Amongst all the spells and magical odds and ends, one iconic piece of Harry Potter iconography has its own intriguing backstory: the Hogwarts Express. It turns out the real-life GWR 5972 Olton Hall steam train used as the Hogwarts Express in the films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001, didn’t always have such a charmed life.
Built 80 years ago, GWR 5972 — once a fixture of South Wales and the route to London’s renowned Paddington Station — was getting ready to be stripped for scrap metal. Due to obsolescence of steam by the advent of diesel and electricity, the steamer was decommissioned in the 60s and sat for 17 years in a Welsh scrapyard, long before Harry Potter producers Warner Bros. laid eyes on it.
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That changed when heritage rail operator West Coast Railways of Carnforth, England bought the relic in 1981 and began the arduous 16-year restoration. “It was in a hell of a state after being sat for nearly 20 years in a scrapyard,” West Coast’s James Shuttleworth told BBC. “There had been a lot of deterioration in that time so it took a lot of work.”
Restoring the Olton Hall would take more than a fresh coat of paint. “You can’t just throw in some water and fire up the boiler or you would have gone skyward very quickly,” Shuttleworth said. “So you almost have to start all over again.”
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West Coast got the train “up and running” again for charter trips around northern England, until Warner Bros. came calling. For Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the studio wanted an authentic steam engine “that was quintessentially British” to match what Rowling had in mind for Hogwarts Express.
“When the artistic director showed me a photo of what they wanted, a Hall class engine, I replied, ‘That’s easy, we’ve got one of those,'” Shuttleworth explained.
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GWR 5972 featured in all seven Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011. It was vandalized after principal photography wrapped on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to the tune of £50,000, and suffered damage during filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The steam train’s final stop, where it now rests, is as an attraction at Warner Bros. Studios in Hertfordshire, England.