GWR 813 Preservation Fund


The GWR 813 Preservation Fund is an organisation that was founded in 1966 to acquire, restore and preserve Port Talbot Railway No. 26. It is based on the Severn Valley Railway.

History

The fund was formed in 1966 to purchase the last-known surviving Port Talbot Railway steam locomotive from the National Coal Board. They purchased GWR 813 in 1967 and it was moved from Backworth Colliery the same year, later moving to the Severn Valley Railway. They are now currently based at the Severn Valley Railway and have a sales stand at Kidderminster.

GWR 813

Their locomotive, Port Talbot Railway No. 26, is their prized possession. No. 26 was built by Hudswell Clarke in 1901 along with five other locomotives. Withdrawn in 1933, then sold to Robert Stephenson & Company in 1934. Later sold to Backworth Colliery and re-numbered 12. Became NCB 11 in 1950. The newly-formed GWR 813 Preservation Fund were looking to purchase this locomotive, it being the last of its kind. Offered for £320, then sold to the Preservation Fund in 1967. It was displayed as a static exhibit at the Rail 150 Celebrations in 1975. Mechanical faults prevented the locomotive from being fully operational for over a decade, although it steamed on a few occasions.
The trust fund got their locomotive fully operational in July 2000, when it was the only one in service at the time, at the time that many locomotives were reported to have boiler issues. After it was overhauled, from 2001 to 2009 the locomotive visited over ten heritage lines including Didcot, Dean Forest, Pontypool & Blaenavon, WSR, South Devon Rly, Vale of Glamorgan, etc.

Owned stock

The GWR 813 Preservation Fund bought a covered van in 1968 to store parts for their locomotive, this was followed by the fund's interest in purchasing ex-GWR more stock. Today they own a few coaches, the wagon list however, tops this as they own over 100 wagons of many types, in the collection also stands the only surviving ex-Brecon & Merthyr Railway open wagon. The GWR 813 PF-owned stock also helps funding when it is used and/or loaned on/to other heritage lines.

Locomotives

Carriages

Brown (passenger rated) vehicles

Covered goods vans

Water & Milk Tanks

Fruit Vans

Meat Vans

Brown (passenger rated) vehicles

Open Goods Wagons

Brake Vans

Crated Glass Wagon

Boiler Truck

Machinery Trucks

Ballast Wagons