Still at Pickering for the Steam Gala, the second visiting locomotive was 'Pitchford Hall', and this shot was taken from the footbridge between the platforms. 'Pitchford Hall' was visiting from the Epping and Ongar Railway.
'Pitchford Hall' was built for the Great Western Railway at Swindon locomotive works in 1929. It worked in many different parts of the GWR network and travelled over 1.3 million miles before being taken out of service in 1963 and sent to Woodham Brothers scrapyard (the same scrapyard that 'Eddystone' was sent to.
Woodham Brothers scrapyard played a significant role in the preservation of steam locomotives in the UK. Many locomotives were sold to Woodham Brothers, along with large numbers of steel railway wagons. More profit was to be made cutting up the wagons, so they were dealt with first. The scrapyard became a popular location for steam enthusiasts, and slowly at first, locomotives were bought by enthusiast groups for use on newly preserved railways closed as part of the Beeching plan. In total, 297 locomotives were sold to the yard, and of those, 213 were bought for preservation.
'Pitchford Hall' was bought by Dr John Kennedy in 1984, and restored at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, a task which took 20 years.
'Pitchford Hall' was sold in late 2011 by Dr John Kennedy to the Epping and Ongar Railway, where it has been based ever since, although it does make visits to other railways.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Another of this class of locomotive became a cinema star when 'Olton Hall' became famous for its role hauling the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter film series.
There have been two railway museums in Swindon. The current museum was opened in 2000 and is located in part of the old Swindon locomotive works. The previous museum was opened in 1962 and was housed in a former railway building, but not part of the locomotive works. It closed in the 1990s when the new museum was created.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Another of this class of locomotive became a cinema star when 'Olton Hall' became famous for its role hauling the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter film series.
Ian
There have been two railway museums in Swindon. The current museum was opened in 2000 and is located in part of the old Swindon locomotive works. The previous museum was opened in 1962 and was housed in a former railway building, but not part of the locomotive works. It closed in the 1990s when the new museum was created.
Ian
Thank you Dorothy, it did look newly polished!
Ian