GWR 4073 Class 7029 Clun Castle
7029 Clun Castle was built to the Great Western Railway Castle Class design by the Western Region of British Railways at Swindon Works in May 1950 and was named after Clun Castle. Its first shed allocation was Newton Abbot. It had a double chimney and a 4 row superheater fitted in October 1959. Its most famous moment came on 9th May 1964 on the Plymouth to Bristol leg of a special train to mark the record set sixty years earlier by "City of Truro" when it was timed at 96 mph on the descent of Wellington Bank in Somerset. Its last shed allocation was Gloucester in May 1965. It hauled the last official steam train out of Paddington (to Banbury) on the 11th of June 1965. It was officially withdrawn (and believed to be the last Castle) in December 1965. It was bought by Mr Patrick Whitehouse in 1966 before being passed to 7029 Clun Castle Ltd. In preservation it has always been based at Tyseley shed, now Birmingham Railway Museum.
In 1967, carrying (non-authentic) Great Western livery it hauled trains to mark closure of the G.W.R. route to Birkenhead, from King's Cross to Newcastle, and over the Settle-Carlisle Railway. In 1972 it joined in the "Return to Steam" tours. After a major overhaul, it emerged in British Railways livery in 1985. In 1986 it hauled the last train from the old Birmingham Moor Street station.
Bibliography
- Cadge, Richard (general ed.) (1985). Portrait of a record-breaker: the story of GWR No. 7029 "Clun Castle". Birmingham Railway Museum.
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