About
the 6959 Modified ‘Hall’ Class
A development of the class
of 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives designed by Charles Benjamin Collett for the
Great Western Railway. 259 Collett Halls were built between 1928 and 1943. The
later Hawksworth Modified Halls were built between 1944 and 1950. 71 were
built.
When F.W.Hawksworth took over from Collett as
the new Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway in 1941, one of
the first things he decided to do was to modify the Hall Class. Although very
successful, it’s design could be traced back to the early 1900’s, so
modifications were planned to bring the class up to date. Instead of going back
and rebuilding the entire Collett-designed class, Hawksworth decided to
continue the building of Halls, but to a new, modified design. With the number
sequence continuing where Collett left off, they were to be called the 6959
Class, with 6959 Peatling Hall being delivered in March of 1944. The final Hall
built was 7929 Wyke Hall, in November of 1950.
The Modified
Halls marked the most radical change to Swindon Works' practice since
Churchward's time as chief mechanical engineer and was very far from a simple
modification of the Hall design. 'Although in outward appearance it looked
almost the same, nearly everything about it was new.' Hawksworth's use of plate
frames throughout the design was a break with Churchward's practice for 2
Cylinder locomotives. The cylinders were cast separately from the smokebox
saddle and bolted to the frames on each side. A stiffening brace was inserted
between the frames and extended to form the smokebox saddle. The exhaust pipes
leading from the cylinders to the blastpipe were incorporated into this
assembly. Additionally, Churchward's bar framed bogie which had been adapted
for the original Hall prototype in 1924 was replaced by a plate frame structure
with individual springing. There were changes too above the running board.
Hawksworth decided that the declining quality of coal reaching Great Western
depots necessitated a higher degree of superheating. A larger three-row
superheater and header regulator were fitted into Swindon No.1 boiler.
Improvements were subsequently made to the draughting on some engines, while
others were fitted with hopper ashpans.
Seven Modified Halls were saved for
preservation, although one has since been broken up, with parts being donated
to new-build projects. 7927 Willington Hall(the word ‘willing’ being in the
name seems appropriate!) has been used as a donor for the new Grange and County
projects taking place. Of the other six, four have steamed in preservation. At
the time of writing, 6960 Raveningham Hall and 6990 Witherslack Hall are both
running on the West Somerset and Great Central railway’s respectively. 7903 is
also very near steaming once more after a 10-yearly overhaul. Both 6984 Owsden
Hall and 6989 Wightwick Hall are also nearing steaming for the first time in
preservation.
The ‘Modified’ Hall Class were a success and
were popular with crews and maintenance staff. The ran freely, and steamed very
well. The four which have run in preservation have also proved equally popular
with railway staff and enthusiasts alike. A real tribute to F.W.Hawksworth!!
The Locomotives
6960
Raveningham Hall
The
locomotive was built in March 1944 at Swindon Works. Its first shed allocation
was Old Oak Common. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in June 1964 and
sold to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales for cutting up.
However it was saved for preservation and left the yard in October 1972 by Mr
David Edleston of derby. It was eventually sold to Steamtown Carnforth as the
26th departure from Barry. Restored in 1975, she was then based at the Severn
Valley Railway where she ran with 4930 Hagley Hall's tender while her own was
put behind 4930. She left the Severn Valley Railway in 1996. Sold to Jeremy
Hosking, by 2008 it was at The Flour Mill workshops in the Forest of Dean
receiving a thorough overhaul. Proposed to run at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire
Railway, restored from 2009 to operational condition in November 2011 at the
West Somerset Railway. Since, 6960 has run successfully on the WSR, as well as
visiting various other preserved lines, including the Mid-Hants and Great
Central railway’s.
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| Raveningham Hall returned to steam on the Severn Valley Railway in 1975 and appeared in this dark Great Western livery with a Collett tender |
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| This is the condition which Raveningham Hall currently runs in |
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| During the 1980’s and the early 1990’s, 6960 ran in this condition on the SVR with a flat-sided Hawksworth tender, which belonged to Hagley Hall |
6984
Owsden Hall
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| As this particular loco hasn't steamed as yet. As we do not know what livery the restoration group will go for, we have painted Owsden Hall in 1942-47 G[Crest]W green |
6990 was
built at Swindon in 1948 and withdrawn in January 1966. It was bought by the
Witherslack Hall Locomotive Society and it arrived on the Great Central Railway
in November 1975, having operated on the line during its BR days. Restoration
was completed in 1986 and the locomotive operated until 2001 when it was
withdrawn for overhaul. After 14 years out of service, 6990's overhaul was
completed in October 2015 and is now operating at the GCR once again.
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| This is how Witherslack Hall appeared during the last year or two of previous ticket around 2000-2001 |
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|
When originally returned to steam in 1986, Witherslack
Hall appeared in Great Western Green. This is not an authentic livery for this
particular modified Hall, as 6990 was built at the beginning of BR, in 1948.
So, therefore, would have only carried BR liveries. The livery was carried for
a few years until being transformed by the GCR, being painted in the attractive
BR lined black – a livery which really suited her.
|
 |
| Having returned to steam in 2015, Witherslack Hall is plying it’s trade once again on the GCR. One big change from 6990’s previous ticket is the Hawksworth flat-side tender. |
Burton Agnes
Hall was built by British Railways to GWR specifications at Swindon in January
1949, and named after the Yorkshire stately home. Obviously the GWR were
running out of stately homes in GW territory! Initially based at Cardiff, it
was finally withdrawn by British Rail in 1966. The locomotive was acquired by
the Great Western Society in the same year, and moved to the Didcot Railway
Centre in 1967. She ran pretty much continuously(baring maintenance) until
1996, when 6998 was retired from service. During that 29 year period, Burton
Agnes Hall performed on many mainline excursions, and spent the final stages of
its ticket running of preserved railways. Since 1996 the locomotive has been a
static exhibit at Didcot Railway Centre.
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|
The appearance of Burton Agnes Hall which will be familiar to steam
enthusiasts of the seventies, eighties and nineties. Burton Agnes Hall toured
the country in this condition before being withdrawn from traffic in 1996.
|
Hawksworth
Tender
When
F.W.Hawksworth took over from C.J.Collett as CME of the Great Western Railway,
all tenders were of the Churchward or Collett riveted design. However, when
Hawksworth produced his Modified Hall Class, he also designed a brand new
tender – a flat-sided, all-welded 4,000 gallon tender. Only three Hawksworth
4,000 gallon tenders survive in preservation. Today these can be found at
Loughborough, coupled to Witherslack Hall; Toddington, with Foremarke Hall and
Didcot, with Burton Agnes Hall. As was the case in GW/BR days, these tenders
move around. For example, the tender coupled to Witherslack Hall entered preservation
coupled to Hagley Hall, on the Severn Valley Railway. This particular tender
ran for a good few years with Raveningham Hall. The SVR and GCR did a swap
however, and now Hagley Hall has its own Collett riveted type, and Witherslack
Hall has its own Hawsworth tender, for the first time in preservation.
We are pleased to
present in this pack a new tender model. Produced by Vulcan Productions is the
Hawksworth flat-sided tender. There are 3 versions as seen below:
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| Hawksworth tender in BR green, with early crest, as seen today behind Foremarke Hall and Witherslack Hall |
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| The tender which is paired with Burton Agnes Hall. 6998 was purchased from BR with this tender. |
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| This is the same tender as the one which now runs behind 6990. However, back in the late 80's/early 90's, this tender ran behind 6960 Raveningham Hall in early British Railways green |
Other Pack Features
Custom Sounds
Each individual loco has it's own set of sounds, or variation on the base sounds we made for Foremarke Hall, which started the pack off. We have done our research on these and you'll notice one particular 'special' sound feature on the 1980/90's Raveningham Hall. We'll leave you to find out yourselves!
Custom Lamps and Headboards
The lamps and headboards can be changed 'on-the-fly'. Each loco has an unlit lamp on each bracket, and stowed lamps either side of the steam pipe on the drivers side, as is typical. Changing the lamps is done thus:
> Ctrl+1,2 & 3 - 3 Buffer-beam positions from left to right
> Ctrl+5 - Top bracket
> Ctrl+H - Turns on HI lamp
> Ctrl+8 - Keep pressing and toggle through 4 headboard options
PLEASE NOTE: Pressing H in-game will put the full lamp and headboard configuration on the tender for you. Press Shift+H, then H again to put the lamps and headboard back on the front again.
Scenarios
Scenarios will be supplied separately along with
a(or maybe even a few) weathered version(s) of the Modified Hall
Quick Drive
A vast array of QD
consists have been created. These can be found easily by entering a loco number
into the search field in the QD menu. There are OVER 60(!!!) in total. To get the
best out of these QD consists, we recommend you have the following payware/freeware
downloads installed:
- Great Central Railway(latest Version)
- West Somerset Railway(Steam Version)
Please Note: You do not require the above in order to use the locomotives. The pack manual contains all the information to help you load the locomotives into your own scenarios.
With the pack now in final stages of testing, you will very soon be able to enjoy these wonderful locomotives in all there glory! Our sincere thanks go to Vulcan Productions, and especially Ashley Burgess for the great work carried out.
