No. 4930 HAGLEY HALL
2022 is a milestone year for Hagley
Hall. Not only does it see No. 4930’s long-awaited return to steam after 36 years, but it is also the 50th anniversary of its purchase by the SVR Holdings Company.
Initially allocated from new to Wolverhampton Stafford Road, Hagley Hall was based variously at Chester, Bristol St Philips Marsh, Wolverhampton Oxley, Weymouth, Tyseley, Leamington, Bristol Bath Road, Westbury, Taunton, Exeter, Old Oak Common and Swindon during its working life. Withdrawn in December 1963 having covered 1,295,236 miles, it ended up at Barry in May 1964.
Following its purchase by the Severn Valley Railway, Hagley Hall returned to steam there in August 1979 and made its main line debut with ‘Black Five’ No. 5000 the following month. No. 4930 soon came to be regarded as the SVR’s flagship and hauled the inaugural train to its new Kidderminster terminus in 1984. After taking a starring role in the ‘GWR 150’ celebrations in 1985, where it deputised for failed ‘King’ No. 6000 King George V, Hagley Hall bowed out of traffic in October 1986 with failed boiler stays.
It was subsequently stored at Bridgnorth until 1999,
Status: Operational
Location: Severn Valley Railway
Owner: SVR Holdings Company
Built: Swindon, May 1929
Withdrawn: Swindon (82C), December 1963
when it was placed on display in the MacArthur Glen Designer Outlet shopping centre in part of the former Swindon Works. It returned to the SVR in June 2007, taking up residence in the new Engine House at Highley in 2008. Hagley Hall stayed there until October 2013, when it was removed for its long-overdue overhaul, which is on the verge of completion (see p6).
No. 4942 MAINDY HALL
In 1924, GWR CME Charles Collett took ‘29XX’ No. 2925 Saint Martin and fitted it with smaller,
6ft driving wheels, thereby creating the prototype ‘Hall’ class. No. 4942 Maindy Hall has completed the circle, in being a ‘Hall’ that has been back‑converted into a ‘Saint’.
After a career allocated to various sheds in Wales and the south‑west, Maindy Hall was withdrawn – perhaps ironically, considering its subsequent history – from Didcot in December 1963 and sent to Barry for disposal.
In the early 1970s, Great Western Society member Peter Rich floated the idea of converting one of the ex‑Barry ‘Halls’ into a ‘Saint’, as none of the original Churchward two‑cylinder 4‑6‑0s had been
Status: Operational
(see Notes)
Location: Didcot Railway Centre
Owner: Great Western Society
Built: Swindon, July 1929
Withdrawn: Didcot (81E), December 1963
preserved; the last survivor, No. 2920 Saint David, having been scrapped in 1953. Maindy Hall was the ‘49XX’ selected and transferred from Barry to Didcot in April 1974, with the original intention to convert it into the later style ‘Saint’, with outside steam pipes and Holcroft curved running plates.
The project foundered until 1995, when it was revived, and work began in earnest. Keeping the boiler, smokebox, firebox and most of the frames from No. 4942, but with new bogie and driving wheels, cylinder block, cab, and tender tank, Maindy Hall emerged as No. 2999 Lady of Legend in March 2019, with the inside steam pipes and straight running plates of the earlier ‘Saints’.
Based largely at Didcot since its entry into traffic, Lady of Legend visited both the Severn Valley and North Yorkshire Moors railways in April and September 2021 respectively, and recently returned to the SVR for its Spring Steam Gala.
No. 4965 ROOD ASHTON HALL
When the team at Tyseley purchased the first ‘Hall’ to be rescued from Barry, in October 1970, they assumed they were buying No. 4983 Albert Hall. It wasn’t until they started restoring the Collett 4‑6‑0 that they realised that the locomotive was actually No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall.
The mix‑up occurred at Swindon Works in 1962, when both ‘Halls’ were in for repairs. No. 4983 was scrapped and its identity (and boiler) were transferred to No. 4965, using the latter’s frames, cylinders, wheels and motion.
Like so many of its classmates, No. 4965 traipsed all over the GWR system, though for most of its BR career it was largely based in sheds in the south west, allocated variously to St Philips Marsh, Plymouth Laira, Penzance, Westbury, Landore and Oxford. In July 1956, it was transferred to Old Oak Common, and then Reading in September that year, followed by a final move to Didcot in January 1958. Following its identity swap, the‑then No. 4983 Albert Hall ended its days at St Philips Marsh, from where it was withdrawn in December 1963.
Arriving at Barry in June 1964, it spent a comparatively short six years in the yard until it was rescued by 7029 Clun Castle Ltd and taken to Tyseley. It had been selected for preservation by Tyseley’s Jim Kent as, compared with the other ‘Halls’ at Barry, it was in the best condition, having received a ‘Light Casual’ repair at Caerphilly a few months prior to withdrawal.
Restoration was started but side‑lined in favour of Tyseley’s more powerful locomotives as, at the time, BR was not in favour of Class Fives working on the main line. With the advent of privatisation and the introduction of Tyseley’s ‘Shakespeare Express’ services, Rood Ashton Hall’s restoration ramped up as it was both the ideal locomotive to work the services and the cheapest option among Tyseley’s fleet.
Since returning to steam in April 1998, Rood Ashton Hall has been a stalwart member of Tyseley’s fleet, with only a brief spell out of traffic for overhaul from November 2008 to October 2009, until its most recent withdrawal in June 2019. It is current stored at Tyseley, awaiting overhaul.
Status:
Awaiting overhaul
Location: Tyseley Locomotive Works
Owner: 7029 Clun Castle Ltd
Built: Swindon, November 1929
Withdrawn: Bristol St. Philips Marsh (82B), December 1963
Status:
Under restoration Location: Ribble Steam Railway Owner: Furness Railway Trust Built: Swindon, March 1930 Withdrawn: Oxford (81F), December 1963
No. 4979 WOOTTON HALL
Curiously, Wootton Hall is the only Collett ‘49XX’ never to have returned to Western Region metals in preservation, having spent the entirety of its post-Barry existence in the north west. Entering traffic in March 1930, No. 4979 was variously allocated to Plymouth Laira, Penzance, Tyseley, Severn Tunnel Junction and Cardiff Canton. From 1953, it was based in the London Division of the Western Region, working out from Southall, Didcot, Reading and, finally, Oxford, before its withdrawal from the latter in December 1963.
Arriving at Barry in June 1964 – along with classmates Nos. 4936 Kinlet Hall, 4942 Maindy Hall and 4965 Rood Ashton Hall – No. 4979 remained in the yard until October 1986, when it was moved to the now-closed Fleetwood Locomotive Centre in Lancashire. Little was done on the locomotive and, in 1994, it was put up for sale and purchased by the Furness Railway Trust (FRT), which had long wanted a large tender engine in its fleet.
Wootton Hall was then stored at the private Lytham Motive Power Museum before moving the Appleby Heritage Centre on the SettleCarlisle line in March 2007, where it received preventative maintenance to protect it from the elements. In October 2014, the ‘Hall’ moved to the Ribble Steam Railway where restoration is firmly in progress.
FRT secretary Neil Smith says: “We are focusing on sorting out the ‘new’ tender tank that we bought a few years ago, repairing wasted metal and so on. The tender chassis has been overhauled and in places been rebuilt, and the tank now sits on top of it.
“On the locomotive itself, we are currently finishing off making the boiler cladding. The aim is to have all pipework, fittings and cladding and so on complete and ready, so that when the boiler gets its overhaul done – and hopefully in due course gets tested and given a new certificate while out of the frames – we can then push forward as quickly as possible to get the locomotive into service without wasting too much of that boiler certificate time.”
No. 5900 HINDERTON HALL
Built at Swindon in 1931, Hinderton Hall spent much of its life moving around various depots – initially based at Old Oak Common, but also in Wales, Bristol and, in the post-war years, the West Midlands, before being withdrawn from Bristol in 1963. It was one of several ‘Halls’ that received boiler improvements before its withdrawal, and its last shopping – a Heavy Intermediate – was at Swindon in March 1961.
One of the lucky engines sold to Woodham Bros. scrapyard at Barry in 1964, it would be the second ‘Hall’ to be rescued and was brought to Didcot by rail in June 1971. The coupling rods had been cut through at Barry, leaving the big end portion on the driving wheel crankpin, thus protecting it from major corrosion, but replacements rods were available from other locomotives in the yard. Restoration started soon after its arrival, with No. 5900 first moving in steam in February 1974; it was fully restored by 1976. It made its main line debut in May 1976, double heading with ‘Modified Hall’ No. 6998 Burton Agnes Hall hauling the GWS’ ‘Vintage Train’. Subsequently, it saw considerable service both at Didcot and on the main line. In March 1979, Paddington station celebrated its 125th anniversary and Hinderton Hall was on display there but, in 1980, it was stopped pending boiler overhaul. It is now on static display, awaiting its turn to be overhauled.
Status:
Static display
Location: Didcot Railway Centre
Owner: Great Western Society
Built: Swindon, March 1931
Withdrawn: St Philips Marsh (82B), December 1963
After Flying Scotsman, Olton Hall is arguably the most famous steam locomotive in the world, owing to its role both in hauling the ‘Hogwarts Express’ in Warner Bros’ Harry Potter franchise and being one of the star exhibits at the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Hertfordshire, where it is seen by thousands of visitors every day.
When completed in 1937, however, it was just another ‘Hall’, and, aside from an initial stint at Neath, No. 5972 was allocated almost continuously at Carmarthen until January 1951, when it was transferred to Plymouth Laira. It subsequently spent spells at Ebbw Junction, Stafford Road, Oxley, Truro, Penzance, Severn Tunnel Junction, Neath, Fishguard Goodwick and Old Oak Common before moving to its final shed – Cardiff East Dock – in June 1963, from where it was withdrawn six months later.
It arrived at Barry in May 1964, staying there for 17 years until it was purchased by David Smith’s Procor (UK) Ltd of Wakefield and moved to the firm’s site at Horbury Junction. Olton Hall was subsequently moved to Carnforth MPD, where its restoration was completed in May 1998. Olton Hall
had been painted into BR lined express passenger green, but only stayed in this livery for around 18 months, as it was soon transformed into the fictitious ‘Hogwarts Castle’ for its appearance in 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
In between reprising its role for the subsequent films up until 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,
No. 5972 hauled a number of main line railtours and visited several heritage railways before its main line certificate expired in 2014. The following year, it took up residence at the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Leavesden, where it remains to this day in a recreated King’s Cross, paired with one and a half BR Mk 1s.
Status:
Static display Location: Warner Bros Studio Tour, Leavesden
Owner: West Coast Railways
Built: Swindon, April 1937
Withdrawn: Cardiff East Dock (88A), December 1963