GWR 7800 Class 7812 Erlestoke Manor

Erlestoke Manor

7812 Erlestoke Manor waiting to depart Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway in 2012.

Type and origin Power type Steam Build date January 1939

Specifications Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)

Career Operators Great Western Railway Class 7800 'Manor' Class Numbers 7812 Retired 1965

GWR 7800 Class 7812 Erlestoke Manor is a preserved steam locomotive, that serviced the Great Western Railway and later British Railways.

GWR/BR operations

Built at Swindon in January 1939, it was first allocated to Bristol Bath Road depot. It was reallocated to Newton Abbot in August 1950, and Plymouth Laira in March 1959. Transferred to Oswestry in May 1960, its final allocation was to Shrewsbury in February 1963.

Withdrawn from British Railways service in November 1965, it was sent to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales, along with fellow manor class, Bradley Manor.

Preservation

Erlestoke Manor with classmate Bradley Manor

The locomotive was purchased by the Erlestoke Manor Fund in 1974, and after overhaul entered service on the Severn Valley Railway in 1979. Withdrawn in 1985, it returned to service on 12 February 2008, as part of the SVR's anniversary reopening train.

Presently one of three GWR 7800 Manor Class locomotives based at the SVR, the other two being 7802 Bradley Manor and GWR 7819 Hinton Manor. The locomotive's boiler ticket is due to expire in 2018.

7812 has visited other heritage railways across the UK, including the Llangollen Railway, West Somerset Railway and the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Depot allocations

Depot	Allocation Date
Bristol Bath Road	January 1939
Newton Abbot	August 1950
Plymouth Laira	March 1959
Oswestry	May 1960
Shrewsbury	February 1963
Withdrawn (Woodham Brothers)	November 1965

External links

• The Erlestoke Manor Fund