No. 5952 COGAN HALL
Cogan Hall enjoyed a somewhat nomadic existence during its 29-year career with the GWR and BR Western Region. Initially allocated to Penzance, it was also based at
Cardiff Canton, Old Oak Common, Plymouth
Laira, Worcester and Hereford before it was transferred to Cardiff East Dock in November 1963, from where it was withdrawn just seven months later.
It stayed at Barry for almost 17 years before it was rescued in September 1981 by Ken Ryder, who had previously purchased ‘Manors’ Nos. 7821 Ditcheat Manor and 7828 Odney Manor in June that year.
Initially based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, Cogan Hall moved to the Llangollen Railway in 1989, then to the Cambrian Railways Society at Oswestry, then in November 2003 to Llynclys – home of the Cambrian Railways Trust, of which Ken was chairman.
Although it had been intended to restore
No. 5952, it was put up for sale in early 2010 and purchased by the 6880 Betton Grange Society Ltd in February that year and moved back to the Llangollen Railway the following month. Still based at Llangollen, Cogan Hall has donated its bogie and tender to the society’s new-build ‘Grange’ No. 6880 Betton Grange – which should be completed at
Status: Awaiting restoration
Location: Llangollen Railway
Owner: 6880 Betton Grange Society Ltd
Built: Swindon, December 1935
Withdrawn: Cardiff East Dock (88A), June 1964
some point this year – but the group’s longterm ambition is to restore No. 5952 itself. The ‘Modified Hall’ is currently being cosmetically restored for eventual display at Tyseley, with new cab sheets being fitted at the time of writing. Society publicity director Paul Appleton says: “The current thinking for Cogan Hall is that, once the new tender has been built, we will put out an appeal for expressions of interest in restoring the locomotive with a view to building a new volunteer engineering team at Tyseley and a new fundraising committee to give any restoration scheme some fresh energy, as the current team feel that 6880 is probably their last project due to the age profile of the current group.”