How many men does it take to move a 120 ton locomotive? Well, staff and shoppers at the Swindon Designer Outlet Village found out this week, as The Hagley Hall locomotive went home to the Severn Valley Railway, who loaned the Outlet Village the Hagley Hall 7 years ago. If you've ever been to the Outlet Centre and indulged in a spot of lunch at the food court, you cant have failed to see this fabulous steam locomotive just to the right of the restaurants. The 4930 Hagley Hall, as it officially known, was originally built at the Swindon Works and started work in May 1929, costing £5,107 to build.
 | | On the move |
It was a sad day when in December 1963 having run 1,295,236 miles the huge, black beast was sold for scrap. Thankfully it was purchased in June 1972 and brought to Bewdley Dead by rail on 6th January 1973 where renovation started. In September 1979 The Hagley returned to passenger use and worked the official reopening train for Kidderminster Town Station on 30th July 1984. Until it arrived at the Outlet Village, Swindon in 2000 where it remained until this week. So how do you go about moving such a big piece of machinery? Shoppers stopped in their tracks and put their credit cards back in there wallets, as they watched a giant piece glass to the side of the food court being taken out so that train could be loaded on to a gigantic road tractor for transportation. Don’t worry if you are a Hagley Hall fan you can still visit the locomotive, which will be the star attraction of the a brand new multi-million pound visitor centre up the M5 at the Severn Valley Railway. | 
