New-build GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange ran for the first time when it was steamed in the yard at Tyseley Locomotive Works on Thursday, April 11 – opening a new chapter in Great Western Railway history.
Pictures and video by Robin Jones.
Resplendent in its line Brunswick Green livery No. 6880 – the 81st member of its class and now its sole representative – made several runs up and down the yard in the afternoon after its first fire was lit earlier.
The runs were witnessed by a small group of invited guests comprising officials and volunteers of the 6880 Betton Grange Society Ltd and Tyseley chairman Michael Whitehouse.
Testing to see if any final adjustments will be necessary will now continue at Tyseley, before No. 6880 is taken by low loader to the Severn Valley Railway, arriving after that line’s April 18-21 Spring Steam Gala for which it has been booked.
Subject to a gauging run and other tests, No. 6880 will run on the Severn Valley Railway in May before heading to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Cotswold Festival of Steam on May 25-27.
It is the lined up to visit the West Somerset Railway and then the North Norfolk Railway.
A proud day for 6880 Betton Grange Society Ltd chairman Quentin McGuinness who, together with Will Naylor, came up with the idea of building a new Grange 26 years ago.
