Betton Grange Society moves to Tyseley

NEW-BUILD GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange is to make Tyseley Locomotive Works its permanent home in the wake of the problems on the closed Llangollen Railway.

The 6880 Betton Grange Society has also reached an agreement in principle to relocate its unrestored GWR 4-6-0 No. 5952 Cogan Hall from Llangollen to Tyseley.

The priority is to complete the final assembly of Betton Grange, which Tyseley has been commissioned to complete, with targeted steaming date set for this autumn.

The focus will then be to construct a replica Collett 3500-gallon tender on a chassis already acquired.

It is planned to cosmetically restore Cogan Hall for display at Tyseley, with the society inviting interest to help start the project.

A society statement said it “looks forward to taking a fully-operational Betton Grange to Llangollen to haul trains there in the future,” adding that it wishes to “record its appreciation to the Llangollen Railway for providing a home for the project during its earlier stages, and wish the railway well for the future.”

STEVE HEWINS/TLW The Wolverhampton and Birmingham Snow Hill to Leamington line, which Tyseley depot served, was a hotbed of Grange action, including the last decade of BR steam, and so the relocation of Betton Grange is certainly historically appropriate. No. 6861 Crynant Grange is seen in the long-demolished Tyseley roundhouse in October 1965 during its final months ofservice. Ten class members ended their days shedded at Tyseley.