GWR 4073 Class No. 7029 ''Clun Castle'' is a

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

steam locomotive built at

Swindon Works Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...

in May 1950 to a design by

Charles Collett Charles Benjamin Collett (10 September 1871 – 5 April 1952) was Chief mechanical engineer, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed (amongst others) the GWR's GWR 4073 Class, Castle and GWR 6000 ...

for operation on the

Western Region of British Railways The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great We ...

. It was named after

Clun Castle Clun Castle is a medieval ruined castle in Clun, Shropshire, England. Clun Castle was established by the Norman lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England and went on to become an important Marcher lord castle in the 12th century, ...

in Shropshire.

British Railways

Its first shed allocation was

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

. It had a double chimney and a four-row superheater fitted in October 1959. Its most famous moment came on 9 May 1964 on the Plymouth to Bristol leg of a special train marked Z48, which ran to mark the record set sixty years earlier by ''City of Truro''. 7029 managed to reach 96 mph on the descent of Wellington Bank in Somerset. Preserved classmate

4079 Pendennis Castle GWR 4073 Class, GWR 4073 "Castle" Class No. 4079 ''Pendennis Castle'' is a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built in 1924 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon Works to a design of Charles Collett. It was employed on long-distance express passen ...

, which worked the Paddington to Westbury leg of the tour before melting its firebars, has also been preserved. Its last shed allocation was at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

in May 1965. It hauled the last official steam train out of

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

to Banbury on 11 June 1965. It was officially withdrawn in December that year.

Preservation

Sold for scrap at £2,400 to Patrick Whitehouse in 1966, its ownership then passed to 7029 Clun Castle Ltd. In preservation, it has been based at

Tyseley Locomotive Works Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of mainline railtour operator Vintage Trains, based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley TMD, Tyseley dep ...

, where it was integral in the founding and operation of

Vintage Trains Vintage Trains is a charitably-controlled train operating company established in 1964. Based at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, they provide heritage railtours in the United Kingdom over the UK rail network. Their trains are usually for ...

. In 1967, carrying a Great Western livery, it hauled trains to mark the closure of the GWR route to Birkenhead, from King's Cross to Newcastle and over the Settle-Carlisle Line. In 1972, it joined in the "Return to Steam" tours. After a major overhaul, it emerged in British Railways livery in 1985. In 1986, it hauled the last train from the old Birmingham Moor Street station. In the mid 1980s, some of the restoration work was undertaken by a government funded Community Programme scheme, managed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. 7029 returned to service in October 2017 at the Tyseley Open Weekend in BR Lined Green with the late crest on its tender, although fitted out with the necessary equipment the engine was not certified for mainline use. ''Clun Castle'' made its first moves on the mainline for 31 years in February 2019 when it went out on its light test runs, which included a trip to

Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west o ...

. Its loaded test run was to follow before working its first mainline train since October 1988.7029's debut railtour
/ref>

Preservation Photos

File:7029 Clun Castle(8258078241).jpg, 7029 leaving Birmingham Snow Hill working "The Zulu" in Mar 1967. File:7029 Clun Castle Tyseley '82 (19686476996).jpg, ''Clun Castle'' at Tyseley in 1982. File:7029 Clun Castle Tyseley.jpg, On display at Tyseley Loco Works awaiting an overhaul in Jun 2008. File:GWR 7029 Clun Castle Locomotive Lincoln Railway Station (3).jpg, 7029 at

Lincoln railway station Lincoln railway station (previously Lincoln Central) serves the city of Lincoln, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, who provide the majority of services from the station, with other services b ...

on the 8 November 2022 File:GWR 7029 Clun Castle and 5051 Drysllwyn Castle on The Great Western Limited 150 (4).jpg, 7029 at Plymouth working "The Great Western Limited" in July 1985.

Bibliography

References

External links

The Great Western Archive - Castle class details, 7000 - 70377029 Public Recommissioning at Tyseley in Oct 2017
{{GWR Castle Class 7029 Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 7029 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Individual locomotives of Great Britain 4-6-0 locomotives