GWR 7802 Bradley Manor

GWRGreat Western Railway 7802 Bradley Manor
7802 Bradley Manor at Bewdley
Built By	GWRGreat Western Railway Swindon Works
Configuration	4-6-0
Power class	GWRGreat Western Railway: D, BRBritish Rail or British Railways: 5MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
Axle load class	GWRGreat Western Railway: Blue
Status	In Service
Loco Number	7802
History
Built	1938
Designed By	Charles Benjamin CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941
Type	GWRGreat Western Railway 7800
1979	Purchased by The Erlestoke Manor Fund
1993	First steamed in preservation
2000	Withdrawn for overhaul
2002	Reentered service
2010	Withdrawn for overhaul
2015	Reentered service
Technical
Length	61ft 9¼"
Weight	68t 18cwt
Tractive effort	27,340 lb
Pressure	225 lb/sq in
Steam Locomotives

7802 Bradley Manor is a GWRGreat Western Railway CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 7800 Manor class 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive, one of three of the class locomotives based at the SVRSevern Valley Railway, the others being 7812 Erlestoke Manor and 7819 Hinton Manor. A description of the class is shown on the 7819 page.

7802 Bradley Manor in service

7802 was built at Swindon in January 1938 to Lot 316 at a recorded cost of £5,002. It was named after the manor house at Bradley near Newton Abbot, Devon. Initially delivered to London’s Old Oak Common Depot, 7802 soon moved to Bristol working cross country services around Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and South Wales.

Post-War, 7802 was mainly based at ex-Cambrian sheds and was a well-known performer on 'The Cambrian Coast Express'. In late 1960, 7802 was joined there by sister engine 7812 Erlestoke Manor. Both locomotives were withdrawn at Shrewsbury on 6 November 1965, and both moved to Woodham’s scrapyard at BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. in June 1966.

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  Bradley Manor at Crewe in 1962, bound for Wellington (Wikimedia Commons)

7802 Bradley Manor in preservation

Both 7812 and 7802 were acquired from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. by The Erlestoke Manor Fund. 7802 was purchased from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. in 1979, arriving 28 November, intended as a source of spares for 7812. Second thoughts brought about a start to restoration in 1983, which was completed in April 1993, helped by the proceeds of the 1987 "Project 7802" SVRA raffle. 7802 ran until August 2000, including a number of appearances on the main line (see below).

A quick overhaul was achieved by exchanging Erlestoke Manor’s boiler (withdrawn in 1985) with Bradley Manor’s, allowing a return to service (and main line working) for 7802 in May 2002. The engine is recorded as having surpassed 100,000 miles of running in preservation in 2009.

It was filmed for the major motion picture The Chronicles Of Narnia, released in 2005.

In 2006 it was fitted with Portable Radio Electronic Token Block (RETBRadio Electronic Token Block, a UK system of railway signalling by radio) equipment for use on the Cambrian Line.

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  RETBRadio Electronic Token Block, a UK system of railway signalling by radio equipment test on 7802 16 September 2006. David Stowell, Wikipedia Commons

7802 Bradley Manor was withdrawn from service again at the end of the 2010 season, having accumulated over 110,000 miles in preservation, including working on the main line. Another overhaul was undertaken, with the chassis being overhauled at Tyseley Loco Works and the boiler overhauled in the SVR Bridgnorth Boilershop. This overhaul was completed in November 2015, the return to service coinciding with the 'Manor 50' weekend celebrating the end of steam on the Cambrian network.

In 2019 an agreement was reached to send 7802 to the West Somerset Railway between May and October with GWR 6960 Raveningham Hall coming to the SVRSevern Valley Railway for a similar period. Whilst working on the WSR on 7 July the right-hand piston rod broke due to fatigue caused by a long-standing defect in the metal: the piston and rod were forced forward out of the cylinder block, damaging the front cylinder cover, securing studs and the cylinder casting beyond repair. The locomotive and tender were moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works, with new replacement cylinders delivered in 2021 and the boiler lifted in 2022 for work (e.g. re-tubing and some pipework) to reset the 10 year boiler certificate. The EMF intend it to return in 2024.

At the end of 2019, 7802 had recorded a total of 142,196 miles in preservation on the SVRSevern Valley Railway. The reported total may include mileage on the main line and on hire to other railways.

Main line appearances

A full listing of Bradley Manor’s main line appearances while resident at the SVRSevern Valley Railway is as follows:

Date	Tour name	Route	Notes	Web	SVRSevern Valley Railway News
29 Mar 1995		Bristol-Paignton + return	Test trip prior to summer season (Pete Waterman)		114-59
19 May 1995		Gloucester-Worcester-Kidderminster	D/H with 7325 to Worcester. 7325 test run, the last leg of which was d/h with 7802. 7325 developed a warm tender bearing by Worcester so came off and 7802 took the train back to Stourbridge before returning LE to the SVRSevern Valley Railway		115-44
14 Oct 1995	Duchy Explorer	Bristol-Penzance	D/H with 70000 Britannia		117-2
20 Jan 1996	Teign Valley Wanderer	Stourbridge - Newton Abbot			117-7
17 Feb 1996		Newton Abbot-Plymouth	D/H with 5029 Nunney Castle	PSOV
24 Feb 1996		Plymouth-Newton Abbot	D/H with 5029 Nunney Castle	PSOV	119-39
16 Mar 1996		Totnes-Worcester	(single headed)	PSOV	119-39
22 Jan 2000	Flying Dutchman	Bristol Temple Meads - Plymouth - Bristol Temple Meads		SBJ
10 Aug 2003	Torbay Express	Bristol Temple Meads - Paignton - Kingswear	failed with hot box at Kingswear	SBJ	145-31
31 Aug 2003	Torbay Express	Bristol-Kingswear + return		UKS	145-31
07 Sep 2003	Torbay Express	Bristol-Kingswear + return		UKS	145-31
23 Oct 2004	Cambrian Coast Express	Shrewsbury - Aberystwyth - Shrewsbury		SBJ
28 Feb 2005	Staite Pullman	Taunton - Paignton - Tanton	D/H with 6024	SBJ
12 Mar 2005	Cambrian Coast Express	Shrewsbury - Aberystwyth - Shrewsbury	Replaced 42968	SBJ
16 Sep 2006	Cambrian Coast Express	Shrewsbury - Aberystwyth - Shrewsbury		EMF
10 Mar 2007	Cider Express	Hereford - Bishops Lydeard - Minehead - Bishops Lydeard		SBJ
28 Mar 2007	Severn Valley Wanderer	Bristol Temple Meads - Kidderminster	Last run before OTMROn-Train Monitoring Recorder, a device similar in principle to the flight data recorder found on aircraft became mandatory	SBJ
For further information on sources and references, see The Severn Valley Railway on the main line

Tenders

Class 7800 locomotives are usually paired with ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 3500 gallon tenders. Bradley Manor will have used several different tenders in preservation.

• Since restoration 7802 has been paired with a 4000 gallon CollettCharles Benjamin Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1922-1941 tender (No T2792, main picture above). There is evidence of (at least) 7808 Cookham Manor running with such a tender near the end of its BRBritish Rail or British Railways service.

Between 2021 and 2024 this tender moved to the West Somerset Railway on hire to be paired with 7828 Odney Manor, while WSR volunteers rebuilt a 3500 gallon ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 tender for their locomotive.

• Sister locomotive 7812 Erlestoke Manor already has a more appropriate ChurchwardGeorge Jackson Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Great Western Railway 1902-1922 3500 gallon tender, No T2334; the contrast in tender size may be seen in the picture below. In January 2018, this tender was detached prior to 7812's move to Tyseley for overhaul, with the 3500 gallon tender remaining at Bridgnorth to be repainted and paired with 7802. The temporary swap was completed in March 2018.

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  7802 with 7812's 3500 gallon tender (May 2018)

• Owning group The Erlestoke Manor Fund are constructing a 3500 gallon tender for Bradley Manor using serviceable parts from the remains of a GWRGreat Western Railway 3500 gallon tender (No T2329) which they acquired in ex-Barry condition from The Llangollen Railway Great Western Locomotive Group. In July 2011 it was duly delivered to Bewdley. The Fund recovered the re-useable parts including horns, axle boxes, some springs and spring brackets, rear steps, draw bars, some brake gear and brake cylinder parts together with various other parts such as tank filler and beading to be incorporated into the tender tank. They opted not to re-use the deteriorated tender frames or wheels, which they intended for resale elsewhere. As of 2024 work is continuing at Tyseley.

• In August 2024 the EMF and The 2857 Society announced an agreement under which 7802 will re-enter service paired with the tender (GWRGreat Western Railway 3500 gallon tender No T2355) from out-of-ticket 2857 for a period of 12-15 months while the EMF completes the building of the new 3500 gallon tender for 7802.

7802 artwork

Bradley Manor features on the pub sign of The Railwayman's Arms at Bridgnorth, from a painting by John AustinJohn Austin GRA, renowned Bridgnorth-based railway artist and Fellow of The Guild of Railway Artists GRA.

She also featured on the 42 pence Royal Mail postage stamp from the Classic Locomotives series issued on 13 January 2004 and on the poster advertising the issue.

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  The Railwayman's Arms pub sign featuring 7802 Bradley Manor

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  42 pence stamp featuring Bradley Manor

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  Poster for 2004 Classic Locomotives stamps

See also

• Steam Locomotives
• The Severn Valley Railway on the main line
• SVR-based locomotives visiting other events
• Rolling stock currently under restoration
• Classes of locomotives used on the Severn Valley Branch in commercial service

Notes

References

SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book, ninth edition

Links

Erlestoke Manor Fund
GWR 7800 Class on Wikipedia