MEMBERS of the Launceston Railway Circle were delighted to have been presented with the Launceston Castle nameplate taken from a retired Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotive for their collections.

At a ceremony hosted in Launceston Town Hall, chief of staff from GWR, Luke Farley, delivered the plaque, which he donated to the committee of the Railway Circle.

During the event, the mayor of Launceston, Cllr Helen Bailey, said a few words where she expressed how much it meant to those who were in attendance, added: “It’s a wonderful thing that Les [member of the Railway Circle] was able to get this to the town.”

Cllr Bailey went on to explain how the plaque will be kept in the town’s museum alongside the Launceston Steam Locomotive given by British Railways in the 1960s.

Mr Farley then stepped up and gave some background to the plaque itself, saying he was “really pleased that it’s made its way to its obvious home and rightful place.”

Shortly after, Les Whaley from the circle expressed how “delighted” and “pleased” he was that the “Railway Circle has been able to negotiate with GWR” to get hold of the plaque.

It was first reported in December 2022 in the Railway Magazine that the GWR Castle Class locomotive was to be passed out. Launceston Castle was one of 27 Castle Class listed in the GWR Green Class with seven others with Cornish Castle Class nameplates.

Les continued: “I understand the Castle fleet was due for retirement from 2023 into 2024. We have already seen one of the replacements in the Hitachi 800 in GWR Green.

“We will all miss seeing Castle Class in the GWR Green which took over from the HSTs Class 43 from 1976 and many will recall seeing the HSTs in yellow, blue and grey which was the main passenger train seen from Penzance to London.

“It’s pleasing to see many manufacture's list models on 00 and N Gauge of the GWR Castle Class also the old HSTs and the new Hitachi GWR 800 IN Green, a must for the model collector.”