GWR 4073 Class 4079 Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle is a GWR 4073 Class locomotive, preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre.

The locomotive became famous in 1925 when GWR lent the locomotive to the LNER as part of trials against the LNER's then new A1 Pacific Class, a famous example being LNER 4472 Flying Scotsman. The locomotive compared extremely favourably to the new A1 Class, much to the embarrassment of the LNER.

After withdrawal in 1964, the locomotive was purchased for preservation by Mike Higson and featured in one of the Great Western Society's open days in 1964. After this, the locomotive was sold again to Hamersley Iron, one of the largest iron ore producers in Australia.

The locomotive left the UK for Australia on May 29 1977, and was used for various excursion trains on the company's ore-carrying railways. During the 1990s various difficulties resulted in the locomotive being stored for several years. Hamersley Iron and its parent Rio Tinto Group decided to find a secure home for the locomotive, and in 2000 the locomotive was shipped back to the UK and taken to the Great Western Society's facilities at Didcot Railway Centre.

As of 2005 it is undergoing full restoration at Didcot and is being reassembled ready for a return to service in 2008 where it will return to the main line.

External links

* [http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/locos/4079/4079.html Description of 4079 at Didcot Railway Centre website.]