GWR 4900 Class 4920 Dumbleton Hall

GWR 4900 Class 4920 Dumbleton Hall
4920 Dumbleton Hall on the South Devon Railway in 2011
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerCharles Collett
BuilderGWR Swindon Works
Build dateMarch 1929
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-6-0
Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Loco weight75 tons (67 long tons; 68 t)
Career
OperatorsGreat Western Railway
British Railways
ClassHall
Numbers4920
Official nameDumbleton Hall
First run1929
Last run31 October 1999
Withdrawn3 December 1965
Current ownerWest Coast Railways
DispositionStatic display

4920 Dumbleton Hall is a GWR 4900 Class 4-6-0 steam locomotive, built by the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works in March 1929. Named after Dumbleton Hall, its first shed allocation was at Old Oak Common. In August 1950, the next shed allocation was Reading, and in March 1959 it was allocated to Newton Abbot. The locomotive's last shed allocation was Bristol Barrow Road. It was withdrawn from British Railways service in December 1965 and sold to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Wales.

It was purchased by the Dumbleton Hall Preservation Society,[1] and left as the 82nd departure from Barry in June 1976 before being fully restored in 1992 for service on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Meanwhile the DHPS was used to purchase the Dart Valley Branch after this put up for sale by its owners, which saw the DVR become the South Devon Railway and DHPS become the South Devon Railway Trust - with the original DHPS Shareholders maintaining their ownership.

After spells on loan to the West Somerset Railway, Nene Valley Railway and Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, 4920 returned to the Dartmouth Steam Railway and was last steamed in October 1999.[2][3]

Dumbleton Hall on display at Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo

It was subsequently stored out of use at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway, awaiting overhaul. In December 2020 it was sold to a new owner. In February 2021 it moved to Carnforth for cosmetic restoration by West Coast Railways.[4][5] It is on long term loan to Warner Bros. In December 2021 it was exported from Southampton to Japan where it will form part of a Harry Potter static exhibit at Warner Bros Studio Tour in Tokyo.[6][7]

  1. ^ "SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY TRUST filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  2. ^ Dumbleton Hall fades into retirement The Railway Magazine issue 1185 January 2000 page 49
  3. ^ Dumbleton Hall Retires South Devon Railway
  4. ^ The Roster Steam Railway issue 517 April 2021 page 32
  5. ^ Dumbleton on the move Railways Illustrated May 2021 page 36
  6. ^ Dumbleton Hall for new Harry Potter Japan attraction The Railway Magazine issue 1450 January 2022 page 7
  7. ^ Great Western Railway 4-6-0 No. 4920 'Hogwarts Castle' ('Dumbleton Hall')