Prairies in tandem

By BobbyHB

Here we are at Arley, the next station up the line from Bewdley on the way to Bridgnorth.
Heading this train are two GWR 45xx class tank engines. Known as "Prairies" because of their wheel arrangement of 2-6-2 ( 2 small, 6 drivers and 2 small), the 45's were built in two versions. Some had small side tanks that had a straight top and later ones had larger tanks that had a sloping front.
The leading engine, No 5542, is of the large tank version and is the fourth of the visiting engines to the SVR gala weekend. The other loco is the SVR's resident small prairie No 4566.
The small prairies carried numbers beginning with 45 or 55, while the large prairies began with 51 and 61 (see previous upload of 5164)
Thanks to those who clicked on yesterday's piccy, espacially those who commented. Every comment is appreciated.
Have a great day.
Bob.

Tags: General Transport Steam Specialist and abstract Gala Svr Locomotives Arley Two prairies 45xx Double heading