The GWR 56xx class and no. 5619

In March 2008, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway reached agreement with Bill Parker of the Forest of Dean Flour Mill workshops for former Great Western Railway 56xx 0-6-2T no. 5619 to visit the GWR for an extended visit. The locomotive, which has visited the GWR before, has just completed an extensive overhaul and in March, it was running-in on the Avon Valley Railway.

Class history
The 56xx class was designed for the South Wales coal fields and followed a long tradition of tank locomotives of the 0-6-2 wheel arrangement used by GWR constituent companies such as the Rhymney, Barry and Taff Vale railways. Steep gradients, sharp curves and heavy mineral trains demanded powerful yet flexible locomotives and Great Western CME Charles Collett designed this class to replace its ageing predecessors.

The design was not dissimilar to the Rhymney Railway M and R classes of 1904 and 1909 which, after receiving the ‘Swindon treatment’ following the Rhymney Railway’s absorption by the GWR in 1923, were almost indistinguishable from the new 56xx class.

The locomotives used standard GWR components such as the No. 2 Boiler, 4ft 7½in diameter driving wheels. Because of this standardisation, no prototype was built – they went straight into production at Swindon Works and between 1924 and 1928, 200 were built, in the number series 5600-99 and 6600-99. The last 50 were built by Armstrong Whitworth. They were very powerful for their size – with a tractive effort of 25,800lbs, making them BR class 5. Although intended mainly for coal traffic in fact they were often turned out for passenger work. They had rapid acceleration and a reasonable turn of speed and in fact, British Railways classified them as mixed traffic locomotives.

The design is certainly not a contender for the prettiest of GWR locomotives. The smokebox has a long overhang which gives them a slightly unbalanced appearance. But they certainly have a purposeful demeanour and, evidently, footplate crews liked working them. Perhaps not surprisingly, they had a reputation for running more smoothly in reverse than forwards with the trailing truck ‘leading’ when working bunker-first.

Although by far the majority were allocated to South Wales depots, they did find themselves based elsewhere. The list of allocations includes Banbury, Chester, Leamington, Oxley, Tyseley, Westbury, Bristol St. Phillips Marsh Hereford … while Gloucester had at least two at certain times. There was apparently a regular working for the class to Honeybourne – of course, travelling via Cheltenham and Toddington to get there.*

The class was long-lived – withdrawals started in 1962, many lasting to the end of GWR steam in 1965. The last was no. 6668, withdrawn from Croes Newydd shed in December 1965.

No 5619, which was expected to arrive at Toddington in May 2008, was delivered new to Chester in 1925, later appearing at Abercynon in South Wales and finally Barry, from where it was withdrawn in June 1964 – travelling a matter of yards to access Woodham’s infamous Barry scrapyard.

* Do you have a recollection of the class on our line? Or even a photograph? If so please let us know by clicking here to send the Webmaster an email. If you are an ex-BR driver or fireman with experience of 56xx class locomotives, we would be interested to hear what you thought of them, too!

Vital statististics

Cylinders Two inside 18in bore by 26in stroke Wheels Driving diameter 4ft 7½in   Trailing 3ft 8in Boiler Standard No. 2     Fire tubes number 218   Flue tubes number 6   Superheater tubes 36   Pressure 200 lbs/sq in Weight in working order 62 tons 18 cwt Length overall   37ft 6in Water capacity   1,900 gallons Coal capacity   3 tons 15 cwt Tractive effort   25,800 lbs GWR Route availability Red   Power classification D BR Power classification 5MT

5619 preservation
5619 was withdrawn from service in June 1964 and three months later was shunted the short distance from its home shed, Barry, to the nearby Woodham’s scrapyard. It languished there for 8 years 8 months before being purchased by the Telford Development Corporation for cosmetic overhaul and display at the Horsehay goods shed at Telford. It was the 40th locomotive to leave Barry, in May 1973.

The Telford Horsehay Steam Trust persuaded the Corporation that the locomotive would be better restored to working order and they returned it to steam in 1981. The engine worked on the Telford Steam Railway at Horsehay and it appeared on several heritage railways over subsequent years, including the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in 1991, where its boiler certificate expired.

In 1998, the Telford Steam Trust obtained Lottery funding for a full overhaul. Much of the work was completed at Telford, while the final reassembly of the locomotive took place at the Flour Mill workshops, following further funding from Alan Moore CBE. It returned to steam as a complete locomotive on 16th February 2008, moving under its own power at the Flour Mill. It was then moved to the Avon Valley Railway on 24th February for running in. It was then scheduled to appear at the Telford Steam Railway’s steam gala on 4th and 5th May.

No. 5619 was expected to arrive at the GWR in May 2008, in time for the 2008 Cotswold Festival of Steam. The engine will then remain at Toddington for the foreseeable future.

There are some good photographs and an excellent series of progress reports on the restoration of the engine on the Telford Steam Railway’s website, including a short movie clip of the engine moving under its own power for the first time at the Flour Mill. You can see these by clicking here. 
There are some very pleasant photographs of the locomotive both at the Flour Mill and at the Avon Valley Railway in the Telford Steam Railway’s galleries here.