GWR 4073 Class 5051 Earl Bathurst

5051 Drysllwyn Castle is a railway locomotive, built to the Great Western Railway Castle Class design built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon Works in May 1936 and was named after Dryslwyn Castle. It is owned by the Didcot Railway Centre.

GWR 5051 Drysllwyn Castle
5051 Drysllwyn Castle & 7029 Clun Castle at Plymouth in 1985 while working "The Great Western Limited" railtour.
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerCharles Collett
BuilderGWR Swindon Works
Build dateMay 1936
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-6-0
Gauge4 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)
Length65 ft 2 in (19.86 m) over buffers
Width8 ft 11 in (2.718 m)
Height13 ft 1 in (3.988 m) (Cut back from 13 ft 4 1⁄2 in (4.077 m))
Loco weight79 long tons 17 cwt (178,900 lb or 81.1 t)
89.4 short tons full
Tender weight47 long tons 6 cwt (106,000 lb or 48.1 t)
53.0 short tons full
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity6 long tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t)
6 long tons 0 hundredweight (6.10 t; 6.72 short tons)
Water cap4,000 imp gal (18,000 l; 4,800 US gal)
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		29.36 sq ft (2.728 m2)
BoilerGWR Standard Number 8
Boiler pressure225 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)
 • Firebox162.7 sq ft (15.12 m2) (Collett)
163.5 sq ft (15.19 m2) (Hawksworth)
CylindersFour (two inside, two outside)
Cylinder size16 in × 26 in (406 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gearInside cylinders: Walschaerts
Outside cylinders: derived from inside cylinders via rocking bars.
Valve typePiston valves
Loco brakeVacuum
Performance figures
Tractive effort31,625 lbf (140.68 kN)
Career
OperatorsGreat Western Railway
British Railways
Power classGWR: D
BR: 7P
Axle load classGWR: Red
WithdrawnMay 1963
Current ownerDidcot Railway Centre
DispositionStatic Display

Service Life

5051 Was built at Swindon Works in May 1936 and was named after Drysllwyn Castle, it carried this name for the first 18 months of its working life before being renamed to Earl Bathurst in August 1937 (the name coming from a de-named GWR Dukedog Class no 3208/9008), this name it would carry for the rest of its GWR & BR working career. Its original name would later be applied to classmate no 7018.

It was first allocated to Landore depot in Swansea and was to remain there for its GWR working career as well as most of its BR days until Jun 1961 when it was transferred to Neath (87A). Its final shed allocation was to Llanelly (87F) in Feb 1963 and was to remain there for the remainder of its working career until May 1963 when it was withdrawn from service after completing 1,300,000 miles. It was later sold to Woodham Brothers in Oct of the same year.[1]

Preservation

The locomotive was bought by John Mynors from the scrap yard and was sold following his death. The locomotive was sold to the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre and left by rail as the 4th departure from Barry in March 1969.

Following its arrival at Barry Scrapyard it was to remain at Barry Island for 5 years until 1969 when it was purchased by the GWS and moved to Didcot by rail for restoration. It was restored to steam in 1979 and was reunited with its original Drysllwyn Castle nameplates. It was a regular performer in 1985 during the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Great Western Railway.

Its previous working stint saw its return to steam in 1998 following an overhaul at Didcot and it was later returned to mainline service, on one occasion in the summer of 2003 it stood in for 7802 Bradley Manor working the Torbay Express, promoted by Past-Time Rail. (7802 was booked to work the trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Kingswear and return, but on the first train of the season Bradley Manor developed a hot axle box and was unable to haul the next two outings which saw 5051 take the Manor's place). Compared to the Manor which could only run at 60 mph it was able to operate at 75 mph so managed to keep to the timetable without problem. 7802 returned for the 31 August and 7 September trips.[2]

It ran for most of its ticket in lined GWR green with the letters GW on its tender, prior to withdrawal it was later repainted to BR lined green with the early emblem on its tender. Its boiler ticket later expired in 2008. At present it is unlikely 5051 will be overhauled for a while due to the current ongoing overhaul of GWR Castle Class 4079 Pendennis Castle which will provide Didcot with an operational Castle, and with GWR King Class 6023 King Edward II currently operational that will provide the centre with two GWR express locomotives in traffic. Alongside this a number of fellow preserved Castles are undergoing overhauls.

In preservation it has run with both Collett and Hawksworth tenders, it was paired with a Collett tender following its restoration from scrapyard condition in the 1970s and alongside a brief stint with a Churchward tender following its overhaul in 1998 it was later paired with a Hawksworth tender which it used for its previous boiler ticket. It has now once again been paired with a Collett tender while on display in the Great Western Society's engine shed at Didcot.

  • 5051 At Port Talbot Parkway in March 2007.
  • 5051 Undergoing restoration at Didcot in 1979.
  • 5051 at Rainhill during the Rocket 150 celebrations.

References
  1. Daniel, John (16 April 2013). "The Barry Scrapyard story, part 1". The Great Western Archive.
  2. Wilcock, David (2003). "Down Main". Steam Railway. 288: 70.
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