Swanage Railway News Gallery - Page 383
CLASS 5 4-6-0 No. 73129 HAULS ITS FIRST TRAINS ON THE SWANAGE RAILWAY
- 6th July 2007
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News Item and Press Release from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 15th July 2007
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright unless otherwise acknowledged.
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No.73129 at Corfe Castle on the Swanage Railway on 6th July 2007
To see the full set of over 100 photos of No.73129 hauling its first trains on the Swanage Railway on 6th July,
please scroll to the bottom of the page.
By Andrew P.M. Wright
A Class 5 4-6-0 wheel arrangement tender locomotive has run on the Swanage Railway's relaid Purbeck
Line for the first time since 1964 - and an embarrassing mistake by BR's Bournemouth motive power depot.
Back in 1964, Labour's Harold Wilson swept to power in the general election of that year and the hit James
Bond film 'Goldfinger' was released.
No. 73129 had the honour of making a special piece of Dorset railway history on the late afternoon of Friday,
6th July, 2007, ahead of the Swanage Railway's three-day gala commemorating the 40th anniversary of the
end of Southern Region steam traction on BR.
No.73129 driver, Swanage Railway Operations Manager Steve Dyer (left) on the footplate
On loan from the Midland Railway Centre, No. 73129 was driven by Swanage Railway Operations Manager
Steve Dyer while the fireman was Graham Froud.
The Class 5 made two test runs from Swanage to Corfe Castle and Norden park and ride towing a rake of
five empty carriages on the Friday afternoon.
No.73129 and rake of carriages at Corfe Castle before returning light engine to Swanage
The locomotive then returned the rake of carriages to the sidings at Corfe Castle before returning light engine to Swanage.
Signalman Langdon Tompkins and guard Martin Trott had the honour of operating the first Class 5 4-6-0 to
shunt the goods yard at Corfe Castle which was closed by BR in the autumn of 1965.
Signalman Langdon Tompkins and guard Martin Trott at Corfe Castle signal box
On the evening of Friday, 6th July, 2007, the Class 5 hauled a 'Wessex Belle' luxury dining train - the first
time since 1964 that a Class 5 had hauled a passenger train from Swanage. The driver was Ron Roberts
with the fireman being Billy Johnson.
While the Class 5 4-6-0s were officially banned from the Swanage branch in BR days - because their axle
loading was too heavy for the line's bridges - one did run down to the resort, by accident, in about 1964.
Bournemouth accidentally despatched the locomotive at the head of a school special.
No.73129 hauls the evening 'Wessex Belle' luxury dining train service
Bob Richards from Corfe Castle, who was later the station's last BR signalman in 1972, was a porter at the
country station in 1964 and recalls seeing the locomotive run into the station from Wareham. Only in the job
for two years, Bob thought nothing of the locomotive - not appreciating that the class was banned from the branch.
Bob recalls that when the train reached Swanage, all hell let loose because staff at the terminal station realised that the
Class 5 should not have been there.
No.73129 at Swanage signal box on 6th July 2007
No. 73129 was able to run on the Swanage Railway's relaid Purbeck Line as bridges have been upgraded to
allow locomotives with a heavier axle loading to run.
On the footplate of No.73129, Matt McManus tends the firebox for fireman Billy Johnson at Swanage station
before the next departure of the evening 'Wessex Belle' luxury dining train service on 6th July
Based on the Midland Railway at Butterley, No. 73129 was built at Derby in 1956 and features
Caprotti valve gear and poppet valves. The Class 5 is the sole survivor of the last batch of 30 steam locomotives
to be built at the Derby works and it is unique in being the only preserved Standard Class 5 to be fitted with Caprotti valve gear.
Withdrawn from traffic near Manchester in December, 1967, No. 73129 was despatched to the Barry scrapyard in
South Wales from where the rusting hulk was rescued in 1972. After restoration, No. 73129 was steamed for the
first time in February, 2004.
While Caprotti Standard Class 5s were rarely seen on the Southern Region of BR - and none were ever allocated to the
region - the Standard Class 5s fitted with conventional valve gear were a familiar sight in Dorset. They could be seen on the
Somerset and Dorset, the 'Old Road' from Poole to Brockenhurst on Waterloo train diversions as well as the main London to
Weymouth line where they often replaced Bulleid Pacifics on crack express duties.
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To see the full set of over 100 photos of No.73129 hauling its first trains on the Swanage Railway on 6th July, please follow these links.
- To visit the second page of photos please click here.
- To visit the third page of photos please click here.
- To visit the fourth page of photos please click here.
All photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright unless otherwise acknowledged.
Photos on these pages are low resolution versions.
Full resolution photos are available for media use
Last updated 15th July 2007 by Keith Morgan.
© Swanage Railway
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