5051 ''Drysllwyn Castle'' is a Great Western Railway (GWR) Castle Class locomotive built at

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

in May 1936 and named after

Dryslwyn Castle Dryslwyn Castle ( cy, Castell y Drysllwyn) is a native Welsh castle, sited on a rocky hill roughly halfway between Llandeilo and Carmarthen in Wales. It stands on high ground overlooking the Tywi Valley with extensive views. It was built in abo ...

. It is owned by the

Didcot Railway Centre Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point. Background The founders and commercial backers ...

Service Life

5051 was built at Swindon Works in May 1936 and was named after Drysllwyn Castle, carrying this name for the first 18 months of its working life before being renamed to ''

Earl Bathurst Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family m ...

'' in August 1937 (the name coming from a de-named Dukedog Class No. 3208/9008). It would carry this name for the rest of its Great Western and British Railways working career. Its original name would later be applied to classmate No. 7018. It was first allocated to Landore depot in Swansea and remained there until June of 1961, when it was transferred to Neath ( shed code 87A). It was transferred to

Llanelly Llanelly ( cy, Llanelli) is the name of a parish and coterminous community in the principal area of Monmouthshire, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, south-east Wales. It roughly covers the area of the Clydach Gorge. The popu ...

(87F) in February 1963 and remained there until withdrawal in May that same year, having run 1,300,000 miles. It was later sold to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Barry Scrapyard), ...

in Oct of the same year.

Preservation

5051 remained in the scrapyard until March 1969, when it was purchased by John Mynors and sold to the

Great Western Society Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point. Background The founders and commercial backe ...

for restoration. It was restored to steam in 1979 and was reunited with its original ''Drysllwyn Castle'' nameplates. It was regularly steamed during the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Great Western Railway in 1985. It returned to steam in 1998 following an overhaul at Didcot and it was later returned to mainline service. On one occasion in the summer of 2003, it stood in for No. 7802 ''Bradley Manor'' working the

Torbay Express The ''Torbay Express'' is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom. The Torbay Express departs from Bristol Temple Meads railway station on summer Sundays at approximately 09:15 with arrival back in Bristol at about 20:10 (depe ...

, promoted by Past-Time Rail (7802 was booked to work the trains from

Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

Kingswear Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within ...

and return, but on the first train of the season Bradley Manor developed a hot axle box and was unable to haul the next two outings, which saw 5051 take the Manor's place). Being faster than 7802 (which could only run at 60 mph, compared to 75 mph for 5051), it managed to keep to the timetable without any issues. 7802 later returned for the 31 August and 7 September trips. It ran for most of its preserved life in lined GWR green with the letters GW on its tender. Prior to withdrawal, it was painted in BR lined green with the early emblem on its tender. Its boiler ticket later expired in 2008. At present, 5051 remains a static display. In preservation, it has run with both Collett and Hawksworth tenders; it was initially paired with a Collett tender following its restoration from scrapyard condition in the 1970s, and briefly used a Churchward tender following its overhaul in 1998. It was later paired with a Hawksworth tender, which it used for its previous boiler ticket. It has now once again been paired with a Collett tender while on display in the Great Western Society's engine shed at Didcot.

Gallery

File:Earl Bathurst 5051 at Port Talbot Parkway.JPG, 5051 At Port Talbot Parkway in March 2007. File:GWR Castle 5051 'Earl of Bathurst' in lifting shop, GWS Didcot, August 1979 Slides130 (9940089506).jpg, 5051 Undergoing restoration at Didcot in 1979. File:GWR Castle class 4-6-0 No 5051 at Rainhill.jpg, 5051 at Rainhill during the Rocket 150 celebrations.

References

External links

'Castle' class details, 5050 - 5099
''Great Western Archive''

''Steam Train Galleries'' {{GWR Castle Class 5051 Railway locomotives introduced in 1936 5051 Locomotives saved from Woodham Brothers scrapyard Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain