Preserved GWR 5101 Class steam locomotive at Blue Anchor station on the West Somerset Railway
The GWR 5101 Class or Large Prairie was a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway. They were medium-sized tank engines used for suburban and local passenger services all over the Great Western Railway system. The class was an updated version by Collett of Churchward's 1903 3100 Class. Eight have been preserved: 4110, 4115, 4121, 4141, 4144, 4150, 4160, 5164, 5193 and 5199. Out of the eight surviving 5101's five came from Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. 4110 – under restoration at Tyseley Locomotive Works 4121 – awaiting restoration at Tyseley Locomotive Works 4141 – operational at the Epping Ongar Railway 4144 – under overhaul at the Didcot Railway Centre 4150 – restoration progressing at the Severn Valley Railway 4160 – operational at the West Somerset Railway 5164 – operational at the Severn Valley Railway 5199 – operational at the Llangollen Railway. The first 'large prairie' locomotives were built by the GWR in 1909, but 4160 was not built until 1948. By this time British Railways had taken over, and so it is preserved in BR green livery with the later "lion in wheel" totem. It was delivered to the engine shed at Barry and worked from various sheds around south Wales until it was withdrawn from Severn Tunnel Junction in 1965. 4160 then returned to Barry, but this time to Woodham Brothers’ scrap yard. It was purchased by the Birmingham Railway Museum in 1974 but restoration was not completed before it was sold again to the Plym Valley Railway. Again, restoration was not completed before one more sale to the West Somerset Railway brought it to Minehead in 1990 and it was finally returned to service in 1993. It currently has a boiler insurance certificate that will allow it to work until 2017.
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Blue Anchor Station, Minehead, Somerset UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2-6-2t, 4160, anchor, blue, box, churchward, gwr, holidays, large, locomotive, nostalgia, prairie, preserved, railway, signal, sky, somerset, station, steam, summer, tank, train, transport, west
