GWR auto-coach
I know next to nothing about GWR rolling stock and so I don't know if this auto coach photographed at Greenford in April 1952 even qualifies as a GWR item.
Nick Gough: This is one of the post-war, Hawksworth designed auto trailers that were built in 1951. You can tell because the side windows have sliding ventilators. So, strictly speaking, it shouldn't be in this set of GWR images but it's generated a great deal of interest and so here, for the time being, it stays.

GWR steam engine
Taken from a passing train window, Collett auto-fitted 0-4-2T 1452 of 1932 vintage waits in the bay at Churston with the connecting service to Brixham in August 1958.

GWR steam engine
Collett auto-fitted 0-4-2T 1455 snapped at Monmouth (Troy) on what was probably the last day of services at that station which was January 5th, 1959. 1455's home shed at that time was 85C Hereford but she survived until May 1964 when she was withdrawn from 85B Gloucester Horton Road shed.

GWR steam engine
A gem photographed at an unusual location. Ex-Cambrian Railway 0-6-0 no. 887 at Didcot mpd on March 3rd, 1938. The external condition suggests that she's in the process of running-in following a major overhaul at Swindon works. 887 was built in 1903 and served for 50 years being withdrawn from 89A Oswestry shed in April 1953.

GWR steam engine
A chance sighting at Towyn (sic) at the end of August 1964 was Collett 2251 class 0-6-0 2268 running light. 2268 was built in 1930 and withdrawn from 6F Machynlleth shed in May 1965.

GWR steam engine
An undated portrait of Collett 5700 class 0-6-0PT 4613 at Worcester Foregate. She was withdrawen from 85A Worcester in December 1964. Note the hirsute diseasel on the left.

GWR steam engine
Collett 5700 class 0-6-0PT 4665 in a bay platform at Newbury sometime between 1958 and 1960. 4665 was allocated to 81D (Reading) at the time of this picture but was reallocated to 83E St Blazey in July 1960. That wasn't the end of her meanderings though as she was transferred to 84F Stourbridge Junction in September 1962 whence she was withdrawn in June 1965.
Of as much note as the pristine pannier tank is the lorry in BR service. I thought the latter was a Bedford (whoops!) but Laurie Webb has kindly e-mailed me that it is, in fact, an Austin.

GWR steam engine
One of my personal favourite colour slides is this distant shot of Collett designed 5700 class 0-6-0PT 4698 dating from 1945 and photographed here at Fetter Hill on the Coleford branch on the 6th August 1965. 4698 was withdrawn from service at 85B Gloucester Horton Road shed in November of the same year.
W. Potter/Mike Morant collection

GWR steam engine
Collett designed 5700 class 0-6-0PT 4698 dating from 1945 is depicted here whilst shunting at Coleford Junction on August 3rd 1965. 4698 was withdrawn from service at 85B Gloucester Horton Road shed in November of the same year.
W. Potter/Mike Morant collection

GWR steam engine
Unusually for an otherwise undocumented negative I have a date for this one which is January 5th, 1958.The depicted engine is Collett designed 5700 class 0-6-0PT 9747 dating from 1935 shedded at 88D Merthyr at the time and that could well be where this shot was taken. 9747 was reallocated to 88J Aberdare in January 1963 but that seems to have been only for the purpose of immediate withdrawal from service.

GWR steam engine
Yet another Collett 0-6-0PT but this time from the 6400 class. 6417 is seen here at Monmouth (Troy) on what was probably the last day of services at that station which was January 5th, 1959. 6417 dated from 1934 and was an 86J Aberdare engine when this shot was taken. She moved to 86A Newport Ebbw Junction in April 1958 and was withdrawn from that shed in June 1959.

GWR steam engine
9702 was one of the Collett designed 0-6-0PT's with condensing apparatus fitted and she was based at 81A Old Oak Common shed for her entire working life from 1933 until 1962. This scene brings back personal memories as it was so commonplace and the Metropolitan stoxk in the background adds to the poignancy.

GWR steam engine
A product not of Swindon but Hawthorne Leslie dating from 1920 and originally with the Taff Vale Railway but here we see 0-6-2T no. 383 in her Swindonised form with extended smokebox. I suspect that this shot was taken prior to 1957 at what was then her home shed of 88A Cardiff Cathays. Withdrawal came in August 1957.

GWR steam engine
This is one of those frustrating undocumented negatives in which a station's running-in board is clearly visible but illegible because of the camera angle from which it has been photographed but Ken Robinson has come to the rescue by identifying it as Cwm Bargoed (near Dowlais) which is still rail connected. The train engine is Collett 5600 class 0-6-2T 5621 which was probably an 88D Merthyr based engine when this shot was taken. Built in 1925 she was withdrawn from 88D Rhymney mpd in June 1965.

GWR steam engine
Seen here circa 1958 running light is Collett 5600 class 0-6-2T 6657 at the east end of Hatton station on the down main line from Warwick. The down goods line is to the right. 6657 was built in 1928 and withdrawn from 88B Radyr in June 1965.
My thanks go to Nick Gough for the detailed location data.

MSWJR steam engine
What a shame that this engine didn't survive into the heritage era. Midland and South Western Junction 2-4-0 1335 was built by Dübs & Co for the MSWJR in 1894 and passed into GWR ownership with the grouping in 1923. She survived into BR ownership and was withdrawn from 81D Reading shed in 1952 by which time she had become something of a celebrity engine amongst we enthusiasts. This shot was taken much earlier in 1933 at Didcot shed.

GWR steam engine
There's no point in being coy about it. I have no idea when or where this was taken.
Collett 5300 class mogul 5324 was built way back in 1917 and withdrawn from 84G Shrewsbury in September 1960.

GWR steam engine
The south end of Leamington Spa station circa 1958 sees Collett 4300 class mogul 5337 probably backing out of the station judging by the direction of the drifting smoke. That looks like a SR 4-wheeled GUV behind the tender.

GWR steam engine
Is Dovey Junction station in the Guiness Book of Records? It should be if it isn't already as it must be one of the most frequently flooded of stations.
It's 1955 and my late brother with wife in tow embarked on a transport photography expedition in Wales with the accent on his preferred interest which was buses. Every shot taken during that holiday (bar one of a Castle class) suggests that it never stopped raining. Although he rarely photted trains he excelled himself during what was probably a lengthy wet and windswept stop at Dovey Junction. Here we see a shunting manoeuvre involving BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 78006 and dead-as-a-dodo Collett 4575 class prairie tank no. 5566. The water in this shot is shallow compared with that shown in other shots but note the railwayman giving policemanlike directions as his trousers are sensibly rolled up to above the water level. This is a wonderful historical record but it must have been grim to actually partake of the experience.

GWR steam engine
This special train sponsored by the Stephenson Locomotive Society couldn't be more clearly defined as the headboard tells the story although, oddly, the trip isn't mentioned on the sixbellsjunction web site. The occasion, April 26th 1958, was the last train between Leominster and Bromyard hauled by Collett 4500 2-6-2T no. 4571. I don't know the location where this shot was taken however.

GWR steam engine
Collett large prairie 4111 at Birmingham's Snow Hill station on July 24th, 1961. 4111 was built in 1936 and survived as an 84E Tyseley based engine until withdrawal in September 1965.

GWR steam engine
Not much text needed here as Vale of Rheidol no. 9 Prince of Wales is still operational. This shot, one of my own, was taken on Agfa CT18 slide film at the end of August 1961 at Aberystwyth when it had a real station with real trains. Ahem.

GWR steam engine
Collett prairie tank 6113 at her home shed of 85B Gloucester Horton Road on 16/10/65. Withdrawal came the following month.
W. Potter/Mike Morant collection

GWR steam engine
Collett 2-6-2T 6123 at Birmingham's Snow Hill station on July 23rd, 1961. These locos didn't usually travel great distances although they did, of course, dominate Paddington to Oxford services for decades. I mention that because this loco was allegedly based at 81F Oxford when the shot was taken. Withdrawal from that shed followed in April 1962.

GWR steam engine
A purchased negative bought simply because it's a cracking shot of a GWR workhorse doing what it was designed to do. The location for this shot of an unidentifiable Collett 2800 class 2-8-0 is Woodborough allegedly taken in 1965 which is probably true as the smokebox numberplate has been removed although the visible cabside is still adorned with its number plate.

GWR steam engine
Robinson's O4 ROD 2-8-0's worked all over the place and many were acquired by the GWR. This example, 3015, is depicted between April and October 1958 stored inside Llanelly's (sic) roundhouse.

GWR steam engine
A March 1952 visit to Swindon works elicited this view of newly overhauled Churchward 4200 class 2-8-0T 4229. She was built in 1913 and was an 86B Newport Pill engine when this shot was taken. Withdrawal from 86A Newport Ebbw Junction came in March 1961.

GWR steam engine
Dean Flower class 4-4-0 4158 Petunia at her home shed of Leamington Spa in 1926. 4158 entered service in 1908 and had a relatively short lifespan of only 21 years.

GWR steam engine
This must have been taken shortly before the loco's withdrawal in March 1955. 9000 was a Collett combination of bits from the erstwhile Duke and Bulldog outside framed 4-4-0's and was cobbled together in 1936 but had a very short working life. This hanmdsome little machine is depicted in paddling mode at Dovey Junction on an unspecified date in 1955 but obviously March or earlier. Another shot in this sequence, not included this time around, shows 9000 backpedalling into ever-deepening waters and leaving a wake worthy of a sizeable ship.

GWR steam engine
Last rites for the Hawksworth County classs of 4-6-0 on September 20th, 1964 as 1011 County of Chester takes part in the railtour dedicated to that event.

GWR steam engine
The start of an eventful day for Collett Castle class 4-6-0 4079 Pendennis Castle. This was the first leg of the justifiably famous Ian Allan sponsored Great Western High Speed Railtour on May 9th 1964 which, indeed, it was but 4079 was worked so hard that she collapsed near Westbury following which she was temporarily retired pending preservation but it shouldn't be too long before she's back on our network again having travelled via Western Australia to get here.

GWR steam engine
Collett Castle 4-6-0 4094 Dynevor Castle has just arrived at Swansea High Street with the Pembroke Coast Express in 1958. The shed code is 87E Landore but she was subsequently withdrawn from service at 87G Carmarthen in March 1962 after 36 years of distinguished service.

GWR steam engine
This shot is possibly close to miraculous as it was taken in pouring rain with a Brownie 127 camera and features the fast moving South Wales Pullman in the charge of one of the early Castles as it roars through Reading in 1956.

GWR steam engine
Folorn looking Collett Castle 5000 Launceston Castle in steam but tucked away in a bay platform somewhere. Stanlet C. Jenkins has kindly identified the location as Hereford Barrs Court. Oddly, the smokebox numberplate has gone awol but all the other collectables are in situ.

GWR steam engine
Better times for Collett Castle 5000 Launceston Castle doing what she did best as she zips past West Drayton & Yiewsley signal box in 1962. 500 finally met her end from 2B Oxley mpd in October 1964.

GWR steam engine
A lovely shot of a gleaming Collett Castle 4-6-0 exactly as one would like to see the class portrayed but this example isn't identifiable. Exeter St. David's in August 1958 and the shed code is 84?.

GWR steam engine
One of the 1932 output of Collett Castle 4-6-0's, no. 5022 Wigmore Castle is depicted entering, not Newbury as I'd thought, but Princes Risborough on either June 24th or July 1st 1957 which latter was the last day for the Watlington branch. I went there on both of those dates.

GWR steam engine
1938-built Collett Castle 4-6-0 5076 Gladiator is given the once-over by a very youthful train watcher at Birmingham's Snow Hill station on July 23rd, 1961. The engine was based at 81D Reading at the time and it would n't have been strange to see her here as the entire rake of stock on her tail is of Maunsell origin painted in BR(S) corporate green. THAT shot will be included in a Southern upload just to stir up the proverbial.

GWR steam engine
One of my first attempts at using colour taken on the original Ektachrome film (E1 process) and with a Super Baldina 35mm bellows camera which, my first wife told me, is alive and well in Australia.
August 1958 at Newton Abbot and the common sight of a double-header departing for points west. the pilot engine is Collett Hall 4-6-0 4925 Eynsham Hall but the train engine isn't identifiable. What is odd, however, is that the Hall was based at 81C Southall at the time and one would have expected it to have journeyed no further west unless it had been attached throughout.

GWR steam engine
The nameplate has gone and it's surprising to me that the smokebox number plate is still in place at this late stage in 6924's career. Collett hall class 4-6-0 6924, formerly Grantley Hall, was photographed at Gloucester Horton Road mpd on October 16th, 1965 which was the month in which she was withdrawn.
W. Potter/Mike Morant collection

GWR steam engine
Westbury station plays host to Collett Modified Hall class 4-6-0 no. 6930 Aldersley Hall on September 22nd, 1962. 6930 was based at 84E Tyseley at the time and was subsequently withdrawn from 2D Banbury in October 1965.

GWR steam engine
6959 Peatling Hall is another Collett Modified Hall class 4-6-0 and it's in charge of a rake of, the rearmost carriage excepted, a rake of green liveried rolling stock. Chris Ralls believes that this was taken just to the south of Radley station and that the line on the left is the Abingdon branch. Intersting questions are begged by this picture. The train is evidently southbound but in my experience the daily inter-regionals comprised juust about any stock other than Southern.

GWR steam engine
This obviously isn't one of those scrap line shots but it's evidently only a step or two away therefrom as 6963, the erstwhile Throwley Hall, departs from Reading General with the LCGB sponsored Wessex Downsman (No.2) railtour on May 2nd, 1965. To make matters worse, the Southern had turned out S15 30837 beautifully for the previous leg of the tour.

GWR steam engine
Collett Modified Hall class 4-6-0 6991 Acton Burnell Hall at Old Oak Common mpd circa 1961.

GWR steam engine
The last Collett King class 4-6-0 was withdrawn from service in December 1962 but 6018 King Henry VI was retained in usable condition for the 'Farewell to the Kings' railtour which ran on April 28th, 1963. The tour was snapped by your truly as it passed through Greenford station after which it took a sharp right turn and headed for an intermediate water stop next to Southall mpd.

GWR steam engine
Collett King class 4-6-0 6022 King Edward III at Birmingham (Snow Hill) station on July 24th, 1961.

GWR steam engine
Collett Grange class 4-6-0's 6837 Forthampton Grange and 6024 King Edward l at Laira on June 27th. 1960. 6024 we know all about but 6837 was a Laira engine at the time and ended her days at 88A Cardiff East Dock in July 1965.
W. Potter/Mike Morant collection

GWR steam engine
An unidentifiable Collett Manor class 4-6-0 moves purposefully into Longhope station, closed in 1964, on the line from Grange Court to Ross-on-Wye.

GWR steam engine
The loco is Collett manor 7808 Cookham Manor photographed on the slow line in Sonning Cutting with six coaches in tow. The train, sponsored by the Great Western Society's London Area Group, had come from Birmingham via the GW & GC route and was run in conjuction with the group's open day at Taplow where 6106, 4079 and 3205 were present as well as some steam road vehicles. 7808 returned to Birmingham via Oxford. The event took place in September 1966 but the exact date isn't recalled and the train isn't mentioned on the sixbellsjunction web site at the time of writing (11/05/09).

GWR steam engine
Collett manor class 4-6-0 7826 Longworth Manor has evidently seen better days. The shot was taken in the summer of 1964 by my brother but he has no recollection of the location which I think could be on the Carmarthen - Aberystwyth line but I could be wildly wrong.

GWR steam engine
Contra-jour is all very well but it often hinders identification although the number 7828 is legible in this case. It looks to me as though 7828 Odney Manor is leaving Shrewsbury circa 1965.