Gerald Wadley was one of the founder members of the Worcester Locomotive Society and as Secretary he went on many of the early trips organised by the W.L.S. Gerald kept detailed notes of his sightings on these trips and they make fascinating reading in this age when few locomotives linger for long on motive power depots.
This advert for the Worcester Locomotive Society appeared in the June 1966 issue of 'Railway World'
Gerald visited Worcester engine sheds on Sunday 1st November 1959, and the following is his master list of locomotives seen:
It is interesting to record the various sheds to which these locomotives were allocated and to speculate as to what insight this provides into workings at Worcester in 1959:
The following engines were all allocated to Worcester (85A):
Nos.3218; 4124; 6992 "Arborfield Hall"; 9466; 7338; 9486; 7920 "Coney Hall"; 3216; 4625; 8480; 4152; 3607; 5110; 3213; 6989 "Wightwick Hall"; 6820 "Kingstone Grange"; 3725; 4142; 5037 "Monmouth Castle"; 2253; 5996 "Mytton Hall"; 4664; 7777; 1661; 1629; 6807 "Birchwood Grange"; 9401; 7707; 8460; 7007 "Great Western; 5071 "Spitfire"; 4088 "Dartmouth Castle"; 82008; 4113; 4109; 4680; 7005 "Sir Edward Elgar"; 78009; 6947 "Helmingham Hall; 6950 "Kingsthorpe Hall" and 78008.
The visiting engine numbers were:
Nos.8718 from Kidderminster; 7236 from Landore; 6922 " Burton Hall" from Oxford; 7325 from Pontypool Road; 3846 from Stourbridge Junction; 48105 from Saltley; 1004 "County of Somerset" from Swindon; 5336 from Severn Tunnel Junction; 5017 "The Gloucestershire Regiment 28th, 61st" from Gloucester (Horton Road); 73155 from Sheffield (Millhouses); 43049 from Saltley; 75061 from Leicester (Midland) and 73026 from Shrewsbury. (N.B. 3846 is listed twice).
Although it might seem a long way from home the big 2-8-2 tank engines like No.7236 from Landore were regular visitors to Worcester on trains from South Wales as were engines from Pontypool Road and Severn Tunnel Junction. It was not uncommon to see heavy freight locomotives from Stourbridge Junction at Worcester and in South Wales. As an example the W.L.S. recorded No.48430 from Stourbridge Junction at Neath shed on Sunday 18th November 1962. Swindon based engines including the "Counties" were often seen at Worcester. Saltley engines were regularly recorded at Worcester. It is a bit of a surprise to note "Castle" class No.5017 "The Gloucestershire Regiment" at Worcester as this was the pride of Gloucester shed and was rarely used on any duty other than the crack express trains through the Stroud valley. Shrewsbury based engines reached Worcester via the Severn Valley Railway line or Wolverhampton. The engine from Sheffield (Millhouses) was no doubt present to work the early morning Worcester to York passenger train that comprised of L.N.E.R stock. The Leicester (Midland) engine was a considerable distance from its home depot.
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