GWR 4900 class 4-6-0 4965 ROOD ASHTON HALL
Stratford-upon-Avon, 18 July 2004
Twenty years ago today I took a trip on The Shakespeare Express from Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham Snow Hill.
Great Western Railway ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 4965 ROOD ASHTON HALL (built in 1929 at Swindon Works) was in charge of the eight coach train and I remember enjoying the journey in spite of the torrential rain!
ROOD ASHTON HALL nameplate
Birmingham Snow Hill, 18 July 2004
I recently read that Great Western Railway (GWR) 4900 ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 4920 DUMBLETON HALL had been bought by Warner Brothers and exported to Japan for display in the Harry Potter exhibit at Warner Bros Studios Tour in Tokyo.
GWR 4900 class 4-6-0 4920 DUMBLETON HALL
South Devon Railway, 7 August 2013
Built at the Great Western Railway’s Swindon Works in 1929, 4920 was withdrawn from Bristol Barrow Road shed by British Railways in December 1965 and sent for scrap. Preservation beckoned in June 1976 and 4920 became the 82nd departure from Barry scrapyard, finally returning to steam in 1992 on the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway (now known as the Dartmouth Steam Railway).
The locomotive’s owners subsequently purchased the Dart Valley Railway (now known as the South Devon Railway) and 4920 was loaned to various heritage lines before returning to the Dartmouth Steam Railway where it was last steamed in October 1999 before moving to Buckfastleigh on the SDR for storage.
Above is the only pic I have (and now likely will ever have) of 4920, taken during a flying visit to the SDR in August 2013.
Railway Miscellany 