Hagley Hall moves to Kidderminster for painting
DUE to the Severn Valley Railway’s fire risk ban, further running in tests with the line’s flagship GWR 4-6-0
No. 4930 Hagley Hall were cancelled, so the decision was made to move it to Kidderminster earlier than expected for repainting following the successful conclusion of its overhaul.
In the afternoon of July 14,
No. 4930 was towed in light steam to keep the lubrication moving from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster behind Class 14 D9551. It was shunted into the Traction Maintenance Depot shed where final painting will take place.
Since then, the chimney cowl and safety valve bonnet have been fitted in place and it now resembles a Great Western locomotive.
At present, the paintwork is being rubbed down before gloss and varnish can be applied. This is expected to take up to six weeks.
The painting will be carried out by Ronan O’Brien, who made an excellent job of the relivery of Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34067 Taw Valley into purple as No. 70 Queen Elizabeth II (see Headline News, pages 8 and 9).
Once completed, further test runs and running-in will take place.
It is hoped that No. 4930, which last ran in 1986, will appear in the line’s September 15-19 autumn steam gala.
Following the export of classmate No. 4920 Dumbleton Hall to Tokyo in December 2021 for static display at a Warner Bros Studio Tour representing the Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle, when returned to traffic, No. 4930, which was built in 1929, will be both the oldest Hall operating and the oldest based in the UK.
Incidentally, Kidderminster TMD is off limits to the general public and special permission was granted for the visit for the photograph.