GWR Heavy Freight 3802

This venerable Great Western Locomotive was built at the famous Swindon works in 1938. Like others of its class, it was based on an older 2800 design modified and updated by engineers working under the great Charles Collett; sporting a longer, more enclosed cab than the original pattern, along with exterior steam pipes.

Like many of Collett’s designs, these engines were efficient, reliable and popular with crews, serving the Western region throughout the war and lasting long into the British Railways period, after the infrastructure was nationalised. After much debate, only the massive 9F-class was judged a viable replacement for these in the field of heavy freight haulage.

In its mainline career, 3802 served at depots throughout the Western Region, including Banbury, Bristol and Taunton, before being retired to the Barry scrapyards in 1965. It was then saved in 1984 and gradually restored to working order at the Plym Valley, Bodmin & Wenford and finally Llangollen Railways. It returned to steam for Llangollen in 2005, pulling for us for many years until its most recent overhaul between 2015 and 2018. Further maintenance works were completed throughout 2022 and the engine returned to traffic in 2024.