Page 44 - South Issue 12
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Didcot’s Great War Locomotive
In the summer of 1917, there was a call from the army
for British Railways to supply 160 locomotives to
transport munitions and hospital trains from the front
line to the Channel port. The 5322, which has now
found its home at Didcot Railway Centre, was one of
twenty GWR 2-6-0s built in Swindon and sent France
Originally supplied in khaki livery and having the
number ROD5322, 5322 is the only remaining
example of the 20 locomotives sent to France, and
one of only two remaining examples from the large
class of 342 locomotives. And the only one currently
in working order!
Once it was decided that the GWR would supply
2-6-0s, Frank Potter, General Manager of the GWR
explained: “The Great Western type of 2-6-0 engines
is in point of power and efficiency practically equal to
other Companies 0-8-0 engines. Nevertheless, the
GWR drove a hard bargain, as Frank Potter continued:
“The whole of our stock is, however, badly needed
for traffic work in this country, and it was, therefore,
stipulated that the materials should be supplied by
the Government to enable new engines of the class to
be built, an output of five per month being aimed at.”
A serving officer with the ROD, C E R Sherrington,
recalled an encounter with 5322 in France in 1918. He
wrote an article about it for the Great Western Echo
in 1973:
“That night nearing the level crossing at Pont des
Briques, where one turned off for the Mess, an
eastbound train was rapidly overtaking me. A glance
at my watch led me to hope that it was RCL* 21
running on time from Calais (Riviere Neuve) to St
Omer, Hazebrouck and one or more railheads. There
was no mistaking the type of locomotive – by the beat
of its exhaust – a GWR Mogul, thus confirming that
it was, almost certainly, one of the 53s doing such
splendid work on those supply trains for the II Army.
She overtook me at the Pont des Briques crossing,
with its metal rolling gates, and it was easy to see
her number in large white letters on the tender –
ROD 5322. Behind her were the customary 44 or so
wagons, the supplies for two divisions. The gross load
was some 770 tons: the wagons were not vacuum
fitted, but, of course, had the French screw couplings.”
The saying “Old Soldiers never die” was never truer
than with this engine. Demobbed in 1919 at Chester,
it was withdrawn from Pontypool Road depot in April
1964. Miraculously, as the sole surviving early 43xx
sent to Woodham Bros of Barry that avoided the
cutter’s torch, this gem was spotted there, and by
1969, after considerable persuasion need to secure
its release, it was acquired by a Society member.
The first ex-Great Western locomotive to leave the
scrapyard for preservation, it was towed to Caerphilly
in 1969. There, a small but devoted band of members
of the Society’s South Wales Group restored it, in the
open, to working order.
The move to Didcot took place in 1973 and she
continued to be used on open days until around
1975 when she was stopped for various reasons. The
owner at that time believed that items of historical
value should not be restored, but maintained in the
condition they are in. This meant that the engine
stood as it was, static display only. It then passed into
the ownership of the Society; this done, a fund was
started to restore the engine. And so since the early
90s, various bits have been overhauled, the cab was
completely refurbished, the wheels and motion have
been tended to, the boiler has been removed and
the tender stripped down. Slowly the engine was
returned to its 1919 appearance until she was finally
ready to return to traffic in November 2008.
In November 2011 the locomotive was disguised as
Russian locomotive and starred in a film version of
Anna Karenina. In May 2012 she was turned out in
unlined British Railways black livery.
If you want to go along and see 5322, then take a visit
to Didcot Railway Centre. For running days and open
times, see the website -
.
org.uk
