GWR 4700 Class 4709
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No.4709 nicknamed Night Owl is a steam locomotive which is under construction as a "new-build" project, presently located at Llangollen Railway in Llangollen, Denbighshire. The 4700 Class 2-8-0 was a class of engine which failed to be preserved. Similar to that of 60163 Tornado and of the recently completed GWR 2900 Class 4-6-0 no 2999 Lady of Legend (the latter being a back dated GWR 4900 Class). 4709 is to be a brand new member of the class, the original class ran from 4700 to 4708. 4709 will therefore become the 10th member of the class to be built.
The 47xx project
The seed of 4709 was sown in 2002, but it was not until 2010 that construction of the locomotive was to commence. Similar to other newbuild projects original parts from existing engines were to be used on the engine. Following negotiations with the Vale of Glamorgan Council three locomotives were acquired to provide parts for 4709. The locomotives acquired included: GWR 2800 Class no 2861, GWR 5101 Class no 4115 & GWR 5205 Class no 5227. Parts that were to be used on the engine would include the driving wheels, axleboxes, horns, cylinders (these would however be later replaced with a brand new set for 4709), and even an existing tender plus other numerous parts for the engine alongside brand new parts made from scratch.
Select parts for the engine will be modified to aid with gauging issues as well as modern safety rules and others will be done to make the engine acceptable to run on Network Rail metals. The original height of the 4700's was 13ft 5in, owing to OLE rules this would make the engine out of gauge so the height of the engine is being cut down to 13ft 1in to fit in with these rules. The intention is to have the engine completed and running by 2025 firstly for use on Heritage Railway's and then after a while for certification and use on Network Rail to work Railtour's. The building group intends to operate their engine on the national network alongside on heritage lines. For running on the mainline the engine will also require to be fitted with: AWS (Similar to ATC used on the GWR), TPWS, OTMR (black box) & GSM-R.
Kit of bits
- Frames: cut from new metal, frame extension from 4115
- Boiler: Brand new Swindon no'7 boiler to be constructed
- Driving wheels: The three wheelsets from 4115 are being used in the construction of 4709. A fourth axle from 5227 is being used as well, the fourth wheelset will be newly constructed.
- Front bogie: Newly manufactured
- Cylinders: Originally planned to use cylinders from GWR 2800 Class 2861. Now to have brand new cylinders cast.
- Tender: Existing spare tender at Didcot for use with 4709.
- Cab: cut from new metal
Project milestones
- 2002: Project started
- 2010: Frames cut[1]
- April 2012: The Locomotive's frames arrive at Llangollen
- May 2013: Rear driving wheels cast
- October 2013: 2861's cylinders attached
- January 2017: 4th wheelset assembled
- February 2020: First cylinder cast[2]
It is planned for the engine to be moved from Llangollen to Tyseley Locomotive Works in 2020 for the fitment of its new cylinders and driving wheels.
See also
- GWR steam rail motors#Number 93
- GWR 2900 Class 2999 Lady of Legend
- GWR 6800 Class 6880 Betton Grange
- GWR 1000 Class 1014 County of Glamorgan
- Steam locomotives of the 21st century
References
- ↑ https://www.4709.org.uk/archivenews.htmFrames arrive at Llangollen Archived 28 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "4709's First Cylinder cast satisfactorily at Boro Foundry — 4709 – The Ultimate British 2–8–0". 4709 – The Ultimate British 2–8–0. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- Haresnape, Brian (1976). Churchward locomotives : a pictorial history. London: I. Allan. ISBN 0711006970. Search this book on
- Whitehurst, Brian (1973). Great Western engines, names, numbers, types, classes: 1940 to preservation. Oxford: Oxford Pub. Co. ISBN 0902888218. Search this book on
- Previous version of project website (Earlier news) at the Wayback Machine (archived 28 December 2019)
- Previous version of project website (Later news) at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 July 2019)
External links
- 4709 Project website
- Railadvent describes the project in 2018
- List of sourced parts, and timeline
- Didcot Railway Centre summary page
- New-build steam topical news site (archived)
- List of GWR preserved and new-build engines
- Barry paper reports 2861 leaving scrapyard as source of parts for 4709
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