The GWR 4900 Class

GWR 4900 Class

The Great Western Railway 4900 Class or Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 mixed traffic steam locomotives designed by Charles Collett. A total of 259 were built, numbered 4900–4999, 5900–5999 and 6900–6958. The LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 and LNER Thompson Class B1 both drew heavily on design features...

 locomotive No. 5967 Bickmarsh Hall was built at Swindon railway works, and was completed in March 1937. First allocated to Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, in August 1950 it was allocated to Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

, and then in March 1959 to Newton Abbott

Newton Abbot railway station

Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line via the Reading to Taunton line, at the junction for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead and the site of a large locomotive...

. Fitted with a boiler from a Modified Hall with 3 row superheater during its last overhaul at Swindon in 1961, it was then given its last allocation to Westbury

Westbury railway station

Westbury railway station serves the town of Westbury, Wiltshire, England. The station is managed by First Great Western.The station is a major junction, serving the Reading to Plymouth Line with services to and from Penzance and London Paddington, the Wessex Main Line with services to and from...

.

Withdrawn in June 1964 it was sold to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales, where Bickmarsh Hall stayed until it was bought by the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway

Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway

The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway is a volunteer-run heritage railway in South Wales, running trains between a halt platform opposite the Whistle Stop public house southwards to the town of Blaenavon via a two-platform station at the site of former colliery furnace.The line is the highest...

. The locomotive left as the 187th departure from the scrapyard, in August 1987. Currently paired with 4000 gallon Collett tender number 2910, it is preserved at the Northampton & Lamport Railway

Northampton & Lamport Railway

The Northampton & Lamport Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway in Northamptonshire, England. It is based at Pitsford and Brampton station, near the villages of Pitsford and Chapel Brampton, roughly north of Northampton.-Overview:...

where it is undergoing a slow restoration.

Locomotive Details

• Builder: Great Western Railway, Swindon.
• Built: March 1937.
• Withdrawn: June 1964.
• Class: Hall.
• Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-0.
• Driving Wheel Diameter: 6' 0' '
• Boiler Pressured: 225 psi.
• Tractive effort: 27,275 lbs.

External links

• Official website maintained by the locomotive owners
• Bickmarsh Hall page at Northampton & Lamport Railway web site