A fine portrait of " 7200 " class 7223 at Ebbw Junction , one of fifteen or so allocated to Newport's Ebbw Junction Depot in the ' fifties.
7223 was one of the second batch of twenty of this class emerging from Swindon in 1936 and 1937 , being rebuilds by Mr. Collett from the earlier " 5205 " series , the " rebuilds " incorporating an enlarged coal bunker on extended rear frames and with an additional trailing pony truck .
Primarily intended for service on mineral freight workings in South Wales the massive locomotives were well regarded by footplate men for their haulage capabilities , even though their length restricted them away from routes with sharp curves which made them prone to derailment.
Three of the class were loaned to Newton Abbot in the mid ' forties to assess their suitability for use over the South Devon banks , and one even went to Bromsgrove in 1958 when 7253 acted as a banking engine on the Lickey incline , but her large outside cylinders proved too much for the restrictd platform clearances at Bromsgrove station .