Tonight's engine, the GWR 47xx Night Owl!
4700 “Eagle”- Preserved on the North Western Railway after being saved from the Cashmoore’s Scrapyard by LNER No.4472 “Flying Scotsman” in late 1963.
4702 “Screech/Gwyllgi”-A curious case, 4702 was recorded as scrapped in late 1962, with photographic evidence supporting the reports. Despite this, 4702 would reappear shortly thereafter on the Uman and Din Light Railway, where they have remained ever since, much to the bafflement of railway historians. Many theories have been put forward, most involving a case of mistaken identity with 4701, the other scrapped member of the class, but none have sufficiently explained 4702’s presence on that Welsh railway.
Uman and Din Brunswick Livery
4703 “Ural”- Preserved by the Krestaen Railway Museum upon withdrawal in 1964.
4704 “Hawk”-purchased by the Alarch Railway from British Railways shortly before their scheduled withdrawal in 1964.
Alarch Railway Lined Green
Alarch Railway Lined Black
4705 “Tawny”-Purchased from Cashmoore’s Scrapyard by the North Western Railway in March 1964, re-entering service later that year.Following the completion of an overhaul in 1975, 4705 was transferred to the ownership of the Suddery Railway Museum in order to permit them to run railtours on the mainland, which all but a select few North Western Locomotives were prohibited from doing by the 1972 North Western/British Railways Agreement. Despite this, 4705 would be frequently loaned to the North Western during heavy seasons.
4706 “Snow”-Preserved by the Denbigh and Wrexham Railway.
BR Express Passenger Green
4707 “Boreal”-Purchased by the Chester and Holyhead Railway upon withdrawal in 1964.
BR Express Passenger Blue
4708 “Tyto”-Preserved on the North Western Railway after being saved from the Cashmoore’s Scrapyard by LNER No.4472 “Flying Scotsman” in late 1963.
NWR Express Passenger Blue
4709 “Forest”-By the early 2010s, enough components that had once belonged to the lost member of the class had been gathered that it was decided to attempt to combine these parts with new build components in an attempt to reawaken 4701 “Barn”, making the class whole once more. The attempt, a joint effort between the Great Western Society and Crovan’s Gates Works, was ultimately unsuccessful. Even before the engine was completed it became clear the resulting engine would not be “Barn”, but it was decided to finish the project in his memory. The new engine would be number 4709 and awoke in early 2019 at Didcot and was named Forrest by her Siblings, after the Forest Owl, as was typical of Night Owl naming convention.