A long standing resident of Laira shed , 5098 , " Clifford Castle " looks to be nicely turned out in this colour shot on her home shed albeit with a nasty bend to her handrail , but the writing as on the wall by this date and Laira did not retain its allocation of " Castles " for much longer as the incoming Diesels took over many of their main line duties, the last " Castle " to be at Laira for a short time being 7022 , " Hereford Castle " before it too went to Hereford in November of 1963

5098 , " Clifford Castle " was the first of her class constructed just after the end of the war under the reign of Mr. Hawksworth who had succeeded Mr. Collett as Chief Mechanical Engineer at Swindon , the engine being built in May of 1946 , the first " Castle " to emerge from the Works with an enlarged superheater but being the last " Castle " to retain the sight feed lubricator controlled from the footplate by the driver and being regarded by footplatemen once in service as a very fine example of her class .
This engine was certainly well regarded by the footplate crews in her earlier days whilst allocated to Plymouth's Laira Depot , appearing regularly on passenger express workings from Plymouth to Paddington and Bristol as well as being a favourite for the " Cornish Riviera " down to Penzance .