Pendennis Castle drifts down Eardington Bank on its way to Kidderminster.
GWR 4073 "Castle" Class No. 4079 Pendennis Castle is a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built in 1924 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon Works to a design of Charles Collett. It was employed on long-distance express passenger trains on the GWR and its successor, British Railways' Western Region.
Pendennis Castle gained initial notoriety in 1925, when it outperformed rival engines during trials on the London and North Eastern Railway. It was bought for preservation in 1964 after covering 1.75 million miles in revenue earning service. In 1977, it was sold to Hamersley Iron, based in Western Australia, where it was shipped in the following year and operated until 1994. Upon returning to England in 2000, the engine awaited restoration at Didcot Railway Centre, its new base, which took volunteers 16 years to complete. In August 2021, Pendennis Castle returned to steam for the first time in 27 years, and will run on heritage railways across Britain.
Operations
No. 4079 Pendennis Castle was the seventh of a total of 171 "Castle" Class locomotives built at Swindon Works in 1923–1924 by the Great Western Railway (GWR), and designed for hauling express passenger services. It was completed in February 1924, and named after Pendennis Castle in Falmouth, Cornwall.[1] It was allocated to Old Oak Common locomotive depot in west London.[2]
The locomotive became famous in April and May 1925, when the GWR lent it to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as part of performance trials against the LNER's then new 4-6-2 A1 Class, the most famous example being No. 4472 Flying Scotsman. Running from London King's Cross to Grantham, and King's Cross to Doncaster, 4079 made the ascent from King's Cross to Finsbury Park regularly in less than six minutes, a feat the larger A1's were unable to match. Pendennis Castle was also shown to be more economical in both coal and water on the test runs, its superiority in burning unfamiliar Yorkshire coal being measured at 3.7lb per mile.[3][2][4] Before returning to the GWR, the locomotive was put on display at the second British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park between May and October 1925 next to Flying Scotsman,[2][4] with a notice proclaiming it to be the most powerful express passenger locomotive in Britain.[1]
Back at Old Oak Common, it continued to run the routes to South Wales and the West Country until after the GWR was nationalised in 1948 to become part of British Railways. In August 1950, it was allocated to Gloucester shed, in March 1959 to Bristol Bath Road, and its last shed allocation was Bristol Saint Philip's Marsh.[5]
On 9 May 1964, No. 4079 took part in a high-speed railtour from London Paddington to Plymouth to commemorate the 60th anniversary of No. 3440 City of Truro's unofficial 100 mph run. However, upon reaching reaching 97 mph, the firebars melted from the high heat of its fire.[1] On arrival at Westbury the locomotive was immediately withdrawn, and "Hall" Class No. 6999 Capel Dewi Hall took over. While sitting at Westbury shed, bookshop owner Mike Higson, who was interested in purchasing a steam locomotive, was able to conclude a deal with British Railways to buy 4079 for £1,750. Arrangements were then made for it to be moved to Swindon for repairs to the damage caused and a repaint.[1] 4079 retired with a recorded 1.758 million miles in a little over 40 years of service on the GWR.[3]
Preservation
Early preserved years (1964–1977)
At Steamtown, Carnforth in May 1975
Following completion of its overhaul in March 1965, Pendennis Castle was transferred to Southall Railway Centre and appeared at one of the Great Western Society's (GWS) first open days.[1] In November of that year, it became the last Castle engine to arrive at London Paddington before the end of steam traction on British Railways.[1]
In 1967, as Higson was in the process of selling the locomotive to rail enthusiast Pat Whitehouse, the bid was retracted as William McAlpine and John Gretton had made a higher bid.[1] Under its new ownership, 4079 moved to the former GWR depot at Didcot, taking up residence in the disused lifting shop. In 1971, Pendennis Castle was among 23 steam locomotives approved for mainline running after British Railways relaxed it's near-total ban.[1] In the following year it relocated once more to Market Overton in Rutland. In April 1974, 4079 reunited with Flying Scotsman for two steam specials from Newport to Shrewsbury.[1]
Western Australia (1977–2000)
By 1977, McAlpine had become the sole owner of 4079, where it sat waiting for repair at Steamtown in Carnforth. He then sold the engine to Hamersley Iron, one of the largest iron ore producers in Western Australia, which intended to run it on its 240 miles (390 km) ore-carrying Hamersley railway.[2][1] Managing Director Russell Maddigan had offered to buy Flying Scotsman, but settled for 4079 and had it restored at Carnforth.[1][6] On 29 May 1977, after hauling the Great Western Envoy from Birmingham to Didcot and return, 4079 headed to Avonmouth Docks where it departed for Sydney, where it was stored at Eveleigh Carriage Workshops.[2][7] In the following March, 4079 travelled to Newcastle, New South Wales where it was loaded aboard the Iron Baron for Dampier, Western Australia, where Hamersley manager Ian Burston handed it over to the Pilbara Railways Historical Society.[2][8]
On 12 October, Pendennis Castle and two former New South Wales Government Railways S type passenger cars were named Rio Fe by Lady Turner, wife of Sir Mark Turner, chairman of Rio Tinto, one of the major investors in Hamersley Iron. A brass plaque bearing the name Rio Fe was fitted above 4079's smokebox door. On 7 November 1978, Pendennis Castle's completed its first passenger run with a return trip from Dampier to Dugite.[1][2] Modified in 1980, Pendennis Castle was used for excursion trains on the Hamersley railway.[1] It was moved by road to Perth, where it had a historic reunion with Flying Scotsman during the latter's tour of Australia on 17 September 1989.[1] It went on to operate on the Westrail network.[9]
