GWR 4073 Class 5051 Earl Bathurst

Earl Bathurst is a preserved Castle class locomotive. The locomotive is run by the Didcot Railway Centre.

It was originally built as Drysllwyn Castle in May 1936. Its first shed allocation was Swansea Landore. Renamed Earl Bathurst in August 1937; the name coming from a de-named GWR Dukedog Class. It was moved to Neath shed in April 1961 before its final move to Llanelly in February 1963. It was withdrawn May 1963 after completing 1,300,000 miles. It was acquired by Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales in October 1963.

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 as the 4th departure from Barry in March 1969. It was restored in 1979 and regained its former name – Drysllwyn Castle – although it occasionally carries the name of Earl Bathurst. The Earl Bathurst ran from Swansea to London Paddington on St David's Day (1 March 2007) carrying fare-paying passengers (see photo of the event). The Earl Bathurst is still on display at the Didcot Railway centre.

File:Earl Bathurst 5051 at Port Talbot Parkway.JPG

Photo of the event

It was repainted into BR livery but has now been withdrawn due to the expiry of its boiler certificate. It is unlikely to be overhauled for a while due to the current overhauls of 4079 Pendennis Castle and 6023 King Edward II that will provide the centre with two GWR express locomotives in traffic.

External links

• http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_cas_castle5b.htm
• http://www.steamtraingalleries.co.uk/devonian.html