TO THE MANORS DRAWN…

UNQUESTIONABLY the daintiest of the GWR’s named 4-6-0 locomotives were the 7800 Class Manors that were introduced under Charles Collett in 1938 to operate over some of the company’s most severely weight-restricted routes and branch lines as well as taking on main line duties, including assisting heavy trains over the challenging Devon banks.

With an axle loading of just over 17 tons, the Manors were essentially lighter versions of the 6800 Class Grange 4-6-0s which had appeared two years earlier, and both classes utilised the 5ft 8in driving wheels and motion parts from withdrawn 4300 Class moguls, although in the case of the Manors, this applied only to the initial batch of 20 built by the GWR in 1938/9.

Although many people mistakenly equate tractive effort with power (the measurement is rather one of adhesion), the 27,340lb of the Manors compares favourably with the 25,455lb of the Stanier ‘Black Fives’ and the 26,880lb of the Thompson B1s, and certainly contributed to sure-footed getaways.

Fitted with smaller Swindon No. 14 boilers working to the same 225psi steam pressure as