GWR 7800 Class 7822 Foxcote Manor

The Great Western Railway steam locomotive no. 7822 Foxcote Manor is a 4-6-0 Manor Class locomotive, built in 1950 at Swindon Works. It is part of a post-war batch of 10 locomotives, which follows on from 20 earlier locomotives built in 1938.

7822 Foxcote Manor
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Build dateDecember 1950
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-6-0
 • UIC2'Ch2
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.3 ft 0 in (914 mm)
Driver dia.5 ft 8 in (1,727 mm)
Minimum curve6 chains (396 ft; 121 m) normal,
5 chains (330 ft; 101 m) slow
WheelbaseLoco: 27 ft 1 in (8.26 m)
Loco & tender: 52 ft 1+34 in (15.89 m)
Length61 ft 9+14 in (18.83 m)
Width8 ft 11 in (2.718 m)
Height13 ft 0 in (3.962 m)
Axle load17 long tons 5 cwt (38,600 lb or 17.5 t) (19.3 short tons)
Loco weight68 long tons 18 cwt (154,300 lb or 70 t) (77.2 short tons) full
Tender weight40 long tons 0 cwt (89,600 lb or 40.6 t) (44.8 short tons) full
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity7 long tons 0 cwt (15,700 lb or 7.1 t) (7.8 short tons)
Water cap.3,500 imp gal (16,000 L; 4,200 US gal)
Firebox:
 • Grate area22.1 sq ft (2.05 m2)
BoilerGWR Standard No. 14[1]
Boiler pressure225 psi (1.55 MPa)
Heating surface:
 • Firebox140.0 sq ft (13.01 m2)
 • Tubes and flues1,285.5 sq ft (119.43 m2)
Superheater:
 • Heating area160.0 sq ft (14.86 m2)
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size18 in × 30 in (457 mm × 762 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort27,340 lbf (121.61 kN)
Career
Class7800 'Manor' Class
Numbers7822
RetiredDecember 1965
Current ownerFoxcote Manor Society
DispositionPreserved

Working life

edit

Designed with a lighter axle loading than the red-rating of the other GWR mixed-traffic Hall and Grange 4-6-0 classes,[2][3] the Manor class were ideally suited to the lightweight cross country and coastal routes of the former Cambrian Railways.[4]

Based over its entire working life on the former Cambrian Railways, its first shed allocation was to Oswestry depot and its last to Shrewsbury, with working allocations also to Chester and Machynlleth. It was used to haul both passenger and freight services over former CR lines including the Cambrian Line and the now-closed Ruabon Barmouth Line. It regularly hauled the "Cambrian Coast Express" from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, and in 1965 the British Royal Train.[5]

Preservation

edit

Withdrawn in 1965 from Shrewsbury, it was towed to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales. It languished there until 1975, when it was initially moved to Oswestry, the headquarters of the Cambrian Railways Society where much of the fundraising and restoration took place. In 1985 it was moved to the Llangollen Railway, a restored part of the Ruabon Barmouth Line, where it returned to steam in December 1987. It then worked until its second withdrawal in 1997, when after a heavy overhaul it returned to service in 1999.

Since its return to work in preservation, the locomotive has since been on loan to: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, Great Central Railway (Nottingham), Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, South Devon Railway and the West Somerset Railway. Following a third 10 year overhaul in preservation, 7822 returned to service in early 2016, and throughout 2017 was on hire, firstly to the Kent & East Sussex Railway,[6] and then to the WSR in 2018.

Allocations

edit
First shed December 1950 March 1959 May 1965 Last Shed
Oswestry Oswestry Shrewsbury Shrewsbury

References

edit
  1. ^ Champ, Jim (2018). An Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Transport. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-4738-7784-9. OCLC 1029234106. OL 26953051M.
  2. ^ le Fleming, H.M. (November 1960). White, D.E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part eight: Modern Passenger Classes (2nd ed.). RCTS. p. H36.
  3. ^ Holcroft, Harold (1971) [1957]. An Outline of Great Western Locomotive Practice 1837-1947 (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 156. ISBN 0-7110-0228-2.
  4. ^ Herring, Peter (2004). Classic British Steam Locomotives. Wigston: Abbeydale Press. p. 140. ISBN 1-86147-138-6.
  5. ^ Rutter, John (29 January 2015). "Foxcote Manor - 7822". Llangollen Railway Archive & Enthusiast.
  6. ^ "VISITING ENGINE - 7822 FOXCOTE MANOR". Kent & East Sussex Railway. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017.
edit