GWR 7800 Class No. 7812 'Erlestoke Manor'

7812 Erlestoke Manor is a preserved GWR 7800 Class steam locomotive, operated by the Great Western Railway and later British Railways. Owned by the Erlestoke Manor Fund, as of December 2022 it was in operational condition on the Severn Valley Railway.
==GWR/BR operations==
Built at Swindon Works in January 1939, it was first allocated to Bristol Bath Road depot. It was reallocated to Newton Abbot in August 1950, and Plymouth Laira in March 1959. Transferred to Oswestry in May 1960, its final allocation was to Shrewsbury in February 1963.
Withdrawn from British Railways service in November 1965, it was sent to Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales.
==Preservation==
thumb|7812 Erlestoke Manor with classmate 7802 Bradley Manor
The locomotive was purchased by the Erlestoke Manor Fund in June 1973. It was moved from Barry to a temporary home at the Dowty Railway Preservation Society, Ashchurch in May 1974, pending an eventual move to the Dean Forest Railway. However, in 1976 Fund members approved a move to the Severn Valley Railway instead, where restoration was completed, and the locomotive entered service in 1979. Withdrawn in 1985, it returned to service on 12 February 2008, as part of the SVR's anniversary reopening train.
Presently one of three GWR 7800 Manor Class locomotives based at the SVR, the other two being 7802 Bradley Manor (which is also owned by the Erlestoke Manor Fund) and GWR 7819 Hinton Manor. 7812's boiler ticket expired in January 2018, after which the locomotive was moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works for overhaul. It returned to the SVR in December 2022 and is scheduled to return to service in 2023.
==Olympic Torch run==
During the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay for the London 2012 Olympics, 7812 carried the Olympic torch and its bearer Chris Stokes from Bewdley to Kidderminster with a brief stop outside West Midland Safari Park.
==Depot allocations==
Depot 	Allocation Date
Bristol Bath Road 	January 1939
Newton Abbot 	August 1950
Plymouth Laira 	March 1959
Oswestry 	May 1960
Shrewsbury 	February 1963
Withdrawn(Woodham Brothers)	November 1965
== Gallery ==
File:Class 78xx No 7812 Erlestoke Manor (8063163476).jpg|7812 Erlestoke Manor at Bridgnorth station in 2012
==External links==
*The Erlestoke Manor Fund
Category:GWR 7800 "Manor" Class
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:4-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:4-6-0 locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Severn Valley Railway
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:United Kingdom
Category:Great Western Railway locomotives
Category:Built in 1939
Category:British Rail locomotives
Category:Swindon Works locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Locomotives
Category:Locomotives saved from the Woodham Brothers scrapyard
Category:Preserved steam locomotives