| Great Western Railway 6959 Class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 6960 Raveningham Hall (now preserved) with a Didcot slow train, April 1957. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6959 or Modified Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. They were a development by Frederick Hawksworth of Charles Collett's earlier Hall Class named after English and Welsh country houses.
Although the GWR had been at the forefront of British locomotive development between 1900 and 1930, the 1930s saw a degree of complacency at Swindon reflected in the fact that many designs and production methods had not kept pace with developments elsewhere. This was especially true with the useful GWR 4900 Class, the design of which largely originated in the 1900s and had not fundamentally changed since the mid-1920s. [1] Charles Collett was replaced as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Railway by F.W. Hawksworth in 1941 who immediately created a modified version of the design, known as the 'Modified Hall Class'.
The Modified Halls marked the most radical change to Swindon Works' practice since Churchward's time as chief mechanical engineer and was very far from a simple modification of the Hall design. 'Although in outward appearance it looked almost the same, nearly everything about it was new.' [2] Hawksworth's use of plate frames throughout the design was a break with Churchward's practice for 2 cylinder locomotives. The cylinders were cast separately from the smokebox saddle and bolted to the frames on each side. A stiffening brace was inserted between the frames and extended to form the smokebox saddle. The exhaust pipes leading from the cylinders to the blastpipe were incorporated into this assembly.
Additionally, Churchward's bar framed bogie which had been adapted for the original Hall prototype in 1924 was replaced by a plate frame structure with individual springing. There were changes, too, above the running board. Hawksworth decided that the declining quality of coal reaching Great Western depots necessitated a higher degree of superheating. A larger three-row superheater and header regulator were fitted into Swindon No.1 boiler. Improvements were subsequently made to the draughting on some engines, while others were fitted with hopper ashpans.
The first batch of twelve Modified Halls was delivered from Swindon works between March and September 1944. They carried plain black livery, were unnamed and numbered 6959-6970 (immediately following the Hall Class sequence). They were all subsequently named between 1946 and 1948.[ citation needed ]
A further batch of ten locomotives appeared during October and November 1947 and others were on order when the nationalisation of Britain's railways took place in 1948. British Railways continued construction of this class until November 1950, by which time there were seventy-one examples. [3]
Some modified Halls were equipped with a flat, high-sided Hawksworth tenders. Once he became Chief Mechanical Engineer, many earlier locomotives also received these tenders so a Hawksworth tender does not necessarily mean a Hawksworth locomotive.
| Year | Quantity | Lot No. | Locomotive numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 12 | 350 | 6959–6970 | |
| 1947–48 | 20 | 366 | 6971–6990 | |
| 1948–50 | 29 | 368 | 6991–6999, 7900–7919 | |
| 1950 | 10 | 376 | 7920–7929 |
The Modified Hall class 'ran freely, steamed well and were popular with both footplate and maintenance staff. After the unambitious designs of Collett's final years, they restored Swindon's reputation.' [5] Fourteen survived until the end of steam on the former GWR in 1965.
Six Modified Halls have been preserved on various heritage railways. A seventh survivor no 7927 Willington Hall is being used as a donor for the Grange and County re-creation projects.
Out of the six engines to be preserved, five engines have run in preservation. The only engine yet to run is 6984 Owsden Hall. Half of the class have also seen main line operation: Nos. 6960 Raveningham Hall, 6990 Witherslack Hall and 6998 Burton Agnes Hall. 6960 and 6998 saw main use in the 1980s, especially in 1985 when the locos were regularly used during the GW150 Celebrations.[ citation needed ] 6998 was a popular mainline performer in the late 1980s, and also in the 1990s, until 1996 when she was withdrawn from operation awaiting an overhaul. Three of the class are currently[ when? ] operational but since 6998 was withdrawn no Modified Halls have been seen running on the main line.
| Number | Name | Image | Built | Withdrawn | Tender fitted | Status | Livery | Current Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6960 | Raveningham Hall |  | March 1944 | June 1964 | Collett | Awaiting overhaul | GWR Lined Green, GW Lettering | One:One Collection | |
| 6984 | Owsden Hall |  | February 1948 | December 1965 | Collett | Undergoing Restoration | BR Lined Green, Early Emblem (On Completion) [6] | Buckinghamshire Railway Centre | Undergoing restoration from ex Barry scrapyard condition. Transferred from the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in 2019. Its tender is currently in use behind 6989 until the completion of its own. [7] |
| 6989 | Wightwick Hall |  | March 1948 | June 1964 | Collett | Operational, boiler certificate (2019-2029) | BR Lined Green, Early Emblem | Buckinghamshire Railway Centre | Entered service in March 2019 following restoration from ex Barry scrapyard condition, borrowing 6984's tender. [8] |
| 6990 | Witherslack Hall |  | April 1948 | December 1965 | Hawksworth | Operational, boiler certificate (2016-2026) | BR Lined Green, Early Emblem | Great Central Railway | Recently returned to traffic from a major overhaul which included the pairing with an authentic Hawksworth tender which was formerly paired with 4930 Hagley Hall. |
| 6998 | Burton Agnes Hall |  | January 1949 | December 1965 | Hawksworth | Static Display | GWR Lined Green, GW Lettering | Didcot Railway Centre | Awaiting Overhaul. Famed for working the GWS Vintage trains which used vintage GWR carriages. |
| 7903 | Foremarke Hall |  | March 1949 | June 1964 | Hawksworth | Operational, boiler certificate (2016-2026) | BR Lined Green, Late Crest | Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway | Recently returned to traffic following completion of its recent overhaul. |
The Great Western Railway 4000 or Star were a class of 4-cylinder 4-6-0 passenger steam locomotives designed by George Jackson Churchward for the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1906 and introduced from early 1907. The prototype was built as a 4-4-2 Atlantic. They proved to be a successful design which handled the heaviest long-distance express trains, reaching top speeds of 90 mph (145 km/h), and established the design principles for GWR 4-cylinder classes over the next twenty-five years.
George Jackson Churchward was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922.
The Great Western Railway 3800 Class, also known as the County Class, were a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger train work introduced in 1904 in a batch of ten. Two more batches followed in 1906 and 1912 with minor differences. They were designed by George Jackson Churchward, who used standard components to produce a four-coupled version of his Saint Class 4-6-0s.
The Great Western Railway 3200 Class was a design of 4-4-0 steam locomotive for passenger train work. The nickname for this class, almost universally used at the time these engines were in service was Dukedog since the locomotives were composed of former Duke Class boilers on Bulldog Class frames. As such they were one of the last standard gauge steam locomotive classes to retain outside frames.
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The Great Western Railway 4900 Class or Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 mixed-traffic steam locomotives designed by Charles Collett for the Great Western Railway. A total of 259 were built at Swindon Works, 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 of the Hall Class. After nationalisation in 1948, British Railways gave them the power classification 5MT.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4200 Class is a class of 2-8-0T steam locomotives.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6000 Class or King Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives designed for express passenger work and introduced in 1927. They were the largest locomotives built by the GWR, apart from the unique Pacific. The class was named after kings of the United Kingdom and of England, beginning with the then reigning monarch, King George V, and going back through history. They handled the principal GWR expresses on the main line from London to the West of England and on the Chiltern line to Birmingham and Wolverhampton, until 1962 when the class was withdrawn.
The Great Western Railway 1000 Class or County Class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. Thirty examples were built between 1945 and 1947, but all were withdrawn and scrapped in the early 1960s. A replica locomotive is under construction.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 7200 Class is a class of 2-8-2T steam locomotive. They were the only 2-8-2Ts built and used by a British railway, and the largest tank engines to run on the Great Western Railway.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4300 Class is a class of 2-6-0 (mogul) steam locomotives, designed by G.J. Churchward for mixed traffic duties. 342 were built from 1911–1932.
The GWR 5600 Class is a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1924 and 1928. They were designed by Charles Collett for the Great Western Railway (GWR), and were introduced into traffic in 1924. After the 1923 grouping, Swindon inherited a large and variable collection of locomotives from historic Welsh railway companies, which did not fit into their standardisation programme. GWR boiler inspectors arrived en masse and either condemned the original locomotives or had them rebuilt. The systematic destruction of many examples of locomotives, most still in serviceable condition, followed, but various were worked alongside 5600 Class.
Charles Benjamin Collett was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed the GWR's 4-6-0 Castle and King Class express passenger locomotives.
Frederick William Hawksworth, was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR).
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4700 Class was a class of nine 2-8-0 steam locomotives, designed by George Jackson Churchward. They were introduced in 1919 for heavy mixed-traffic work. Although primarily designed for fast freight, the class also sometimes hauled passenger trains, notably heavy holiday expresses in the summer months. They were unofficially nicknamed "Night Owls" because they were primarily designed to haul goods during the night and they could be seen simmering in the daylight, awaiting their nocturnal duties.
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The Dean Single, 3031 Class, or Achilles Class was a type of steam locomotive built by the British Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1899. They were designed by William Dean for passenger work. The first 30 members of the class were built as 2-2-2s of the 3001 Class.
4930 Hagley Hall is a Great Western Railway, 4-6-0 Hall class locomotive, built in May 1929 at Swindon Works to a design by Charles Collett. It is one of eleven of this class that made it into preservation. The locomotive is named after Hagley Hall in Worcestershire.
No.6880 Betton Grange is a steam locomotive which is under construction as a "new-build" project, originally based on the Llangollen Railway in Denbighshire, Wales, then subsequently at Tyseley Locomotive Works. Described as "building the 81st Grange", the project started in 1998, and the locomotive was earlier expected to be operational by 2013, but subsequently by Autumn 2021, which was then pushed back to 2024. It was expected to be launched under steam in a private member event in January 2024 but was postponed a week before the event. All of the original GWR 6800 Class Grange locomotives were withdrawn for scrap by the end of 1965; this project is a creation, from an assemblage of original GWR and newly manufactured components, of a member of this class.
