The Magic of Steam .’ Olton Hall’. GWR Hall class locomotive number 5972 in her modern red livery pulls an express service through the Highlands.

Apart from the locomotive itself this painting is pretty much from my head .

Awesome , romantic and powerful , steam locomotives were in a league of their own . The smells  and sights that surrounded them , Oil and Smoke along with steam, the heat on the footplate . Children loved them and were captivated by The Magic of Steam.

Olton Hall is now a preserved locomotive .She was originally built at Swindon Works for the Great Western Railway in 1937. She ended her service career for British Rail.

This locomotive has only ever had one number .She was withdrawn from service in 1963 and restored in 1998 and is currently owned by West Coast Railways .

First allocated to Carmarthen in South wales where she stayed until 1951 , After being fitted with a superheater she was allocated to Plymouth and her last location was Cardiff East Dock . She was sold for scrap in 1964 .

GWR Livery was and has always been Green.  However, part of her preservation career meant she had to be sprayed Crimson . She always kept her GWR number though .

I photographed her on the Warwickshire Railway in the late 2000’s if my memory serves me right . I recently decided to make a painting out of it  .