GWR 4073 Class 7029 ''Clun Castle''

GWR 7029 Clun Castle
Clun Castle is seen steaming away on the turntable at Tyseley Loco Works during a photoshoot in April 2018.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Charles Collett Builder BR Swindon Works Build date May 1950
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-0 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 2 in (0.965 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 8 1⁄2 in (2.045 m) Length 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m) over buffers Width 8 ft 11 in (2.718 m) Height 13 ft 1 in (3.988 m) (Cut back from 13 ft 4 1⁄2 in (4.077 m)) Loco weight 79 long tons 17 cwt (178,900 lb or 81.1 t) 89.4 short tons full Tender weight 47 long tons 6 cwt (106,000 lb or 48.1 t) 53.0 short tons full Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 long tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t) 6 long tons 0 hundredweight (6.10 t; 6.72 short tons) Water cap 4,000 imp gal (18,000 l; 4,800 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 29.36 sq ft (2.728 m2) Boiler GWR Standard Number 8 Boiler pressure 225 lbf/in2 (1.55 MPa) Heating surface:  • Tubes 1,857.7 sq ft (172.59 m2) (Collett) 1,799.5 sq ft (167.18 m2) (Hawksworth)  • Firebox 162.7 sq ft (15.12 m2) (Collett) 163.5 sq ft (15.19 m2) (Hawksworth) Cylinders Four (two inside, two outside) Cylinder size 16 in × 26 in (406 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Inside cylinders: Walschaerts Outside cylinders: derived from inside cylinders via rocking bars. Valve type Piston valves Loco brake Vacuum
Performance figures Maximum speed 25mph - (heritage railways) 45mph - (mainline, tender first) 75mph - (mainline, chimney first) Tractive effort 31,625 lbf (140.68 kN)
Career Operators Great Western Railway British Railways Power class GWR: D BR: 7P Axle load class GWR: Red Withdrawn December 1965 Current owner Tyseley Locomotive Works Disposition Operational

7029 Clun Castle is a railway locomotive, built to the Great Western Railway Castle Class design shortly after Nationalisation by the Western Region of British Railways at the ex-Great Western Railway Swindon Works in May 1950 and named after Clun Castle.

British Rail

Its first shed allocation was Newton Abbot, and had a double chimney and a 4 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 to mark the record set sixty years earlier by "City of Truro" when it was timed at 96 mph on the descent of Wellington Bank in Somerset. Its last shed allocation was Gloucester in May 1965. It hauled the last official steam train out of Paddington (to Banbury) on 11 June 1965. It was officially withdrawn in December 1965.^[1]

Preservation

Bought for its scrap value of £2,400 by Patrick Whitehouse in 1966, its ownership was then passed to 7029 Clun Castle Ltd. In preservation, it has always been based at Tyseley TMD, now Tyseley Locomotive Works.

In 1967, carrying a Great Western livery, it hauled trains to mark 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.

It returned to service in October 2017 at the Tyseley Open Weekend in authentic BR Lined Green with the late crest on its tender.

7029 is presently not mainline certified but is able to run round the Tyseley site.

Preservation Photos

• 
  7029 leaving Birmingham Snow Hill working ("The Zulu") in Mar 1967.
• 
  7029 at Chester General station, about to take the southbound "Zulu" special to Birmingham Snow Hill, 4 March 1967.
• 
  Clun Castle at Tyseley in 1982.
• 
  7029 at Plymouth working "The Great Western Limited" in July 1985.
• 
  On display at Tyseley Loco Works awaiting an overhaul in Jun 2008.

Bibliography

• Cadge, Richard (general ed.) (1985). Portrait of a record-breaker: the story of GWR No. 7029 "Clun Castle". Birmingham Railway Museum.

References

External links

• The Great Western Archive - Castle class details, 7000 - 7037
• 7029 Public Recommissioning at Tyseley in Oct 2017