'Castle in the Sun..
GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 5074 ''Hampden'' passing through Swindon station, with 'The Merchant Venturer' day excursion to Weston-Super-Mare, in around 1958. On the right, an 8750 Class 0-6-0PT waits for more shunting duties..
The BR Mk1 carriages are in the 'new' regional chocolate-and-cream livery, but there is an ex-GWR carriage on the left, still in the early-BR blood-and-custard..
5074 had entered service in 1938 as ''Denbigh Castle'', but was renamed in 1941, after the RAF plane then in service. The original name was later applied to a BR-built Castle Class - 7032 - constructed in 1950, and 5074 was withdrawn in May 1964, and scrapped in July. Eight examples have been preserved.
'The Merchant Venturer' ran from 1951 until 1961, and one of the headboards was preserved.
Today (2022) everything seen here except the tracks and platforms has gone, and these tracks are electrified...
Restored from a soft-focus original..
Original slide - photograph by P M Alexander
'Castle in the Sun..
GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 5074 ''Hampden'' passing through Swindon station, with 'The Merchant Venturer' day excursion to Weston-Super-Mare, in around 1958. On the right, an 8750 Class 0-6-0PT waits for more shunting duties..
The BR Mk1 carriages are in the 'new' regional chocolate-and-cream livery, but there is an ex-GWR carriage on the left, still in the early-BR blood-and-custard..
5074 had entered service in 1938 as ''Denbigh Castle'', but was renamed in 1941, after the RAF plane then in service. The original name was later applied to a BR-built Castle Class - 7032 - constructed in 1950, and 5074 was withdrawn in May 1964, and scrapped in July. Eight examples have been preserved.
'The Merchant Venturer' ran from 1951 until 1961, and one of the headboards was preserved.
Today (2022) everything seen here except the tracks and platforms has gone, and these tracks are electrified...
Restored from a soft-focus original..
Original slide - photograph by P M Alexander