GWR 7812 Erlestoke Manor

No. 7812 “Erlestoke Manor” is a member of the same class as 7802, being built at Swindon, and completed in January 1939. It was delivered new to Bristol Bath Road depot, and served there and at Bristol St. Philips Marsh until April 1948. The records show that the engine was nominally sub-shedded at Weston-super-Mare on several occasions during this period. From May 1948, It was based at various West of England depots; Newton Abbot, St. Blazey, Plymouth Laira and Truro all played host, and the engine was to be seen double-heading larger 4-6-0s in Cornwall and on the South Devon inclines, Dainton, Rattery and Hemerden. With the dieselisation of the GW lines in the West Country in the early 1960s, 7812 was transferred to the Cambrian section, being allocated to Oswestry from May 1960, and Shrewsbury from February 1963 until withdrawal in November 1965.

Woodham Brothers at Barry took delivery of 7812 for scrap in June 1966. The Erlestoke Manor Fund, organised initially by a group of Gloucestershire enthusiasts, purchased the engine in June 1973, and moved it to the now-closed preservation centre at Ashchurch, near Tewkesbury, in May 1974. No. 7812 was moved to Bewdley on 23rd April 1976. Restoration to operating condition was carried out at Bewdley, and 7812 first ran in September 1979, achieving several main line runs on the North-and-West route in the Spring of 1984. In response to popular demand, the locomotive was finished in the attractive B.R. lined green livery of the 1950s.

Its latest 10 year ‘ticket’ expired at the end of 2017, and the loco was moved to Tyseley for the owners to start the overhaul soon afterwards, some of the work being a contract repair by Tyseley Locomotive Works staff.  Work on the boiler was completed in 2021, and the loco returned to the SVR in 2022.   It was on hire to the West Somerset Railway for the 2023 season, and will be there for the summer in 2024 too.