7812 ''Erlestoke Manor'' is a preserved

GWR 7800 Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) 7800 Class or Manor Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. They were designed as a lighter version of the Grange Class, giving them a wider Route Availability. Like the 'Granges', the 'Manors' used parts fr ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, operated by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

and later

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways. Owned by the Erlestoke Manor Fund, as at December 2022 it was in operational condition on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a standard gauge, standard-gauge heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The single-track line runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, calling at four intermediate stations and three request stop ...

GWR/BR operations

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 January 1939, it was first allocated to

Bristol Bath Road depot Bristol Bath Road depot was a railway traction maintenance depot in central Bristol, England, which was in use from 1852 until 1995. History The Bristol and Exeter Railway opened workshops at Bath Road in January 1852. 35 locomotives were buil ...

. It was reallocated to in August 1950, and Plymouth Laira in March 1959. Transferred to Oswestry in May 1960, its final allocation was to in February 1963. Withdrawn from

ways service in November 1965, it was sent to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Ba ...

scrapyard in

Barry, South Wales Barry (; ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several b ...

Preservation

The locomotive was purchased by the Erlestoke Manor Fund in June 1973. It was moved from Barry to a temporary home at the Dowty Railway Preservation Society,

Ashchurch Ashchurch is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashchurch Rural, in the Tewkesbury district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, east of the town of Tewkesbury, southwest of Evesham, north of Cheltenham, north-n ...

in May 1974, pending an eventual move to the

Dean Forest Railway The Dean Forest Railway is a long heritage railway that runs between Lydney and Parkend in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The route was part of the former Severn and Wye Railway which ran from Lydney to Cinderford. The society that op ...

. However in 1976 Fund members approved a move to the

instead, where restoration was completed and the locomotive entered service in 1979. Withdrawn in 1985, it returned to service on 12 February 2008, as part of the SVR's anniversary reopening train. Presently one of three GWR 7800 Manor Class locomotives based at the SVR, the other two being 7802 ''Bradley Manor'' (which is also owned by the Erlestoke Manor Fund) and GWR 7819 ''Hinton Manor''. 7812's boiler ticket expired in January 2018, after which the locomotive was moved to

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 ...

for overhaul. It re-entered service in April 2023.

Olympic Torch run

During the

2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the ...

for the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 7812 carried the

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

and its bearer Chris Stokes from

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

with a brief stop outside

West Midland Safari Park West Midlands Safari Park is a safari park located in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England. It was opened under the name of West Midland Safari Park in Spring 1973. The park holds over 165 species of exotic animals and features other attractions su ...

Depot allocations

References

External links

The Erlestoke Manor Fund
{{GWR Manor Class 7812 7812 Railway locomotives introduced in 1939 Locomotives saved from Woodham Brothers scrapyard Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain individual locomotives of Great Britain 4-6-0 locomotives