Monday, 5 January 2015

GWR Kinlet Hall No 4936 at Minehead on the West Somerset Railway

 
Kinlet Hall moves forwards off its train to run round
 
 
Needless to say the West Somerset railway has a
superb collection of GWR engines and always
has a number of visitors too.
 
 
Built in June 1929 at Swindon Works, it was withdrawn from service with British Railways in 1964 and sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales.
In 1981 it was bought by the Kinlet Hall Locomotive Company and moved to Peak Rail at Matlock where restoration work began. It was moved to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in 1985, followed by the Llangollen Railway in 1992. In 1996 it was moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works for final restoration.
The locomotive returned to operational condition in February 2000, and following certification for main line operation it made several main line trips to various parts of the country, sometimes in company with fellow Tyseley resident 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. It has visited several of its former homes in preservation, returning to Llangollen in June 2001, and to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, for much of the 2004/2005 operating season.
In 2006 it was fitted with on-train monitoring recorder (OTMR) equipment at Tyseley, and a full retube was undertaken during the first part of 2007. In December 2007 the engine moved to the East Lancs Railway where it performed regularly until March.
The fitting of OTMR has allowed it to provide motive power for various mainline excursions, including Vintage Trains' Shakespeare Express and the Three Choirs Express excursion, double-heading with 5029 'Nunney Castle'.
After being displayed at the Tyseley Open Day on 25 October 2009, she was dismantled over the winter for a thorough overhaul, which was completed in around 20 months. The engine was on display at the Tyseley Open Days on 25/26 June 2011, and test running on the main line commenced shortly afterwards. The locomotive spent time on the Dartmouth Steam Railway between June and October 2012 hauling regular service trains on the line alongside the DSR's own fleet of locomotives. It then moved to the West Somerset Railway from the Dartmouth Steam Railway in October 2012 via the mainline.

Many thanks to Wikipedia for the above notes

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