6880 Southam 25 May 2024

New build Grange Class 4-6-0 6880 Betton Grange passes Southam on 25 May 2024 with its first public passenger train - the 09:45 Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse service, during the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Cotswold Festival of Steam. 80 Grange class locos were built by the GWR in the 1930s, but the Second World War prevented an additional planned 20 from being constructed. Unfortunately the entire class was subsequently scrapped. The name Betton Grange had been allocated for the next loco, so it was the obvious choice for this new build. The loco was built on new frames, but has the boiler from Modified Hall Class 4-6-0 7927 Willington Hall, and the spare wheelsets from 43xx Class 2-6-0 7325.