GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall

In the Harry Potter films, the locomotive is depicted pulling the Hogwarts Express, a fictional train, made up of four (later five) British Rail Mark 1 carriages. Scenes were filmed at King's Cross railway station, the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway — along with internal scenes on board the train.

When filmed, Olton Hall carried a "Hogwarts Express" headboard on the smokebox, featuring the Hogwarts school crest. The same emblem is featured as part of the "Hogwarts Railways" sigil on the tender and carriages. It retained its GWR number of 5972, but with alternative nameplates fitted, naming the engine Hogwarts Castle. It is painted in a crimson livery — a non-standard colour, as GWR locomotives traditionally used green.

Olton Hall was not the first locomotive to be re-liveried to appear hauling the Hogwarts Express. To promote the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Southern Railway West Country Class locomotive 34027 Taw Valley was temporarily repainted and renamed. However, it was rejected by film director Chris Columbus as looking "too modern" for the film, but it carried the name and colour for some months afterwards.

The renaming as "...Castle" has become a railway preservation joke: "...the Hall that thinks it's a Castle"—the Great Western Railway Castle Class engines were different and larger.

Three full-size replicas of the locomotive as 5972 Hogwarts Castle are at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Universal Orlando Resort). Two as part of the Hogwarts Express train ride and the other is a static exhibit in the Hogsmeade area. There are also static models at the other Wizarding World of Harry Potter locations in Hollywood and Japan.

In 2015 the locomotive was put on static display at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter, near Watford, and will be displayed there until Warner Bros' lease on the locomotive from West Coast Railways expires.


Ford Anglia 105e

The Flying Ford Anglia was a light blue Ford Anglia 105E Deluxe that was enchanted by Arthur Weasley to fly, as well as to become invisible, with the use of a specially installed device called an Invisibility Booster. It was also modified so that it could fit eight people, six trunks, two owls, and a rat comfortably.