Draft:GWR 3200 Class 9017 Earl of Berkeley

GWR 3200 Class 9017 Earl of Berkeley
9017 Earl of Berkeley at Sheffield Park.
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Swindon Works Build date 1938
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-4-0  • UIC 2′B h2 Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa) Cylinders Two, inside Cylinder size 18 in × 26 in (460 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Stephenson Valve type Slide valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 18,955 lbf (84.32 kN)
Career Numbers GWR 3217 GWR 9017 BR 9017 Official name Earl of Berkeley Withdrawn 1960 Disposition Stored, awaiting overhaul

The Great Western Railway 3200 Class number 9017 Earl of Berkeley is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in 1938, using frames from 'Bulldog' No. 3425 (built 1906), and the boiler and cab from 'Duke' class No. 3282 (originally named 'Chepstow Castle', built in 1895). It was originally numbered 3217 while serving on the Great Western Railway (GWR), but it was renumbered post-WW2 as 9017 while serving under British Rail (BR). It spent time on the Cambrian line at Machynlleth and Aberystwyth before being withdrawn from service at Oswestry in October 1960.

Preservation

No. 9017, was the subject of the first-ever appeal for funds to privately purchase a standard gauge locomotive for preservation directly from British Railways, with the intention of it being preserved on the Bluebell Railway the then only preserved standard-gauge line in the whole of the UK. It arrived on the Bluebell Railway on February 15, 1962. From 1963, No. 9017 carried the name plates of 'Earl of Berkeley', from GWR 4073 'Castle' Class No. 5060, which was allocated as 3217. It carried its post-WW2 9017 plates until the BR withdrawal of GWR 2251 'Collet Goods' Class No. 3217 from service in 1965. Since then it has carried the 3217 number. The engine was withdrawn again for an overhaul in 1973 which was not started until 1980, returning to traffic in 1982. After its last overhaul was completed in November 2003, its private owner donated it to the Bluebell Railway, on condition that it remained mainly in service on the line. After a series of boiler and mechanical failures in June 2011, it is currently awaiting overhaul and is in storage at Horsted Keynes Carriage and Wagon Workshop. In 2017 it was announced that work on overhauling the locomotive was expected to start in 2019 but the overhaul had not begun until April 2022 due to work on other locomotives being regarded as higher priorities. As of 2024 the locomotive is in storage waiting to be restored into operating condition.

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Categories:

• Steam locomotives based at the Bluebell Railway
• Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain