GWR 4900 Class 4930 Hagley Hall

4930 Hagley Hall
4930 Hagley Hall at Kidderminster Town Station 23/09/07.
Type and origin Power type Steam Build date May 1929
Specifications Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Career Class 4900 'Hall' Class Retired December 1963

4930 Hagley Hall is a Great Western Railway, 4-6-0 Hall class locomotive, built in May 1929 at Swindon Works to a design by Charles Collett. It is one of eleven of this class that made it into preservation. The locomotive is named after Hagley Hall in Worcestershire.

Its first shed allocation was Wolverhampton Stafford Road. After moving around the midland and southern sections of the western region it was withdrawn in December 1963, having covered the impressive total of 1,295,236 miles, eventually being sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, arriving in June 1964.

Sold to the Severn Valley Railway in June 1972, it became the 29th departure from Barry arriving at Bridgnorth in January 1973. It was eventually restored to working condition in 1979, and ran back on the mainline reaching as far south as Plymouth and north to Chester. 4930 hauled the official re-opening train into Kidderminster Town station in 1984.

4930 was also one of the regular locomotives used on the mainline in 1985 during the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway alongside 3440 City of Truro, 5051 Drysllwyn Castle, 6000 King George V, 7029 Clun Castle, 7819 Hinton Manor, 75069 & 92220 Evening Star.

After its withdrawal in 1986 pending overhaul, it was loaned in 1999 to the Macarthur Glen shopping centre in Swindon as a static exhibit. In June 2007 it was returned to the Severn Valley Railway intending to take its place in the new 'Engine House' outside Highley railway station. After a delay due to the floods that hit the railway in June 2007, the Engine House opened in March 2008 when Hagley Hall was placed on show.