NINETEEN SIXTY TWO – PART 85
The Life and Times of Prairie 4591
Michael L. Roach
It had two spells at Swindon (1933-1935) and less than a month in 1964, where it was withdrawn from service on 10 August 1964. Apart from that it spent the whole of its working life in Somerset, Devon or Cornwall.
4591 had two spells at Laira Shed, Plymouth in 1932-33 returning in March 1941 to spend 22 continuous years at the shed until being transferred to Yeovil Town on 1 June 1963. During its long spell at Plymouth it would have spent much of its time working the 34-mile route to Launceston GW on passenger and freight trains.
It achieved well over one million miles in its 37-year life. Eleven members of the 100 4575-class built have been preserved but 4591 was not one of them and it was scrapped.
I photographed 4591 ten times in the last 14 months of the Launceston Branch on both passenger and goods train. The engine was easily recognisable to some, who kept abreast of such things, because it ran without its smokebox number plate for some months as shown in the accompanying photographs mostly from 1962. There was also a distinctive welding repair on the right-hand side tank.
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Weedkiller at Silverton
David Tozer
Avon Valley Railway - Littleton
Paul Negus
Pictured yesterday at the Avon Valley Railway is the boiler and smokebox assembly from Littleton No 5, now residing in the second Platform road at Bitton. This is a powerful Manning Wardle product of 1922 and is now owned by the AVR, having been generously donated by the last owner. There are no projections for when it might return to service.
Kind regards
Paul