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GWR 1340 'Trojan' Moving GWR 5051 ‘Drysllwyn Castle’, Didcot Railway Centre
Bit of a read this one, but very interesting if you have a passion for steam. It is fascinating to me that the small engine 'Trojan' is currently 127 years old.
5051 ‘Drysllwyn Castle’ was built at Swindon in May 1936. She was renamed ‘Earl Bathurst’ in August 1937 and carried that name for the rest of her GWR and BR life. Both names are regularly used on the locomotive at Didcot. Stationed almost exclusively at Landore (Swansea) depot, for working to London and the Midlands, she was rarely seen elsewhere.
Withdrawn by BR as surplus to requirements, from Llanelly depot in 1963, she was sent for scrapping to Woodham Bros. of Barry, from where it was rescued by a Society member, and brought to Didcot in February 1970. Out shopped in 1980 she took part in the Rocket 150 celebrations at Rainhill in May of that year. She then ran many main line specials between (in the early years with Didcot's vintage train) until 1986 when the main line ticket ran out. The engine then ran at Didcot until the boiler certificate ran out in 1990.
Following a second overhaul she was returned to service, and enjoyed runs out on the mainline once more, and visits to other preserved railways as well as Didcot duties. In 2008 the latest boiler certificate expired and the locomotive is now on static display until such time as a further overhaul can take place.
1340 ‘Trojan’ was built by the Avonside Engine Company of Bristol in 1897 (Works No. 1386) for Messrs Dunn & Shute of Newport Town Dock. She was purchased by the Alexandra Docks Railway in 1903, remaining unnumbered. This company owned around 100 miles of dock sidings in the Newport (South Wales) area and a 'main' passenger-carrying line of 10 miles or so.
On absorption of the Alexandra Docks Railway into the Great Western in 1923, ‘Trojan’ received the number 1340. She moved freely around GWR territory, and although based mainly at Cardiff Cathays and Radyr depots also worked for a time in Oswestry and Greenford, London. Withdrawn from Cardiff by the GWR in July 1932, it was sold to the Netherseal colliery at Burton-on-Trent, who passed it on to Alders (Tamworth) Ltd in 1947.
After several years of negotiations she was finally released to one of the Didcot regular workforce, arriving at the depot in April 1968. The locomotive has been under restoration for many years at Didcot. The main stumbling block has been the boiler, the original was in a very poor state and was scrapped at Didcot quite a few years ago. A substitute was purchased and sent to Chatham for modification. This job was never completed, and the stripped down boiler was returned to Didcot and rebuilt on site.
The locomotive entered traffic, for the first time in preservation, in 2002.
With the expiry of the boiler certificate the locomotive was withdrawn from traffic in October 2011 and was overhauled once more, this time by Loughborough-based engineering company, Locomotive Maintenance Services. She returned to Didcot in March 2021 and is currently part of the operating fleet.
GWR 1340 'Trojan' Moving GWR 5051 ‘Drysllwyn Castle’, Didcot Railway Centre
Bit of a read this one, but very interesting if you have a passion for steam. It is fascinating to me that the small engine 'Trojan' is currently 127 years old.
5051 ‘Drysllwyn Castle’ was built at Swindon in May 1936. She was renamed ‘Earl Bathurst’ in August 1937 and carried that name for the rest of her GWR and BR life. Both names are regularly used on the locomotive at Didcot. Stationed almost exclusively at Landore (Swansea) depot, for working to London and the Midlands, she was rarely seen elsewhere.
Withdrawn by BR as surplus to requirements, from Llanelly depot in 1963, she was sent for scrapping to Woodham Bros. of Barry, from where it was rescued by a Society member, and brought to Didcot in February 1970. Out shopped in 1980 she took part in the Rocket 150 celebrations at Rainhill in May of that year. She then ran many main line specials between (in the early years with Didcot's vintage train) until 1986 when the main line ticket ran out. The engine then ran at Didcot until the boiler certificate ran out in 1990.
Following a second overhaul she was returned to service, and enjoyed runs out on the mainline once more, and visits to other preserved railways as well as Didcot duties. In 2008 the latest boiler certificate expired and the locomotive is now on static display until such time as a further overhaul can take place.
1340 ‘Trojan’ was built by the Avonside Engine Company of Bristol in 1897 (Works No. 1386) for Messrs Dunn & Shute of Newport Town Dock. She was purchased by the Alexandra Docks Railway in 1903, remaining unnumbered. This company owned around 100 miles of dock sidings in the Newport (South Wales) area and a 'main' passenger-carrying line of 10 miles or so.
On absorption of the Alexandra Docks Railway into the Great Western in 1923, ‘Trojan’ received the number 1340. She moved freely around GWR territory, and although based mainly at Cardiff Cathays and Radyr depots also worked for a time in Oswestry and Greenford, London. Withdrawn from Cardiff by the GWR in July 1932, it was sold to the Netherseal colliery at Burton-on-Trent, who passed it on to Alders (Tamworth) Ltd in 1947.
After several years of negotiations she was finally released to one of the Didcot regular workforce, arriving at the depot in April 1968. The locomotive has been under restoration for many years at Didcot. The main stumbling block has been the boiler, the original was in a very poor state and was scrapped at Didcot quite a few years ago. A substitute was purchased and sent to Chatham for modification. This job was never completed, and the stripped down boiler was returned to Didcot and rebuilt on site.
The locomotive entered traffic, for the first time in preservation, in 2002.
With the expiry of the boiler certificate the locomotive was withdrawn from traffic in October 2011 and was overhauled once more, this time by Loughborough-based engineering company, Locomotive Maintenance Services. She returned to Didcot in March 2021 and is currently part of the operating fleet.