4049 Pendennis Castle comes from the 4-6-0 Castle class family which were once of the most celebrated locomotives of the Great Western Railway and over 171 Castles were built from 1923 – 1950. Pendennis Castle has a special claim to fame as she outperformed the mighty Flying Scotsman in 1925 running 16 coach trains on the East Cost main line from Kings Cross. This was a major milestone and she became a well known locomotive name at the time. Even after withdrawal in 1964, she found herself in Australia where as fate would have it, she was reunited with her rival and operated alongside Flying Scotsman at the climax of a tour during the countries bicentennial celebrations.
At the turn of the millennium, Pendennis Castle came home to the UK, making her the second locomotive in the world to circumnavigate it after The Flying Scotsman. Now belonging to the Great Western Society, she lives at Didcot Railway Centre. 100 years on, a special celebration is being held to commemorate this iconic locomotive.
Joining Pendennis Castle today is Lady of Legend (2999) and 0-4-0 Trojan (1340) who you may remember we saw at Fawley Hill last year. Both are running services today around the centre alongside Pendennis. Trojan is paired up with No 190 Collett Auto Trailer. Auto trailers allow the train to be driven from either end and often have gorgeous interiors. This one is no exception.
Lady of Legend is just about to start running services on the demonstration line. One thing about Didcot, and unlike most other railway centres, they let you walk everywhere and as close to the track as you want which makes Didcot one of the few places you can truly get up close to some of these mechanical marvels.
While Lady of Legend is running services on the demonstration line, Pendennis Castle makes her way to the coal stage to take on some coal for the day. This is one of the few times that the coal stage is in use.
In the afternoon, Pendennis Castle makes her way to the demonstration line to relieve Lady of Legend who is now retiring to the shed area for the day. She’s joined by 5051 4-6-0 Drysllwyn Castle and 4-6-0 Kind Edward II. A King, a Castle and a Lady, it’s a perfect combination.
It wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without a cake. There is a small ceremony to mark the day and the official cake is revealed. They did an amazing job with it.
