2999 Lady of Legend, GWR Saint Class

Rebuilt from GWR 4900 Hall Class No. 4942 Maindy Hall, built at Swindon in 1929, withdrawn by British Railways and rescued from Woodham Brothers’ scrapyard at Barry. The Great Western Society acquired it in 1974 with the conversion in mind.

Work began in January 2004 with the manufacture of new driving wheelsets and an ultrasonic survey of Maindy Hall’s frames. New wheels were unavoidable: a Saint’s driving wheels are 6 ft 8½ in against a Hall’s 6 ft, and the leading bogie wheels are larger too. The frames and boiler are the Hall’s. Genuine Saint parts were worked in where they survived, including a connecting rod from 2906 Lady of Lynn and a whistle from 2910 Lady of Shalott.

The locomotive was completed at Didcot Railway Centre in 2019, the first Saint in existence since 2920 Saint David was withdrawn in 1953.

Location and status last confirmed August 2026. Subject to verification.

Not a new build in the usual sense. This locomotive was not built from scratch to drawings: it is Hall Class 4942 Maindy Hall, a genuine 1929 Swindon locomotive rescued from Barry, rebuilt into a Saint using its own frames and boiler. It is counted in this site’s preserved total under the Saint Class, and is deliberately not counted again under the Halls, because it is one machine and not two.

Record note: this entry previously described the locomotive as a modern replica built to the original design with parts from a Modified Hall, and gave its build year as 1902. Both were wrong — the donor was a 4900 Class Hall, not a Modified Hall, and the frames date from 1929. The year shown is the date of completion as a Saint. Corrected in August 2026.