Heritage Railway 182 2013-10

HeritageRailwayOpinion

The greatest locomotives of the 20th and 21st centuries together: members of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust with No. 60163 Tornado, parked alongside world record holder A4 No. 4468 Mallard at Barrow Hill Live on September 28. Many of them will be involved in the new project to build a modern version of A4 designer Sir Nigel Gresley’s P2 Mikado, for which phenomenal support has already been received. LAWRIE LOVELESS/A1 TRUST Editor Robin Jones [email protected] 01507 529305 Deputy editor Brian Sharpe [email protected] Publisher Dan Savage Senior contributing writers Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Fred Kerr, Roger Melton Designer Tim Pipes Reprographics Jonathan Schofield Group production editor Tim Hartley Advertising representative Craig Amess [email protected] 01507 529310 Subscription manager Paul Deacon Marketing manager Charlotte Park Production manager Craig Lamb Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole Managing director Brian Hill Editorial address Heritage Railway magazine Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99 Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ Website www.heritagerailway.co.uk General queries and back issues 01507 529529 24 hr answerphone [email protected] www.classicmagazines.co.uk Archive enquiries Jane Skayman [email protected] 01507 529423 Subscription: Full subscription rates (but see page 32 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £53.30. Export rates are also available – see page 32 for more details. UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax.

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T

o say that the launch of the project to build a new Gresley P2 2-8-2 Mikado has caught the public imagination is a gross understatement. Indeed, it has made the best start of any of our new-build projects, with £70,000 raised towards an initial target of £100,00 in about four weeks. The response to the P2 scheme is again down to one big factor –credibility. At the start of the Tornado project, there were many who said it would never work, and even as it prepared for its first steamings, there were still voices echoing that sentiment. History now shows Tornado did work, it has run on the main line and has impressed. Being to this century what Flying Scotsman was to the last, crowds still amass wherever it goes, Hornby has produced sell-out models and it holds appeal for all generations. The success of Tornado is currency, the type of which many multinational firms would give their all to have. The A1 Trust has a proven track record not only in steam engineering but also with operating within a budget and paying off its debts on time. The goodwill towards the trust and its blue machine are unswerving, and there is every indication that we will now have a P2 within a decade. The success of Tornado should also serve as a blueprint and a salutary lesson for those who also set out on new-build projects. Raw enthusiasm for a particular locomotive, its designer or its legacy never pays bills. Yes, the A1 Trust was started by a plan on the back of a beermat over a few pints, but the key factor here was a succession of effective fundraising plans. Without a clear and credible business case, new build will not happen. Nobody will donate money to a project if they think their coppers will go straight into a black hole, never to bear fruit in their lifetime. I have long seen new build as the future of the heritage movement, not necessarily of big, glamour machines like A1s and P2s, but of smaller workhorses such as the NER G5 tank in Shildon and the Severn Valley-based BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T No. 82045, which has

just had its six driving wheels cast. Both are perfect for the averagely-sized heritage railway, and in theory should give a decade and more of relatively faultless service without the need for expensive repairs and interim maintenance. However, none of these will come to fruition without mass financial support. Today, the financial advisor is a far more important figure than the works foreman. At Heritage Railway, we are always happy to give the oxygen of publicity to new schemes, be they new build, railway revival or restoration. It does not necessarily mean that we believe that they will succeed, but just as The Birmingham Post gave column inches to the would-be Talyllyn Railway revivalists in 1950, sowing the seeds of today’s preservation sector, we believe that as the industry journal, we have the responsibility to offer a platform to all. Nonetheless, we have seen schemes get to the website stage and no further, while other green shoots quickly wither and die through lack of popular support. It does not mean that these projects are not commendable in themselves, but their protagonists have failed to grasp the art of inspiring the greater public at large. The credibility factor can also be seen in the splendid response to the Severn Valley share offer which raised £2 million and the Great Central’s Loughborough bridge project which has passed the £250,000 mark. We sincerely hope that people will be equally as forthcoming to help the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Bridges to Broadway appeal, which will take a major Cotswold tourist magnet firmly into the heritage sector’s fold, with rich pickings for all in future years. We all banded together to help this superb railway recover from its double landslip calamity; now let’s continue with the bulldog spirit so we can see once again Halls, Castles and maybe a King barking within earshot of Broadway again. Robin Jones Editor Heritage Railway

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Contents

Issue 182 October 24 – November 20, 2013

News 6

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Cover

HEaDLINE NEws

East Lancashire Railway chief mechanical engineer jailed for five years; first royal visit to Bluebell East Grinstead extension; P2 launch appeal hits £70k; Great Central reaches quarter of its Loughborough Bridge target and the Autumn Great Gathering of six A4s to run for an extra three days.

NEws

National Railway Museum A4 Pacifics Nos. 4464 Bittern, 4468 Mallard and 4489 Dominion of Canada. NRM Inset: Metropolitan 0-4-4T No. 1 and LSWR T9 4-4-0 No. 30120 at Bodmin. SARAH-ANNE HARVEY

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A1 nameplate dragged out of pond by sea scouts; farm park owner fined for railway trespass with children; massive South African steam sale; Bodmin ‘royal’ saloon; relaunched by Met No. 1; Severn Valley share offer raises £2m; first vehicle for Wisbech museum; Met 150 Acton open days and Aldwych tours; Lottery grant for ECJS coach; new steam servicing facilities for Glasgow proposed; Embsay marks 125th anniversary; first regular Princes Risborough to Chinnor trains; Prince heads three original L&B coaches; GWR takes over Worth Valley, record crowds at Alan Keef

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open day; North Norfolk takeover of Chatham Steam; G/WR aims for Broadway in three years and winter running ‘first’ for Dartmouth Steam Railway.

Regulars 54

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CENTrE

Derek Phillips’ stunning view of steam in the Highlands with LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45407 reflected in the still waters of Loch Awe on the Oban line taking centre stage.

MaIN LINE NEws

Steam Dreams Stratford diner debut cancelled; Great Marquess WCML triumph; ‘Cathedrals Express’ future plans; K1 back in traffic; two B1s for main line; new dates for 90mph A4 Bittern runs; RTC trips engine changes; ‘new’ King’s Cross unveiled and two ‘Black Fives’ in King’s Cross filming.

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MaIN LINE ITINErary

Brian Sharpe’s definitive guide to steam and heritage modern traction railtours in the coming month.

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PLaTfOrM

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raILwayaNa

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sCaLE HErITagE raILway

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Off THE sHELf

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UP & rUNNINg

Where your views matter the most. Geoff Courtney’s auction scene report. New London Transport Class 20s and Tyseley pannier tank.

Lastest booik and merchandise releases. Brian Sharpe’s complete listing of museums and operational heritage lines.

106 THE MONTH aHEaD

Our regular at-a-glance guide to the big events coming up in the next four weeks, with Heritage Railway, as usual, bringing unrivalled coverage.

COMPETITION

■ WIN

A CORNISH HOLIDAY FOR TWO!

Courtesy of Rail Holidays, enjoy a short break in a luxury restored railway cariage at a choice of two locations around Cornwall’s World Heritage Site.

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sUBsCrIBE TO HERITAGE RAILWAY!

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LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea crosses the listed 48 span Whalley Arches over the River Calder with West Coast Railways ‘Lune Rivers Trust Special’ from Carnforth to Chester on September 28. ALAN CASTLE

Features 67 the 1500 wanders aGain

It’s not oen a railtour can be rerun aer 50 years using the same engine, and it will never be a straightforward exercise. Brian Sharpe reports on an ambitious plan that nearly worked.

70 Good Manors With no fewer than four Manors on the roster, the West Somerset Railway was transformed into the Cambrian main line for its autumn gala. Don Benn compares the heritage line today with the Cambrian in real steam days.

70 82 LouGhborouGh’s Green Party

67 www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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Eight locomotives in steam reinforced the Great Central Railway’s renowned autumn gala as one of the heritage sector’s perennial ‘must visit’ events, as attendances at the Southernflavoured October 3-6 event rose by 10% over the previous year’s corresponding event, writes Robin Jones.

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HeadlineNews

Hammersmith & City steam scheduled for August 2014 EXCLUSIVE by Robin Jones THE Bluebell Railway has again agreed to lend its Chesham branch set of four wooden-bodied Ashbury and Cravens coaches to London Underground for another ground-breaking series of public steam-hauled trains through the tunnels. Over the weekends of August 2-3 and 9-10, Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No.1 will again head a train comprising the four ex-London Transport carriages plus restored Metropolitan Railway saloon No. 353 on an extensive series of trips on the Underground, this time to mark the 150th

Meon Valley revival THE newly-formed Meon Valley Railway Heritage Society is appealing for help to clear West Meon station, which saw Second World War leaders meet to discuss the D-Day landings. The society, which was formed in June, has been granted planning permission to start clearing the station site as the first phase of a scheme plan to create a standard gauge heritage line between Knowle and West Meon. A day of clearance starts at 9am on Tuesday, October 29, and finishes at noon. Volunteers are being asked to bring spades and shovels.

anniversary of the Hammersmith & City line. Furthermore, there is likely to be a further series of Underground steam trips over the weekend of August 16-17, on a route yet to be confirmed. The Hammersmith & City line was opened between Paddington and Hammersmith in 1864, following the success of the Met, the world’s first underground railway. Operated and owned jointly by the Metropolitan and GWR, it was extended eastwards in stages, reaching the East London Railway in 1884. It was electrified in 1906 and after the Met had been absorbed by the new London Passenger Transport Board in 1936, some services ran over the District Line to Barking. It was shown on the

tube map as part of the Met until 1990. Today, the Hammersmith & City line serves 29 stations over 15.8 miles. Most of the track and all the stations are shared with the District, Circle or Metropolitan lines. The railway is underground in the central section between Paddington and Bow Road. Before then, the highlyacclaimed Met 150 celebrations continue with more overground public stream trips, this time between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Uxbridge, on Sunday, December 8. Up to six return round trips will be run, again drawing locomotives from the fleet of No. 1 and Bill Parker’s GWR prairie No. 5521 reliveried in London Transport red as No. 5521, and

backed up by vintage Met Bo-Bo electric No. 12 Sarah Siddons and reliveried Class 20s No. 20189 and 20227 which, as highlighted in Scale Heritage Railway on page 86, are now the subject of two exclusive OO gauge models produced by Bachmann for London Transport Museum. By popular demand, the museum’s exhibition Poster Art 150 – London Underground’s Greatest Designs sponsored by Siemens has been extended until January 5, 2014. Details of the December steam trains may be obtained from www.ltmuseum.co.uk or by telephoning 0207 379 6344. ➲ Met No. 1 visits Bodmin – page 12; tours of closed Aldwych station – page 17; aliens reinvade Covent Garden station – page 52.

Phenomenal start for new P2 Mikado IN WHAT is being described as the most successful start for any newbuild locomotive project, nearly £70,000 has been donated within a month to the scheme to construct a Gresley P2 Mikado 2-8-2. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, responsible for the building of No. 60163 Tornado, launched the Founders Club on September 21 in a bid to raise £100,000 for the launch phase of the project to build an example of what was Britain’s most powerful express passenger steam locomotive – a perfect companion for the likes of Mallard, the fastest, and built under the same chief mechanical engineer. With a week of the Founders Club being launched on

September 21, 35% of the target had been raised, such was the eagerness of supporters to sign up and make it happen. That figure was approaching the £70,000 mark as we closed for press, with thousands of pounds coming in every day. Members of the Founders Club are each donating £1000 (in up to four payments of £250 by standing order) allowing the purchase of the steel and subsequent cutting of the frames to take place in May. By contrast, it took the Tornado project several years to reach the same stage. The P2 Steam Locomotive Company (charitable status pending) has allocated between seven and 10 years to build the as-yet-unnamed new

locomotive, No. 2007. P2/A1 chairman Mark Allatt said: “We have been overwhelmed by the sheer pace of support for The Founders Club. “It’s unheard of to generate paid up members to such a proposition so quickly, which can only be a demonstration of the faith in the team behind this project and desire to see No. 2007 become a reality. “It’s no simple exercise cutting the frames for a P2, especially given the history around the design. We still have spaces in this exclusive club, so if you wish to join please sign up today!” ➲ For details on how you can join The Founders Club, visit www.p2steam.com

New main line dining trains launched IN PARTNERSHIP with UK Railtours and Creative Rail Dining Ltd, Jeremy Hosking’s Locomotive Services Limited has launched a new series of main line dining steam tours. The trips will feature A4 No. 4464 Bittern, BR Standard Pacific No. 70000 Britannia and West Country light Pacific No. 34046 Braunton. The first trip will run on December 23 from Waterloo to Salisbury and feature a five course lunch.

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As we closed for press, the P2 Steam Locomotive Company released its new CAD drawing of the frame assembly for No. 2007. The colour coding is as follows: Grey – existing P2 design unaltered; green – existing A1 Tornado design incorporated – rear frames, roller bearing axles and axleboxes; yellow – original P2 design requiring minor changes (spring hanger brackets); red – P2 frame stays requiring significant redesign to accommodate air brakes (original P2s were fitted

with vacuum brakes only); turquoise – start of new cylinder block design as a fabricated welded steel monobloc with reduced cylinder diameter to fit modern loading gauge for use with 250 psi boiler and changes to suit British Caprotti valve gear derived from that used on No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester; purple – adapted postwar spring side control V2 pony truck to address the known track force problems with the original P2 Gresley swing link design. P2SLC www.heritagerailway.co.uk

East Lancashire CME jailed for five years By Robin Jones

THE chief mechanical engineer of the East Lancashire Railway is beginning a five year and four months prison sentence after slashing a man with a penknife outside a Bury takeaway. Allan Schofield, who at the age of 26 was one of the youngest CMEs in the country, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent at Bolton Crown Court. The incident occurred on Sunday, November 6, 2011 – before Schofield was appointed to the post. He had been a volunteer on the railway since he was a youngster and was said to have also worked on other heritage lines. An ELR source said that the first the railway knew about the offence was on Tuesday, October 9 – a day before Schofield’s court appearance. A replacement CME is now being sought. The court heard that the victim of the attack, who is now 23 years old, had been drinking with friends in Bury town centre when they visited Tony’s Currypot takeaway in Haymarket Street. Although the pair were strangers, the victim began a conversation outside the takeaway with Schofield, who had consumed 10 pints of beer, and eventually a lengthy argument broke out.

Allan Schofield. GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE

After the victim turned his back and walked away, Schofield pursued him and punched him several times in the face, the court was told. Schofield then produced a penknife and began slashing at the man’s face and throat. His friends managed to get him away from the grasp of Schofield – who they then locked inside the takeaway until police arrived. The victim sustained a large neck wound as well as facial cuts and was left with permanent scars. Detective Constable Lindsey Worrall, based at Whitefield, said: “Once again a man ended up hospitalised after someone drank

far too much and could only settle their disagreement with violence. “Schofield completely lost it and, had it not been for the victim’s friends stepping in, who knows how this would have ended as this male still carries the scars today from his wounds. “For that reason, Schofield is clearly a menace with a short fuse and a violent streak. He used a knife as an aggravating factor which could have had devastating consequences and he is definitely in the best place now.” The ELR source said that Schofield’s engineering abilities had been of the highest order. An official ELR statement said: “As a result of Mr Schofield not having declared any information relating to this matter prior to being employed by the ELR, and also by virtue of him not seeing fit to inform the company subsequently of the proceedings, the East Lancashire Light Railway Co Ltd has terminated his contract of employment with immediate effect; his contract having effectively been frustrated as a result of his actions. “The company also wishes to state that had it been aware of the matter it would have taken steps immediately to dismiss him from our employ. David Batty has been appointed as interim CME.”

Seventeen days for second Great Gathering THE second Great Gathering of all six surviving LNER A4 streamlined Pacifics held to mark the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s 126mph world steam railway speed record will run for an extra three days. Four of the six survivors were shunted into place in the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum in York on Tuesday, October 15. No. 4464 Bittern, No. 4468 Mallard and temporarily repatriated pair No. 4489

Dominion of Canada and No. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower were later joined by No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and No. 60009 Union of South Africa. The Autumn Great Gathering which starts on Saturday, October 26, will now run until November 11. It has been extended due to main line locomotive owners not recalling their engines for a further three days than was previously anticipated. Backed by Heritage Railway and World record breaker No. 4468 Mallard has its connecting rods refitted at the National Railway Museum after arriving back from its September tour which involved appearances at Grantham station, Doncaster Works and Barrow Hill Live. NRM

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our sister title The Railway Magazine, the first Great Gathering, which ran for 15 days from July 3, attracted more than 138,000 visitors. Admission will again be free, but extra charges will be made for ticketed events such as early bird photographic sessions. Additional ticketed events are further £15 Exclusive Access mornings on November 9, 10 and 11 and an additional £22.50 Pictures, Pies and Pacifics evening photography session on Saturday, November 9. Visit nrm.org.uk/mallard75 for information on how to book a place. The event will also encompass the annual Locos in a Different Light event which runs from October 30 to November 2 as part of the Illuminating York festival. The six will be bathed in spectacular lighting by teams of performing arts students experiment with lighting effects in a competition. Locos in a Different Light opens to the public from 6.30pm-10pm and both parking and admission to the evening event are free. Heritage Railway

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HeadlineNews

The new cylinder for BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079, freshly arrived from machining by Tees Components. ADRIAN DENNIS

‘Pocket Rocket’ set for imminent reassembly THE new cylinder for BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079, cast from the pattern prepared for new build BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T 82045, has now been delivered to Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway following machining. The new cylinder has been machined to be an exact replacement for the old one, which was laser scanned to provide all the necessary dimensions, so should require a minimum adjustment to make it a perfect fit. Repairs to No. 76079’s boiler, the equivalent of an intermediate overhaul, are also believed to have been completed, meaning that it should be possible to reassemble the loco quite quickly; and it is hoped that No. 76079 may be back in service in time for this year’s Santa specials on the NYMR. The addition of this locomotive and still under repair Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395 to the NYMR’s fleet for next season should see it in a stronger position next year to maintain its enhanced steam services to Whitby. There will be up to four Whitbycapable locomotives available, in the form of Nos. 76079, 75029, 45428 and 61264, with Nos. 60007, 63395, 92214 and 29 on Pickering trains.

First Royal Train on extended Bluebell By Robin Jones

RENOWNED royal steam fan the Duke of Gloucester has become the latest passenger to travel on the Bluebell Railway’s northern extension to East Grinstead. Since the extension through Imberhorne Cutting was opened on March 23, passenger numbers on the line have soared by 38%, bringing a trade boom to East Grinstead. Having been invited by the High Sheriff of East Sussex, Peter Field, the Queen’s cousin arrived by car at Sheffield Park on October 10. After meeting many of the extension volunteers, the duke was shown around the museum at Sheffield Park station by Bluebell Railway Preservation Society deputy chairman Sam Bee, where he also unveiled a commemorative plaque. On the day, the railway was also running its Autumn Tints specials, headed by P class 0-6-0T No. 323, one of which arrived at Sheffield Park while the duke was in attendance.

The Duke of Gloucester congratulates the Bluebell Railway’s northern extension project team at Sheffield Park. JOHN SANDYS

The duke travelled from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead in the railway’s Great Northern Railway director’s saloon hauled by SECR H class 0-4-4T No. 263 to make up a Royal Train which formally marked the opening of the northern extension. At East Grinstead, he signed the visitors’ book before leaving by public service train to travel over the national network to his next

Mid-Hants bridge boost

HAMPSHIRE County Council has given a £75,000 boost to the MidHants Railway, recognising its huge contribution to the county’s tourism economy. The grant will cover maintenance of an overbridge in Four Marks, Alton. The total cost of the repairs is estimated to be around £100,000.

SECR H class 0-4-4T No. 263 heads the single-car Royal Train waiting to take the Duke of Gloucester to East Grinstead. JOHN SANDYS

engagement. The previous royal visit to the line was made by Princess Alexandra in 2002. The Duke, the second son of the late Duke of Gloucester and the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, is a grandson of King George V, whose portrait hangs in the refreshment room at Horsted Keynes station. His title is also celebrated in the railway sector with the unique BR Class 8 Pacific No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester carrying the name. The previous week, on October 3, the duke visited the Rushden Transport Museum and rode over its half-mile running line behind Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 2168 of 1943 Edmundsons. As patron of Northamptonshire Museums and Historic Houses Forum, the duke had presented the venue with its People’s Choice Museum award in 2012. He indicated at the time that he would like to visit Rushden station, where volunteers are aiming to extend their line into Higham Ferrers. As he was in the county on that day, a visit was arranged.

New chairman for Bluebell plc from Iarnrod Eireann DICK Fearn, former chief executive of Iarnród Éireann, has been named the new chairman of Bluebell Railway plc. He served in the UK rail industry for 30 years, from 1973 to 2003, with British Rail and its successor companies, including as zone director of Midlands and North West Railtrack/Network Rail; managing director of the South Eastern Train Company; and divisional director of BR Network South

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East, Thames and Chiltern and South East Divisions. He joined Iarnród Éireann in 2003, as chief operating officer, responsible for dayto-day operations of the rail service, and became chief executive three years later. He oversaw major improvements in the performance and reliability of Iarnród Éireann’s services, the renewal of the rolling stock fleet and network expansion.

He boosted efficiency, cutting operating costs per train mile by 50%. There were nine candidates for the Bluebell position. Roy Watts, chairman of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, said: “He is under no illusion that the next few years present a great challenge, but as a true lifelong railwayman, he brings us a wealth of knowledge.”

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Double Fairlie Merddin Emrys and England 0-4-0STT No. 2 Prince in the Old Engine Shed at Boston Lodge. ROBERT PARRY JONES

Prince heads a slate train towards Porthmadog, just as it did back in 1863. JON POTTER

Ffestiniog 150 closes with vintage spectacular gala THE final event in the Ffestiniog Railway’s celebrations to celebrate 150 years of narrow gauge steam saw the line’s 19th-century heritage to the fore. The 1863 and All That gala on October 11-13 saw both staff and visitors dress up in period costume,

with period coaches forming special trains, including trips to the Welsh Highland Railway to Beddgelert. Many shops along Porthmadog High Street also had their staff in period costume over the weekend. The inaugural FR Boat Race on Saturday featured the replica

England 0-4-0STT Welsh Pony is greeted by a real Welsh pony at Harbour Station, with sister Princess parked alongside. ANDREW THOMAS

Spooner’s rail-mounted boat on the FR track on the Cob racing Madoc Yacht Club’s longboat in the sea alongside! The race resulted in a victory for the rowing club, although the crew of the railway’s boat claimed they were catching up fast at the finish line. Marking the line’s horse-drawn days prior to 1863, Tickle the horse turned up at Harbour station at Porthmadog and visitors were able to see England 0-4-0STT Welsh Pony alongside a real Welsh pony. Not only the trains but Harbour Station’s pub and restaurant were packed for the duration, with gin bar and beer served straight from wooden casks into pewter tankards chained to the bar. Three barrels of a special brew from Porthmadog’s Purple Moose brewery were delivered to the pub by steam train.

GCR bridge appeal breaks £250k barrier THE Great Central Railway’s Bridge to the Future appeal has exceeded £250,000, less than five months after being launched. The railway has set a target of raising £1 million by the middle of 2015 to pay for a replacement bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough, linking it to the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and creating the world’s first inter-city heritage railway, between the outskirts of Leicester and Nottingham. A GCR spokesman said: “Since the leaflet drop and advert in Heritage Railway last month, there has been a significant upswing in donations coming in.” The new bridge will take a singletrack line across the four tracks of a newly electrified MML. Network Rail has been appointed to manage the project to build the new bridge. The project managers and engineers are due in Loughborough shortly for a site visit. They will look at the location of the new bridge, and the other elements of the wider railway

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reunification project, which include repairing a canal bridge and building a new 300-yard embankment. They will examine the topography of the landscape and investigate the geotechnical aspects of the project. Network Rail is currently drawing up the specification for a detailed survey of where the new bridge abutments will be built. As previously reported, the bridge decks have already been acquired from Reading station, where they were surplus to requirements following a remodelling programme. They will also be assessed in the survey and the results will determine the full scope of works ahead. GCR plc managing director Bill Ford said: “On behalf of everyone both sides of the gap, thank you to everyone who has donated to take us past this significant milestone. “Not only is it a boost for us to reach 25% of the total so quickly, it gives confidence to our Network Rail partners. There is a long way to go to reach our £1 million target by 2015 but as soon as we have more

news we will pass it on – to encourage further donations!” Hundreds of copies of a fundraising DVD, which contains the highlights of the GCR’s recent Swithland gala from April 2013, have been sold. They cost £25 and can be ordered by sending an email to [email protected] See also Off The Shelf, page 91. Every penny from the sale of the DVDs goes to the Bridge to the Future appeal. The spokesman added: “If everybody reading Heritage Railway today gave £45 and made the gift aid declaration, not only would the MML bridge target be reached, there would also be enough to tackle another element of the reunification project! ➲ To contribute to the project, visit www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify and click ‘DONATE’ Alternatively, download an appeal form (from the same page), fill it in and send it with a cheque made payable to the David Clarke Railway Trust to Bridge Appeal, Lovatt House, 3 Wharncliffe Road, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1SL.

F&WHR commercial manager Clare Britton said: “This event was almost as popular as the May vintage event, which broke all records. Considering the wet weather on Sunday, we’re delighted with the results and especially with the enthusiastic involvement of other businesses in the town.” The Friday also saw the unveiling of two Transport Trust Red Plaques at the station by Lord Dafydd ElisThomas, member of the Welsh Assembly for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and of the House of Lords. Transport Trust spokesman Stuart Wilkinson said: Our unprecedented unveiling of two plaques at Porthmadog is quite simply a reflection of the Ffestiniog Railway’s many significant achievements, which literally changed the world and which mustn’t be overlooked.”

Steam trains could run to Leek by 2015 TRAINS could be running back into Leek in two years’ time. Moorland & City Railways, which has been refurbishing the 20-mile Stoke-on-Trent to Cauldon Lowe line, is considering the sale of surplus five acres of land at Leekbrook for housing to finance the rail reinstatement bid. Under the plans, a new company will be formed to rebuild the line on the original North Staffordshire Railway formation which is currently used as a footpath. MCR was looking at several locations for a new Leek station, the site of the original now a Morrisons supermarket. Shareholders of the adjacent Churnet Valley Railway, some of the directors of which sit on the MCR board, were told about the plans at their annual general meeting on October 12. CVR services are likely to be extended into Leek as part of the plans.

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News

‘Scrap metal’ dragged out of pond by scouts is A1 nameplate EXCLUSIVE By Geoff Courtney TO THE sea scouts dredging out a local pond, it appeared to be nothing more than a long lump of scrap metal. Indeed, such was their belief that it was worthless, they subsequently used it as a ramp for hauling an abandoned motorcycle out of the water. But their insouciance soon turned to interest when they turned it over and spotted lettering on the other side. For they had pulled out of the water a nameplate from a Peppercorn A1 Pacific that had been in the 4ft deep pond for possibly decades

and is set to net them a major windfall when it comes up for auction in January. The youngsters, members of the 70-strong 1st Canvey Island Sea Scout group in Essex, were clearing out a pond in June which they rent from Castle Point Borough Council for canoeing and rafting. Originally built as a lake for model boats, the pond used to be close to a rubbish tip, and therein perhaps lay a clue as to why the nameplate – Wilson Worsdell, from No. 60127 – may have ended up in the water. Richard Lotz, the group’s scout leader, takes up the story: “The Environment Agency had pumped out the pond after rain had flooded the whole area and it

was quite a mess, so we decided to clear it up. “We dragged out all manner of rubbish, including a washing machine, and found what we thought was just a piece of metal, which we used as a ramp to pull out a 90cc motorcycle. The metal was mounted onto plywood, and when we turned it over we saw a name which was legible. “As soon as I saw it I realised it was brass and was a locomotive nameplate. We had no idea of its value but thought it must be worth a few bob, so we notified the police in case it had been stolen. They said nobody had reported it and added that if it wasn’t claimed within 21 days it was ours.”

Pond discovery: Members of the 1st canvey island sea scout group with nameplate Wilson Worsdell shortly after dredging it up from a pond during a cleaning-up operation. The sale of the nameplate on January 18 will provide the 70-strong group with a major windfall. RICHARD LOTZ

Three weeks later, with nobody coming forward, the nameplate was theirs, and Richard tracked down Great Central Railwayana on the internet which confirmed its authenticity. As to how, and why, the nameplate ended up in the pond is a mystery, but Richard, a 67year-old retired shipping company insurance and claims manager, has a theory. A public rubbish tip used to be sited close to the pond, and often people would throw their rubbish into the pond rather than take it back home if they found the gates locked.

Dumped

“It could be, for whatever reason, someone wanted to throw away the nameplate and found the tip closed, so dumped it in the pond. We have no idea how long it has been there – the tip was in use for up to 50 years until it closed.” The tip closed about 10 years ago and the site is now a public park, but the scouts still find discarded items in the pond when they clear it out periodically. “Over the years we’ve dragged out about 10 pedal cycles, something like three to four motorcycles, bundles of newspapers and even an up-andover door,” said Richard. Great Central director and auctioneer Mike Soden said the plate could be worth up to £10,000, and possibly even more as it has never appeared at auction before, while the plate from the other side is owned by the NRM as part of the National

‘Watchet in Wales’ gala a resounding success for WSR THE West Somerset Railway’s Cambrian-themed gala has been described as a rip-roaring success. Lydham Manor was the clear star of the show, said WSR general manager Paul Conibeare, running alongside sisters Erlestoke Manor, Norton Manor and Foxcote Manor for the first time in the heritage era. A total of 4773 passengers travelled during the October 3-6 event – just 70 fewer than last year. The Cambrian theme in which stations along the line were renamed after Welsh counterparts for the event proved very popular, said Paul. The supplies of Welsh cakes ran out on the Friday and emergency supplies had to be ordered. “It was a terrific time, and everyone enjoyed the theme,” said Paul. “It has given us confidence to plan big events for next year after struggling with special events in 2013.” 10 Heritage Railway

The next special event will be the December 28-29 annual winter steam gala. Steam trains will leave Bishops Lydeard and Minehead at hourly intervals from 9.45am to 3.45pm. There will be at least four steam engines in action drawn from a pool of SDJR 7F 2-8-0 No. 88, GWR 2-8-0 No. 3850, GWR 2-6-2T No. 4160, WR 4-6-0 No. 6960 Raveningham Hall and No. 7828 Norton Manor. The Gauge Museum and the club room of the Taunton Model Railway Group will be open at Bishops Lydeard while at Williton passengers will be able to visit the depot and heritage centre of the Diesel and Electric Preservation Group. The turntable at Minehead station will be in action. The railway will also be running steam train services on December 27, 30, 31 and January 1.

Next year’s spring steam gala will have a ‘Withered Arm’ and ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ theme. The event will run over a “very concentrated” four days, from March 27-30, rather than the more ambitious two weekends of previous years, said Paul. The railway is offering an extra level of discount on its rover tickets for the spring gala. Until close of business on December 31, day rover tickets are on sale at an extra discounted rate of £17 adult, £15.40 (60 plus), £8.50 (ages five to 15) and £45 (family of two adults and up to four children). For two-day rovers, the cost will be £30 (adult and senior) and £15 child. Three and four day rovers will be £40 (adult and senior) and £20 (child). ➲ Gala feature: pages 70-75. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Waiting for the off: a1 Pacific no. 60127 Wilson Worsdell, a long-time heaton (52B) locomotive, waits for departure from newcastle Central with an express in october 1961. a nameplate from the Pacific, which had been named in a ceremony at the station 11 years earlier, has recently been dredged from a pond by sea scouts in essex and will be auctioned on January 18. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE

Collection and is on display in the museum’s warehouse. “It is certainly unusual to be selling a plate that has been retrieved from a pond, and we hope to do well on behalf of the scouts,” he said, adding that the plate would be cleaned prior to its auction at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on January 18. No. 60127 was built at Doncaster in May 1949, and was the first A1 to appear new in the BR express passenger blue livery with the early lion and wheel emblem on the tender. It entered service at Heaton (52B) for working trains mainly to Edinburgh, York and Leeds, although it certainly ventured further south, as on January 16, 1950, it derailed at King’s Cross when scheduled to haul the

5.35pm departure. In a double ceremony with classmate No. 60142 Edward Fletcher at Newcastle Central station on October 30, 1950, No. 60127 was named Wilson Worsdell after the former North Eastern Railway locomotive superintendent.

American influence

After more than 13 years at Heaton it was transferred to Tweedmouth (52D) in September 1962, and was withdrawn from Gateshead (52A) on June 14, 1965 – one of eight members of the class taken out of service that day – and cut up the following month. Wilson Worsdell was born in September 1850 into a Quaker family, and became locomotive superintendent of the NER in

1890 in succession to his brother Thomas. He held the post until 1910 and was an advocate of the big engine policy – doubtless due to his work with the Pennsylvania Railroad in the US early in his career – and was the first to introduce a passenger 4-6-0 in the UK. He died in 1920 at the age of 69. More than 90 years after his death, his name lives on in the form of a locomotive nameplate rescued from an Essex pond by a group of young sea scouts who will benefit from their discovery. “We won’t decide what to do with the money until we receive it – perhaps free camps for a year and the purchase of equipment,” said Richard Lotz. “It will be a major windfall and will make a lot of difference.”

Attraction owner fined for leading young children on line trespass THE owner of a farm park has been fined £100 after leading a party of 15 children on a short-cut along a heritage railway. Carol Clark, 67, took groups aged four to seven from Ripley Endowed Primary School, near Ripon, from her Big Sheep Little Cow visitor centre to the Wensleydale Railway’s Bedale station during guided tours. On November 15 last year, she used the edge of the heritage line as a short-cut from the station platform to a pedestrian crossing 50m away. Clark, who set up the visitor centre in the Eighties, denied a charge of trespass when she www.heritagerailway.co.uk

appeared before Northallerton magistrates. She was found guilty, and in addition to the fine, was ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £620 costs. Clark claimed that she had permission to walk along the line, but this was denied by Wensleydale operational manager Richard Brown. He said he was horrified that children had been near the track. The court heard that Clark told teachers the line was not in use that day, but a driver experience course was taking place further down the railway. In defence, Clark claimed she

had been walking along the track since she moved to a nearby house in 1983, and nobody had ever objected. She claimed she had undertaken a risk assessment on the day to ensure that there was no danger to the children. Presiding magistrate Susan Svennevig said: “This was a reckless action that should never be repeated.” Richard told Heritage Railway afterwards that he called the police after watching the incident on CCTV. “The railway was in use that day. We had a special train laid on for the local fire brigade as a training exercise.” Heritage Railway

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News

Met 1 relaunches Bodmin GWR special ‘royal’ saloon By Robin Jones

THE first-ever visit of Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1 to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway was one of the highlights of the October 12-13 Victorian gala – which saw three 19th century locomotives in action. The visit of No. 1, the centrepiece of this year’s hugely successful celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of London Underground, was a thank you gesture for the loan in February last year of Bodmin-based LSWR Beattie well tank No. 3298. As reported in Heritage Railway and our sister title The Railway Magazine, this was for a series of trial overnight runs to see if it was feasible to run steam-hauled passenger trains through the Metropolitan Line tunnels. The gala was preceded on October 11 by the launch into traffic of the magnificently restored unique GWR First Class Family Saloon No. 248, which was built at Swindon in 1881. Now owned by Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust chairman Alan Moore, it was used privately by Queen Victoria’s son the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. The coach, which was inspected by the young princes William and Harry when exhibited at Swindon in 1990, has been restored externally and internally by a team of craftsmen at Bodmin. Two trains with the saloon, fitting in around the service trains. Firstly, Met No. 1 took it from Bodmin

Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1 hauling the newly-recommissioned GWR special saloon No. 248 at Charlie’s Gate. BRIAN ASTON

General to Bodmin Parkway and back, and the Beattie from Bodmin General to Boscarne and back. After speeches and introductions on the platform buffet lunch was served on board. Guests included the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Edward Bolitho and his wife Alexandra (members of the Bodmin Railway Preservation Society), Lady Molesworth-St Aubyn (patron BRPS), the mayors of Bodmin and Wadebridge, Alan Moore, former owner Bill Parker, and Dan Okey, regional

LSWR Beattie well tank No. 3298 with special saloon No. 248 at Westheath Road on October 11. BRIAN ASTON

development manager First Great Western. The launch was extensively covered by local TV and radio on the day. During the gala, a vintage train comprising the special saloon and the line’s GWR auto-coach ran an intensive service with the service train, featuring 11 departures from Bodmin General. Motive power varied with combinations of Met No. 1 (built 1898), the well tank No. 3298 and LSWR T9 4-4-0 No. 30120 (1898), and GWR 0-6-0PT No. 4612.

Victorian magnificence for the 21st century: GWR First Class Family Saloon No. 248 at Bodmin General. BRIAN ASTON

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Apart from some minor delays, trains ran to time on both days. A £3.50 premium was charged to ride in the special saloon, and on the Saturday it sold out. The railways had actors dressed as various Victorian characters (Edward VII, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Lillie Langtree) travelling on the trains, and the public were encouraged to dress as Victorians, which many did. The special saloon was once used by Victorian opera singer Adelina Patti who used it to travel to her castle in Wales.

see page 32 or www.classicmagazines.co.uk www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Margaret Ritchie: S&C supporter who helped steam return to iconic line By Geoff Courtney MARGARET Ritchie, whose professional 46 year railway career included a deep involvement with the Settle-Carlisle Line for nearly four decades, has died at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. Her railway career began in 1960 as a copy typist in Glasgow when she was just 15, and in 1975 she became PA to David Ward, then passenger marketing manager for BR’s Midland Region. His geographical responsibility covered Euston to Carlisle, all lines west including the West Midlands and north Wales, the north west, and St Pancras to the East Midlands. The Settle-Carlisle Line quickly became a major part of Margaret’s work, and in 1976 she was involved with the planning of the railway’s centenary celebrations, followed in March 1978 by the line’s inaugural steam-hauled train in the preservation era headed by No. 4771 Green Arrow. Also that September she helped plan the memorial service at Appleby for Bishop Eric Treacy, attended by no fewer than 4000 people and one of the S&C’s most ambitious ever events. Margaret played a major role in planning the special trains once steam returned to the S&C after the Green Arrow run, and at this time she also became secretary of the Steam Locomotive Operators Association. “These trains increased up to a maximum of 48 ‘Cumbrian Mountain Expresses’ in one year. They played a significant part in raising the

line’s public profile and revenue opportunities and were a major influence on the decision in 1989 to keep the line open,” said David Ward. “Margaret travelled on many of these trains, and it was not unknown for her to walk through a corridor tender for a spell on the footplate.” In 1984 she was appointed customer services manager for InterCity’s special trains, and was involved with every such train over the BR network, including many on the S&C. For her work in this role, Margaret was awarded the BR InterCity Excellence Award for Customer Service and received an invitation to a garden party at Buckingham Palace. At privatisation in 1994, she returned to her first love of being a PA, initially to franchising director John O’Brien, then to Mike Grant, chief executive of the Strategic Rail Authority, Richard Bowker, chairman and chief executive of the SRA, and to Richard’s successor, David Quarmby. With the disbandment of the SRA in 2006, Margaret opted for retirement, and David Quarmby organised a retirement party on the Bluebell Railway which included a footplate ride on an SR U class 2-6-0. In her retirement she returned to the S&C as administrative officer for the Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust and company secretary for Settle & Carlisle Railway Properties, her last project being in April, arranging the opening ceremony for the restored stationmaster’s house at Ribblehead.

During a break in proceedings at Armathwaite, Margaret Ritchie presents a photograph of No. 4771 Green Arrow to former Norwich shedmaster Bill Harvey, who had led the restoration of the locomotive, when the Gresley V2 brought steam back to the Settle-Carlisle Line in March 1978. DAVID WARD COLLECTION

David Ward said: “Margaret was one of the longest serving but largely unknown dedicated supporters of the Settle & Carlisle Line, and someone who made a real difference to the line and to the overall steam railway scene over many years.” Her funeral was held in Glasgow on October 8 and was conducted by Bishop Graham Dow, former Bishop of Carlisle with whom she had become friends through her work with the Settle & Carlisle Railway Trust.

Could massive South Africa steam sale help UK projects? German visitor for By Robin Jones NARROW gauge locomotives suitable for restoration and running on UK heritage lines are included in what is believed to be the world’s biggest sale of redundant steam engines since the days of Barry scrapyard. South Africa’s Transnet Foundation, the successor to South African Railways, has released a list of more than 80 of its remaining steam locomotives which are now regarded as surplus to requirements. It is likely that many of them will be bought for dismantling by scrap merchants, or will be scrapped if no buyer is found. Transnet owns around 200 steam locomotives, with many of them on loan or lease to heritage railway groups in the country. In the past, SAR has resisted attempts to repatriate surplus 2ft gauge locomotives for use on British lines, claiming that they are part of South African heritage. Now everything on the list appears to be up for grabs. There are four NGG16 2-6-2 articulated Garratts, three of them built by Beyer Peacock and one by www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Hunslet in South Africa – for sale. They are of the same type as used by the Welsh Highland Railway, and said to have the same pulling power as a BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T. There are also four NG15 2-8-2s built by Henschel, similar to the pair on the WHR awaiting restoration. There is also an NGG13 2-6-2 articulated Garratt, an earlier version of the NGG16s. The other locomotives on the for sale list range from diminutive shunters to 25NC class 4-8-4s, and their condition varies from virtually complete to derelict. None of them is in working order. Around 50 of the 3ft 6in gauge locomotives on the list were built by North British in Glasgow, and are also part of British heritage. However, they are types already represented in preservation. Several UK-built locomotives have been repatriated from South Africa in the past, but used only for static display as there is no 3ft 6in gauge line in Britain on which to run them. Ken Livermore of the North British Locomotive Preservation Group said his organisation would be trying to buy one or two

of the locomotives and bring them back to the UK, because of their British origin. The last time the group brought one back, a Dubs 4-8-2T in 2011, the total cost was £25,000. Ken said: “This can be seen as a final opportunity to acquire steam locomotives from South Africa. “When you consider the locomotives’ value in component parts, it may be of interest to some of the UK new build groups to consider acquiring SAR engines simply for their boilers, cylinders or wheels.” As we closed for press, South African heritage groups were vying to see which locomotives could be saved. However, if no interest is shown by organisations wishing to either purchase these engines or to take them over on a lend/lease basis by the end of October, they will be transferred to Transnet Freight Rail for disposal and sold by auction, with scrapping the likely outcome. A fleet of redundant coaches is also for sale. Further inquiries about the sale list and all applications to purchase the stock must be made in writing to [email protected]

Great War gala

THE Moseley Railway Trust has booked a second visiting steam locomotive for its Tracks to the Trenches event. The Toddington-based North Gloucestershire Railway, is to loan its 1918-built Henschel ‘Brigadelok’ 0-8-0T No. 15968 of 1918 for the September 1-4, 2014, event at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. Almost 2500 of ‘Brigadeloks’ were built to serve the German military light railways – known as Heeresfeldbahn – on all the fronts of the First World War. Despite being built for military service, they subsequently demonstrated their usefulness for many postwar operators. An innovative feature is the KleinLindner radial axles, which allow the locomotives to traverse tight radius curves despite the 0-8-0 wheel arrangement. Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST Stanhope, normally resident at Apedale, will be making a reciprocal visit to the North Gloucestershire Railway during 2014.

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Shock eviction prompts new build locomotive pledge EXCLUSIVE By Geoff Courtney THE leader of the trust building a new Great Eastern Railway 2-4-2T has pledged to continue the project, despite the group being unexpectedly told to leave its base at Mangapps Railway Museum. Indeed Steve Cooper, chairman and co-founder of the Holden F5 Steam Locomotive Trust, claims the eviction notice has added impetus to the project and made him even more determined to succeed. The trust was founded in 2001 to re-create No. 67218, one of the James Holden-designed tanks that operated between Epping and Ongar in Essex up to the line’s electrification in November 1957 as part of the London Transport Underground network. It was originally planned to complete the locomotive by 2012 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the formation of the GER, but this schedule has slipped and to date the bunker, complete smokebox, chimney, valences, rail guards, frame plates, mid frame stretcher, buffer beams and leading and trailing wheel pattern have been fabricated under the guidance of Graham Rowland, the trust’s former director of engineering. The trust moved to Mangapps, in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, more than three years ago, but on October 3 Steve received an email from Mangapps’ boss John Jolly giving it notice to quit. Steve told Heritage Railway: “Surprisingly, John Jolly served notice on the trust to quit Mangapps via email on October 3, stating that he was frustrated with the apparent lack of progress.

Old timers: F5 class 2-4-2t No. 67218 at Ongar in the mid-1950s, having brought in a train from epping. On the left a J15 class 0-6-0 rests in the goods yard, while on the right, furthest from the camera, is what appears to be a venerable ex-Ger carriage. the trust founded to recreate No. 67218 is looking for a new home after being told to quit its present base. HOLDEN F5 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE TRUST

“I say surprisingly because Mangapps was only ever used as a storage facility, as the museum is not equipped to further progress the project in terms of engineering capabilities. As with all new build projects, a great deal of hard work goes on behind the scenes in terms of administration, aside from engineering.” Steve, who revealed that Graham Rowland, one of his fellow cofounders, had resigned in early October due to family and work commitments, said he was in discussions with Bob Meanley of Tyseley Locomotive Works with a view to moving the project to there, and a meeting was planned at Tyseley for October 30. “Considering Tyseley’s outstanding reputation for locomotive engineering, it is viewed as the perfect location for future engineering and assembly of the frames. The meeting will give Bob the opportunity to look through our comprehensive collection of drawings to establish our immediate

needs to allow the project to proceed smoothly.” Of the future, Steve, who is responsible for the trust’s membership, accounts, administration, marketing, website management, merchandise and is company secretary in addition to now having taken over the engineering portfolio, said: “The eviction from Mangapps has accelerated what may have happened several years ahead, and has added impetus to the project and, at a personal level, made me even more determined to succeed.” On the subject of financing the project, Steve said that the 80member trust had a range of merchandise that had proved very popular and greatly assisted income, while the Epping Ongar Railway had been supportive by selling the merchandise and inviting trust representatives to its special events. “The Epping-Ongar Railway benefits from a significant footfall, where interest in our project remains significant due to the F5’s intrinsic

link with the Ongar branch.” He added: “On costings, my meeting with Bob Meanley will be very telling, and I look forward to providing a positive update.” Mangapps’ John Jolly said: “There are two reasons for the trust’s eviction – the need to carry out major work on the building that currently houses parts of the loco, and the lack of progress with the scheme. “When the trust originally asked us to provide accommodation over three years ago, we were given the impression that substantial work was ongoing, that we could expect regular working parties to attend, and that the presence of the loco would be an advantage to us by creating interest. “However, no meaningful engineering work appears to have taken place, we have seen few active members of the trust, and their attendance has been rare. As a result, I and my staff have been left to field questions from visitors and supporters of the scheme, and it has become an embarrassment. The locomotive was originally scheduled for completion in 2012, the trust’s engineer has recently resigned, and to my knowledge all the executive positions of the organisation are held by one person. We hope and expect that the trust and its assets will leave Mangapps very shortly, and at any rate by next easter.” No. 67218 was built at Stratford in December 1904 and in its final BR days was based with fellow class members Nos. 67200 and 67212 at Epping, a sub-shed of 30A Stratford, to operate the Epping-Ongar branch line service, and was one of the trio to work on the line’s last day of steam, November 16, 1957. It was withdrawn in March 1958 and cut up at Stratford.

standard 3 wheels set for south devon workshops ALL six driving wheels for the new BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T have been cast and are on their way to the South Devon Railway’s Buckfastleigh works. There, they will be machined, and the tyres and crank axles fitted. Ironically, the project was started in late 1998 by South Devon Railway fireman John Besley, following a discussion with Robin Jones, now editor of HR.

14 Heritage Railway

In 2003 work and family commitments forced him to hand over the controls to Cheshire-based Severn Valley Railway footplatemen driver Tony Massau and fireman Chris Proudfoot. Following the casting of the wheels at the Boro Foundry in Lye, West Midlands – where the driving wheels for the new Patriot, sponsored by Heritage Railway readers were also cast – the 82045

Steam Locomotive Trust is now borrowing a pattern to have the pony truck wheels cast. The pattern is jointly owned by the owners of Llangollen-based BR Standard 4MT No. 80072 and Standard 9F No. 92207 Morning Star, and is currently on loan to the Clan Hengist group. The 82045 already has a pattern for the cylinders and will shortly order two to be cast at the Boro

Foundry. As reported elsewhere, the pattern has been successfully used to cast a new cylinder for BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079. Although the group had not planned to launch its £300,000 boiler appeal until next autumn, two members have made modest donations to start it off. The appeal will now be brought forward as a result. Tony said the group had no plans

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Restored clerestory coach Mevy at St Germans and the bedroom accommodation.

a Cornish railway coach holiday! Vulcan in action during the Barrow Hill Live gala, which included a static appearance by A4 No. 4468 Mallard and attracted 5000 visitors. ROBIN JONES

Vulcan back in steam STEAMING again has been the unique Vulcan Foundry works shunter. Thursday, September 26 was a great day for the Vulcan Locomotive Trust – when the unique 0-4-0ST passed its steam test in time to take part in the successful Barrow Hill Live event on September 28-29, running alongside B1 4-6-0 No. 61264 and A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado and Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 2000 Vulcan the locomotive was built by the foundry in Newtonle-Willows in 1918 as No. 3272 to a much earlier design. It never left the works until withdrawn from service around 1963. It would have moved materials and equipment around the works and hauled newly built locomotives out of the works for their initial steam tests and for despatch to all parts of the world. In the early 1960s, Vulcan shunted the Deltics around the works and fetched their roof sections in from one shop to the erecting shops. The little locomotive therefore covered a large and significant part of

20th century locomotive design and production. On retirement, Vulcan was placed on a panel of track at the works sports ground but was vandalised and by 1969 had been donated to the Lytham Creek Motive power museum at Lytham St Annes. It sat there, also on a panel of track, until 1983 when Martyn Ashworth and a small group of Peak Rail active members went to collect Peckett locomotive No. 2111, which a member had purchased. In 1984 the Vulcan Locomotive Trust was set up as a registered charity. It bought Vulcan, which moved to Peak Rail’s former Buxton site and then on to Darley Dale. Some test runs were staged around 1997, but a problem arose with the axleboxes and Vulcan was again sidelined, at Rowsley. Moved to Barrow Hill in November 2010, the overhaul restarted the following year and included a total stripdown. Due to be painted in gloss black with LNWR-type lining, Vulcan is now available for hire to galas.

If the sight of the restored GWR 19th century special saloon at Bodmin on page 12 has caught your imagination, now’s your chance to win a short break in an equally-exquisite coach in Cornwall. On July 13, 2006, as highlighted in Heritage Railway, select mining landscapes across Cornwall and west Devon were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, placing Cornish mining heritage on a par with international treasures such as Macchu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. Now, the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site is offering one reader an experience in Cornwall like no other to see for themselves the quirky, the unexpected and the glorious with this fantastic prize. Win a short break for two in one of Rail Holiday’s fabulous converted carriages and sleepers (as seen at www.railholiday.co.uk) for unique self-catering

accommodation in beautiful Cornish locations. From a travelling post office to a converted luggage van, the spaces have been thoughtfully designed by rail enthusiast Lizzy Stroud making the most of the space with luxury and comfort at the heart. The vintage carriages in St Germans and Hayle are perfectly positioned to explore the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and learn more about how the railways shaped the world in which we live today. The prize – the winner has the choice of locations – must be taken by December 2014 and excludes peak periods and all school holidays. It includes a short break stay for two people (either Monday to Friday or Friday to Monday). Accommodation is subject to availability, guests must arrange their own insurance and transportation, the prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative.

Just answer the following question: Q. Where would you be able to travel in a 19th century coach in Cornwall? n To enter, fill in the form below, including your answer to: HR182 Competition, Heritage Railway Magazine, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ. n You can also enter online on our live news website at www.heritagerailway.co.uk and visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/HeritageRailway Name: ............................................................................................................................ Address: .........................................................................................................................

to follow The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust by having an all-welded boiler built in Germany, and intends to ask the Severn Valley Railway to quote for constructing one at Bridgnorth Works. The Standard 3MT tank, the last examples of which were rendered extinct in 1968, has been widely described as the ideal all-purpose locomotive for the average heritage railway. The project is watched closely by other prospective new builders and there have been calls

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A driving wheel on display at the Severn Valley gala. 82045 TRUST

to consider building a batch. ➲ If you would like to get involved with one of the fastestprogressing new-build steam locomotive projects, visit www.82045.org.uk

Answer: .......................................................................................................................... n Only tick this box if you do not wish to receive information from Mortons Media Group regarding or relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) via email/post/phone. n On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may permit third parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact you by email/post/phone/fax regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers please tick this box.

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For full terms and conditions please visit www.heritagerailway.co.uk The winners will be the first correct answers drawn at random. The editor’s decision is final.

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SVR share offer passes £2m as flagship begins restoration SEVERN Valley Railway flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley Hall has set off on the long road to restoration after 27 years. At the same time, the line announced that its 2012 share issue which covers the locomotive’s overhaul as well as several other major initiatives designed to enhance its appeal as a 21st century visitor attraction – as well as establishing the Heritage Skills Training Academy at Bridgnorth – had sailed past the £2 million mark, on the closing day of the scheme on September 30. In a ceremony attended by 50 guests on Sunday, October 6, Hagley Hall was carefully shunted from the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley to the locomotive works at Bridgnorth. The restoration of No. 4930 is also being supported by the SVR Charitable Trust and the Friends of Locomotive Hagley Hall Group. SVR Holdings chairman Nick Paul said: “The 2012 Share Offer

LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 at Highley on October 6, ready to replace Hagley Hall inside the Engine House. The careworn paintwork is reminiscent of the end of BR steam. PAUL APPLETON

The start of the long road back: Hagley Hall being shunted at Highley on October 6. BOB SWEET/SVR

scheme outlined our ambitious plans for this wonderful railway. Today our supporters have shown tremendous generosity in helping us drive towards achieving that ambition.” Following the ceremony, during which Hagley Hall was slowly manoeuvred through Highley Station, SVR general manager Nick Ralls said: “We have been overwhelmed by support over the last 12 months and it clearly demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together. It’s a wonderful sight to see this engine start its journey to full restoration and we look forward to seeing it out on the line hauling trains within the next two years.” The departure of Hagley Hall allowed staff at the Engine House to reorganise the exhibits and welcome home LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45110, now on display following its return from Barrow Hill.

For further information about how to support the restoration of Hagley Hall, contact the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust at svrtrust.org.uk Meanwhile, the railway moved quickly to scotch speculation that its ex-LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 might be put up for sale to help service bank borrowings, as we reported in issue 181. On its website, the railway issued a statement saying: “The Severn Valley Railway would like to make it clear that there is NO truth in this rumour.” This announcement was immediately warmly welcomed by SVR members following debates on both the railway’s unofficial online forum and another well-known national forum. During those debates, it had been suggested that as one of three railway-owned locomotives on the line – and its likely time in the

First vehicle arrives at a new railway museum at Wisbech THE first vehicle for a proposed new railway museum at Wisbech has been delivered. The British Railways 1960s tank wagon arrived at the former Waldersea goods yard on October 3. The site is earmarked for the proposed new Bramley Line Heritage Railway Centre, being set up by revivalists of the mothballed GER Wisbech to March line. Volunteers had completed relaying the sidings at the site in the summer. 16 Heritage Railway

Bramley Line Trust vice-chairman and engineering co-ordinator David Bunting said: “At last we really have something to show for our hard work.” A victorian wooden coach body is also to be restored, while Antingham Parish Council in Norfolk has also offered a goods van body. Anyone who would like to help the Bramley Line revival is asked to visit www.bramleyline.org.uk, email [email protected] or telephone 0759 176 9180.

current overall queue – its potential value could be realised and put to good use now, rather than be a restoration liability with a likely minimum of £400,000 having to be spent on it. The locomotive last steamed on August 30, 2008, running in the guise of scrapped sister No. 45134. No. 45110, which hauled the last official BR passenger train on August 11, 1968, when it pulled the final leg of the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ into Liverpool Lime Street, returned to Bridgnorth on September 30. SVR supporters are hoping that a ‘Friends of 45110’ group can be formed, in a similar manner to that organised for No. 4930, in order to promote interest in the locomotive and raise funds for its eventual restoration. No. 45110 will be displayed in ‘as withdrawn’ condition, typical of the late 1960s.

Sir Edward Elgar moves west BODEN Rail Engineering has completed the purchase of unique green-liveried Class 50 No. 50007 Sir Edward Elgar from the Class 40 Appeal. The ‘Hoover’ has been moved from the group’s base at the Midland Railway-Butterley to the Boden engineering facility at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, and is set to return to the main line. No decision has been announced as to whether the locomotive will retain its pseudo-GWR livery, applied in 1984 as part of the commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Swindon empire, or be restored to one of the liveries carried by class members during their years of BR service. It may be repainted in BR blue, reverting to its original name of Hercules.

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Acton open days and Aldwych tours will continue Met 150 CONTINUING the phenomenally successful Metropolitan Railway 150 celebrations is a series of events at London Transport Museum’s Acton depot. An open weekend will be held at the depot from Friday, November 1, to Sunday, November 3. Visitors will be able to explore the depot’s historic collection of more than 400,000 objects with posters and artworks, which form one of the most important collections of graphic art in the world, engineering drawings, signs and ephemera along with the fleet of historic road and rail vehicles. The weekend will feature drop-in creative workshops and activities for families such as storytelling, stop frame animation fun, demonstrating the signalling handling trolley, meeting Transport for London signalling engineers, and miniature tram and railway rides There will be talks about the restoration of Metropolitan carriage No. 353 and one with artist Ross Ashmore about his project to paint portraits of every Underground station, curator-led tours of the small object collection, heritage bus rides and costumed interpreters. Ross will be painting Metropolitan Railway 0-4-4T No.1 and No. 353 during the event. From Monday, October 28, to Wednesday, October 30, there are a range of creative workshops at the depot for adults and families including animation workshops, photography sessions, plus special behind-the-wheel views and guided tours. Workshops must be booked in advance as spaces are limited. A full timetable of events and booking information at www.ltmuseum.co.uk or by calling 020 7565 7298. Advance booking is recommended and children go free. Adult tickets are £10 (£8 concessions). During November, the museum will be staging tours of the closed Aldwych Underground station on the Piccadilly Line. Aldwych is one of London’s mysterious places, holding secrets and memories of the city’s forgotten life and work underground. It opened to the public in 1907, the station was never heavily used as originally intended, and closed in 1994. The station provided shelter to Londoners during the Blitz and has been used for film shoots including Patriot Games, Mr Selfridge and Atonement. The tours start on November 7 and will involve groups of up to 40 people being escorted by volunteer tour guides into the ticket hall and then down to the platforms and interconnecting walkways, including some that have very rarely been seen by the public. Tickets must be booked in advance and cost £25 including free entry to the museum. ➲ Access to the platform is by staircase only and there is no working lift in operation. 160 stairs connect the ticket hall level to the platform level; there is no step-free access. ➲ Scale Heritage Railway – pages 86-87. Strand station, pictured in 1907, was renamed Aldwych on May 9, 1915. LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM

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East Coast Joint Stock carriage No. 189 has received a £98,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant. MURRAY BROWN

East Coast Joint teak coach scoops £98k Lottery grant THE North York Moors Railway-based LNER Coach Association has secured a £98,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a new project, Recreating Victorian Railway Travel. The project is centred on the restoration of an East Coast Joint Stock carriage, No. 189, for use as a working Victorian dining car on the NYMR. Once restored, the coach will not only be used for dining, but also educational visits by school groups, family learning activities and hosting community groups interested in Victorian heritage. The project will enable people to learn about railway travel in Victorian times by experiencing it for themselves. East Coast Joint Stock 189, to give the coach its full title, was built in 1894, and although partially restored externally, its interior requires almost complete reconstruction. Once the coach is finished to its original Victorian splendour, it will run on the NYMR. It will be used for serving Victorian style meals, to give diners the unique experience of a Victorian restaurant car, accommodating school classes, being particularly relevant to those who are studying Victorian Britain as part of their history curriculum, accommodating adult education for groups such as historical societies and family learning activities such as dressing up in Victorian clothes. No. 189 recently came into the association’s care in a semi-restored state. It is an important historical vehicle because it is the only survivor of one of the earliest examples of a restaurant car. Roger Melton, chairman of the LNER Coach Association, said: “We are very excited to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this project which will give travellers on the NYMR the opportunity to experience the coach in all its Victorian grandeur and ambience.” Fiona Spiers, head of HLF Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “People love railways and the restoration of this Victorian dining car will let an

important part of local heritage become living history. The restored coach will open up a wide range of learning opportunities for different visitors, allowing people to step back in time and experience Victorian life.” Built at Doncaster in 1894, No. 189 was withdrawn in 1927 and its body sold for use in a pig farm in east Yorkshire. It was acquired by a private individual in the early 1980s and later passed into the hands of Stephen Middleton of Stately Trains, who restored it externally to its original teak livery and carried out partial restoration of the interior, as well as mounting it on an ex-LNER suburban coach underframe. After attending the Doncaster Plant 150th anniversary open day in 2003 it was purchased by Doncaster College for use as a classroom and remained there for two years. Following a change of plans at the college it was sold to the LNERCA and moved to the NYMR, where it has been placed in storage. No. 189 was one of the earliest vehicles to receive Pullman type gangways, being rebuilt to accept them in 1909, but the underframe it is currently mounted on cannot be converted to accept them. The LNERCA has a spare Gresley underframe from a gangwayed vehicle and this is to be shortened to suit. This work is not covered by the HLF award but is the subject of a separate grant from the Ken Hoole Trust, with additional funding being sought. The real beauty of 189 lies in its ornate Victorian interior, described by railway historian David Jenkinson as “a cornucopia of riches”. A number of interior photos of 189 and its three sister vehicles exist, and also of a series of virtually identical dining cars built by the Great Northern Railway. These will be invaluable as no drawings of the interior fittings have yet been found and thus the photographs will be the primary source of reference material for recreating the ornate seats and gas lighting. Heritage Railway

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News

Trust proposes steam locomotive servicing facilities for Glasgow By Hugh Dougherty

THE Scottish Industrial Preservation Trust has promised to provide much-needed main line steam locomotive servicing and display facilities in Glasgow if its plans for MIST, the Museum of Industry Science and Technology, get the green light. The trust wants to save Glasgow’s last Victorian engineering works, the former Howden buildings, which include the Glasgow Subway’s original cable power house of 1896, and use them to house a museum covering a wide range of areas, including steam, engineering, computing and photography. The large machinery section of the buildings would provide the locomotive servicing and display facilities, linked to the Glasgow-Ayr railway line, situated immediately behind the Howden site’s rear wall, by a loop and siding. Trust chairman Steven Raeside said: “The museum proposal presents us with an exciting opportunity to provide steam locomotive servicing and display facilities in Glasgow. “These are needed urgently to persuade steam charter train

The former Glasgow Subway powerhouse viewed from a passing train on the Glasgow Central-Paisley line. HUGH DOUGHERTY

operators to put Glasgow in their programmes more often. “Part of the problem is that steam trains arriving in Central station have to leave quickly to free up busy platform space and both railway enthusiasts and members of the public have a very limited window in which to appreciate a steam locomotive in the station. “Our facilities would allow operators to service the locomotive at dedicated facilities and they could park the engines between trips in our exhibition hall to allow them to be seen, photographed and enjoyed at leisure. We would also have a

steam workshop with apprenticeships to keep traditional steam engineering skills alive.” Steven described an initial approach to Network Rail as “very encouraging” and pointed to the existing railway heritage value of the site thanks to the presence of the Glasgow Subway’s cable powerhouse which went out of use in 1935, when Glasgow Corporation electrified the line. The powerhouse was rail connected to the Glasgow-Paisley line for coal and cable supplies and Stephen says that this creates a precedent for connecting the

proposed museum to the national rail network again. However, time may not be on the trust’s side as the condition of the ‘B’ listed Howden buildings, vacated by the company when it moved to new premises in Renfrew in 2009 and now owned by Tiger Developments of London, is not good. “We have to move quickly to secure the buildings which, although ‘B’ listed are not in a good condition and could face demolition,” said Steven, who is pushing for Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, local business and tourism bodies to support MIST. “The danger is that they are demolished and that we lose a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity not just to save Glasgow’s last Victorian engineering works, but to fill it with working exhibits, of which visiting, mainline steam locomotives would be a star attraction for enthusiasts and the public alike.” Full details of the trust and its proposals are at www.sipt.co.uk Stephen is keen to hear from anyone who would like to support the project by joining the trust. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Marking Masham’s 50th anniversary

TO MARK the 50th anniversary of the closure of the NER branch from Melmerby to Masham, an exhibition is to be held in the goods shed at The Old Station at Masham on October 26-27. The exhibition will comprise photographs, artefacts, memorabilia and anecdotes and a fine scale model of Masham station circa 1920. Although not formally part of the exhibition, the original station building and the railway cottages still remain as private dwellings on or adjacent to the station site. A later provender shed is also preserved on site, in use as a store by the owners. The exhibition is open from l0am to 5pm on each day and entrance is by a donation to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, to whom all proceeds of the exhibition are to be given.

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Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34028 Eddystone passes an HST on a railtour, ‘The Cotswold-Purbeck Express’ to Swanage at Corfe Castle. This was the first visit of an HST to this branch. Gauging problems for the HST south of Corfe Castle meant that the participants detrained and were taken to Swanage on a special train hauled by No. 34028 and then brought back as the 4pm ex-Swanage with the same set and locomotive. JOHN STRETTON www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Bob Smith is offering his Comrie Railroad for sale. DAVID BURLEIGH

Comrie Railroad offered for sale ONE of the most impressive private miniature railways in the country is being offered for sale by its owner. The American outline 7¼in gauge line runs for nearly three quarters of a mile through Bob Smith’s nine acre estate at Comrie, in Perthshire, and includes a substantial three-bedroomed house constructed in 2005. The sale includes four engines, rolling stock, trackwork and buildings. Three of the engines are operational. The largest, a K36 Rio Grande 2-8-2, was built by David Curwen and Bob Smith, and a Hawaiian 0-4-2 logging engine, a C-19 2-8-0 and a diesel-outline locomotive were built by Bob, the C-19 being completed only last year. The line runs through some

varied and impressive scenery, from open vistas across to the surrounding hills, through wooded glades past a lake, over several bridges, and even through a tunnel. There is a small but strong supporters group in place to help with the routine maintenance. The railway currently opens four times a year to the public and welcomes visiting engines, and Bob hopes this aspect of the railway would continue under a new owner. Having ‘retired’ 30 years ago, Bob at 81 now feels it is time to pass the baton on to a younger owner. He will not be putting his feet up yet though, as a move to the Lake District is opening up some new opportunities for his skills. Further information is available at www.millerhendry.co.uk

Furness 20 for Tyseley open day

Northampton & Lamport Railway running again

FURNESS Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 – the oldest working standard gauge locomotive in the world – is to be the star exhibit at the Tyseley Works open day on October 27. The locomotive, which marks its 150th birthday this year, will be in steam at the event alongside GWR 0-6-0PT No. L94 (7752), GWR 4-6-0 No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall and Peckett 0-4-0ST No.1. Class 52 D1015 Western Champion will also be running. There will also be several locomotives on static display including under restoration LMS Pacific No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth and line-ups will be staged. Visits to the new workshop will be available and progress on the restoration of Tyseley’s flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle may be seen.

TRACK problems which led to services being curtailed on the Northampton & Lamport Railway earlier this year have been resolved. A spokesman said that after recent testing and investigations as part of the line’s management system, all of the track is in good condition and is operational over the full length of the line. Passenger operations are approved between Bridge 11 to just south of Bridge 14. Investigations and remedial actions continue to fully resolve identified issues, which include the quarantining and withdrawal from use of two vehicles. The spokesman said that rail grinding carried out earlier this year was undertaken to prevent further exacerbation of the issues that remain under investigation.

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Heritage Railway

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GalaSpecial

USATC S160 2-8-0 No. 6046 storms up the 1-in-49 past Green End during the gala weekend. MAURICE BURNS

Moors Line Blues

A shortage of visiting engines failed to spoil the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s autumn gala weekend and as Roger Melton reports, the following weekend’s LNER event saw two BR blue Pacifics together for the first time in 60 years. FEARS that the lack of a high profile visiting engine, and a total of just six engines available might result in a poor turnout for the NYMR’s Autumn Steam Gala were allayed when early indications showed an increase of around 6% in ticket revenue. This was compared with 2012, although a slight increase in fares accounted for some of this increase. In fact, there was a visiting engine, in the form of USATC S160 2-8-0 No. 6046, although this has been on the

railway for the whole summer rather than just the gala weekend. BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92214 Cock o’ the North ran in its new lined out mixed traffic livery, with LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45428 and BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75029 also in service along with Lambton 0-6-2T No. 29. For the following weekend’s LNER event, it was expected that services would be handled by visiting A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado and A4 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, giving the first

opportunity of seeing two BR blueliveried LNER Pacifics working together for around 60 years. Each was paired with both teak and blood and custard liveried coaches over the course of the weekend. B1 4-6-0 No. 61264, which missed the NYMR gala due to a prior commitment at Barrow Hill, returned in time to run as No. 61002 Impala for the last time. No. 6046 represented the S160s, (including the NYMR’s own No. 2258) that ran on loan to the LNER prior to D-Day running in

support, together with Lambton No. 29 on shuttle services, with No. 75029 covering Whitby services in place of the B1 and No. 45428 in steam to provide backup if required. The 9F was not used during this weekend.

The 40th anniversary of the NYMR’s opening in 1973 was celebrated by presentations at Ruswarp to the founders of the preservation society on May 1 but the volunteers who backed up those founders in those early days have not been forgotten in the anniversary year. At the instigation of John Bruce, Goathland stationmaster, a special train was organised on September 21 where all the early volunteers were invited. These were the volunteers who weeded the track, mended the fences and laid the very first sidings. The NYMR at that time had no locomotive shed with steam overhauls being done at Thornaby. Meanwhile the local parish council wanted to demolish the Pickering station site – they were challenging times. The early volunteers pose at Pickering station in front of Lambton tank No. 29 in celebration of the early efforts and what has amazingly been achieved since. MAURICE BURNS

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News

Skipton to Ilkley railway line celebrates 125th anniversary By Alan Castle

THE 125th anniversary of the opening of the Midland Railway Skipton to Ilkley line was celebrated as an integral part of the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway’s 2013 autumn steam gala over the weekend of October 5-6. While there is no longer a line linking the two towns, trains were able to operate on that part of the old track from Embsay that was brought back into use in 1987 by the Yorkshire Dales Railway Society, and which currently operates in the Ilkley direction as far as Bolton Abbey. The line originally opened for business on October 1, 1888, with initial services operating from Colne, through Skipton and Ilkley and onwards to Otley; and in the early years of the route a daily service also connected Skipton with Harrogate. For many years there was also a through ManchesterIlkley working, while at one stage excursion traffic from the Lancashire cotton towns to Skipton, Bolton Abbey and beyond also proved to be very popular. Other day outings using the route would feature Morecambe, York and Harrogate as their destinations, while longer distance circular tours encompassed the Settle to Carlisle line and Wensleydale, via Hawes

Junction, Leyburn and Northallerton. Shortly after leaving Skipton, a branch line diverged from the main route at Embsay Junction, striking out into the Dales to terminate in the village of Grassington at a terminus known as ‘Threshfield for Grassington’. This byway was originally promoted by the Yorkshire Dales Railway Company, opening for traffic in July 1902 and serving several small villages en route, together with Spencer’s quarry and limeworks at Swinden, near Cracoe. With the inevitable road competition eventually swallowing most of the regular trade, Grassington lost its passenger service in September 1930, but continued to be served by goods and holiday excursion trains for many years afterwards. The extremity of the line beyond Swinden limeworks was eventually dismantled in the early 1960s, but the Swinden to Skipton section remained in daily use maintaining a continuing healthy flow of limestone traffic - a situation which in fact prevails up to the present day. Well into the final year of steam in 1968, ballast train workings traversing the branch became quite celebrated among enthusiasts for their continued utilisation of BR Standard 4MT

Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST Sir Berkeley heads a goods train towards Stoneacre. FRED KERR

4-6-0s in preference to more modern motive power. Having provided both a local passenger and freight service for many years, as well as being a valuable diversionary route for longer-distance through traffic, the Skipton to Ilkley route itself succumbed to the Beeching axe in March 1965, immediately following which it was completely closed between Embsay Junction and Ilkley. The final services, latterly

Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0ST No. 1210 of 1890 Sir Berkeley departs from Bolton Abbey for Embsay with the vintage train of Stately Trains’ vehicles. FRED KERR

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DMU-operated, in fact ran on a day that is still remembered for its heavy snowfall. This did little to deter those who had travelled from far afield to say their farewells in the hostile darkness of the Dales that was only occasionally interspersed by the flickering oil lamp on some remote platform. Afterwards, the Embsay & Grassington Railway Preservation Society was not long in coming, being formed in October 1968 and soon becoming the Yorkshire Dales Railway Society in 1969. The fledgling group took possession of Embsay station on a rental basis in 1970, until such time as arrangements for the line purchase could be made and the necessary funds raised. Tracklifting, however, was by this time already well advanced and the YDRS found itself only able to secure approximately an 880-yard section from Embsay Junction up to a point just on the Ilkley side of Embsay Station, near to where the spur into the one-time Haw Bank quarry was located. Trains commenced operating a short distance beyond this point, to Holywell Halt, in July 1987, with the more immediate plan then being to extend to a location known as Stoneacre, near to the village of Draughton. This approximated to the halfway point between Embsay and Bolton Abbey and came to be opened in 1991, with the final push to Bolton Abbey then proving to be the most challenging. With its two bridges requiring reinstatement, two miles www.heritagerailway.co.uk

L&Y Aspinall A class 0-6-0 No. 52322 departs from Bolton Abbey with a ballast train. FRED KERR.

of trackbed to reclaim, new track work to construct and a station to rebuild, thanks in particular to grant aid being obtained from the European Regional Development Fund and English Partnerships, plus support from the railway and construction industries, trains would finally be able to run again between Embsay and Bolton Abbey in 1997. At Bolton Abbey, a new station, of appropriate Midland Railway design, was constructed to replace the original, dangerous and derelict timber structure. Construction of this was undertaken by Sir Robert McAlpine & Co Ltd, free of charge with 90% of the materials donated to the project. Sir William McAlpine himself conducted the official reopening in 1998 and the railway entered a new phase in its existence. Steam trains run every Sunday, with summer services up to seven days a week. During gala weekends, trains depart approximately every 30 minutes from both terminal stations, passing at Stoneacre Loop. All the locomotives based on the railway have at some stage in their lives been employed in industrial service and the collection now amassed well represents the many one-time Yorkshire locomotive manufacturing companies. For the future, the Yorkshire Dales Railway Museum Trust intends to create a museum dedicated specifically to Yorkshire industrial locomotive construction and is also looking at the possibility of reopening the www.heritagerailway.co.uk

‘missing link’ to reconnect the railway with the main line at Skipton. Home fleet motive power seen in action during the gala included RSH Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 7086/43 Norman, newly repainted into BR black livery as ‘J94 No. 68005’, and the recently restored Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 2705/45 Beatrice. These were ably supported by guest locomotives including Andy Booth’s L&YR Aspinall A class

0-6-0 No. 52322 and Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0ST No. 1210 of 1890 Sir Berkeley. Also on the guest list was Hudswell Clarke 1942-built 0-6-0T Samuel Fox & Co. Ltd No. 20 Jennifer. The latter, however, was destined not to see action over the weekend as it had run hot the previous day, immediately after delivery to the E&BAR and while being towed to Embsay, because no one had thought to fill the axleboxes with

oil before it had departed the Gwili Railway. A last minute substitute in the line-up was therefore provided by the former BR Class 04 D2203 – now running in its initial guise as black-liveried No. 11104. An interesting point about No. 11104 was that during its earlier life it had been fitted with side plates and cowcatchers to work the Wisbech & Upwell Tramway – becoming the last locomotive to do so.

RSH Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 7086/43 Norman, currently running as ‘J94 No 68005’, enters Stoneacre Loop with the 3pm Bolton Abbey to Embsay engineers’ train on Saturday, October 5. ALAN CASTLE Heritage Railway

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News

The heritage sector’s latest main line interchange station, following in the footsteps of the Bluebell Railway’s new East Grinstead terminus: Chiltern Railways Class 121 ‘bubblecar’ No. 121020 arrives at the new platform at Princes Risborough.

Order! Order! Speaker John Bercow with The Full Works, a new book celebrating the 175th anniversary of Wolverton Works, the world’s oldest and longest continually operating railway works, by Phil Marsh. See Off The Shelf, page 91.

First regular services from Princes Risborough to Chinnor in 56 years Words and pictures by Phil Marsh HISTORY was made when the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway achieved its original goal of reconnection to the national network.

A series of about 20 trains ran between Chinnor and Princes Risborough into a new platform on the national network in October. Network Rail reconnected the preserved line with the national network on September 7-8

GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1369 from the South Devon Railway at Chinnor on October 6. JOHN TITLOW

Chinnor welcomes the Chiltern Railways turbo train on October 3.

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supervising CPRR volunteers, who assisted by Origin Technical Productions, then built a new platform at Princes Risborough for the shuttles. Chiltern Railways offered the use of Class 165 leader No. 165001 for the October 5 services and a different Class 121 heritage ‘bubblecar’ for the next two Saturdays’ services. The heritage line managed to borrow two much sought-after diesel shunters for use on passenger trains, Nos. 08629 and 08649 from Wolverton Works. The latter has never operated on passenger services before while the former ran a few short-distance services three years ago. Wolverton Works’ new owners Knorr-Bremse quickly confirmed that the two Class 08 shunters would attend with only subsistence costs for their driver to attend required. The Class 20 Society then offered its London Transport-liveried 20 based at Ruislip to make use of the main line connection at Thame Junction and at mid-afternoon on October 8, No. 20227 (see also page 86) arrived, brought in by a West Coast Railways crew. All this achieved by a very willing genuine partnership of all the companies involved who all provided facilities either at cost or for free. Operational staff worked without payment and Heritage Railway publisher Mortons Media was the official media partner. This team effort meant that after a gap of 56 years, regular services between Princes Risborough and Chinnor recommenced as a result of this unique railway partnership working together since spring to mark several anniversaries: the

175th anniversary of Wolverton Works, the 60th anniversary of BR Class 08 D3018 Haversham, (also its 21st anniversary of being purchased by the CPRR) and Princes Risborough station’s 150th anniversary. D3018 was also based at Wolverton Works for many years so this is why its current shunters were invited to the 60th birthday party. As the Wolverton shunters had not been named, this was also thrown into the event along with Haversham. No. 08629 was named Wolverton by its regular driver, Steve Cross and No. D3018 was named Haversham by Network Rail’s West Coast Route managing director, Dyan Crowther on October 5. Dave Hilliard of Wolverton Works was due to name No. 08649 Bradwell on October 19. The first trains operated on October 5 with the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow MP and John Howells MP, both with local constituencies, in attendance. The mayors of Princes Risborough and Aylesbury were also present along with the chairmen of Chinnor Parish Council and Wycombe District Council. Many senior railway staff were present led by Chiltern’s managing director Rob Brighouse They were all gathered at the official opening of the new Platform 4 at Princes Risborough enjoying the proceedings. The overwhelming consensus was that this was a great project delivered by a brilliant partnership of volunteers using their collective professional skills. The dignitaries all looked forward to the day when services could commence on a regular basis using steam and diesel bringing economic benefits to all parties. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Masbury set to become third S&D revival site By Robin Jones AN OFFER by a member of the Midsomer Norton-based Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust to buy Masbury station is set to create a third restoration base on the former trans-Mendip main line. As previously reported in Heritage Railway, the trust launched an appeal when the owner of Masbury station decided to place in on the market, after it was given until the end of September to find the estimated £500,000 asking price. The appeal raised more than £80,000 in pledges – seen as a phenomenal achievement in just a few months, but way short of the target. However, after fears that the site could become redeveloped for housing were expressed, an unidentified trust member stepped in with an offer to buy the station. The deal, which was still being concluded as we closed for press, opens up the long-term possibility of a six mile heritage S&D main line linking Midsomer Norton to Masbury. Trust vice chairman John Baxter said that the prospective new owner is also a bus enthusiast who wants to build a shed to house his vehicle collection there. His vision is to begin laying track from Masbury towards Shepton Mallet and the first missing overbridge, to create a new working railway, rather than northwards to Masbury in the first instance, and the trust could be involved. “It may be possible to have an arrangement like that at Gotherington on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, whereby the station owner keeps one platform and has his own private railway in the yard, with a revived line using the other platform,” he said. John also explained that none of the money raised by the appeal will be used to purchase the station. He

added that prospective donors of around £30,000 of the total amount had indicated that they wanted the money back if it was not to be used to buy Masbury station, and it was intended to write to them asking if they would allow it to be used towards establishing a presence on the site, which would become a third revival base alongside Midsomer Norton and the separate Shillingstone station project at the southern end of the line. At Midsomer Norton, the trust recently passed the landmark of achieving a 1000 yard running line, going south towards Chilcompton Tunnel, where it is hoped to eventually build a run-round loop and station. The remaining £50,000 from the appeal is set to be used for this stretch of line. John said that there are indications that a local rifle club may be prepared to give up its lease on the twin bores of the tunnel, which has been plagued with water penetration. If that happened, it would open up the possibility of the railway being extending through the tunnel towards Masbury. However, he said that in view of the expense involved and the fact that the necessary line would have to be acquired piecemeal, as in the case of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway revival, it could take up to 25 years for the two stations to be reconnected. In the meantime, plans are progressing for major celebrations to be held in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the S&D. In addition to the three sites, the 2ft gauge Gartell Light Railway runs over part of the S&D formation at its base south of Templecombe. The Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust established its base at Washford station on the West Somerset Railway, in what was GWR territory, after failing to establish a permanent presence at Radstock in the early Seventies.

Bluebell pressure is on THE Bluebell Railway’s new Keep Up the Pressure campaign to raise funds to help speed up the overhaul of bigger locomotives for the extended line to East Grinstead has now passed the £75,000 mark. The boiler of BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73082 Camelot is now at LNWR Crewe, while the one

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from Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair is on its way there. The money will also be used to overhaul BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80151 and SECR O1 0-6-0 No. 65. Donations may be made to the Bluebell Railway Trust, Sheffield Park Station, East Sussex TN22 3QL.

The Railway Station by William Powell Frith, 1862. ROYAL HOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Bath gallery exhibition celebrates Great Western A TREASURE trove of iconic GWR railway posters, paintings and 19th century prints will be celebrated at Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Victoria Art Gallery in a new exhibition. Bath and the Great Western Railway, which runs at the gallery, near Pulteney Bridge from November 23 until February 2, includes William Powell Frith’s epic panorama of Victorian life, The Railway Station, which depicts dozens of passengers from all walks of life boarding a train at Paddington. This famous painting is only occasionally on public display, and has been borrowed especially for this exhibition.

Frith’s iconic work was so popular when it was first unveiled to the public in 1862, that the police were brought in to control the crowds so desperate to see it. There will also be a series of free lunchtime talks at the Guildhall in Bath: Tuesday November 26 – Railway posters of the GWR with Ed Bartholomew from the National Railway Museum; Tuesday, December 3 – GWR: the Bath to Bristol line with railway historian Colin Maggs MBE, and Tuesday, December 10 – GWR: a general history’ with Tim Bryan, transport historian. All talks run from 1.10-1.45pm.

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25

News

INBRIEF

➲ TWO teenage Keighley & Worth Valley Railway volunteers are spearheading fundraising for the National Autistic Society. Joseph Halloway and Oliver Morgan, both 14, aim to help young people with Asperger Syndrome. Beginning last March by raising more than £1500 by shaving their heads at Oxenhope station, they have now staged Have An Asperger’s Adventure, and events at the Elsecar Heritage Railway, complete with an ‘Aspergers Flyer’ special train.

Prince heads revived L&B original three-coach rake

➲ THE Manx Electric Railway’s Laxey station has been earmarked for a £700,000 refurbishment, with the renewal of ballast, sleepers and trackwork. The island’s department of community, culture and leisure will apply for funding at the next sitting of Tynwald, the Manx Parliament, with the aim of completing the work by March. ➲ BREDGAR & Wormshill Railway’s Arn Jung 0-4-0WT Katie returned to service on October 6 following overhaul. Two further locomotives are now under overhaul, ex-Minworth Waterworks Bagnall 0-4-0ST Armistice and ex-Dinorwic Quarries Hunslet 0-4-0ST Lady Joan. Both are expected to return to service in 2014. ➲ TINA Pinney, 65, a North Norfolk Railway volunteer since 2010, has qualified as a fireman. The retired teacher, mother-of-three and grandmother, passed following a three-day exam, after beginning her training at the Midland RailwayButterley. ➲ CECIL Pitt, who edited the MidHants News for 27 years, has died at the age of 96. Born in Alton, fatherof-two Cecil worked in printing and advertising before becoming a security guard in his later life. He lived in Surbiton. ➲ TALYLLYN Railway will be running trains on Friday, October 25, during the area’s half-term week. The railway had originally advertised that there would be no services for the Fridays during October, but increased demand for services has led to the decision for trains to be run at 10.30am and 2pm from Tywyn Wharf. ➲ CHICHESTER and District Society of Model Engineers members will be running Christmas events at their site in Blackberry Lane, Chichester (East), on Sunday afternoons December 8 and 15, with several locomotives in operation. ➲ TASTE of the West, the food and drink organisation for the South West, has awarded the South Devon Railway’s cafe at Buckfastleigh a bronze award in its 2013 awards,the first time the railway has featured.

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Ffestiniog Railway No. 2 Prince heads the three original coaches on their final trial run from Killington Lane to Woody Bay on September 26 before entering passenger-carrying service. The latest to be restored, No. 16, is behind the locomotive. JOHN MURRELL

By Robin Jones THE revived Lynton & Barnstaple Railway now has a rake of three restored original coaches for the first time – and will soon have a matching locomotive to haul it. Visitors to the line’s successful September 28-29 gala were able to inspect the boiler barrel of newbuild replica Baldwin 2-4-2T Lyn, which is scheduled to be in service by the end of 2015. However, for the gala, attended by more than 1000 visitors, Ffestiniog Railway 0-4-0ST No. 2 Prince stepped into the breach, after the overhaul of Bagnall 0-4-2T Isaac, the latest addition to the modernday L&B fleet, was not completed in

time at Boston Lodge Works. It was Prince’s first visit to the West Country and the L&B Trust welcomed the chairman and general manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, Dr John Prideaux and Paul Lewin, to the gala. As a student, John co-authored a well known book on the L&B 49 years ago. It was joined by freelance 0-4-0T Emmet, which was built by Jim Haylock at the Moors Valley Railway and which launched the first revived L&B steam services a decade ago, making a comeback to North Devon after appearing at the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum’s relaid section of the Fayle’s Tramway at Norden on the

L&B chairman Peter Miles attaching a wreath of bronze chrysanthemums to the tender of Prince, at 150 years old the oldest working narrow gauge locomotive in the world, in commemoration of the wreath sent to the line by a resident of Woody Bay on the day after the Railway closed on September 29, 1935, with the inspiring message: “Perchance it is not dead, but sleepeth.” TONY NICHOLSON

Swanage Railway, as reported in our last issue. The weekend saw the launch into service of the railway’s third rebuilt original carriage, all-third brake Coach No. 16 which had been delivered to Woody Bay only the week before. Reconstructed in the L&B Trust’s Essex Group workshop at Great Yeldham with a 60% grant from North Devon and Torridge Leader 4, it joined coaches Nos. 7 and 17 which had returned to North Devon in May. So for the first time since the railway closed in 1935, three original L&B carriages were back in operation together. Coaches Nos. 7 and 16 were built by the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works Co

Visitors to the gala could also inspect the boiler for the new Lyn, the recreation of the L&B’s unique 2-4-2T built in 1898 by Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, which brought a touch of the American West to North Devon. The boiler has recently been completed by Bennett Boilers of Highbridge. It is the most substantial and expensive component of the engine being constructed by the 762 Club to operate on the restored line. L&B chairman Peter Miles is pictured looking down the barrel of the boiler. TONY NICHOLSON www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Dick Wood steps aside in Buckfastleigh changes A goods train heading out of Woody Bay on September 27 topped and tailed by Axe and Emmet, the 0-4-0T built by Jim Haylock of the Moors Valley Railway. Emmet was the star of the show when Woody Bay station was reopened to the public in 2003, a year before the first passenger trains ran in the preservation era. TONY NICHOLSON

Newly-rebuilt Lynton & Barnstaple Railway all-third brake No.16 at Woody Bay. TONY NICHOLSON

in 1897 ready for the opening of the Railway in 1898 and No. 17, a brake composite, at Barnstaple itself in 1911 to provide a complete one-coach train if needed in the quieter winter months. L&B spokesman Tony Nicholson said: “All those who travelled in the heritage carriages enthused on the smoothness of the ride; those old enough to remember riding in them on the original railway avowed that it really brought back memories they thought they would never experience again.” In addition to Prince, Emmet and Axe, the trust’s own Kerr Stuart 0-6-0T, also in steam at the gala was Maffei 0-4-0WT Sid, owned by four of the L&BR Trustees. The engine may have made one of its last appearances at Woody Bay as it is now for sale because it is not considered powerful enough to haul the three heritage carriages up the mile of continuous 1-in-50 from the railway’s present southern terminus at Killington Lane. Unlike Isaac, Axe has not yet been fitted with the Jones Calthrop-style coupler it will need to pull the heritage carriages and will therefore continue for the time being to head the ex-Thorpe Park vehicles which have served the railway well since passenger services resumed in 2004 but are clearly not in the same league as the original coaches. With the new Lyn expected at Woody Bay by the end of 2015 and three original carriages now available while a fourth, No. 11, is due for completion by the end of www.heritagerailway.co.uk

next year, the third prong of the trust’s restoration programme is work to extend the line. Trustees are currently working on a very complex and expensive planning application to rebuild the railway from Killington Lane to Blackmoor and Wistlandpound which will be submitted to Exmoor National Park Authority and North Devon Council in the spring. Local authorities are all in favour of the project but will still expect the planning application to be correct, including a full environmental impact assessment which requires surveys of everything from dormice to bats. The trust has therefore launched a fund, the All Aboard Appeal, to finance the permissions needed. If readers would like to contribute, they are invited to contact the treasurer, Martin Swainson by emailing martin.swainson@ lynton-rail.co.uk or to visit the L&B website, www.lyntonrail.co.uk Once the planning application has been determined, the trust will have to apply for a Transport and Works Order. Meanwhile, discussions are continuing with landowners along the route and the trust hopes soon to be able to purchase more trackbed between Parracombe and Blackmoor Gate and between Woody Bay and Lynton. Once the line has been extended to Blackmoor and Wistlandpound, attention will turn to rebuilding back to Lynton and finally on to Barnstaple.

THE South Devon Railway is undergoing major changes at the top in the wake of a long illness suffered by general manager Dick Wood. Dick became ill shortly after masterminding the line’s recordbreaking Western Branch Line Gala featuring GWR steam railmotor No. 93 in February. In his absence the role, responsibilities and duties of the general manager have been carried out by other SDR management team members including operating manager and company secretary John Haslam. A statement issued by the railway said: “With the South Devon Railway enjoying increasing commercial success and considerable expansion of its activities in recent years — and with more growth planned and further development changes already in the pipeline — the South Devon Railway Trust has taken the opportunity to undertake a three-stage reorganisation of its management structure. “The SDR group of companies currently comprises three main distinct business areas: the trust’s principal activity of running railway related operations, along with central administration; SDR plc (retail and catering functions), and SDR Engineering Ltd (contract and in-house engineering) as subsidiary trading arms. “Under the significant changes which are being made to meet the demands of the growing, and increasingly diverse, businesses within the SDRT’s group of companies over the next decade, the post of general manager of the whole railway disappears and the various roles will be carried out instead by different functional managers and directors in the future.” Trust chairman Alan Taylor

added: “The South Devon Railway Trust’s businesses have grown significantly in almost every area over the last few years, thanks in no small part to Dick Wood’s efforts as general manager to improve our performance and services as well as enhancing the fabric of the railway since his appointment in 2008. “However, our management structure has remained largely unchanged since we took over the running of the line 22 years ago in 1991. Back then, we ran the bulk of our services with a couple of hired engines and one rake of coaches, but with the cafe and retail operations contracted out and we had no engineering business. “The SDR is now a much bigger, more complex and growing organisation with three distinct businesses which require close attention, so a change in structure was arguably overdue but obviously linked to the general manager’s illness this year.” The first stage of restricting process will see the duties of the general manager split into three new positions, mixing full and part-time and voluntary positions. There will be a railway manager, a PR and business development manager and an overall trust group manager. For this senior post of railway manager, the recruitment process has begun with a view to having the successful applicant in place for the 2014 season. Dick Wood said: “Naturally, I’m saddened to be giving up the reins at the SDR after five years and didn’t get everything done that I hoped to complete, but I can look back on achieving some major milestones of positive change and also look forward to the challenge of my new role and helping the SDR succeed. Getting better and back on to the footplate soon is also my goal.”

Pollokshaws West station saved by ‘recycling’ GLASGOW’S oldest surviving station has been saved from possible demolition thanks to a community cycling group taking over Pollokshaws West station as a workshop, offices and cafe under First ScotRail’s Adopt a Station scheme. South West Community Cycles, which provides recycled bikes to disadvantaged communities in the south-west of the city, has worked with Glasgow Building

Preservation Trust and the Railway Heritage Trust, to complete a £760,000 scheme to return the two-storey, main station building and a waiting shelter to near-original condition. The brick-built station was opened in 1848 and is served currently by trains on GlasgowEast Kilbride and Barrhead services. Through trains to and from Kilmarnock and Dumfries pass through the station. Heritage Railway

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Great Western takes over Worth Valley… just about By Robin Jones A ‘FIRST’ for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway saw its autumn steam gala taken over by three Swindon locomotives – right in the heart of LMS territory. Great Western 2-6-2T No. 4160, 4-6-0 No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor and WR 0-6-0PT No. 1501 formed the mainstay of the service fleet during the October 11-13 event. However, Erlestoke Manor was a late replacement for GWR 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney Castle, which was declared out of gauge on the line. And threatening to steal the show was the KWVR’s USATC S160 2-8-0 No. 95820, making its first run under its own power for 22 years. It is still about four weeks away from being ready to pull passenger trains, but attracted much attention as it ran round Haworth loop. Rather than USATC grey, it has been outshopped in BR black with a fictitious BR number. KWVR chairman Dr Matt Stroh said: “Our WD never ran in Britain yet carries a BR number, and so we have done the same with the S160.” On static display was Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells, a one-time main line

The three visiting Western engines, 0-6-0PT No. 1501, 2-6-2T No. 4160 and 4-6-0 No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor line up for a night photo shoot in Haworth yard. ANDREW SOUTHWELL

favourite which, said Matt, is due back in service in 2014 if not by the end of this year. The gala was busy during the Friday sunshine but hampered by poor weather over the weekend. Around 2700 passengers travelled, roughly the same as at the previous year’s event.

Above: In typical BR grimy condition, WD 2-8-0 No. 90733 running as No. 90721 heads a goods train through Keighley station on a Neil Cave photo charter on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. JOHN TITLOW Left: On October 12, USATC S160 2-8-0 No. 95820 is seen at Haworth after being steamed for the first time since overhaul. It carries a non-authentic BR cycling lion on the tender and shedplate on the smokebox door. KEVIN EDWARDS

Three more incoming tours for Bluebell THREE more railtours will be coming to the Bluebell Railway in the wake of the success of September’s ground-breaking visit by A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado. The Railway Touring Company will be running a trip from Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway behind BR Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell to Sheffield Park on November 2. 28 Heritage Railway

A week later on November 9, Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34067 Tangmere will be heading an RTC excursion from London Victoria. It will be topped and tailed by another steam locomotive, possibly a ‘Black Five’. A month later UK Railtours is set to run a diesel-hauled train to the Bluebell Victorian Christmas on December 12.

Tornado visits two heritage lines A1 PEPPERCORN Pacific No. 60163 Tornado is to visit two heritage lines in the coming weeks. Tornado makes a return visit to the Mid Hants Railway as one of the star guest locomotives at its October 25-27 autumn steam spectacular.

For the event, it will join fellow main line Pacifics BR Standard No. 70000 Britannia and newlyrestored West Country light Pacific No. 34046 Braunton. Tornado then travels north to Peterborough and The Nene Valley Railway for its Winter Tornado Gala on November 2-3.

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News

Record crowds at Alan Keef works annual open day By Malcolm Ranieri and James Waite

THe annual open day – held this year on September 21 – at the works of Alan Keef Ltd, light railway engineer and locomotive builder of Lea, near Ross-on-Wye, is always an interesting event for the narrow gauge enthusiast, and this year saw a record crowd attend. The event, which takes place in the fairly confined space of the works and grounds, usually sees several engines in steam, and this year there were four narrow gauge locomotives, two providing rides on the 2ft gauge demonstration line, and two on the specially laid metre gauge length of track in front of the works. Alan Keef Ltd has traded since 1968 to provide all services in respect of railways from 10.25in to 3ft 6in gauge, occasionally venturing into standard gauge territory, builders of bespoke

narrow gauge steam and diesel locomotives, and restoration services. Keef locomotives work in both industrial use and in the leisure industries, for example a few miles away in the Dean Forest at the 15in gauge Perrygove Railway, 2-6-2T Lydia built in 2008 by the company was working at its gala. Also interestingly, and a departure from steam, Keef built the diesel replica Lartigue monorail locomotive to operate on the original Listowel and Ballybunion, Ireland monorail system, as well as track and carriages. Working the short 2ft gauge demonstration track which runs in a semicircle around the grounds was Graham Morris’s 1922 Kerr Stuart Wren class 0-4-0ST Peter Pan, works number 4256, originally a Devon County Council highways engine, and Nick Williams’ Andrew Barclay cut down 0-4-0T Jack, both carrying

Bagnall 0-4-2ST Woto and Alan Keef 0-4-0VBT Taffy undergoing restoration. MALCOLM RANIERI

passengers in the garden railway Hayfield and Whaley Bridge Light Railway open coach. The track starts at the rear of the works where two locomotives were stored awaiting work, these being Keef ’s

own 1994 vertical boiler de Winton 0-4-0VBT replica, loosely based on the 1877 de Winton Chaloner and named Taffy, and 1924 Bagnall 0-4-0ST Woto, works number 2133.

Two metre gauge locomotives. The green one is Krauss Munich 3142/1894 which went new to the Hüttenwerke Hoerde (Hoerde Smelters) at Dortmund as its No.36. It later became No.5 at the Hoesch Hüttenwerke, Werk Phoenix, Hoerde, was plinthed in 1966 and subsequently moved to two German preserved railways before being bought by a Dutch individual for use on his garden railway. It was restored for him by Alan Keef in 2012. The black one is Krauss Munich 5742/1908 Geiger, Züblin & Co, of Munich and later moved to Argentina. It spent several years after 2003 at Preston Services in Kent before being sold and now belongs to the same Dutch enthusiast. Its restoration has just been completed. The green engine came back to Keef on a Dutch-registered low loader for the open day and both locomotives were due to set off for the Netherlands immediately after the event. MALCOLM RANIERI

30 Heritage Railway

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The four locomotives in steam, 0-4-0ST Peter Pan (Kerr Stuart 4256/1922) and Granton Gasworks (Edinburgh) 0-4-0T No. 9 (Barclay 1871/1925) which now belongs to Nick Williams and is named Jack though it didn’t carry the name during its working days at Granton. A photo shoot was arranged at the end of the day by Patrick Keef. JAMES WAITE

On the metre gauge track and in steam were two Krauss of Munich, Germany, 0-4-0WTs restored for a Dutch customer, from 1894 works number 3142 in a green livery, and from 1908 works number 5742 in gleaming black livery fitted with a spark arrester chimney. On a separate piece of line outside the works, and awaiting a lengthy restoration, was 1899 Henschel & Son of Kassel, Germany, metre gauge tram engine, works number 5276 named Rur. This 0-4-0 with inside cylinders worked for Duringer Eisenbahn A G in Germany but was converted in 1942 to a fireless locomotive for use in a paper mill, but is now to be restored to original ex-works condition. Inside the works open to the public were two very rare and historic engines undergoing

restoration. The 1906 Hunslet Engine Co 2-6-2T Russell, originally ordered for the aborted Porthmadog, Beddelgert and South Snowdon Railway, and purchased by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway, but more famously known for its work on the Welsh Highland Railway from 1922, and which in fact hauled the last through train in 1937. The rare Thomas Green & Co Ltd of Leeds ex-Harrogate Gasworks 1908 0-6-2ST Barber, currently being restored for the South Tynedale Railway at Alston, Cumbria, this firm also noted for its steam road rollers of which a handful are preserved. The event was very well attended with a record 600 visitors, the weather being good, and £3400 was raised for donation to local charities.

Harrogate Gasworks 0-6-2ST Barber (Thomas Green 441/1908). The boiler has been receiving attention at the Severn Valley Railway. It has needed more extensive work than at first anticipated, including a new inner firebox, but the plan is to use it again and the engine will not need a whole new boiler as had been expected. JAMES WAITE www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Welsh Highland Railway 2-6-2T Russell (Hunslet 901/1906). Keef has built a new smokebox and the old boiler has recently been remounted. A lot of work has been carried out on the chassis and motion. JAMES WAITE

Henschel metre gauge 0-4-0 tram engine No.4 Rur (works no. 5276/1899) built for the Dürener Straßenbahn or Düren Street Tramway. Düren is a town about 15km east of Aachen. In 1942 it was sold to the Papierfabrik Schoeller in Birkesdorf, a suburb of Düren and converted into a fireless locomotive. It last worked there in 1971 and two years later moved to the Selfkantbahn, a preserved line about 25km north of Aachen, where it has been ever since. It recently arrived at Alan Keef for restoration to its original condition. MALCOLM RANIERI Heritage Railway

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Network Rail to cut off world’s oldest terminus from main line By Robin Jones OFFICIALS at the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester have said that they are “very disappointed” at Network Rail’s decision to press ahead with a scheme that will cut the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station off from the rest of the national network. The museum, part of the Science Museum group, is based around Liverpool road station, which is globally significant as the surviving terminus of the world’s first inter-city railway, the Liverpool & Manchester, which opened in 1830. The running line has been retained between the platforms, and not only is it used for regular steamings of locomotives like the museum’s replica Stephenson Planet 2-2-2, but also accepts incoming charter trains. In February 2010, A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado headed the Royal Train carrying Prince Charles on a visit to the museum. In September, however, Network Rail submitted an application for planning permission for its projected Ordsall Chord, a longmooted section of line which will provide a short and fast link between the city’s Victoria and Piccadilly stations, eliminating the long-standing problem of congestion while increasing capacity in the region and reducing journey times into and through Manchester. The chord was first proposed in the late 1970s. Parliamentary powers for its construction were granted in 1979, but the project was cancelled. Network Rail revived the proposal in 2010 as part of its Manchester Northern Hub proposal. Funding for its construction was announced by the Coalition government in its 2011 budget. The chord, for which a route cutting off the main line connection to the museum has been chosen, is scheduled to be completed by December 2016, and will cost around £85 million to construct. A MOSI statement read: “We are aware that a planning application has now been submitted for the Ordsall Chord. “We are very disappointed that Network Rail has rejected all other options that would have 34 Heritage Railway

Prince Charles is shown the replica Liverpool & Manchester Railway 2-2-2 Planet during a visit to the Museum of Science & Industry on February 4, 2010, when A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, then in apple green livery, hauled the Royal Train into Liverpool Road station. Such movements will be impossible once the Ordsall chord is built. ROBIN JONES

bypassed MOSI and therefore protected our site’s heritage. “MOSI recognises that the Ordsall Chord is a key investment for the region, and that there are major benefits that would derive from improving the connection between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria stations. “However, the proposed rail alignment will cut MOSI off from the main line, which will damage the integrity of its internationally significant historic site as on the original 1830 Railway. “This will have a severe impact on MOSI’s visitors, its day-to-day railway operations, its volunteers, its routine revenue generating activity, and its fundraising ability related to its ambition to restore and interpret the MOSI story of where science met industry and the modern world began. “We will continue our discussions with Network Rail to minimize the damage to our historic site and its important heritage story, as well as the impact on our visitors’ experience. “We are also preparing options for how the site might work differently without the main line rail link.” Keith Whitmore, an alderman of Manchester City Council, a director of the Bahamas

Locomotive Society and chairman of the Heaton Park Tramway Trust, recently met MOSI officials in the company of John Leech, the Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, and was critical not only of the Network Rail plans but the museum for not doing more to enhance its railway heritage. He said: “It is essential that the railway heritage history of the site is not forgotten. Recent improvements at the museum have had nothing to do with this history especially the new gallery. “The original station building, the oldest passenger railway station in the world has virtually been neglected in changing anything since the museum opened 30 years ago and now looks tired. Perhaps it is time as the museum is part of the Science Museum group that the National Railway Museum should take over direct control of the rail exhibits and heritage there. “A further problem for the museum is that the Ordsall Curve, which is strongly supported of course, cuts off the rail access into the museum site. This heritage icon oldest world railway station will be left without rail access at all and in addition the rail running on the site will be shortened as well and will be a

shadow of the experience that is currently enjoyed. “A solution to protect the rail access could have been made by Network Rail which would have been of course more costly but would have ensured that history was not being compromised.” The complete Northern Hub scheme will cost around £530 million to implement, of which £85 million would be spent on the Ordsall Chord, and would allow around 700 extra trains per day to operate into Manchester. Through trains on the TransPennine Express routes to Leeds, Bradford Interchange, Newcastle and Liverpool would be re-routed to run via Victoria rather than Piccadilly, reducing journey times to each. Under the full scheme, which also includes new through platforms at Piccadilly and various track improvements outside Manchester to allow fast expresses to overtake slower stopping trains, journey times to Leeds would be reduced by 14 minutes on average, those to Bradford by 10, Sheffield by eight and Liverpool by 17. The chord will also improve rail access to Manchester Airport, which at present cannot be reached easily from Victoria. Railfreight access to yards in the Trafford Park area will also be improved. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Duchess is a £70k stunner

By Geoff Courtney

Double delight: Hunslet 0-4-0ST Thomas Wicksteed pilots Barclay 0-4-0ST Darent on the MWB Railway Society’s Hanworth Loop on September 8. The Hunslet returned to its Kew Bridge Steam Museum home three days later, but the Barclay is to stay on the line. JOHN BURD

Double delight for London’s newest steam railway By Geoff Courtney DoUBLe-HeADeD steam trains and the arrival of its very own steam locomotive have given officials and volunteers of the Hampton & Kempton Waterworks railway – London’s newest steam line – a double cause for celebration. The metropolitan Water Board railway Society is hoping to restore part of a former 2ft gauge mWB line that ran from Hampton to Kempton park in the west of the capital, and part of its ambitious £2 million plan has seen them build a 300 yard loop for crew training and public rides. This loop was formally opened in may by martin Baggs – chief executive of Thames Water, which owns the old line’s 3½ mile trackbed – and on September 8 delighted supporters witnessed doubleheaded steam trains on the loop, which has its own platform and is known as the Hanworth Loop. one of the two locomotives involved in this landmark event was Thomas Wicksteed, an 0-4-0ST built by Hunslet in 2009 that has been on loan from Kew Bridge Steam museum. It was, however, the other little engine that has got members excited in recent weeks. This is Darent, an 0-4-0ST built to 2ft 6in gauge as a side tank by Andrew Barclay in 1903 (works No. 984) for provan gasworks in glasgow as its No. 3. The Barclay arrived at the private eynsford Light railway near Dartford in Kent in

1999 as a kit of parts and was rebuilt between then and 2005, including being regauged to 2ft and converted from side to saddle tanks. Darent has recently been purchased by rick Scholefield, a member of the mWB railway Society, for indefinite use on the railway, and on August 31 it arrived to a warm welcome from many associated with the plan to reopen the line. on Sunday, September 8, it felt sufficiently at home to double head some trains round the Hanworth Loop in company with Thomas Wicksteed, which returned to Kew three days later after its loan spell on the railway. The original line was opened by the metropolitan Water Board in 1916 to transport coal from a wharf on the Thames to its two waterworks at Hampton and Kempton park. It ran for 3½ miles and was worked throughout its life, until closure in 1946, by three Kerr Stuart 0-4-2Ts, which supplied up to 150 tons of coal a day to power the pumping engines on the two sites. The mWB railway Society was founded in 2003 with the aim of restoring two miles of the original line, and events so far this year – from the official opening of the Hanworth Loop in may, through a number of public running days, to the arrival of Darent and the double-heading on September 8 – have provided stimulus to a longterm steam railway project close to the heart of one of the world’s greatest and busiest cities.

IN AN auction that attracted worldwide interest and had the sale room buzzing in anticipation, a UK collection of 7¼in gauge live steam railway models recorded spectacular prices in Newbury on September 17. Just seven locomotives and four carriages from the internationally-renowned Witheridge collection went under the hammer at Donnington priory, but such was the fame of the collection and the quality of the models that the prices soared as collectors dug deep into their pockets. eight telephones were constantly in use from both UK and overseas bidders, supported by four internet platforms. Top of the tree was LmS princess Coronation No. 6234 Duchess of Abercorn, which went under the hammer for £70,000, followed at £26,000 by another LmS model, ‘Black Five’ No. 5157 The Glasgow Highlander, and by two LNer A3 pacifics, No. 2500 Windsor Lad (£22,000) and No. 4472 Flying Scotsman (£20,000). gNr Stirling single No. 7 went for £13,250, LNer B1 No. 1017 Bushbuck for £8000, and 0-6-0 Romulus for £4600, with the collection’s final offering, a rake of four great Northern railway teak carriages, realising £11,500. The sale was organised by Bristol-based auction house Dreweatts, whose steam and model engineering consultant michael matthews said of the

£70,000 for No. 6234: “It was a war between the telephones, and it was exciting as the price kept rising. “Very fine live steam models such as these have proven to be a very good investment, and prices have risen significantly in the past 10 years. Some are still bought for investment, and some find themselves going to homes to be steamed or just admired.” As an example, he said, the models of Nos. 5157 and 4472 were bought by a private individual who plans to build a large 7¼in gauge garden railway around a property in Suffolk. The models, five of which were built between 1979-96 by the highly respected John Adams of poole, had formed part of a collection created by Don Witheridge for his railway in Hemsby near great Yarmouth. He died in July 2011 aged 85, and the railway he had built up from small beginnings in 1975 was famed throughout the world. The auction on September 17 also included models from other collections, and while prices failed to match some of the top Witheridge results, there were still some eye-catching realisations, including £9500 for a 5in gauge live steam model of ger D16 4-4-0 No. 1900 Claud Hamilton, £6000 for a 7¼in gauge orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0T, and £5500 for a 3½in gauge model of Br Standard 9F 2-10-0No. 92220 Evening Star. All the prices exclude buyer’s premium of 24% (+ VAT).

Black beauty: The 7¼in gauge model of LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 5157 The Glasgow Highlander which went under the hammer for £26,000 at auction on September 17. WILLIAM MATTHEWS

Carriage bogie conversion work is under way on Welsh Highland

A progrAmme of conversion of whitemetal bearing carriage bogies to take roller bearings is under way on the Welsh Highland railway. most WHr coaches are fitted with ex-South African railways diamond framed plain bearing wagon bogies, which have covered high

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mileages and are showing signs of needing heavy overhaul. Some successful experiments with roller bearings have taken place in recent years and Boston Lodge is now able to start a programme of retrofitting. At first, six bogies will be

converted from spare ex-SAr wagon bogies in stock. As these are swapped into use, the bogies released will be converted. The programme is a long term one but a new coach currently being constructed, No. 2046, will receive a pair already in stock when it is released to traffic.

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Jim Baldwin – sharing his lifelong love of LNER icon By Geoff Courtney

RAILWAy enthusiast, film-maker and author Jim Baldwin may be an ex-choirboy and one of life’s thoroughly decent chaps, but he’s having an affair with a well-known lady. His wife Harriett is perfectly understanding and so too are his mates, although one of two of them may raise a questioning eyebrow. There’s no shame on Jim’s part, and indeed quite the reverse. He’s smitten hook, line and sinker, and in the way one accepts such things when they are inevitable, he’ll happily talk about it over a pint and even attempt to explain it. Jim’s amour isn’t what you would call svelte, but to millions like Jim she’s darned attractive, has a sexy allure and represents a part of Britain’s history that should, and must, never be forgotten. She’s No. 4472 Flying Scotsman. Jim, who is 61, became a devotee of the LNER Pacific at a very early age, and that devotion has led him to produce through his company, Eagle Eye Productions, 30 fulllength films on No. 4472, DVD boxed sets and projects with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on the subject. He has also written three books on No. 4472, and another is planned next year. He won’t thank me for saying it, but there can surely be few people who know more about the 90-year-old locomotive than him.

Definitive story

His latest offering is a softback book titled, quite simply, Flying Scotsman: The Most Famous Steam Locomotive in the World, published by The History Press and a work which has already been described by former Flying

Scotsman owner Sir William McAlpine as “the definitive story” of the 4-6-2. In his introduction in the book, Jim dives straight in to an explanation of how he first became aware of No. 4472. It was in his formative years, he writes, when he lived near Grosvenor Bank, just out from London Victoria station. As a trainspotter, Victoria was naturally his stamping ground, and he recalls the ‘Golden Arrow’ being worked by Britannias and Bulleid Pacifics; but on September 17, 1966, his interest in steam was to veer in another direction. That was the day No. 4472 was to work the last steam-hauled nonstop train from the terminus to Brighton, and Jim, then in his mid-teens, remembers it vividly. “I was truly mesmerised by this highly polished, bright green, giant steam locomotive, complete with its brightly painted red nameplates, as it dominated the scene. After a wait that seemed to go on for ever, watching the alltoo-short departure of this incredible machine had me hooked for life.” Another date locked in his memory is May 1, 1968, when he skipped school to watch the Pacific depart from King’s Cross with the ‘Fortieth Anniversary Non-Stop Special’ to Edinburgh Waverley. “As this legendary locomotive departed, again watched by an amazing number of people – young and old alike – this was another event for me to remember forever. “Little did I realise that Flying Scotsman would subsequently prove to become such a major part of my life, with me making films and writing books about it to such a great extent.”

Flying visit: author and film-maker Jim Baldwin with Flying Scotsman at Railfest 2012 at York. HARRIETT BALDWIN

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Owning trio: Three of the owners of Flying Scotsman at an event at the NRM. From left, Alan Pegler (owner 1963-72), Tony Marchington (1996-2004) and Sir William McAlpine (1973-96). This photograph comes from author and film-maker Jim Baldwin’s new book of the LNER Pacific. SIR WILLIAM McALPINE COLLECTION

Immense enjoyment

Jim’s book follows a well-trodden path as it takes readers through its history, but it is a path which will provide immense enjoyment to Flying Scotsman fans and general railway enthusiasts alike. The first chapter, for example, provides a fascinating insight into why No. 4472 was built – Nigel Gresley, writes Jim, was under pressure from his Great Northern Railway bosses to “do something special” as rail travel became increasingly popular – and this is followed by a biography of the great man and a spotlight on the GNR and LNER. There are, of course, the BR years, and chapters on the succession of owners: Alan Pegler, Sir William McAlpine, Peter Waterman, Tony Marchington and the National Railway Museum. I was particularly taken by the story of how Alan’s daughter Penny learned that her father had bought No. 4472. “It was a snowy January evening in 1963 and I was nine years old,” she says. “My father came upstairs as always to read me my bedside story, but when he popped his head around the door there was a twinkle in his eye. “He often had a twinkle, but this seemed to be a special twinkle and was accompanied by a mischievous grin. He sat down on my bed and whispered ‘Today I bought a steam engine! She is called Flying Scotsman and I will

have her painted green’. He went on to describe how she was destined to be destroyed and that there were no identical engines anywhere in the world. He was stepping in to save her.”

Heartache

It is easy to forget amid the affection for No. 4472 that this is a locomotive which has left heartache – both financial and emotional – in its wake. Alan Pegler, who died in March 2012 at the age of 91, told Jim in a 2008 interview which is featured in the book of his feelings about the Pacific’s North America tour that led to his bankruptcy. “From my own personal point of view, I am here in east London, not in a nice country house in north Nottinghamshire,” Alan said. “But I’ve been awfully lucky with my family; many families would have said: ‘Silly old devil, what did he blow all the family money on that for?’ This whole scenario has kept what I regard as a part of British heritage in England and I’m not shedding any tears at all.” Bankruptcy also came to Tony Marchington – although there were undoubtedly factors other than No. 4472 in play – and of that era Jim, who was close to Tony, writes: “Tony had bought Flying Scotsman at a cost of £1½ million and after a three year restoration costing him a further £1 million, No. 4472 returned to working the main line in 1999. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Dorothea reunited with worksplate

Taking its turn: No. 4472 Flying Scotsman on the turntable at King’s Cross in the LNER era. The photograph, featured in a new book on the locomotive, shows clearly corridor tender No. 5323, to which the Pacific is coupled. JIM BALDWIN COLLECTION

“When it was sold to the NRM in 2004, it was certainly in better condition than when he had bought it in 1996 – a truly special legacy to the nation.” As someone who was involved with the locomotive in a PR capacity from its return to the main line in 1999 to its purchase by the NRM five years later, I have followed the Pacific’s current troubled restoration by the NRM with a mixture of bemusement, bewilderment, frustration and incredulity. I was therefore interested to see what Jim writes of the saga. After detailing the travails of a restoration that started a barely credible eight years ago come January and has so far cost about £3 million and counting, Jim – ever the diplomat, and understandably so – writes: “Whenever Flying Scotsman’s overhaul is completed, it is hoped by those at the NRM that it will once again be pulling in crowds of admirers for many years to come, ensuring that the many millions of pounds spent to get this icon of railway history moving again have not been wasted.” In the book’s epilogue, Jim returns to the theme. “In years to come, let us hope that Flying Scotsman is not known as ‘the most famous steam locomotive in the world’ for the expense and time taken to get it moving once more, but because of its exciting and heart-stopping achievements of the past.” And so, Jim, say all of us.

Flying Scotsman: the latest

Meanwhile, talks about the completion of the overhaul of Flying Scotsman were at an advanced stage as were closing for press. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

As we reported in issue 180, the resteaming of Scotsman is down to two caveats, as reiterated by new NRM director Paul Kirkman at a press conference in August. The first is that an outside contractor to finish the job, the cost of which has soared to nearly £3 million, still needs to be appointed. Then an examination of the cylinders will need to be carried out to establish whether they can be repaired at a costeffective price. As we closed for press, an NRM spokesman said: “We are currently in discussion with an external contractor to complete the ongoing project to bring Flying Scotsman back to steam. We hope to have completed negotiations this autumn. “We are progressing with the restoration in line with the required procurement timetable. We will provide further detailed information about the outcome of the tender process in a media and public announcement once a final decision is made.”

➲ Flying Scotsman: The Most Famous Locomotive in the World by Jim Baldwin. Published by The History Press. Softback. 120pp. 200 illustrations. £14.99. ISBN: 978 0 7524 9447 0.

LAUNCESTON Steam Railway’s Quarry Hunslet Dorothea, has just been reunited with one of its long-lost original worksplates. The locomotive, works number 763 of 1901, is best known for having been abandoned in the quarry where its worked until it was rescued by Dave Walker. The locomotive was subsequently purchased by Kay Bowman, wife of LSR founder Nigel Bowman, and over many years has been restored to full working order. Last October, Dorothea finally entered service at Launceston, and has been used on passenger trains from time to time since. However, the nameplates and worksplates had long since gone, and replicas had been made and fitted. A telephone call from a man in South Wales who had been helping an elderly person by clearing out a box of scrap metal led to a nameplate being united with the engine. When he arrived at the main scrap recycling plant, he was told that he needed to sort the metals

out into their relevant groups, and it was while doing this that he noticed an interesting brass plate. He placed it to one side, and when he returned home began to search the internet to try to find out more about it. It was some time before he discovered it was from a railway locomotive, and eventually he found it located at Launceston. He was really keen that the plate should be reunited with the locomotive rather than be sold off to some collector where it would remain unseen, and in due course the plate arrived in Launceston. Kay said: “I am delighted that another piece of Dorothea’s history is in place. When the plate was removed we don’t know, but there are clear marks where it was chiselled off the cab side. “But for the keen eyes of the gentleman concerned, the plate would have been scrapped and we would never have known, and we are most grateful that he took the trouble to identify the plate and contact us.”

Kay Bowman restored Quarry Hunslet Dorothea from scrap to working order, winning a Heritage Railway Award in the process a decade ago, and has now received one of its original plates. LSR

Aln Valley officially opened by duke THE Aln Valley Railway is to be formally reopened at a private ceremony on October 30. Landowner the Duke of Northumberland will perform the official opening of the railway at Alnwick Lionheart station. It is planned for have the line’s ex-Port of London Authority Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro hauling the first train. The ceremony, which will also mark the launch of the railway’s Let’s Get to Alnmouth appeal, comes 45 years after the last trains ran between Alnmouth and Alnwick, and marks a watershed for revivalists who have spent 18 years getting to the stage where they have a short running line as a launchpad for rebuilding the NER branch. After a series of setbacks, including

failed funding bids and a rival proposal to designate the route of the line as a path, land for the railway has been obtained from the duke, along with the necessary planning permission and locomotives and stock. Physical work began on the project around a year ago, with track laid at Lionheart. The ceremony will be attended by Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith, and the founding chairman of the railway Stuart Manley, who with wife Mary owns Alnwick-based secondhand bookshop Barter Books, which is housed in the town’s old station building. Volunteer Ken Middlemist, who worked as a British Railways fireman on the old line, said: “A lot of people are surprised at what we have done.”

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INBRIEF

➲ FOLLOWING the return to main line service on September 19 of Class 20 No. 20118, after its purchase from the South Devon Railway, the Harry Needle Railway Company has moved to quell rumours about the proposed exchange of SDR’s Class 20 No. 20110 for Class 37 No. 37275. Negotiations for the exchange are still taking place and the company, following its normal policy of confidentiality, will confirm any transfers only once the negotiations have been completed. ➲ THE Advanced Passenger TrainPrototype tilted for the first time since the 1990s during a modern traction gala at Crewe Heritage Centre on October 19-20. A demonstration of the Class 370 155mph unit’s hydraulic tilt was given. The experimental technology was later sold to Italy’s Fiat, which developed the Pendolino now being used on the West Coast Main Line.

➲ SEVERN Valley Railway volunteers were due to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service during a ceremony on October 21. The railway will be presented with a commemorative piece of crystal and a certificate signed by the Queen from the Lords Lieutenant of Shropshire and Worcestershire during the ceremony at Kidderminster Town station. ➲ BLUEBELL Railway chairman Roy Watts confirmed that agreement has been reached in principle to allow LSWR radial tank No. 488 to be displayed during the Hampton transport gala on September 7 next year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Shepperton branch. ➲ SHILDON Model Railway Club is appealing for a new permanent base. The 33-year-old club currently has layouts stored in Durham County Council-owned garages, in Newton Aycliffe and at Locomotion in Shildon, but needs to find a new home where members can work on displays. Anyone who can help is invited to contact shildonmrc.com ➲ THE Kent & East Sussex Railway has repainted its WR 0-6-0PT No. 1638 into BR black after a decade in GWR Brunswick green. Under an extension to its 10 year boiler ticket, it will run until next September. ➲ UNRESTORED Kerr Stuart Joffre 0-6-0T No. 2442 of 1915 has been sold privately as a kit of parts by the Teifi Valley Railway for restoration in Kent. It had previously been based at the Gloddfa Ganol collection in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

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Broadway in three years is new G/WR goal by Robin Jones THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway will be running steam trains into the Cotswold tourist honeypot of Broadway within three years... if it can raise £1.5 million. That was the prediction of the line’s company chairman Malcolm Temple, as he officially launched the £500,000 Bridges to Broadway share offer at the town’s rebuilt station platforms on September 30. Within minutes of Malcolm delivering a speech to volunteers and members of the press, a supporter handed him a cheque for £100 for the bridges appeal. As reported in Heritage Railway issue 181, the railway needs to repair five bridges between its current railhead at the site of the former Laverton Halt and Broadway before trains can run over them again. The five bridges are Station Road, Broadway (estimated cost £215,000), Childswickham Road, Broadway (£86,000), Pry Lane (£18,000), Peasebrook Farm (£46,000) and Little Buckland Bridge (£192,000). The total estimated cost is £557,000, with the balance coming from existing company reserves.

Worst of the five

The Station Road bridge, the second longest on the railway, is the worst of the five. Its low 14ft 3in headroom has resulted in it suffering many major vehicle impacts over many years, which have badly torn parts of the main steel beams. Partial failure of the waterproofing of the steel deck has led to severe corrosion of both the deck plating and several structural members below. The rest of the estimated £1.5 million for the two mile push

The original Broadway station pictured before local stopping services were withdrawn in 1960. GWR Collett 0-4-2T No. 1426 stands in the platform with an auto trailer. G/WR ARCHIVES

northwards – all of it on an embankment – includes the cost of building the new station at Broadway, embankment repairs and new trackwork and signalling. Volunteers continued with the rebuilding of Broadway station platforms at the same time as the railway was recovering from its double landslip disaster which saw £1 million raised towards the cost of repairs at Gotherington and Chicken Curve which had left the line operating in two ‘halves’. The platforms have been extended from the original six coach lengths to 10 coach lengths, not only to increase capacity for regular G/WR services, but also so that they can handle the anticipated incoming charter trains once a further push northwards takes the railway to Honeybourne and a reinstated connection on the OxfordWorcester Cotswold Line. It is planned to construct a new station building in brick, as near to the design of the original which was demolished in the Sixties as possible, but larger and adapted for

the needs of modern visitors. Planning permission has recently been granted. More than 700 tons of bricks from redundant bridges on the long-closed AshchurchTewkesbury line that were damaged beyond repair in the 2007 floods will be used for the construction of the new platforms. Rubble from the demolished bridges is now stored alongside the railway.

Saturday shop

A souvenir and second-hand items shop, the Broadway Goods Shed, is now open on the station site on Saturday mornings to help raise money. The design of the new signalbox on platform 2 will be based on the Shirley signalbox on the North Warwickshire Line, which formed the northern part of the GWR’s cross-country route from Birmingham Snow Hill to Cheltenham which opened nearly a century ago. As reported in Heritage Railway, Shirley signalbox was controversially demolished by

Above: Evidence of the bridge strikes which have weakened the fabric of Station Road bridge. ROBIN JONES Left: Station Road bridge in Broadway will be the most expensive of the five to repair. The spans will need to be lifted out. ROBIN JONES www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Above: Artist Frederick Lea’s impression of the proposed new Broadway signalbox based on Shirley. G/WR Right: Frederick Lea’s depiction of the planned new station at Broadway for which planning permission has just been granted. The station lies nearly a mile away from Broadway town centre, but the local council is now talking about installing a shuttle bus, with the prospect of it becoming reinforced as a year-round tourist destination once the trains return. G/WR

Network Rail in 2011 despite protests from local conservationists and Solihull MP Lorely Burt. Another North Warwickshire Line signalbox, Hall Green, was re-erected at Winchcombe station by the G/WR after it became redundant. A surviving original building at Broadway which will not be returning to rail use is the GWR brick-built goods shed. After being leased out for several years, the goods shed was sold outright to the adjacent caravan club, to raise money for the landslip repairs. A parcel of land at Bishops Cleeve was similarly sold off around the same time.

Magnificent response

Malcolm said: “An emergency appeal raised a stunning £1 million which means that the rebuilding of the embankments has been completed on time and paid for. The public and particularly the heritage railway movement responded magnificently to our plight. “That we are launching this appeal less than a year after the last embankment repair works were finished says much for the sheer grit of our volunteer workforce and their determination to press on with the expansion of our railway.” He said that lessons had been learnt from the embankment collapses. “All trading surpluses are now ploughed back into renewal, repair and improvement of existing assets and infrastructure,” he said. “A number of major projects are in hand – gulley and drainage repair, fencing, track replacement and signalling; building a second platform at Cheltenham Racecourse station; improvements to the locomotive shed and workshops at Toddington; and provision of a paint shop at the Carriage and Wagon department www.heritagerailway.co.uk

at Winchcombe. As a result, funding for extensions and new facilities must come from external sources – grants, donations, partnerships and share offers.” When the extension is completed, the railway will be 14 miles long. Mindful of the urgent need for extra passenger-carrying capacity – three sets of coaches for each operating day will be seen as essential – the railway has just completed a new £100,000 carriage workshop at Winchcombe, the money provided by a bequest from a supporter. The new workshop will enable carriage maintenance and restoration to be carried out in modern and clean conditions indoors and under cover. It is hoped to build a carriage shed alongside the works in the future. Malcolm said that the reconnected railway was on course for its best ever year in 2013. He revealed that ticket sales were £130,000 up on the last year before the landslips curtailed through services. “During the last few years the GWR has really got its act together at every level,” he said. “Our turnover for 2013 will comfortably exceed £1 million and we are an important contributor to the local economy, attracting visitors from throughout the UK as well as from overseas. ➲ The share offer involves a minimum investment of £100. It is being made under the Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme which means that income tax payers benefit from tax relief of 30% on any purchase. Therefore, a purchase of £1000 of shares will cost only £700. Shareholders will also enjoy generous free travel concessions and a unique share certificate. Further information is available at www.gwsr.com

Above: The new carriage and wagon works at Winchcombe. ROBIN JONES Right: Inside the new Winchcombe carriage maintenance shop. ROBIN JONES Below: The enlarged 10 coach platforms taking shape at Broadway. ROBIN JONES

Railway volunteers celebrate the official launch of the £500,000 share offer at Broadway on September 30. ROBIN JONES Heritage Railway

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News LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland accelerates over Oldbury viaduct 30 minutes late after problems with its troublesome air pump system on the 4.06pm BridgnorthKidderminster on Saturday, September 21. It was failed for the rest of the weekend after this train. DUNCAN LANGTREE

Severn Valley sunshine, steam and moonlight By Brian Sharpe Like many such events in 2013, it did not feature the originally advertised motive power, but the Severn Valley Railway’s three-day autumn gala on September 20-22 could not fail to impress. With a line-up of visitors including LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland,

With the last northbound train of the whole weekend, Eardington bank is bathed in a glorious golden sunset as GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 Kinlet Hall with matching maroon stock nears Bridgnorth with the 5.20pm from Kidderminster. DUNCAN LANGTREE

Schools class 4-4-0 No. 925 Cheltenham, GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 Kinlet Hall, Metropolitan e class 0-4-4T No. 1 and GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 supplementing the resident fleet, the usual intensive service of passenger and freight trains was operated, with even a Talyllyn 0-4-0ST seen being hauled down the line on a flat wagon.

On the Thursday night before the gala, No. 925 Cheltenham and GWR 2-6-2T No. 5164 and 0-6-2T No. 5643 are bathed in moonlight at Bewdley. KARL EVERALL

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News Paignton terminal plan scrapped

A RADICAL plan to turn the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s Paignton sidings into a road-rail freight terminal serving Torquay and Brixham harbours has been stopped in its tracks. The idea was included in the new port masterplan proposed for Tor Bay Harbour Authority as a way of promoting short sea shipping. However, nobody who drew up the report thought to ask line owner Dart Valley Railway plc first, let alone neighbours. Local residents and councillors were horrified at the “intermodal rail freight transfer” plans. At a meeting of the resort’s Conservative group, members urged that the plan – first mooted in 1995 – should be withdrawn. Ward councillor Alan Tyerman said: “The general consensus was it was incompatible with a tourist location. It was firmly squashed.” Louise Gilson, chairman of Paignton Community Partnership, said: “We are a holiday resort for goodness’ sake.”

Mull Rail may move on over to Oban

THE Isle of Mull’s closed narrow gauge railway may be revived on the mainland at Oban. The 10¼in gauge Isle of Mull Railway closed when its ground lease at Torosay Castle was terminated with the sale of the castle to a Swiss buyer. However, its assets, including locomotives and rolling stock, have been bought by wealthy Middle East oil industry chemical engineer Simon Clarke for an undisclosed fee. He is holding talks with councillors in Oban about finding a new home for the line. Two potential sites are a route from Ganavan Sands beach to Dunbeg village and the isle of Kerrera. Simon, 43, who comes from Nottingham, regularly visits the Oban locality to which his parents retired. Argyll and Bute Council tourism spokesman Louise Glen-Lee said local councillors supported the prospect of the railway being relaid in the area. “It would be really good to have a new attraction in Oban,” she said. “There are a number of opportunities in and around the town.”

steam returns to RVR after 52 years

Howzat for steam: A1X ‘Terrier’ No. 32670 is close to Northbridge Street on September 21, the day public steam trains returned to Robertsbridge after more than half a century, while on the cricket pitch a batsmen walks back to the pavilion and fielders celebrate the fall of his wicket. TREVOR STREETER

By Geoff Courtney RoBERTSBRIdgE main line station in East Sussex reverberated to the joyous sound and smell of public steam trains on September 21 for the first time in more than half a century. It was an occasion to warm the hearts of volunteers and officials of two heritage railways as well as members of the public who may – or due to age may not – have savoured many years back that unique visual and sensual experience of a steam locomotive in action. As well as being on the London Charing Cross-Hastings line, Robertsbridge is becoming an increasingly important heritage railway location due to the burgeoning Rother Valley Railway, which has set its sights firmly on linking up with the Kent & East Sussex Railway two miles away. As part of that plan, the RVR’s

Robertsbridge base is currently being redeveloped from – literally – the ground up, and in recent months a five-coach platform has risen through the rubble, complete with associated trackwork. Such a landmark was understandably too good an opportunity to miss, and so on September 21 and 22, KESR resident A1X ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 32670 shuttled to and fro between the new platform and Northbridge Street, half a mile away and the current limit of the RVR line. It was a symbolic weekend, the sort of occasion which gives added impetus to the work of volunteers whose endeavours are so often unseen but without whom the thriving UK heritage railway movement would grind to a standstill. It was also a time for nostalgia – another essential ingredient of the preservation movement’s daily

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42 heritage Railway

Welcome back: A1X ‘Terrier’ No. 32670 on the Rother Valley Railway beside the London-Hastings main line on September 21, as the LBSCR veteran brings public steam trains back to the station for the first time in 52 years. TREVOR STREETER

diet – as No. 32670, a 141-yearold LBSCR veteran, hauled the very last passenger steam train out of Robertsbridge on June 11, 1961, top-and-tailing with fellow A1X No. 32662. Mike Hart, a RVR trustee, told Heritage Railway: “This was another big step towards completing the link between the RVR at Robertsbridge and the KESR at Bodiam. With our station at Robertsbridge completed by next year, our ability and determination will be finally demonstrated.” Mike said that an application under the Transport & Works Act for powers to build the rest of the line would be made next year, and if everything went to plan it was hoped to link the two railways within three to four years. The gap between the two lines was 3½ miles for a number of years, but track has now been relaid westward on the KESR from Bodiam to Junction Road, and on the RVR eastward from Robertsbridge to Northbridge Street, thus reducing the missing link to just two miles. “I have no doubt that the reconnection of the KESR to the mainline railway network at Robertsbridge will bring great economic benefit to the area,” said Mike. In addition to the new station, the redevelopment at Robertsbridge will include a carriage shed, two-road loco depot, and water tower and crane. That work, and the already completed extensions to Junction Road and Northbridge Street, will cost £4½ million, which is already fully funded. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

News

Weybourne gears up as NNR takes over Chatham Steam WEYBOURNE sheds are set to become a major centre of heritage steam engineering following the £100,000 takeover of Chatham Steam Ltd by the North Norfolk Railway. The Poppy Line is following in the footsteps of the South Devon Railway, which purchased boiler specialist Roger Pridham’s engineering business and moved it from Tavistock to Buckfastleigh. Under the deal, Chatham Steam Ltd will move from its site near Maidstone to Weybourne, the NNR’s engineering base. Chatham’s Robin Monday will head up what will be known as NNR Engineering, reporting directly to managing director Hugh Harkett. The deal was under discussion for four months, and was ratified by the North Norfolk board on September 28. The acquisition of the Chatham Steam order book, expertise and specialist machinery will mean that Weybourne will become a one-stop shop for locomotive repairs, from minor jobs to heavy boilerwork. Hopefully it will eradicate the need

GER J15 0-6-0 No.65462 passes Weybourne sheds, soon to become a major heritage railway engineering base, in spirit a successor to the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway’s Melton Constable workshops. BRIAN SHARPE

for locomotives to be sent away for heavy repairs, save costs and speed up overhauls and restorations. Robin said: “Being on a railway is where we should be – I’ve always looked for the right railway to go to. It’s a win-win situation, good for existing and potential customers. And it’s a great

opportunity to hand our skills on for the future.” Hugh said: “You can’t just stand still in this business – we’re all delighted and excited about this major development. It’s a great deal for the NNR, and raises our profile significantly, as we’ll be able to tackle complete boiler and

chassis overhauls for locos both here and overseas. And we won’t ever be faced with our engines having to go away for boiler repair.” NNR marketing director Colin Borg said: “It will become a centre of engineering excellence where other lines will send their engines. It’s going to put us on the map as far as our fellow railways are concerned because hopefully we’re going to be doing a lot of business with them. Certainly we intend to expand and do more work than Chatham Steam is doing currently.” The combined business is set to create apprenticeships as well as other permanent jobs. In the short term, Chatham will continue to trade from its site at Detling in Kent while the Weybourne works are being adapted. Current activity includes the boiler overhaul of the M&GN Society’s WD No. 90775 and work on a Kriegslok boiler for a Belgian group. Recent work includes the boiler of Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34081 92 Squadron.

End of the road for Colour-Rail duplicate transparencies

Stay of execution for Hayling line

RAILWAY photographic library ColourRail is to cease production of the duplicate colour slides which it has supplied to generations of enthusiasts after 40 years The Bromsgrove-based company has taken the decision because film of a suitable type is no longer available, with its last supplies, bought in bulk five years ago before Kodak abandoned film production, being almost exhausted. Its latest – and last – catalogue, No. 20A, came out on October 1 listing the 300 new slides covering steam and modern traction subjects to be added to the issue list. These and the new slides added in Catalogue No. 20 will be available for the next 12 months but withdrawal of all other current slides will start at the end of this year. Around 16,500 different slides have been produced over the years with representatives of virtually every Pacific and other Class 7 and 8 steam passenger power being illustrated.

THE future of the Hayling Island Seaside Railway has been secured for another year. The 2ft gauge seafront line which runs from Beachlands to Eastoke had been told that it must leave its headquarters at Funlands Amusement Park when the lease runs out in December. Funland wants to develop the land at the rear of the complex where the depot is based. However, the 25-year-old railway’s lease on the land has now been extended until the end of 2014. Bob Haddock, the railway’s founder, said the pressure is still on Havant Borough Council to find a new site ready for it to move into come 2015. The council is currently looking at four possible new locations along the seafront, all of which are in local authority ownership. One of them is situated in Bounds Lane, but residents say that a depot will disfigure the landscape. Bob said: “The railway is a major asset to Hayling. We thank Funland for allowing us another year but this does not remove the time constraints on us or the council.” A statement issued by Funland said: “We recognise the important role that the railway plays in bringing visitors to the island and wish them well in their pursuit of a permanent base.”

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Indeed a slide of the final GWR Castle needed to complete the set, 5052, is contained in the supplement. The final catalogue even includes a view of a Class 86 in two tone green. To commemorate this landmark a book, Dawn to Dusk, is being published by Ian Allan depicting steam scenes from the 1950s and 60s taken from the files of the thousands of as yet unseen images which are held. The collection is now approaching 250,000 images with a large selection of black and white material as well as the traditional colour pictures. These are being added to the website www.colour-rail.com at the rate of more than 400 per month, where they can be purchased as prints or downloads. The firm stressed that it is not closing down – far from it. Catalogues and books can be ordered online or by post at 558 Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove B61 0HT.

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LMS veteran returns to his old haunt By Geoff Courtney

A LONG-serving railwayman whose career encompassed almost the entire BR period is to return to one of his old haunts as a volunteer after a gap of nearly half a century. Jack Turner joined the LMS in January 1947 as a junior clerk in the goods department at Aylesbury High Street station, transferring to Bletchley shed as a cleaner on his 16th birthday in March 1948, and within two months was passed to fire locomotives. A month later he became a registered fireman working the branch line from Cheddington, on the West Coast Main Line, to Aylesbury High Street, and after national service and a spell at Aylesbury shed, relocated to Bedford in 1955 as a signalman. By 1963 he was a relief stationmaster on the BedfordSt Pancras main line, a role which later included some of the stations on the Bedford-Bletchley branch, including Ridgmont. As such he was the last stationmaster on the branch before reorganisation in 1966 – and now, 47 years later, he is back at Ridgmont, as a volunteer at the newly restored station building, which has been converted into a heritage centre. Jack, who is 81 and lives in Wootton, near Bedford, brought the curtain down as his railway career in March 1993, when he was chief operating inspector of the Midland Region’s London division. Being back at Ridgmont recalls memories of the line, although early ones are understandably hazy. “I first travelled over the line in the early days of the last war, when as a young lad I accompanied my mother to Bourne in Lincolnshire to visit my grandparents. “We started at Aylesbury where we boarded a train to Cheddington, then changed onto a Bletchley train, from where we travelled over the branch to Sandy, alighting yet again for a connection to Peterborough, and thence to Essendine for a final connection to Bourne.” Jack says he cannot remember much about the journeys, but estimates that, with no fewer than five changes, they would have taken up to five hours. “My next travels over the line would have been from 1946 onwards, when as a railway enthusiast I would come over from Aylesbury to view the workings on the Midland main line and visit Bedford MPD. Motive power on the branch in those days was Bedford 0-4-4Ts on the all-stations services and Bletchley Claughtons, www.heritagerailway.co.uk

FiRed up: A 16-year-old Jack Turner (right) in the summer of 1948, shortly after becoming a registered fireman on the Cheddington-Aylesbury high street branch. on the footplate is his driver, Arthur Waller, and on the platform footplate inspector Abey. They are waiting for departure from Cheddington with their locomotive, a former LNWR 2-4-2T which carried its new BR number, 46601, but still had LMs identification. The 1p was built at Crewe in 1890 and withdrawn from Rugby (2A) late in 1953, a few months after the branch closed to passengers. JACK TURNER COLLECTION

Prince of Wales, Stanier 2-6-4Ts and ‘Black 5s’ sharing the through semi-fast trains to Cambridge with Great Eastern engines.” Having to keep on his toes during certain firing duties is another memory. In May 1948, at the very beginning of his firing career when he was a passed fireman, he found himself on the 12.15pm turn at Bletchley, which involved carriage shunting with a ‘Super D’ 7F 0-8-0 followed by relieving a through Oxford-Bedford service on the footplate of a Bedford Midland Compound 4-4-0. “The shedmaster used to travel home on this train to Fenny Stratford, so you had to be careful how you fired it, making sure you didn’t produce too much black

smoke or allow the safety valves to let off excess steam.” With today’s staffing levels being pared to the bone – or not even existing at all – on so many railway stations, Jack remembers the contrasting scene of nearly 50 years ago when he was relief stationmaster at Ridgmont and other Bedford-Bletchley line stations. “The Ridgmont staff in the mid60s consisted of a porter, two signalmen, goods shunter and relief crossing keeper. At Woburn Sands there were early and late turn porters, goods clerk, goods porter and two signalmen, at Bow Brickhill a crossing keeper, and at Aspley Guise a crossing keeper and an out-of-hours crossing keeper,” said Jack, who founded

the Locomotive Club of Great Britain in 1949 and is now its president. The £500,000 restoration of the station building at Ridgmont has been carried out by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, which leases it from Network Rail. Formerly the stationmaster’s residence and subsequently an office and rest room for crossing keepers, it is Grade II listed and was built by the LNWR in 1846 in the design of the properties of local landowner the Duke of Bedford, whose descendents still live at nearby Woburn Abbey. Its new facilities as a heritage centre include three offices, meeting room, tea room and gift shop, the original ticket office has been restored, and there will be exhibits and information panels on the building’s and local history, including the story of the local brickworks industry for which the area was famed. Most of the cost of the project has been met by a variety of organisations and trusts, including the Railway Heritage Trust, the East of England Development Agency and Central Bedfordshire Council. Stephen Sleight, of the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, said: “We are delighted to have Jack as a member of the Ridgmont volunteer team. His input has been invaluable in acquiring suitable exhibits for the restored ticket office, and I am sure visitors will be fascinated to hear his memories from his time as the last stationmaster on the line and his career with BR.” The station is still open today, served by London Midland as part of the Marston Vale BedfordBletchley line.

ThRough The LookiNg gLAss: Jack Turner looks through the ticket office window in the restored Ridgmont station building on september 23. GEOFF COURTNEY

A drawer lock in the ticket office carries L&NWR identification, doubtless from when the station was opened in 1846.

MeMoRies: Jack Turner at Ridgmont station on september 23, nearly half a century after he was the last stationmaster. Beside him is the station building, which has been converted into a heritage centre in a £500,000 restoration project which will see him return as a volunteer. GEOFF COURTNEY Heritage Railway

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News

INBRIEF

➲ FOLLOWING the return to main line service on September 19 of Class 20 No. 20118, after its purchase from the South Devon Railway, the Harry Needle Railway Company has moved to quell rumours about the proposed exchange of SDR’s Class 20 No. 20110 for Class 37 No. 37275. Negotiations for the exchange are still taking place and the company, following its normal policy of confidentiality, will confirm any transfers only once the negotiations have been completed. ➲ THE Advanced Passenger TrainPrototype tilted for the first time since the 1990s during a modern traction gala at Crewe Heritage Centre on October 19-20. A demonstration of the Class 370 155mph unit’s hydraulic tilt was given. The experimental technology was later sold to Italy’s Fiat, which developed the Pendolino now being used on the West Coast Main Line.

➲ SEVERN Valley Railway volunteers were due to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service during a ceremony on October 21. The railway will be presented with a commemorative piece of crystal and a certificate signed by the Queen from the Lords Lieutenant of Shropshire and Worcestershire during the ceremony at Kidderminster Town station. ➲ BLUEBELL Railway chairman Roy Watts confirmed that agreement has been reached in principle to allow LSWR radial tank No. 488 to be displayed during the Hampton transport gala on September 7 next year to mark the 150th anniversary of the Shepperton branch. ➲ SHILDON Model Railway Club is appealing for a new permanent base. The 33-year-old club currently has layouts stored in Durham County Council-owned garages, in Newton Aycliffe and at Locomotion in Shildon, but needs to find a new home where members can work on displays. Anyone who can help is invited to contact shildonmrc.com ➲ THE Kent & East Sussex Railway has repainted its WR 0-6-0PT No. 1638 into BR black after a decade in GWR Brunswick green. Under an extension to its 10 year boiler ticket, it will run until next September. ➲ UNRESTORED Kerr Stuart Joffre 0-6-0T No. 2442 of 1915 has been sold privately as a kit of parts by the Teifi Valley Railway for restoration in Kent. It had previously been based at the Gloddfa Ganol collection in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

➲ All the lAteSt NeWS

For breaking stories from the world of heritage railways go online at:

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Broadway in three years is new G/WR goal by Robin Jones THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway will be running steam trains into the Cotswold tourist honeypot of Broadway within three years... if it can raise £1.5 million. That was the prediction of the line’s company chairman Malcolm Temple, as he officially launched the £500,000 Bridges to Broadway share offer at the town’s rebuilt station platforms on September 30. Within minutes of Malcolm delivering a speech to volunteers and members of the press, a supporter handed him a cheque for £100 for the bridges appeal. As reported in Heritage Railway issue 181, the railway needs to repair five bridges between its current railhead at the site of the former Laverton Halt and Broadway before trains can run over them again. The five bridges are Station Road, Broadway (estimated cost £215,000), Childswickham Road, Broadway (£86,000), Pry Lane (£18,000), Peasebrook Farm (£46,000) and Little Buckland Bridge (£192,000). The total estimated cost is £557,000, with the balance coming from existing company reserves.

Worst of the five

The Station Road bridge, the second longest on the railway, is the worst of the five. Its low 14ft 3in headroom has resulted in it suffering many major vehicle impacts over many years, which have badly torn parts of the main steel beams. Partial failure of the waterproofing of the steel deck has led to severe corrosion of both the deck plating and several structural members below. The rest of the estimated £1.5 million for the two mile push

The original Broadway station pictured before local stopping services were withdrawn in 1960. GWR Collett 0-4-2T No. 1426 stands in the platform with an auto trailer. G/WR ARCHIVES

northwards – all of it on an embankment – includes the cost of building the new station at Broadway, embankment repairs and new trackwork and signalling. Volunteers continued with the rebuilding of Broadway station platforms at the same time as the railway was recovering from its double landslip disaster which saw £1 million raised towards the cost of repairs at Gotherington and Chicken Curve which had left the line operating in two ‘halves’. The platforms have been extended from the original six coach lengths to 10 coach lengths, not only to increase capacity for regular G/WR services, but also so that they can handle the anticipated incoming charter trains once a further push northwards takes the railway to Honeybourne and a reinstated connection on the OxfordWorcester Cotswold Line. It is planned to construct a new station building in brick, as near to the design of the original which was demolished in the Sixties as possible, but larger and adapted for

the needs of modern visitors. Planning permission has recently been granted. More than 700 tons of bricks from redundant bridges on the long-closed AshchurchTewkesbury line that were damaged beyond repair in the 2007 floods will be used for the construction of the new platforms. Rubble from the demolished bridges is now stored alongside the railway.

Saturday shop

A souvenir and second-hand items shop, the Broadway Goods Shed, is now open on the station site on Saturday mornings to help raise money. The design of the new signalbox on platform 2 will be based on the Shirley signalbox on the North Warwickshire Line, which formed the northern part of the GWR’s cross-country route from Birmingham Snow Hill to Cheltenham which opened nearly a century ago. As reported in Heritage Railway, Shirley signalbox was controversially demolished by

Above: Evidence of the bridge strikes which have weakened the fabric of Station Road bridge. ROBIN JONES Left: Station Road bridge in Broadway will be the most expensive of the five to repair. The spans will need to be lifted out. ROBIN JONES www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Above: Artist Frederick Lea’s impression of the proposed new Broadway signalbox based on Shirley. G/WR Right: Frederick Lea’s depiction of the planned new station at Broadway for which planning permission has just been granted. The station lies nearly a mile away from Broadway town centre, but the local council is now talking about installing a shuttle bus, with the prospect of it becoming reinforced as a year-round tourist destination once the trains return. G/WR

Network Rail in 2011 despite protests from local conservationists and Solihull MP Lorely Burt. Another North Warwickshire Line signalbox, Hall Green, was re-erected at Winchcombe station by the G/WR after it became redundant. A surviving original building at Broadway which will not be returning to rail use is the GWR brick-built goods shed. After being leased out for several years, the goods shed was sold outright to the adjacent caravan club, to raise money for the landslip repairs. A parcel of land at Bishops Cleeve was similarly sold off around the same time.

Magnificent response

Malcolm said: “An emergency appeal raised a stunning £1 million which means that the rebuilding of the embankments has been completed on time and paid for. The public and particularly the heritage railway movement responded magnificently to our plight. “That we are launching this appeal less than a year after the last embankment repair works were finished says much for the sheer grit of our volunteer workforce and their determination to press on with the expansion of our railway.” He said that lessons had been learnt from the embankment collapses. “All trading surpluses are now ploughed back into renewal, repair and improvement of existing assets and infrastructure,” he said. “A number of major projects are in hand – gulley and drainage repair, fencing, track replacement and signalling; building a second platform at Cheltenham Racecourse station; improvements to the locomotive shed and workshops at Toddington; and provision of a paint shop at the Carriage and Wagon department www.heritagerailway.co.uk

at Winchcombe. As a result, funding for extensions and new facilities must come from external sources – grants, donations, partnerships and share offers.” When the extension is completed, the railway will be 14 miles long. Mindful of the urgent need for extra passenger-carrying capacity – three sets of coaches for each operating day will be seen as essential – the railway has just completed a new £100,000 carriage workshop at Winchcombe, the money provided by a bequest from a supporter. The new workshop will enable carriage maintenance and restoration to be carried out in modern and clean conditions indoors and under cover. It is hoped to build a carriage shed alongside the works in the future. Malcolm said that the reconnected railway was on course for its best ever year in 2013. He revealed that ticket sales were £130,000 up on the last year before the landslips curtailed through services. “During the last few years the GWR has really got its act together at every level,” he said. “Our turnover for 2013 will comfortably exceed £1 million and we are an important contributor to the local economy, attracting visitors from throughout the UK as well as from overseas. ➲ The share offer involves a minimum investment of £100. It is being made under the Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme which means that income tax payers benefit from tax relief of 30% on any purchase. Therefore, a purchase of £1000 of shares will cost only £700. Shareholders will also enjoy generous free travel concessions and a unique share certificate. Further information is available at www.gwsr.com

Above: The new carriage and wagon works at Winchcombe. ROBIN JONES Right: Inside the new Winchcombe carriage maintenance shop. ROBIN JONES Below: The enlarged 10 coach platforms taking shape at Broadway. ROBIN JONES

Railway volunteers celebrate the official launch of the £500,000 share offer at Broadway on September 30. ROBIN JONES Heritage Railway

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News

INBRIEF

Return of ‘mystical’ Polar Express train

FOLLOWING last year’s stunning debut success, British American Rail Services is bringing its Polar Express Christmas-themed train ride back to its Weardale and Dartmoor railways. The diesel-hauled ride, inspired by the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg and hit animated film starring Tom Hanks, will run from the end of October until January. The Polar Express train makes a mystical round-trip journey to the ‘North Pole’. The characters of the story come to life with the conductor punching away at the golden tickets, chefs dancing and delivering hot chocolate and cookies and the doubting hobo wandering through the carriages. BARS president Ed Ellis said: “We’re excited about the success of The Polar Express experience in the UK. “We have delighted children and their parents and grandparents at locations across the US for years, and the story’s messages of hope and belief are ideal for the holiday season.” Advanced booking is required and tickets are on sale now from 0800 0232383 or UKPolarExpressRide.com

Bridge spans for Ardingly branch

THE Bluebell Railway’s plans to rebuilt the Ardingly branch have been given a major boost by the arrival of a set of bridge spans from the long-closed Ashchurch-Great Malvern line. The spans were part of a bridge built in the late Fifties to take the railway across the Ross Link Road, later the M50, shortly before passenger services were withdrawn. The bridge, near Ripple, has been dismantled to enable road widening to take place. The spans have been donated to the Bluebell Railway and have been moved to Horsted Keynes until physical work on the Ardingly branch begins. They will be used to replace the demolished Sheriff Mill Viaduct.

Will a Class 60 be preserved?

INTEREST has been raised in the fate of 20 Class 60 locomotives that were placed on the tender list by DB Schenker on September 17. The locomotives made available, Nos. 60002/13/21/26/28/29/33/38/41/ 46/47/48/55/56/61/76/85/87/95/96, are stored at Crewe and Toton, except No. 60096 which is stored at St Blazey. As we closed for press, an announcement about the successful bidders was awaited.

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Help build £477k boiler for new LMS Patriot By Robin Jones

THE builders of new LMS Patriot 4-6-0 No. 45551 The Unknown Warrior have launched a fundraising scheme for the boiler. The LMS-Patriot Company is seeking loans from supporters to finance the boiler, which will be of traditional construction. The loans will be repaid with a fixed rate 2.5% compound interest rate after 15 years. The interest on loans will start to be repaid from 2020, by which time The Unknown Warrior is scheduled to be a revenueearning engine. The new boiler will be assembled at Pete Waterman’s LNWR Heritage at Crewe, which has already built the new smokebox. LMS-Patriot Project chairman David Bradshaw said: “We have already secured around £60,000 which has enabled the smokebox to be completed and the copper sheets for the firebox to be ordered, but we now need to raise over £400,000 to build the rest of the boiler. “I urge everybody who wants to see The Unknown Warrior in

steam to come and support us in building the new Crewe-built boiler.” The copper for the firebox was ordered after a loan from a member and supporter. Together with additional fundraising through the boiler fundraising scheme, it will enable a start to be made on the building of the firebox at Crewe next year. The boiler is expected to be assembled for 2017, if sufficient funds can be raised, so that The Unknown Warrior can take part in the 2018 100th anniversary events which will commemorate the signing of the Armistice which brought about the end of the First World War. The already constructed locomotive front, unveiled earlier this year, will be decorated with poppies at Llangollen in the tradition of the LMS originals during the remembrance weekend of November 9-10. Meanwhile, the two outside motion brackets and boiler support brackets have now been cast and have been machined. The new Patriot is being assembled at

the Llangollen Railway’s workshops and will be certified for main line running. The cab has been ordered from R D Moore at Coalville for delivery at the end of October. The driving wheels have now had all the tyres turned at Tyseley Locomotive Works, where work on machining the driving wheel axleboxes has been completed. These will be taken to Llangollen to be fitted to the frames. The rolling chassis with cab and smokebox is due to be exhibited at the National Memorial Arboretum and the Warley National Model Railway Show at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham over the weekend of November 23-24. ➲ Anyone who wishes to register for the boiler loan scheme document is invited to email: [email protected] or telephone: 01785 244156 or write to: The LMS-Patriot Company Ltd., PO Box 3118, Hixon, Stafford, ST16 9JL. Further information is available from The LMS-Patriot Project website: lms-patriot.org.uk

Cylinder has to be recast for project THE LMS-Patriot Project has recast its inside cylinder block after problems arose with the first one. The block was cast with the new method of using a polystyrene pattern rather than a traditional wooden one. There was no problem with the method which, as previously reported in Heritage Railway, has been successfully used elsewhere on smaller locomotive components, and has dramatically cut the cost of castings. However, during cooling, the block shrank more than had been predicted, leading to a problem with final machining. It was decided that rather than rectify the fault, it was cheaper to use the same method to cast a new one with greater machining tolerances. The same firm, Coupe Foundry in Preston, cast the replacement on September 30, and it was knocked out of the mould on October 7. The new cylinder block will be machined in early November. The outside cylinders will be cast next year, also using polystyrene patterns.

Left: Newly turned driving wheelsets seen at Tyseley Loco Works on September 24. BOB SWEET/LMSPATRIOT PROJECT

Below: Line drawing of the Crewe-designed G9½S boiler, known as the enlarged Claughton boiler. LMSPATRIOT PROJECT

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Heritage Railway

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News

Clearout from LSWR steam was back at Northam NYMR begins VICTORIAN steam returned to the

THE first vehicle to be disposed of from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s recent ‘surplus to requirements’ list has left the railway’s ownership. Ruston 0-4-0DM Rowntrees No. 3 had been on loan to Locomotion, Shildon, but has been purchased for use on the Derwent Valley Railway by DVLR and NYMR members Tony and Glynnis Frith, and arrived there on September 6. Also moving to the DVLR is BR standard boxvan B762112.

site of the LSWR shed at Northam in Southampton on October 12. Swanage Railway-based M7 0-4-4T No. 30053 was the star guest at a 10th anniversary charity open day at the Siemens/South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance Northam traincare facility, hauling a large Queen Mary brake van, also from Swanage, and giving rides to the public along half a mile of line next to the Southampton to London main line, from the depot sidings to the headshunt next to Northam Junction.

The Drummond Locomotive Society’s LSWR M7 No. 30053 lines up alongside a South West Trains Class 158 DMU at Northam on October 12. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

The shed at Northam opened in 1840 remained the area’s principal steam locomotive servicing facility until 1903 when it was replaced by a new depot at Eastleigh. Proceeds from the ‘Whistle Stop Tour’ open day at the Northam train

depot are going to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, a cause close to the hearts of staff at the Siemens engineering complex after a rail technician working there was diagnosed with the progressive disease earlier this year.

Winter running for Dartmouth Railway – and ‘new’ BR liveries By Robin Jones

THE Dartmouth Steam Railway is to run steam trains for Christmas shoppers in November and December for the first time. Furthermore, in another ‘first’, the railway has agreed a two year deal with Andover-based photographic charter organiser Neil Cave to run private enthusiast events on the line. The railway is to run the extra public trains from Paignton to Dartmouth on Thursdays and Saturdays, in a major initiative to extend the running season. Combined steam train and boat trips along the River Dart are also

available during both months. In addition, a carriage on the line’s ‘Santa Express’ services will be reserved purely for shoppers. The Santa specials will run on December 14, 15, 21, 22, 23 and 24. In addition, the railway will be running every day from December 27-31, when Greenway House & Garden, the estate of the late Dame Agatha Christie, is also open. Trains will run daily during the February half term week too – and every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from February 15 to March 31 when the 2014 season begins. In another break with past

practice, the railway is to repaint four BR Mk.1 coaches for enthusiasts’ photographic charters. The West Country Steam event organised by Neil Cave for February involves two days of BR blackliveried WR 4-6-0 No. 7827 Lydham Manor heading the coaches, which will take on a more authentic BRera guise. In the past, enthusiasts have criticised the railway, the only heritage line to pay dividends to its shareholders, for its non-authentic naming of coaches and locomotives in a bid to woo the family market. During the charters, Lydham Manor will be turned on both days.

The charters will help fund the repainting of the coaches. Also, some lineside clearance is being carried out. An organiser said: “The line is one that has long been near the top of the ‘most wanted’ list for photographers.” The organisers have secured not only a two year exclusive deal for charters at the line but also the option of a further extension if successful. For more details about the charter, contact Neil Cave at [email protected] ➲ Lydham Manor in action: see feature, pages 70-75

About time... Yeti reinvade Covent Garden 45 years on IN THE same year that London Underground has marked its 150th anniversary with a wealth of hugely successful events, it is not only steam trains that returned to the tunnels beneath the capital. The deadly Yeti robots have taken them over again too. Back in 1968, the Underground and Covent Garden station were the setting for a classic Dr Who story, The Web of Fear. With London evacuated, the second doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, had to defeat an army of menacing fur-clad robots controlled by the Great Intelligence, a disembodied alien life form the had previously fought in the Himalayas. The six part story, which contains extensive footage portraying the station and tube network – but believed to have been filmed in London Underground’s former training

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centre in White City with its mock tunnels – was among several which were lost or destroyed by the BBC in the short-sighted belief that with the advent of colour television, nobody would ever want to watch black-and-white episodes again. With the advent of video recorders and DVD players, and with public demand for the old stories proved to be huge, fans and BBC staff have undertaken many worldwide searches for the 109 missing episodes of Dr Who supplied to overseas broadcasters, but with patchy success. Then in May, researcher Philip Morris struck gold in a TV relay station in Nigeria. Nine episodes were found, including four from The Web of Fear. With the first episode surviving in the BBC archive, and the still-lost episode 3 ‘remade’ using still pictures taken

A scene from the 1968 Dr Who story The Web of Fear which centred around Covent Garden station, and Patrick Troughton, who played the second doctor. BBC

on set at the time and an audio tape of the original transmission recorded by a fan, it has been possible to recreate the story in time to celebrate the 50th

anniversary of Dr Who in November. The story is now available to watch on apple iTunes and will be issued on DVD in February. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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53

LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45407 is seen at Loch Awe with the Railway Touring Company’s four-day ‘West Highlander’ returning from Mallaig to Crianlarich on September 23. DEREK PHILLIPS

Mainline News

Compiled by Cedric Johns

Stratford diner debut hit by late cancellation STEAM Dreams’ new main line luncheon train venture ground to a halt before it had even started – after Network Rail engineering blocks were imposed stranding the passenger stock, preventing it from reaching Paddington. Booked to depart Paddington at the civilised time of 10.20am on Sunday, October 6, for a run to Stratford-upon-Avon calling at Beaconsfield en route, the train, experimentally the first of a proposed series of luncheon trains, was cancelled at 1am – just nine hours before departure. Why and how this happened all started with the train’s motive power. Originally due to be hauled by A4 No. 4464 Bittern (which is still at York waiting to fulfil its two postponed 90mph runs), West Country 4-6-2 No. 34046 Braunton was named as a replacement but later, BR 7P 4-6-2 No. 70000 Britannia became the nominated engine. Aware of weekend engineering work, the empty stock was planned to leave Southall diesel-hauled on Saturday afternoon for Acton Lane, to avoid a block in the Southall area, preventing access to the depot on Sunday morning. In the event, No. 70000 was ‘stopped’ at Southall, prior to departure on Saturday, when the engine failed its fitness-torun examination. Three days before, Britannia had made its first run following the

completion of repairs at Crewe to damage incurred in a low-speed collision on the North Norfolk Railway. After being moved to Southall from Crewe, No. 70000 worked a ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Alton to Canterbury on Thursday October 3. With work being carried out on standby engine Braunton, Steam Dreams requested that the ‘diner’ be diesel hauled. A last-ditch consideration of Oliver Cromwell stepping into the breach was dropped when it was realised that the 4-6-2 could not be satisfactorily serviced because of the block. However, an overlooked engineering block between Acton Lane and Paddington, through which the empties had been pathed, meant that the ‘diner’ was trapped, unable to move. West Coast was advised of this on Saturday evening, after the empty coaching stock had already been stabled and so, with no workable alternative, at 1am on Sunday it advised Steam Dreams that the train had to be cancelled. Steam Dreams supremo Marcus Robertson and his team were placed in an almost impossible situation. How would passengers be notified in the early hours? The Steam Dreams website, emails, telephone calls and personal representatives at Paddington and Beaconsfield

stations spread the message. It proved effective, a tribute to the early morning efforts of the whole of Steam Dreams’ office staff, led by managing director Julie Martin. Later, Marcus said that of some 400 passengers, fewer than 60 turned up at the respective stations. “Obviously people were disappointed but surprisingly few complained,” he said. Of course it was not just that the passengers were disappointed, food loaded and prepared for the trip the night before instead of being served for lunch on the outward journey and late afternoon high tea was wasted along with money spent on stocking the kitchen car. All in all, events proved to be an expensive disappointment, never mind the cost of promoting this new venture. Will there be compensation offered by Network Rail? It simply said: “An operational error meant that the Paddington to Stratford service was not able to run yesterday (Sunday). Network Rail would like to apologise to the operator and all the passengers involved.” There is talk of rearranging the trip, but meanwhile Steam Dreams’ next luncheon train is the traditional ‘White Cliffs’ Christmas special this year running around Kent from Canterbury on December 22.

Dobbing replies to criticism over Norfolk jaunt ANGERED by a ‘mountain’ of criticism posted on internet forums regarding the numerous locomotive changes made to October 5 ‘Wandering 1500’ London-North Norfolk tour’s itinerary, the Railway Touring Company’s managing director Nigel Dobbing took the unusual step of replying publicly. Commenting on the numerous motive power changes, he said: “B1 No. 61264 was the confirmed loco for this tour, originally organised at the request of the North Norfolk Railway and the Midland & Great Northern Society. “Having agreed to work the tour, the B1 Society later said that it could not provide the engine, because of an additional gala commitment to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. “Neil Boden, owner of No. 61306 Mayflower then agreed to fill the gap but then on September 19 he texted stating that he was

56 Heritage Railway

withdrawing his engine from the tour. “We were fortunate in managing to secure No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell for the trip, it being the only remaining appropriate engine available.” Nearer the departure date, Nigel was told that the ‘Brit’ was out of gauge in and out of Liverpool Street so the train was rearranged to work out of King’s Cross. Replying to the criticism that WR 0-6-0PT No. 9466 was also withdrawn from the trip, he explained that the pannier was a late addition to the tour. “It was added because it would have been on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, saving the costs of bringing a diesel up from London. We used No. 9466 two years ago on the Cromer branch. Owner Dennis Howells really enjoyed this and was happy to do it again but unfortunately No. 9466’s main line ticket had expired.

“A temporary extension was considered but was not possible and unfortunately we forgot to remove this from our website in time. We are truly sorry about this.” Nigel continued by saying that RTC will avoid involvement with this type of tour in the future due to the criticism the tour attracted. “It gives us no pleasure, this tour was a lossmaker so no more…” Mayflower was also withdrawn from RTC’s ‘The Cheshireman’ on October 19, being replaced by Oliver Cromwell. Originally booked to head RTC’s ‘Dartmouth Express’ on the same Saturday the ‘Brit’ was replaced by the more appropriate Great Western 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney Castle. Main line news was unable to contact Neil Boden as we closed for press. ➲ Feature: pages 66-68.

www.heritagerailway.co.uk

LNER K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess heads south from Crianlarich on day three of the Railway Touring Company’s four day ‘West Highlander’ tour from Preston on September 24. DEREK PHILLIPS

Great Marquess goes it alone along the West Coast BOOKED to take part in the Railway Touring Company’s four day ‘West Highlander’ tour on September 21-24, John Cameron’s K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess completed more than 750 miles of the trip, working the whole tour with only brief relief. Planned to involve Carnforth’s 4-6-0s No. 46115 Scots Guardsman and No. 45699 Galatea, the K4 was forced to take the train on when both of the 4-6-0s were declared to be unavailable. The 2-6-0 departed Preston on Saturday, September 21, taking Shap in its stride. The K4 continued via Lockerbie and after successfully tackling the 10 mile drag up Beattock arrived at Glasgow Central right on time for a night stop, the stock being stabled at Cadder before being moved to Queen Street the next morning. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Given a challenging start, the 2-6-0 needed a diesel banker for the mile and a quarter 1-in-45 climb out of Queen Street. Dropping the diesel just after Cowlairs, the K4 got away in fine style on the Sunday (day two) tackling the West Highland route for which Gresley designed and built the engine to work. Passing Helensburgh and Arrochar a water stop was made at Crianlarich, the train arriving at Fort William on time. After a short break, the ‘West Highlander’, now with K1 2-6-0 No. 62005 in charge, completed a round trip to Mallaig before passengers relaxed for a night stop in Fort William. Loaded with coal of ‘dubious quality’, The Great Marquess set off the following morning on the long haul up to Loch Treig including the

1-in-55 section up to the summit, the engine being worked easily to ensure ample water in the boiler for the ruling 1-in-60 descent to Crainlarich via Tyndrum. On arrival, Ian Riley’s two ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871 and No. 45407 provided relief by working the ‘Highlander’ to Oban and return while the K4 enjoyed a breather while the fire was cleaned. Following the return of the train, the two ‘Black Fives’ departed for Fort William, the K4 coupling on for the final leg of the day taking the ‘Highlander’ back to Glasgow Queen Street and a night stop. On Tuesday, September 24, the train departed Barnhill on the Springburn branch and then headed south over the former Glasgow & South Western route to Carlisle. During a three hour passenger break at Carlisle, the 2-6-0 was

serviced then the K4 tackled Shap on the final leg to Preston arriving right time. Following the trip, John Cameron, who accompanied the train, said: “No doubt there was a share of luck going with us but no one can take away from the sheer professional ability of all involved, in particular drivers Peter Walker and Steve Chipperfield backed by the efforts of firemen Fraser Birrell and Danny Dammon, all of whom did a magnificent job resulting in not a single crisis – which is somewhat unusual for my trips. “It is trips like this which encourages me to carry on for another year or two in spite of old age.” Asked if he would do it again he said: “Being a West Highlander myself of course I would... but not every weekend.” Heritage Railway

57

Mainline News

Compiled by Cedric Johns

Steamy alternatives open up for ‘Cathedrals Express’ SINCE September’s announcement that Steam Dreams had changed its Train Operating Company from DB Schenker to West Coast Railways with effect from October 3, the move has aroused speculation regarding which locomotives would be used for the remainder of its 2013 programme. To date, Steam Dreams has relied heavily on The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado, but with one exception this is no longer possible because the A1 is not on West Coast’s approved list of engines. The immediate question is, will the ‘Cathedrals Express’ be worked by a group of ‘new’ locomotives? The railtour promoter’s chairman Marcus Robertson said he was confident that the change would open up a whole host of steamy alternatives in the shape of motive power. “Since the news was announced

my telephone has hardly stopped ringing,” he said. “I have received calls from loco owners and their guardians asking whether they can be part of our plans going forward. “I had forgotten how many engines West Coast has on its books and it really opens lots of exciting opportunities in the future. “That said, it should not be forgotten that in addition to Tornado our other most important provider of motive power has been Jeremy Hosking’s Locomotive Services Limited. It has a great stable of engines and has made it perfectly clear that it is happy to work with West Coast crews. “The likelihood is that engines based at Southall will enjoy the bulk of ‘Cathedrals’ work. It will cut out unnecessary light engine movements. However there will be a number of guest engines joining our railtour programme at different times during the year.

“Steam Dreams has its roots in all things Southern and the addition of Braunton to the main line fleet is an exciting development for those of us who enjoy Bulleid action. “Before we decide anything we shall be sitting down with West Coast to identify how best we can plan our future programme for simplicity, efficiency and robustness. “West Coast has a good number of engines and in the past has provided us with the likes of Scots Guardsman, ‘Black Five’ No. 44932 and 8F 2-8-0 No. 48151 not forgetting another ‘Black Five’, No. 45231, which is on Carnforth’s books, an engine which did sterling work heading many ‘Cathedrals Express’ trips in the past. Marcus paid tribute to the many DB Schenker crew members Steam Dreams has worked with including the days of EWS when ‘Cathedrals Express’ first began running in 2000.

“It is amazing how many familiar faces are still around from those days, not least DBS senior man, traction inspector Colin Kerswill, who was on the regulator of West Country No. 34016 Bodmin when we launched the ‘Cathedrals Express’ on its first trip from Victoria to Canterbury some 13 years ago,” he said. West Coast decided not to operate Tornado because of a disagreement with the A1 Trust over the use of subcontractors several years ago. The situation has remained unchanged, and Steam Dreams will need to use another TOC if it wishes to run with Tornado. On November 23, Tornado makes its final main line appearance this year at the head of a ‘Cathedrals Express’ working out of Waterloo to Ludlow and Shrewsbury via Woking, Salisbury and Bath, operated by DBS.

A bridge too far for Guardsman Progress being made on BOOKED to work an annual victim to gauging issues at the same special for the Lune Rivers Trust from Carnforth to Chester on Saturday, September 28, rostered engine Royal Scot No. 46115 Scots Guardsman was taken off the trip when Network Rail advised that the 4-6-0 was out of gauge for an overbridge located near Mickle Trafford Junction, near Chester. The clearances through this bridge have caused restrictions and prohibitions to a number of locomotives in the recent past, and is known to be in imminent receipt of the civil engineers’ attention. Carnforth’s 8F 2-8-0 No. 48151, prepped as standby engine, also fell

bridge. Curiously, Carnforth’s Jubilee, No. 45699 Galatea cleared the gauging process and took the special over the same route to Chester, without incident. The Lune Rivers Trust is a charity dedicated to the conservation, protection and improvement of the River Lune throughout its whole length and associated tributaries in Cumbria, Yorkshire and north Lancashire. The trust hires a train every year – previously known as ‘The Lune Habitat’ – which is operated by West Coast Railways taking members and friends on the trip to Chester.

Two B1s on main line in 2014 PREPARATIONS are being made to return B1 4-6-0 No. 61264 to the national network next year. Withdrawn in 2008 for a heavy general overhaul, nearly £500,000 has been spent on repairing and renewing 61264’s boiler at Crewe. With the overhaul completed last December 2012, No. 61264 was moved to its new long-term

home on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Main line test runs may now take place in January, under the auspices of West Coast Railways. If successful, and there is no indication otherwise, it will join sister No. 61306 Mayflower in the pool of available main line locomotives.

King Edward I overhaul THE heavy overhaul of GWR 4-6-0 No. 6024 King Edward I is making satisfactory progress, according to the locomotive’s press officer Dave Fuszard. Work on the 4-6-0 is split between three different locations. The frames, in the West Somerset Railway’s Minehead workshops, have been stripped, all components examined, refurbished or where necessary replaced. As an example, a new drag box has been fitted. The boiler is in the hands of Riley Engineering, and the wheels being examined to determine their condition. In addition, new outside cylinders are scheduled to be fitted. These are due to be manufactured using modern materials and made to a slightly reduced width to overcome possible future gauging issues. It may be recalled that towards the end of its certificate the engine was hit by a series of gauging problems – especially

in the Midlands areas – which included the cancellation of a proposed 6024 Society ‘farewell’ railtour. The 4-6-0’s tender, at Bristol’s Barton Hill depot, has had its tank, pipes and braking gear removed for examination and refurbishment as required. No definitive timescale has been set for the King’s return to the main line because the overhaul is planned to be much more comprehensive than carried out on previous occasions. Meanwhile, Richard Croucher reports from Didcot Railway Centre that preparations are in hand to place No. 6023 King Edward II – the blue King – on to the main line next spring. He says that the next major step is to raise funds to pay for the necessary equipment and installation of the nowmandatory GSM-R communications system. “Any help in this direction will be gratefully received,” he said.

K1 back in traffic at Fort William IT HAS been encouraging to learn that repairs to K1 2-6-0 No. 62005’s firebox took only weeks to complete before the engine was able to return to traffic at Fort William. As reported last month, the 2-6-0 was returned from ‘Jacobite’ duties to Carnforth by low-loader in mid-August and was back at Fort William by the end of September. At that time the cause of the trouble was said to be a cluster of broken stays on one side of the firebox. In the event, we have been told that additional stays were changed

and the engine successfully steamed well ahead of projected completion – so much so that the 2-6-0 was loaded up and on the road back to Fort William on Thursday, September 19. The speed with which the work was carried out and completed was down to solid hard work by Carnforth’s John Haddow and his team of engineers. On arrival at Fort William the following day, engine and tender were reunited, the plumbing completed and the engine steamed on the Saturday. Why the haste? No. 62005 was booked to head the Fort William-

Mallaig leg of the Railway Touring Company’s ‘West Highlander’ four day excursion in the Highlands, on Sunday, September 22. More than that, the K1 was back on ‘Jacobite’ duties for the remainder of the week. Confidence in the repair must have been of the highest order and so it proved. For the record, engines participating in the ‘West Highlander’ trip were: K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess, ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 44871 and 45407 – and the K1. The 2-6-0 will return south to Carnforth, for winter maintenance.

Left: In a scene which has dramatically changed in recent months, LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea crosses the River Weaver at Frodsham with West Coast Railways’ ‘Lune Rivers Trust Special’ on September 28. PHIL JONES Right: LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea departs from Shrewsbury with the return journey of West Coast Railway Company’s ‘Shrewsbury & the Welsh Borders’ railtour from Crewe on October 5. This was the first time Galatea had been at Shrewsbury since its withdrawal from the town’s shed (89A), 49 years ago. ED GRAHAM Heritage Railway

59

Mainline News

Compiled by Cedric Johns

90mph ‘Streaks’: new dates

NEW revised dates have been posted for the much-delayed second and third 90mph passenger loaded runs by A4 No. 4464 Bittern authorised by Network Rail on the East Coast Main Line. The eagerly-anticipated original trips due to run in late July were postponed because of a fire risk and a subsequent steam ban imposed by Network Rail in the York area. Days after the new dates, August 30 for Pathfinder’s Bristol-YorkNewcastle trip and August 31 for Locomotive Services’ York-King’s Cross ‘Capital Streak’ were confirmed, a second ban was placed on the use of steam traction by Network Rail. This followed a test monitoring of a ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ hauled by 4-6-0 Scots Guardsman which caused lineside fires on August 27. Following a lengthy pause, a new third date – Saturday, December 7 – was confirmed for the ‘Capital Streak’, but no date was initially given for the ‘TyneTees Streak’.

However as we closed for press, Pathfinder finally confirmed that the ‘Tyne-Tees Streak’ will run on Thursday December 5. This had been the cause of some anxiety by booking agent Peter Watts and his Pathfinder team who have had to deal with numerous passenger requests for hard information more especially concerning the Bristol-York departure. Indeed, letters went out on September 26 to both sets of passengers, one confirming the December 7 date, the other explaining that a provisional date of week commencing December 5 had been given for the ‘Tyne-Tees Streak’. In the second letter Peter thanked passengers for their patience, saying that arriving at a firm date had been more difficult than imagined. Reasons given were the commitment of all six A4s at the National Railway Museum for the Autumn Great Gathering which runs until November 11, a large number of engineering blocks arranged on the East Coast Main

Line in the autumn and, more tellingly perhaps, the limited availability of suitable drivers while Network Rail’s programme of Rail Head Treatment Trains is being carried out. However, by early October, a provisional date of December 5 for the Bristol departure was posted on the Locomotive Services website. When asked about this, Peter replied that he was not authorising the date to passengers until he had received official confirmation of the date, which he felt was probably down to the train’s operator, DB Schenker, sourcing experienced crews. Passenger wise, although several people have opted out of the December trains as they were not able to make the new dates because of prior committments, both trains had a waiting list and it is probable that both ‘Streaks’ will run with full loads. Despite lineside rumour, the Network Rail dispensation for just three 90mph runs is not likely to be extended past the year of Mallard 75.

SEE CLASSIC TRACTION ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK THE Rail Head Treatment Trains’ seasonal activity again brings the prospects of seeing heritage traction on the national network – albeit mainly overnight. As this report was being prepared, DRS-owned Class 20s have been moved to York to cover two diagrams. Nos. 20302/305/308/312 were moved in one convoy followed later by Nos. 20304/309. No. 20312 was reported to have failed en route to York and was replaced by recently refurbished Class 37/4 No. 37422. The DRS programmes started on Sunday, October 6, with the Gilberdyke and West Yorkshire circuit while the Grimsby and South Yorkshire circuit started the following day. The Tyne/Tees circuit using Class 37s also started on October 7. The Cumbrian/Settle & Carlisle circuits started on October 1 but these are using Class 66 traction, opening the prospect of Class 37s being drafted in as cover for shortfalls in locomotive availability to haul the intermodal services normally hauled by the Class 66 fleet. This year’s programme has been watched closely by lineside observers following the news,

60 Heritage Railway

earlier this year, that DB Schenker has surrendered some of its infrastructure services to other operators. At the time of writing the 2013 programme will see locomotive haulage on the following services: DBS: Acton based – Chilterns; Euston DC Lines; Broxbourne based – North Thamesside/Essex; West Anglia/North London; Bristol based – Welsh Valleys & Severnside; Bescot based – West Coast Main Line (South); Crewe based – North Wales; Didcot based – Great Western Main Line; Inverness based – Highlands; Margam based – West Wales; Peterborough based – East Coast Main Line (South); Lincolnshire; St Blazey based – Devon & Cornwall; Toton based – Lincoln/Stoke; Midland Main Line; DRS: Carlisle based – Cumbria and Tyne/Tees; Stowmarket based – East Anglia daytime; East Suffolk daytime; Overnight Diagram 1; Overnight Diagram 2: York based – Gilberdyke/West Yorkshire; Grimsby/South Yorkshire. The remaining RHTT services will be provided by Multi Purpose Vehicles crewed by a variety of operators including

those currently supplying drivers for track plant. Heritage traction still remains a valuable part of the small operators’ fleets with Colas Class 56s continuing to attract interest. The latest returnee to service is Nos. 56113 whose first revenue-earning load was the transfer of Class 86/2 No. 86213 from Willesden to Barrow Hill where its future (sale to Hungary or spares) will be decided. Colas now operates Five of the class (Nos. 56087/094/105/113 and on hire No. 302) which supports its three Class 47 and 5 Class 66 locomotives as the company continues to seek new contracts. Another operator of Class 56 traction is Devon & Cornwall Railways which has recently revealed a new silver grey corporate livery. At the Weardale Railway, this has been applied to No. 56312 along with the name of Jeremiah Dixon, a local-born surveyor who helped identify the Mason-Dixon line that is an important part of USA history and geography. Another class still finding work is the venerable Class 20 which has seen a further two examples restored to the main line following completion of major

overhauls by the Harry Needle Railroad Company at its Barrow Hill base. The latest examples are No. 20132 and No. 20118 that have been released in matching rail-grey livery; to further complement No. 20118, which retains its Saltburn-by-the-Sea nameplate, No. 20132 is reported to be having its Barrow Hill Roundhouse plate restored in the near future. Although the main work for these veterans is the stock transfers between Bombardier’s Derby Works and London Underground’s Ruislip depot there are reports of further contracts that are under negotiation and which will provide further opportunities for these locomotives to remain on main line duties. The Class 47 is yet another heritage class that continues to find a niche in railway operation with the majority of survivors being operated by the West Coast Railway Company based at Carnforth. Despite the recent purchase of Class 57/3 locomotives the company has restored a further class member to traffic with No. 47746, initially introduced to service in August 1964 as D1754, making its appearance at the beginning of October.

www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Mainline News

Compiled by Cedric Johns

Welcome to King’s Cross, the ‘new old’ cathedral of steam By Robin Jones

HERE is King’s Cross – the Great Northern Railway terminus from which the legendary Gresley Pacifics departed – as you have never seen it before. Lewis Cubitt’s original façade of 1852 was despoiled by 20th century additions, not least of all a 1970s British Rail lean-to which was removed earlier this year. The final part of the £550 million redevelopment of what is arguably the world’s greatest ‘cathedral of steam’ – if only in view of the fact that the fact that the fastest steam locomotives on the planet, the A4s, set out from there to York, Newcastle and Edinburgh – has seen the façade restored in all its glory. For decades, the King’s Cross locality was seen as the haunt of drug pushers, prostitutes and dossers. Now ‘Cinderella’ has returned to the proverbial ball, and the redevelopment of the station, undertaken by Network Rail in partnership with English Heritage, at the core of the district has helped to attract £2.2 billion of private investment into a previously largelyderelict and disused 67 acre site, with 2000 new homes. For decades, the interior of the great terminus has been considered gloomy, a fact that the tens of millions of passengers who use it took for granted for so long that few ever complained. Now, following the replacement of the glass roofing windows with photo-voltaic panels which generate solar energy, natural light has returned. Furthermore, the panels generate

Above: The restored façade of King’s Cross station following the opening of the new square in front. STANTON WILLIAMS Inset below: The blue plaque recording the design achievement of Lewis Cubitt in 1851-2. ROBIN JONES

10% of the station’s energy requirements. Now the ‘new’ King’s Cross, in which many of its heritage features have been brought back to the fore, is to take its place again as one of London’s landmark buildings. Furthermore, a new 75,000 sq ft public open space, King’s Cross Square, has been laid out in front of the Grade I listed station’s façade. On September 26, Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Network Rail chief executive Sir David Higgins officially declared the new King’s Cross Square officially open. The occasion was marked by the

The Lewis Cubitt façade illuminated at night. ROBIN JONES

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pulling of a Victorian railway signal lever and explosion of streamer cannons. Designed by architect Stanton Williams, the square is big enough to accommodate Big Ben’s clock tower. Mr McLoughlin said: “I have been travelling to and from my Derbyshire constituency for years and I remember when King’s Cross and St Pancras were not places you would hang around. Now it is a destination in its own right. “The official opening of King’s Cross Square marks the completion of one of the largest station modernisation projects across our national rail network and one of the

government’s top infrastructure projects. With more platforms, a redesigned concourse and improved facilities, work at this iconic station has transformed the experience of thousands of rail passengers travelling into London for the better. “It has also been the catalyst for one of the largest regeneration schemes in Europe.” Boris Johnson added: “The transformation of King’s Cross is not only beautiful but it has also triggered all sorts of regeneration, with new jobs, huge numbers of homes being built and businesses relocating here. What has emerged is a fantastic open space which has led to the creation of a whole new vibrant district. “It is the perfect example of a point I have always made, if you

The rebuilt roof of King’s Cross and its photo-voltaic panels, as seen from above. ROBIN JONES www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Above: The old green British Rail canopy dating from 1972 is demolished. NETWORK RAIL Right: Inside the clock tower which stands above the façade: whereas a huge mechanism big enough to fill the room was needed to operate the clock, a device the size of a box brownie camera now does the work. ROBIN JONES

support good transport links the jobs and growth will follow.” David Higgins said: “I’m confident King’s Cross will continue to flourish. This is just the beginning of a new chapter.” Last year, King’s Cross station welcomed the opening of the new western concourse, a modern addition grafted on to the reexposed heritage fabric on the western walls of the original station and containing retail outlets and restaurants. Since the new concourse opened, passenger satisfaction at the station has increased by 33%. John McAslan, chairman of John McAslan + Partners, added: “We are very proud of our role as lead architects and master-planners of the King’s Cross redevelopment. “This project has been a complex, extraordinary and collaborative effort that has delivered an internationally significant transport interchange, fit for the 21st century and beyond.” Alan Stanton, director of Stanton Williams, said: “As architects, we

were delighted to work on King’s Cross Square and to develop a response to one of the most exciting urban challenges in the city. The design of this unique new public space takes into account all complexities of the site, from its function as arrivals concourse for the station, to the structures of the London Underground system below, to create a welcoming orientation and meeting space as the final step to the regeneration of this landmark station.” Since work started in 2007, Network Rail has built a new platform – platform 0 – the new concourse, restored the Eastern and Western Range offices, which run the length of the station, and replaced the historic Handyside bridge with an accessible footbridge. The Handyside bridge has been relocated to Ropley on the MidHants Railway, as previously reported in Heritage Railway. King’s Cross is one of the busiest transport interchanges in the country. Around 47 million passengers use the station every

year, a number expected to rise by 10 million by 2023. King’s Cross was built on the site of a fever and smallpox hospital in a district named after a monument to King George IV. The initial blueprint was drawn up in 1848 by George Turnbull, resident engineer for construction of the first 20 miles of the GNR northwards from the capital. However, it was Cubitt who produced the detailed design, many of the features of which can now been seen again as a result of the ‘heritage first’ approach for the 21st century and beyond. The main part of the station, which today includes platforms 1 to 8, was opened on October 14, 1852, replacing a temporary terminus at Maiden Lane that opened on August 7, 1850. In 1972, a single-storey extension designed by BR was built at the front of the station to contain the main passenger concourse and ticket office, obscuring the façade, which was previously hidden behind a small terrace of shops.

Two ‘Black Fives’ in King’s Cross filming job BROUGHT south from Carnforth to Southall in August to act as standby engine for West Coast operating trains working out of London, Bert Hitchen’s ‘Black Five’ No. 45231 has seen little action... at least in the traditional sense. However, it’s the ‘lights, camera, action’ variety which will now arouse curiosity for rail enthusiasts. As previously reported, The Sherwood Forester sounded and looked in fine fettle at the head of Railway Touring Company’s ‘Dorset Coast Express’ LondonWeymouth trip on August 28 but has remained idle ever since. The up side is that during the

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engine’s rest period Bert says he has been able to sort some little jobs that needed his attention around the ‘Black Five’ including a boiler washout. Then, in the sudden way of steam orientated changes – almost overnight – No. 45231 accompanied by David Smith’s ‘Black Five’ No. 44932 plus eight coaches ran ‘around the houses’ to King’s Cross to take a prominent role in a late-night filming session. This event, kept under wraps for fear of an enthusiastic invasion of the station, was so secret that Bert had no idea for whom or what it was all about. Whatever the producer’s plan,

Bert reckoned that it was hardly authentic, two former LMS ‘Black Fives’ in the traditional home of Gresley A4s. As it was, engines and coaching stock were required to be on set late overnight Saturday and early Sunday morning, October 19-20. Returning to Southall on the Monday morning, The Sherwood Forester was prepared for a provisional light engine movement to East Grinstead and the Bluebell Railway. “We shall stay there over the winter months and remain until March,” said Bert. By then, plans for his 4-6-0 activities for next year should be completed.

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Main LineItinerary

LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland heads PMR Tours’ ‘Thames-Clyde Express’ through Settle on October 12. ROBERT SUGDEN

OCTOBER ■ SAT 26: ‘WEST HIGHLANDER’ Polmont, Fort William and return. Steam hauled: Fort William, Polmont. Locos: 62005 and No. 44871. SRPS ■ SAT 26 ‘DARTMOUTH EXPRESS’ Staines, Westbury, Taunton, Kingswear and return. Steam hauled: Westbury, Kingswear and return. Loco: No. 5029 Nunney Castle. RTC

NOVEMBER ■ FRI 1: ‘SURREY HILLS LUNCHEON’ Victoria, Guildford, Redhill, Victoria and return. Steam hauled throughout. Locos: No. 35028 Clan Line. VSOE ■ SAT 2: ‘BLUE BELLE EXPLORER’ Bridgnorth, Kidderminster, Birmingham International, East Croydon, Sheffield Park and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. RTC ■ SAT 9: ‘CUMBRIAN JUBILEE’ Tyseley, Carnforth, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Hellifield. Loco: No. 45699 Galatea. VT ■ SAT 9: ‘BLUE BELLE EXPLORER’ Victoria, Uckfield, Hurst Green, Sheffield Park, Victoria. Steam hauled throughout. Locos: No. 34046 Braunton and No. 44932. RTC

■ MON 11 ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ Peterborough, Canterbury and return. Steam hauled throughout. Locos: No. TBA. SD ■ MON 11: ‘KENTISH BELLE ARMISTICE’ Victoria, Dartford, Margate, Dover and return via Sevenoaks. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 44932. RTC ■ SAT 23: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ London, Shrewsbury and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado. SD ■ SAT 23: ‘ELGE EXPLORER’ Tyseley, Ely and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. VT ■ SAT 23: ‘CAPITAL CHRISTMAS EXPRESS’ Weymouth, Waterloo and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC

■ SAT 23: ‘TYNESIDER’ Newcastle, King’s Cross and return. Steam hauled: Newcastle, King’s Cross. Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC ■ THUR 28: ‘BATH & BRISTOL CHRISTMAS MARKETS’ Poole, Eastleigh, Salisbury, Bath, Bristol and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC ■ SAT 30: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ Euston, Chester and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 70000 Britannia. SD ■ SAT 30: ‘CHRISTMAS WHITE ROSE’ Cambridge, York and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC ■ SAT 30: ‘CHRISTMAS CHESHIREMAN’ Bristol, Hereford, Chester and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. SD

TOUR PROMOTERS LSL RTC SD

Locomotive Services Ltd (bookings via Pathfinder or Steam Dreams) Railway Touring Company 01553 661500 Steam Dreams 01483 209888, 0845 310458

SRPS

Scottish Railway Preservation Society

VT

Vintage Trains 0121 708 4960

VSOE

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express 0845 077 2222

 The information in this list was correct at the time of going to press. We strongly advise that you confirm details of a particular trip with the promoter concerned.

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LNER B12/3 4-6-0 No. 8572 climbs past Kelling Heath with the 2013 version of the ‘Wandering 1500’ tour which it had hauled in 1963, one year after purchase by the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society. BRIAN SHARPE

The 1500

wanders again

It’s not often a railtour can be rerun after 50 years using the same engine, and it will never be a straightforward exercise. Brian Sharpe reports on an ambitious plan that nearly worked.

F

ifty years ago, the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society ran one of the most unlikely railtours ever to have been operated and it was fitting that this should be commemorated in the vastly different circumstances of 2013. The society was formed to save a section of the M&GN which had been closed virtually in its entirety in 1959; the country’s biggest railway closure to date. At the time, the actual section of line had not been identified but the society had been able to purchase its first two locomotives, GER J15 0-6-0 No. 65462 and the last LNER B12/3 inside-cylindered 4-6-0 No. 61572, which had been checked over at Stratford and were stored at the LMR’s Devons Road diesel depot in East London.

With a steam ban by then effectively in force on the Eastern Region south of March, the route was largely on LMR metals, although it did cover part of the Great Northern main line, which by then only saw steam south of Peterborough in exceptional circumstances. The proposal for the tour was put verbally to the traffic manager’s

LNER B12/3 4-6-0 No. 61572 departs from Broad Street with the ‘Wandering 1500’ tour to Stratford-upon-Avon on October 5, 1963. COLOUR-RAIL.COM / R HILL BRE106

LNER B12/3 4-6-0 No. 61572 passes Greenwood on the climb to Potters Bar. COLOUR-RAIL.COM T A MURPHY BRE 928

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The railtour was devised as a way of raising further funds to repay a loan which had been taken out to secure the B12. Society member Chris Bird was working in the traffic manager’s office at Liverpool Street and was able to propose the idea of using the B12 to haul the tour, the route chosen taking it from Broad Street to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Proposal verbally accepted

office at Euston and accepted. The engine had in fact been sold by the Eastern Region 12 months earlier but the LMR was not to know that and apparently never asked the question, although the fact that it was no longer a BR engine apparently did start to emerge once the tour was under way. No. 61572 was towed from Devons Road to Willesden a few days earlier to be prepared for its

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LNER B12/3 4-6-0 No. 8572 carries the ‘Wandering 1500’ and ‘1X69’ headboards at Sheringham on October 5, 2013. BRIAN SHARPE

trip. The aptly named ‘Wandering 1500’ tour departed from Broad Street at 9.20am on October 5, 1963, with a Willesden crew, running via Dalston Junction and Canonbury Junction to join the GN main line at Finsbury Park before turning off at Hitchin to take the now-closed route to Bedford Midland. From here it ran via Turvey, Olney to Northampton Bridge Street, then Castle station, where it reversed to reach Blisworth. After another reversal it was chimney first again via Towcester and Byfield to gain the GW route to Birmingham at Fenny Compton. From here though the tour took the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction line via Kineton to Stratford Old Town.

Dash up the West Coast Main Line

The return journey was more straightforward and mostly on lines still open, via Bearley Junction, Hatton and Leamington Spa, then over the closed line through Birdingbury to Rugby Midland for a dash up the West Coast Main Line to Watford Junction, Willesden, Camden and Dalston Junction, arriving at Broad Street over two hours late at 10.45pm. The engine behaved impeccably, and a few hundred pounds’ profit was made by the society which all helped towards the preservation of the engine. It was 32 years though before it was ➲ www.heritagerailway.co.uk

BR Standard Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell passes Wymondham with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Wandering 1500’ railtour on October 5, 2013. BRIAN SHARPE Heritage Railway

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BR Standard Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell brings its train off the main line and into the North Norfolk Railway’s Sheringham station, past the signalbox now returned to its original position. BRIAN SHARPE

steamed again. In 1964, the Sheringham to Melton Constable section of the M&GN was closed by BR, and the M&GN Society set its sights on preserving the line running west from Sheringham. Its two locomotives arrived at Sheringham in 1967 after a period of storage at March but although the J15 returned to steam in 1969, the B12 was eventually given a major overhaul in Germany before entering service on the North Norfolk Railway in 1995. The B12 has had a further major overhaul with much of the work carried out at Riley & Son Engineering at Bury and in LNER apple green, No. 8572 remains in fine fettle but not main line certificated. The North Norfolk Railway and the M&GN Society wished to commemorate the engine’s exploits of 50 years earlier and approached the Railway Touring Company to arrange a commemorative tour in 2013.

Part of the original route

The ‘Wandering 1500’ 2013-style was booked for haulage from Liverpool Street to Norwich using part of its original route via Finsbury Park and Hitchin by LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61264, with Dennis Howells’ WR 0-6-0PT assisting between Norwich and Cromer, the B1 taking over again from Cromer to Sheringham and the B12 participating in the tour on the Sheringham to Holt section over the NNR. No. 61264 not yet certificated for main line use however, so another B1, No. 61306 Mayflower, was substituted but its owner advised a couple of weeks before the tour that it would not be available. Unfortunately the pannier tank would not be available either and so the motive power arrangements were altered again with BR Standard Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell doing the honours, with diesel assistance between Norwich and Cromer and Sheringham and Cromer. Another blow was the revelation that Britannias were now out of gauge at Liverpool Street and the departure station was amended to King’s Cross, but with the train returning via the GE main line through Ipswich to terminate at Highbury. Cromwell itself had inaugurated through running 68 Heritage Railway

over the reinstated Network Rail connection at Sheringham with another RTC tour from King’s Cross in March 2010. The ‘Wandering 1500’ duly set off from King’s Cross on October 5, 2013, with the Britannia in charge and made an on time arrival at Sheringham where engines were changed and the Class 47 diesel detached. No. 8572 made a noisy run over the steep grades of the North Norfolk Railway with its ‘own’ train, reduced now to five coaches because of the layout at Cromer where trains have to reverse. Returning to Sheringham, some slick operation saw the diesel replace the B12 on the front and Cromwell quickly added to the rear for an on-time departure.

Low on water

This complex railtour which had run like clockwork all day ran into trouble south of Colchester. Booked for a water stop at Marks Tey, the train found itself signalled through on the main line passing the fire engine parked

wrong side of the fence alongside the loop. No one had a key to the gate to give the fire engine access for watering. Low on water, No. 70013 pulled into Witham station where the crew set about locating a suitable hydrant as a matter of urgency while passengers were transferred to a service train in order to get to Liverpool Street in time for onward connections. Unlike the 1963 trip, 2013’s ‘Wandering 1500’ did not make a profit for its organiser. A clearly frustrated Nigel Dobbing from the Railway Touring Company posted a reply to criticism of the tour’s organisation on the National Preservation website, stating that he would not be running such tours as this in the future. B12s Remembered is the title of a new book featuring the class, the tour of 1963 and the locomotive, with contributions by RHN ‘Dick’ Hardy, Chris Bird and David Butcher. The book is available from the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society, Sheringham Station, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA, price £7.95. ■

BR Standard Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell passes the Bure Valley Railway terminus and preserved Great Eastern signalbox at Yaxham on the return leg from Cromer to Norwich. BRIAN SHARPE www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Good

Manors

No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor enters Blue Anchor (Barmouth) with the 10.45am from Minehead (Pwllheli) and passes No. 7827 on the 9.45am from Bishops Lydeard (Shrewsbury). DON BENN

With no less than four Manors on the roster, the West somerset railway was transformed into the Cambrian main line for its autumn gala, Don Benn compares the heritage line today with the Cambrian in real steam days.

Two visiting Manors at Minehead; No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor and No. 7827 Lydham Manor. KEN LIVERMORE

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I

attended the West Somerset Railway Cambrian Gala on Saturday, October 5, and for me it was the best gala the line has yet staged. It had everything – the right engines working hard on the heavy gradients, superb coastal scenery in the sun which soon appeared after a wet start and great photo opportunities, even if we had to do some walking to find the best spots. The stations were renamed after those on the Cambrian line, some like Crowcombe Heathfield being most appropriate as Talerddig. We had runs behind all four Manors, the Hall No. 6960 and the Castle No. 5029 running as No. 5026. The highlight for us was visiting No. 7822 Foxcote Manor from Llangollen on the 9am from Bishops Lydeard (Shrewsbury) which had the heaviest train of the day, seven coaches for 270 tons. It slipped on the wet rails almost all the way up to Crowcombe (Talerddig), taking over 16 minutes. Who says GWR engines don’t slip? Just after the start and again near Nornvis I didn’t think we were going to make it and the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s No. 7827, which was on shed at Bishops Lydeard (Shrewsbury), would be called on for banking assistance in true Talerddig style, but superb enginemanship got us to the top. No. 7822 also took us back from Minehead (Pwllheli) right through to Norton Fitzwarren and performed faultlessly on this crowded semi-fast service. No. 7827 Lydham Manor looked quite superb in gleaming black and the other two Manors, No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor from the Severn ➲ www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Above: GWR 4-6-0s No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor and No. 7827 Lydham Manor depart from Minehead with the 2.45pm to Bishops Lydeard on October 4. NICK GILLIAM Below: Black-liveried No. 7827 Lydham Manor on the turntable at Minehead carrying a ‘Ffestiniog Railway Special’ headboard. KEN LIVERMORE

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‘CAMBRIAN COAST EXPRESS’ 1965

Above: WR 4-6-0 No. 7827 Lydham Manor awaits departure from Aberystwyth with the 9.50am ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ to London Paddington on September 11, 1965. DON BENN Left: No. 7827 Lydham Manor and BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75002 at Dovey Junction. DON BENN Below: Lydham Manor at Dovey Junction with the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’.DON BENN

Above: GWR 2-8-0 No. 3850 and 4-6-0 No. 6960 Raveningham Hall passes Castle Hill on October 6 with the 3.45pm Minehead to Bishops Lydeard. DAVE HUNT

Valley and the home engine No. 7828 Odney Manor, also looked good and performed well. A nice touch was No. 5029 renumbered and renamed as No. 5026 Criccieth Castle and support was from home fleet engines 2-6-2T No. 4160, No. 6960 Raveningham Hall, mogul No. 9351 and 2-8-0 No. 3850, the latter giving ‘driver for a fiver’ footplate trips. At Washford S&D 7F 2-8-0 No. 88 and Pecket 0-4-0ST Kilmersdon were both in steam. There was even Cambrian narrow gauge in the form of the Talyllyn’s 0-4-2ST No 3 Sir Haydn which was positioned near to the turntable at Pwllheli (Minehead). All this Cambrian action put me in mind very much of my trip to the Cambrian lines in September 1965. I had started on the 10.42pm Leeds to Aberystwyth mails which was taken forward from Shrewsbury by none other than No. 7827, which then took the 9.50am ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ back from Aberystwyth as far as Shrewsbury. It was a damp and cool day but a very grimy No. 7827 performed well, first with just four coaches to Dovey Junction. There we had a long wait for the late running Pwllheli portion of five ➲ 72 Heritage Railway

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GWR 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney Castle running as No. 5026 Criccieth Castle departs from Blue Anchor and crosses Ker Moor. KARL HEATH www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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No. 7827 Lydham Manor climbs past Nornvis with the 4.45 from Bishops Lydeard (Shrewsbury) on October 5. DON BENN

coaches brought in by BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75002. So 7827 took nine coaches forward and with this load took a pilot in the form of BR Standard No. 75038 from Machynlleth up to Talerddig. The run over this section is shown in the accompanying log and for comparison the big struggle with No. 7822 on the West Somerset Railway 48 years later is also shown. In 1965, No. 7827 continued unaided to Shrewsbury making up all the 13 minutes of the late start from Dovey Junction with speeds up to 67mph after Welshpool. What a contrast though, in the filthy state of No. 7827 that day to the immaculate No.7827 of Saturday. A special mention for the nice cups of tea from the hard working ladies at Bishops Lydeard (Talerddig), some of whom were dressed in traditional Welsh costumes. It is difficult to fault anything from a wonderful good value day and we drove back up the A303 with the sounds of those lovely Manors storming the Quantock (Cambrian?) Hills still ringing in our ears. ■ Left: No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor with Talyllyn Railway 0-4-2ST No. 3 Sir Haydn on the evening of October 4. NICK GILLIAM

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BiShoPS LyDEArD (ShrEWSBury) To croWcoMBE hEAThfiELD (TALErDDiG) Date Train Engine Load Weather

Bishops Lydeard MP 168.5 MP 169 MP 169.5 MP 170 MP 170.5 MP 171 MP 171.5 Crowcombe (Talerddig)

October 5, 2013 0900 train Manor Class 4-6-0 7822 Foxcote Manor 7 coaches 249 tons tare, 270 tons gross Cloudy and damp, wet rails Miles 0.00 0.24 0.74 1.24 1.74 2.24 2.74 3.24 3.78

Actual Mins Secs 00 00 02 52 05 55 07 46 09 12 10 37 12 07 13 55 16 27

Speed 5½ 14½ 18/22 20½ 18/20½ 18 14/17

Gradient L 101 up 101 up 354 up 80 up 99 up 81 up 81 up L

schedule 12 minutes

MAchynLLETh To TALErDDiG Date Train Train Engine Pilot Engine Load Weather

September 11, 1965 0950 Aberystwyth to London, Paddington Cambrian Coast Express Manor Class 4-6-0 7827 Lydham Manor BR Class 4 4-6-0 75038 9 coaches 306 tons tare, 330 tons gross Rain, wet rails

Miles Machynlleth 0.00 MP 72 2.75 Cemmes Road 5.00 Commins Coch Halt 6.40 MP 67 7.75 Llanbrynmair 10.45 MP 64 10.75 MP 63 11.75 MP 62 12.75 Talerddig 13.65

Actual Mins Secs 00 00 05 16 08 15 10 57 13 17 18 02 19 34 22 17 25 03 27 02

Speed

Gradient L 47/39 min 628/90 up 33* 163 up 113/78/119 up 39½ 38/35 355/91 up 39½/13* L 25 52 up 21 52 up 22½ 56 up L

*speed restriction

At the West Somerset railway cambrian Gala on october 5, visiting no. 7827 Lydham Manor is turned at Minehead (Pwllheli) watched by Talyllyn 0-4-2ST Sir Haydn. DON BENN www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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Platform

TrackTalk Build locomotive crank axles in bulk

WHILE following reports from the UK’s new-build industry (teetering breathlessly on the edge of my chair) I read of something which baulks an otherwise smooth operation. It is reported that the G5 project is having to draw breath at the double crank axle for the inside cylinders. There are at least three other new-build projects that will have this particular hurdle before them. Were the relevant drawings to be compared, it could well be that dimensions are identical for two (or more) cranked axles. This won’t be the first time on the preservation/new-build scene it has been suggested that multiple production could be advantageous cost-wise, and surely it is only natural that the inside-cylinder project people talk to each other. Even though convention is to kick off with a new set of frames, perceptive onlookers would be equally impressed by a well-turned crank axle as first fruit. There would also be less space needed to start a project. Stuart Gibson, Wollongong, Australia

Coming to the rescue of The Major

I AM interested in saving Mersey Railway outside-frames 0-6-4T No. 1 The Major, which is currently preserved in Australia, and to restore it to running order. However, I have no experience with this sort of operation. I will be forming a dedicated group for the project and will be interested to hear from other likeminded individuals and would be looking for support. Daniel Hornby, email [email protected]

Heavy freight

IN the Scale Heritage Railway section of issue 180 you state that the 4200 class locomotives’ cylinders were increased from 19in to 30in to become 5200. This is incorrect. The original 4200s had 18½in cylinders replaced by 19in. Also, their weight was 92 tons 2cwt. They were still lighter than the Southern H16s at 96 tons 8cwt though. David R Holt, Queensland, Australia

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Readers’ letters at the heart of the heritage railway scene

Free City of Birmingham from Thinktank museum THE story on page 42 of Heritage Railway issue 179 regarding No. 46235 City of Birmingham brought back happy memories of when I used to move it up and down on its track at the ‘proper’ Science Museum in Newhall Street when I worked there. You are quite correct that the locomotive’s current location is not the right place for it. It ought to be at Tyseley and put back into running order. It would be an ambassador for Birmingham on the ‘Shakespeare Express’ instead of being stuck in the kiddies’ playground. Think NOT Tank. Our old friend the late Derek Harrison said it all when he tried to stop the city council from closing our Science Museum.

LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46235 City of Birmingham stands in June 1964 in its final position at the Science Museum site in Newhall Street, Birmingham, before the museum building was erected around it. TONY SULLIVAN

So let’s line up the Staniers at Tyseley. After all, not all of us can get to York or wherever. One more thing I would like to

Options for our own coal supply I AGREE with David Holt that something should be done about coal supplies. The Heritage Railway Association could at least supply a lead in this direction. Some years ago I suggested that Clipstone Colliery should be kept in reserve in case it became worthwhile in future to resume coal production. This was a strategic matter for government and quite expensive. If this did happen, it could also be a museum and limited production of coal in large lumps could be carried out. There is very little enthusiasm for coal mining museums in England although some historians do exist. There is currently a huge opencast coal mine at Merthyr Tydfil which was on TV recently. It might be possible to arrange for some blasting of coal in lumps for locomotive use and then remove it by road. The latter would

obviously need planning permission. There are still a few small deep mines, known as licenced mines, which were never run by the National Coal Board. It should be possible to take one of these over or agree to buy the output. At least one qualified member of staff would be needed. I suppose one would need a secure shed with good road access, somewhere for storage. A current problem is that such sheds are often demolished to save on business rates. However, rates can be avoided if the shed is occupied by a charity. It is difficult to see how a business of supplying coal to others can be charitable. It is probably the case that there are no spare administrative resources available to organise such a project. It would be nice to be proved wrong. Paul Gibbons, Alfreton, Derby

Bluebell is tops for liveries ON page 52 of HR 181, every photograph shows not just the locomotive but the complete train in its true livery; the GNR J52, the Caledonian 4-2-2 with its distinctive blue, the LSWR T9 and the radial tank magnificent in green, and finally the LBSCR E4 in Billinton’s brown umber – what a splendid lot. Of course it doesn’t end there. The Bluebell also keeps a ‘Terrier’ in Stroudley’s amber and several of

Wainwright’s LCDR locomotives in correct livery. It must be true to say that whatever the event, be it First World War, Second World War, Victorian or Edwardian period, the Bluebell comes up trumps with something to suit every occasion. I just hope the H2 rolls out in LBSCR livery – it will look splendid at the head of the Pullman set. Derrick Martin, Hornchurch, Essex

know is whether the chewing gum I stuck under the tender is still there. Adrian Scott, Harborne

Saving from Barry scrapyard is only the beginning

I WAS very interested in the article by J Crosse about the likely fate of the ex-Barry scrapyard engines in Heritage Railway issue 179. It’s not just the engines that are still being restored that could be in trouble. Even some that have been returned to steam after a lot of hard work and fundraising can be put to one side and linger on in sidings for years despite being suitable for heritage line work. Some 40-odd years ago I travelled on the Blue Pullman to Cardiff and then to Barry to complete the purchase of U class mogul No. 31618, the second engine to leave the yard. I met Mr Woodham and gave him a cheque and eventually the engine found a home on the Bluebell Railway and did some sterling work, but it has now been out of action for two decades. This is not what the original rescuing group ever envisaged, so I would advise anyone working on a Barry engine to make sure your locomotive is based on the right heritage railway, otherwise your hard work and money-raising could be in vain. Rodney Packham, Swanscombe

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E-MAIL: [email protected] WRITE TO: Platform, Heritage Railway, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR

Britain’s great funicular legacy I WAS delighted to see a feature in Heritage Railway 180 about the Saltburn Cliff Railway. There are a surprising number of cliff railways in Britain. There are about 15 open to the public and there is a section of the Heritage Railway Association dedicated to them. Saltburn is well known to me, my co-directors and chief engineer. The Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway was also designed by George Croydon Marks. He was born in the 1840s and came from a working family; his father was employed by the Royal Woolwich Arsenal. On leaving school at 14, George was apprenticed there. However, it soon became apparent that he was unusually bright. He won a major scholarship to University College, London and, having been released from his apprenticeship, came down three years later with the Victorian equivalent of a first class degree in engineering. After a couple of jobs

he was employed by Tangye Lifts of Birmingham. Sir Richard Tangye obviously recognised talent when he came across it. When his employer was contracted to build a cliff railway at Saltburn, George was detailed to design it and oversee construction. He came up with a water-powered counter-balance railway. The promoter of the Lynton & Lynmouth railway was Sir George Newnes, another ordinary chap who made a fortune in publishing. It was not surprising that he asked George Marks (who by this time had left Tangye and set up his own highly successful engineering consultancy) to design it for him. Marks based his design on Saltburn. We at Lynton and Lynmouth do now have slight bragging rights over Saltburn in that we use natural water which is piped to holding tanks at the head of the railway from the West Lyn river two kilometres away.

After use, the water drains into the sea. Saltburn pumps its water back to the top of the cliff to be used again. George Marks was indeed a genius. The more one delves into the mechanical workings of the Lynton & Lynmouth Railway and its two vehicles with their two braking systems, the more one appreciates the thought and detail that went into it. He even forecast things that could possibly go wrong and designed to alleviate them. For instance, if an axle should break, the lift will complete its journey perfectly safely. Marks went on to become Sir George Marks and finally Lord Marks, first Baron Woolwich. Some apprentice! I wonder if Lord Sugar would have spotted him had Marks lived today and been on his TV show? They had quite a lot in common. John Ireland, chairman, Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway

The Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway was also designed by George Croydon Marks, who drew up the blueprint for the Saltburn Cliff Railway. ROBIN JONES

Happy signalling days in the West Midlands recalled WHAT a great write-up in issue 180 on signalling. My late father Len Walford was a signalman for many years at Abbotts Wood Junction box back in the 1950s. I used to take my dad his dinner in a basin on a Sunday. The box would be spotless and I was always told to sit on the bunker and not move, you never knew when the stationmaster

would arrive to check and sign the train movement book. When I visited during the week, the trains would be passing every few minutes. I still have some of his old train movement books – my dad, like any other signalman, was proud of his job and of his signalbox. Dad worked in many boxes including Bushbury Junction not

far from Wolverhampton, which was a large box with two signalmen at a time plus a young lad doing the bookwork. Engines would be coming off Bushbury shed all the time. During the war years, my dad never left his post despite all the bombing. My dad retired and has now passed away, his last box was Norton Junction, as pictured on

pages 78-79. He did not like the box because it was GWR and he had been with the LMS a long time but moved from Abbotts Wood because it was a higher grade with more pay. I started on the LMS at the age of 14 in the telegraph office – happy days and very busy ones. Malcolm Walford, Lower Strensham, Worcester

‘Green Five’ as a fairground attraction

IT WAS a bit much and uncalled for of Cedric Johns in issue 181 to refer to BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73096’s appearance at the Great Dorset Steam Fair as it being “sadly reduced to a fairground side show attraction”. It was being used along with its Allelys articulated low-loader as a challenging heavy haulage load for other examples of vintage preservation to show their capabilities on steep gradients, namely preserved Pickfords diesels and centurian giant steam road locomotives. Furthermore, complete with its Mid Hants Railway headboard, it served as an advert for its home base in front of a potential attendance of over a quarter of a million people, almost twice the figure for The Great Gathering! It would be great to see No. 73096 on the main line again but in the real world there are only limited amounts of finance available and such projects have to wait their turn; so what’s wrong with helping out other forms of transport preservation? After all, many railfans enjoy other kinds of industrial and transport preservation. You are not likely to see main line locomotive owners risking their valuable acquisitions by www.heritagerailway.co.uk

BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73096 in action at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, but not in the way you might expect of a railway locomotive. DICK BODILY

letting them charge full tilt up the Lickey; but every year traction engine owners put their much-loved veterans to the test hauling gigantic loads on the 1-in-8 gradient of the

Great Dorset’s playpen. So don’t be put off by its ‘Fair’ tag - check it out if you love steam and you’ve never been. Dick Bodily, Milton Keynes Heritage Railway

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Railwayana

by Geoff Courtney

37s 6d Castle nameplate heads Pershore line-up a Castle class nameplate bought from BR for 37s 6d (£1.87½p) heads a quartet of GWR plates and a sole lms representative at GW Railwayana’s November 9 auction. It is Shrewsbury Castle from No. 5009, built in June 1927, withdrawn from its birthplace, swindon (82C) in October 1960 and cut up there two months later. It is being sold by the family of the late collector who bought it direct from BR. another first-timer appearing at auction since its purchase from BR is Tidmarsh Grange from No. 6847, built in October 1937 and withdrawn from Worcester (85a) in December 1965, making it one of the last of the 80-strong class to be taken out of service. the GWR line-up is completed by two earlier examples – Dartmoor (Duke class 4-4-0 No. 3269, built as No. 3276 in 1896, renumbered in 1912, and withdrawn in march 1937), and Tawstock Court, from saint class 4-6-0 No. 2951, built in 1913 and withdrawn by BR from

Gloucester (85B) in June 1952. the single lms offering is Nyasaland from Jubilee No. 45622 – it is remarkable how these prices are holding up considering how many nameplates from the class are currently appearing at auction – and there is Lytham St. Annes from 1962-built ‘peak’ class D60,

which became No. 45022 and was withdrawn in July 1987, only to be reprieved for engineering working associated with the electrification of the northern end of the eCml, for which it was renumbered 97409. the end finally came in October 1991. talking of diesels, a pair of Deltic regimental badges will be

going under simon turner’s hammer, from D9008/55008 The Green Howards and D9016/55016 Gordon Highlander, while there will also be a worksplate from the latter. still on Deltics, headboard ‘Deltic scotsman Farewell’ is also set to feature. this was carried by Nos. 55015 (formerly D9015) Tulyar and 55022 (formerly D9000) Royal Scots Grey northbound and southbound respectively on a King’s Crossedinburgh and return special on January 2, 1982, to mark the end of the class on the eCml. model enthusiasts will be eyeing a 3½in gauge live steam model of preserved standard pacific No. 70000 Britannia, and a pair of Great eastern Hotel abercorn Rooms decorative bronze plaques will bring an unusual railway touch to proceedings. the liverpool street hotel was opened in 1884 – with the abercorn Rooms following a decade later – and remains open today in the ownership of Hyatt. simon will launch proceedings, at pershore High school, at 10am.

Badge of honour as BoB tops the internet heights Nameplates with badges are a sure bet in the realisation stakes, and that was evident in the Railwayananet september 22-29 internet auction, with top spot by a distance being 145 Squadron, from sR Battle of Britain No. 34087, which sold for £35,000. the Bulleid pacific was built at Brighton in 1948, rebuilt at eastleigh in 1960 and withdrawn in march 1967. Runner-up a long way behind at £10,000 was Penrith Beacon, fitted firstly to an lNWR precedent 2-4-0 built in 1875 and then transferred to Improved precedent No. 2187, built in 1896 and withdrawn by the lms as No. 5069 in 1932. then came Saint Patrick from GWR saint class No. 2927, built in 1907 and withdrawn by BR in 1951, which went for £6800. Between the Improved precedent and saint was a modern interloper – Undaunted, from Warship diesel-hydraulic D857, built in December 1961

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and withdrawn in October 1971, making it the last North Britishbuilt member of the class to be taken out of service (£8100). It was scrapped at swindon, in full working order, in april 1972 after a working life of fewer than 10 years. a trio of nameplate non-sellers was Pendragon (BR standard 5mt No. 73083), Bronzino (lNeR a2 No. 60539), and Lord Rodney (sR lord Nelson No. 30863), but considerably better fortune befell headboard ‘the Flying scotsman’, which realised £15,000, and a BR Western Region Bath Green park station direction sign (£5200). totem honours went to what

the catalogue described as “the world’s largest totem” – an example measuring 8ft x 2ft 1in and carrying the British Railways (rather than station) name which is believed to have been located outside euston station. this achieved £6200 and is surely destined for a railway preservation project or a very large railwayana collection display room. either that, or someone has a very understanding partner. leading ‘conventional’ totem was exeter Central (£3150), although even this spurned tradition by being devoid of the usual white lines. Other category winners were the 36002

bufferbeam numberplate carried briefly by the second of the astonishing Bulleid leader class locomotives (£4300), an lNeR Doncaster worksplate from 1925built a3 pacific No. 60061 Pretty Polly (£4200), and a nostalgic elbow Corner cottage sign from the sDJR level crossing on a sharp bend between pylle and evercreech Junction on the branch to Burnham-on-sea (£3100). Following the closure of the auction, Railwayananet’s Chris France said of current trends: “Quality will get strong money, but the rest is very varied.” the prices quoted exclude buyer’s premium of 10%.

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Loughborough’s

Green Party

Eight locomotives in steam reinforced the successful Great Central Railway’s autumn gala as one of the heritage sector’s perennial ‘must visit’ events, as attendances at the October 3-6 event rose by 10% over the previous year’s corresponding event, writes Robin Jones.

BR Standard Caprotti 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73129 accelerates away from Loughborough with a TPO train. ROBERT FALCONER

I

f 3000 people will pay to travel on the Great Central Railway during a three day autumn steam gala, what will attendances be like once the missing bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough is finally replaced, and a unique heritage intercity steam service starts? The attendance at this year’s October 3-6 event was a tenth up on last year’s autumn steam gala, with two guest locomotives making a happy return to the line. Firstly, BR Standard ‘Caprotti Five’ 4-6-0 No. 73129, making its second visit from the Midland Railway-Butterley, wowed the crowds. Then there was Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34070 Manston, which began its preservation career as a Barry hulk at Loughborough a seeming eternity before its triumphant return to steam on the Swanage Railway, its present home. The pair joined the home fleet of red-livered Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No. 48624, GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744, LMS ‘Jinty’ 3F 0-6-0T No. 47406, Southern Railway N15 4-6-0 No. 777 Sir Lamiel, LMS Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521 and BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78019. The timetable ran like clockwork, the only minus point being the failure of No. 78019 with a very minor problem on the Saturday evening – debris was found to be clogging the drain taps. It was a simple problem to rectify, but nonetheless its paths on the Sunday were taken by class 20 D8098, making a somewhat unorthodox appearance at a steam gala. The traditional twilight evening event at Quorn & Woodhouse also proved very successful. ➲ Scale Heritage Railway – pages 86-87

Below: LMS 8F 2-8-0 No. 48624 heads south through Quorn & Woodhouse with coal empties at dusk. ALAN WEAVER

SR King Arthur 4-6-0 No. 777 Sir Lamiel and BR Standard Caprotti 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73129 at Woodthorpe on October 6 with the 9am Loughborough-Leicester North service at the GCR Autumn Steam Gala. PAUL BIGGS

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Back on the Great Central after a few months away, SR King Arthur 4-6-0 No. 777 Sir Lamiel departs from Loughborough. MALCOLM RANIERI Below: Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34070 Manston departs from Loughborough. ALAN WEAVER

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The two visiting engines; BR Standard Caprotti 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73129 and Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34070 Manston at Woodthorpe Lane on October 4 with the 4pm departure from Loughborough. NEVILLE WELLINGS

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GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 and LMS Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521 pass Kinchley Lane on October 6. BRIAN SHARPE www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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ScaleHeritageRailway

Tyseley pannier and two ‘Choppers’ celebrate Met 150 By Robin Jones

LONDON Transport Museum has excelled itself by issuing another three special edition OO gauge locomotives to mark the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Railway. In previous issues, we have covered the appearance of Bill Parker’s GWR prairie No. 5521 in its eyecatching London Transport maroon livery as No. L150, marking the anniversary. Now it is being joined by the pair of Class 20s, Nos. 20189 and 20227, which were specially reliveried to take part in the ground-breaking Steam Back on the Met series of public steamhauled trips over the parts of the

world’s oldest – and best – subway system. Furthermore, a model of GWR pannier No. 7752 in its latter-day and current LT livery as L94 has also appeared. Last December, when Hornby announced limited edition models of all six LNER A4 Pacifics which were due to take part in this year’s Mallard 75 celebrations, they proved so popular that they dematerialised off the shelves faster than Dr Who’s Tardis, before they even reached the shops. The London Transport models, all produced by Bachmann to the firm’s high finescale detail and specifications, are also set to become sought-after collectors’ items in future years.

Carrying London Transport red livery, No. 20189 was a guest at the successful Barrow Hill Live! Event on September 28/29. ROBIN JONES

A unique pair of 20s Giving sterling service during the Steam Back on the Met trips have been Class 20s Nos. 20189, which is privately owned, and the Class 20 Preservation Society’s No. 20227. They have been topping and tailing the steam trips between West Ruislip depot, Wembley Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham and their eye-catching liveries have become an attraction in their own right. As with the GWR prairie, no 20s ever became part of the LUL fleet, and this is very much a one-off for the Met 150 events. The pair have also visited other heritage locations during this year. No. 20227, which carried Railfreight red-stripe livery prior to the repaint, has a connection with the Underground. It has been

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frequently used on the delivery of brand new S-Stock trains from Derby to Neasden depot. The 2013 liveries have been perfectly reproduced, and the bodywork detail is a joy to behold. They will find a place on many layouts this Christmas. The models will be available from the London Transport Museum shop at Covent Garden Piazza, London C2E 7BB from mid-November. For more details visit www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk BACHMANN 32-030Y Class 20 Diesel No. 20227 London Underground current corporate silver and red livery BACHMANN 32-030Z Class 20 Diesel No. 20189 London Underground red livery BACHMANN 32-217Z GWR 57XX pannier tank No. L94 London Transport maroon livery BACHMANN 32-136Z GWR prairie No. L150 (5521) London Transport maroon livery

£99.50 £99.50 £79.99 £97.99

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Great Central Ivatt in N

The last steam on the main line Tyseley Locomotive Works’ main line registered L94, which has reverted to its LT livery in recent years, has a special place in British transport history. If you consider London Underground to be part of the main line – it was never part of British Rail or its successors – then L94 may be considered the last steam engine which ran in prepreservation revenue-earning service over it. Built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, in November 1930, it saw GWR and WR service in South Wales. It came as a surprise to railway observers in November 1956, the year of the first withdrawal of 57XXs, when sister No. 7711 was sold straight out of British Railways service to the London Transport Executive. It was repainted in lined maroon livery with the lettering London Transport on the pannier cab and assigned to the Underground with the number L90. While steam-hauled passenger trains on the Metropolitan Railway’s inner London lines ended with the introduction of electric multiple units between January 1 and March 20, 1905, leading to the scrapping of many of the line’s steam fleet. Others were retained for freight workings and permanent way duties, and hauling trains over the eccentric light railway the Brill Tramway. Later, more powerful steam engines were bought in for both passenger and freight services. In late 1953, London Transport started to consider replacing its steam fleet, and after considering diesel shunters, eventually looked at GWR panniers, and ended up buying 13 of them. They were fitted with curtains in the cabs – to keep out the smoke and fumes in the Underground tunnels. The next two 5700s to arrive on the Underground were Nos. 5786 (L92) and 7779 (L93), in 1958, followed by No. 7752 (L94) in www.heritagerailway.co.uk

1959. The final one arrived in 1963. They were never used on normal passenger services. Examples of them lasted in LT service for nearly three years after steam haulage ended on BR. L94 hauled the final steamhauled train on the Underground on June 6, 1971, and not only made the 10pm news on TV, but also the front page of the Daily Telegraph. It was bought straight out of service by 7029 Clun Castle Ltd, the owning group of the Tyseley collection of locomotives which formed the basis of Birmingham Railway Museum. It appeared at the June 1971 Tyseley open day in London Transport livery but was afterwards repainted into GWR colours. No. L94 was a contender for operating on the underground in its 150th year. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the locomotive hire was cancelled. To mark the 40th anniversary of its final run on the former Metropolitan Railway, in 2011 it was returned to London Transport livery, in which it will appear at the Tyseley open day on October 27.

HOT on the heels of another successful Great Central Railway autumn steam gala comes Graham Farish’s N gauge model of one of its stars, British Railways Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521. The superbly-detailed model in lined Brunswick green livery with late BR crest will not disappoint. On test, its pulling power matched its appearance. Outshopped from Swindon in February 1953 and first allocated to Oswestry, No. 46521 spent nearly all of its working life in Wales. Its biggest claim to fame came in August 1963 when it performed steam heating duties for the Royal Train during the

Queen’s visit to North Wales. Withdrawn on October 29, 1966, it reached Dai Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry the following March. Bought by enthusiast Charles Newton, it was moved to the Severn Valley Railway in 1971. It made its heritage era debut there in July 1974, and during 1992 it returned to the main line to work some specials. In November 2001, it moved to the GCR for overhaul and is now jointly owned between Charles and the Loughborough Standard Locomotives Group. After extensive restoration, with the boiler alone costing over £170,000, it returned to service in time for Christmas 2011.

GRAHAM FARISH 372-625 Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521 BR lined green late crest

£104.95

Hornby P2 supports the real thing HORNBY is to donate a percentage of the profits from the sales of its eagerly-awaited OO gauge Gresley P2 Mikado 2-8-2 to the building of a new prototype. As revealed in Heritage Railway issue 181, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is set to cut the frames for its new P2, No. 2007, next summer, following the official announcement of the project at its annual general meeting in September. The model of No. 2001 Cock o’ the North, the most famous example of the class, will be in the stores during the first quarter of 2014. It will be available in the RailRoad range at £82.99, with a more detailed model available in the main Hornby range at £124.99. Models of other class members will follow – including No. 2007. Hornby marketing manager

Simon Kohler said: “The P2 was a model that I had wanted to add to the Hornby range for some years and when I heard that our friends at The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust were contemplating building No. 2007 through The P2 Steam Locomotive Company, it seemed logical to press ahead and make the model happen.” A1 Trust chairman Mark Allatt said: “The early sample of the model is simply stunning; a true reflection of what the real thing will eventually look like and portrays the gracious art-deco design and immense size perfectly. “So until the real thing is complete in seven to 10 years’ time, this ‘00’ scale model will more than suffice for the time being, meaning virtually everyone and anyone can have a P2 of their very own and, by doing so, help contribute financially towards the project.”

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Driver Experience

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Driver Experience

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Offtheshelf The Full Works:

cELEbRaTinG ThE 175Th anniVERSaRY of WoLVERTon WoRkS. by Phil marsh (softback, Wolverton 175 Book Sales, of the Royal Train was thwarted by the author 14 Milton Road, Willen Village, Milton Keynes in conjunction with the Royal Train foreman. MK15 9AD, www.wolverton175.co.uk This chapter also gives a full description of the 68pp, £6.95 plus £1.75 postage and packing) Queen’s, the Duke of Edinburgh’s and Prince

CELEBRATING the 175th anniversary of Wolverton Works, the world’s oldest and longest continually operating railway works; ironically, as this book by Heritage Railway contributor Phil Marsh was being printed, it entered administration – perhaps requiring another chapter to be written in its history. The handy-sized all-colour face-packed volume looks at Wolverton Works from its opening in 1838 with 200 employees to a century ago when it was at its zenith employing 5000 people. It gives a unique look inside what was claimed to be the world’s most important carriage and wagon works and especially at the Royal Train which has been based there for over 150 years. For many, the highlight will be the chapter that reveals why the proposed 1997 sale

The Times Exploring Britain’s Lost Railways by Julian holland (hardback, Collins, 304pp, £30, ISBN 978 0 00 750541 8)

THIS substantial volume explores more than 50 of Britain’s long lost railway routes, showing the lines in their heyday and examining their role today, with many now used as footpaths and cycleways. Historical Ordnance Survey maps show the routes, which vary from rural byways to the wilds of Galloway in Scotland. With evocative names such as Drake’s Trail and the Granite Way in the south-west, the Meon Valley Trail, Hayling Billy Trail and Test Way in the south, the Midshires Way and Manifold Way in the Midlands, the Elan Valley Trail and Celtic Trail in Wales, the Spen Valley Greenway and Hornsea Rail Trail in the north and the Deeside Way and Speyside Way in Scotland, there are hundreds of miles of lost railway routes waiting to be explored. Beeching may have closed the lines and the trains no longer run, but the routes themselves can still be enjoyed.

Charles’ private carriages and there is even a photograph of the Queen’s bedroom in the book! The hand to hand fighting in the Battle of Wolverton between railway and canal workers in the mid-1830s gives an insight into the railway expansion at that time. A few decades later, Wolverton’s part in the American Civil War is revealed in detail. An eight-page supplement reproduced at the end of the book dating from August 1838 is about the opening of the London to Birmingham Railway, which was the reason Wolverton Works and the town itself were built. This is a classic snapshot of Britain’s history at this time. More than 100 photographs and illustrations

Steam in South Wales

by derek huntriss with photography by alan Jarvis (hardback, Ian Allan Publishing, 96pp, £20, ISBN 978 0 7110 3729 8)

DESPITE the fascinating railway geography and stunning scenery, South Wales appears to have been somewhat neglected by photographers; this album helps put the record straight. A captivating photographic journey from late 1950s to the 60s around the intricate railway network not only of the valleys, but also the industrial centres of Newport and Cardiff, down to Barry and west from Swansea and north over the Central Wales and Neath & Brecon lines. Informative text and captions perfectly complement the stunning work by the photographer. The well-reproduced photographs show everything from gleaming Kings on Canton shed to pannier tanks on local trains, the inevitable heavy coal traffic and industrial steam engines at work. Recommended.

Great Western Society 2014 Calendar;

ThE PoWER of bLack iii. (Didcot Railway Centre shop, price £6.50 or by post calendar showcases a selection of his black and (plus £2.50 post and packing. £4 overseas) from Great white photographs of Western Region steam in Western Society Ltd, Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, its heyday. Ranging from a (blue) King in Oxon OX11 7NJ or by email to Harbury cutting to double-headed Castles on the [email protected] Royal Train, County of Middlesex on Hatton

PRODUCED in conjunction with well-known photographer Dick Blenkinsop, this year’s

Swithland Stories

dVd (Friends of the Great Central Railway/University of Bradford, available from [email protected] 100 mins, £25)

THE growing stature of the Great Central Railway’s Swithland sidings as a jewel in the crown of the heritage railway portfolio is highlighted by this superb DVD, which has been produced to support a far bigger project on the line – the building of a new bridge across the Midland Main Line at Loughborough. It is entertaining from start to finish, and as much of the action centres on the Swithland gala in April this year, I’m sure many Heritage

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Bank, Saint David at Worcester, No. 4061 Glastonbury Abbey and No. 4704 at Old Oak

Railway readers will recognise themselves or someone on the lineside. It starts with some historical footage of the sidings, and then we see cut-down Bagnalls Alfred and Judy from the Bodmin & Wenford Railway plying their trade in the sidings, before blue-liveried GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II hurtles past. It just gets better from there, with clever cameramanship capturing the action from a multitude of different angles. One big asset at Swithland is the presence of an industrial spur in the form of the Mountsorrel branch, which is being rebuilt

take the reader through the complete 175 years of the works and inside the various royal carriages as far back as in Queen Victoria’s day. Wolverton’s part in the two world wars is looked at and a key aim of the book is to rectify one major omission – the provision of a war memorial to the 213 Wolverton people that died in the wars. Every copy sold will generate a 50p donation to the World War One Memorial Fund remembering the 213 Wolverton Works staff who died in that war. It is being planned to unveil it next September, a century after they marched off to the trenches; and new works owner Knorr-Bremse has offered to matchfund all funds raised. The book is rounded off with a look at Wolverton’s three stations and four station buildings, a historic and somewhat controversial subject in itself.

Talyllyn Railway 2014

ScEnic caLEndaR, chRiSTmaS caRdS and GuidEbook (The Railway Shop, Talyllyn Railway, Wharf Station, Tywyn, Gwynedd LL36 9EY, credit card orders 01654 711012 or online at www.talyllynrailwayshop.co.uk)

THE folded A3 size (A4 sized pictures) calendar features a mix of railway and scenic pictures taken along the line, the diary pages being bilingual and highlighting information about the railway. The price is £5.99 plus £2.40 post and packing. Three designs of Christmas card are offered, two showing No. 3 Sir Haydn in winter and one of Talyllyn Lake in the snow. The cost is £2.50 per pack of five plus £2.40 p&p. The latest full colour guidebook with a history of the line and description of the route and rolling stock is now available at £4 plus £2.40 p&p.

Common, there is plenty here to delight the Great Western fan. An additional feature is a chronology of notable events in GWR history on the pages for the various months.

through a remarkable display of local community involvement and co-operation and will soon become a significant add-on attraction to the double track main line itself. A bonus is a short film of Flying Scotsman’s visit to the GCR in 1992, and a brief documentary on the Bridge to the Future appeal. Not only is this video highly entertaining, but every penny spent on it will go to a project that will greatly enhance the heritage railway sector. It cannot be highly recommended enough.

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UpandRunning

WR 4-6-0 no. 7827 Lydham Manor heads the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ at staverton on the south Devon Railway. MARK WILKINS

Brian Sharpe’s full listing of operational lines and museum venues sOuth East

■ AMBERLEY WORKING MuSEuM Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. www.amberleymuseum.co.uk Running: Wed-sun + sch hol to nov 3. ■ BENtLEY MINIAtuRE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum, East Sussex. www.bentleyrailway.co.uk Running: suns. ■ BLuEBELL RAILWAY Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. www.bluebell-railway.co.uk Engines: 263, 92212, 1638, 178, B473, 323, 592, 45231. Running: Daily to nov 3, nov W/Es. ■ BREDGAR & WORMSHILL RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ½ mile, near Sittingbourne, Kent. Running: Oct 27. ■ EASt KENt RAILWAY Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Oct 26, 27, 31, nov 2, 3, 17. ■ EAStLEIGH LAKESIDE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience. Running: W/Es + school holidays. ■ ExBuRY GARDENS RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience, New Forest, Hampshire. Tel: 0238 089 1203. www.exbury.co.uk Running: Daily to nov 3. ■ HAStINGS MINIAtuRE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 600 yards, Rock a Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex Running: W/Es + school holidays. ■ HAYLING SEASIDE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Hayling Island, Hants. www.haylingseasiderailway.com Running: W/Es, Weds + sch hol. ■ ISLE Of WIGHt StEAM RAILWAY Standard gauge, five miles, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight. Tel: 01983 882204. www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk Engines: 8, 11, 24. Running: Oct 27 - nov 1, nov 9, 10. ■ KENt & EASt SuSSEx RAILWAY Standard gauge, 10½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Tenterden, Kent. www.kesr.org.uk Tel: 01580 765155. Engines: 65, 3, 6619, 32678, 1638. Running: Oct 26 - nov 2, nov 10. ■ LAVENDER LINE Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine & dine, Isfield, East Sussex. Tel: 01825 750515. www.lavender-line.co.uk Running: suns. ■ MID HANtS RAILWAY Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. www.watercressline.co.uk Tel: 01962 733810. Engines: 31806, 34007, 850, 925, 45379, 60163, 34046, 70000. Running: Oct 25 - nov 3, nov 9.

92 Heritage Railway

■ ROMNEY, HYtHE & DYMCHuRCH RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience, New Romney, Tel: 01797 362353. www.rhdr.org.uk Running: Daily to nov 3. ■ ROYAL VICtORIA RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Netley, Southampton. Tel: 0238 045 6246. www.royalvictoriarailway.co.uk Running: W/Es + school holidays. ■ SIttINGBOuRNE & KEMSLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 1¾ miles, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01795 424899. www.sklr.net/index.htm Running: December. ■ SPA VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Tel: 01892 537715. www.spavalleyrailway.co.uk Running: W/Es to nov 3.

sOuth WEst

■ AVON VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Willsbridge, Glos. www.avonvalleyrailway.org Tel: 0117 932 7296. Running: Oct 27 - nov 1, nov 3. ■ BODMIN & WENfORD RAILWAY Standard gauge, 6½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Bodmin, Cornwall. www.bodminrailway.co.uk Tel: 01208 73666. Engines: 5552, 30120, 6435, 4247, 4612, 3298. Running: Oct 26 - nov 3. ■ DARtMOutH StEAM RAILWAY Standard gauge, seven miles, wine & dine, Paignton, Devon. Tel: 01803 555872. Engines: 7827, 5239, 4277. www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk Running: Daily to nov 3, nov thur, sat. ■ DEVON RAILWAY CENtRE Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Bickleigh, Devon. Tel: 01884 855671. www.devonrailwaycentre.co.uk Running: Oct 26 - nov 3. ■ EASt SOMERSEt RAILWAY Standard gauge, two miles, Cranmore, Somerset. Tel: 01749 880417. [email protected] Engine: 5637 Running: Oct 26, 27, 30, 31. ■ GARtELL LIGHt RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Templecombe, Somerset. Tel: 01963 370752. glr-online.co.uk Running: Oct 27. ■ HELStON RAILWAY Trevarno Farm, Prospidnick, Helson, Cornwall www.helstonrailway.co.uk/events Running: suns, thurs. ■ LAuNCEStON StEAM RAILWAY Narrow gauge, two miles, Launceston. Tel: 01566 775665. launcestonsr.co.uk Running: Oct 27-nov 1.

■ LYNtON & BARNStAPLE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Woody Bay, north Devon. 01598 763487. www.lynton-rail.co.uk Running: Oct 26 - nov 3, nov 10. ■ MOORS VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Ringwood, Hants. Tel: 01425 471415. www.moorsvalleyrailway.co.uk Running: W/Es + sch hols. ■ PLYM VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, ½ mile, Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon. www.plymrail.co.uk Running: Oct 27. ■ SEAtON tRAMWAY Narrow gauge, three miles, Harbour Rd, Seaton, Devon. Tel: 01297 20375. www.tram.co.uk Running: Daily to nov 3. ■ SOutH DEVON RAILWAY Standard gauge, seven miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Tel: 0843 357 1420. www.southdevonrailway.co.uk L92, 3205. Running: Daily to nov 3. ■ SWANAGE RAILWAY Standard gauge, six miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Swanage, Dorset. www.swanagerailway.co.uk Tel: 01929 425800. Engines: 80104, 30053, 34028, 34070, 6695. Running: Daily to nov 3, nov W/Es. ■ SWINDON & CRICKLADE RAILWAY Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, Blunsdon, Wiltshire. Tel: 01793 771615. www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org Running: W/Es. ■ WESt SOMERSEt RAILWAY Standard gauge, 20 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BG. Tel: 01643 704996. www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk Engines: 88, 3850, 4160. 7828, 6960. Running: Oct 26 - nov 3.

East anglia

■ BRESSINGHAM StEAM MuSEuM Narrow gauge, one mile, Diss, Norfolk. Tel: 01379 686900. Running: Daily to nov 3. ■ BuRE VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, nine miles, footplate experience, Aylsham, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 733858. www.bvrw.co.uk Running: Daily to nov 3, nov W/Es. ■ COLNE VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge one mile footplate experience, wine and dine, Castle Hedingham, Essex. Tel: 01787 461174. www.colnevalleyrailway.co.uk Running: Oct 26, 30, 31, nov 2. ■ EASt ANGLIAN RAILWAY MuSEuM Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Wakes Colne, Essex. Tel: 01206 242524. www.earm.co.uk Open: Daily, Running: Oct 26, 27. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Heritage Railway

93

UpandRunning ■ MANGAPPS RAILWAY Standard gauge, one mile, near Burnham on Crouch, Essex. Tel: 01621 784898. www.mangapps.co.uk Running: Oct 26, 27. ■ MId-NoRfoLk RAILWAY Standard gauge, 11½ miles, footplate experience, Dereham, Norfolk. Tel: 01362 690633. www.mnr.org.uk Running: Oct 26, 27, 29 - Nov 3. ■ MId-SUffoLk LIGHT RAILWAY Standard gauge, 1⁄4 mile, Brockford, Suffolk. www.mslr.org.uk Running: Nov 23. ■ NENE VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Wansford, Peterborough, Cambs. Tel: 01780 784444. www.nvr.org.uk Engines: 73050, 60163. Running: Oct 26, 27, 29-31, Nov 2, 3. ■ NoRTH NoRfoLk RAILWAY Standard gauge, 5½ miles, footplate experience, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA. Tel: 01263 820800. www.nnrailway.co.uk Engines: 8572, 5619, 76084, 45337. Running: Daily to Nov 3, Nov W/Es. ■ WHITWELL & REEPHAM RAILWAY Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Reepham, Norfolk. Tel: 01603 871694. www.whitwellstation.com Running: W/Es , (steam: first Sunday).

MiDLANDS

■ AMERToN RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffs. Tel: 01785 850965. www.amertonrailway.co.uk Running: Oct 26 - Nov 3. ■ APEdALE VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Apedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Running: Oct 26, 27. ■ BARRoW HILL RoUNdHoUSE Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Tel: 01246 472450. www.barrowhill.org.uk Open: W/Es. ■ BATTLEfIELd LINE RAILWAY Standard gauge, five miles, Shackerstone, Leics. Tel: 01827 880754. battlefield-line-railway.co.uk Engine: 3803. Running: W/Es to Nov 3, Nov Suns. ■ CHASEWATER RAILWAY Standard gauge, two miles, Walsall, West Midlands. Tel: 01543 452623. www.chasewaterrailway.co.uk Running: Oct 26, 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. ■ CHURNET VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, 5¼ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Cheddleton, Staffs. Tel: 01538 360522. www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk Engines: 69621, 6046. Running: Oct 26, 31. ■ CRICH TRAMWAY VILLAGE Standard gauge, one mile, Crich, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 852565. www.tramway.co.uk Running: Daily to Nov 3. ■ dEAN foREST RAILWAY Standard gauge, 4¼ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Norchard, Lydney, Glos. Tel: 01594 843423. www.deanforestrailway.co.uk Engines: 1450, 9681. Running: Oct 27, 30, Nov 3, 10. ■ ECCLESBoURNE VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, eight miles, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 823076. www.e-v-r.com Running: Sats + Oct 27, 29. ■ EVESHAM VALE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 1¼ mile, A46 north of Evesham, Worcs. Tel: 01386 422282. Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ foXfIELd RAILWAY Standard gauge, 5½ miles, Blythe Bridge, Staffs. Running: Suns + Oct 27, 30. ■ GLoUCESTERSHIRE WARWICkSHIRE RLY Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Toddington, Glos. Tel: 01242 621405. www.gwsr.com Engines: 7903, 2807, 8274, 5542. Running: Oct 26, 27, 29-31. ■ GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY Standard gauge, eight miles, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW. Tel: 01509 230726. www.gcrailway.co.uk Engines: 48624, 47406, 46521, 78019, 777. Running: W/Es + Nov 5.

94 Heritage Railway

Horse power in action at the Middleton Railway, possibly for the first time since steam locomotives took over in 1812. A unique aspect of the Middleton Railway’s Festival of Transport held over the August Bank Holiday weekend was the opportunity to travel on a horse drawn Leeds tramcar for the first time in 112 years. Leeds City Tramways No. 107 was one of a batch of 20 cars purchased in 1898 as stopgap cover while electrification of the extensive system was completed. Withdrawn as early as 1901, it spent the next 76 years in use as a workmen’s hut and later as a garden summerhouse, until acquired for preservation in 1977, when it was put into dry storage before restoration started in earnest in 2006. For the last 12 months the tram has been at the Middleton Railway for final assembly and finishing off. The tram has now moved to Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire, the first time away from its native city since delivery from its makers in Birkenhead all those years ago. The tram is pictured on Sunday August 25 towards the end of a return run over the short operating line within the confines of Moor Road depot. MIKE HADDON ■ MIdLANd RAILWAY-BUTTERLEY Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 570140. Engines: 23, 73129. Running: Oct 26 - Nov 3, Nov 10. ■ NoRTHAMPToN & LAMPoRT RAILWAY Standard gauge, two miles, Pitsford, Northants. Tel: 01604 820327. nlr.org.uk Running: Suns to Oct 27. ■ NoTTINGHAM TRANSPoRT HERITAGE CENTRE Standard gauge, four miles, Ruddington, Notts. Tel: 0115 940 570. Running: W/Es to Oct 27, Nov 9. ■ PEAk RAIL Standard gauge, four miles, Matlock, Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 580381. Running: W/Es + Oct 29-31. ■ PERRYGRoVE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, B4228, Coleford, Glos. Tel: 01594 834991. Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ RoCkS BY RAIL Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Cottesmore, Rutland. Open Sun, Tues, Thurs, Running: Third Sunday. ■ RUdYARd LAkE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 1½ miles, Leek, Staffs. Tel: 01995 672280. www.rlsr.org Running: W/Es. ■ RUSHdEN TRANSPoRT MUSEUM Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Rushden, Northants. Running: Oct 26. ■ SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, 16 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Bewdley, Worcs DY12 1BG. www.svr.co.uk Tel: 01299 403816. Engines: 1501, 4566, 5164, 7812, 2857, 34053, 43106. Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ STEEPLE GRANGE LIGHT RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ½ mile, footplate experience, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 580917 www.steeplegrange.co.uk Running: Suns. ■ TELfoRd STEAM RAILWAY Standard gauge, ¾ mile, Telford, Shropshire. Tel: 01952 503880. Running December.

NORTH WEST

■ EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Bury, Lancs. Tel: 01617 647790. www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk Engines: 80080,1744, 49395. Running: W/Es + Oct 30 - Nov 1. ■ ISLE of MAN STEAM RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 15½ miles, Douglas, Isle of Man. Tel: 01624 662525. www.iombusandrail.info Running: Oct 25 - Nov 5. ■ LAkESIdE & HAVERTHWAITE RAILWAY Standard gauge, 3½ miles, near Ulverston, Cumbria. Tel: 01539 531594. Engines: 42073, 42085. Running: Oct 25, 28 - Nov 1, Nov 9, 10, 16, 17. ■ MANCHESTER MUSEUM of SCIENCE & INdUSTRY Standard gauge, ½ mile, driver experience, Castlefield, Manchester. Open: Daily. Tel: 0161 832 2244. Open: Daily. ■ RAVENGLASS & ESkdALE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, seven miles, Ravenglass, Cumbria. Tel: 01229 717171. Running: Daily to Oct 31. ■ RIBBLE STEAM RAILWAY Standard gauge, one mile, Preston, Lancs. Tel: 01772 728800. Running: Oct 26, 27, 30, 31. ■ STAINMoRE RAILWAY Standard gauge, half mile, Kirkby Stephen East Station, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4LA. www.kirkbystepheneast.co.uk Open: W/Es. ■ WEST LANCASHIRE LIGHT RAILWAY Narrow gauge, Hesketh Bank, Lancs. Tel: 01772 815881. Running: Oct 27, Nov 17. ■ Heritage Railway cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or changes within material published in good faith. We advise readers to telephone before travelling long distances. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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Heritage Railway

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UpandRunning

NORTH EaST

■ aPPleBy-FrodinGhaM rly Pres soCiety Standard gauge, 15 miles, Tata Steelworks, Scunthorpe, North Lincs. Tel: 01652 657053. www.afrps.co.uk Running: Nov 9. ■ Bowes railway Standard gauge, one mile, Springwell, Tyne & Wear. Tel: 01914 161847. Open: W/Es. ■ CleethorPes Coast liGht railway Narrow gauge, two miles, Cleethorpes, North East Lincs. Tel: 01472 604657. Running: W/Es + Oct 21-27. ■ derwent valley railway Standard gauge, ½ mile, Murton Park, Layerthorpe, York. Engine: 69023. Tel: 01904 489966. Running: December. ■ elseCar railway Standard gauge, one mile, Elsecar, South Yorks. Footplate experience. Tel: 01226 746746. www.elsecarrailway.co.uk Open: Daily. Running: Suns + Oct 31. ■ eMBsay & Bolton aBBey steaM railway Standard gauge, five miles, Embsay, Yorks. Engines: 52322. Running: Oct 26, 27, 29, Nov Suns. ■ KeiGhley & worth valley railway Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214. www.kwvr.co.uk Engines: 43924, 90733, 1054, 45305. Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ KirKlees liGht railway Narrow gauge, four miles, Huddersfield, West Yorks. Tel: 01484 865727. Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ linColnshire wolds railway Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Ludborough, Lincs. Tel: 01507 363881. lincolnshirewoldsrailway.co.uk Running: Oct 27, Nov 2. ■ Middleton railway Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Hunslet, Leeds. Tel: 01132 710320. www.middletonrailway.org.uk Engine: 1310. Running: W/Es. ■ north tyneside railway Standard gauge, two miles. North Shields. tel: 0191 2007146. www.ntsra.org.uk Open: W/Es, Running: Oct 27. ■ north yorKshire Moors railway Standard gauge, 18 miles, wine & dine, Grosmont, North Yorks. Tel: 01751 472508. Engines: 45428, 75029, 61264, 60007. Running: Daily to Nov 3, Nov W/Es.

96 heritage railway

■ south tynedale railway Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Alston, Cumbria. Tel: 01434 382828/381696. www.strps.org.uk Running: W/Es to Nov 10, + Oct 29, 31. ■ tanField railway Standard gauge, three miles, Gateshead, Co Durham. Tel: 01913 887545. www.tanfield-railway.co.uk Running: Suns. ■ wensleydale railway Standard gauge, 12 miles, Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Tel: 0845 450 5474. Running: Oct 25 - Nov 3, Nov W/Es.

HOME COUNTIES

■ BuCKinGhaMshire railway Centre Standard gauge, ¼ mile, footplate experience, Quainton Road, Bucks. Tel: 01296 655720. www.bucksrailcentre.org Engine: 30585. Open: Oct 29, 31. Running: Oct 27, 30, Nov 3. ■ Chinnor & PrinCes risBorouGh railway Standard gauge, 3½ miles, Chinnor, Oxon. Tel: 01844 353535. www.chinnorrailway.co.uk Engine: 1369. Running: Oct 27. ■ Cholsey & wallinGFord railway Standard gauge, 2½ miles, Wallingford, Oxon. Tel: 01491 835067. www.cholsey-wallingford-railway.com Running: Oct 26, 27. ■ didCot railway Centre Standard gauge, footplate experience, Didcot, Oxon. Tel: 01235 817200. www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk Engines: 93, 3650, 5322, 6023. Open: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. Running: Oct 26, 27, 30. ■ ePPinG onGar railway Standard gauge, five miles, Ongar, Essex. Tel: 01277 365200. www.eorailway.co.uk Engine: 4141. Running: W/Es + Oct 28, 31, Nov 1. ■ leiGhton BuZZard railway Narrow gauge, 2¾ miles, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. Tel: 01525 373888. www.buzzrail.co.uk Running: Oct 27, 30. ■ Heritage Railway cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or changes within material published in good faith. We advise readers to telephone before travelling long distances.

Beyer Peacock 0-6-0T No. 822 The Earl is seen at Llanfair Caereinion with the recreation of the last train on the Welshpool & llanfair Railway of 1956. KARL HEATH

WaLES

Bala laKe railway Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd. Tel: 01678 540666. www.bala-lake-railway.co.uk Running: Oct 29-31. ■ BreCon Mountain railway Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Tel: 01685 722988. www.breconmountainrailway.co.uk Running: W/Es + Oct 28 - Nov 1. ■ CaMBrian heritaGe railways Standard gauge, ½ mile, Llynclys Junction. Tel 01352 770413. www.cambrianrailways.com Running: Oct 26, 27. ■ Corris railway Narrow gauge, ¾ mile, Maespoeth, Machynlleth. Tel: 01654 761303. www.corris.co.uk Running: Oct 27. ■ FairBourne railway Narrow gauge, two miles, Fairbourne, Gwynedd. Tel: 01341 250362. Running: Oct 26-31. ■ FFestinioG railway Narrow gauge, 15 miles, Porthmadog, Gwynedd LL49 9NF. Tel: 01766 516000. www.festrail.co.uk Running: Daily to Nov 3, Nov Wed, Thur. ■ Gwili railway Standard gauge, two miles, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire. Tel: 01267 238213. Running: Oct 26 - Nov 2. ■ llanBeris laKe railway Narrow gauge, three miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870549. Running: Oct 27 - Nov 2, Nov Tues, Wed. ■ llanGollen railway Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Llangollen, Denbighshire LL20 8SN. Tel: 01978 860979. www.llangollen-railway.co.uk Engines: 3802, 44806, 6430, 7822, 80072. Running: Oct 21 - Nov 10. ■ PontyPool & Blaenavon railway Standard gauge, two miles, Blaenavon, Torfaen. Tel: 01495 792263. Running: Oct 30, 31. ■ snowdon Mountain railway Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870223. Running: Daily to end Oct. www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Christmas Gift Guide

www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Heritage Railway

97

UpandRunning

Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2 (2842 of 1946) heads towards Chasewater Heath during the Chasewater Light Railway gala of September 7. LEWIS MADDOX ■ TALYLLYN RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Tywyn, Gwynedd. Tel: 01654 710472. www.talyllyn.co.uk Running: Oct 19 - Nov 3. ■ TEIFI VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, two miles, Henllan, Carmarthenshire. Tel: 01559 371077. Running: Sun-Thur to Oct 31. ■ VALE OF RHEIDOL RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 11¾ miles, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. Tel: 01970 625819. www.rheidolrailway.co.uk Engines, 8, 9. Running: Oct 29-31, Nov 9, 10, 16, 17. ■ WELSH HIgHLAND HERITAgE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 513402. www.whr.co.uk Running: Daily to Nov 3. ■ WELSH HIgHLAND RAILWAY Narrow gauge, 26 miles, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: Daily to Nov 2. ■ WELSHPOOL & LLANFAIR LIgHT RLY Narrow gauge, eight miles, Llanfair Caereinion, Mid Wales. Tel: 01938 810441. www.wllr.org.uk Engines: 822, 823, Running: Oct 29-31, Nov 2, 3.

SCOTLAND

■ ALMOND VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Livingston, West Lothian. Tel: 01506 414957. www.almondvalley.co.uk/Railway.html

■ BO’NESS & KINNEIL RAILWAY Standard gauge, five miles, Bo’ness, West Lothian. Tel: 01506 822298. www.bkrailway.co.uk Engine: 246, 1744. Running: Oct 26, 27. ■ CALEDONIAN RAILWAY Standard gauge, four miles, Brechin, Angus, Tel: 01356 622992, www.caledonianrailway.com Running: December. ■ KEITH & DUFFTOWN RAILWAY Standard gauge, 11 miles, Dufftown, Banffshire. www.keith-dufftown-railway.co.uk Running: December. ■ LEADHILLS & WANLOCKHEAD RAILWAY Narrow gauge, one mile, Leadhills, Strathclyde, Tel: 0141 556 1061. www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk Running: December. ■ ROYAL DEESIDE RAILWAY Standard gauge, one mile, Milton of Crathes, Kincardineshire. www.deeside-railway.co.uk Running: December. ■ STRATHSPEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, 10 miles, Aviemore, Inverness-shire. Tel: 01479 810725. www.strathspeyrailway.co.uk Engines: 46512, 828. Running: Oct 26, 27, 30, 31.

■ Entries on these pages relate to heritage lines operating public services during the current month. Locomotives listed are those of main line origin expected to be steamable on the railway at some stage during the current month.

IRELAND

■ CAVAN & LEITRIM RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Dromod, Co Leitrim. Tel: 00353 7838 599. www.cavanandleitrim.com Running: Sat-Mon. ■ DOWNPATRICK & COUNTY DOWN RLY Standard gauge, four miles. www.downrail.co.uk ■ FINTOWN RAILWAY Narrow gauge, two miles, Glenties, Co. Donegal, Tel: 07495 4627 ■ gIANTS CAUSEWAY & BUSHMILLS RAILWAY Narrow gauge, two miles, Bushmills, Co. Antrim. Tel: 0282 073 2844. Running: Oct 26, 27 ■ WATERFORD & SUIR VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, two miles, Kilmeaden, Co Waterford. www.wsvrailway.ie ■ WEST CLARE RAILWAY Narrow gauge, Moyasta Junction, Co Clare.

RAILWAY MUSEUMS BEAMISH County Durham. North of England. Open Air Museum. Open: Tues-Thurs, W/Es.

LOCOMOTION: THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM AT SHILDON Co Durham. Open: Daily.

BERE FERRERS STATION Bere Ferrers, west Devon. Open: W/Es. Tel: 07813 360066.

LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM Covent Garden Piazza. Open: Daily.

COL. STEPHENS RAILWAY MUSEUM Tenterden Station, Kent. Open: W/Es. Tel: 01580 765155. CONWY VALLEY RAILWAY MUSEUM Betws-y-coed, Conwy. Open: Daily. Tel: 01690 710568. MUSEUM OF SCOTTISH RAILWAYS Bo’ness. Open: Daily Apr-Oct. IRCHESTER NARROW gAUgE RAILWAY MUSEUM Near Wellingborough, Northants. Open: Suns. KIDDERMINSTER RAILWAY MUSEUM Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Open: SVR operating days. Tel: 01562 825316.

98 Heritage Railway

SOMERSET & DORSET RAILWAY TRUST Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends. Tel: 01984 640869. STEAM – MUSEUM OF THE gWR Swindon, Wilts. Open: Daily. Tel: 01793 466646.

MIDSOMER NORTON Silver Street, Midsomer Norton. Open: Suns/Mons.

ST ALBANS SOUTH SIgNALBOx & MUSEUM St Albans City station, Open: see website www.sigbox.co.uk Tel: 01727 863131.

MONKWEARMOUTH STATION MUSEUM Sunderland, Co Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01915 677075.

CREWE HERITAgE CENTRE Vernon Way, Crewe. Open: W/Es + B/H. Tel: 01270 212130.

NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM York. Open: Daily. Tel: 01904 621261.

ULSTER FOLK & TRANSPORT MUSEUM Cultra, Co Down. Open: Tues-Sun.

PENRHYN CASTLE INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY MUSEUM Bangor, Gwynedd. Open: Daily except Tues. www.nationaltrust.org.uk SHILLINgSTONE STATION Shillingstone, Dorset. Open: Sat, Suns and Wed. Tel: 01258 860696.

VINTAgE CARRIAgE MUSEUM Ingrow, West Yorks. Open: Daily. Tel: 01535 680425. YEOVIL RAILWAY CENTRE Yeovil Junction, Somerset. Open: Certain Sundays and special events.

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Christmas Gift Guide

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Christmas Gift Guide

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Web Watch

To advertise on our Web Watch page telephone Craig Amess on 01507 529310 or email: [email protected]

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Stay a While

Quality accommodation close to your favourite railways CORNWALL

NORTH YORK MOORS

CUMBRIA

WEST SOMERSET

Woodford House

HEART OF WALES

NORTH NORFOLK

R A IL W A Y C A R R IA G E H O L ID A YS

In th e b ea u tifu lW elsh m a rch es, a tT itley ju n ction sta tion . LU X U R Y S E L F C A T E R IN G C A M P IN G C O A C H E S •C oronation Scotssleeper, 1930sLM S carriage,sleepsupto 4 . •A rrow vale sleeper196 0sBR M k1 carriage,2 en-suite bedroom s, sleepsupto 6 .

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MID NORFOLK

BRIDGE COTTAGES

• Very comfortable cottages • Beside NNR • Quiet rural location • Holt Station 5 mins • Short breaks • Open all year

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Tel: 01263 577847

To advertise in Stay a While give Craig a call on 01507 529310 www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Spacious and comfortable B & B close to West Somerset stations. See our website or telephone for full details:

01984 641621

www.woodfordhouse.com

WORTH VALLEY

Bronte Hotel Haworth

YTB ★★★

Short walk to K&WVR line, ample free parking. Comfortable lounges and restaurant.

Double rooms from £45, Singles from £25, En-suite available.

Tel: 01535 644112

email [email protected] www.bronte-hotel.co.uk

52% of our readers holiday in the UK twice or more per year and an additional 35% of our readers holiday abroad at least once a year. This means that those clients promoting events, tours, holidays and B&Bs will reach their target audience through any advert which they place in Heritage Railway. Heritage Railway

103

ExprESSgooDS

CLASSIFIEDS

Telephone Craig Amess on 01507 529310 • [email protected]

HErITAgE rAILWAY, po Box 99, HornCASTLE Ln9 6LZ BOOKS

BOOKS

THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND’S

LARGEST SECONDHAND RAILWAY BOOKSHOP

With over 5000 secondhand, out-of-print and rare Railway Books. Railway Book collections etc purchased.

AT KATHARINE HOUSE GALLERY

The Parade, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN18 1NE Tues-Sat 10am-5pm (closed 1pm-2.15pm)

Telephone 01635 200507 www.nevis-railway-bookshops.co.uk

BARRY JONES

Specialist in the sale and purchase of secondhand railway and steam road transport literature.

Railway timetables, posters, maps, publicity photographs and official items. Model railway and railway collectables always sought.

28 Marine Crescent, Worthing BN12 4JF

Tel: 01903 244655 Email: [email protected]

CLOCKS

EVENTS EVENTS

CLOCKS

FOOTWEAR

FOOTWEAR

DVD DVD

DVD DVD

SALE FORFOR SALE HERITAGE HERITAGEREPLICAS REPLICAS

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MODELS MODELS

PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTOGRAPHY

WANTED

WANTED

RESTORATIONRESTORATION

WEB DIRECTORY WEB DIRECTORY SPECIALIST SPECIALISTPAINTS PAINTS

RAILWAYANA RAILWAYANA TRIMMING & UPHOLSTERY TRIMMING/UPHOLSTERY

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Heritage Railway

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The month ahead It’s the end of the autumn season, and the heritage lines scale down their services throughout November in preparation for the hectic activity of the festive season which keeps railways on their toes throughout December and brings in much needed revenue. One of the longest running events in the enthusiasts’ calendar is the Tyseley Open Day, with the October 27 event seeing the first visit of Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20. A few narrow gauge and miniature lines are staging events over the coming four weeks. Why not take advantage of the bargain fares on the South Devon Railway’s last weekend of the season? Kent sees contrasting enthusiasts’ events on the Bredgar & Wormshill and Romney Hythe & Dymchurch railways, but the big one is on the Mid-Hants with three visiting Pacifics.

ISSUe 183 IS oUt oN November 21, 2013

HERITAGE RAILWAY IS PUbLISHeD 13 tImeS a year

catch up with the latest news, views and great features every four weeks.

Three-cylinder 4-6-2 Typhoon of 1927 from the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway will feature in the railway’s End of Season Parade on November 3. The engine is seen at work on the Kirklees Light Railway in September. DAVE RODGERS demonstrations. There will be workshop visits to view progress on No. 7029 Clun Castle’s overhaul plus trade and society stands.

SPecIaL eveNtS october

November

26, 27: EaSTLEiGH LaKESiDE RaiLway: BiG fouR wEEKEND 26, 27: miD-HaNTS RaiLway: auTumN STEam SPEcTacuLaR Lining up with the home fleet for this big end of season spectacular will be Pacifics Braunton, Britannia and Tornado. 27: BREDGaR & woRmSHiLL RaiLway: ENTHuSiaSTS’ Day The line will be operating its autumn gala and the plan is to run all available steam locomotives and three diesels. There will be the passenger and goods train operation from 11am until 6pm. As the clocks will have gone back by one hour the previous evening there will be the chance to ride and photograph the line after dark. 27: TySELEy LocomoTivE woRKS: oPEN Day Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 is the star visitor with locomotives on display and in steam giving passenger shuttle rides, with cavalcades, line ups and turntable

2: EaST LaNcaSHiRE RaiLway: DiESEL Day 2, 3: NENE vaLLEy RaiLway: TORNADO GaLa A1 Pacific Tornado will be the star attraction, working alongside a smaller blue engine resident on the line. 2, 3: SouTH DEvoN RaiLway: HaLf PRicE wEEKEND To bring down the curtain on the 2013 season, travel all day at half price. 3: RomNEy HyTHE & DymcHuRcH RaiLway: END of SEaSoN PaRaDE Building on the success of last year, this year’s event will see seven steam locomotives in use plus a diesel, operating an intensive timetable featuring doubleheaded trains. 10: mooRS vaLLEy RaiLway: TaNK ENGiNE Day 17: wEST LaNcaSHiRE LiGHT RaiLway: BBc cHiLDREN iN NEED

Heritage Railway will as usual be bringing you all the action from events large and small.

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