The GWR 4073 Class 4079 Pendennis Castle is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type steam locomotive that was preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre.
History[]
Built by the Swindon Works on March 4, 1924 as one of its 4073 or Castle Class locomotives. The locomotive was allocated to Old Oak Common locomotive depot, and was the seventh of the first lot of 10 Castles built in 1923/4.
The locomotive became famous in 1925 when the Great Western Railway (GWR) lent it to the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) as part of trials against the LNER's then new A1 Pacific Class, a famous example being LNER No. 4472 Flying Scotsman. Running from King's Cross to Grantham, and King's Cross to Doncaster, it made the ascent from King's Cross to Finsbury Park regularly in less than six minutes, a feat that the Pacifics were unable to match. Pendennis Castle was also shown to be more economical in both coal and water on the test runs, its superiority in burning unfamiliar Yorkshire coal being measured at 3.7 lb per mile.
Before returning to the GWR, the locomotive attended the second Wembley Exhibition between May and October 1925, displayed next to the Flying Scotsman, with a notice proclaiming it to be the most powerful passenger express locomotive in Britain.
In 1977, Pendennis Castle was sold to Hamersley Iron, one of the largest iron ore producers in Australia, which intended to run her on its 240 miles (390 km) ore-carrying Hamersley railway in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The company-backed Pilbara Railways Historical Society wanted a steam locomotive, and chairman Russell Madigan had promised them one, possibly Flying Scotsman.
Restoration was started in 2005, with the original intention that a return to main line service would take place in 2008. As of the start of 2018, restoration is still ongoing. It was announced in an issue of Steam Railway magazine that plans to run Pendennis Castle on an excursion trip with preserved sister No. 7029 Clun Castle to commemorate the end of steam and the end of the Castle Class on the Western Region in March 1967 would not go ahead as No. 4079 wouldn't be restored in time for the anniversary in 2017. It was later announced that following Didcot's decision to withdraw from running on the mainline, on completion No. 4079 will only be run at Didcot and on heritage railways.
Trivia[]
- In 1999, Hamersley Iron's parent, Rio Tinto, decided to find a secure home for the locomotive, an idea conceived and executed by Adrian Lumley-Smith who at the time was on secondment from the U.K. to Hamersley Iron. An agreement was reached with the Great Western Society for the locomotive to be donated. It was moved by road from Dampier to Perth, before being shipped to Bristol on the 24 of April 2000, and ultimately the Didcot Railway Centre.
- Pendennis Castle shares her name with First Great Western's 57604, painted in Great Western Brunswick green.
- Pendennis Castle's first passenger carrying journey in Western Australia was a return trip from Dampier to Dugite on the 7 of November 1978, with the locomotive hauling two passenger cars.
- Pendennis Castle is one of eight preserved GWR Castle Class locomotives.