08-07-2012

Back to WSR Gala 2002

  92212 is a BR Standard 9F 2-10-0, one of the very last steam locos built for British Railways, entering service in 1959.

  The next departure was headed by 61264, an ex LNER B1 Class 5MT 4-6-0.  There locos were the LNER's equivalent of the GWR's Halls and the LMSR's "Black 5s", a maid of all work, able to handle a wide variety of services both passenger and freight.

  This was the first time I'd seen a B1 in action, as they never penetrated to my part of the world in BR service.  The great thing about events such as the Steam Gala is the they give a chance to compare locos that wouldn't normally appear together, plus of course to add them to your photo collection.

  The next photo is of a Great Western Modified Hall, 6960 Raveningham Hall which had just arrived from Minehead. Another 5MT 4-6-0 like the B1 above, you can see several distinctive points, the most noticeable being the Hall's tapered boiler with Belpaire firebox compared to the B1's parallel boiler and round topped firebox.

  Next is another 4-6-0, this time an ex GWR Castle Class, 5051 Earl Bathurst.  The Castles are express passenger locos, with 4 cylinders as opposed to the previous two's 2 cylinders and larger wheels.  The Castles were the equal of many larger types on other lines, handling all but the heaviest of the GWR's expresses with ease, including the Cheltenham Flyer, at the time the worlds fastest train.

  A tank engine this time.  5224 is an ex GWR 7F 2-8-0T, of a type built primarily for heavy but short distance coal traffic in South Wales from pits to ports.