Neil & Richard from Dapol with Mike Solloway and David Holmes representing The 2874 Trust
Morning all. I thought I'd bring you something a little bit different with this particular instalment, with "little" being the operative word. There is a bit of a clue in the opening photograph, and I am of course referring to the popular subject of model railways, which many of us are fortunate to have somewhere, whether that be in an attic, spare room, garage, outbuilding, or even under the bed. They offer endless hours of enjoyment, escapism, creativity, and plenty of nostalgia.
Model railway manufacturer Dapol attended this year's Cotswold Festival of Steam (CFoS) and launched their brand new model range of the 28xx / 2884 class steam locomotives for OO gauge. The Chirk based manufacturer is also working in conjunction with The 2874 Trust to produce an exclusive model of No. 2874. In addition, Dapol are to make a financial donation to the trust for each completed sale of the exclusive model. As many readers will be aware, the real locomotive is currently undergoing a complete restoration at Toddington by a dedicated group of the steam department's volunteers.
The announcement of this new model range follows the hugely successful 'Manor' project which included the production of 500 limited edition models of our very own 7820 Dinmore Manor. The sale of these models resulted in a significant donation by Dapol to Dinmore Manor Locomotive Limited (DMLL) and the GWSR. Further information can be found here.
2874 on 10th May 1958 - Photo courtesy of The 2874 Trust
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2800 Class of steam locomotives were designed by George Jackson Churchward who was Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the GWR between 1902 and 1922. The class were designed for heavy freight work and were the first locomotives in Great Britain to use the 2-8-0 wheel configuration. 84 examples were constructed at Swindon Works between 1903 and 1919 with the locomotives being assigned the 28XX number range (2800-2883). The prototype locomotive was outshopped from Swindon in June 1903 originally carrying the number 97, but it was later renumbered to 2800. The locomotive underwent two years of trials before construction of the production batch commenced in 1905. A modified version of the 2800 Class, known as the 2884 Class were built between 1938 and 1942.
Many of the class were still running into the 1960s hauling goods trains around the country right until the withdrawal of steam from the main line.
2874 was built at Swindon Works in 1918 as part of a batch of 28 locomotives to Lot 210, Diagram I and had Works Orders of 2762 – 2789 respectively. Construction was completed at the end of November and the recorded cost to build the locomotive was £4992. With the inclusion of the tender, this was £6193 (at today's prices this would represent £286,000 for the locomotive and £355,000 with the tender). 2874 was rated 8F with a tractive effort of 35,380 lbs and weighed out at 92 tons 12cwt with its tender.
The locomotive entered traffic on the 4th December 1918 and unfortunately this was too late to help with the major war effort. Its class colleagues provided valuable assistance to the Royal Navy in hauling coal from the Welsh coalfields to numerous ports in the Western Region (WR) and up into Lancashire for onward movement to Scapa Flow – the so-called “Jellicoe Specials”. 2874 was initially allocated to Old Oak Common where it worked coal trains between London and Wales. Later allocations included Reading, Leamington, Tyseley, Neath, Cardiff, Banbury, Stourbridge, Newport and Aberdare. The locomotive was condemned at Neath in May 1963 and sold to Woodham Brothers in Barry for scrap.
2874 remained at Barry for over 23 years until August 1987 when it was sold along with four other locomotives (3855, 4253, 5668 and 5967 Bickmarsh Hall) and moved to the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway. The locomotive was stored outside for 20 years before being purchased by the West Somerset Railway (WSR) in 2007. By 2014, its ownership had changed again as 2874 was purchased by Dinmore Manor Locomotive Limited (DMLL) and moved to its base at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. In 2016, ownership of the locomotive was transferred over to The 2874 Trust.
Thames Valley panorama with Up freight train approaching Pangbourne - Photo © Ben Brooksbank
(cc-by-sa/2.0)
View northward, towards Didcot, Swindon - ex-GW Paddington - Reading - Swindon - Bristol etc. main line. The Class H freight is headed by Churchward '2800' class 2-8-0 No. 2883. The Thames is in the trees towards the right, Basildon is off to the left.
Please note that the following video dates from a couple of years ago, much more progress has been made since.
The following information regarding the announcement is courtesy of Dapol Model Railways.
OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2-8-0
Dapol is delighted to be able to announce the launch of their brand new OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 model range. The model has been launched at the Cotswold Festival of Steam on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. We are excited to announce that as well as producing a range of general release models (that you can pre-order through your preferred Dapol Stockist) we will also be producing a Dapol exclusive model of 2874 with a financial donation being made to The 2874 Trust for each completed sale of this model.
Dapol is delighted to be able to announce the launch of their brand new OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 model range. The model has been launched at the Cotswold Festival of Steam on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. We are excited to announce that as well as producing a range of general release models (that you can pre-order through your preferred Dapol Stockist) we will also be producing a Dapol exclusive model of 2874 with a financial donation being made to The 2874 Trust for each completed sale of this model.
2874 - Photo courtesy of The 2874 Trust
2874 Dapol Exclusive Model
Dapol in conjunction with The 2874 Trust are producing a model of 2874 which will be available exclusively through Dapol. At this time we are deposit free expressions of interest for DCC Ready, DCC Fitted and DCC Sound Fitted versions of this model. You can make your interest known by filling in the attached PDF from and either e-mailing it or posting it back to Dapol. We will contact you for payment when the models arrive. Dapol will make a financial contribution to The 2874 Trust for each completed order.
Dapol in conjunction with The 2874 Trust are producing a model of 2874 which will be available exclusively through Dapol. At this time we are deposit free expressions of interest for DCC Ready, DCC Fitted and DCC Sound Fitted versions of this model. You can make your interest known by filling in the attached PDF from and either e-mailing it or posting it back to Dapol. We will contact you for payment when the models arrive. Dapol will make a financial contribution to The 2874 Trust for each completed order.
The model of 2874 will have the following characteristics: Great Western Railway Green, with "Great Western" lettered on the Churchward 3500 gallon tender, original style chimney and safety valve bonnet, port hole windows in the top of the spectacle plate and inside steam pipes.
To express your interest, please fill out the PDF form which is available to download from the Dapol website here.
You can return your expression of interest by post to: Sales Manager, Dapol Ltd, Gledrid Industrial Park, Wrexham, Chirk, LL14 5DG. or by e-mail to sales@dapol.co.uk. The title of your e-mail must be 2874 Expression Of Interest
GWR 2-8-0 2884 Class 3850 - Video © preservedrailway
28xx / 2884 Prototype
The GWR prototype 2-8-0 locomotive 2800 (originally No 97) was built in 1903 and underwent two years of trials before further production began which resulted in 84 of the class being built. The design was much in advance of its time and this class and the slightly modified 2884 class were built from 1938 until 1942. They remained the standard freight design on the GWR for the rest of the Company’s existence and were used on the heaviest freight trains.
The GWR prototype 2-8-0 locomotive 2800 (originally No 97) was built in 1903 and underwent two years of trials before further production began which resulted in 84 of the class being built. The design was much in advance of its time and this class and the slightly modified 2884 class were built from 1938 until 1942. They remained the standard freight design on the GWR for the rest of the Company’s existence and were used on the heaviest freight trains.
Ben Brooksbank - A '2884' 2-8-0 fresh from repair, outside Swindon Works - CC BY-SA 2.0
Model Features
General Specification
Many original GA drawings were used in the development of these accurate and authentic models.
Building on the many developments from the Dapol Mogul and Manor Class models including Dapol's award winning slide in PCB in the boiler for tool free DCC fitting and sugar cube speaker enclosure (for sound models) and conductive drawbar providing tender wheel pick-up and connections for high bass speaker.
The locomotive will have all of the usual refinements that are expected to be found on all Dapol models including:
General Specification
Many original GA drawings were used in the development of these accurate and authentic models.
Building on the many developments from the Dapol Mogul and Manor Class models including Dapol's award winning slide in PCB in the boiler for tool free DCC fitting and sugar cube speaker enclosure (for sound models) and conductive drawbar providing tender wheel pick-up and connections for high bass speaker.
The locomotive will have all of the usual refinements that are expected to be found on all Dapol models including:
- A diecast compensated chassis
- Detailed cab interior
- The front pony truck is also sprung and operates on a cam so the model will negotiate R2 curves with ease
- Churchward top feed boiler
- Original and later Boiler support/motion bracket
- Churchward vertical drop & curved drop Footplates
- Churchward (tapered) & Collet (Straight) sprung buffers
- Smoke boxes with inside or outside steam pipes GWR & BR smoke box doors (with separately added number plate)
2874 - Photo courtesy of The 2874 Trust
Technical Specification
- A slide in PCB offers simple ‘tool-free’ installation of a NEXT-18 DCC decoder and a ’no-solder’ speaker connection.
- This board slides through the smoke box door and connects directly to the locomotive mother board.
- The tender to locomotive drawbar includes reliable electrical connections moulded within the close-coupling push-fit coupling. This eliminates wired plugs and unreliable wiper style connections.
- The locomotive and tender have electrical pick-up on all driving and tender wheels
- An optional base reflex speaker can be fitted into the tender.
- Firebox glow (synchronised with sound*)
- Dapol’s proven slow speed mechanism and high torque motor
- Enhance your driving experience with our feature RealDrive*
Proposed Liveries
- 4S-009-008 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2874 Great Western Green is exclusively available from Dapol, all other models are available to pre-order from your preferred Dapol stockist
- 4S-009-001 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2831 Lined Great Western Green
- 4S-009-002 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2804 Great Western Green
- 4S-009-003 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2854 Great Western Green
- 4S-009-004 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2884 Shirt Button Green
- 4S-009-005 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 3819 GWR Green
- 4S-009-006 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 3802 BR Early Emblem Black
- 4S-009-007 - OO Gauge 28xx / 2884 2851 BR Late Crest Black
Recommended Retail Price
- DCC Ready: £189.99
- DCC Fitted: £224.99
- DCC Sound: £299.99
Project Update
The Project is in the design phase at the moment. We will provide updates when they are available included the CAD images. We anticipate the 28xx/2884 models will be in shops towards the end of 2024.
For further information and deatils, please visit the Dapol and The 2874 Trust websites.
News from the footplate
Over the past year, great efforts have been made to try and increase the number of operational footplate crew, which gives the department a bit more flexibility and a small degree of relief for the roster clerks! The summer season is a particularly challenging time of year with the purple timetable in operation due to three crews being required for each day of running. We're delighted to report that Jonathan Windscheffel has now passed out as a driver. Well done Jonathan!
Jonathan Windscheffel (L) with Andy Meredith next to 35006 - Photo courtesy of Andy Meredith
GWRT £1.5m Stanway Viaduct Appeal
On a completely different subject, please consider donating to the GWRT's £1.5m appeal for Stanway Viaduct if you can.
Journey Through Steam Roadshow Valuation Day on track for 1st October
- Antiques Roadshow expert Paul Atterbury to attend special valuation event
- Visitors invited to bring Steam & Diesel era railwayana along to be valued
- Special event organised by Broadway Museum & Art Gallery and the GWSR
Visitors are invited to bring steam and diesel era memorabilia along to be valued including railwayana such as: locomotive name and works plates, station totems and signage, signalling items, railway posters, paperwork and ephemera, plus any rolling stock or miniature railway related items.
As visitors to Broadway and the local area will know, the hugely popular ‘Journey Through Steam’ exhibition which has been extended until the 12th November 2023, resulted in Broadway Museum and the GWSR winning the 2023 ‘Heritage Railway Interpretation Award’ sponsored by Morton’s Media, publishers of Heritage Railway magazine. The award was presented at the Heritage Railway Association Awards ceremony in Birmingham, on Saturday 11th March 2023.
If you’re a fan of all things antiques and collecting railwayana in particular, then this is an event not to be missed. For further details about the event, please visit https://www.gwsr.com/ or contact marketing@gwsr.com.
Important Note:
New websites were launched in February for both the GWSR and the
GWRT, thus any pre-existing bookmarks to the main blog page via the old
GWSR website will no longer work. The new websites can be found by
visiting https://www.gwsr.com/ (GWSR) and https://www.gwrt.org.uk/ (GWRT).
All of the departmental blogs can now be found on a new main blog page here: https://www.gwsr.com/knowledge/blogs
All of the departmental blogs can now be found on a new main blog page here: https://www.gwsr.com/knowledge/blogs
For those of you who use Facebook, here are a number of GWSR related groups which are worth following:
DMLL - Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd
2874 - The 2874 Trust
35006 - 35006 Group
76077 - Standard Locomotive 76077
THL - The Honeybourne Line - a GWR mainline in the making Until next time folks... there's much more on the way.
Alex (the sooty one!). All published photographs are my own unless otherwise stated/credited.
