Star of the West – Lode Star at Tyseley

This last weekend saw a rare outdoor appearance for Great Western Railway Star class 4003 “Lode Star”. Recently removed from the Great Hall at York – its home since 1992 – the loco is on its way to STEAM, The Museum of the Great Western Railway at Swindon.

However, the 175th Anniversary of the GWR was too good an opportunity to miss for having the Star on display at one of the rare public open days at Tyseley Locomotive Works (also known as Birmingham Railway Museum) on 24th October.

I was visiting family and needed to deliver some loco parts to Tyseley, so we popped by to see some Great Westernry in the autumn sunshine – had it been raining, the Star would have had to remain inside.

Along with Lode Star, many other locos were present, including resident 4965 “Rood Ashton Hall”, which was working the passenger train with 5029 “Nunney Castle”. This was after 5029 had been posed alongside the Star, which was its predecessor.

Workshop tours were being given and other displays and trade stands gave a good atmosphere to the event.*In addition, regular demonstrations of the turntable made good viewing, and the presence of LMS Black 5 45305 and 6201 “Princess Elizabeth” reminded us that their designer William Stanier started his railway career at the GWR’s Swindon works.

Anyhow, some pictures to give a flavour of the event!

Nunney Castle on the left and Lode Star on the right show the development of one class into another


Nothing more to say – the artistry of Churchward and his design team can be seen in the classic lines of Lode Star


Lode Star draws the crowds on the turntable as it takes a spin


A Tyseley resident I'd not seen before was Birmingham DJ Les Ross' main line registered class 86 electric, carrying his name. The whole business of running preserved AC electrics on the mainline fascinates me – watch this space!


Not the best picture, but here's 6201 Princess Elizabeth head to head with Castle Class 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, the former a product of Crewe and Stanier, the latter a Collett design from Swindon. Some have said that the Princess was a super version of the GWR King. I leave you to draw your own conclusions...



Filed under: Rail vehicle collections Tagged: black 5, lode star, nunney castle, princess elizabeth, rood ashton hall, tyseley

 

Dear Father Christmas,
Can Lode Star be returned to active service please, along with a certain Dean Goods, King George V,and a streamlined railcar?

yours,

A potential lottery winner.


(Very tongue in cheek....)