No. 4110 is a GWR 5101 Class or 'Large Prairie' 2-6-2T steam locomotive built for the Great Western Railway (GWR). They were medium-sized tank engines used for suburban and local passenger services all over the Great Western Railway system.
Operational history[]
No. 4110 was built in 1936 at Swindon Works and initially allocated to Severn Tunnel Junction to undertake tunnel banking duties. Two months later it was moved to the Wolverhampton district where it stayed for most of the next 26 years. It operated on the intensive local passenger services from Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street stations to Leamington Spa, Stratford upon Avon and Warwickshire in general.
Preservation[]
No. 4110 was withdrawn from service in 1965 and was sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry. It was rescued from the scrapyard in 1979 by the Great Western Preservation Group and moved to Southall Railway Centre becoming the 100th locomotive to leave the scrapyard.
No. 4110 later ended up being moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works for restoration, however only a small amount was undertaken before the engine was put on the market to raise funds for another project. 4110 was purchased and moved to the West Somerset Railway in 2015, with the goal being to restore the engine over five years when funding was available alongside space in the workshop at Minehead. After failing to undertake work on the locomotive by 2018 it was decided to put the engine on the market once again. The engine was purchased by the Dartmouth Steam Railway in 2019.
In 2019 the East Somerset Railway announced that they were close to completing a deal with the Dartmouth Steam Railway to restore the locomotive. As part of the arrangement No. 4110 will operate on the East Somerset Railway for three years following its restoration. The locomotive was moved to Cranmore on the East Somerset Railway in 2020.
In 2021 it was reported that the work on the locomotive was on schedule to have it return to steam again in 2023.
In 2022 a fire was lit in the boiler of the locomotive for the first time since June 1965.
In 2023 after undergoing several test runs, No. 4110 was returned to steam and ran under its own power for the first time in over 50 years.
Trivia[]
- No. 4110 is one of eight surviving members of the GWR 5101 Class in preservation.
Gallery[]
