GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Warwick Station: gwrw376

Ex-GWR 2-6-2T Large Prairie No 5163 is seen running bunker first at the head of a Snow Hill to Leamington local passenger service circa 1930s. The platforms were slightly staggered at Warwick and the down side old horse dock spur can be seen in the foreground with the trailing switch from the down main line to the down goods yard on the right and between the main lines, the ground disc which controlled movements into this goods yard.

No 5163 was built in November 1930 by Swindon works as part of lot 259. 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). For more details of the Great Western Railway’s locomotive classification system see Engine Map.

The power, speed and particularly, the acceleration of these locomotives made them ideal for the Midlands suburban passenger duties where there was a requirement for frequent stops with heavy loads. As a result many of the 5101 class were allocated to the Wolverhampton division, but their useful life was curtailed by the introduction of DMUs in the late 1950s. No 5163 was initially allocated to Severn Tunnel Junction shed (STJ), but was soon moved to the Midlands and in May 1931, No 5163 was known to be allocated to Stafford Road shed (SRD) at Wolverhampton. In January 1934 the locomotive was known to have been allocated to Tyseley shed (TYS) and in January 1938, No 6134 was known to be allocated to Leamington Shed (LMTN), where the locomotive was also recorded prior to nationalisation in December 1947. No 5163 had return to Tyseley shed by January 1955 and remained in service until November 1959 when it was withdrawn from Tyseley shed (84E) to be scrapped by J Cashmore of Newport.

The coaches appear to be two pairs of steel panelled, close coupled, non-corridor brake composite carriages. These pairs were a common sight on the Great Western Railway suburban scene providing a reversible arrangement with high density passenger seating and guard/luggage facilities in each coach. In Birmingham these two coach formations were termed ‘D sets’, although elsewhere the term ‘B set’ was used. The layout of each coach was; four third class compartments, one first class compartment, one third class compartment, guard compartment (recessed door) and luggage area (double doors). By September 1933 the use of ‘THIRD’ on coach doors had ceased and only the word ‘FIRST’ can seen on the first class compartment door, along with the words ‘GUARD’ and ‘LUGGAGE’ on their respective doors. The coach appears to be mounted on the short, seven foot, single bolster bogies, which became the standard between 1925 and 1932 following extensive trials. This bogie was used on the diagram E140 bow-end two coach sets, eighty-two of which were built as follows:

The first and last lots (1407 and 1455) were builds specifically for the Bristol Division, so the coaches in this photograph will most likely be from lot 1445. The wording on the coach end identifies the set and is believed to say:

LEAMINGTON
STRATFORD AND WORCESTER
NO.

The dimensions of the E140 brake-composite coach were 61foot, 2inches long by 9foot, 3inches wide and the last coach of this diagram was condemned in March 1962.

Robert Ferris

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