28XX's on passenger turns

[RateTheFreight]

Evening all,

 

I've read before that the GWR 2800's were sometimes to be found on passenger turns including holiday specials, but wondered if anyone could shed some light on how common this actually was. If it was common I'd be interested in whether it was more common under GWR or BR operation. Did the fact they appeared in Brunswick Green (albeit unlined) under GW ownership represent the idea that they had been planned to be mixed traffic locos from the off?

 

As a side, through trawling the net I came across the GW Societies plan to re-create a 4700 class which according to the blurb on the website mentioned they were often utilised on passenger turns owing to their impressive power.

 

Thanks as always.

 

Greg

[TheQ]

Er... I think Brunswick Green was the BR colour, GW's Green was Middle Chrome Green!!, They are close but not the same.

 The Q

[Fat Controller]

Evening all,

 

I've read before that the GWR 2800's were sometimes to be found on passenger turns including holiday specials, but wondered if anyone could shed some light on how common this actually was. If it was common I'd be interested in whether it was more common under GWR or BR operation. Did the fact they appeared in Brunswick Green (albeit unlined) under GW ownership represent the idea that they had been planned to be mixed traffic locos from the off?

 

As a side, through trawling the net I came across the GW Societies plan to re-create a 4700 class which according to the blurb on the website mentioned they were often utilised on passenger turns owing to their impressive power.

 

Thanks as always.

 

Greg

I thought green was the default colour for all GWR locos until WW2? 

The 47xx had been designed as a mixed-traffic engine from the start, having driving wheels about a foot bigger in diameter, and hence a higher maximum speed. A 28xx might be used to replace a failed passenger engine, but would struggle to keep to the timings, whilst a 47xx should have had no such problems.

[br2975]

Summer Saturdays in the 50s at least, would see the occasional use of a 28XX on passenger work, when every available suitable loco had been exhausted.

.

There is a photo in one of John Hodge's excellent albums of a 28XX on the SWML twixt Cardiff and Newport returning Southern stock as ECS to Salisbury on a summer Saturday.

.

Brian R

[Karhedron]

Summer saturdays in BR days generally led to anything with 6 or more coupled wheels and 2 leading ones being used on specials. Given their low speed, 2800s were pretty far down the list of desirable locos but it did happen.

 

I am not sure if it happened in GWR days. I know that the 4700s sometimes turned up on passenger workings in the 30s but not sure about the 2800s.

 

The GWR painted all its locos green, even the freight locos. They did not have a separate livery for freight engines. During WW2, paint shortages meant that most locos apart from Castles and Kings were painted black.

[Fat Controller]

Summer Saturdays in the 50s at least, would see the occasional use of a 28XX on passenger work, when every available suitable loco had been exhausted.

.

There is a photo in one of John Hodge's excellent albums of a 28XX on the SWML twixt Cardiff and Newport returning Southern stock as ECS to Salisbury on a summer Saturday.

.

Brian R

Must have been almost as slow pulling away as the Class 31s were on these workings...

[br2975]

Must have been almost as slow pulling away as the Class 31s were on these workings...

 

But I know which I'd prefer to be pulled by ......................

[buffalo]

...The GWR painted all its locos green, even the freight locos. They did not have a separate livery for freight engines. During WW2, paint shortages meant that most locos apart from Castles and Kings were painted black.

 

Yes, but beware of broad generalisation, there were always exceptions. The prototype 28XX, No 97 later 2800, was first turned out in an experimental black livery lined in red. After 1906 and until the early twenties, with the exception of 2856-83 built in 1918 in wartime austerity plain green and, perhaps, other wartime repaints they would have been in lined green with polished safety valve bonnets and copper caps. The GWR might not have had a separate freight livery, but they did have an express passenger livery. From the early twenties, only express engines had lining and shiny bits. Everything else was meant to be plain green though even here there were exceptions. There were some black engines in the twenties, the worst of the RODs were never repainted and some old Dean and Armstrong goods spent a year or so in black. During WW2, only those non-express engines that needed painting received wartime black. After 1945 these eventually reverted to green.

 

Nick

[steve fay]

The 28's were used on passenger diagrams usually on summer Saturdays when all other motive power had been exhausted. The 28's were later replaced by 9F's on these turns during the latter part of the 50's early 60's.

The 28's were always black in BR days.

The 47XX was a bigger loco and was used on fast goods services but where utilised on passenger diagrams and did get lined green, before one did get lined black they were class 7 locos so did fit in the right cattergory. The 47 even had the Royal Duchy as a regular turn in 1958/59