GWR 4073 Class 5080 Defiant


GWR 4073 Class 5080 Defiant is a steam locomotive. It was originally built as Ogmore Castle in May 1939 at Swindon Works, the engine being one of the many popular GWR Castle Class. Its first shed allocation was Old Oak Common.

Allocations

The shed locations of 5080 during her career with the GWR & BR on particular dates.
LocationShed codeFrom
Old Oak CommonPDN25 May 1936
Cardiff CantonCDFAugust 1940
SwindonSDN9 January 1941
Cardiff CantonCDF20 March 1941
SwindonSDN16 August 1949
Cardiff CantonCDF 13 September 1949
Landore87EDecember 1955
Llanelly87FSeptember 1961

Renaming

Prior to 5080's transfer to Cardiff Canton from Swindon, the engine was renamed Defiant in January 1941, commemorating one of the many types of aircraft which had taken part in the Battle of Britain. The engines original name Ogmore Castle was also used on an earlier member of the class as well as being later used by two sister engines, the name was originally allocated to 5056 before being renamed Earl of Powis in Sept 1937. Following 5080's renaming the name was transferred to 7007 & 7035.

British Railways

After the arrival of the Britannia class Pacifics on the Western Region of British Railways, in 1959 it was moved to Carmarthen, staying there until its final move to Llanelli in May 1961.

Withdrawal and Preservation

It was withdrawn in April 1963, and acquired by Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales in October 1963.
It was sold to the Standard Gauge Steam Trust, initially as spare parts for 7029 Clun Castle, and left as the 62nd departure from Barry in August 1974. Its restoration was completed in June 1988, and it ran for a number of years, appearing on various preserved lines such as the Llangollen Railway Easter 1996. After its boiler certificate expired, it was sent to be displayed at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, where it remained until May 2017 when it was returned to Tyseley.
Defiant is at present stored at Tyseley Loco Works, but makes appearances at Tyseley's open weekends as a static exhibit, and a group called "The Defiant Club" are raising money to fund an overhaul of 5080 Defiant for a return to service on the mainline to work excursion trains.

Gallery

Below are a set of photos showing 5080 during its career with British Railways alongside its time at Barry Island and in preservation.