of later vintage. It appears to be a diagram E148 coach, of which twenty were built as lot 1508 completed in July 1934 and a further twenty as lot 1526 completed in May 1935. These coaches were 56 feet long and had four third and two first class compartments, accessed on the corridor side by three doors. They had large windows, but the coach waistline was higher than in previous stock, which somewhat limited the passengers view. There is a destination roof-board on this coach.

Locomotive No 4558 was built in September 1924 at Swindon Works as part of lot 226. The first of the class had been built in the Wolverhampton Works in 1906 and the design was similar to the 44xx class, but with a larger coupled wheel diameter which gave them a faster acceleration making them more suitable for the light passenger duties that they were intended for. Over time minor variations were introduced and No 4558 was built with larger bunkers and outside steam pipes, but retained the tall safety valve bonnet. The boiler was superheated and the pressure increased to 200lb producing a tractive effort at 85% of 21,250lbs (power classification C). The maximum axle weight was 14tons, 10cwt which limited the locomotives to main lines and most branch lines (route availability Yellow).

Locomotive No 4558 was originally allocated to Laira shed (LA) outside Plymouth, but in 1934, was known to have been allocated to Worcester shed (WOS). No 4558 was at Worcester shed prior to nationalisation in December 1947. In July 1962, the locomotive was withdrawn from Whitland shed (87H).

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