Pitchford Hall loco to join North Yorkshire Moors Railway's annual steam gala
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has announced that Great Western Railway Hall 4900 Class No. 4953 Pitchford Hall will now be a guest locomotive during the highly-anticipated annual steam gala (September 26-29).
It is replacing the previously announced guest locomotive, No. 4079 Pendennis Castle, which had to withdraw from the event due to issues with possible boiler water carry over into its cylinders.
The locomotive is visiting courtesy of Epping Ongar Railway and will mark its first visit to the NYMR.
The Hall Class was given a 5MT power classification under British Rail, and 11 examples have been preserved, including the famous Olton Hall, also known as the "Hogwarts Express."
Built at Swindon in August 1929 for £4,375, Pitchford Hall was initially based at the Bristol Bath Road shed and later transferred to various locations, including Cardiff and Swindon.
After covering 1,344,464 miles, it was withdrawn in 1963 and sent to Woodham Brothers scrapyard. In 1984, Pitchford Hall became the 150th locomotive to leave Barry and was restored at Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham, returning to service in 2004.
Laura Strangeway, CEO at NYMR, said: “We’re delighted to welcome No. 4953 Pitchford Hall to this year's annual steam gala. While it's always disappointing when a planned locomotive becomes unavailable, we are confident that Pitchford Hall will be a fantastic replacement that will provide an equally exciting experience for all our visitors.
"We’re looking forward to seeing our guests enjoy this historic locomotive as it takes to our tracks.”
Visit the North Yorkshire Moors Railway website at www.nymr.co.uk/annual-steam-gala for more information about services and updates as well as the fare prices during the gala.