Heritage Railway 200 2015-03

Heritage Railway 3 EDItorIAL Editor robin Jones 01507 529305 [email protected] Deputy editor Brian Sharpe [email protected] Publisher tim hartl...

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OPINION

LNER D49 4-4-0 No. 62712 Morayshire approaches Holt on the North Norfolk Railway during a Neil Cave TimeLine Events photo charter on March 2, before being rostered for the line’s March 6-8 spring steam gala. ROBERT FALCONER

Sixteen years of achievements EDItorIAL

Editor robin Jones 01507 529305 [email protected] Deputy editor Brian Sharpe [email protected] Publisher tim hartley Senior contributing writers Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Fred Kerr, roger Melton Designer tim Pipes Reprographics Simon Duncan Senior sub-editor Dan Sharp Editorial address heritage railway magazine, Mortons Media Ltd, Po Box 99, horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ Website www.heritagerailway.co.uk

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ISSN No 1466-3560

Published Every four weeks on a thursday Advert deadline March 26, 2015 Next issue on sale April 9, 2015

Member of the Professional Publishers’ Association

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or thE past 16 years we have highlighted many anniversaries surrounding our rich railway heritage, and now it is time to celebrate our own bicentenary, or rather, 200th issue. It still seems like only yesterday when I sat down with a secondhand computer, desk and telephone in an office in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and wrote the first words for our debut issue 16 years ago. then we upped the ante when renowned photographer Brian Sharpe came on board as our deputy editor three years later. Where has all the time gone? Looking through our early issues, the heritage railway sector seemed a very different place back in 1999. Despite half a century of achievements, the powers that be still seemed largely unconvinced of the multiple and demonstrable benefits that revived railways could bring. Was there really mass opposition to the rebuilding of the complete Welsh highland railway, to the point where, as we reported in issue 1, then Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, had to make the best decision of his career and overturn a local inquiry inspector’s report which would have refused permission? Yes, the railway did impact on Snowdonia just as the critics said, but never in a visual way. Instead, it allowed more visitors to experience the delights of the fabulous glaciated landscape without driving through the mountains, while inputting significant amounts of money into a local tourist economy which had seen much better days. Back in 1999, the welcome grants awarded by the heritage Lottery Fund were only starting to make an impact, and look at what a difference they have made to the sector. Many historically priceless projects that might have taken a lifetime of fundraising to get off the ground were completed within a matter of years. once, preservationists were regarded as ‘anoraks’. Now, with every new milestone passed as we reclaim more of Britain’s stupendous railway heritage, we are hailed as achievers and visionaries, accomplishing feats in the face of a level of adversity that makes them appear unbelievable.

often the obstacles are nothing more than red tape: in places in the USA, trains run down the middle of the street without anyone batting an eyelid. In Britain, Julian Birley and associates had to chainsaw through a mountain of red tape just to get a level crossing in Sheringham reinstated to link the North Norfolk railway to the national network. Yes, times and attitudes have changed, but it has taken herculean efforts. When we look back at 65 years of volunteer-driven operational railway preservation, we speak with admiration at the great pinnacles – such as the Ffestiniog railway’s building of the Llyn Ystradau deviation, the return from partially cut scrap condition of Duke of Gloucester and its honing to perfection on the main line, and more recently, the relinking of the Bluebell railway to the national network after the removal of a giant rubbish tip. While such monumental achievements have taken their rightful place in preservation history, the steel wheels of the great innovative process have by no means stopped turning. there are equally monumental feats taking place as we speak. In our News section this month, we report that physical work is now underway on another ‘Mission Impossible’ – the rebuilding of the embankment in Loughborough leading up to the missing bridge over the Midland Main Line, which, once rebuilt later this year, will link the two heritage-era Great Central railways – a long dreamed of holy grail. Also inside, a special feature details the cuttingedge steam engineering research that is being carried out to produce improved Lentz valve gear for the new Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales. Critics once said that Tornado would never run: after five successful crowd-pulling years on the main line, they have remained silent about this similarly groundbreaking project. You can sit back and read all about these, and many other pioneering schemes in Heritage Railway as they unfold, or better still, why not go one further and write your own place in history, by giving a donation or lending a hand? Robin Jones Editor Heritage Railway 3

CONTENTS ISSUE 200

March 12 – April 8

News

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HEADLINES

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‘Evening Star’ to run again – on Great Central; daﬀodil opening for new Corwen station; 11th-hour failure fails to derail Steel, Steam & Stars IV; global interest as elite collectors eye Pete Waterman model sale; teak train considered for North Yorkshire Moors Railway Whitby services; and Barber makes its South Tynedale debut.

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NEWS

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Royal steam opening for Borders Railway; work starts on GCR Loughborough embankment as money match appeal launched; BBC names Severn Valley as Heritage Site of the Year; ‘last’ standard gauge steam engine set for May debut; Tornado to head Railway Children special; Rail Minister rides on ‘ﬁrst’ train from Wareham to Corfe Castle; Betton Grange gets its cylinders; action from Nene Valley and Mid Hants spring steam galas; Battleﬁeld Line’s part in the funeral of King Richard III; jumbo grant for Bluebell elephant van; Britannia joins big West Somerset gala; British-built Garratt behemoth hauls ﬁrst passenger trains; plus... football ref stops a game – to watch steam train!

CONTENTS: LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s Nos. 44871 and 45407 climb the 1-in-47 of Miles Platting bank out of Manchester Victoria with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Tin Bath’ to Sheffield and Penistone on February 15. DICK MANTON COVER: MR 4F 0-6-0 No. 43924 pilots Bulleid West Country Pacific No. 34092 Wellsout of Keighley at the KWVR steam gala on February 27. GRAHAM NUTTALL

Regulars

Features

Railwayana

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Centre spread

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Main Line Tours

70

Geoﬀ Courtney’s regular column.

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MAIN LINE NEWS

John Titlow’s St David’s Day image of No. 61306 en-route to Cardiﬀ.

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

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David Buck delighted with Mayflower which runs unaided to Cardiff; Network Rail boss says Britain’s railways are a “scrapheap”; MP lobbies for ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ return; Irish veteran 4-4-0 steams again; and New Orleans via Leicester!

WITH FULL REGULATOR 66

Don Benn compares Duchess of Sutherland’s recent performances in the northern fells with Duchess of Hamilton’s in the 1980s.

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Off the Shelf 82 Scale Heritage Railway 94 LNER K1 2-6-0 and three J15s.

Platform

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Where your views matter most.

David Morgan Up & Running

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The Month Ahead

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Guide to railways running in February. Upcoming galas and events.

Famous British locomotive engineers: Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell Southern Railway

In this, the second of an occasional series of historical reviews featuring locomotive engineers of the ‘Big Four’ companies, Heritage Railway’s Cedric Johns highlights the career of R E L Maunsell, who became the Southern Railway’s ﬁrst chief mechanical engineer.

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Ladies ﬁrst!

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The Talyllyn Railway in the Haydn Jones era

The Talyllyn Railway is familiar today, but it has now been preserved for 63 years. Dan Quine gives a rare insight into what the line was like before it became a heritage line in 1951.

The Severn Valley Railway has announced that Princess Anne is to make her ﬁrst visit to the line on April 13 as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, and may ride on the footplate. However, Heritage Railway advertising manager Sue Keily has beaten her to it. She drove and ﬁred a classic locomotive on a journey from Bewdley to Bridgnorth  and said that anyone can do it. Robin Jones reports.

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Who would ever preserve a length of railway on the outskirts of Swindon which was never part of the pre-Grouping Great Western? Peter Brown reports on the latest developments on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

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Gresley meets Chapelon: the best of both worlds!

One of the major challenges in building the seventh Gresley P2, No. 2007 Prince of Wales, is choosing the valve gear. Director of engineering David Elliott details the research and design route which has led to the P2 Steam Locomotive Company deciding to evolve an improved form of Lentz apparatus. Heritage Railway 5

HEADLINE NEWS

‘Evening Star’ to run again – on Great Central By Robin Jones LEGENDARY BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92220 Evening Star – the last steam locomotive built by BR for main line service in the UK – will soon be seen again in action on the Great Central Railway. The 1960-built icon is currently on display inside the National Railway Museum in York. There are no plans to return it to steam, but owner the NRM has agreed to a sister locomotive taking its identity. Loughborough-based No. 92214, which was bought by GCR supporter, Cromwell Tools, after previously being based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, is painted in the same lined Brunswick green livery as carried by Evening Star, will take on its identity. The locomotive will appear in its new identity for the first time at the GCR’s Railways at Work event on April 18-19. Period vehicles will arrive at Quorn & Woodhouse station yard to show how the railways moved freight around the country, becoming a lifeline to towns and villages before the age of mass road transportation.

Western Region

New nameplates will be constructed for No. 92214, together with other detailed features such as small brass plaques commemorating No. 92220 as BR’s final steam locomotive. Already a number of photographer’ charters have been arranged with the ‘reborn’ Evening Star, which will be in its element on the GCR double-track main line. Evening Star was assigned to the Western Region and worked both on humble freights and prestigious passenger express services before being withdrawn in 1965. However, during its short working life of just five years, No. 92220’s special significance was fully appreciated by BR. It was closely controlled to ensure it returned home regularly for cleaning and maintenance “in view of the special workings and exhibitions for which the engine was required”. On June 27-28 and July 1, 1960, No. 92220, then allocated to Cardiff

Visit Eardington

A SPECIAL running day on the Severn Valley to raise funds to start work on the boiler for new-build BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T No. 82045 will be held on April 17. The 82045 Trust’s Eardington Explorer’ with see a three-coach train hauled by Collett auto-tank No. 1450 visit the rarely seen Eardington Station, on a trip running 50 years since the first train stopped at the preservation-era station in 1965. Eardington is the only station built on the SVR by the Great Western Railway.

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BR 9F 2-10-0 EveningStaris to run again this year – even though it will not move from its National Railway Museum home in York! ROBIN JONES Canton shed, hauled the Western Region’s flagship Paddington-Cardiff, Swansea, Neyland and Fishguard Harbour express trains, the Up ‘Red Dragon’ and the Down ‘Capitals United Express’ between Cardiff and Paddington, reportedly having to delay its arrival at Paddington to allow for completion of restaurant services because it was running so early and easily outperforming the regular Britannia express Pacifics, which it was observed overtaking on several occasions, running at more than 90mph. It also hauled trains over the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway main line. It has steamed in preservation, but the ban on 9Fs working on the national network because their wheels foul modern point components, has given little incentive to the NRM to return it to running order again.

GCR managing director Bill Ford said: “We’re delighted to be bringing back Evening Star for a new generation and, of course, we’re very grateful to Cromwell Tools and the National Railway Museum which have supported the plan.”

Return visit

Jeremy Hosking’s BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 has been pencilled to make a return visit to its former home when it stars in the Great Central Railway’s Woodford 50th anniversary gala on June 13-14, provided that repairs following its recent failure at its current Mid Hants base are completed in time. The visit will help the line mark half a century since the closure of Woodford Halse shed on June 14, 1965. Another visiting will be Severn Valley Railwaybased Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43106. If the visit of No. 92212 goes ahead as

planned, the GCR will be able to run two 9Fs. June 14 also marks the closure of the Staveley GC shed, and the rundown on Annesley shed at the northern end of the London extension. It is hoped to stage a reunion of former locomen from all three sheds. Both No. 92212 and No. 43106 will stay on for the GCR’s giant Model Rail Expo on June 20-21, which will now feature 81 layouts at stations along the line. A total of 41 traders have booked to appear at the 35,000 sq ft main exhibition hall at Quorn & Woodhouse station alone. Other stations will specialise in different areas of the hobby. At Loughborough there will be 16mm live steam, G gauge and railwayana traders. At Rothley there will be model engineering, Gauge 1, Gauge 3 and the GCR’s resident garden railway.

NYMR teak train moves a step closer to Whitby

IT HAS long been an ambition of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the LNER Coach Association to run its train of teak coaches to Whitby. The recent appearance of a set of numbers allocated to the coaches of the teak train has led to some observers concluding that agreement has been reached, but this is far from the case.

A derogation application has been made to allow the coaches to be used to run to Whitby, but although the coaches have been allocated running numbers they have not, as yet, been accepted, with technical questions being asked by the bodies responsible for acceptance. Even once accepted, moreover, it is unlikely that the coaches will be

used to run on services to Whitby for some time, as they will need to be brought to the agreed technical specification, likely to include fitting replacement buckeye couplings and ultrasonically testing the axles. A number of coaches in the set are also believed to be approaching the point where they will need attention to wheel profiles.

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Say it with flowers! Daffodil opening for Corwen station

THE Llangollen Railway celebrated the official opening of the station at Dwyrain Corwen East with a special train on St David’s Day. The five-coach ‘Corwen Special’ carrying 270 invited guests left Llangollen in top-and-tail mode with GWR 2-8-0 No. 3802 leading and prairie No. 5199 on the rear. Vice-presidents Bill Shakespeare and Gordon Heddon unveiled the Dwyrain Corwen East station nameboard and the line’s chairman, Peter Lund, cut to ribbon to declare the station open. Railway volunteers performed an enactment of fixing the golden spike to the last panel of track to mark the rejoining of two towns by rail after nearly half a century. At a word of command, No.3802 eased forward and burst through the official opening-day banner that was stretched across the track.

Commemorative plaque

Llangollen Railway Trust vice-president, Bill Shakespeare, delivered a short speech acknowledging all the efforts which have gone into rebuilding the railway over the past 40 years, and the need still to press on to complete phase two of the project with a permanent terminus nearer Corwen town centre. He unveiled a commemorative plaque, which will be displayed in the station building. Guests were invited to view the site of the future extension. Project leader, Richard Dixon-Gough, pointed to the problem presented by a dip in the trackbed and the need to provide Welsh Water with an alternative access to the Corwen Sewerage Works.

The project team now plans to construct a permanent island platform with a run-round loop, to enable the railway to run steam locomotives into the centre of the town. There will be subway access from the platform to the town’s main car park. The intention to complete the railway extension project in accordance with the Transport & Works Order to Green Lane, Corwen is confirmed by the installation of a buffer stop at the far end of the site and the collection of material resources as are now visible. Phase two is subject to detailed planning and permissions, as well as the acquisition of resources, material, manpower and finance; which are essential. A major fundraising campaign is to be launched. Guests also visited the new railway exhibition in Capel Coch in London Road. The Llangollen Silver Band and the Glyndŵr Male Voice Choir provided music and song during the official opening and members of the Corwen community were on hand to distribute complimentary miniature daffodils to guests. Several hundred local residents turned out to watch the proceedings. The temporary station building now houses a selection of modern works of art provided by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team, aimed at promoting the Dee Valley by train. After inspecting the site, Susan Ellen Jones, MP for Clwyd South, said, “This is a very special occasion that marks the excellent and tireless work of the volunteers and staff of Llangollen

The new station nameboard as displayed for the purposes of the unveiling. GEORGE JONES Railway Trust. I am delighted to have been present today. The railway extension is great news for Corwen and a wonderful way of showing our uniquely beautiful area to more people.” The special train departed Llangollen at 3.30pm in a hailstorm.

Essential maintenance

Public trains to Corwen had resumed on February 14, following a midwinter shut-down while essential maintenance work on the railway was undertaken and facilities at the new station were completed. The first train service was hauled by No. 5199. On normal weekday services three steam trains a day will operate from Llangollen, arriving at Corwen at

11.20am, 1.37pm and 3.47pm. All public services will operate through to the temporary station at Dwyrain Corwen East, the exceptions being trains during the popular Days Out with Thomas events, which will terminate at Carrog. In the absence of a run-round loop, the timetable only allows a short stop over period at Corwen, as the mode of operation for the return journey provides for the train to be propelled back to Carrog under the control of a driver in the specially modified rear coach. This operation provides for the steam engine to ‘run round’ the train at Carrog where a longer stopover takes place. The two-hourly weekday train service operates from March 23.

The Dwyrain Corwen East nameboard is officially unveiled, but the station is only temporary while a permanent terminus in the town centre is developed. FRED KERR

GWR 2-8-0 No. 3802 officially claims new territory for the heritage sector as it hauls the ‘Corwen Special’ into Dwyrain Corwen East on March 1. FRED KERR Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

The ceremonial golden spike marks 40 years of endeavours to bring the railways back to Corwen. FRED KERR Heritage Railway 7

HEADLINE NEWS

Eleventh-hour failure fails to derail SSSIV Charles Spencer will take over as Welshpool & Llanfair general manager from the start of the new running season. KEVIN HEYWOOD

Canadian banker is new Welshpool general manager THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway has appointed Canadian banker, Charles Spencer, as the railway’s general manager in succession to Terry Turner who retired at the end of last season. Charles has a broad background in business, management and leadership in volunteer organisations. In 2012 he retired from a 30-year career with the Bank of Canada, for the second half of which he was a leading member of the currency department, which was responsible for Canadian banknotes from design to destruction. He has undertaken leadership roles with a number of adult and youth volunteer organisations in music, sports, and charities, involving up to 400 volunteers and budgets in excess of £250,000. Charles has been a regular volunteer at the line across several departments since 2008, qualifying as a locomotive fireman in 2014. He also volunteers at the Groudle Glen Railway. Chairman of the WLLR trustees, Iain McLean, said: “We are confident that Charles’s expertise in management, finance, marketing and railway matters will complement the many skills among our railway’s volunteers.”

THE organisers of this month’s Steel, Steam & Stars IV received the 11th hour news that one of its star attractions wouldn’t be available for its event to be held over the weekends of March 6-8 and 13-15, with BR 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 sidelined at the Mid Hants Railway with some late running repairs. Undeterred, organiser the 6880 Betton Grange Society has been able to make a like-for-like replacement, thanks to the Great Central Railway and owner Mike Gregory of Cromwell Tools, with BR green-liveried No. 92214 set to take its place for the Somerset & Dorset themed event. Having already lost the Llangollen Railway’s ‘Black Five’ No. 45337, and managed to get another ‘Five’ in its place, in the form of Bert Hitchen’s main line stalwart No. 45231 The Sherwood Forester, the last thing the group wanted was further disruption to its plans. “We are extremely grateful to the GCR and the locomotive’s owner for

agreeing to make 92214 available at such short notice,” event spokesman Paul Appleton said. “We had only just got over the shock of losing 45337, which we were able to replace likefor-like, when we found out about Jeremy Hosking’s 9F failing just a few weeks before the show.

Generous sponsorship

“Everyone has been great though and the original line-up is unchanged in terms of the locomotive types, and in fact we have ended up with six guest engines, something that we hadn’t planned on doing.” Movement of the six locomotives to the Llangollen Railway has been sponsored by Andrew Goodman’s Moveright International. “This is one of our biggest areas of expenditure in putting on the gala,” continued Paul, “and we are extremely grateful to Andrew for his generous sponsorship that has helped make it all possible.” Swindon 1959-built No. 92214 has recently been running carrying

Central Star nameplates and it is thought they may be removed for the gala. However, suggestions that the locomotive could be renumbered and named as last-built No. 92220 Evening Star for the Somerset & Dorset themed event were scuppered once it was realised that the green-liveried lookalike is already committed to such an identity change at Loughborough later in the year with ‘exclusive rights’, as described on the preceding pages. Heritage Railway will be at Corwen during the second weekend of Steel, Steam & Stars IV, from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15, and readers are encouraged to support the event which is being staged to raise funds for the building of the group’s new locomotive, GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange, which will be available for inspection in the workshops at Llangollen during the gala. Further details are available at www.6880.co.uk

Thomas Green & Sons 0-6-2ST Barber runs on the South Tynedale Railway on February 19 for the first time. STR/DAVE HEWITT

Clear track record

With the forthcoming retirement of Philip Benham the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has issued an advertisement for his replacement stating: “This post will lead the executive management team, supported by 100 employed staff and approximately 500 volunteers, to ensure that the business is continued to be developed and sustained as a major national heritage and tourist attraction. “Specific experience in the railway industry is not essential, but what is important is that the person appointed will have business and financial skills, as well as a clear track record of leadership, customer focus and successful change management experience.” It is of interest to note that proficiency in railway operation is not a top priority, with this role being deputed to the recently appointed operations manager. Rather, the successful candidate appears to be expected to focus on delivering an improved financial performance now that the Whitby developments are essentially on line.

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Barber makes its South Tynedale debut RARE Thomas Green & Sons 0-6-2ST Barber has made its heritage-era steam debut. The 1908-built locomotive, one of only a handful of locomotives built by the Leeds company, ran for the first time at its new South Tynedale Railway home on February 19. It is now set to make its public debut at a special May Bank Holiday gala weekend. Afterwards, Barber will take its place as the new flagship of the 2ftgauge line’s steam fleet. Barber is the only known example of Green’s railway locomotives in the

northern hemisphere, and the only narrow gauge example that will ever operate in the UK. The firm’s core business was the manufacture of traction engines, lawn mowers and steam trams. It was supplied new for the opening of the Harrogate gasworks railway, and named after Francis Barber, chairman of the gasworks. Barber spent its entire working life at the gasworks until it fell into disuse in 1949. In 1957, the emerging Narrow Gauge Railway Society housed Barber both at Bradford and at Leeds Industrial

Museum, but attempts to restore the locomotive were curtailed due to lack of funding. However, in 2004 Barber was placed on loan to the South Tynedale Railway, which in 2011, launched a £100,000 appeal to fund its restoration. Donations and grants included one from the Transport Trust. The restoration has now been completed by Alan Keef of Ross-onWye and the locomotive returned to its Alston home, although fundraising still continues to meet the costs of the work involved.

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Global interest as elite collectors eye Waterman model sale By Geoff Courtney WEALTHY collectors from around the world will be jetting into London in April determined to outbid rivals for some of the finest railway models ever to come up for auction. As reported exclusively in last month’s Heritage Railway, Pete Waterman is placing on the market his unique collection of Gauge 1 and larger railway models in a sale that is attracting global interest. A lifelong railway enthusiast, he is selling 58 models, five of which are 5in or 7¼in gauge live steam and the remainder Gauge 1. Most are one-offs personally commissioned by Pete from top builders, some of whom used works drawings to ensure the greatest possible authenticity and accuracy.

Arguably the best

Michael Matthews, steam and model engineering consultant at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury, the auction house that is handling the sale on April 16, describes it as arguably the best such collection to ever go under the hammer. It is estimated that one of the models, a 7¼in gauge live steam version of GWR No. 4073 CaerphillyCastle,will fetch up to £150,000, and two others, of the same gauge, up to £120,000 each, while a conservative estimate of the entire value is £1 million. Speaking as excitement mounted towards the April sale date, Pete told Heritage Railway: “I am a bit overwhelmed by it all to be honest – there is a lot of pent-up emotion among people as it approaches. “We are treating it as an auction of fine art, not toy trains, and people are cool with that. Collectors know of the quality of the models, and are seeing this as their opportunity to buy the

Golden opportunity: The Gauge 1 model of GWR Star class 4-6-0 No. 4016 KnightoftheGoldenFleece that will be going under the hammer at the sale of the Pete Waterman collection in central London on April 16. The model, which carries a top estimate of £40,000 and was built by George Mackinnon-Ure, is one of 58 that are expected to fetch a total of more than £1 million. WILLIAM MATTHEWS. best ever built by the best people.” Among the model builders were Geoff Holt and George Mackinnon-Ure, the latter – whose models have been likened to Swiss watches – having worked exclusively for Pete for 15 years before George’s retirement in 2008. Of the international interest, Pete said: “Some very famous Japanese model railway collectors will be flying in, as will some from Europe. There is also interest in the US, and some expat collectors are interested, as they know this is their one-off chance.” Of the 7¼in gauge, 8ft 4in long model of No. 4073 that is estimated at up to £150,000, Dreweatts’ spokeswoman, Poppy Walker, said: “The builder, David Aitken, replicated the original full-size locomotive in every way possible, with fine quality cab and chassis detail.” The two models of similar gauge estimated at up to £120,000 apiece are GWR No. 3440 City of Truro and GWR

‘Beyer goods’ 0-6-0 No. 337, the latter being what is believed to be the only model of this locomotive in the world. These two were also the work of David Aitken, and all three each took up to five years to build.

Every eﬀort

“Buyers will be given the opportunity to purchase some exceptional model engineering works of art made by some of the best Gauge 1 and larger model builders who have ever lived,” said Poppy. “They put every effort into producing the finest detailed locos, linked with a lifetime spent developing their skills combined with a knowledge of the full-sized locomotives.” Among the 53 Gauge 1 models are LMS Beyer-Garratt 2-6-6-2T No. 47995, GWR Star class No. 4016 Knight of the Golden Fleece, a large selection of LNWR examples that includes Claughton Nos. 2222 Sir Gilbert

Claughton and 1191 Sir Frank Ree, and, of more modern vintage, two BR Standard 9Fs and diesel-hydraulic D1048 Western Lady. One of the 5in gauge live steam representatives is LMS Princess Coronation No. 46235 City of Birmingham, which is estimated at up to £60,000. Pete, whose current modelling passion is an O gauge layout of Leamington Spa, said that no expense had been spared in the construction of the models. “It was all about true quality,” he said of a collection that has taken more than 25 years to build up. The auction is being held at Ely House in Dover Street, Mayfair, the central London premises of antiques dealer Mallett. Although it has yet to be confirmed, the starting time is expected to be 6pm. In addition, all the models are currently on display at Ely House for viewing from 10am-6pm Monday-Friday.

Didcot prairie back in steam GWR prairie No. 4144 has returned to steam at Didcot Railway Centre after a five-year overhaul. No. 4144 had its first steam test with the boiler in the frames on Friday, February 13. The insurance company’s boiler inspector visited Didcot over five days and passed it. The restoration team duly took the locomotive on to the demonstration line at the end of the afternoon to give it a few runs. As we closed for press, there were a few jobs to finish mechanically, along with the painting. No. 4144 was built at Swindon in September 1946 and withdrawn, from Severn Tunnel Junction shed in March 1965. Sent to Woodham Bros scrapyard at Barry, it was bought jointly by the Great Western Society and one of its members in 1974. Its rebuild was completed in 1997 and it was used in Steam on the Met in 1998. Its boiler was removed for overhaul in August 2010.

A Virgin CrossCountry Voyager passed on the east curve at Didcot as GWR prairie No. 4144 makes its test runs on the railway centre’s demonstration line on February 18. FRANK DUMBLETON

Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 9

News

Platform for success: An enthusiastic welcomes awaits No. 6029 as the UK-built Beyer-Garratt arrives at the Trainworks Railway Museum at Thirlmere station on March 1 with one of two specials it headed that day. HOWARD MOFFAT

Name and number: Restored 4-8-4+4-8-4 No. 6029 lets off steam at its naming ceremony at Canberra Railway Museum on February 25. INSET: Legislative assembly member Shane Rattenbury after he had unveiled the Beyer-Garratt’s City ofCanberra nameplate. HOWARD MOFFAT

Awe and wonder as UK-built colossus wows the crowds By Geoff Courtney

THEY watched in their thousands – at the lineside, on bridges and station platforms, in their cars, from fields, and in towns and villages. Young and old, girls and boys, men and women. To those of a certain age, it would have brought back memories of everyday transport long past. For others, it may have been their first sighting of how their forebears travelled in the days before two and three-car families became the norm. Probably the only common thread was wonder, an emotion often felt by many watching a steam locomotive. But when that locomotive has the grandeur, almost primitive muscle, and sheer living presence of Beyer-Garratt No. 6029, that emotion is heightened. Classic cars provoke enthusiasm, classic aircraft fascination, and classic ships admiration. A 32-wheeled, 264-

Bluebell will never forget this grant AS WE closed for press, the Arts Council announced that the Bluebell Railway had been awarded £84,150 from its Resilience fund. The money will be used to fund the railway’s project to convert The project is to convert the interior of the 1949built specially strengthened bogie scenery van or ‘elephant van’ No. 4601 into a learning centre for infants, with the exterior being cosmetically restored. These vans had a higher roof than most similar vans, and were designed for carrying theatrical scenery. No. 4601 was one of three which also had a reinforced floor, and was used at one stage for the carriage of circus elephants in the Bertram Mills Circus Train. The unique is in need of repairs to ensure its long-term survival, and the grant will also provide alternative storage for the signalling and telegraph department within it. A total of 108 organisations successful in applying to the first round of the fund will receive a total of over £17.5 million of investment between them.

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ton, 109ft long, champion of the iron road in steam, however, arouses a deep-seated sense of awe that surely no other form of transport can rival. No. 6029 is a giant that straddles both sides of the globe. It was built by Beyer Peacock at Manchester in 1953 and served its time with New South Wales Government Railways in Australia on heavy freight trains until withdrawal in 1972. It bowed out of service with 620,000 miles on the clock and was saved by the National Museum of Australia to enter a new lease of life on railtour duty. In 1981 it was placed in store in the yard of Canberra Railway Museum, where it remained until 2007 when, by then owned by the Australian Railway Historical Society, a major overhaul started. Last July the 4-8-4+4-8-4 giant, which boasts a tractive effort of 63,016lb-ft, moved under its own

steam for the first time in 33 years, and by Christmas had gained approval for main line running, a landmark acclaimed throughout the world of railway preservation. And so a new career dawned, albeit pulling passengers not freight. Its public debut was to be the annual Thirlmere festival of steam south-west of Sydney, over the weekend of February 28/March 1, but a few days before, on February 25, the loco had another important function to attend, at which it was officially named City of Canberra by Shane Rattenbury, a member of the Australian Capital Territory legislative assembly, at its Canberra Railway Museum home. Two days later, on February 27, No. 6029, bearing its new name, left the museum, where the seven year overhaul had taken place, for a stabling stop at Goulburn, 50 miles away. Although the journey attracted

public interest, the following day, February 28, was to be the date so many eagerly anticipated, for No. 6029 was to head a passenger train from its overnight stay at Goulburn to Thirlmere, a journey of 70 miles. With thousands watching from every available vantage point, the locomotive hauled its crowded soldout train from Goulburn to Thirlmere, home of the Trainworks Railway Museum, where it received a celebrity welcome. The two-day steam festival also featured three other preserved Britishbuilt former NSW Government Railways’ engines comprising Beyer Peacock 4-6-0 Nos. 3265 and 3016 of 1902 and 1903 respectively, and Hunslet 2-6-0 No. 2705 of 1913. But the star of the show was undoubtedly a giant of steam built with pride by Manchester craftsmen 62 years ago and restored in Australia..

G5 moves out as restoration firm collapses By Robin Jones THE builders of a new NER G5 0-4-4T have said that the project will not be affected in any way by the liquidation of its principal contractor Rail Restorations North East Ltd. The affairs of Shildon-based Rail Restorations, registered as Multi-Tal Ltd, are now being handled by liquidators Tait Walker of Newcastle upon-Tyne, and a creditors’ meeting was held on February 27. However, the Class G5 Locomotive Company moved at the beginning of February to new premises in Hackworth Park, Shildon, directly opposite the unit occupied by Rail Restorations, where the components had been stored and work carried out. The locomotive is being built in distinct stages with each component being paid for on completion and therefore belonging to the G5 company. The creditors of Rail Restorations therefore have no claim on them. A statement issued by the G5 company said that the move across the road had been “due to a combination of the need for more

space for the G5 and to the expanding work load at RRNE”. It added: “This is the last phase in the construction of the locomotive and will see the frames turned over ready to accommodate the bogie and wheel assemblies. The new unit has much more space and will allow us to work on the construction and store all the assembled parts safely.”

Grand opening

The statement on the company’s website said it was hoped to hold a grand opening of the new premises that would coincide with the arrival of the completed front wheel assembly. Open days, which have been held on the first Saturday of each month, will probably begin in April, according to the statement. G5 Locomotive Company treasurer Roger Wormersley said that more than £700,000 had been raised towards the locomotive since the scheme became in 2007, and several major components including the biggest locomotive boiler built in the UK since BR days and all the wheels had been constructed, but more money was still needed.

Roger said that the G5 company was a customer of Rail Restorations and was otherwise not connected with the firm. The chairman of the G5 company is Dr Mike Wood. He is also still listed on the Rail Restorations website’s company profile as that company’s managing director, although he said that his son Christopher had held that position while he had been a director of the firm, which has carried out several other contracts in the heritage sector. A qualified general medical practitioner, Mike is an active volunteer director of the Weardale Railway Trust and owns several coaches in service on the Weardale Railway. He is also a locomotive fireman, as well as company medical officer for the trust. He said that Rail Restorations had gone into voluntary liquidation, and that nine jobs could be lost as a result. However, in his capacity as G5 chairman, he said that work was progressing in the new unit: “The frames are now complete and the right way round, and the wheels are going to the south Devon Railway to get the tyres fixed.”

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Newly-restored LMS Ivatt 2MT mogul No. 46447 heads a 30742 Charters goods train through Cranmore station on the East Somerset Railway on March 1. MARTIN CREESE

Royal steam opening plan for the Borders Railway THE £354 million Borders Railway will have a royal opening on September 4, when a steam train makes the first journey from Edinburgh Waverley to Tweedbank. A member of the royal family is to perform the official opening ceremony, although their identity is yet to be confirmed. An odds-on favourite would be Prince Charles, who has been on the footplate of steam locomotives driving the Royal Train, who attended the Mallard 75 celebrations at the National Railway Museum in 2013 and who is having the new Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales named in his honour. Saturday, September 5, will see a further three VIP trains for

which ‘golden tickets’ will be made available to local residents who are nominated. It may be that some of these will also be hauled by steam. Stuart Mackay, communications manager of main contractors BAM Nuttall, said that towns and villages along the rebuilt northern section of the Waverley Route were already planning celebratory events for that weekend ahead of the first regular services commencing on Sunday, September 6. Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker said: “It will be a fantastic opportunity for our region to present itself positively to a massive audience.” BAM is scheduled to complete the building of the new line in June.

Gresley tank to visit Ludborough

DESPITE missing the Nene Valley Railway’s New England shed steam gala, the Gresley Society’s GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 is still on course to appear at the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Easter Gala. The locomotive which doubled up as the ‘Scotch Express’ in the EMI film The Railway Children will

be the first-ever GNR locomotive to visit the former GNR line. Trains will from 9.45am to 4.45pm each day, with a total of three steam locomotives in action. There will be an evening photoshoot on the Friday, and free Easter eggs for children on the Sunday.

Racing to be ready for NYMR 50 THE final line-up for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s March 6-8 50th anniversary of closure celebrations was still fluid as we closed for press. More extensive winter repairs than expected meant that herculean efforts were having to be made to have B1 4-6-0 No. 61264 completed in time, with BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079 pencilled in as a last minute replacement. With a week to go before the event, the details of the movement of K1 2-6-0 No. 62005 and K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess to the line to recreate the famous SLS railtour remained unclear. LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley was expected to have its winter maintenance completed in time to run and the line’s Class 25 D7628 Sybilla was expected to see at least some action on Battersby runs. LMS ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 44806 and 45428, together with BR Standard

4MT 4-6-0 No. 75029 were all still undergoing maintenance, along with NELPG Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395. However, for the April 17-19 and 24-26 spring steam gala, Nos. 61264, 76079, 60007, 75029, 45428 and 63395 were all expected to be available, supplemented by No. 62005 and Ian Riley’s ‘Black Fives’ No. 45407 The Lancashire Fusilier and 44871 for the first weekend. Meanwhile, early indications are that fears that the NYMR’s ‘Whitby Effect’, so evident in the latter part of 2014, might be short-lived seem to be unfounded. Both days over the February half term when trains ran to Whitby proved to be the busiest out of season days ever on the NYMR, with the scheduled DMU service having to be upgraded to a fivecoach locomotive-hauled set which even then only had sufficient seats to accommodate around 90% of the passengers.

Aqueduct bonus for Severn Valley A BONUS consequence of the work to replace Birmingham Elan Valley aqueduct pipes where they cross beneath the Severn Valley Railway near Bewdley is that the owner of

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the pipeline, Severn Trent Water, has agreed to become a corporate sponsor of the line. However, the form that this will take is not known as yet. Heritage Railway 11

News Bridge project now educates young engineers YOUNGSTERS from a group of Leicestershire schools are being lined up to become involved in the Great Central Railway’s Bridge to the Future project, with students being able to take part in a real engineering project in the heart of their community. The eight-week schools’ project to encourage all students to consider careers in engineering has been created by Network Rail and Great Central Railway, working in partnership with AMCO, Carillion, Murphy, Charnwood Borough Council, LEBC, and FJD Civil Engineers. It has been launched in three Loughborough schools – Charnwood College, Limehurst Academy, and Woodbrook Vale High School. The programme will take students through the process of building a bridge. They will learn how to complete ecological and wildlife surveys, test ground stability through geotechnical surveys, obtain planning consent, plan, design and build embankments and bridges, understand the complex processes involved in improving and maintaining the rail network, and calculate costs. At the end of the project, students will design and build a model of a bridge based on the specifications for a life-sized bridge. Engineers, environment managers and project managers from Network Rail, AMCO, Carillion, Murphy, and FJD will take lead roles during the programme. Nicky Morgan, MP for Loughborough and Secretary of State for Education, said: “So much of what I do on a national level as Secretary of State for Education is informed by my experience as a constituency MP, and Bridge to the Future is a prime example of this.” GCR spokesman Lili Tabiner said: “The Bridge to the Future project is a complex feat of civil engineering, but before any structure is built a lot of work is needed so the new railway can operate for many years. “Experts are guiding us through every stage of the process and each of these disciplines requires specialist skills.” Richard Walker, Network Rail’s route delivery director, who is responsible for the programme to modernise and electrify the Midland Main Line, said: “This is a hugely exciting project which gives a real insight into the diverse, interesting, challenging, and rewarding railway careers in engineering and associated disciplines.”

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Work starts on GCR embankment as money match appeal launches By Robin Jones CONTRACTORS have moved on to the site of the missing embankment which will take the Great Central Railway up to a new bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough. In advance of Network Rail starting work on a new £1 million bridge to link the GCR to its northern counterpart the Great Central Railway (Nottingham), orange-jacketed workers with drill rigs have been investigating the ground conditions where 350 yards of embankment will be built. The embankment will take the ‘new’ railway from the Grand Union Canal bridge at the rear of Loughborough sheds northwards towards the new bridge. The ground study follows the completion of an ecology study for the route. Besides examining the ground where the new embankment needs to be built, the contractors will also investigate the condition of a surviving stub of embankment north of the new rail bridge where the tracks of the two railway companies will meet. This examination will establish what remedial work may be required there. GCR managing director Bill Ford said: “We want to ensure every element of the reunification project is shovel ready so that as funds become available we can press straight ahead into construction. “These works are part of a range of studies for the main missing embankment, which will inform the design and support our forthcoming planning application. It’s very

A test boring taking place on the site of the planned new Great Central Railway embankment in Loughborough. ADAM MCALLISTER encouraging to see real and sustained progress being made.” Meanwhile, the railway’s appeal to raise money for the key missing bridge over the Midland Main Line has passed the £750,000 mark – three quarters of the way to the £1million target. Enabling works are expected to begin on site in the next few weeks, ahead of the main build, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year. To encourage further support for the £1m appeal a fund has been made

➜ If you wish to support the £1 million Bridge to the Future appeal, and also the major infrastructure works that will be required after it is built, visit www.gcrailway.co.uk/unify and click 'DONATE'. Alternatively, download an appeal form from the

available by a supporter of the railway. Donations to the Bridge to the Future Appeal received between March 1 and Good Friday, April 3, will be matched pound for pound, up to £50,000. Bill said: “We’re calling it Money Match March and it could see us push onto the home straight of our appeal. Everyone at the Great Central, both north and south, has been truly humbled by the generosity of people right across the country. We’re sure they will be delighted by the continued forward progress.”

same page 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. You can also give in person at any GCR station.

GWR 0-6-0PT No. 6412, 0-6-0 No. 3205 and 2-6-2T No. 4566 at Buckfastleigh during the South Devon Railway’s branch line gala. HENRY THOMAS

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BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75078 heads its first public passenger train since restoration away from Oakworth on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on February 8. ANDREW SOUTHWELL

Britannia joins big West Somerset gala By Robin Jones BR PACIFIC No. 70000 Britannia will top the guest list at the West Somerset Railway’s March 26-29 spring steam gala. Fresh from its comeback at the Mid Hants Railway Gala (see separate story, pages 44-45), it will join the previously announced guests for the Railways in South Wales-themed event, GWR 2-8-0T No. 4270, GWR prairie No. 5542, GWR 0-6-2T No. 6695, and Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521. While the Britannias were popular performers on the Eastern Region, notably on the expresses between Liverpool Street and Norwich, those sent to the Western were less well received. However, the crews at Cardiff (Canton) shed used them enthusiastically and to excellent effect on express work between South Wales and Paddington. The guests will join residents GWR 2-8-0 No. 3850 (due for withdrawal for its 10-year overhaul later this year, GWR 2-6-2T No. 4160, GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 Kinlet Hall, WR 4-6-0s No. 6960 Raveningham Hall, and No. 7828 Odney Manor, with Peckett 0-4-0ST Kilmersdon giving shunting demonstrations at Washford station. It will be possible to travel in the WSR Association’s Hawksworth-designed Taunton Area Inspection Saloon on selected services on March 28-29 for payment of a £5 supplementary fare in

addition to a rover ticket travel for a one-way journey between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead or vice versa. The vehicle gives some of the best all-round views of the countryside through the Quantock Hills and along the Bristol Channel Coast. There is a limit of 20 seats in the saloon and seats can be booked in advance on www.west-somersetrailway.co.uk or by telephoning 01643 704996. Footplate trips will again be available during the four days, with single journeys costing £100 each, payable in advance on the same telephone number, from where further details can be obtained. On the Sunday, there will be special £2 fares for children aged five to 15 accompanied by a fare-paying adult. Also on March 29, there are chances to see behind the scenes in the workshops at Williton and Minehead. However, one part of the gala programme, the Transport Literature Fair and Model Railway Exhibition, is being postponed until later in the year. Railway author Peter Nicholson will be signing copies of his book Tracking Down Steam on March 27 and Julian Holland will return to the Minehead station Buffer Stop Shop for book signings on March 28-29. The railway has also placed tickets for this year’s Santa services on sale and has already received several inquiries.

Unrestored prairie offered for sale GWR prairie No. 4110 – the 100th locomotive to be bought for preservation from Barry scrapyard – is being offered for sale. Owner the GWR Preservation Group is, ironically, offering it for sale to fund repairs to the 100th ex-Barry locomotive to be resteamed, WR 0-6-0PT No. 9682. The restoration of the locomotive was begun at the group’s Southall base following its retrieval from Woodham Bros yard in May 1979. The project made slow progress and the loco was moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works several years ago. However, the group has now accepted that it will not be able to fund its return to steam. A condition of any sale is that the locomotive will remain intact and not be used as a source of spares. Acting chairman Mike Gorringe said that the group already had several offers on the table, but was still open to further serious offers from professional restorers and engineers and railway heritage centres. No. 4110 was built in October 1936 at Swindon Works and initially allocated to Severn Tunnel Junction shed for banking duties. In December 1947, it was moved to Stafford Road shed and reallocated to Tyseley shed in August 1950. From there, it

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The rusting hulk of GWR 5101 class prairie No. 4110 at Tyseley. worked on local passenger services throughout the West Midlands. It moved to Wellington in December 1956, Stourbridge Junction in October 1959, Tyseley in October 1961, Taunton in December 1962, Neath in June 1963, and Radyr in November 1964. It was withdrawn from Severn Tunnel Junction shed in June 1965, a month after arriving there. Serious offers to buy No. 4110 should be made to Mike during office hours on 01225 706688 or via [email protected] Heritage Railway 13

News

RingHaw heads a train from Peterborough Nene Valley past Castor on February 8.

New England remembered By Brian Sharpe

PETERBOROUGH was one of Britain’s great railway towns, and the principal one of its four locomotive sheds, at New England, was the second biggest on the LNER after Stratford; at one time it had the entire class of GNR O2 2-8-0s on its books. Coded 35A by BR in 1949, but demoted to 34E in 1958, the shed closed in 1965. The Nene Valley Railway’s steam gala in February commemorated the 50th anniversary of the shed’s closure, with a line-up of appropriate motive power. Unfortunately, although one of the shed’s last surviving engines, GNR

N2 0-6-2T No. 1744, was booked to attend, it was unable to take part because of overrunning maintenance. The other LNER visitor was from a class which rarely, if ever, had been seen at New England, but was one of the most surprising gala event bookings of the year; the Bo’nessbased D49 4-4-0 No. 62712 Morayshire, a classic Gresley design, which proved to be a big draw so far from home. Also making a perhaps long overdue visit was Hunslet 0-6-0ST Ring Haw, from the North Norfolk Railway. This engine had worked until 1970 at Nassington ironstone quarries just a

couple of miles beyond the NVR’s current western terminus at Yarwell Junction. Ring Haw was reunited for the first time in preservation with its sister engine Jacks Green, both of which were named after woods alongside the quarry. Both engines had travelled from the quarry on withdrawal, under their own steam, to the British Sugar Corporation sidings at Woodston, journeys which involved not only running along what would later become the NVR, but even a short section of the East Coast Main Line south from Peterborough, right in the middle of BR’s main line steam ban.

LNER D49 4-4-0 No. 62712 Morayshire departs from Ferry Meadows on February 21.

Above: Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST UnitedSteelCompaniesNo.22 arrives at Wansford with a goods train. Right: Hunslet 0-6-0ST RingHaw emerges from Wansford tunnel and approaches Yarwell junction on February 8, the closest it can now get to its old haunts at Nassington quarry.

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No. 62712 Morayshire heads towards Peterborough on the short double-track section from Orton Mere to Longueville Junction. Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 15

NEWS

One of the most impressive steam railways in the world is the narrow gauge Harz system in the former East Germany. Although a handful of prestige locomotives including Mallets run on special occasions, the mainstay is a 1950S class of 2-10-2s. The most intensive service is that up the Brocken mountain, reaching 3690ft above sea level. No. 99 7243-1 is seen nearing the summit with the 10.25am service from Wernigerode on a Bob Branch photo charter on February 7. PHIL WATERFIELD

IN BRIEF ➜ CONSTRUCTION of the Severn Valley’s new diesel depot at Kidderminster is now under way, with the site cleared and levelled and the bank at the rear scraped and proﬁled. The ﬂoor area has been dug out and the spoil moved to the car park. Gabions baskets have been ﬁlled with rock and placed at the foot of the bank in order to support it. ➜ THE Buckinghamshire Railway Centre-based group restoring ex-Barry WR 4-6-0 No. 6989 WightwickHall passed another milestone on March 2 with the return of the complete and tested boiler to the frames. ➜ CLASS 50 No. 50049 has been withdrawn from the North Norfolk Railway’s June 12-14 diesel gala due to issues with the main generator.

Railway Children special to be hauled by Tornado

By Robin Jones

NEW-build A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 is to haul an exclusive £2000-ahead luxury dining train to raise money for charity The Railway Children as part of a whirlwind comeback with three trips in five days. The trip for the charity which raises money for homeless children who sleep and live in railway stations across the world will see Tornado haul the Belmond British Pullman out of Waterloo for the first time. The British Pullman normally runs from London Victoria. The June 2 trip will comprise the ‘Surrey Hills’ circular excursion, with companies sponsoring each coach at a cost of £2000 per seat.

Kinlet Hall for Yorkshire Moors THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway is taking GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 Kinlet Hall on loan as extra cover in case certain of the home fleet’s winter overhauls overrun. These could be in particular ‘Black Five’ No. 44806, which is receiving a

major tender rebuild, and BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75029. No. 4936 will be only the second Hall to visit after David Smith’s No. 5972 Olton Hall which spent the 1998 season on the railway in green livery prior to its transformation into ‘Hogwarts Castle’.

It will run just three days after the newly apple green liveried Tornado makes its comeback following its extensive mid-term overhaul, hauling, as previously reported, Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Cumbrian Fells Express’ from Bristol (steam on at Crewe) to Appleby and return on May 30. Two days after The Railway Children special, Tornado will haul the return leg of builder The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘The White Rose’ from King’s Cross to York with Deltic D9009 Alycidon on the outward journey, picking up at Potter’s Bar. In addition to the usual first class dining and standard accommodation, this train includes first class non-dining carriages. All tour profits go towards maintaining Tornado in future years.

Bookings for ‘The White Rose’ are being handled by UK Railtours on 01438 715050 or at www.ukrailtours.com The trust will also run a ‘St Mungo Anniversary Tour’ recalling nearly 50 years since the last of the original A1s in service, No. 60145 St Mungo, was withdrawn in summer 1966. The trip will run from York to Newcastle and back on December 31. Tornado’s first tour with the standard Belmond British Pullman on the ‘Surrey Hills’ circuit is now listed for July 10. It has been contracted to haul around 20 such trips over a 12 month period in the absence of Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 35028 Clan Line, which will be withdrawn for its seven-yearly overhaul.

‘Last’ steam engine set for debut THE last standard gauge steam locomotive built for use in Britain before A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado is to make its heritage era debut at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 3890 of 1964 became No. 66 in the National Coal Board’s South Yorkshire fleet and was sent to Cadeby Main Colliery, Conisborough, on March 27 that year. The 484th Austerity built, it was originally fitted with a mechanical stoker to assist in one-man operation and a gas producer to reduce smoke emissions, but these were later discarded in favour of traditional methods of firing. It became redundant in 1970 when

Conisborough became a smokeless zone and was replaced by an ex-BR diesel shunter. Placed it storage, it was later bought by a Quainton Railway Society member who beat the National Railway Museum to it, and it arrived at the centre on November 4, 1975. However, the condition of its tyres proved an obstacle to restoration. The chassis has been overhauled at South Coast Steam and the centre’s own workshops, while Locomotive Maintenance Services at Loughborough overhauled the boiler which was subsequently steamed in its frames. The saddle tank was returned to the engine on March 2.

Chiltern sells ‘bubblecar’ diesel unit

LNWRWebbCoalTank0-6-2TNo.1054headsavintagetrainawayfromKeighleyduring theKWVRsteamgalaonFebruary27.No.1054istomakeareturnvisittothePontypool &BlaenavonRailwayforitsSeptember11-13steamgala. DUNCAN LANGTREE

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CHILTERN Railways is selling exArriva Trains Class 121 ‘bubblecar’ No. 121032. Eminently suitable for heritage lines, the unit maintains registration for passenger use on the national network and is fitted with a data recorder, TPWS and AWS. It is also partially fitted with GSM-R.

Mechanically sound, it has not been run for several months. It is available for inspection at Aylesbury Train Maintenance Depot. For sale by tender, offers must be emailed to Chiltern’s head of technical services Simon Jarrett at Simon.Jarrett@ChilternRailways .co.uk by noon on March 30.

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News

Pannier celebrates 50 years of preservation with new bell By Robin Jones FIFTY years ago, the Lemar family remortgaged their house after an appeal to buy the last main line steam locomotive based in Cornwall fell short of its target. Weymouth quay branch GWR 13XX pannier No. 1369 had replaced the three legendary LSWR Beattie well tanks on the curving Wenfordbridge line in 1962, but in turn was displaced by Class 08 diesels in 1965. Plymouth enthusiast, Alan Weary, launched an appeal to save No. 1369

from the scrapyard, but when it failed to meet BR’s asking price of £690 by a set deadline, supporter Peter Lemar made up the shortfall with a loan obtained through a remortgage. The loan was repaid. Preservationists proudly took possession of the tiny pannier on February 20, 1965, when it was handed over to the Great Western Society, which then had a base at the former Totnes Quay branch. Before it left Cornwall, Alan was presented with a poem composed specially for the occasion by No. 1369’s

last regular driver, Norman Wills. “We say farewell to a trusty old friend, She has nearly reached her journey’s end; She has served us well in every way, We say farewell to the steam engine’s day. The loads you have pulled have been heavy, The miles you have run quite a lot; Thanks old girl for the memory, We are sorry you cannot stop.” The aim of the buyers was to run it on the Ashburton branch, which

The day No. 1369 arrived on the Totnes Quay branch 50 years ago: buyer, Alan Weary, wearing uniform, BR’s Totnes stationmaster Mr Needle, Peter Lemar of the Great Western Society holding the green flags, West of England chief locomotive inspector Harold Cook, and Bob Saunders of Staverton Contractors, which used the branch. SDR ARCHIVES

Farewell to Wells & Walsingham founder Roy

AROUND 200 mourners paid their final respects to Wells & Walsingham Light Railway founder Lieutenant Commander Roy Francis at his funeral on February 13. The Arctic Convoy veteran was described as a true Norfolk hero – the name given to the 101⁄4in gauge line’s first articulated Garratt – by his family and friends. Lt Cdr Francis died in his sleep on January 27 at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, aged 92. His funeral was held at the parish church of St Peter in Forncett St Peter where he lived. Mourner, Benedict Cadbury, said: “Roy was charming, independent, pragmatic, tenacious, modest and loyal. “He hated fluorescent jackets and loved cash, saying ‘it keeps everything so simple’. “He treated everyone he met on the trains like his extended family.” As a child Lt Cdr Francis told his father

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he wanted to work on the railways, but his father signed him up for the Naval School at 14. However, he made a latterday career for himself as builder and operator of what became the world’s smallest public railway, which he set up in 1982. He also built the Wells Harbour Railway. It is intended to hold a memorial service at the railway on his birthday, July 2. Lady Sarah Leicester will be unveiling a memorial. The railway is now run by Nick Champion, who is married to Lt Cdr Francis’s granddaughter, and is helped by a team of around 30 volunteers. He has appealed for more helpers to come forward, saying: “We need guards and drivers in the summer, but in the winter there is an awful lot of maintenance to be done.” Anyone who would like to become involved is invited to telephone 01328 711630 or visit www.wellswalsinghamrailway.co.uk

David Lemar (son of the late Peter Lemar who bought the engine) alongside No. 1369 and its new bell at Buckfastleigh before it hauled the 12.30am train to Totnes on February 20, the 50th anniversary to the day of it first arriving at Totnes. SARAH ANNE HARVEY was to reopen as the Dart Valley Railway, and later became the South Devon Railway. While the SDR’s February 14-22 Western Branch Line gala (report overleaf) was being planned, Peter’s son David – an SDR director – was looking at an old family railway photograph when he realised that the Friday on the event was the 50th anniversary of the engine’s handover to his late father. Ownership of the locomotive changed several times over the years. No. 1369, now owned by the South Devon Railway Association, had its unique warning bell for use on the Weymouth Quay branch line stolen last year. Sadly, it has never been recovered, and the SDR is still hopeful it might turn up again, but on the anniversary, No. 1369 appeared with a new brass replacement, and took part in a special Panniers & Pints day. No. 1369 was not the last standard gauge steam locomotive in commercial service in Cornwall. Cutdown Port of Par Bagnall 0-4-0ST Judy remained in traffic until 1969 and sister Alfred until 1977. Both are now preserved at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No. 3597 of 1926 Falmouth Docks No. 3 shunted at Falmouth Docks until 1986, making it the last outpost of industrial steam. It is now at Peak Rail.

Swanage supremo moves to Keighley SWANAGE Railway general manager Richard Jones has become the new operating officer for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Joining the Purbeck line in April, 2013, from the Bodmin & Wenford Railway where he had spent five years in charge, Richard’s decision was made for “purely personal reasons”. He said: “I regard Yorkshire very much as my ‘spiritual home’ as I was largely brought up in Sheffield as a child. “I leave the Swanage Railway in good heart, having enjoyed two extremely successful years with much progress made, and well set for a positive and exciting future.” Swanage Railway Company chairman Peter Sills said: “Richard has been with us for nearly two years and during that time he has achieved a huge amount and has contributed enormously to increasing the professionalism, customer offering and management of the Swanage Railway. “He will certainly be leaving the Swanage Railway in better shape than

Yorkshire-bound Richard Jones. ANDREW PM WRIGHT it was before he arrived.” Peter’s last working day at Swanage was February 13. KWVR chairman Mike Curtis said: “With more than 40 years’ experience working on heritage railways in a variety of roles – and having worked on the main line railway network too – he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the post, particularly of railway operations.” The Swanage Railway’s head of traffic and operations, Matt Green, has been appointed as interim general manager until a permanent successor is appointed.

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Inadvertent football special: LMS ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871 and 45407 top the 1-in-40 climb out of Barnsley and cross the M1 motorway at Dodworth with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Tin Bath Extra’ on February 15. BRIAN SHARPE

Referee stops game – to watch steam train! By Robin Jones

A REFEREE halted a football match in its tracks – so that he and the players could watch a steam train go past. Kieron Lee suspended play during the Sheffield & District Junior League Under 15s game between AFC Pogmoor and Charnock Ridgeway in Barnsley on Sunday, February 15, when he heard the sound of the train approaching on the line which runs behind the ground.

He had never seen a working steam train before – and decided he wanted to watch the special, the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Tin Bath Extra’ circular tour of the north from Manchester Victoria, go by. The train was named after an episode of the BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine. It was doubleheaded by Ian Riley’s LMS ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871 and 45407. Players and spectators were astonished when Mr Lee suddenly held up the game.

Property developer Sharon Baxter who had been cheering her grandson, Adon, from the sidelines, captured the moment on video, and posted it online. It went viral within hours, being viewed across the world. She said: “Everyone rushed to see the train and we all waved at the passengers on board, who waved back! It was a lovely moment. “All the kids were laughing and then the ref said: ‘Right the train’s gone, get back over here!’ It was a lovely thing for the ref to do and not one person I’ve

spoken to has said anything negative about it.” Mr Lee said: “I waited for a break in the game and then I blew the whistle. They all looked at me like I was losing my marbles. “They’re all 14- and 15-year-old lads so they thought I was crackers but I thought, I’m the ref, and I want to see the steam train, so tough!” The video can be seen at www.facebook.com/heritagerailway AFC Pogmoor, which were six goals up when then train went past, won 8-0.

West Somerset event to Stationmasters axed on celebrate first movements Isle of Man Railway

THE West Somerset Railway is planning to make the 40th anniversary of its first stock movements the theme of its big autumn gala. Although the first heritage era passenger trains ran on Good Friday 1976, when Lord Montagu of Beaulieu flagged away a departure for the round trip between Minehead and Blue Anchor, the first train movements took place in the autumn of 1975. With the March 2016 gala dates already allocated to a major event to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway system, the WSR’s special events planning team has decided that October 1-4 will mark the anniversary of those early stock movements and the returning to active life of the Minehead branch. It is intended that the ‘guest engines’

to be brought in for the gala will be drawn from the long list of locomotives, which have run over the line in the past four decades, maybe starting with Bagnall 1951-built 0-6-0STs Victor and Vulcan. They are currently under overhaul at their respective current homes, the Stephenson Railway Museum and the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. Later star guest locomotives such as A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado could also be invited, said a spokesman. “The potential selection is wide but what actually appears will of course depend on what is available to hire and currently serviceable,” he said. “No doubt reminiscence and speculation will be the order of the day among WSR staff and the enthusiast world as matters unfold.”

TWO stops on the Isle of Man Steam Railway will not be manned this year. Ballasalla and Port St Mary will lose their stationmasters as part of measures to save costs, the island’s director of public transport Ian Longworth announced. Northbound and southbound trains will no longer cross at Ballasalla but at Castletown instead. Mr Longworth said: “Over many years the two trains passed each other at Ballasalla. “On busy days when trains were more frequent Castletown was also used to pass trains. “This year all trains will pass at Castletown except on a few very busy days in the height of the season when Ballasalla will be opened. This has resulted in the stationmaster’s position not being required on a full-time basis.”

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The cuts follow a decision in September by infrastructure minister, Phil Gawne, to reduce the railway’s public subsidy to 50% of the running costs. That amounts to a 15% reduction in the £32.3 million annual subsidy to cover losses. Despite the losses, the island’s railways contribute more than an estimated £11 million per year to the national income. Mr Longworth said: “When I took on the role here in 2009, the railways covered around 18% of their direct operating costs which was not sustainable in the long term. “Last season was an excellent year when we achieved 43%. This particular staffing economy will save another 1%.” He said that the target set by the minister was not attainable, but the situation would be kept under review. Heritage Railway 19

News

GWR 2-6-2T No. 4566 runs alongside the River Dart at Hood Bridge on February 21. LEWIS MADDOX

Welcome back the ‘Flockton Flyer’ By Robin Jones

GWR prairie No. 4566 and newly outshopped GWR 0-6-0PT No. 6412 arrive at Totnes with the 3.49pm from Staverton to Totnes on February 22. COLIN WALLACE

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THE South Devon Railway’s successful February 14-22 Western Branch Line gala marked the return to steam of the locomotive which hauled the opening day trains in 1969. GWR 0-6-0PT No. 6412 emerged from Buckfastleigh workshops following a seven-year overhaul, including a very expensive £300,000 virtually total boiler rebuild. Outshopped in 1934, it was delivered new to Swansea Landore shed and worked in South Wales until 1963 when it was transferred to Exmouth Junction. It operated the final passenger train to Monmouth over the Wye Valley Railway route in 1959 and the last ‘Chalford Shuttle’ auto-train service between Gloucester and Chalford in 1962. It was withdrawn from Gloucester in November 1964 and sold

directly out of Western Region service to the Dart Valley Railway, which was in the process of reviving the closed Ashburton branch. No. 6412 arrived at Totnes under its own steam on June 5,1966, and hauled the first train when the line reopened to passengers on April 5, 1969. The formal opening of the heritage line was performed by Dr Richard Beeching on May 21 that year. After the Dart Valley Railway bought its second line, the Paignton to Kingswear route, several of the locomotives from the Buckfastleigh operation, including No. 6412, were moved there. Not powerful enough to haul the long peak-summer trains on the seaside route, No. 6412 was deemed surplus to requirements and sold to the West Somerset Railway Association and moved to Taunton, again under its own power, on March 25, 1976. For

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GWR 2-6-2T No. 4566 runs alongside the Dart near Stretchford on February 21. KARL HEATH many years it became a regular and popular performer on what, at 24 miles, became Britain’s longest standard gauge heritage line. It was one of the first locomotives to work the West Somerset Railway, the first section of which, from Minehead to Blue Anchor, opened on March 28,1976, and pulled the inaugural train there too. It had a starring role in The Flockton Flyer, a children’s TV series made by Southern Independent Television. The story, scripted by Peter Whitbread, concerned the Carter family who move to a small village and attempt to reopen and run the Flockton to Lane End branch railway, which was closed by British Railways five years before. No. 6412 was given special ‘Flockton Flyer’ nameplates for the two series of six episodes each. On the West Somerset Railway, No. 6412 was ideal for lighter-loaded trains, but as passenger numbers grew, again it became unsuitable for longer trains. Withdrawn for its 10-yearly boiler overhaul in 2008, the owning group decided to sell it to the South Devon Railway. While it suffered some teething problems in being ready in time for the half-term gala, it still appeared on the first weekend as planned. It was replaced for midweek running to undergo more repairs and then also ran on the second weekend. The other highlight was the visit by GWR prairie No. 4566 from the Severn Valley Railway which, for one day only on Saturday, February 14, masqueraded as sister No. 4555 to commemorate the arrival of the first two locomotives and stock at Totnes 50 years ago in 1965 when that engine and No. 3205 (also now on the SDR) ventured up the branch line and through the weeds to Buckfastleigh. No. 4555 was once the

No. 3205 heads the 8.17am goods from Staverton on February 21. KARL HEATH regular branch engine on the line in BR days and a popular performer too under the Dart Valley Railway era. The Dartmouth Steam Railway loaned the original plates from No. 4555. Around 2500 passengers were carried over the nine days, an increase of 20% on the same event the previous year. The very busy Monday-toThursday trains were shared between pannier No. 1369 with three and four coaches and Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Works Class 122 ‘bubblecar’ No. W55000.

Friday, February 20, was a ‘Panniers & Pints’ day when three different former GWR pannier tank designs could be seen; 64XX No. 6412, 57XX No. 5786 (in London Transport maroon livery as L92) and 13XX No. 1369. It also marked the 50th anniversary to the day of No. 1369 being handed over to the Great Western Society at Totnes having come down the main line all the way from Bodmin (see separate story). The SDR’s Expressway Models and gift shop and refreshment rooms also did a roaring trade all week long with

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some new records being set for sales at the weekends. Much local TV and radio coverage was gained during the week about the SDR’s plans for the future, and especially what might happen to Ashburton station, the site of which has been earmarked for development by the Dartmoor National Park Authority. The SDR is supporting the Friends of Ashburton Station in its desire to safeguard the station and environs for possible eventual reconnection to the SDR at some point in the future. Heritage Railway 21

News

Emergency cash appeal for First World War Hunslet

Hunslet No. 1215 of 1917 may steam again this year if funds can be raised through the latest appeal. WOLT THE War Office Locomotive Trust has launched an emergency £10,000 appeal towards the completion of a First World War Hunslet tank engine – to avoid losing the chance of matched funding. The trust must raise the money to back the restoration of 2ft-gauge 4-6-0T No. 1215 of 1916 by the end of March if it is to get a further £10,000 from a supporter.

The Western Front

The locomotive is the third of 155 of the type that were built, to the order and specification of the British War Office for use on the light railways supporting the trenches of the Western Front. It is also the oldest survivor. Postwar it was stored until 1924 when it was rebuilt by Hunslet and despatched to haul sugar cane in Australia, where it worked until 1965. The opportunity came for its purchase and repatriation in 2005. That made it the first of its design to be seen in

Right: Hunslet 2ft-gauge 4-6-0T No. 1215 of 1917 in First World War service along with another engine of the same type. WOLT Europe since the early 1960s. With initial conservation work completed, it went on public display at the Locomotion museum in Shildon in March 2006, before moving to the Apedale Valley Light Railway in 2008. Late in 2011, an offer was made for No. 1215 to join Hudswell Clarke No. 1238 in the care of the volunteers at mystery Workshop X, as highlighted previously in Heritage Railway, which alongside a generous offer for the bogie to be restored as an apprentice project at the Statfold Barn Railway, allowed restoration to start. Although largely complete, 43 years industrial work and 27 years by the sea at a children’s home left more items

than expected unsuitable for long-term reliable and safe use, resulting in much unplanned additional cost.

New boiler

With a few successful grant applications, alongside donations from trustees and other supporters, the trust has funded a new boiler and major work, including the specialist cast iron repair of the damaged smokebox saddle and cracked left cylinder.

The driving wheelsets are now back in place with new springs, axleboxes and axles, and the boiler is undergoing final assembly. Brake gear, bodywork and other parts are poised to go back on, but we need your help for the final push. Anyone who would like to see this historic locomotive back in steam this year is invited to help match the offer that has been made by a man described as a ‘well known heritage railway benefactor’.

➜ By the end of February, £8000 had been raised. Donations may be made through www.warofficehunslet.org.uk by email to [email protected] or by telephoning 01887 822757.

Farewell to North Norfolk chairman Clive Morris

CLIVE Morris, the chairman of the North Norfolk Railway, died on Sunday, February 15, at the age of 78. Clive was an engineering graduate who came from the north of England, but lived in Godalming for the past three decades. He joined the Poppy Line around 1981 after a high-level career with the Central Electricity Generating Board.

Carriage & Wagon

He took a keen interest in the engineering side of the railway’s business, with particular interest in carriage and wagon, where he utilised his workmanship skills as well as management of projects. In earlier years he had been secretary of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society and was involved in the early restoration of B12 4-6-0 No. 61572.

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As well as chairing both the NNR board of directors and its engineering committee, Clive’s passion was restoring carriages. He was largely responsible, with others, for the restoration of the now-unique Gresley Quad-Art set and more recently with the King’s Cross Suburban Four restoration. He was also an active member of the Heritage Railway Association, where he was secretary of the annual awards committee. NNR managing director Hugh Harkett said: “He had been ill recently but we thought he was recovering. “He was greatly respected for his wisdom, leadership and practical work skills on the NNR. He did not suffer fools gladly, but he is assured a place in the history of the NNR and will be sorely missed by everyone on the railway. “At home Clive was a quiet family

man, a keen railway modeller with a garden and indoor layout, and also did charity work providing transport for people unable to get to local hospitals. He loved watching his grandsons play rugby and was a passionate supporter of Wimbledon AFC as they rose from the fiasco of MK Dons and achieved Division Two status.” Clive leaves a wife Betty, daughter and son-in-law Lindsey and Terry, and twin grandsons.

Sheer enthusiasm

“The NNR and many friends in the railway heritage movement send sincere condolences to Betty and all the family,” added Hugh. Heritage Railway editor Robin Jones said: “I have sat on the HRA awards committee for many years now and greatly admired Clive for his sheer enthusiasm and superb reliability and efficiency.

A happy Clive Morris in 2008, looking out of the Quad-Art set with pride! NNR “He went to great pains to always ensure that every member of the committee’s views were taken on board, for the benefit of the movement as a whole. I am deeply saddened by his passing and know we will all miss him greatly.”

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News

Swanage Railway signalman Peter Horne explains the workings of Corfe Castle signal to Rail Minister Claire Perry. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

The special train leaves Wareham for Corfe Castle on February 5. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

Rail Minister rides on ‘ﬁrst’ train from Wareham to Corfe Castle By Andrew PM Wright

THE Swanage Railway took another giant step towards its long-held ambition of restoring regular services to Wareham when Rail Minister Claire Perry rode on the first train to be run under a newly commissioned £3.2 million signalling system. The special trip in a South West Trains Class 158 two-coach DMU saw the Rail Minister, Purbeck Community Rail Partnership members, civic representatives and guests travel from Wareham to Corfe Castle and back on Thursday, February 5. The system will allow a trial passenger train service between Wareham and Swanage to take place, and has seen Network Rail’s signalling control centre at Basingstoke linked to the award-winning Victorian-style signalbox at Corfe Castle station. However, a planned trial service – which had been intended to operate between Swanage and Wareham on 50 days from September and 90 days in 2016 – has been postponed until the scheme has been fully tested. Associated with the tests is infrastructure improvements

including the replacement of 1700 wooden sleepers, clearance of embankments and repairs to bridges, fences and trains. Furthermore, the discovery of hibernating animals has forced the work to be rescheduled during the spring and summer months. The proposed testing will now take place in early 2016 and during 2017. Having taken Network Rail and the Swanage Railway four years to design, install and test, the new signalling system between Wareham and Corfe Castle is based on longproven technology used for controlling trains on single lines.

Modern technology

After Network Rail closed old mechanical signalboxes at Poole, Hamworthy, Wareham and Wool and resignalled the line with modern technology last year, signallers at Basingstoke now control main line trains between Poole and Wool – including Worgret Junction at the start of the Swanage branch. Purbeck Community Rail Partnership chairman Mike Lovell, who is also a Purbeck district and Dorset county councillor, said:

“Although further investment is still needed to reinstate a regular service, the completion of the signalling is a huge step towards a trial community service that will enable people from Corfe Castle and Swanage to travel by train to anywhere in the country. Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said: “The new signalling system between Corfe Castle and Wareham is thought to be unique in the United Kingdom because of its scale and the way it works – being a safety interface between the Swanage Railway and Network Rail. “It has re-established the traditional style of electric key-token method of working trains that operated between the Corfe Castle and Worgret Junction signalboxes until the Swanage branch line was closed by British Rail in January, 1972. “It was a privilege to have the Rail Minister on board the first train running under the new signalling system and a pleasure to show her what working together in partnership can achieve for the improvement of the Isle of Purbeck’s transport network as well as the local economy.” Electric key-token instruments are

provided at Corfe Castle signalbox and Wareham station. The system includes a four-mile single line electric key-token section that crosses from a heritage railway and on to Network Rail. Last September, the county council awarded the Swanage Railway a 99 year lease of the three mile former Network Rail section of the LSWR branch from south of Worgret Junction to the then start of the heritage line east of Furzebrook.

Overgrown trees

The Swanage Railway is currently in the process of upgrading that line for passenger trains between Wareham and Corfe Castle – replacing 1700 wooden sleepers, clearing embankments of overgrown trees and undergrowth as well as repairing bridges and six miles of lineside fences and drains. In February 2013, the Swanage Railway was awarded a £1.47 million grant by the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund – followed by a further £390,000 ‘top-up’ award in August 2014 – to introduce a trial passenger train service between Wareham and Swanage.

Spa Valley hopes to restoreTopham

Topham last in service working the first trains on the North Downs Steam Railway. SVR

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THE Spa Valley Railway is applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to restore Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2193 of 1922 Topham to full working order. The railway is seeking an engineering contractor/partner to support the application for an HLF industrial, maritime & transport heritage grant. Built for West Cannock Colliery and apparently named after the pit owner’s wife, Topham is a rare example of an outside Walschaerts valve gear British standard gauge industrial shunter. In 1987 it was purchased by the former North Downs Steam Railway which operated for a short while at

a greenfield site near Dartford. It last steamed in 1990, moving with much of the NDSR stock to the Spa Valley Railway after the Dartford site closed in the mid-Nineties. It is intended that the locomotive will return to service for the 2019 season in advance of its centenary in 2022. The Spa Valley intends to issue a tender in early April to enable the selection of a preferred contractor and submission of a first round grant application. Expressions of interest are welcome to Steve Fox, Topham Project Manager, Spa Valley Railway, West Station, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5QY.

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Campaign launched to protect Ruabon trackbed By Robin Jones A New campaign to protect the trackbed of the GwR route between Llangollen and the main line at Ruabon has been launched. Campaigners fear that part of the trackbed in Acrefair will be lost forever if it is redeveloped for housing, making it impossible to relink the Llangollen Railway and Corwen to the national network in the future. US company Air Products closed its Acrefair site in December 2009, moving production of gas plant equipment to China making 200 people jobless after nearly six decades in the village. The Air Products factory has since been flattened, and it is understood that the site is now being handled by Prospect estates, a company based in Otley, Yorkshire. Campaigners want to keep the option of rebuilding the 5½-mile link between Ruabon and Llangollen open, and have asked for land for a rail corridor to be left through the Acrefair site. They want wrexham County Borough Council to formally protect the route in its Local Area plan, submissions for which have to be received by this summer. Campaign spokesman, Quentin McGuinness, said that a letter of support has been received from Ken Skates, member of the welsh Assembly for Clwyd South.

However, Prospect estates has failed to reply to correspondence from his group, he said. The trackbed, the easternmost part of the GwR’s Ruabon to Dolgellau route, has one major blockage in the form of a housing estate to the east of Llangollen town centre. However, it has long been mooted that it would be possible to take a single-track railway around it cantilever-fashion along the northern bank of the River Dee. There are several encroachments of back gardens on to the formation in the Trefor area and a minor bridge is missing. Quentin said that it was realised that rebuilding the line could cost up to £40 million, way outside the scope of the heritage line, and it would be for a separate company to take on the project. However, a main line connection could provide a commuter route from Corwen and Llangollen into wrexham, Liverpool and Manchester, while bringing in tourist specials for events such as the eisteddfod without exacerbating the severe lack of car parking spaces in Llangollen. The campaigners are manning a stand at the Steel Steam & Star IV gala to muster up support in a bid to pressurise local authorities to include the retention of the trackbed in the local plan. ➜ Anyone who wishes to make a submission is invited to email Quentin at [email protected]

Hornby moves from Margate home HORNBY has announced its plans to relocate its offices from its Margate home of 60 years to Discovery Park in Sandwich. It will occupy a 16,000sq ft space in The Gateway, the former UK Pfizer headquarters, at the science and technology park in Ramsgate Road. The company will be moving all its office-based operations including sales and marketing, accounts and human resources to the site from its existing offices. Hornby moved its warehousing and logistics operations to new premises in Hersden last autumn. Hornby plc group finance director Nick Stone said: “Our current offices were no longer fit

for purpose and we considered Discovery Park to have the best office facilities available. The site also offers room for us to grow.” Only the visitor centre remains at Hornby’s base in Margate, set up by Tri-ang manufacturer Rovex Ltd, which bought Hornby in the early Sixties. Discovery Park has a railway history. During the First World War, it was the site of marshalling yards. Meanwhile, Hornby saw steady growth in sales in the third quarter, its 7% year-on-year growth due to increasing sales of Hornby model railway and Scalextric products and an excellent Christmas.

Severn Valley wins top BBC award THe Severn Valley Railway has begun its Golden Jubilee year in style by scooping another national award. It has been named Heritage Site of the Year in the BBC Countryfile Awards 2014-15, ahead of some of the UK’s most famous tourism hotspots, including London’s Imperial war Museum, Georgian estate Kew Palace, welsh architectural wonder Portmeirion and the prehistoric stone circle at Avebury.

The shortlist was chosen by television presenter, Jules Hudson, who praised the SVR’s Heritage Skills Training Academy, one of a range of projects funded by the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust. He said that the railway has a “fantastic conservation element to it, running an apprenticeship scheme for young engineers in order to keep traditional skills alive.” Thousands of people registered their vote for the railway.

LadyAugusta is to remain on England’s northernmost heritage line. HUGH DOUGHERTY

A double engine boost for the Heatherslaw By Hugh Dougherty LADY Augusta, the 0-4-2 tender locomotive built for the opening of the 15in gauge Heatherslaw Light Railway by the Ravenglass & eskdale Railway in 1989, is to stay on england’s most northerly steam railway after being purchased by Green engine Limited. The locomotive, acting as back-up to the line’s regular engine, 2-6-0 Bunty, was expected to leave the railway after it worked trains on September 21 last year when owner, the Joicey family, which owns the Ford and etal estate through which the railway runs, declined to renew the locomotive’s lease to the HLR. Heatherslaw Light Railway managing director Paul Smith said: “we had actually advertised the locomotive’s last day in service last year and had fully expected it to leave us, but our finance director, Darrell Smith, formed Green engine Limited to purchase it. we hope to purchase it into direct HLR ownership in due course. “everyone on the railway is delighted. This fine and popular locomotive is a direct link with our earliest days.”

The railway’s new Perkins-engined diesel hydraulic locomotive made a successful debut in passenger service by hauling trains during the 15in line’s half-term holiday opening on February 17-19. The bright yellow 0-6-0 rodconnected locomotive, which was due to be named on easter Sunday, had already been successfully tested on works trains over the winter and pulled four coach sets with ease on the midterm specials. The diesel’s major components were provided by Alan Keef Limited, with assembly and body work fabrication and construction done in the railway’s own workshop at Heatherslaw. Paul said: “The new diesel is very smooth and powerful. The value of having an instantly usable and reliable diesel was shown at the mid-term opening when lighting up a steam engine would not have been economical, but we will run the bulk of our main season’s mileage behind our steam locomotive Bunty as usual, with the new diesel acting as a back-up only.” The newest locomotive in Britain’s heritage sector: the Heatherslaw Light Railway’s latest addition to its fleet. HUGH DOUGHERTY

Tornado back on the Nene Valley New-build A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 Tornado will return to the Nene Valley Railway in August. The event will be the locomotive’s first heritage railway appearance following its intermediate overhaul over the winter, and will appear in its original apple green livery. At the Nene Valley Railway, Tornado will be performing timetabled services and a photo charter as well as being

available for special driver experience days on August 13-14 and 20-21. The charter will run on August 28, with the A1 in passenger service over the bank holiday weekend. Tornado will also star in the line’s September 12/13 steam gala, along with GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744, raising the prospect of a doubleheader. Bookings for the driver experience course can be made at www.nvr.org.uk

Unlined black 38XX at Shackerstone

GwR 2-8-0 No. 3803 will appear in early BR unlined black for the first time in preservation during the Battlefield Line’s March 28-29 spring steam gala. Permission for the livery change has been given by its owner the South

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Devon Railway. The gala will also feature a visit by GwR 2-6-2T No. 4141 from the epping Ongar Railway, alongside resident Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 1859 Sir Gomer in its new royal blue livery.

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News

New questions as Paciﬁc overhaul takes another twist

ExclusivE By Geoff courtney

CONFUSION surrounds the fate of the new £600,000 boiler built by DB Meiningen for one of the world’s flagship preserved locomotives after it emerged that the discarded boiler previously fitted to the streamlined Pacific was being assessed for possible future use. Such a development has shocked preservationists and thrown into doubt the eventual outcome of a restoration that was expected to be completed four years ago, but has become mired in a controversy that shows no sign of abating. The locomotive at the heart of what has become an emotive issue is Australian icon Class C38 No. 3801, which entered service for New South Wales Government Railways in 1943. It was saved for preservation by the state government after withdrawal in 1962, and taken off railtour duty in 2007 for a £1.25 million overhaul that was initially expected to be completed by 2011. Central to the restoration is a new all-welded boiler ordered from DB Meiningen of Germany, which manufactured the boiler for A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 Tornado. The new boiler was delivered to Sydney in October 2010, but returned to Germany for rectification 13 months later after it was declared “not fit for purpose”.

Rectiﬁcation work

Details of the problem were scant as officials remained tight-lipped, but it is believed the boiler was out of true and thus would not fit the Pacific’s frames. Early indications were that DB Meiningen would carry out the required rectification work within 20 weeks, meaning a possible return to Australia in July 2012, but it soon became clear that such a timetable would not be met. In a sign that the patience of NSW officials had run out – or embarrassment had reached a new height – NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian revealed in a radio interview last November that the boiler would return to Australia, saying: “We have had enough – we are bringing it back.” There was no official confirmation of precisely what rectifications had been carried out in Germany, although a statement from Transport for NSW – one of the governmental bodies involved with the restoration – gave a clue at the time by saying: “The boiler is currently in Germany and a number of defects have been found. We have decided to bring the boiler to Australia, where it can be completed and put into service.” The boiler arrived back on Australian soil on January 26 amid a flurry of official announcements, and two days later Transport Heritage NSW, yet another government organisation which is party to the restoration,

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placed two photographs of the returned boiler on its Facebook page. Accompanying the images, which were taken at the Chullora, western Sydney, workshop where the restoration is being carried out, was a caption that read: “3801’s new boiler home safe and sound at Chullora. THNSW will now undertake a detailed technical assessment. Stay tuned.” However, nine days previously, prior to the boiler’s arrival in Australia, Transport Heritage NSW had released a statement on the restoration which revealed that Bruce Rankin, the organisation’s fleet engineer and a recognised steam specialist, was currently undertaking “a detailed engineering assessment of the original boiler removed from 3801”. This 1947-built riveted boiler was removed from No. 3801 at the start of the current overhaul in 2007 and is not believed to have been considered for restoration. Instead, the former NSW Office of Rail Heritage, which was overseeing the project at the time, discarded that boiler and ordered the new all-welded boiler from DB Meiningen that has become such a cause célèbre. There were many within the Australian preservation movement, and doubtless also NSW taxpayers who are footing the restoration bill, who thought the old boiler worthy of at least consideration for refurbishment, but that hope appeared to be a dead duck. Now, though, that may have changed with the revelation of Bruce Rankin’s assessment. Ashley Jarquin, a spokesman for NSW transport minister Gladys Berejiklian, was asked by Heritage Railway why the old boiler was being assessed and he passed this query to Scott Warren, a Transport for NSW spokesman, who said simply: “The old boiler is being assessed to determine whether it may

Above: Fronting up: No. 3801 on railtour duty between Pangela and Ardglen, north of Sydney, in November 2006. The preserved Pacific was taken out of service for a major overhaul shortly after this trip, but remains stripped down more than eight years later as debate continues over its new boiler. Right: Highs and lows: The new boiler built by DB Meiningen of Germany for ex-NSW Government Railways No. 3801 is craned into a western Sydney workshop on January 28. Beside the boiler is the stripped-down Pacific, its distinctive streamlined front bringing an almost jet-like air to the railway environment. THNSW be suitable as a spare in the future.” Asked for clarification whether there was a possibility that, after the assessment, it may be decided to restore the old boiler and fit it to No. 3801 rather than the new DB Meiningen boiler, Scott refused to elaborate, saying that until work on the two boilers had progressed, he was unable to provide further information. He also declined to answer why the old boiler wasn’t assessed at the start of the restoration before the new boiler was ordered, and what would happen to the new boiler if the old one was instead fitted to No. 3801.

Final resolution

Enthusiasts will be curious as to why the old boiler is undergoing an engineering assessment, and why that assessment has been revealed by Transport Heritage NSW, with one asking: “Is there enough PR spin in the world if the final resolution is to repair the original boiler?” Describing the saga as a “debacle”

and “fiasco”, he continued: “Heads should roll, but probably they’ll get the guy with the big broom to lift up the carpet. There has been a lot of money wasted on this project to date and resolution is still nowhere in sight, and one fears that the true cost will never be made public. “There’s no transparency and very little of the recent activity has been made public, although we do know that the new boiler that was returned to Germany is now back in Australia and is still not compliant. Let’s hope there is a travel rewards programme to offset some of the cost of that exercise. Sadly, the opportunity for other rail heritage projects has suffered because of it, and the NSW state rail heritage sector may never recover.” There are also some observers who believe that this taxpayer-funded restoration could become a political issue ahead of the NSW state elections on March 28, in which Ms Berejiklian will be seeking re-election.

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Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No. 2859 of 1911 No. 2 heads a coal train with the refurbished Lambton brakevan at the rear on the day of its relaunch, February 22. DAVE HEWITT

Contamination fears derail Tanfield coal mine plans PLANS to open a 300-acre opencast mine next to the Tanfield Railway – which would have given the line an extension – have been abandoned. UK Coal Surface Mines was expected to appeal after being refused permission by Durham County Council’s planning committee for the scheme between Stanley and Marley Hill amid fears about its impact on tourism, despite the fact the scheme was supported by the heritage line. It had been intended to extract the minerals over three years before restoring the site near the historic Causey Arch bridge. Around 400,000 tons of contaminated material would have been used to fill the void left by the pit. The heritage line would have been extended by 11⁄2 miles as part of the restoration scheme. Durham county councillor Alan Shield said: “We had issues with visual amenity, as it would have been seen

from Stanley and other prominent conurbations in County Durham. “The main reason we objected was because they intended to dig up 40,000 tonnes of contaminated material which was predominantly on the Gateshead side and sink that into the proposed void which was going to be on the County Durham side.” The plans had been earlier given the green light by Gateshead Council. A spokesman for UK Coal Surface Mines said that the company no longer had an interest in the site. Meanwhile, at the coal train day on Sunday, February 22, the railway unveiled its latest restoration project – Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries brakevan No. 7. The 69-year-old vehicle underwent restoration on the line in the 1980s, but its bodywork had deteriorated since then. More than a ton of timber has been used to replace damaged and rotten components.

The restored Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Railway brakevan No. 7.

National support for reopening of Rhondda Tunnel PLANS to reopen the longest disused tunnel in Wales have been raised in the Welsh Parliament. Plaid Cymru Assembly members have backed a local campaign, under the banner of the Rhondda Tunnel Society, to reopen the Rhondda Tunnel to relink Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley with Blaencwm in Rhondda. The 3443-yard tunnel opened in 1890 and closed in 1968. The society hopes to raise up to £10

million to reopen it as a cycle route. South Wales West AM Bethan Jenkins told the Senedd that the proposed scheme could provide the catalyst for regeneration across all of the Valleys. She said: “This is a grassroots campaign that will open up the Afan Valley and would, I believe, lead the way to far more of the kinds of facilities for cycling and walking visitors that have been springing up there, such as

accommodation, cafes and cycling shops. “That means jobs and that means regeneration – particularly when visitors realise that they could ride from Pontypridd to Port Talbot through some of the finest scenery in Wales without encountering any traffic. “It would mean less isolation, greater access to job markets, and a real chance to meet and beat some of the deprivation issues we see there.”

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NRM Friends’ Darlington talk

THE Friends of the National Railway Museum (North East Branch) is presenting a talk by Chris Nettleton on Saturday, March 21 (10.30am) in the McNay Room (Welcome Building, off Hackworth Close) at the Locomotion museum at Shildon. The main topic of Steam in and around Darlington will be 195866 at Darlington Bank Top station and North Road Works, and includes moving film and sound. Heritage Railway 27

news in brief ➜ BULLEID West Country light Paciﬁc No. 34092 Wells is to make its ﬁrst-ever appearance at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway during the May 23-25 Speed to the West gala. Ex-Barry Merchant Navy Paciﬁc No. 35006 Peninsular&OrientLineis expected to be in light steam. ➜ GWR 4-6-0 No 7820 DinmoreManor will run in the Epping & Ongar Railway’s June 5-7 gala followed by the June 1314 1940s weekend, before departing for the Dartmouth Steam Railway. ➜ THE East Somerset Railway has taken delivery of a second Ivatt 2MT from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Following the widely acclaimed overhaul of 2-6-0 No. 46447, 2-6-2T No. 41313 arrived at Cranmore on February 13 and will be displayed during the line’s March 28-29 steam gala. ➜ THE Gwili Railway is to stage its ﬁrst steam gala involving its southern extension to Abergwili on October 10, with up to ﬁve locomotives including guest engines in operation. ➜ THE Kent & East Sussex Railway’s April 3-6 Easter steam-up weekend will mark 75 years since LBSCR ‘Terrier’ No. 32678 ﬁrst appeared on the route. ➜ THE Bodmin & Wenford Railway’s permanent way team has broken its records for winter work, with 510 concrete and 150 timber sleepers installed, 100 tons of ballast removed and replaced with new granite ballast, 13 miles of lineside vegetation cut back and machine ﬂailed, one masonry underline bridge repaired and smoke hoods replaced, and one steel overline bridge painted, all without the use of plant other than a ﬂail.

Betton Grange gets its cylinders at Llangollen By Paul Appleton SUPPORTERS of new-build GWR 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange were celebrating in February, not only because its new cylinders were delivered to its workshop base at the Llangollen Railway, but because they were trial fitted to the frames. The cylinders were ready for inspection on the 6880 Betton Grange Society’s annual members’ day on Sunday, February 15. Led by the group’s engineering director, Chris Moore, a small team of volunteers burned the midnight oil getting th cylinders on to the locomotive despite them only arriving at Llangollen the Thursday before. Those present were able to see the cylinders in situ for the first time, along with a host of other recently completed fittings, such as the reverser stand, cab windows and seat, splashers, buffers and motion brackets. Various other components were also available for inspection and Chris was able to answer members’ and donors’ questions inside the workshops during a conducted tour.

Tremendous response

The appeal to raise £20,000 towards getting the new cylinders made was launched in Heritage Railway last year, and thanks to a tremendous response, which raised nearer £25,000, the new cylinders were able to be cast at the Coupe Foundry in Preston, before moving to Harco in the West Midlands for machining. The society was launching a boiler appeal at its Steel, Steam & Stars IV event – this issue is published between the gala’s two weekends – with a target of raising the estimated

Seen during the 6880 Betton Grange Society’s members’ day on February 15, the newly arrived cylinders have been trial fitted to the locomotive’s frames ready for inspection by supporters. PAUL APPLETON £225,000 it will take to have the boiler from ex-Barry Hall No. 7927 Willington Hall overhauled to main line standards. This boiler was new in 1960 and has never had a heavy general repair, so is expected to be in reasonably sound condition. The 225 Boiler Club has been launched as part of the fundraising initiative, 225 being both the boiler pressure that the Granges worked to (225psi) and happily coinciding (in thousands) with the amount the society aims to raise. Much work remains to be done before the cylinders can be permanently fixed to the locomotive’s frames and it is planned to tackle this while fundraising for the boiler gets

underway. The group’s second Swindon No. 1 boiler, currently affixed to GWR 4-6-0 No. 5952 Cogan Hall, will be cleaned up, detubed and dropped into No. 6880’s frames at a later point to act as a template for cladding sheets and pipework to be made and prepared.

Guided tours

Visitors to Steel, Steam & Stars IV (the second weekend dates are March 1315), can see for themselves progress being made on the locomotive in the shed at Llangollen, with guided tours set to take place throughout the weekend. Go to www.6880.co.uk for details about the event and work currently being done on No. 6880.

Statesman pinpoints Canterbury for five steam tours forTangmere IT IS not often that a railtour promoter comes up with a programme of trips focused on one destination with trains starting out from various parts of the country, but Statesman Rail has planned to do just that. Based on five different departure points its ‘Golden Arrow Statesman’ trains are all routed to arrive at Canterbury. In all five cases the format for steam haulage is centred on one location, Hanwell, west of Southall on the Paddington-Reading main line. Hanwell is a obvious choice to exchange motive power from diesel to steam because all of the five trains are booked for haulage into Kent by Southall-based Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 34067 Tangmere. As indicated, all ‘Golden Arrow Statesman’ excursions in the

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programme are diesel hauled from each of the five different starting points and are routed to Hanwell where steam takes over. The programme of begins at Birmingham’s international station on Saturday, May 2. On Saturday, May 16, the ‘Golden Arrow Statesman’ departs from Weymouth while on Saturday, May 23, the train leaves from Bristol. The following Saturday the departure point is Exeter and finally on Saturday, June 6, the ‘Golden Arrow Statesman’ starts out of Doncaster. Having arrived at Canterbury for a passenger break, the trains classically return via Sandwich, Deal, Martin Mill, Dover and Tonbridge en route back to Hanwell, from where the train returns home diesel-hauled.

WithboilercladdingsheetsinplaceandworktakingplaceonpipinguptheBulleid lightPacificpreparatoryworkbeforetothecabgoingbackon,thiswasNo.34027Taw ValleyinsideBridgnorthboilershoponFebruary17.Thelocomotive,whichwasonce paintedredasHogwartsCastlebeforeGWR4-6-0No.5972tookovertherole,hashad themostextensiveoverhaulinitsexistence,thecostestimatedat£1million.Ithas involvedmajorreconstructionworkontheboiler,muchofwhichisnewmaterial, initiallycarriedoutattheSouthDevonRailway,andfinishedoffintheSevernValley Railway’sownworkshops.Itsreturntotraffichasbeeneagerlyawaitedwith workshopmanagementconfidentofanAprilreturn.Itmaybedisplayedinlight steamfortheSVR’sSpringGalaonMarch20-22,andisscheduledtohaulthe‘Golden JubileePullman’onMay16subjecttoavailability. PAUL APPLETON Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Duchess steams at Tyseley

LNER V3 2-6-2T No. 67684 passes Monkwearmouth with the 2.15pm Newcastle to Middlesbrough train on April 8 1955. Six months later Derby lightweight diesel multiple units were introduced on the service to Middlesbrough. IAN S CARR/ARMSTRONG RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHIC TRUST

Tribute to North East lensman Ian S Carr By Neil Sinclair RETIRED teacher and prolific railway photographer Ian S Carr died in hospital in Sunderland on February 24. Ian’s images have appeared in more than 300 books as well as countless magazines from 1955 onwards. They record particularly the changes in the railways in the North East from the time that locomotives such as the G5 0-4-4Ts and the A8 4-6-2Ts were being ousted by DMUs, to the rebuilding of the railway to South Hylton for the Tyne & Wear Metro in the early 2000s. While Ian photographed the end of BR steam in the 1960s, he also captured diesel and electric traction. The prototype Kestrel at Newcastle in

1969 and the Tyneside third rail electrics were subjects of his published prints. As well as his photographs taken on the British Railways’ system, Ian recorded the many industrial railways that once existed in the North East, such as Doxford’s shipyard system. He also photographed the last days of several colliery lines – the Hetton Railway in 1959, the last section of the Lambton Railway in 1986 and the Harton Electric Railway in 1989. Born in 1937, Ian was educated at Bede Grammar School For Boys, Sunderland, the London School of Economics and the College of St Mark & St John, Chelsea. He returned to the North East in 1960 to take up a teaching post in Wallsend.

Ian Carr photographed by his father standing beside B1 4-6-0 No.61035 Pronghorn at Sunderland South Dock shed on January 3 1965 after overnight snow. THOMAS CARR/ARMSTRONG RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHIC TRUST

His serious interest in railways developed in 1950 and he began keeping photographic records of rail journeys. His first published picture appeared 60 years ago in the August 1955 edition of Trains Illustrated. He carried his camera on his train journeys to Wallsend from Sunderland and was able to photograph unusual workings that he observed in the Newcastle area. Ian, who lived in High Barnes, Sunderland, had a long-standing interest in preservation and was an early member of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Historical Trust and the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Trust. He was also one of the original members of the Lambton No. 29 Locomotive Syndicate which saved the 0-6-2T now based on the NYMR. He had a close association with Monkwearmouth Station Museum which mounted two exhibitions of his photographs. Tyne & Wear Museums published his Railscenes Around Sunderland. Ian never owned a car. Although he benefited from lifts from friends in the later years of his photography, he would think nothing of walking eight miles to obtain a particular shot. Ian worked almost exclusively in black and white photography. All his developing and printing was carried out in the kitchen of his house at night. He had very high standards and would discard a print if it he felt his printing did not bring out all the detail he wanted. His photographic negatives are now with the Armstrong Railway Photographic Trust.

NYMR agrees on carriage shed site at Pickering AFTER months of negotiations, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is believed to have reached provisional agreement with a supportive landowner to access a site suitable for

the construction of a much-needed carriage shed and related structures at Pickering. Once constructed, it should revolutionise carriage maintenance on

the NYMR, where currently all the coaches, including the vulnerable timber-bodied stock, stand outside all year round in the unforgiving Yorkshire climate.

Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

THE first of two open weekends at Tyseley Locomotive Works will be headlined by Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. Other guest locomotives for the June 27-28 event are being arranged. Tyseley is also planning a second open weekend in October when LNWR ‘Coal Tank’ No. 1054 will appear en route to this year’s Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham the following month. No. 46233 will also top the guest list at Barrow Hill’s LMSthemed September 25-27 event. Other guests include Stanier 8F No. 8274 and ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T No. 47406.

New Taunton moves THE Bishops Lydeard Link Group, recently set up to investigate the extension of West Somerset Railway services into Taunton is carrying out a feasibility study. WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “We’re not necessarily looking at a regular commuter service all year, but maybe connecting to Taunton via Bishops Lydeard during holiday periods. I can’t see any reason why we can’t bring tourists from Cardiff or London to visit the steam trains.”

Deltic diner THE one-time steam-only Bluebell Railway has added a dining train to its April 17-19 Deltic weekend. The Deltic Preservation Society’s Class 55s Nos. D9009 Alycidon and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier will be in action on the line’s service two timetable between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead on all three days. In addition, one of them will haul a special Friday evening ‘Golden Arrow’ Pullman diner train, with travel and a set fivecourse dinner costing £85.

Levisham relaid THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s 2015 winter maintenance programme has continued, with the relaying at Beckhole completed in time for the half-term services and attention is now turning to replacing life-expired bullhead rails north of Levisham station with good used examples recovered during the relaying of Levisham straight, south of the station, the previous winter. Heritage Railway 29

News

After a light snowfall, No. 73129 rounds the curve approaching Townsend Fold. DAVE RODGERS

East Lancs Standard By Brian Sharpe

The east Lancashire Railway’s second steam gala of the year saw the welcome return of a popular and noisy favourite in the shape of BR Standard Caprotti 5MT No. 73129, normally based at the Midland Railway-Butterley.

No. 73129 is piloted by BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80080 past Burrs with blue and grey stock. BRIAN DOBBS

The Caprotti Standard 5MTs were largely concentrated at Manchester’s Patricroft shed in their latter years and were a common sight around Lancashire until 1968. No. 73129 took its place with six other main line engines on the roster for the weekend.

BR Standard Caprotti 5MT No. 73129 passes Burrs on February 21. ANDREW SOUTHWELL

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Heritage Railway 31

News

Steam and sail: With one of its footplate crew at the rear, Hawthorn Leslie Kent takes a breather at Chatham dockyard between duties on the site’s busy standard gauge system. The 0-4-0ST was delivered new in 1909 (works No. 2807) and spent its entire life at the dockyard, being withdrawn in 1955 and cut up in October that year. The date of the photograph is unknown, but FortDunvegan, seen dockside, is recorded as having visited Chatham twice in 1954, and it is probable it was taken on one of those visits. The ship was a Royal Fleet Auxiliary stores issuing vessel built by Burrard of North Vancouver, Canada, in 1944 and broken up in 1968. COLOUR-RAIL

TV backdrop will recall a steam railway past By Geoff Courtney

IN A setting that will be familiar to millions of television viewers, the historic dockyard at Chatham in Kent will remember its railway past at a festival of steam and transport on Easter Sunday and Monday, April 5-6. Two internal railways operated at the dockyard during its 19th and 20th century heyday – a standard gauge system that at its peak comprised 17 miles of track and a narrow gauge 18in network used for the movement of smaller shipbuilding components. The standard gauge system worked for more than a century and the narrow gauge line for nearly 70 years, each with more than 20 steam locomotives supplied by a variety of major builders such as Manning Wardle and Hawthorn Leslie.

Complicated network

The standard gauge system began operating in 1865 with an Aveling & Porter tramway geared 2-2-0 that was subsequently joined by four similar locomotives. It grew into a large and complicated network that threaded its way round much of the huge site with tight curves that were negotiable by only small 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 tanks, with 0-4-0STs being by far the most common motive power. Hawthorn Leslie was the biggest supplier, delivering 10 locomotives between 1899 and 1936 from its Newcastle upon Tyne works, followed by Andrew Barclay with five between 1914 and 1946. Other suppliers included Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns, Sharp Stewart and Vulcan Foundry, and there was even an A1X ‘Terrier’ built by the LBSCR in 1880 as No. 79 Minories and sold to the Admiralty in 1918 for £1200, arriving at Chatham two years later to become the dockyard’s No. 4 Chatham. In 1877, the London, Chatham &

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Dover Railway opened a branch running from its London to Dover main line at New Brompton – now Gillingham – to the dockyard. This was later operated by Southern Railway P class 0-6-0T Nos. 1556 and 1558 that survived with BR into the 1960s as Nos. 31556 and 31558. This pair also worked within the dockyard itself during the Second World War at what was undoubtedly a busy time for this important naval site. The narrow gauge system opened in 1868 as a horse-drawn 18in tramway, and acquired its first steam locomotive three years later, an 0-4-0ST named Trafalgar, supplied by Manning Wardle (works No. 386). Between then and 1913, the same manufacturer supplied a further 11 locomotives, all 0-4-0STs, and 13 others were acquired from four different builders. A majority of the engines were newly built for the dockyard, but seven had previously seen service on the Royal Arsenal Railway at Woolwich. Despite the arrival of new locomotives up to 1913, the narrow gauge system’s role diminished from the turn of the century as the standard gauge line proved more suitable for handling increasing loads, and operations ceased in the late-1930s. Among the final batch of narrow gauge locomotives sold off in 1937 was the last locomotive to be delivered for the system, Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST Ready, built in 1913 as works No. 1808. It was officially recorded as still being extant in 1949, although its subsequent fate is unknown. The dockyard closed in March 1984, and the following year part of it reopened as a visitor attraction branded the Historic Dockyard Chatham, with just under a mile of the original standard gauge railway network being retained as a demonstration line. None of the narrow gauge engines are believed to have survived, but the

At home:Ajax, built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns in 1941 (works No. 7042), busies itself in preservation on the Chatham dockyard demonstration line. The 0-4-0ST was delivered new to the yard in 1941 and worked there until its closure in 1984, remaining on site to become a popular feature of the dockyard’s second life as a visitor attraction. It will be in action in the Easter festival of steam and transport. CHATHAM HISTORIC DOCKYARD TRUST dockyard is still home to three of the standard gauge locos that worked on the system for their entire operational lives – Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST Ajax, built in 1941, Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Invicta of 1946, and 4wDM Rochester Castle, built by F C Hibberd in 1955 and one of the more modern forms of motive power that gradually ousted steam from the mid-1950s.

Chatham resident

Ajax will be one of two steam locomotives in action over the Easter weekend, the other being 0-4-0ST Peckett, built by Peckett & Sons in 1936 for South Wales Public Wharf & Transit Co and a Chatham resident since 2007. This pair will be joined by diesel duo Rochester Castle and Overlord, an 0-4-0 built by Andrew Barclay in 1941 for the Ministry of Defence which is another post-closure arrival. Alana Almond, the dockyard’s events executive, said: “This year there will be

for the first time a spectator enclosure where visitors can watch demonstration steam trains alongside the river, which will provide a brilliant backdrop. In addition, our railway workshop will be open all weekend and members of the Dockyard Steam Society will be on site to handle enthusiasts’ questions as well as running the locos.” The dockyard, which also has two fully operational steam cranes from the early 1940s, is used for location shots in the hit peak-time BBC TV series Call the Midwife set in the 1950s, and the locomotives that feature in the programme will be those appearing in the gala. Other attractions among a packed programme will include a steam funfair, steam wagon rides, steam traction engines and steam rollers, hundreds of classic and vintage vehicles dating from 1890 to 1980 lining the streets and a steam parade finale.

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in brief ➜ THE Glyn Ceiriog-based Glyn Valley Tramway and Industrial Heritage Trust is to convert one of the 2ft 4in gauge line’s locomotive sheds into an industrial heritage and interpretation centre for visitors. Funding for the project, which will cost up to £75,000, came from the Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd and follows the trust being granted a 25 year lease for the shed from Wrexham Council, which recently used the shed to house gritter lorries. ➜ LOCOMOTION: The National Railway Museum at Shildon is now looking for collections – books or bottles, stamps or sports kits, coins or trading cards, large or small – to be displayed at its Local Collectors Day on Sunday, June 14. If you have a collection which you would like to display, contact the events oﬃcer on 01388 771445 or email [email protected]

Enthusiastic: Stephen Sleight, who has spearheaded the £500,000 project to transform Ridgmont station into an awardwinning heritage centre, at the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society exhibition on February 14, where he set up a stand on behalf of the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. GEOFF COURTNEY

LNWR station scores a hat-trick By Geoff Courtney COMMUNITY leaders and volunteers behind the £500,000 restoration of the former LNWR station at Ridgmont on the Bedford-Bletchley line are celebrating the successful completion of the major six year project which has gained three awards and become a hit with tourists and local railway enthusiasts. The first recognition came in the annual Association of Community Rail Partnerships awards scheme, in which the project was named runner-up in the most enhanced station building category, followed by a local schoolteacher’s photograph of a pupils’ visit to the Bedfordshire station winning the association’s essence of community rail category. With two awards in the bag, the project subsequently achieved the hattrick by being highly commended in the Network Rail partnership category of the national railway heritage awards. All this success has come about against a background of the restored station building – which has been transformed from an unused and nearderelict shell into a heritage centre comprising tea room, gift shop, tourist information centre, meeting room and three offices – becoming a hive of activity visited by the general public, historians and tourists. Railway enthusiasts are also regular visitors, due not only to the station’s 169 year heritage, but also the restoration of the Victorian booking office and the creation of a local rail and industrial history exhibition. The restoration project has been carried out by Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity and Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership,

➜ A CRAFT centre based at restored Erwood station which closed in December is to reopen under new managers. The station near Builth Wells last saw trains in 1962 but became a tourist attraction in 1984. Brent and Christina Blair of the Lion Art Gallery in Hay-on-Wye will reopen the site at Easter. ➜ THE Seaton Tramway has introduced the Seaton Branch Line Tour led by expert guide and former train driver Mike Clement. It will allow visitors to step back in time and discover the history of the LSWR line. Further details are at www.tram.co.uk ➜ MESSAGES of support ﬂooded in from around the world for Alﬁe, the ginger station cat at the Rushden Transport Museum, after he was mauled by a dog on a lead. Alﬁe’s own Facebook page has proved popular and he also has a Twitter following.

LNWR memories: The restored Victorian booking office at Ridgmont station that houses a display of historic railway items from the Bedford-Bletchley line’s days of steam. In a reminder of its past, even the office’s drawer locks carry LNWR identification. ANDY BUCKLEY whose spokesman Stephen Sleight said: “To win these awards is recognition of the hard work by a lot of people, including the volunteers who have been central to the success of the restoration. It is attracting a lot of compliments from visitors, many of whom are railway enthusiasts.” Stephen, who became an enthusiast himself as the project unfolded, said he would welcome requests for group visits to the restored booking office, which houses a display of local railwayana, including signalling items and other artefacts from the line. Such a visit, he said, could also incorporate the signalling centre opposite the station, which remains open 24 hours a day and controls the entire 17 mile line.

The station building, in which the tea room is run as a commercial venture open throughout the year, and the remaining facilities, which open for the season on March 17, by a team of more than 25 volunteers, is Grade II listed. It was built by the LNWR in 1846 in the distinctive style of the properties of the local landowner, the Duke of Bedford, whose descendants still live at nearby Woburn Abbey. The station has been unmanned since 1968, but even into the 1960s staff comprised a stationmaster, porter, two signalmen, goods shunter and a relief crossing keeper. The station, although unstaffed, is still open and is served by London Midland, whose head of west coast services, Terry Oliver, has praised the enthusiasm and commitment of the centre’s volunteers.

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➜ THE Gresley Society Trust has raised more than half the £95,000 cost of building a statue of Sir Nigel Gresley for display in King’s Cross station, by April 5, 2016, the 75th anniversary of his death. The fundraising has allowed the trust to place a commission with artist Hazel Reeves to create the statue. Donations are invited via www.gresley.org ➜ THE Great Northern Railway Director’s Saloon from the Bluebell Railway, which starred in the EMI movie version of The Railway Children, will run on the Mid-Norfolk Railway from May to August. It will run on all steam days and supplementary fares will apply to travel in it.

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News

‘Viceroy Special’ steams in post civil war Sri Lanka A GROUP of British enthusiasts have just returned from an historic 10-day study railtour of Sri Lanka organised by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain. The LCGB party is believed to be the first group of enthusiasts to charter the country’s ‘Viceroy Special’ since the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. It enjoyed 100% steam haulage throughout. A major milestone of the mid-January tour was the return of steam to Jaffna in former rebel-held territory for the first time in nearly 40 years. The three available working 5ft 6in gauge steam locomotives were all used during the tour lasting a little more than a week, much of which ran over lines destroyed in the civil war and completely rebuilt since it ended in 2009.

for many years, before returning to Colombo, the final stage hauled by No. 213. Although it was thought to be 45 years since steam was last seen at Jaffna, it has since been discovered that an engine was steamed in 1976, although it did nothing.

Right: Vulcan Foundry 4-6-0TT No. 213 comes off the river bridge near Galgamuwa on January 19. ROBIN PATRICK Below: Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn’s Ltd 4-6-0 No. 340 FrederickNorth makes a smoky departure from Maho on January 19. ROBIN PATRICK.

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The engines were B2b 4-6-0TT No. 213, built by Vulcan Foundry in 1922 and only just returned to service this month after overhaul, B1a 4-6-0 No. 251 Sir Thomas Maitland built by Beyer Peacock in 1928, and B1d 4-6-0 No. 340 Frederick North built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd in 1944. The tour started at Colombo and ran to Anuradhapura the first day. Hauled by No. 340, the tour also visited Sri Lanka’s northern extremity of Kankesanthurai, previously also held by the rebel Tamil Tigers, where many of the population had never before seen a steam locomotive, travelling over lines in the restricted military zone reopened only as recently as two weeks earlier and controlled by Britishtype semaphore signals. The train returned south visiting Trincomalee and then Batticaloa another area held by the Tamil Tigers

Matheran locomotive bought by South Tynedale THE South Tynedale Railway has taken delivery of Matheran Light Railway 0-6-0T No. 740. The Orenstein & Koppel locomotive, which for many years ran on the Leighton Buzzard Railway, and requires restoration, has been bought by the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society from Railworld in Peterborough through a sealed bid process. It had been in store at the Statfold Barn Railway. No. 740 is one of only four Indian hill railway locomotives of its type, built in 1907 to the order of British narrow gauge railway engineer ER Calthrop. It has an unusual articulated wheelbase, which allows a powerful locomotive to haul heavy trains round tight radius curves, and is the only example of its type outside india. The society’s deputy chairman Brian Craven said: “Since the extension to Lintley Halt opened in 2012, it has become increasingly obvious that the STR needs more powerful 2ft gauge

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Matheran Light Railway No. 740 arrives at the South Tynedale Railway for restoration. STR steam locomotives, to haul busier, heavier trains in future. “With Barber and then Hunslet No. 1859 coming into service – and inspired by the visit of Darjeeling

Himalayan Railway No. 19 – the opportunity to acquire MLR No. 740 from Railworld and to restore it for the use on the STR was one that a small group of members decided

simply could not be missed. “MLR No. 740 will be a special attraction for visitors and will help tell the story of British heritage engineering in the subcontinent, and will add a most unusual, attractive asset to the STR’s steam locomotive fleet. I very much look forward to driving MLR No. 740 on the STR in the not too distant future.” A Railworld spokesman said: “Had the locomotive remained part of our collection, it is unlikely that it would have been restored to operational condition in the near future. “Without a suitably gauged demonstration line, its immediate future would have been as a static display and therefore the trustees concluded that selling the locomotive was not only in the best interest of the locomotive, but also provided resources to progress the restoration and conservation of the rest of our collection.”

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Heritage Railway 37

NEWS IN BRIEF ➜ THE Bluebell Railway has taken back ownership of the smokebox numberplate of LBSCR 0-6-0T ‘Terrier’ No. 32636 Fenchurch after buying it at an auction using museum funds. While the locomotive arrived at the railway 51 years ago with the plate attached, it was given as a gift to the person who donated the money to buy the engine. ➜ DELTIC D9000/55022 Royal Scots Grey has been repainted in the guise of No. 55003 Meld, complete with Finsbury Park’s traditional white window surrounds. Its ﬁrst duties were on February 6 when it worked from Springburn Works to Shield Road depot with two translator coaches. ➜ THE Midland Railway (Butterley)’s March 14-15 mixed traﬃc event will include BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73129, Class 25 D7671/25321, Class 31 No. 31108, Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1163 Whitehead, The event will include a diesel-hauled DMU ‘drag’ and the rare opportunity to ride over the little used ‘south curve’ at Riddings. Every child with a teddy bear will be admitted free of charge. ➜ THE visit of Swanage Railwaybased LSWR M7 0-4-4T No. 30053 to the Kent & East Sussex Railway in May has been conﬁrmed. It will take part in the May 2-4 Forties weekend and the May 23-25 Southern Sunset gala, marking a quarter of a century since services were extended to Northiam. ➜ STANIER 8F 2-8-0 No. 48624 – which since its restoration from Barry scrapyard condition six years ago has been the cause of much disdain from hardcore enthusiasts by carrying a nonauthentic LMS maroon livery –will be permanently repainted into the correct BR black. The locomotive carried a temporary black livery during the recent winter gala at its Great Central Railway home. ➜ AN HISTORIC railway building in Bangor could be bulldozed to make way for two new blocks of ﬂats. Discussions have now taken place between the new owners of the Railway Institute Building in Euston Road over the possibility of demolishing the building, which has been used as a music and event venue in recent years. ➜ STAFF and volunteers at Kent & East Sussex Railway are going an extra 100 miles for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day on Friday, March 13. A team of 10 are tackling a 100mile pump trolley challenge along the railway line from Tenterden to Bodiam and back, making the journey ﬁve times. ➜ THE restoration of GWR 2-8-2T No. 7202 has taken a major step forward at Didcot Railway Centre with the ordering of a new front tubeplate for the boiler.

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Apprentice Ifan Burrell. VOR

No. 7 inside the old Aberystwyth shed. It last saw action in 1998. VOR COLLECTION

By Robin Jones

likely to take two years. The grant will fund the railway’s Our Past Is Their Future project, which aims to provide high-quality heritage skills training, within the line’s working environment. Initially, the money will help to equip the railway’s new engineering workshop with additional machinery and specialist tools. It will develop a sustainable training school and engineering business within the railway’s new workshops. The project will employ two new engineers and an additional four apprentices.

Rheidol £288k will restore ‘last’ BR steam engine

A £288,000 grant to the Vale of Rheidol Railway from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund will finance the restoration of the last steam locomotive run by British Rail. In 1988, VoR 2-6-2T No. 7 gained the distinction of hauling BR’s last steam train, as the narrow gauge line was still in public ownership. Built in 1923 at Swindon Works alongside sister locomotive No. 8, it was given the name Owain Glyndŵr in 1956. Withdrawn from traffic at the end of the 1998 season, it has been stored, pending overhaul. However, the grant will provide new facilities and apprentice training, which has allowed its restoration to begin. Work has started with the frames being shot blasted and the wheels reprofiled. However, the locomotive will require heavy boiler work, new tanks, platework and a full overhaul of the chassis, with as much as possible being undertaken by the railway’s own engineering team. The overhaul is

Starting to bear fruit

Robert Gambrill, director/manager of the Vale of Rheidol Railway and the Phyllis Rampton Narrow Gauge Railway Trust, said: “This grant represents the end of a lot of hard work started many years ago by the team at the Vale of Rheidol. The seeds planted in 1989 are starting to bear fruit. “With this fantastic help we can now finish the new workshops and eventually fulfil our ambition to see

locomotive No. 7 running again. “This offers the railway a sustainable future for the long term. The economic value of the railway to Ceredigion is vital to see growth, training, and prosperity in the region.” During the project, the apprentices will be learning ‘on the job’ alongside skilled craftsman while attending college to achieve nationally recognised qualifications. More importantly, they will be learning skills in the workplace that are not taught in college. By expanding the engineering team, it will allow the railway to tender for external engineering contracts making the line less reliant on seasonal funding streams and provide a service to other heritage railways. ➜ The Coastal Communities Fund is funded by the Government with income from the Crown Estate’s marine assets. It is delivered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of UK Government and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Diana is Rheidol’s first contract engineering job WITH its new workshop facility available at Aberystwyth, the Vale of Rheidol Railway has entered the contract railway engineering business. The first locomotive to enter the works for contracted restoration to steam is Kerr Stuart Sirdar class 0-4-0T No. 1158 of 1917 Diana, which worked at the Kerry Tramway, Oakeley Quarry and Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry, and was bought by new owner Talyllyn Railway volunteer, Phil Mason, in February 2014. This locomotive is one of only two examples of the class known to exist, the other being a national monument in Namibia, housed in a brick and glass display building. Apart from a brief spell in the Midlands and a few months in Hampshire, it has always been in Wales. Out of use in 1950, it is now 65 years since it last worked. The locomotive had deteriorated

The rolling chassis of Diana in the Aberystwyth workshops. PHIL MASON after being stored in the open for seven or eight years in the back garden of the previous owner near Swansea, and had suffered some water ingress, which had caused damage to a number of surfaces. The locomotive was recovered in a two-day operation and taken to a private workshop in Hampshire. Following an agreement with the

VoR, the locomotive was moved last July to Aberystwyth, where it was stripped back to a bare frame and much work undertaken to clean and repair the damaged surfaces. The frame was shot blasted and repainted, and a steady assembly was undertaken, correcting a number of small issues that became apparent. The opportunity was also taken to fit a steam brake cylinder discreetly between the frames. The boiler has undergone and passed its hydraulic test. The locomotive is now a completed rolling chassis. It is hoped that it will be restored to as close to originally built condition as possible in plenty of time for the Vale of Rheidol Steam Festival in September 2015. It is hoped that the locomotive will operate at the Bala Lake Railway on completion with the fleet of Quarry Hunslets already there.

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A brief break in blizzard conditions and a strong northerly wind sees BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079 on its loaded test run from Grosmont to Battersby, having just passed through Lealholm. MAURICE BURNS

My kingdom for an iron horse THE Battlefield Line is to live up to its name when it plays a part in the final journey of King Richard III. On Sunday, March 22, the body of the Plantagenet king, which was discovered buried beneath a car park in Leicester, will be taken on a 15-mile journey between sites connected with his final days before his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The king’s remains will be transported from the University of Leicester, where they are being stored, to Bosworth Field, the place where he was killed. A hearse will then take the remains back to Leicester via local towns and villages. It will stop at Dadlington at 1.20pm, and Sutton Cheney at 1.55pm, before travelling to the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre - close to the heritage line’s Shenton station – for a service at 2.30pm. In conjunction with the event, the railway will be offering tickets for joint event and rail travel to the station. As Shenton car park will be closed to the public, visitors using the train will have exclusive entry from the station to the event. Services on the day will be operated

by visiting GWR 2-6-2 No. 4141 from the Epping Ongar Railway. The joint tickets are expected to sell quickly to the once in a lifetime event. Tickets and further information can be obtained from the railway’s website: www.battlefieldline.co.uk After leaving the heritage centre, the cortege will then visit Market Bosworth at 3.40pm before passing through Newbold Verdon at 4pm, and Desford at 4.10pm, on its way into Leicester. The Countess of Wessex is to attend the reinterment service for the king on Thursday, March 26 at Leicester Cathedral. She will be joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. In his capacity as patron of the Richard III Society, the Duke of Gloucester will also be attending compline, the service of reception, on Sunday, August 22 at Leicester Cathedral. County council leader Nick Rushton said: “This is a unique historic occasion designed to give King Richard III the dignified burial he was denied over 500 years ago. “The events will have a global audience and we’re delighted that Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre will be playing a central part.”

Sleeper contract gives cash injection for Class 89 electric locomotive plans THE AC Locomotive Group’s profits from its recently gained locomotive hire contract from GB Railfreight will be used to fund the restoration of its unique Class 89 No. 89001 to main line order. Initial work will concentrate on the overhaul of traction motors 4–6 and the field convertors for motors 1, 3, 4 and 6, which will require the lifting of the locomotive from the bogies and the removal of the roof. The other traction motors and field convertors have already been overhauled and will be reinstalled as part of the work effort. Work will then include the removal and overhaul of the rheostatic braking units, the vacuum circuit breaker and the recommissioning of other systems on the locomotives. The problems of corrosion on both locomotive cabs should be resolved by the removal of the rain deflector strips after which

further cosmetic bodywork repairs will be made, followed by a full repaint. The majority of this work needs specialist companies and these will be contracted as needed, but supervised by group volunteers, who have already undertaken regular work on the locomotive while supervising the contractors who undertook the specialist motor and convertor repairs. The ACLG has not set any timescale for the project as this will depend on the work required and the availability of the specialist contractors, but it is intended that the completed locomotive will be fit for main line use. No. 89001 was built in 1986 at Crewe. It was used on test trains on both the West Coast and East Coast main lines and was fitted with advanced power control systems and developed over 6000bhp. The group bought it in December 2006.

through Sharpthorne Tunnel Collett to return to Ashburton Walk THE Bluebell Railway’s annual including running a special train and WHILE the South Devon Railway has long dreamed of extending back to Ashburton, one of its locomotives will get there first. Out-of-ticket Collett Auto-tank No. 1420 will be taken along the A38 dual carriageway – which covers the northernmost section of the GWR

Ashburton branch – to take a starring role in the town’s carnival procession on July 4. Being carried on a float, it will be taken within 100 yards of the former terminus, which the recently formed Friends of Ashburton Station group is campaigning to save.

fundraising Track Trek will involve a chance to walk through the 731-yard Sharpthorne Tunnel. The trek from Kingscote to Horsted Keynes takes place on the evening of May 24, starting just after 5.30pm. Because it will cost more than previous treks to stage this one,

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lighting the tunnel, the minimum expected sponsorship is £25 per person and £40 for a couple or family, including up to three children between seven and 16. Funds raised will be equally split between the line’s Keep Up The Pressure and Cash for Cover appeals.

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News

Heritage group opposes Euston Arch rebuild By Robin Jones

PLANS to rebuild the Euston Arch are being opposed – by a heritage group. The Camden Railway Heritage Trust aims to block proposals to include a rebuilt Doric arch in any designs for a new main terminus for HS2 and the West Coast Main line. A group led by architectural historian Dan Cruickshank plans to salvage stones from the original 1837 arch that were dumped in the River Lea following its controversial demolition in the 1960s and rebuild it. In 1994, he found that 60% of the stones had been dumped on the riverbed in 1962 to fill a chasm. In 1996, he set up the Euston Arch Trust to rebuild it at the station, and despite an estimated cost of upwards of £5 million, his proposals have gained support at both local and national government level. A town hall planning document, backed by the Greater London Authority and Transport for London, highlights what the local authorities want to see if HS2 terminates at Euston, the report suggesting that the arch could be rebuilt as part of a new station façade. During a Commons debate on a Private Member’s Bill calling for a referendum on HS2, Conservative Transport Minister MP John Hayes said he would like a neo-classical building to replace the current 1960s station. However, the Camden trust’s

MoelSiabod back after 16 years THE Snowdon Mountain Railway is to return 1896-built 0-4-2T No. 5 Moel Siabod to steam this year. No. 5 was retired awaiting restoration in 1999, and its comeback will concide with the delivery of a second heritage-style Snowdon Lily carriage. The first Snowdon Lily carriage entered service in 2013 and was an instant success with passengers. The new carriage will also be built on one of the original chassis from 1895, in this case that of carriage No. 5. The design for the new heritage carriage will have very similar detailing and layout to the line’s original rolling stock, but with the addition of modern glass windows. Trains restart on March 20.

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chairman Peter Darley said his group would prefer to see the stones from the arch returned to Euston Square Gardens and used as seating. He said: “This is an irrelevant and unnecessary diversion from creating a modern world class station and protecting Euston Square Gardens as a public open space in front of the station. “The reconstruction of the Euston Arch using surviving fragments would certainly create an imposing monument on the Euston Road, yet I am convinced that rebuilding the arch as a solitary monument to the past should not be supported. “It is not likely that a station on a grand scale could incorporate the arch without leaving it much diminished both physically and aesthetically.” Despite a massive public outcry, and a campaign by poet Sir John Betjeman, not only was the old Euston station demolished in the early 1960s, but the arch with it.. In September 1933, Betjeman wrote: “Hardwick’s Doric Arch at Euston is the supreme justification of the Greek Revival in England…If vandals ever pulled down this lovely piece of architecture, it would seem as though the British Constitution had collapsed.” Four years later, the LMS announced plans to knock it down, but they were halted by the outbreak of the Second World War. In the late Fifties, British Transport Commission set out to demolish the

Euston Arch in the 1920s. LMS/ROBIN JONES COLLECTION “shabby” Euston station, extend the platforms to the south and build an airport-like replacement that would be a monument to the age of new transport technology. The Victorian Society, which was founded in 1958, with Betjeman as vice chairman, fought the plans, and was backed by London County Council, which insisted that the arch should be moved. In July 1961, Ernest Marples, the Minister of Transport, announced in a Parliamentary written reply that “it will not be possible to save

the historic buildings at Euston, including the Doric arch”. Experts had told him that to move the arch alone would cost £190,000, while demolition would cost only £12,000. The green light was given for demolition, sparking fresh public outrage. Dan Cruickshank said that his trust would stage a public exhibition of its plans in the gardens in March, with several of the retrieved stones on display. He added: “It was a monument to the railway age and it still exists – just in bits and pieces.”

Ffestiniog Prince to celebrate Talyllyn 150 THREE of the world’s most iconic narrow gauge locomotives will steam together for the first time when Ffestiniog Railway England 0-4-0STT No. 2 Prince visits the Talyllyn Railway in July. Although it cannot run on the 2ft 3in-gauge line, Prince will line up in steam alongside the newly reliveried No. 1 Talyllyn and No. 2 Dolgoch for the July 3-5 150th party gala weekend. The Talyllyn opened for goods traffic in 1865 and shortly after for passenger services. Prince was built two years earlier, confounding contemporary logic that it was impossible to design practical working steam locos for 2ft gauge. Although built for a slightly wider gauge, the original Talyllyn pair have also demonstrated that the early locomotive builders produced designs that would stand the test of time. Dolgoch may be the oldest narrow gauge locomotive to have worked near-continuously, apart from repairs and overhauls, in the world. It also hauled the first train run under the auspices of a railway preservation society on May 14, 1951. Talyllyn general manager Chris Price said: ‘To have all three locomotives in steam together at Tywyn Wharf station

Princein action with a Welsh Highland Railway heritage rake. TR over the gala will be truly unique. Completing the line-up will be our other locomotives, each of which has a place in Talyllyn history. Before then, Talyllyn and Dolgoch will be officially launched in their special 150th anniversary liveries at the

May 2-4 Quarryman Experience gala weekend. Other big events planned for this year are the 1865–2015 Gala on August 7-9, the Heart of Gold Weekend on August 29-31, and the September 25-27 heritage weekend.

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Triple header: It’s a triple line-up at Mangapps Railway Museum on August 25, 2014, comprising, from left, Bagnall 0-6-0STEmpress, Barclay 0-4-0ST Fambridgeand Class 03 diesel 03081 (D2081). In the left background are D2018 and 03399 (D2399). The two steam locomotives will join Vulcan 0-6-0ST No. 72 in the museum’s Easter weekend gala. JAMES JOLLY

It’s three-fold steam as Mangapps celebrates By Geoff Courtney A TRIO of locomotives in steam for only the second time in its history will help Mangapps Railway Museum celebrate a special anniversary over the Easter weekend. The Essex attraction ran its first passenger trains on Good Friday, April 13, 1990, and museum founders John and June Jolly will the recall this landmark on April 3-6 with a 25th anniversary steam and diesel gala. Easter Sunday and Monday, April 5-6, will be the day for steam enthusiasts, when three former National Coal Board locomotives will be strutting their stuff and carrying passengers on the museum’s ¾-mile line. “The only previous occasion that we have had three steam locos in service at the same time was in 1999, when we managed a triple-header, something I hope we can repeat this year,” said John.

One of those locomotives 16 years ago was Empress, which will again be in operation on April 5/6. Built by W G Bagnall in 1954, this 0-6-0ST worked at Cadley Hill Colliery in Derbyshire and is held in great affection by John and his team as it arrived at Mangapps in 1989 and worked the very first trains. This time round, Empress will be joined by 0-4-0ST No. 8 Fambridge and Austerity 0-6-0ST No.72. No. 8 was built by Andrew Barclay in 1943 for the Royal Ordnance Factory as R.O.F. No. 8, and subsequently saw service at Kinneil Colliery, Falkirk, running as NCB No. 47. It underwent an identity change last year when John renamed it after the Essex village of his childhood. The third former NCB locomotive, No. 72, was built by Vulcan Foundry in 1945 for the War Department but did not see active service and was stored at Longmoor Military Railway before

moving to South Hetton Colliery in Northumbria, where it worked until 1972. Saved for preservation, it moved to the Colne Valley Railway for restoration and is on loan to Mangapps for the season. “Apart from the possibility of a steam triple-header over the Easter weekend, I am looking forward to the sight of three quite different exNCB steam locos working together,” said John, who has seen Mangapps grow from small beginnings into a major attraction. Classic modern traction enthusiasts will also be well catered for at the gala, with Good Friday and Easter Saturday, April 3-4, being devoted to diesel workings. Locomotives expected to run will comprise No. 47579 (D1778) James Nightall G.C., No. 31430 (D5695) Sister Dora, Class 04 D2325, and Class 03 Nos. 03089 (D2089), 03197 (D2197) and possibly 03081 (D2081).

In addition to the railway operations, the museum itself continues to grow, and among recent acquisitions is a number of items from the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway, whose Shoeburyness depot (33C in steam days), was a few miles south of Mangapps’ site near Burnham-on-Crouch. Among them is the smokebox numberplate from LMS 2-6-4T No. 42520 – one of a group of 37 members of the class that worked on the line – a fire bucket from Upminster, an Upminster pub sign that features the LTS coat-of-arms, and the only known surviving example of a handlamp from the railway. These latest additions join other LTS artefacts that include a unique ‘vacuum cleaner van’ which is the only remaining complete item of rolling stock from the railway and is currently being restored for use as a display vehicle.

Fiji engine tops Apedale gala bill THE Statfold Barn Railway’s Fijian Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST Lautoka No. 19 will be the star guest at the Moseley Railway Trust’s May 16-17 Locos from Leeds gala at the Apedale Valley Light Railway. The locomotive, No. 1056 of 1914, was reimported from Fiji in 2012, It spent its working life shunting between the sugar mill and wharf in Lautoka. Also visiting from Statfold will be one of the Hudson Go-Go Tractors. Built in the 1930s, these locomotives used a Fordson Tractor mounted in a heavy cast frame for rail use. While they had several forward gears, reverse was notoriously slow! Finally, the UK’s second surviving Hudson MiniLoco will be at Apedale,

exhibited courtesy of its owner in Leicestershire. The trust has the only other such locomotive in its collection, so this will be a chance to see the entire production run of these 1969 diesel locos in one place. The visiting locomotive has been at a private railway for several years. The replica World War One trench system – built for the awardwinning Tracks to the Trenches event – will be open for visitors, with military re-enactor groups working to bring to life the experiences of soldiers. The Trust remains keen to hear from anyone with a Leeds-built item that they may wish to exhibit at the event.

Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST Lautoka No. 19 in action at its Statfold Barn Railway home on March 23, 2013. ROBIN JONES

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news

Nazi death camp station model sparks controversy By Robin Jones

THE owner of Birmingham’s Wonderful World of Trains and Planes attraction has hit back at critics of his decision to include a model of a Nazi death camp arrival platform among the displays. In late February, several national and local newspapers highlighted the inclusion of an ‘Auschwitz concentration camp’ cameo in OO scale among a section which focused on the use of railways in war. The 3ft-long scene depicts an empty platform served by a track with a steam locomotive at the head of a rake of grey box vans, a empty German armoured personnel carrier, a searchlight tower and barbed wire. Under a noticeboard headed Railways In Wartime, a passage of text states: “We are constructing a presentation detailing the use of railways in war, from the US Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Great War and the Second World War.

Death camps

“On each train about 3000 men, women and children were herded into cattle wagons and moved hundreds of miles to the death camps – BergenBelsen, Auschwitz, Treblinka and others. “Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, 1945 – just 70 years ago. Without the railways the Holocaust could not have happened.”

The representation of a Nazi concentration platform which generated controversy. BIRMINGHAM MAIL Press reports included several criticisms of the inclusion of an ‘Auschwitz’ model in a family attraction. Mala Tribich, 84, a survivor of Ravensbruck and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, who gives lectures on her ordeal, was quoted as saying: “What are they trying to say? They used trains in wartime and trains played a very big part in the Holocaust, they could not have done what they did without trains. “As it is, it is useless, frivolous, even.” However, managing director Peter Smith said he had himself received no complaints. He said: “We have never had a model of Auschwitz in the exhibition. The model is one of a liberated prison camp platform, without any people.

“In the same section we also have a US Civil War train, a 1914 British ambulance train and a model of the coach in which the Armistice was signed in 1918.

Overwhelming support

“Since the press reports appeared, we have had overwhelming support. On the Daily Mail website, there were around 3000 people supporting us as opposed to 200 against.” Rabbi Dr Walter Rothschild, who lives in Berlin and is himself a railway enthusiast, said: “Any approach to the topic of Holocaust is bound to upset somebody – either those who were there or those who were not there.

“Personally I have as a rabbi nothing against this display except that it is (a) historically inaccurate – just compare it with the loving detail devoted to the British branch line terminus station in one of the photos of the attraction, and (b) it is all too clean and anodyne. “A Deutsche Reichsbahn Baureihe 44 three-cylinder 2-10-0 was a valuable machine and not used on such transports; then you have what looks like a late-1930s Deutsche Reichsbahn bogie parcels van of the ‘Schürzenwagen’ (skirted underframing) type, built for use on streamlined expresses – both these are HO scale and then British Railways standard 12-ton OO scale goods vans painted grey! “Couldn’t the owner of this display even be bothered to buy some foreign-type (German, French, Belgian, Dutch) goods vans of the period?” However, Peter said: “We had not designed the liberated camp model to be 100% accurate. It’s a representation of what happened, and part of the general theme of railways in wartime. “It’s gone down very well. I have seen people in tears as they realise that without the trains the Holocaust would not have happened.” The three-storey, £300,000 attraction in Mary Ann Street in the Jewellery Quarter has proved a runaway success, with visitors able to experience flight simulations and operate models of trains from 1831 to the present.

in brief ➜ CLASS 50 doyen D400/50050 Fearless was moved from the Yeovil Railway Centre to its new home at Washwood Heath on February 13, following its purchase by Neil Boden, owner of Boden Rail and two other class members. D400 Fund group members accepted an offer from Boden Rail as they felt that the prospects of main-line running would be improved by the sale. The move saw No. 50007 Hercules take wagons from Washwood Heath to Gloucester then run light engine to Yeovil where it collected D400. ➜ THE Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust will see pioneering Blackpool Tramways Centenary Car No. 641 turned into a football special. The car has spent the last three years in open storage at Kirkham Prison and Fleetwood Docks It will be decorated with advertising for Blackpool FC and placed on the special display siding at Pleasure Beach. ➜ FORMER Dartmouth Steam Railway GWR 2-6-2T No. 4588 will be based at Peak Rail following its purchase by Mike Thompson, who

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owns three other locomotives there. As reported last issue, it has been moved to Tyseley Locomotive Works following its sale. ➜ WORK began on the Severn Valley Railway’s new diesel depot at the beginning of February when contractors took possession of the work site to position the fencing accommodation and plant prior to starting work. ➜ THE North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group’s Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395 will run on the Wensleydale Railway during the summer. Arriving in mid-May, it is due to stay until early September, before returning to its North Yorkshire Moors Railway base. ➜ THE Rother Valley Railway is to be reconnected to the main line. An engineering possession on the Hastings to Tonbridge line in March will allow Network Rail to lay new track at the old KESE bay platform at Robertsbridge station ready for the heritage line to accept incoming steam trains for servicing and travel over a reconnected Kent & East Sussex Railway.

The Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society’s GER Y14 0-6-0 No. 564 missed out on its planned appearance at the North Norfolk Railway’s March 7-9 spring steam gala because its overhaul at Ian Riley’s Bury works – where it is pictured – had not been completed in time. It is due for running-in on the East Lancashire Railway imminently, prior to a repaint into GER livery. ELR

Turkish 8F to stay at Ruddington REPATRIATED Stanier 8F No. 8274 has officially joined the Great Central Railway’s (Nottingham) fleet. A contract between owner the Churchill 8F Locomotive Company and its former long-time home, the

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, has been ended early by consensus of both parties. The locomotive was repatriated from Turkey in 1989. It returned to steam at the GWR five years ago.

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Heritage Railway 43

News

Mid Hants Paciﬁcs

BR Standard Pacific No. 70000 Britannia accelerates away from Alresford on February 15. PETER HOLLANDS By Brian Sharpe

SR West Country Pacific No. 34007 Wadebridge approaches Ropley with the 10.30am freight from Alresford. NICK GILLIAM

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THE Mid Hants Railway’s spring steam gala on February 13-15 was notable for the appearance of two Paciﬁcs from the Jeremy Hosking stable. BR Standard Paciﬁc No. 70000 Britannia had spent an extended period in Ropley works undergoing major repairs after a driving wheel had slipped on its axle, but this work had just been completed and Britannia was able to enter passenger service again pending its return to the main line. Meanwhile LNER A4 Paciﬁc No. 4464 Bittern’s main line certiﬁcate had expired in January and the A4 has moved to the MHR where it is expected to see occasional use during 2015 until it is possible for a major overhaul to commence at Crewe. Retaining its LNER garter blue livery, Bittern is now running minus its valances over the driving wheels which have been removed for ease of maintenance. The visitors were supported by the resident ﬂeet consisting of SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 925 Cheltenham, 4-6-0 No. 850 Lord Nelson, West Country Paciﬁc No. 34007 Wadebridge and Stanier ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45379, although BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 was unable to take part. Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

No. 34007 Wadebridge arrives at Ropley with the 3.10pm freight to Alresford passing No. 4464 Bittern. DON BENN

LNER A4 Pacific No. 4464 Bittern departs from Ropley with the 2.45pm from Alresford passing SR 4-6-0 No. 850 Lord Nelson which had failed earlier. DON BENN Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 45

News

Boston Lodge workshops giving up historic secrets By Andrew Thomas

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL dig is under way at the Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge workshops. A major revamp of one of the oldest railway workshops in the world will take place at the historic works over the next few years to cope with an increasing workload, but first a team of archaeologists and volunteer diggers have carried out a preliminary investigation of the site. Built on the site of the main quarry for the stone used in building the Cob from 1808-11, the works was developed to build and maintain wagons for the newly laid 13 mile long tramway that ran from the slate mines of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the wharves at Porthmadog. In 1863 steam locomotives were introduced on the railway and Boston Lodge took on responsibility for their maintenance. The works produced its first locomotive – Double Fairlie Merddin Emrys – in 1879, and it is still in regular use today. Since then, the works has built three more double Fairlies and single Fairlie Taliesin. The latest locomotive, Manning Wardle-type 2-6-2T Lyd, was outshopped in 2010. Current projects include new FR Pullman observation car No. 150, the complete rebuild of a Glasgow tram and the construction of a bunker for the new BR Standard 3MT tank No. 82045. David Hopewell, of Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, said: “We’ve carried out a quick excavation to assess what is at the Top Yard, on the oldest part of the site. “We have studied old photographs and compared them to the current site and believed this was the best place to start. A large area of hard standing, which had been used for storage has been cleared and the top covering hand trowelled away. “We have discovered clear evidence of a wagon store including lengths of the earliest rails used by the railway. It was originally thought we would find two tracks but so far we’ve only found one. We have also found the original slab floor.” GAT officials were assisted by veteran Ffestiniog Railway volunteers including John Alexander who has spent nearly 60 years researching the history of the works. “We found some things we thought that we might find and others that we

Boston Lodge Top Yard in the early 20th century. The site of the dig is beyond the rake of wagons on the right. FR ARCHIVES

Above: T-section rail dating from the 1840s was discovered inside what had once been a shed. ANDREW THOMAS Right: F&WHR volunteers and staff from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust investigating Boston Lodge Works Top Yard. ANDREW THOMAS didn’t know were there. We found the earliest type of rail used, T section, which was probably originally part of the main line. We thought we might find it lying on stone sleepers and we’ve also unearthed wooden sleepers which is most interesting,” he said. Dafydd Gwyn, chairman of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways Heritage Company, said that all the material found during the excavation will be catalogued and archived and the findings written up and published. “This was a wonderful opportunity to do some practical industrial archaeology and adding to our knowledge of a workshop and railway that was in its day a marvel of engineering,” he said.

Salmon will return to Rutland’s Rocks by Rail museum for spring steam gala

ROCKS By Rail – The Living Ironstone Museum at Cottesmore – is set to welcome home a locomotive that once worked in the locality. The venue, formerly known as Rutland Railway Museum, will have Barclay 0-6-0ST No. 2139 of 1942

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Salmon as the guest for its March 15 spring steam gala planned to remember the Stanton Ironworks Company based at Ilkeston but with quarries around the region. Salmon, now based on the Royal Deeside Railway, worked the

Stanton Ironworks quarries at Harlaxton and Harston. At Cottesmore, it will be reunited with sister Belvoir. The museum’s locomotive workshop is the original one from the Woolsthorpe Quarries in which Salmon was once housed.

It will take turns with the museum’s resident Barclays working the quarry demonstration train. Rolls Royce Sentinel 0-4-0DH No. 10207 of 1965 which worked for Stanton at Ilkeston where it was numbered 61 may also run following restoration.

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News Can you help run a railway to Broadway?

THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is to hold a weekend specifically aimed at attracting volunteers in the build-up to its triumphant entry into Broadway. It will be throwing open its doors during March 21-22 to welcome anyone who is prepared to give their spare time to help run the line. The G/WR has around 800 volunteers, with a core of around 200 who work on a regular basis. Volunteer recruitment director Philip Young said: “Our railway needs between 50 and 75 people each day to operate successfully and provide enjoyment for well over 100,000 visitors each year, with around 86,000 travelling on the trains. That’s quite apart from the range of ‘back office’ skills such as finance and marketing that are just as important. “Our volunteers range from school age to retirement age. There’s something to suit everyone, men and women. You certainly don’t have to be a railway buff to enjoy participating in running what is a vital contributor to the Cotswolds tourist economy. “ The railway is inviting interested people to pre-register at www.gwsr.com

Stockton & Darlington wall to be saved

AN otherwise unremarkable brick wall in County Durham has been confirmed as a surviving relic of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The wall on the outskirts of Middleton St George has been identified as part of its station. Surrounded by trees and undergrowth just off the cycle track that is laid over the formation of the world’s first public steam railway, the Pease brick wall was part of a waiting room. Darlington Borough Council has now pledged to protect the wall while a controversial plan to build 250 homes on adjoining land goes ahead. Mrs Maz Holmes, who has occupied the original station house, on the far side of the cycle path, since the 1980s, approached the council to have the significance of the wall protected. Several years ago, it was damaged by a digger while gas pipes were being laid. She has now given permission to tidy up the surrounding area, and the local parish council will contribute to the cost.

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A royal handshake, gift and medal for retiring railwayman By Geoff Courtney THE tale in Heritage Railway issue 195 of Thomas Lester, who worked for the Great Eastern Railway at Ipswich for 55 years, revived memories for another family of an ancestor who gave similar loyal service to the company and was so appreciated by royalty that he was awarded a prestigious medal. He was William Harris, the first of three generations of railwaymen who joined the Eastern Counties Railway in 1845 at the age of 20 and retired from the GER as a travelling inspector in 1900. Shortly after joining the ECR in 1845 as a porter at Chelmsford, he married Susan Oliver at Chelmsford parish church – now the cathedral – and by 1851 was living in Manea, Cambridgeshire, with his wife and two daughters. A son, Alfred, who was also to become a railwayman, was born in 1857, and by 1871 the family were living in Ely, where William was to remain for the rest of his life. The ECR was amalgamated into the Great Eastern Railway in 1862 and William was appointed travelling inspector, a position he held until his retirement 38 years later. In this role his career blossomed, for during this period he travelled on all the company’s Royal Trains – Queen Victoria’s home at Sandringham in Norfolk was served by the GER – and he became a favourite of the queen’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, who was to become King Edward VII. An article on Royal Trains in a 1911 issue of the GER house magazine says that William was well known to the prince “and frequently received a kindly word of greeting from him”. This bond is illustrated by a deeply personal event on the occasion of William’s last journey on a Royal Train

receive from the prince – by then King Edward VII – the Royal Victorian Medal, which is awarded for personal service to the sovereign or royal family.

Family heirlooms

Medal winner: Travelling inspector William Harris, who worked on all the GER Royal Trains between 1862 and 1900. William is wearing the Royal Victorian Medal, presented to him by King Edward VII for personal service to the royal family. GER SOCIETY shortly before his retirement in February 1900, when, after arriving at Wolferton, the nearest station to Sandringham, the Prince and Princess of Wales shook his hand and expressed the hope that he would live many years “to enjoy his pension”. William was also presented by the prince with a gold scarf pin set with diamonds in the shape of the Prince of Wales feathers in appreciation of his long service on Royal Trains. But that was not to be the last occasion they met, for subsequently he was summoned to Buckingham Palace to

William’s great great granddaughter Jacqueline Harrup, who lives in Southend, spoke to Heritage Railway about her ancestor after reading of Thomas Lester’s long service to the GER, whose loyalty was so similar to William’s. “We have been unable to locate official records of William’s early career, but have been able to glean some information from census records,” she said. “However, we know something of his later career thanks to a number of heirlooms which have been passed down through the family, including the scarf pin and the Royal Victorian Medal. “I have two items of memorabilia which were given to me by my grandfather when I became engaged to my husband John, who is a railway enthusiast – he clearly thought they would be appreciated. These are his Eastern Counties Railway pocket watch, inscribed ‘Goods No. 5’, and his GER illuminated retirement script which states he had been granted a pension for long and faithful service and is signed by Claud Hamilton, the company’s chairman.” Jacqueline, whose 72-year-old husband was a 1950s trainspotter and who remains an active enthusiast to this day, said that the Harris family took the tradition of sons following in their fathers’ footsteps to the extreme. William’s eldest son Alfred became a stationmaster in Essex and Norfolk, another son was a porter at Enfield until ill health forced a career change, while his daughter Jane married a railway clerk. Even William’s sister Elizabeth joined in by marrying a

Decorated loco: GER W class No. 284, which pulled a Royal Train from Liverpool Street to Wolferton carrying the Prince of Wales – the future King Edward VII – and Princess Alexandra of Denmark after their wedding at Windsor Castle on March 10, 1863. The 2-2-2, built by William Fairbairn & Sons the previous year to the design of GER locomotive superintendent Robert Sinclair, was painted for the occasion in cream livery and decorated with garlands of roses. The driver was Alexander Keir of Stratford and William Harris would doubtless have been on board in one of his early royal train duties. GER SOCIETY Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Hear Thomas creator castaway

Honeymoon special: Suitably crested GER T19 class 2-4-0 No. 761 in readiness for hauling the royal honeymoon train on July 6, 1893, after the wedding of the Duke of York, who was to become King George V, and Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary. The couple, with driver Walter Norman and fireman Fred Gosling on the footplate and probably accompanied by travelling inspector William Harris, left Liverpool Street at 5.30pm after their wedding at St James’s Palace, bound for Wolferton station and thence Sandringham, where they had a home on the royal estate. An article in a 1911 issue of the GER house magazine said: “Well do we remember the joyous aspect of London and its citizens on that occasion,” and highlighted the cordiality of Liverpool Street station and the “gaiety of its aspect”. No. 761, a Royal Train regular and one of nine members of the 110-strong class equipped for oil-burning, was designed by James Holden, built at Stratford works in 1890 and withdrawn in 1908. GER SOCIETY

Royal gratitude: The diamond-encrusted gold scarf pin presented to William Harris by the Prince of Wales on his retirement from the GER after a 55-year career. JACQUELINE HARRUP railway guard in Kent and producing three sons, two of whom became stationmasters and the third a platform inspector. Alfred had 10 children, three of whom died in infancy, and five of the remaining six sons worked on the railway, variously as chief goods clerk, stationmaster, in the general manager’s office at Liverpool Street, clerk, and in the marshalling yard at March. The son who was a clerk, Daryl, was killed in 1917 after being posted

to Belgium as a motorcyclist in the First World War. The only surviving daughter, Gwen, married a restaurant car attendant, and Percy, the son who worked at Liverpool Street, married a daughter of GER royal train driver William Brown. Jacqueline has some poignant letters Daryl wrote home shortly before he was killed, in one of which he bemoans that “the Great Eastern Magazine you sent me has not arrived”.

Jacqueline said: “My late mother Bessie remembered Alfred as being very meticulous about his appearance, as I suppose would be expected of a stationmaster.” Of her great great grandfather William, who started the Harris family’s proud record of railway service, she said: “He died at his home in Railway Terrace, Ely, in April 1912 at the age of 87, so he enjoyed a number of years of his pension, as had been hoped by the Prince of Wales.”

Home comforts: A GER royal saloon built for Queen Victoria in 1864. GER SOCIETY Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

A LONG-lost archive Desert Island Discs recording featuring Thomas the Tank Engine creator the Rev Wilbert Awdry has been unearthed by the BBC. He was the castaway on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs in 1964, when presenter Roy Plomley quizzed him on his favourite recordings. The programme was never broadcast again, but the recording has now been rediscovered and placed online. Mr Awdry named his favourite track as Baal We Cry to Thee by Mendelssohn. In addition to the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, he chose to take the ultimate castaway story, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and asked for writing materials as his luxury. Other musical numbers he chose include Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and Gilbert and Sullivan’s When I Was A Lad, from the comic operetta HMS Pinafore. Other tracks included a recording of train sound effects and a piece called The Old Lady Drives to Dolgoch which records a journey along the Talyllyn Railway. Mr Awdry also chose a reading of one of his earliest Thomas stories featuring his first locomotive characters, Edward and Gordon. To listen to the half-hour broadcast visit www.bbc.co.uk and search for Rev Wilbert Awdry Desert Island Discs.

Two guest engines for Ongar 150 TWO guest engines have been booked for the Epping Ongar Railway’s 150th anniversary celebration gala. GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 and NER-design J72 0-6-0T No. 69023 will appear in the April 24-26 event marking the 150th anniversary of the branch between Loughton and Ongar. Built between 1920 and 1929 for suburban passenger works, the N2s ran most services out of King’s Cross and Moorgate stations. Those working the widened Metropolitan Railway lines between these two stations were also fitted with condensing gear. Though more commonly associated with the GER F5s, the Ongar branch was operated by one N2, No.69546, for a short period of time from November 1956. Currently running in GNR apple green, the loco previously visited the EOR in 2013, during the London Underground 150 Gala. Heritage Railway 49

FAMOUS BRITISH LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS Considered to be Maunsell’s ultimate locomotive, the Schools class was based on a ‘three quarters’ Nelson, utilising many of the 4-6-0’s parts when the 4-4-0s were first conceived. When out shopped, No. 900 Eton became the most powerful 4-4-0 built in this country. Pictured on June 14, 1981, No. 928 Stowe passes Holywell on the Bluebell line BRIAN SHARPE

Put into traffic across the system, the King Arthur 4-6-0s excelled in working heavy passengers trains on the hilly Salisbury-Exeter route. Pictured, sole surviving N15 No. 777 SirLamiel is seen at Swithland during the Great Central Railway steam gala on January 31. BARRY LEWIS

RICHARDEDWARDLLOYD

MAUNSELL SOUTHERNRAILWAY In this, the second of an occasional series of historical reviews featuring locomotive engineers of the ‘Big Four’ companies, Cedric Johns highlights the career of REL Maunsell, who became the Southern Railway’s ﬁrst chief mechanical engineer.

A

much-travelled and widely experienced Irishman, REL Maunsell is readily associated with Southern Railway’s King Arthur class of 4-6-0s, but for many locomotive observers – including myself – it was his Schools class, the ultimate in 4-4-0 design that impressed enthusiasts most in terms of the balanced appearance and performance of these fine locomotives.

Having graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, Maunsell began an apprenticeship in the Inchicore works of the Great Southern & Western Railway (GSWR) in Ireland under the watchful eye of HA Ivatt in 1886. Oddly, he completed his training in the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s Horwich works drawing office. Promoted to locomotive foreman in charge of

Maunsell modified Wainwright’s D class 4-4-0s and reclassified them in the D1 series. Here, D1 No. 31489 is seen at Tonbridge Wells. COLOURRAIL.COM

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the Blackpool & Fleetwood area, he left this country in 1894 for India and an appointment as assistant locomotive superintendent, East India Railway. Obviously a man seeking his way in life, Maunsell returned to Ireland in 1896 where he became works manager back at Inchicore. In 1911 he was promoted to the position of GSWR locomotive superintendent.

E1 class 4-4-0 No. 31067, pictured at Eastleigh, was another of Wainwright’s class to be upgraded by Maunsell. COLOURRAIL.COM/R PATTERSON

On the move again two years later, Maunsell made what was to be his final career choice, applying for, and successfully obtaining the top job at the South Eastern & Chatham Railway’s Ashford works in Kent. The position had become vacant when chief mechanical engineer Harry Wainwright retired in 1913. Taking charge of the railway’s future locomotive production, Maunsell remained in office when the SECR was absorbed into what became the Southern Railway in 1923’s Grouping. Transferred to offices in London and Eastleigh he retired in 1937 when he was succeeded by Oliver Bulleid. When Maunsell arrived he discovered that affairs at Ashford had been allowed to become lax, much of it down to Wainwright’s ‘artistic’ personality, which lacked the strong administrative direction needed to maintain a business approach to day-to-day activities in the works. The situation was not helped by the fact that authorisation had been given to build 22 new superheated L class express passenger 4-4-0s, which had been designed during Wainwright’s regime. Chief draughtsman, Robert Surtees, had supervised the design, a development of the earlier E class 4-4-0s of which Maunsell had no knowledge. So, having had no time to appraise Ashford’s drawing office staff, Maunsell

referred the design to his former GS&WR draughtsman, W Joynt at Inchicore. Joynt made recommendations relating to valve settings, which did not go down well in Ashford’s drawing office, but with Surtees on the point of retiring, Maunsell used his managerial powers to clear the way for considerable changes in the team around him. However, before he could concentrate on managerial matters, he was faced with the need to implement the order for the 22 4-4-0s, but because of Wainwright’s laxity, Maunsell did not at that time consider Ashford able to begin the construction of the engines.

Close-run thing

In the event, Maunsell took the unusual step of placing an order for the first 10 with Borsig of Berlin. According to historic records no British company could meet the required delivery dates of June and July 1914. Considering the European political scene at that time, when German fitters arrived at Ashford to erect the new engines, the frames of which, together with boilers and sub-assemblies, had been shipped separately by Borsig, it was a close-run thing. The German fitters finished their work within weeks of the declaration of the First World War. Subsequently, an order for the remaining 12 engines was placed with Beyer Peacock & Co for

later delivery. Having set the construction of the L class in motion, Maunsell was able to turn his attention to domestic matters and the urgent problems of administration, which needed sorting on a long-term basis. In assessing the situation, Maunsell discovered that a dour Scot by the name of McColl, who was Ashford’s chief clerk, had gained the confidence of Wainwright to the extent that he had gradually pulled the threads of the whole organisation together and taken control. Despite the fact that McColl was not a technical man he had assumed virtual control of the locomotive running department, ruling footplate staff with a rod of iron. This had given rise to tension throughout the works, a situation that Maunsell dealt with tactfully, but firmly. As it turned out McColl quickly accepted the new regime and not only served Maunsell loyally, but revealed a brand of dour Scottish humour previously hidden by his seemingly forbidding, indomitable character. An admirer of Churchward’s design practices, the new team assembled by Maunsell had a distinct Great Western flavour. First to arrive, GH Pearson, formerly Swindon’s carriage works manager, was appointed Ashford’s assistant works manager. To assist him, CJ Hicks left Inchicore and joined the gathering of new faces. Heritage Railway 51

With head draughtsman Surtees about to retire, Maunsell selected James Clayton to become chief locomotive draughtsman. Having served his time with Beyer Peacock, Clayton was 20 years old when he first joined the SECR drawing office, but eager to develop his career, he had left Ashford in 1903 to become associated with Sir Cecil Paget and his experimental 2-6-2 No. 2299. Clayton then joined the Midland Railway in 1904 and from 1907-1914 was chief assistant in Derby’s drawing office. As a result, Maunsell brought together two able engineers who had been associated with great engineering men of the day, Pearson who had worked with Churchward, and Clayton with the brilliant Paget.

Calibre of the team

To round off his new team, Maunsell appointed L Lynes (also from Swindon) chief draughtsman, carriage and wagon department, and H Holcroft, who had been involved with locomotive design work under Churchward, as his assistant with responsibility for reorganising Ashford works. Such was the calibre of the team that each man chosen stayed throughout the SECR while it existed and later – in 1923 – the Southern Railway. Indeed, almost all of the success of the Southern Railway’s locomotive practices up until 1937 can be traced back to Maunsell’s total reorganisation at Ashford in 1914. That said, the new team had hardly settled in their new roles when the First World War was declared in August of that year. Plans to extend the works and design and

build new engines were shelved when the Government took control of the country’s railways, which were subsequently co-ordinated by the newly formed Railway Executive Committee, which in turn, appointed Maunsell as its chief mechanical engineer. Oddly, his first task was the refurbishment of Belgian rolling stock rescued in advance of the German army’s occupation. The committee was also responsible for the provision of stores to the Railway Operating Division (ROD), involved in running military railways in France and other war theatres, both at home and abroad. The management of these activities was placed in the hands of Clayton, who later was relieved by Holcroft. Such was the success – and efficiency – of this particular organisation that some time was available to contemplate the design of a new locomotive. This took the form of the N class 2-6-0s, the first of which emerged from Ashford, but it was not the first new-build completed by the SECR during the hostilities. Maunsell discovered that an order for 66 Wainwright H class 0-4-4Ts had been placed with Ashford works, but only 64 had been constructed by 1910. Typical of his quest for order, Maunsell instructed that the two ‘missing’ engines be built to complete the number requested. By all accounts Ashford works was turned inside out in an effort to find the necessary parts to enable construction to begin, and in the event, the two 0-4-4Ts were outshopped in 1915, five years after the 64th engine had been completed.

Designed for mixed-traffic work, the N class 2-6-0 was in many respects pure Great Western, featuring a taper boiler, high 200lb working pressure, top feed, and long lap valves. Turned out in the summer of 1917, the mogul’s design was heavily influenced by Pearson’s Swindon background. Numbered 810, the prototype was in many respects very similar to Churchward’s useful 43XX class 2-6-0s of which more than 300 were built. As a companion to the 2-6-0, Ashford constructed a heavy 2-6-4 tank version for passenger work and especially for the SECR’s London-Dover boat trains. Numbered 790, the 2-6-4 was essentially the prototype for the K or River class.

Prone to rolling

Late in the day it seems, trials were arranged in 1922 involving No. 790, No. 761, a rebuilt L class 4-4-0, and a D class 4-4-0 equipped with superheat. Maunsell was surprised when the L class engine proved the most economical. During this period he upgraded Wainwright’s D and E 4-40s, which were reclassified D1 and E1, respectively. As is well recorded the River class had a reputation for being rough riders prone to rolling at speed. Their weight also caused deterioration of the track; this did not please the permanent way teams which were called out at regular intervals to rectify soft spots on the main lines. With this in mind the 2-6-4Ts were put to work on the Brighton line for a period. U1 class 2-6-0 No. 31892 is pictured at Three Bridges on April 1, 1962. Designed as a threecylinder version of the U class, with increased tractive effort, these engines were employed on heavy Kent line passenger traffic in their early days. Contrary to popular opinion the only engine in class to be rebuilt from a River tank was No. 31890. COLOURRAIL.COM/ G PARRY COLLECTION

Z class 0-8-0T No. 30955 is one of eight heavy shunting engines built under Maunsell’s reign. COLOURRAIL.COM

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K class 2-6-4T No. 798 RiverWey, one of the ill-fated River class passenger tanks which were rebuilt as U class 2-6-0-s

When introduced the Lord Nelsons were the most powerful 4-6-0s to be built at Eastleigh, but never really came up to expectations. They were regulars on the ‘Bournemouth Belle’ until the advent of Bulleid 4-6-2s. Seen here, No. 30850 LordNelson heads a goods train on the Mid Hants Railway. WARWICK FALCONER

To cut a long story short, reports of rough riding were emphasised when, in three separate instances, engines became derailed between Swanley-Maidstone and Ashford, No. 890 River Frome being involved on two of the occasions. The situation worsened when on August 24, 1927, No. 800 River Cray left the road – with a passenger train – on the curve between Dunton Green and Sevenoaks station, part of the train smashing against the central pier of Shoreham Lane bridge. The casualty numbers were substantial and as a result the whole of the K class was withdrawn pending the outcome of a Ministry of Transport enquiry. By now, of course, the Big Four companies had been established and Maunsell had been appointed chief mechanical engineer, Southern Railway. Further trials were carried out with the K class 2-6-4Ts, both on home territory and the LNER main line out of King’s Cross, with Nigel Gresley on the footplate. Running at speeds of up to 80mph the engines were steady on their feet, but vibrated badly. In the final analysis it was decided that the relatively poor condition of the track on Southern metals was a contributing factor and that the permanent way needed upgrading. At that stage the River tanks were rebuilt as U class 2-6-0s, but contrary to popular opinion the rebuilds did not create the U class as a new type. The prototype had been outshopped in 1917 and numbers were already in service before the Sevenoaks disaster. Having established the class, Maunsell then ordered a three-cylinder version, classed U1. Twenty of these engines were built at Eastleigh. Talking of which and returning to 1918, the Government released money to selected railway companies in order to create extra employment after the hostilities had ceased. Maunsell’s N class 2-6-0 was chosen as part of the scheme and 100 engines were ordered to be built at Woolwich Arsenal and offered for sale. When none of the other railways indicated interest, construction was halted after 50 of the engines had been completed and were

subsequently – and naturally – bought by the Southern Railway. Both N and U class moguls became standard mixed-traffic motive power on the Southern and most, if not all, were still in service when the railways were Nationalised in 1948. Following the Grouping, Maunsell, accompanied by Clayton and Holcroft, left Ashford and moved to a newly established head office at Waterloo, with Clayton and Holcroft being given the dual responsibility for the future development of future SR locomotives. Pearson continued in his role as assistant to the chief mechanical engineer, but remained at Ashford. During the final years of the SECR, Clayton had kept in touch with Churchward and this liaison, along with his strong advocacy of the way things were done at Swindon, were reflected in the design of both the N and K class engines.

A legend was born

Before the 1923 Grouping, an order had been placed by the LSWR with Eastleigh for the rebuilding of Drummond’s four-cylinder G14 4-6-0s – numbered 448 to 457 – as two-cylinder engines. By 1924 no steps had been taken to put the work in hand and because of the shortage of suitable express passenger engines, Maunsell decided to modify plans by retaining the G14s and scrapping them when his new ‘improved’ Urie N15 4-6-0s became available. As the new 4-6-0s were completed they were given the G14s numbers, and shortly after No. 453 was outshopped it was given the name King Arthur and so a legend was born… Such was the need for the 4-6-0s that North British was commissioned to build 29 of the class, which became known as the ‘Scotch Arthurs’. These engines proved to be masters of most tasks over all Southern routes more especially on the Western Section where the 4-6-0s were rostered regularly on ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ duties. Meanwhile, from the mid-1920s, passenger traffic was showing a steady increase in most parts of the country and on the Southern, the

railway’s traffic manager voiced the opinion that there would be a need for new locomotives capable of maintaining an average start-to-stop speed of 55mph hauling trains of up to 500 tons. This projection anticipated the restoration of the original London and South Western ‘fasts’ between Waterloo and Bournemouth, Salisbury and Exeter, but with 500 tons rather than the maximum of 350 tons allowed, before times were decelerated at the outbreak of the First World War. Apart from the task of producing more powerful engines, 500-ton trains provided practical problems from a traffic point of view in as much that platforms at Waterloo could only accommodate 13 coach trains of 420 tons and not 500 tons. Anything larger than 13 coaches would foul tracks on nearby platforms. Nevertheless, an order was placed for the design and construction of an entirely new type of locomotive, and by the end of 1923 preliminary designs were on the drawing board, pending Maunsell’s approval. What eventually emerged from Eastleigh three years later was a four-cylinder 4-6-0 – No. 850 Lord Nelson. By the time of the Grouping the SR’s Western Section was short of really capable engines so the construction of the new engine was accelerated, No. 850 being completed in 1926. However, by comparison with the Arthurs, the Nelsons did not exactly cover themselves with glory west of Salisbury. The ability of the Arthurs for fast, heavy work was amply demonstrated in late November 1925 when No. 451 Sir Lamorak was given a test load working the then normal 10-coach ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ between Waterloo and Salisbury. The driver was instructed to work the engine ‘a bit heavy’ in order to get some healthy diagrams. The result was that the train arrived in Salisbury 16 minutes early with station staff totally unprepared. Booked to pass Clapham Junction in seven minutes, No. 451 was half a minute to the good and by Woking was two and a half minutes in pocket, with Basingstoke passed eight and half minutes early. Heritage Railway 53

Above: U class 2-6-0 No. 1638 departs from Horsted Keynes on the Bluebell Railway. BRIAN SHARPE Left: N15 4-6-0 No. 30782 SirBrian at Ramsgate on April 25 1962. COLOURRAIL.COM / G PARRy COLLECtION Right: The S15 4-6-0s were given improved front ends by Maunsell and were used for fast freight traffic. Typically, S15s were rostered for overnight duties on Exeter-London fast goods trains. Pictured here, No. 825 passes Water Ark with teak coaching stock on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. BRIAN SHARPE

For a period, the Lord Nelsons worked through from Waterloo to Exeter, changing crews at Salisbury, but over the hilly sections west of Wilton they never came into their own. The four-cylinder 4-6-0s ran extremely fast – at speeds up to 80-90mph – but uphill speeds at, for example, Hewish summit (30mph) and Honiton (topped at 21mph), did not suggest any mastery of the loads, whereas the two-cylinder Arthurs were demonstrably more capable on a daily basis over the route. By the late-1940s, Nelsons were more or less restricted to working trains over the WaterlooSouthampton-Bournemouth route and I well remember my first trip behind one of the class when No. 30852 Sir Walter Raleigh, still in wartime black, rolled into Southampton Central with my train. For a period of years the 4-6-0s worked the all-Pullman ‘Bournemouth Belle’ until they were replaced by the then new Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacifics drawn from the second batch built at Eastleigh in 1945-1949. Of course, when Lord Nelson was outshopped the Southern’s publicity department maximised the opportunity to publicly boast that the new 4-6-0 was the most powerful British locomotive. As already mentioned, the prototype was given exhaustive testing on service trains as well as a specially arranged trip from Waterloo to Exeter with a train of 16 coaches for 520 tons. Overall, Maunsell was pleased with the results authorising another 10 Nelsons, which were built in 1928. A further five were constructed in 1929. That said it was acknowledged that the Nelson’s boiler never steamed as freely as the King Arthur which may, in retrospect, have been influenced to a degree by differing firing methods employed by Stewarts Lane and Nine

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Elms firemen, not familiar with split-level fireboxes. A friend of mine, a former Eastleigh driver, told me that the Nelsons required sensitive handling on both sides of the footplate. Specially picked Eastleigh crews were booked to work the 4-6-0s, he said. Speaking of his firing days he added: “I always looked for an understanding driver.” For those familiar with the Southern Railway it seemed that the line was basically running passenger trains because goods trains were, by and large, conspicuous by their absence, certainly during daylight hours, and during the time that Maunsell was at Ashford he never built an engine purely for freight work.

Much-improved performance

The first large mixed-traffic engine that he had taken responsibility for was the 1924 H15 4-6-0 class, a pre-Grouping Eastleigh design and not a very good one at that. When the time came for more of Urie’s S15 4-6-0s, the front end was modified on the lines of those for King Arthurs resulting in a much-improved performance. Fifteen modified S15s were built in 1927 and another 10 in 1936. They were booked for nocturnal duties hauling heavy express goods trains between Exeter, Southampton and Nine Elms. In terms of shunting engines, Maunsell introduced the W class heavy shunting 2-6-4T of which 15 were built and the three-cylinder Z class 0-8-0T for hump and marshalling yard duties, built at Brighton and numbered 950-959. In 1930, Maunsell and his assistants – especially Clayton – introduced what many considered to be the most famous class of engines ever designed in terms of looks, size, power and performance – the Schools 4-4-0.

Its origin lay in a request from the traffic department for an intermediate-sized express passenger engine smaller than a Nelson and with an extensive route availability that included the restricted Hastings line. After some consideration, Maunsell’s team came up with the idea of building an engine based on three quarters of a Nelson. The plan envisaged the use of three cylinders, four-coupled wheels; with cylinders, wheels, motion – other than the length of the rods – compatible with those used for the Nelsons and a tractive effort of 25,130lb as opposed to the 33,500lb of the larger engines. The design did not exactly match Clayton’s first thoughts. As the parts were compatible to both engines he considered utilising a Belpaire firebox and the same flanged plates for the boiler. However, the weight came out as being too heavy so he used a shortened version of a King Arthur boiler and firebox, increasing the working pressure to 220psi. On the basis of the nominal tractive effort the Schools were the most powerful 4-4-0s built in this country. With the whole class to be named after public schools, the prototype, No. E900 Eton was the first of a batch of 10 engines built and was put on display at Waterloo in March 1930. A few days later it was taken to Windsor for inspection by boys from the college. For the purpose of initial trials, the first engines were allocated to Nine Elms, where working trains from Waterloo to Bournemouth and Salisbury could be kept under the eyes of Eastleigh. On completion of the trials the 4-4-0s were handed over to the Eastern Section and although intended primarily for the Hastings line, civil

engineering work had not been finished so it was not until 1931 that the engines were allocated to St Leonards. Before that the Schools had been stationed at Deal and Dover. Some of the finest work was done on the Western Section, with engines based at Fratton working Portsmouth-Waterloo trains and later, after electrification, from Bournemouth shed, where they excelled on the two-hour ‘Limited’ services. With a total engine weight of only 67 tons, the day-to-day efficacy of these fine engines rank among the most outstanding ever seen in this country. By the early 1930s, Maunsell’s health was giving cause for concern and many of his friends thought he was losing interest but this was not so.

Consistent excellence

Despite lack of funds – much money was being diverted to electrification – he supervised the outline design for two notable big engine projects that never left the drawing board. With the brilliant success of his Schools 4-4-0s, it could be said that his locomotive building work was virtually ended, but for many people it was the consistent excellence of his King Arthurs, working over the hilly Salisbury-Exeter line, that said much for the man and his engines. In the late 1930s the N15s had the route to themselves and regularly worked 450-tons trains westwards pulling off start-to-stop averages of 60mph. In two notable instances No. 453 King Arthur knocked six minutes off a 98-minute schedule with a 450-ton train only to be bettered by No. 768 Sir Balin arriving at Exeter eight minutes early with a 455-ton train.

N class 2-6-0 No. 31874 departs from Ropley in the first year of operations on the Mid-Hants Railway on July 3, 1977. BRIAN SHARPE Heritage Railway 55

RAILWAYANA

BY GEOFF COURTNEY

Little (‘Terrier’) and large (Deltic) star in Stoneleigh show WHERE to start with a report of Great Central’s auction at Stoneleigh on February 7, with a diesel nameplate outselling everything steam had to offer? A smokebox numberplate from a humble 0-6-0T beating off a sextet of star mainline named locomotives? A selection of signal lever plates exceeding their middle estimate more than tenfold? Or a minimally worded worksplate from an unidentified and short-lived 1960s diesel also making a complete fool of its apparently realistic estimate? To the top, then, and nameplate Gordon Highlander from D9016/55016, which went for £22,500. The regimental badge that accompanied this plate on the Deltic sold as the next lot for £4500, although not to the same bidder. The nearest steam could get to this diesel interloper was Cranbrook Castle from GWR No. 7030 (£20,000 with its matching cabside numberplate), followed some way behind at £13,500 by Queen Maud from LMS Princess Royal No. 46211.

Closely-knit group

The final five-figure realisation was £11,000 for Shrewsbury (SR Schools No. 30921), pursued by a closely knit group headed by Loch Treig (LNER K2 No. 61775 – £9400) and Sir John Hawkins (SR Lord Nelson No. 30865 – £9000). There or thereabouts were Cyclops (£8400) from LMS Jubilee No. 45692 and Doldowlod Hall with matching cabside (£8200) from GWR No. 5942, and pushing these came Donnington Hall (GWR No. 4919 – £7600), Excalibur (BR Standard 5MT No. 73081 – £7400), and at £7000 each, Gemsbok (LNER B1 No. 61020) and Oakley Grange (GWR No. 6823).

Still with me? Good, for I’m not finished yet. Another Jubilee offering, Jamaica from No. 45612, sold for £6800, and the remaining three that failed to sell under Mike Soden’s hammer – H.A. Ivatt from A1 No. 60123, Neil Gow (LNER A3 No. 60082) and Henry Pease (LNWR No. 364/LMS No. 5048) – also found new homes after close of play with realisations of £9500, £7000 and £5250, respectively. Determined not to be outdone against this onslaught of British plates, Mount Loolmalasin and matching cabside and front numberplates from East African Railways Class 59 No. 5908 sold for £5600 – and even this was a home victory, for the 4-8-2+2-8-4 was built in 1955 by Beyer Peacock at its Manchester works. The smokebox numberplate that outfought the six named locomotives in its same category by selling for £3200 was 32636, from an A1X ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T built in 1872, withdrawn in 1963 and now preserved. Its price beat those achieved by SR Nos. 30865 and 30921, and GWR Nos. 4079, 5070, 6800 and 6808, whose realisations ranged from £1700-£2500. The group of three signal lever plates that raised a few eyebrows by selling for £2500 against a middle estimate of £225 came from a signalbox outside Paddington, and the diesel worksplate from an unidentified Class 15 in the D8237-43 series that was built in 1960 and withdrawn by 1971. The plate, which sold for £1800 – more than five times top estimate – recorded simply: “Associated Electrical Industries 1960”. Heading this worksplate category was an interesting plate from an

Cornwall creates a scene

A GWR poster promoting Cornwall headed the railwayana section of Lacy Scott & Knight’s toys and collectors’ models sale in Bury St Edmunds on February 7, selling for £880. The 1930s’ poster was by the award-winning artist Leonard Richmond and depicted a Cornish fishing village scene. Richmond, a prolific exhibitor, was born in Somerset in 1889, and lived in the Cornish artists’ colony of St Ives on a number of occasions. He died in 1965. Behind the poster came a collection of five LNER enamel signs from the Suffolk station of

56 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Halesworth, on the IpswichLowestoft line, which sold for £780. The station, which is still open, was the junction for the 9-mile, 3ft-gauge railway that ran to Southwold from 1879 to 1929 and was operated by a stable of Sharp Stewart and Manning Wardle tank locomotives. Joint top railway models at £1350 each were a 4¾in-gauge North British Railway 2-2-2 No. 33, dating from the 1920s and a 1937 Marklin LMS train set comprising loco, three carriages and track. The prices exclude buyer’s premium of 17½% (+ VAT).

interesting locomotive. It was an LNER example from P2 class 2-8-2 No. 2004 Mons Meg, built at Doncaster in July 1936 to a Nigel Gresley design (works No. 1839) and rebuilt as a Class A2 Pacific in 1944, being renumbered 60504 by BR and withdrawn in 1961. The plate, which went for £7300, had a cast “rebuilt 1944” plate riveted to it.

Found in a loft

Top totem station sign at £6100 was Mortehoe & Woolacombe from the Barnstaple-Ilfracombe line, while an LMS Weston (Bath) hawkseye station sign sold for £2400 and a Bristol Temple Meads roundel sign – a pattern used at only that station and Birmingham Snow Hill – for £1900. And so it goes on. Leading GWR

cabside numberplates were 1005 from County of Devon – found in a loft in Scotland – and 3017 from a 2-8-0 (£3900 and £3600), star clock a North British Railway ex-Kelso station longcase example (£2600), and bestselling headboard ‘The Welshman’ from the London Euston-Holyhead express (£2300), which edged out ‘The Caledonian’ (£2000). “Unbelievably buoyant,” said Mike. “There were at least 600 people in the hall, including a number of new faces, and a lot of commission and telephone bids. I can’t recall a diesel nameplate being the top seller before, and there were some surprising other prices. It does look as if collecting is gathering pace.” The prices exclude buyer’s premium of 10% (+ VAT).

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BY GEOFF COURTNEY

RAILWAYANA

GWR heads the pack on home territory AS BEFITS an auction held in deepest Worcestershire, the GWR dominates the nameplate category in GW Railwayana’s April 11 sale at Pershore, with two Halls, a Grange, a Manor and a Bulldog providing five of the seven main line steam offerings. They are Packwood Hall and Mytton Hall from Nos. 4949 and 5996, Calcot Grange from No. 6833, Fringford Manor (No. 7814), and Flamingo, from Bulldog No. 3445. The quartet of 4-6-0s was built at Swindon between 1929 and 1940 and withdrawn between 1962-65, while the 4-4-0 Bulldog – strictly a member of the ‘Bird’ class – entered traffic in May 1909 as No. 3735, renumbered in 1912, and withdrawn from Gloucester in October 1948. The remaining two UK main line steam nameplates are Andrew K. McCosh from Gresley A4 No. 60003, which started life in August 1937 as No. 4494 Osprey and renamed in October 1942 after the 1880-born LNER director, and Balmoral, carried by LNER-designed, BR-built Peppercorn A1 class Pacific No. 60140.

For diesel enthusiasts there is Conquest from diesel-hydraulic Warship Class 41 D603, one of only five in its class. Built by the North British Locomotive Co in November 1958, D603 was withdrawn, with its four stablemates, on December 30, 1967, so giving a service life of nine years. Overseas nameplate interest will centre on Inungu with its front numberplate and National Railways of Zimbabwe cabside numberplate from 4-6-4+4-6-4 Beyer-Garratt No. 416, built in 1952 and one of four members

of the 15th class still operating as late as 2007, although it is now reportedly dumped at Bulawayo. Returning to the GWR theme, cabside numberplates set to go under Simon Turner’s hammer include 6022 from King Edward III, 6866 (Morfa Grange) and 2572 from a Class 2301 ‘Dean goods’ 0-6-0, built in November 1898 and withdrawn from Oswestry (89A) in December 1952. Smokebox numberplates feature 60095 from LNER A3 Flamingo – a mate for the nameplate from No. 3445

perchance? – and two South Wales totems which may catch the eye are Gorseinon, making its auction debut, and Gowerton North, last sold at auction more than 20 years ago. A Nasmyth Wilson worksplate from 1907-built ex-County Donegal Railway Joint Committee 2-6-4T No. 19 Letterkenny, later renamed Finn, comes from a class of only five, and a pair of complementary offbeat items are two BR ex-station Post Office enamel signs, one for wall mounting in Southern Region green and the second, a doorplate, in London Midland Region maroon. The stations from which they come are not known, although GWRA’s Simon Turner said the Southern example may have been located at Amberley in West Sussex. “I have never seen such a sign, and it is a pure coincidence that we have two in the same auction. There were few stations, especially in the Midland Region, which had Post Offices.” The auction, at Pershore High School, starts at 10am.

Doncaster plate from 1949-built a1 No. 60158 Aberdonian (£1000). a 3½in-gauge model of em1 electric No. 26020, commissioned by BR to promote the manchesterSheffield-Wath line and displayed in the boardroom at marylebone, sold for £2100, a copy of the iconic Cuneo ‘On early shift’ poster of 1948 for £1850, a Rhymney Railway 12in drop dial clock for £1550, and a ‘master Cutler’ london-Sheffield express headboard for £1500.

Other category winners included Grange-over-Sands totem station sign (£1400), smokebox numberplate 80094 from a Standard 4mt 2-6-4t (£1100), and a 61a (Kittybrewster) shedplate (£850). “It was a bit nail-biting in the run-up to the auction due to snow, but it was a good sale and went well,” said Great Northern’s Dave Robinson. “Prices were in line with those auctions recently gone by, and I was very pleased.”

Sunstar shines in Poynton success

NamePlate Sunstar, from one of the 20 Class a3s built by North British for the lNeR, topped the charts at Great Northern’s January 31 sale at Poynton, going under Ian Wright’s hammer for £14,000. the Pacific, named after the winner of the 1911 Derby and 2000 Guineas, emerged from NBl’s Glasgow works in September 1924 as No. 2571, renumbered 60072 by BR, and was withdrawn from Heaton (52B) in October 1962. It was cut up at Doncaster seven months later. also into five-figure territory, by a whisker at £10,000, was Alfred Fletcher, carried by lNWR Claughton

4-6-0 No. 1327, built at Crewe in 1913 and withdrawn by the lmS as No. 5908 in 1936. Fletcher was a director of the lNWR who was appointed in 1875 and died in 1919. Anson from lmS Jubilee No. 45672 realised £7100, but fellow class member No. 45644 didn’t fare so well, its Howe nameplate failing to sell. another non-seller was Redgauntlet (a1 Pacific No. 60137), as was its Darlington worksplate. this category was headed by a 1907 GNR example from Class D1 (lNeR Class D2) 4-4-0 No. 4180/lNeR No. 2193/BR No. 62193 (£1050), closely followed at £1000 by a

A3 nameplate is heaven-sent A 1925 DERBY winner outsprinted the opposition on February 14 when the nameplate Manna sold for £9500 at Solent Railwayana’s sale at Wickham. The plate was carried by LNER A3 No. 60085, which entered service in February 1930 as No. 2596 and was withdrawn from Gateshead (52A) in October 1964 after a lifetime in the North East. It was the third successive auction at which a plate from the Nigel Gresley-designed class had sold, following Sunstar (No. 60072) at Poynton on January 31 and Neil Gow (No. 60082) at Stoneleigh on February 7, as reported elsewhere in this column. Behind the Pacific came a decorative pre-Grouping GWR royal train locomotive headlamp (£4650) and a nameplate/cabside numberplate/front and rear bunkerplates/worksplate set from East African Railways Class 59 Beyer-Garratt 4-8-2+2-8-4 No. 5903 Mount Meru, which fetched £4000. Top totem at £1700 was Wellington from the station on the Taunton-Exeter St Davids line that closed in 1964, while £1500 secured a part-built 3½in-gauge

live steam model of a Standard Britannia class Pacific. Further four-figure realisations were a second totem, Huddersfield (£1010), and an LBSCR Tyre’s two-position one-wire signalbox instrument originating from Crowborough at exactly £1000. South African Railways cabside numberplates also made their mark, with the two plates from Class 25 4-8-4 No. 3461, built by North British in 1953, selling for £920 and £700, and that from 1938-built GM class Beyer-Garratt 4-8-2+2-8-4 No. 2296 for £700. All the prices exclude buyer’s premium of 10% other than the two nameplates, which carried no premium. Musing on the day, Solent’s Nigel Maddock said: “I was very pleased to sell Manna, despite it being the third A3 in three auctions, and Mount Meru, the second Class 59 in successive auctions. Also the SAR cabsides held up well, proving that quality items will sell auction after auction, and cast iron signs and boundary markers were steady sellers.”

Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

➜ AN O-gauge model of Class 9F 2-10-0 No. 92245 – a locomotive that typified the wastefully short life of some of the BR Standards and particularly that class – was the top-selling railway model in the Halls of Shrewsbury toys sale on January 28, realising £460. The model, with fully-operating motor-driven valve gear and mounted in a glazed display case, was accompanied by three wagons. No. 92245 was built at Crewe in November 1958, withdrawn from Southall (81C) a mere six years later, in December 1964, and moved to Barry scrapyard, where it remained until 1988 to become one of the ‘Barry 10’, thus languishing in a scrapyard for four times longer that it gave service. A Hornby O-gauge model of LMS Class 4P three-cylinder compound 4-4-0 No. 1185 (BR No. 41185) was runner-up, at £400. The prices exclude buyer’s premium of 19½% (+ VAT). Heritage Railway 57

LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower departs from Swindon with Steam Dreams’ St David’s Day ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Paddington to Cardiff on March 1. JOHN TITLOW

MAIN LINE NEWS Mayflower to cross Forth and Tay bridges

THE versatility of main line newcomer Thompson B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower will be further enhanced in July when it crosses both the Forth and Tay bridges. Instead of travelling engine and coach to York to work the return leg of the three-day ‘Cathedrals Gresley Farewell’ trip to Edinburgh on July 5-7, the B1 will now cross the border and make for Scotland’s capital a day earlier. Once there, it is planned that on Monday, July 6 the B1 will work a ‘Cathedrals’ lunchtime trip over the Forth Bridge and around the Fife circle then head an evening train to Dundee, for St Andrews, during which the 4-6-0 will cross over both the Forth and Tay bridges, the latter subject to Network Rail approval. The following day, No. 61306 may double head the returning train with A4 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley as far as York where the 4-6-2 – having worked the train north from King’s Cross on July 5 – will detach and make its way back to Grosmont for its booked heavy overhaul. As is the norm, the two half-day trips from Edinburgh on July 6 will be made available to both tourists who travelled from London or enthusiasts living in the Waverley area or indeed, said Steam Dreams’ Marcus Robertson, people living the York area can join the train as it heads over the border to Edinburgh on July 5.

Three diﬀerent locomotives

In September Steam Dreams is marking the 50th anniversary of the once-popular LondonWindermere ‘Lakes Express’ with a four-day trip to the Lake District involving three different locomotives. Departing London Monday, September 14, behind Stanier 4-6-2 No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland heads the ‘Express’ north, passengers given the option of alighting at Oxenholme or Penrith. The following day, excursion options include a visit to the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway or a choice of historical houses. Wednesday offers a trip to Carlisle behind 4-6-0 No. 46115 Scots Guardsman, the train returning over the Settle and Carlisle line. The following day passengers rejoin the ‘Express’ at Penrith and Oxenholme before retuning south to London with the Duchess at the head. Steam Dreams’ nine-day June visit to Ireland with the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’ in June is nearly full. Interested readers should contact the Steam Dreams’ office without delay on 01483 209888.

60 Heritagerailway.co.uk

COMPILED BY CEDRIC JOHNS

Buck delighted with Mayﬂower HAVING experienced the first three trips with his engine, Thompson B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower, the locomotive’s new owner, David Buck, said he was delighted with the 4-6-0’s performance on the main line. From its first main line appearance when it worked the one way (steam) Heritage Railway-sponsored ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Norwich to Windsor via Ipswich and Colchester on February 11 and the two ‘Cathedrals Valentine’s Day’ specials on February 14, both from Victoria, a midday luncheon train around the Surrey Hills route and the second an evening trip to Brighton, David rode on Mayflower’s footplate on all three occasions. When challenged about his newfound status of becoming an honorary ‘third man’ he laughed and replied, “You don’t think I bought the engine to ride on the cushions!” He added: “Yes, I am very happy with way things are going and I very much looked forward to revisiting my boyhood territory with Mayflower working the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Easterling’ on March 8 when the train made its mark by being the first steam to use the recently laid Bacon Factory Chord at Ipswich en route to its journey around Norfolk and Suffolk. Responding to lineside comments about the use of a diesel on the first three trips he said: “We needed a diesel to take the train back from Windsor and later to give us a couple of shoves up the bank out Victoria. At the same time it was good to know we

had support at the rear considering that these were the first trips that the engine had made out on the main line since its West Coast proving run up north nearly 12 months ago.” That said David confessed to being a little anxious about the B1’s solo trip to Cardiff on March 1, St David’s Day, especially the return leg via the curving, testing climb – on 6ft 2in drivers – up to Sapperton Tunnel. Talking to Main Line News after the Cardiff trip David said his engine put in a stunning performance. "We were early all the way down and right on time coming back". Sapperton? "I was on the footplate and timed the engine at 34mph as we topped the summit with eight on.” "I am now confident that the B1 is capable of handling everything required of her". David was keen to point out that the train ran without diesel assistance at any stage. Compared with its trip to Cardiff, it would be interesting to learn how the 4-6-0 performed on its 'Cathedrals Express' excursion from King's Cross to York and return on March 12. Following that the B1 goes cross country to Cambridge and Ely from Horsted Keynes on the Bluebell Railway with another 'Cathedrals Express' on March 21. On Wednesday April 1, No. 61306 faces the lengthy journey from Oxford to Kingswear on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Covering more new ground on the Western Region, the 46-0 is routed via the Hants & Berks line, Taunton, Exeter and Newton Abbott.

LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower, complete with ‘Ipswich’ bufferbeam shed allocation, emerges from the gloom of Hampstead Heath Tunnel into Finchley Road and Frognal station on the North London Line, with ‘The Royal Norfolkman’ on February 11. GRAHAM NUTTALL

Above: No. 61306 at London Victoria on February 14 with owner David Buck and fireman Chris Yates. PHIL MARSH Right: Mayflower stands at Windsor & Eton Riverside after arriving from Norwich on February 11. ROBIN JONES Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

NunneyCastle bows out GWR 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney Castle has made its last journey out on the national network for a long time. Having effected a temporary firebox leak repair good enough to allow the 4-6-0 to be steamed at Barton Hill depot, the Castle was tripped engine and coach to Crewe on Tuesday February 17. The engine’s ticket runs out in June, so it seemed pointless to repair the firebox and return the 4-6-0 south for maybe a month at the most. Instead, the Castle will remain at Crewe for overhaul for at least 18 months or more.

Get in touch

Mayflower prepares to leave Brighton for Victoria on February 14. NICK GILLIAM

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MAIN LINE NEWS Valentine’s Day diversion after landslip

AFTER the Chiltern line was closed by a massive landslip near Harbury Tunnel, between Banbury and Leamington, Vintage Trains’ ‘Valentine’s Dinner Express’ ran a revised routed plan on February 14. Booked from Tyseley via Snow Hill to Oxford via Worcester and the Cotswold Line hauled by Great Western 4-6-0 No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall, the diner was originally routed back to the West Midlands via the Chiltern Line and Banbury. The landslip changed the plan which resulted in the Hall heading the train back via Evesham to Worcester and from there to Tyseley. Network Rail specialist engineers were still assessing the site in February to determine the scale of the problem. Remote sensing techniques have been brought into play to monitor the slip which was still moving after the initial movement. Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “Our safety precautions ensure that the railway was shut before there was any risk to passengers. Our focus is on making sure that the site is safe before our engineers move any of the affected earthworks.” Latest estimates placed the reinstatement of the embankment to take at least another month.

Steamy Forth Bridge 125th anniversary

THE Scottish Railway Preservation Society is planning to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Forth Bridge by running two Sunday excursions on July 5. Based on the society’s usual format it will promote two ‘Fife Circle’ trips which, in this case, will be hauled by A4 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa. Morning and afternoon departures from Edinburgh Waverley travel the circle to Dunfermline and return, making two crossings of the bridge. Duchess of Sutherland is booked to head ‘Fife Circle’ trips Sunday, April 26. A third train, a Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Edinburgh Express’ is also planned to make the Forth crossing on Monday, July 6, when the motive power will be David Buck’s LNER B1 4-60 No. 61306 Mayflower making its first visit to Scotland in preservation (see separate story).

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Great Northern (Irish) veteran 4-4-0 steams IN A signal moment for the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, former Great Northern Railway (I) Q class 4-4-0 No. 131 moved under steam on January 31 for the first time since 1962 and 15 months after its overhaul began in the group’s Whitehead works. Late in the evening on Sunday, February 15, the 4-4-0 ventured out on to the main line and departing at 10.43pm the engine ran solo on a test run to Carrickfergus, making examination stops at Oil Farm, and Downshire. The ‘after hours’ test was made as part of an acceptance process with Translink NI Railways, which allowed No. 131 access to main line, even though the engine is not yet equipped with today’s add-on electric monitoring and signalling systems. Temporarily running with the blue painted tender from another 4-4-0, S class No. 171 Slieve Gullion, No. 131 was driven by Noel Playfair accompanied by Peter Scott, the society’s locomotive officer. After a short stay at Carrickfergus the 4-4-0 made a third inspection stop at Kilroot on its way back to Whitehead arriving around 12.30am where the

GNR(I) Q class 4-4-0 No. 131 moved under its own steam for the first time since 1962 at the RPSI’s Whitehead base on January 31. CHARLES FRIEL test was considered to be satisfactory. When reunited with its tender, No. 131 will be painted unlined black, its 1920s livery. The engine’s overhaul has been carried out by Heritage Engineering Ireland, the society’s separate engineering business, with substantial assistance from group members and funded by Rural Opportunities Within Antrim known locally as GROW.

Built by Neilson Reid of Glasgow in 1901 for the GNR (I). the 4-4-0 was withdrawn from traffic by Coras Iompair Eireann in 1963. Its comeback was described as a “minor miracle” by RPSI meetings organiser and museum chairman Charles Friel. Whether No. 131 will be a contender for a place in the locomotive line-up for Steam Dreams’ ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’ tour in June remains to be seen.

SEE CLASSIC TRACTION ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK By Fred Kerr

FOCUS at the present time is centred on the fleet operations of GB Railfreight (GBRf), especially of the hired-in Class 47s that were being prepared for short-term use with the new Caledonian Sleeper operation which begins on April 1. GBRf is contracted to supply motive power in the guise of Class 92 electric locomotives (built 19935) to work between London and Edinburgh/Glasgow while rebuilt Class 73 electro-diesels (built 19657) will work the Aberdeen/Fort William/Inverness portions north of Edinburgh. This arrangement will see single locomotives operate to Aberdeen and Fort William while a pair will haul the Inverness portion.

Sleeper contract

GBRf has contracted Brush Traction at Loughborough to rebuild 10 Class 73 locomotives by replacing the original 600hp engine with a 1600hp engine and upgrading the electrical equipment. The first five are intended for Network Rail contracts and the second batch are intended to service the sleeper contract. Delays with the conversion programme have now accrued, resulting in delivery of the second batch being put back until October and the intention to use Class 47s to power the portion workings, as reported last issue, until the

modified locomotives become available. That position has now changed with news that the current arrangement of using DB Schenker Class 67s will continue until the Class 73s become available and the Class 47s will remain on their present duties in the Doncaster area. The sleeper contract has had other effects on heritage traction with confirmation that Class 86s Nos. 86101/401 and Class 87 No. 87002 have been hired from English Traction Leasings, the commercial arm of the AC Locomotive Group, to power the associated empty coaching stock services at the London end of the sleeper operation. The use of the Class 92 fleet for this new contract is of interest because the class is now more than 20 years old and could be considered as ‘heritage’ traction, but the storage of many class members, owing to a lack of work, has made their appearance less frequent or obvious to observers. The ownership of the class was originally shared between three operators and it is one of those which took over GBRf, giving the company access to 16 locomotives while the remaining 31 are owned by DBS. While the latter company has modified five locomotives for use on the HS1 route, it has also transferred five to European

operators; is looking to transfer further examples abroad while placing other examples into longterm storage. The changed status of the Class 47s has been highlighted by a recent exchange of rolling stock between DRS and Riviera Trains – owners of the Class 47s being hired by the Harry Needle Railroad Company to GBRf. In an unexpected move it is reported that DRS has exchanged coaching stock for redundant Class 47s as it begins to accumulate rolling stock for its recently gained passenger contracts.

Cumbrian Coast

This covers the operation of the Fife loco-hauled services, which have been contracted by Abellio, following its gaining the ScotRail contract that begins in April 2015. The new operator has contracted for two loco-hauled trainsets that will be powered by Class 68 locomotives. Its second contract is with Northern Trains that begins with the timetable change in May 2015 when two trainsets will be supplied to operate services on the Cumbrian Coast between Barrow and Carlisle. Timetables for both services have yet to be confirmed, as is the traction for the Cumbria services, although Class 37s have been mooted as the most likely power.

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LMSPrincessCoronationPacificNo.46233DuchessofSutherlandcrossesRibbleheadviaductwiththeRailwayTouringCompany’s‘WinterCumbrianMountainExpress’on February7. DAVE RODGERS

‘Tin Bath’ kickstarts RTC season

ASiDE from the ongoing series of Euston-Carnforth-Carlisle ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ trips, the much-delayed ‘Tin Bath’ circular tour kickstarted the Railway Touring Company’s 2014 programme of day excursions. The ‘Tin Bath’ departed Manchester at the fifth time of asking on February 15 double headed by ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871 and No. 45407. Since then, RTC was set to run the Manchester-Carlisle ‘The Hadrian’ on Saturday, March 7 worked by two 4-6-0s, No. 45690 Leander and ‘Black Five’ No. 45407. The following day, Sunday, March 8 saw ‘The Easterling’, was scheduled from King’s Cross to Lowestoft via Norwich with B1 No. 61306 Mayflower at the sharp end. These trains are followed by ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ departures on Saturdays March 14 and 21, with No. 46115 Scots Guardsman providing steam from Carnforth on both days.

Rare visit

Also on Saturday, March 21, RTC’s ‘Wensleydale & Durham Coast’ excursion is booked to run from Carnforth to Redmire via York. A complicated itinerary also includes visits to Ferryhill and a rare visit by steam to Sunderland. Motive power is shared by K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess and B1 4-6-0 No. 61264 topping and tailing. The ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ continues with trains from Euston hauled as far as Carnforth by Class 86 No. 86259 Les Ross on Saturdays March 28 and April 4. On Saturday April 4, RTC’s ‘The Wansbeck’ departs York for

Boulby taking in Heaton, Morpeth, Newsham, Lynemouth Colliery, North Blyth, Bedlington, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Motive power is supplied by K4 No. 61994 and B1 No. 61264. Monday, April 6 sees ‘The Hadrian’ running from Leicester to Carlisle, Hexham and York, A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa leading.

Scots Guardsman

The following Saturday Scots Guardsman is back in the frame working a ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ from Carnforth to Carlisle returning over the Settle and Carlisle line. RTC has two trains running on Saturday, April 18. The first, ‘The Dartmouth Express’ starts from Woking and heads for Kingswear via Reading, Taunton and Exeter behind BR 7P 4-6-2 No. 70000 Britannia. The second train, the ‘Buxton Spa Express’, departs Preston travelling via Manchester to Buxton, then Sheffield and Copy Pit hauled by K4 No. 61994 The Great Marquess. On Saturday, April 25, the ‘Heart of Wales’ trip begins at Slough, heading for Llandrindod Wells on the Central Wales line via Cardiff and returning by way of Shrewsbury with ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871 and No. 45407 working throughout. Finally, Tuesday April 28, gets the nine-day ‘Great Britain Viii’ on its way with Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 34067 Tangmere working the train from London Victoria to Exeter where 7P 4-6-2 No. 70000 Britannia couples on to create a doubleheader over the South Devon banks en route to Plymouth and Par.

Britannia hits 60mph on Mid Hants ON TEST on the Mid Hants Railway following months of main line inactivity because of excessive vibration caused by problems with its leading driving wheelset, BR 7P Pacific No. 70000 Britannia is back in steam. Rewheeled at the railway’s Ropley engineering works, the ‘Brit’ joined another Hosking loan engine, A4 No. 4464 Bittern, in time to participate in the Mid Hants’ February 13-15 gala (see News section). Since then No. 70000 has undergone high speed testing on the line, reaching 60mph between Ropley via the 1-in-60 climb up to Medstead & Four Marks station. Line possession was granted by the Office of Rail Regulator for the high-speed runs, which proved to be successful in terms of the

wheelset fitted with a new axle. Booked to run engine and coach back to Southall from Alton on Friday, February 27, Locomotive Services main line operations manager, Bob Allen, said that if the run back to west London was problem free he thought that the previously projected main line test run would not now be necessary. As to the Brit’s future movements, he said that its next trip would probably be to the West Somerset Railway’s ‘Steam in South Wales’ gala on March 26-29 (see News section). At present none of the railtour promoters has indicated that one of them would be running a trip to Somerset so it would appear that Britannia and coach will make the journey without a load.

A1 Trust appeals for rubber balls THE A1 Steam locomotive Trust is appealing for help in locating six rubber balls to expedite the overhaul of its 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado. The actual overhaul is well under way but engineers have hit a problem in the shape of 52mm (2.25in) rubber balls. Why? The headers contain 86 holes for the superheater elements of the A1’s boiler and balls are used to block the holes to create a seal during testing. A trust spokesman said, “Having completed 80,000 miles during the past six years the header of Tornado requires servicing, and the rubber balls play an essential role in completing the overhaul. Six of the balls have perished and the trust is seeking replacements to fill the gaps – hence the appeal.” The task of sourcing balls is proving

more challenging than first anticipated. The original supplier no longer stocks the items and alternative retailers are only holding larger replacements, and these are unsuitable for the job in hand. Efforts to find the appropriate size balls have so far been fruitless. Trust chairman, Mark Allatt said: “This has to be one of the most peculiar requests for assistance the heritage railway movement has ever received. We specifically need six of these rubber balls – preferably without too many teeth marks – to allow us to complete the work on the header.” “Donations will be gratefully received although the trust accepts no responsibility for any aggrieved hounds as a consequence of such generosity!” As we closed for press, the need for the balls remained unfulfilled. Heritage Railway 63

MAIN LINE NEWS

COMPILED BY CEDRIC JOHNS

New Orleans via Leicester! TYSELEY’S GWR Castle, No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe has emerged from winter hibernation and is prepared for a proving run around the Midlands. The trip is planned to prove that the copper-capped 4-6-0 is in fitness to run condition-with polished brassesprior to taking its place in this year’s Vintage Trains railtour programme. Last year, Vintage Trains’ gave us the ‘Great Spaghetti Western’, an evening trip, this year – on April 11 – the mid-day proving run is entitled the ‘City of New Orleans’.

Cajun style meals

The link? Apparently the Illinois Central introduced a daily service from St Louis to New Orleans in 1947 but it was not until Amtrak reinstated the service in 1971 that the train entered folklore running from Chicago passing along sides the Mississippi to Louisiana it became known as the ‘City of New Orleans’. Although unable to change cars at Memphis, Tennessee or even enjoy a card game in club class, Vintage Trains’ is running the ‘City’ train from Tyseley Warwick Road at noon, calling at Coleshill Parkway en route. During the trip a limited number of

‘sumptuous’ Cajun style meals, inspired by celebrated chef Emeril Lagasse, will be served to passengers in dining class. Routed around Tyseley’s East Midlands test circuit, the Castle is booked to make a photographic stop at Leicester where no doubt, engineering hands will be feeling for those telltale hot spots, checking oil levels and ensuring all is well with the engine. In total the trip will take around three hours during which some highspeed running is anticipated, the train returning to Tyseley via Coleshill. The Castle’s first trip is that working Vintage Trains’ ‘Ticket to Ride’ from Tyseley Warwick Road to Liverpool calling at New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe, Saturday April 25. ➜ Tickets per person are £99 for premium dining and £39 for standard class. A first-class compartment seating six people costs £250. To book, visit www.vintagetrainsonline.com or telephone 0121 708 4960.

“Our railways are a scrapheap” says Network Rail boss Mark Carne BRITAIN’S railways are a scrapheap littered with old sleepers and rails and festooned with graffiti, according to Network Rail’s top man. Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne criticised the state of his railway empire in an unusually blunt speech in which he admitted his was the company that people love to hate. Addressing members of the Institute of Civil Engineers at an annual event held recently in Westminster, he said that there were concerns about an image of macho culture, criticised the controversial bonus scheme and admitted unsafe working practices causing hundreds of staff casualties – the number of injuries running at a rate 10 times that being experienced in other heavy industries. Former Transport Minister Lord Adonis said that the speech constituted a systematic hatchet job on the state of Network Rail. It follows widespread anger about engineering work at King’s Cross and Paddington overrunning at Christmas which resulted in 115,000 passengers being stuck on trains or left queuing at stations. Critics have also attacked Network Rail over

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remuneration for senior executives. Mark Carne gave up a bonus of £135,000 after the King’s Cross debacle. He said that his company had seen an extraordinary renaissance in rail travel, passenger numbers doubling over two decades and some £25 billion being spent to upgrade the network in the next five years, but acknowledged that improvements were needed to win the trust of the public. “If we are to stop being the company that people love to hate the public needs to see a high performing organisation,” he said. “It is inconsistent with talking about caring for your workforce if you then put them on a railway which is frankly a bit of a scrapheap. “It is not just tidying up physical trip hazards, it is also making the railway look more pleasant for passengers and more professional for our staff.” He added that the company had a huge programme to clear tens of thousands of tons of waste and clean up stations. In a separate BBC Radio Solent report, it was claimed that railways in southern England were the most neglected in the country.

BR Standard Pacific No. 70000 Britannia pulls away from Bentley en route from the Mid Hants Railway to Southall on February 27. MATTHEW TOMS

MP lobbies for ‘Spa Express’ return SCARBOROUGH’S appropriately named MP Robert Goodwill is lobbying Network Rail in an effort to get West Coast Railways’ weekly ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ back in service. The MP has called for action after the town’s tourism took a hit when the ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ trains were replaced by diesel locomotives because of a fire risk. Weekly arrivals were subsequently cancelled by West Coast. Mr Goodwill has since lobbied Network Rail, claiming that the seaside’s shops, restaurants and cafes were losing business. A Network Rail man said: “We are totally committed to the safe running of the railway and insist on the highest standards.” Mr Goodwill remains hopeful that there will be a resolution. He added that he had made

representations to Network Rail at the time when the ‘Wizard Express’, hauled by GWR 4-6-0 No. 5972 Olton Hall, last year was alleged to have started a lineside fire. As a result of the fire West Coast was permitted to run with only with diesel locomotives on the route . Speaking after the ban was imposed last year David Smith, chairman and managing director of West Coast Railways, said: “The ban is harsh and unreasonable. “Steam is an attraction and it has had a huge knock-on effect on passengers both to the seaside and Harry Potter fans.” Because of the steam ban imposed by Network Rail and the resultant impasse between the two companies, West Coast Railways cancelled this summer’s ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ programme apart from three trains scheduled to run in October.

More trains to Locomotion laid on VISITORS to the Locomotion museum at Shildon who choose to travel by train are to have their options doubled. The Department for Transport has announced that the current two hourly service from Darlington to Bishop Auckland will be increased to hourly, with more Sunday trains and newer rolling stock with the current

Pacer DMUs being replaced. The improvements have been included in the new Northern franchise which is due to start March 2016 with most timetable improvements due to be in place by 2019. The franchise sets out the minimum level of service that must be provided.

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Heritage Railway 65

MAIN LINE NEWS

WITH FULL REGULATOR LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

By Don Benn THIS time and next I am going to look at the ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ (CME), comparing some recent efforts with those in the 1980s and one run from 1966. In this article that means a menu of pure Princess Coronation runs, showing just how good those superb engines are with big loads on heavy gradients. The ‘CME’ is a very good-value day out hosted by The Railway Touring Company, even if a very long day unless you happen to live north of Watford. The operation of this train demonstrates the benefits of a regular itinerary with a small pool of dedicated engines. Everybody knows where they are and what to expect and therefore the use of pure steam power is virtually guaranteed. To digress, there has been a lot of chat room discussion recently about the use of assisting diesels, especially those deployed at short notice and even when the itinerary has been stated to be diesel free. While there will nearly always be a good reason for diesel assistance, my view is that the tour promoters ought to have a consistent and reasonable policy towards enthusiasts in such cases and not hide behind the small print. I am not going

66 Heritagerailway.co.uk

to name names, but some are very good and others very bad. The vast majority of the people who travel on such trips really don’t care very much what is hauling the train, or if a diesel is sharing the work with steam. But the small minority of enthusiasts who only book for pure steam haulage should be treated in an appropriate way and, in my view, either be able to transfer their booking to an alternative trip or be offered a refund.

Non-availability of electric

It has been rare for the ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ to cause delays to service trains, though the tight pathing on the West Coast Main Line, particularly south of Crewe and north of Carnforth, must give the train controllers a headache when service trains are running out of course. For that reason, with the nonavailability of electric No. 86259 Les Ross so far this year and the train being hauled by doubleheaded Class 47s diesels, for our trip on February 7 we had to make the long pre-dawn drive to Milton Keynes to pick up the train. Its 7.25am pick-up from Watford Junction had been removed to avoid delays to the following 7.30am Euston to Glasgow because the 47s were deemed to be slower than the class 86.

Not that you would really notice as Nos. 47237+47746 powered along very nicely with their 11 coaches for 435 tons. In fact we were stopped at Hanslope for some time to allow service trains past and were 12 minutes late from Rugby but thereafter regained time steadily to recover all of this by the time we ran into the Goods Loop at Carnforth. As regular readers will know, I have no time for diesels pushing steam-hauled trains around the network, but I am a keen timer of any form of ‘modern’ traction and have a particular soft spot for the Class 47 workhorses. In my view they are one of the finest diesel locomotives ever to run in the UK, as their longevity demonstrates. Space precludes the inclusion of a train running log but to summarise, we ran the 60.95 miles from Nuneaton to Crewe at a start-to-stop average of 78.65mph and then the 51.02 miles on to Preston at 76.53mph despite signal checks in the Wigan area. Everywhere possible speed was up to the 95mph limit for the Class 47s. After the enjoyable starter with the two Class 47s, now came the much-anticipated main course, and up front in the capable hands of David Blair, with fireman Nigel Barber, was Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. With the load now increased to 12 coaches of around 475 tons full and Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Above: No. 46229 DuchessofHamilton storms past Stainforth with the northbound ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ on February 4, 1984. DON BENN Left: LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 DuchessofSutherlandon the climb to Grayrigg with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ on February 7 before running into fog which lasted until Carlisle. ALAN WEAVER

TABLEONE:CARNFORTHTOCARLISLE Date Train Loco

with the weather fine, cold, dry and calm, we got away to a good start right behind the late-running 7.43am Euston to Glasgow. This had left 28 minutes late and I was watching its progress carefully as it was due past Carnforth at 11.12am; and unless we could follow it reasonably closely, the ‘CME’ risked being looped at Penrith to allow the 9.30am Euston to Glasgow to go past. With some relief I saw that the 7.43am from Euston was making up time and went past us at Carnforth just 13 minutes late, and so we were only five minutes down leaving at 11.28am. All this shows the difficulty of finding a path for a 75mph steam-hauled train among the 125mph Pendolinos.

Class 8 power

The scheduled time this year to Carlisle has been eased out by four minutes to 78, paradoxically as this year so far the train has had Class 8 power in the form of No. 46233. Last year, although Class 7 No. 46115 Scots Guardsman could keep time, Class 6 No. 45699 Galatea demonstrably could not. The preference for this heavy train over the Fells surely needs to be Class 8 power. We started well and topped the 1-in-134 to milepost 9½ at 38mph before running easily up to nearly 65mph along the level stretch before

Milnthorpe where the 13-mile climb to Grayrigg kicks in. More noise could be heard from the front as No. 46233 stormed past Oxenholme at 51mph and settled in to the final 1-in-131/1-in-106 to Grayrigg. With speed tending to rise slightly after Hay Fell, I was hopeful that the minimum would be well above 40mph and was slightly disappointed when speed fell to 39½ at the top. However, the quick recovery to a lovely 71mph after Dillicar suggested that David Blair and Duchess of Sutherland had things well in hand, and so it proved on the climb to Shap. This appeared to be effortless until near Scout Green when the sounds from up front became more strident. It was now quite foggy and damp with lying snow and therefore no surprise for No. 46233 to slip in the cutting near to milepost 36¾, though with an immediate recovery we still topped Shap at 37.1mph. The power produced over the whole 1-in-75 climb from milepost 33 was a quite modest 1500 equivalent drawbar horsepower (edbh) but over the last two miles from Scout Green the extra effort resulted in the ‘Duchess’ exerting around 2000edbh and at the top after the slip around 2200edbh. We ran fast and easily down to the Carlisle stop,

Load Driver Fireman Recorder Position Weather

Saturday, February 7, 2015 0709 Euston to Carlisle Class 8 Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland 12 coaches, 436½ tons tare, 475 tons gross David Blair Nigel Barber Don Benn gps 3 of 12 sunny spells, calm and cold

Carnforth DGL MP 9½ Burton and Holme Milnthorpe Hincaster Junction Oxenholme Hay Fell Lambrigg Grayrigg Summit Low Gill Dillicar Tebay MP 33 MP 34 MP 35 Scout Green MP 36 MP 37 Shap Summit MP 37¼ Shap Old Station Harrisons Sidings Thrimby Grange Clifton Eden Valley Junction Penrith Plumpton Calthwaite Southwaite Wreay Carlisle

miles 0.00 3.51 4.61 7.44 9.41 13.12 16.41 18.21 20.01 21.61 24.01 26.18 27.01 28.01 29.01 29.13 30.01 31.01 31.26 33.59 35.54 37.01 41.01 41.77 45.21 50.07 52.33 55.61 58.15 63.11

Slipped at MP 36¾

*brakes/check

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 07 35 09 08 11 45 13 56 20.00 17 53 22 18 24 44 27 18 29 08 31 40 37.00 33 12 34 18 35 19 36 32 36 42 37 54 39 25 39 49 42 38 44 23 45 32 48 45 49 21 59.00 52 15 57 17 59 08 61 56 63 54 78.00 69 51

speed 38 55½ 64½ 56/57 51 43½/44½ 42 39½ 56 67/71 68½ 62½ 54½ 46 45 41 37½ 37 60 73 78½ 74*/76 74/75 tsr 46* 70½/69 74/76 73* 74/76½

Heritage Railway 67

MAIN LINE NEWS reached in 69 minutes 51 seconds from Carnforth, more than three minutes early, gaining eight minutes on the schedule. Table one has the full details of this very good run and though no records were broken, my overall impression was of an effortless performance from an engine and crew completely on top of the job. The time the previous week had been 78 minutes 16 seconds with speed on Shap as low as 23mph, but it appears that the train brakes were dragging adding the equivalent of possibly another three or four coaches or 110-plus tons. On February 28, the overall time was just over 68 minutes with No. 46233 making a better climb of Grayrigg, minimum of 45mph, but was slower on Shap at 33mph in poor weather conditions. After lunch, we returned to the station to find No. 46233 already attached and with driver, Tom Kelly, and fireman, Sam Scott, in charge. We left three minutes late and had the usual very cautious run on to the Settle line, after which the performance throughout to Hellifield was modest compared with the previous week. With just a temporary speed restriction at Culgaith tunnel,

TABLETWO:CARLISLETOHELLIFIELD Date Train Loco Load Driver Fireman Recorder Position Weather

Saturday, January 31, 2015 1440 Carlisle to Euston Class 8 Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland 12 coaches, 438 tons tare, 465 tons gross Steve Chipperfield Nigel Barber Alan Rawlings gps 2 of 12 clear and cold

miles 0.00 0.90 2.70 3.90 5.09 6.96 8.36 9.94 12.23 15.45 17.25 18.35 19.78 22.70 23.34 24.70 26.03 27.85 30.78 0.00 Ormside 2.47 Helm Tunnel 3.79 Griseburn 5.36 Crosby Garrett 7.52 Smardale Viaduct 8.60 Kirkby Stephen 10.71 Birkett Tunnel 12.75 Mallerstang 14.02 Ais Gill (MP 260) 17.22 Shotlock Hill Tunnel 18.73 Garsdale 20.60 Rise Hill Tunnel 22.45 Dent 23.87 Blea Moor Tunnel 26.46 Blea Moor 28.78 Ribblehead 30.02 Selside 32.47 Horton-in-Ribblesdale 34.73 Settle 40.78 Settle Junction 42.75 Long Preston 44.76 Hellifield 46.00 Carlisle Petteril Bridge Jct. Scotby Cumwhinton Howe & Co Sidings Cotehill Low House Crossing Armathwaite Baron Wood No.2 Tnl Lazonby Long Meg Little Salkeld Langwathby Culgaith Tunnel Culgaith New Biggin Kirby Thore Long Marton Appleby

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 4.00 04 36 08 55 11 00 13.00 12 56 15 29 18.00 17 14 20.00 18 53 21 12 27.00 24 25 26 14 27 21 31.00 28 56 32 30 36.00 34 05 36 21 41.00 38 08 40 01 48.00 44 35 0.00 00 00 8.00 05 28 06 59 08 59 15.00 11 51 13 11 19.00 15 41 18 18 24.00 19 58 29.00 24 16 26 28 32.00 28 20 30 51 32 50 35 55 43.30 38 54 46.30 41 37 44 50 51.30 47 09 53 16 59.30 55 14 57 35 66.00 62 23

*brakes/check

68 Heritagerailway.co.uk

speed 14/sigs 5* 31 35 43 45/46* 52/60 57/62 58/56*/65 58 60 57 51/58 tsr 24* 30 41 55 59 56 50 43 47 53 48 45 47/48 42 52/56 tsr 40* 48 35*/58 56 35*/24* 30 61 58/60 59/60 59 41/sigs 8*

Having emerged from the persistent fog as it topped Ais Gill,DuchessofSutherland runs along the fairly level part of the S&C past Dent on February 7. ROBERT FALCONER more than two minutes was dropped to Appleby. After taking water, we got away to a reasonable start with speed up to 51 across the River Eden viaduct at Ormside before dropping back to 37.3mph at Griseburn. Speed recovered to 52 over Smardale viaduct but then fell to 36 after Mallerstang when more noise could be heard from up front and No. 46233 recovered to 41.6mph on the 1-in-100. The extra effort was short-lived though and speed fell quite rapidly to just 30 over the top at Ais Gill. The time of 22 minutes 41 seconds over the whole of the stretch from the Ormside viaduct to the top of the 1-in-100 at Milepost 260 was quite reasonable but it was a slightly strange effort with some nice bursts of power. The very slow running from Ais Gill to Ribblehead suggests that maybe Duchess of Sutherland wasn’t steaming that well and this is confirmed by an analysis of the horsepower figures in table four. It was a shame as conditions were nearly perfect – cold, dry and completely calm – and the Fells looked beautiful with more than a dusting of snow in the lovely late-afternoon winter sun.

A great job

I have tabulated the run from the previous week timed by my colleague, Alan Rawlings. This was much better, with a time of 19 minutes 19 seconds over the 15.25-mile climb to Ais Gill, producing nearly 1800edbh and 2120ihp (indicated horsepower) over the whole climb, just what would be expected from a Princess Coronation. Details are shown in table two and Alan comments: “Steve Chipperfield did a great job with the ‘Duchess’. He was the one who also impressed me on the southbound ‘Scottish Lowlander’ over Shap. What I like about him is the fact that he sets it up, lets it get on with it but watches the speed and makes adjustments to keep up the pace.’’ Before describing the conclusion of our day on February 7, I have set out in table three some fine runs with No. 46229 Duchess of Hamilton in 1983 and 1984. Table four summarises the climbs to Ais Gill with estimated output figures. I am grateful to Paul Rowe for the log of No. 46229 on January 7, 1984.

These are all quite exceptional and in the top range of expectation for this superb class of engine. No. 46229 was nurtured by the late Kim Malyon who, according to my old friend David Sprackland, “used to tune the loco to get maximum power outputs at around 50-55mph,” the sort of speeds he, and we, wanted to do on the climbs to Blea Moor and Ais Gill with heavy loads. It is difficult to pick a winner from these three runs. Although the one on January 7, 1984, was the fastest and gave the highest speed over Ais Gill plus an indicated horsepower figure just short of 3000 and an estimated steaming rate of 35,000lb per hour over the whole climb, the run I timed on February 11, 1984, had the fastest start and an exceptional 60mph over Smardale Viaduct. However, the temporary speed restriction after Kirby Stephen ruined the run, and driver Hayton described conditions as awful, with water running along the track in Birkett tunnel. No. 46229 slipped at least five times on the final climb to Ais Gill, each one controlled brilliantly with minimal loss of speed. In between slips the engine was producing about 2385edbh, or 2700ihp. On November 5, 1983, No. 46229 had an extra three coaches attached for the erstwhile ‘55 Club’, including the clerestory-roofed ex-LNWR Royal Train Brake No. 5515 which brought the load up to an enormous and quite exceptional 535 tons full. No. 46229 averaged 1865edbh over the whole 20 minutes of the climb and 2200edbh or 2500ihp for the final three miles of 1-in-100 where speed actually rose over the last mile. As a Southern Bulleid man at heart, I have to say that I can only imagine one other class of engine other than a Princes Coronation being able to turn in such performances with these loads. Only perhaps some of the Bulleid Merchant Navy class performances of the last few years of steam, such as No. 35012 United States Line on the up ‘Bournemouth Belle’ at Roundwood on April 4, 1965; No. 35005 Canadian Pacific on the 5.30pm Waterloo to Bournemouth on June 7, 1965; and No. 35028 Clan Line on December 12, 1966, are in the same league. Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

No. 46233 makes the northbound climb of Shap at Salterwath on January 31. DAVE COLLIER

TABLETHREE:APPLEBYTOGARSDALE Loco

No. 35012 produced 2105edbh for around nine minutes with a transitory 2300edbh or 3000ihp; No. 35005 exerted 1820edbh for about eight minutes, with a maximum of 2050edbh or 2850ihp at 78mph on the 1-in-336 past Brookwood; and No. 35028 put out around 1800edbh for eight minutes from Basingstoke to Fleet with the indicated horsepower figure peaking at about 3000 when speed reached 103mph. I have added the runs of January 31 and February 7, 2015, to table four and although the January 31 run compares quite well, these show just how good the performances of No. 46229 in 1983-84 were. On our run of February 7, we were away from Hellifield a couple of minutes down and soon running easily along the speed-restricted line towards Blackburn. At Whalley we hit the 1-in-82 climb of Wilpshire bank which includes sections as steep as 1-in-68 and lasts for nearly five miles. No. 46233 tackled this quite well at first with speed rising from 36 at Whalley to 43mph before falling back to 34.7 at Langho and then with some slipping to 24.7 but maintaining 25-26 to the tunnel and a final minimum of 21 after Wilpshire; an enjoyable interlude forging uphill through a lovely sunset.

Lively running

We were two minutes early at Farington Junction after running up to 68mph down past Pleasington. At Farington our two 47s took over for the rest of the journey and ran into delays from the 3.40pm Glasgow to Euston in front, which we finally got past at Warrington. More lively running from the 47s, including a start-to-stop average just short of 80mph between Rugby and Milton Keynes, saw us back just over a minute early. On a bad day for service trains on the WCML, the ‘CME’ had shone through again. The ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ has all a timing enthusiast could wish for: long sections of highspeed heritage diesel or electric traction haulage, big climbs with heavy loads behind a steam locomotive, usually Class 7 or 8, over Shap, Ais Gill and Langho banks, and the breathless beauty of the Settle and Carlisle Railway. Next time I will look at northbound runs over the S&C and southbound over Shap.

Load Driver Fireman Recorder Position Weather Appleby, Milk Plant Ormside Viaduct Ormside MP 273 Griseburn Box MP 271 Crosby Garrett Smardale Viaduct Kirkby Stephen MP 265 Birkett Tunnel MP 264 Mallerstang MP 263 MP 262 MP 261 MP 260 Ais Gill Summit Sign Mp 258 Garsdale

Class 8 Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No. 46229 Duchess of Hamilton 14 coaches, 496 tons tare, 535 tons gross Hayton Don Benn stop watch 11 of 14 clear and cold miles sched mins 0.00 0.00 00 1.58 04 2.02 04 3.83 06 4.90 08 5.83 09 7.08 10 8.08 12 10.24 15 11.83 17 12.30 18 12.83 18 13.42 19 13.83 20 14.83 21 15.83 23 16.83 24 17.08 28.00 24 18.83 26 20.15 32.00 29

secs 00 13 40 42 02 17 50 12 07 24 06 55 57 20 42 08 33 53 52 18

Class 8 Princess Coronation 4-6-2 Class 8 Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No. 46229 Duchess of Hamilton No. 46229 Duchess of Hamilton 13 coaches, 455 tons tare, 490 tons gross 13 coaches, 457 tons tare, 490 tons gross Alexander Hayton Kane Paul Rowe stop watch Don Benn stop watch 13 of 13 3 of 13 snow showers, north wind, very cold heavy drizzle and mist

speed

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 58½ 03 43 56 04 17 50 46 07 48 45½ 08 54 46 10 20 48 11 26 41½/43 13 55 42 15 50 42 16 25 38½ 17 06 46½ 42 18 16 41½ 19 25 42 20 32 43 21 40 45½ 28.00 22 00 55½ 23 43 32.00 25 55 27 mins late

slipped in Birkett Tunnel On this run the train started from the platform and not from the Milk Plant. All distances 0.45 mile longer

speed

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 51 03 28 50 03 56 49 06 00 48 07 19 53 08 28 53 09 51 56½ 10 57 49½/51½ 13 20 48 15 38 47 16 20 46 17 04 54 18 08 54 18 28 53½ 19 45 53½ 21 03 53 22 23 55 30.00 22 43 61 24 47 35.00 27 08 42 mins late

Ais Gill time at site of signalbox

speed notes 29 mins late

56½ 54 50½ 48 49½ 54 60 51 eased 38½* tsr 41 slipped 40 slipped 44 slipped 46½/48 47 severe slip 44 46 48 slipped 54

* speed restriction

POWEROUTPUTSORMSIDETOAISGILL Date Engine Load Weather Ormside Viaduct Time to MP 260; 15.25 miles Average Speed EDBH IHP Last three miles of 1 in 100 Average Speed MP 263 to MP 260 EDBH (MP 262 to 260 for 31.01.15) IHP Last Mile to MP 260 EDBH IHP

31.01.2015 46233 12 for 465 tons clear and cold 19 mins 19 secs 47.37mph 1795 2120 44.44mph 1710 2020 1760 2070

07.02.2015 46233 12 for 475 tons clear and cold 22 mins 41 secs 40.34mph 1450 1720 35.91mph 1500 1750 1300 1530

05.11.1983 46229 14 for 535 tons clear and cold 20 mins 20 secs 45.01mph 1865 2175 42.69mph 2200 2500 2300 2600

07.01.1984 46229 13 for 490 tons snow showers 17 mins 57 secs 50.97mph 2170 2510 53.50mph 2520 2950 2490 2920

11.02.1984 46229 13 for 490 tons drizzle and mist 18 mins 55 secs 48.37mph 1910 2240 45.96mph 2185 2500 2385 2700

Heritage Railway 69

TOURS

Onthelastofthreebookeddutiesforthelocomotive,LMS PrincessCoronationPacificNo.46233DuchessofSutherlandtopstheclimbtoAisGillsummitontheSettle&Carlisle linewiththeRailwayTouringCompany’s‘WinterCumbrianMountainExpress’onFebruary28.BEN COLLIER

March SAT 14: ‘Cumbrian Coast Express’

Euston, Carnforth, Workington, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Carnforth. Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman. RTC

SAT 21: ‘Cathedrals Express’

Horsted Keynes, Ely and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD

SAT21: ‘Cumbrian Jubilee’

Tyseley, Settle, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle, Carnforth. Loco: No. 5690 Leander VT

SAT 21: ‘Wensleydale & Durham Coast’

Carnforth, York, Redmire, Ferryhill, Sunderland and return. Steam hauled: York, Redmire, Sunderland and return. Locos: Nos. 61264 and 61994 The Great Marquess. RTC

WED 25: ‘Pendle Dalesman’

Kidderminster, Preston, Settle, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled: Preston, Carlisle and return. Loco: TBA. WCR

SAT 28: ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’

Euston, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Farington Junction. Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman RTC

SAT 28: ‘Salopian Express’

Bishop Auckland, Crewe, Chester, Shrewsbury and return. Steam hauled: Crewe, Chester, Shrewsbury, Crewe, Chester. Loco: TBA. WCR

April WED 1: ‘Pendle Dalesman’

Rugby, Preston, Settle, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled: Preston, Carlisle and return. Loco: TBA. WCR

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.

70 www.heritagerailway.co.uk

FRI 3: ‘Surrey Hills Luncheon’ Victoria, Guildford, Redhill, Victoria. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 35028 Clan Line. BEL

SAT 4: ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’

Euston, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Farington Junction. Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman RTC

WED 8: ‘Cathedrals Express’

Salisbury, Clapham Junction, Canterbury and return. Steam hauled: Salisbury, Canterbury, Willesden. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD

SAT 11: ‘City of New Orleans’

Tyseley, Trent Jct and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. VT

SAT 4: ‘Wansbeck’

York, Newcastle, North Blyth, Boulby and return. Steam hauled: Newcastle, North Blyth, Boulby, York. Locos: Nos. 61264 and 61994 The Great Marquess. RTC

BEL

Belmond British Pullman 0845 077 2222

RTC

Railway Touring Company 01553 661500

SD

Steam Dreams 01483 209888, 0845 310458

VT

Vintage Trains 0121 708 4960 Compass by West Coast 0844 850 3137

MON 6: ‘Hadrian’

Leicester Settle, Carlisle and return via Durham. Steam hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle, York. Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC

WED 8: ‘Salopian Express’

Dumfries, Crewe, Shrewsbury and return. Steam hauled: Crewe, Chester, Shrewsbury, Crewe, Chester. Loco: TBA. WCR

WCR

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Heritage Railway 71

narrow gauge nostalgIa

THe Talyllyn railway

in THe laTe Haydn Jones era

the talyllyn Railway is 150 years old this year and familiar after 63 years in preservation. Dan Quine gives an insight into what it was like before becoming a heritage line in 1951.

T

he story of Talyllyn Railway’s preservation is well known; how the heroic efforts of a small band of enthusiasts saved this most charming of narrow gauge railways and also began the global railway preservation movement. Yet the final years of the railway before its preservation are often overlooked. During the Second World War, the attention of the world was far from the remote valleys of mid-Wales. Those who were able to experience the last days of the Talyllyn often did not appreciate that they were seeing something unique, and rarely had the resources to photograph the railway. These previously unpublished photographs

show the railway in its last years of operation before preservation, when the Talyllyn was a very different railway from the bustling tourist operation we know today. The colour view below was taken on the bright morning of April 15, 1949. Dolgoch is waiting at Wharf Station on the first train of the day, due to depart at 9.25am. All the line’s passenger stock is in use, and, anticipating a large number of visitors, the railway has added four slate wagons to the end of the train to provide very basic passenger accommodation. Later that day, the wheelsets of the railway’s brakevan were delivered to Wharf. During April 1949, they were repaired at the Britannia Foundry in Porthmadog; the railway had been

“these previously unpublished photographs show the railway in its last years of operation before preservation”

DaviD Elliot, collEction of Dan QuinE

72 Heritagerailway.co.uk

without the van for three years. This explains why the brakevan is missing from the train. The point lever is jammed in position with a length of rail to hold the weighted point open – this same arrangement appears in photographs taken as early as the First World War. The first carriage in the train is ‘Limping Lulu’, a product of the Lancaster Wagon Co. Lulu is displaying the characteristic limp, its rear right is distinctly lower than the other corners.

Sir Henry Haydn Jones

In 1864, the Aberdovey Slate Company began large-scale slate quarrying at Bryn Eglwys, seven miles east of Tywyn. The quarry and the Talyllyn Railway were owned by the McConnel family,

Manchester mill owners looking to diversify their industrial empire. The quarry continued to thrive until 1910 when the McConnels put the whole enterprise up for sale. The best slate had been worked out and the quarry’s prospects were not good. The Aberdovey Slate Company was bought in 1911 by local MP Henry Haydn Jones. He

purchased the quarry, the railway and the company village of Abergynolwyn for just over £5000. For the next 45 years, he kept the undertaking working, primarily to provide employment for the people of his constituency. Haydn Jones was named after the Austrian composer, although his name was always given a Welsh pronunciation: “hay-dun” rather than “high-dun”. After he was knighted in 1937 he went by Sir Haydn, rather than Sir Henry. Sir Haydn came from a distinguished family. He had three brothers: the eldest, Major Owen Daniel Jones, became High Sheriff of Merioneth; Dr. J D Jones was the minister at the Richmond Hill United Reformed Church in Bournemouth and honorary secretary of the Congressional Union; and the Rev Lincoln Jones was the minister of the Union Church in Colwyn. Haydn Jones was a dignified and rather austere Edwardian gentleman, respected in the district, but reputedly not greatly loved.

A near fatal blow

By 1946, the Bryn Eglwys slate quarry had become unstable. For years, most of the slate had been got through the dangerous work of pillar robbing – removing slate from the pillars that held up the roof. Overnight on December 26 there was a significant collapse and the quarry was closed immediately. The primary reason for the railway’s existence was lost. Sir Haydn had pledged that the railway would continue to operate as long as he was alive, and true to his word he continued summer passenger services, at least on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Maintenance, which had long suffered from the company’s parlous financial state, became even more spare. The locomotives were barely fit for service and the track, in particular, was in very poor condition.

Motive power

Dolgoch is an 0-4-0WT built by Fletcher Jennings in 1866. For more than 80 years, it and fellow Fletcher Jennings veteran Talyllyn ran the services between Tywyn and the foot of the

Alltwyllt incline that led to Bryn Eglwys. By early 1945, Talyllyn was worn out and was shunted into the workshop at Pendre, too dangerous to operate and too expensive to repair. Dolgoch was in an only slightly less perilous condition. The 1944 service had to be reduced to two days a week to avoid taxing the frail locomotives. In March 1945, Dolgoch was sent to the Atlas Foundry in Shrewsbury for essential repairs. Most of the 1945 season was lost, but in September it returned to traffic, though passenger services did not resume until the following Easter. As part of the 1945 overhaul, the Atlas Foundry repainted Dolgoch light green, lined with dark green and yellow, with black connecting rods and a green boiler. By the time this photograph was taken in 1949, Dolgoch’s boiler had been repainted black and the connecting rods and boiler bands picked out in red; this probably happened when the boiler was patched some time between 1946 and 1948. The fireman’s (left) side of the locomotive faced the platforms and had Dolgoch and ‘Tal-y-llyn Railway’ painted on it. The driver’s (right) side was unlettered. John Bate visited the Talyllyn in 1947 and described Dolgoch as carrying a “smart light green livery about the shade of LNER green lined in red and yellow which dated from its 1945 overhaul”. This is a good description of how we see the locomotive here. On August 16, 1949, Dolgoch cracked its frame. It took more than a month for fitters from Atlas to visit Pendre, weld the cast-iron frames and reassemble it. It returned to service in September in the same livery – according to John Bate this livery was carried until its first repaint in preservation, in 1952.

Along the line

The Talyllyn Railway of the late 1940s was an atmospheric place. Despite the loss of the slate trade, the railway was seeing booming postwar passenger numbers. The poor condition of the track and rolling stock led to a constant battle to keep trains running. The following photographs give a glimpse into this era. Heritage Railway 73

Tywyn Wharf

Dolgoch has just arrived at Wharf (above left) on a train from Abergynolwyn. Passengers disembark next to the last few slates that had come down from Bryn Eglwys. Wharf station did not gain the luxury of a passing loop until 1952, so Dolgoch will propel the train to Pendre, run round and return for the next departure. The name of the locomotive and railway are painted on the fireman’s side of the locomotive: Dolgoch is in a strange almost Gothic script on the boiler, while ‘Tal-y-llyn Railway’ appears in a more regular, yellow script with a dark green drop shadow on the bunker. This photograph probably dates from the autumn of 1948. More photographs of this train appear later in this article. In the left foreground is the slate stacking area. Large slabs form a fence and a row of small slates waits forlornly to be sold. These had sat at

Tywyn Pendre

Pendre (below)was the engineering hub of the Talyllyn Railway with its carriage and locomotive sheds and the line’s spartan Victorian workshops. This colour view of Pendre was taken in June 1950, on the same day as the photo of the brakevan at Wharf. The almost derelict state of the railway is evident in this photograph from the very end of the Haydn Jones era. The rails of the main line are bright but wobble in and out of gauge. The other

Wharf for years, the small sizes were less popular and this small stock remained in situ up to preservation. A short train is waiting to depart Wharf station (above right) in June 1950. Two employees manhandle a sack of what appears to be potatoes into the brakevan. Photographs of general goods being loaded on to a Talyllyn train are rare. In the foreground is the weighbridge, used for incoming slate trains. The track to its right is overgrown and a rail has been removed – probably to replace a broken rail elsewhere on the line. The once-bustling slate wharf is now beginning to decay. Possibly on the same day as the photograph above and certainly in June 1950, this view shows the brakevan on a heavily overcast day at Wharf. The brakevan was built in 1866 by Brown Marshalls and it originally had sliding doors on trackwork is rusted and disappearing into the turf. Of particular interest is the temporary repair to the locomotive shed door using corrugated iron; this does not appear in photographs of Pendre in 1949, and was removed by the preservationists in 1951. The carriages are out in service on the train shown above, leaving the rickety shed on the right empty. A slate wagon stands on the short siding beside the shed, holding coal for Dolgoch. At this time Talyllyn is shunted away in the back of the workshop to the right of the carriage shed.

aBovE & inSEtS: DaviD Elliot, collEction of Dan QuinE

both sides and a verandah at the end nearest the camera; the remains of the bottom of the verandah door with its diagonal brace can still be seen. The stand for the handbrake is outside the van; it was originally operated by the guard standing on the open verandah, so when the verandah was enclosed, a window had to be left so the guard could still operate the brake. This was one of the last trains to run before the death of Haydn Jones on July 2, 1950.

DaviD Elliot, collEction of Dan QuinE

Rhydyronen

DaviD Elliot, collEction of Dan QuinE

74 Heritagerailway.co.uk

The rural nature of the Talyllyn is one of its many charms. Its wayside stations are bucolic indeed. Rhydyronen, in particular, is one of the most delightful stations in Britain. It was the upper terminus for the first trains run in preservation in May 1951. The photograph (above) shows the station in June 1950. The points in the foreground lead to a short siding built to serve the manganese mine. The siding was turned into a loop early in the preservation era before being removed completely, and the platform was extended to cope with the longer tourist trains in 1977-78. But in 1950, sleepy Rhydyronen basks in the summer warmth, shaded by oaks and ash.

Abergynolwyn

These last three photographs show the autumn 1948 train already seen at Tywyn. They are all at the far end of the line, Abergynolwyn. The bare trees and embankment behind the train show this is the end of the season; Abergynolwyn is more commonly seen covered in vibrant foliage. Dolgoch has returned from overhaul at the Atlas Foundry, the new chimney and smokebox lubricators are the tell-tale signs. By this time the slate trade has finished and the railway is being run primarily for locals and tourists.

Dolgoch is at the east end of the station (below left), the train having just arrived from Wharf. Beyond lies the mineral extension towards Bryn Eglwys and what is now Nant Gwernol station. Having run round its train (above), Dolgoch prepares for the return journey to Tywyn. A family eagerly gathers round the locomotive before departure. The young man climbing into the cab is one of the passengers. This was the period that the passenger brakevan was out of service, so the guard is

using a compartment of the composite carriage. A young enthusiast pretends his stick is the guard’s flag and gives the ‘right away’ from the steps of ‘Limping Lulu’ (below). How many of us have fond memories of childhood trips on the Talyllyn? This year the railway celebrates 150 years of taking visitors up the Fathew Valley. Long may it continue to run from Tywyn, through Rhydyronen to Abergynolwyn and beyond.

➜Many thanks to Martin Fuller, Marquis DeCarabas, Ian Drummond and Nick Jones for their advice and help. All photographs, collection of Dan Quine. Heritage Railway 75

FOOTPLATE EXPERIENCE

LADIES FIRST! Men may have had the steam age almost all to themselves, but now the ladies are getting in on the act. Heritage Railway’s advertising manager Sue Keily took her cousin to the award-winining Severn Valley Railway for a day out... but with a big diﬀerence: the pair actually drove and ﬁred a classic locomotive on a journey from Bewdley to Bridgnorth. And their verdict? Anyone can do it! Words and photographs by Robin Jones

Left: Fireman Steve a.k.a ’Ron’ Chandler explains the cab controls.

J

Bottom left: Sue swaps her advertising manager’s desk for the footplate.

ust over two centuries ago, an event in Bridgnorth changed the world forever. It was in 1808 that John Urpeth Rastrick built Richard Trevithick’s final steam railway locomotive, Catch-me-who-can, at Hazeldine Foundry. Destined to run trainset-style on a circular track in Euston, it hauled two carriages for fare-paying passengers and in doing so, formed the world’s first passenger train. Railways were, until the second half of the 20th century, the vital arteries of a Britain in which car ownership was but a tiny fraction of what it is today. Generations of schoolboys wanted to be an engine driver, for footplate crews were the role models of the day, eras long past in which there was no other celebrity culture. Indeed, the railways were, brief periods in wartime apart, an almost exclusively male-dominated empire. Not only that, but to become a top-link driver, you faced decades of guaranteed hard slog while ascending the ladder to join an elite ‘club’. You would start as an engine clearer at 15, and after many years might graduate to fireman, perhaps being allowed to drive a shunting engine in the yard. A long road still lay ahead if you aspired to become a fully fledged driver, and there were those who did not reach the peak of their chosen profession until their late forties or fifties. Since the end of the steam era, a tidal wave of change has swept through society, in most cases for the better. In today’s modern diesel and electric age, for example, we have female drivers in their early twenties. Yet on today’s heritage railways, locomen will still tell you that it takes many years, maybe a decade or more, to qualify as a steam driver. In layman’s terms, you are taking responsibility for moving a huge and unforgiving chunk of metal of wheels weighing several hundred tons at speed, and relying on the view of the road ahead from the limited field of view offered from a cab signal aided by lineside signals and markers. It is impossible to underestimate the sheer level of skills and finer techniques needed to drive a steam engine on a regular basis. However, it is nowadays possible for anyone – yes, anyone – to learn the basic principles of footplatemanship and experience, maybe if only for a day, what it was like to be at the beating heart of the steam age. The Severn Valley Railway is one of many railways which offer driver experience courses,

76 Heritagerailway.co.uk

We’re off! The green flag is waved, the signal raised and Ivatt 4MT No. 43106 is engulfed in a cloud of smoke as it departs Bewdley station on a trip of a lifetime for those undertaking the footplate experience course.

Sue gets to grip with the shovel – and found that it was by no means as hard as it looked!

and has a very wide range of packages to suit all pockets for that special occasion. Most of the experience course trips run from Bewdley to Bridgnorth, the place where you could say so much of it began, and yes, where in the station yard you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the modern-day locally built working replica of Catch-me-who-can.

wonderful scenery of the valley itself. Of course it helps if the sun is out, but if it is dull and murky outside, at least you are in the warmest place for miles around. Sue and Cathy were taken under the wing of driver Di Price, a charismatic character who looks as if he walked straight out of the pages of a 1950s boy’s Wonder Book of Trains. No question is too stupid to ask, no query is left unanswered – and he is right behind you all the way to ensure you get it right first time every time. The Introductory Experience lasts around 3½ hours from start to finish, when you are presented by the footplate crew with a certificate and souvenir SVR china mug.

The ultimate gift

Sue Keily, railways division advertising manager at Heritage Railway’s publisher Mortons, in Lincolnshire, was looking for the ideal 50th birthday present for her cousin Cathy Camp who has long been a railway fan, and follows our www.heritagerailway.com page. The ideal gift, therefore, had to be something to do with steam, and the Severn Valley Railway’s helpful staff were happy to oblige – with a driver experience course. Sue who is always prepared to try her hand at anything, was familiar with footplate experience courses through our regular advertising features, but had never been on one herself. However, now was the perfect chance. Cathy’s birthday celebrations, ironically, somewhat paralleled those of the heritage line.

She was born a few months before a landmark meeting in the Coopers Arms in the Kidderminster suburb of Habberley, which led to the formation of the Severn Valley Railway back in 1965 – a call for a double celebration if ever there was one. Cathy and Sue booked on to the SVR’s most popular course – the Introductory Experience – which costs £295 per person. For that you get a familiar briefing from the footplate crew before the journey; the chance, under their expert supervision, to take the controls of a steam locomotive – in this case Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43106 – over part of a return journey from Bewdley, the starting point to Bridgnorth; and also act as fireman. Anyone over 18 can undertake the courses provided they are fit. In addition, up to four guests over the age of five are allowed to travel in a coach behind the locomotive free of charge. When you consider that the return journey costs around £20 per adult, what you get for the cost to the package compares extremely favourably with adventure day experience courses in other sectors. Not only do you get to drive the train at line speed on a fully-fledged standard gauge line, but you can experience the delights of the

Cathy enjoys the warmest spot in Worcestershire on February 28 prior to the locomotive’s departure.

How did it go?

In fairness, Cathy was already bitten by the steam bug, but had never been on a footplate before. “What a wonderful 50th birthday present to remember,” she beamed. “I thought it would be very hard with all the different levers and pressure gauges but it wasn’t. I absolutely loved it and didn’t realise the speed it could go – maximum 25mph – but it seemed fast for a steam train. The fire pit looked amazing.”

Sue and Cathy are given a crash course in the principles of steam driving. Heritage Railway 77

Sue rides in Collett nondescript brake saloon No. 9103, the single coach behind the locomotive, as she waits for her turn on the footplate. Left: Tea cans keep warm above the grate.

Below: GWR No. 9013 was built in 1929 and is the last survivor of 10 examples of this type. It was part of the Westward Television Train before the Severn Valley bought it in 1972. It is now used as a special service vehicle.

The footplate experience special about to depart from Bewdley on a murky February 28 morning.

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She added: “I drove it first from Bewdley to Hampton Loade with a chap called Peter who was there for the experience also, each of us had a turn on the firing and driving. “The footplate crew said I did remarkably well. The whole experience was amazing and I recommend it to anyone who loves steam trains.”For Cathy, the experience did not end at Bewdley, for she now hopes to find a local heritage line on which she can volunteer. Cousin Sue enthused: “When the train rolled into the station ready for us to board, I had no idea at that point what to expect. We were told it was a 1951 tender engine called the ‘Flying Pig’. “There were six of us on the experience altogether, divided into twos, with two people driving at a time. I was in the third pair, so for me travelling in the carriage attached to the train for the first part of the experience with other passengers through the fantastic countryside was great, it took me back in my mind to many years ago when these old steam trains were the normal means of transport. “Although I was born in 1963, I don’t remember how wonderful these old steam trains were back then – I was way too young. “When it was my turn to drive the train, I felt nervous and excited at the same time. I climbed up into the hub of the fantastic locomotive. The skipper Di Price said ‘come on up here and be prepared to get dirty’. “Yep, I’m up for that, I said. I was paired with a lovely chap called Neville who had been bought the experience by his family. For the first part of our journey I was with Steve ‘Ron’ Chandler the fireman and Neville was with Di, driving the train, and Steve then said ‘grab that spade and get this fire stoked’. “He showed me the technique. So I picked up the spade, shovelled the coal onto it, and turned round to throw it into the big open mouth of the fire. I hit the metal opening of the fire and threw it all over the floor. ‘That’s how not to do it says Steve’!” Sue continued: “I tried again, my aim was perfect this time, straight in through the hole. Once you get your balance as the train is thundering along the track it’s great fun. Steve then said ‘Okay you’re a great fireman Sue, once you got the hang of it’. I then swapped with Neville and had a go at driving the train, Di showed me what to do, when to apply the

Cathy, Sue and driver instructor Di Price at Bewdley after presentation of their certificates and souvenir mugs.

brakes, when to open up the speed etcetera. “One of the great things is the very loud horn. Every so often, Di said ‘sound that horn Sue, let them know we are coming’. I kept calling Di ‘Casey Jones’. Not only did he look the part but it took me back to my childhood remembering it was one of my favourite TV programmes. Never did I think I would be driving an old steam train just like that in my later years! “It’s an experience you have to try yourself to explain the exhilarating feelings you get actually driving and firing such a fantastic iconic steam engine. It might look difficult for females to do, but it is not. A lot of females probably hold back from an experience like this because they are worried about the manual work involved, but it really is not difficult. “It was one of the most wonderful, amazing experiences of my life and I would urge anyone to try it, male or female.” Three days after Cathy and Sue’s couse, the SVR heard that it had been voted Heritage Site of the Year tn the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards 2014/15.

You can try it too!

‘The Flying Scotswoman’ will be returning to the Severn Valley Railway on Saturday, July 25. As part of the line’s second Ladies Day celebration, a number of Taster Footplate Experiences are being run for just £125 a head, giving the opportunity to drive and fire a steam locomotive for four miles. Men, too, are welcome to book on the day! During this and the line’s regular Taster Footplate Experiences, one guest may travel with you in the coach behind the locomotive. Free travel tickets for the day are provided for the driver and this guest. A further two guests may also travel in the footplate experience train free of charge. There are several other levels of footplate experience available, including driving a diesel, right up to the Ultimate Experience, with two days, two steam locomotives, two nights’ accommodation and 128 miles of driving – at £1595 per person. ➜Forfurtherdetailsoftherangeofcoursesavailable attheSevernValley,visitwww.svr.co.ukortelephone 01562757900between9amand5pmoremail [email protected]

Princess Anne set to visit SVR on April 13 STOP PRESS By Robin Jones THE ladies just cannot keep away from the Severn Valley Railway. Just after we closed for press, it was announced by the railway that Princess Anne is to visit the line for the first time on Monday, April 13. Local dignitaries and representatives of the SVR will welcome the Princess Royal and her escort, the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, at Bewdley where she will also meet a group of SVR pioneers and young volunteers before taking to the tracks. A statement from the railway released on March 4 said that the princess will meet a range of SVR staff, volunteers, founding members and apprentices as well as being invited to don a dustcoat and gloves and take a footplate ride. However, if admiring the views of the picturesque Severn Valley from the comfort of a carriage is preferable, she will be escorted into the luxury of an observation saloon for the journey to Kidderminster. Four of the founding members who gathered in the Cooper’s Arms in Habberley in 1965 will greet the Princess Royal and reveal key landmarks in the railway’s 50 year heritage. The princess will then be asked to unveil a plaque celebrating 50 years of the SVR and to sign the anniversary visitors book. She will be given a behind the scenes tour of the carriage works at Kidderminster, to meet volunteers and some of the young apprentices on the Heritage Skills Training Academy, one of a range of key projects financed by the fundraising efforts of the SVR Charitable Trust and the line’s share offer scheme.

SVR general manager Nick Ralls said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to the railway and to be given the opportunity to demonstrate how much the SVR has grown and developed during its 50 years in operation. “We have had the privilege of meeting Her Royal Highness in the past and she has revealed her enthusiasm for heritage steam, so we are very excited to be able to offer her the opportunity to travel along the line for the first time.” Though this is the first time that the princess has been to the railway, the line has enjoyed several royal visits before. Its patron since 1998, the Duke of Gloucester, has visited several times, and officially opened the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley in 2009. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were its first royal visitors in 1993, arriving aboard the Orient Express, Princess Alexandra visited in a personal capacity and the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall came to celebrate the reopening of the line in 2008, after extensive works to repair damage caused by flooding during the summer of 2007. ➜ A further late breaking story is the announcement by the Talyllyn Railway that Welsh Highland Railway flagship Hunslet 2-6-2T Russell is to take part in the Tywyn line’s 150th anniversary celebrations, joining, as reported in our News section, the Ffestiniog Railway’s England 0-4-0STT Prince. It will be a happy homecoming for Russell, which was a static exhibit at Tywyn Wharf station for 12 years after the Birmingham Locomotive Society bought it for £70 following its retirement from Norden clay mines near Swanage in 1953.

Guest list finalised for SVR spring gala LNWR Coal Tank No. 1054 has completed the guest list for the Severn Valley Railway’s March 20-22 spring steam gala, the first event in a year of major celebrations marking the line’s 50th anniversary The Bahamas Locomotive Society 0-6-2T first visited in 1986 and made a repeat visit three years ago. It will be joined by former SVR resident GWR pannier No. L92 in London Transport maroon livery from the South Devon Railway. GWR 2-8-0T No. 4270 from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and WD 2-8-0 No. 90733 from the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. They will run along home fleet locomotives GWR 0-4-2T No. 1450, WR 0-6-0PT No. 1501, GWR 2-8-0 No. 2857, prairie No. 4566 and Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34053 Sir Keith Park. A special 50th anniversary exhibition will be held inside the Engine House visitor centre at Highley, officially opening on Friday, March 20. Meanwhile, Severn Valley Railway staff were trying to locate an historic

plaque which, for three decades, was displayed in the public house where the heritage line had its beginnings 50 years ago. The wooden plaque was displayed in the now-closed Coopers Arms in Habberley, Kidderminster, where the railway held its first meeting in 1965. The fate of the plaque remains unknown. Claire Gibbard, the railway’s marketing and communications manager, said: “We have been working hard behind the scenes to collect as many original artefacts, stories and images to tell the story of SVR’s creation and development through the decades for this celebratory exhibition and would love to include the Coopers Arms plaque. “We’re trying to track down its owner and ask if we could borrow it to feature in the exhibition, which will run throughout 2015 – if we are able, we would be extremely grateful.” One-, two- and three-day rover tickets for the gala are available and visitors can pre-book and save on all tickets.

Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 79

OUR 200TH ISSUE

HERITAGERAILWAY’S

BICENTENARY Paul Appleton, the publisher who launched Heritage Railway back in early spring 1999, and still contributes to the magazine today, looks back at 16 successful years.

W

HEN THE editor asked me if I would like to write a few words about Heritage Railway magazine reaching its 200th issue I was, of course, delighted to accept. But what should I write about? It doesn’t seem too long ago that I was asked the same question on the occasion of the magazine’s 100th issue. Rather than trot out the same story of how we launched the magazine from scratch and had a stellar line-up of writers, and so on, I would rather use this opportunity to focus on two things. There is no doubt in my mind that the magazine’s strength is that it set its stall out to be an all-embracing railway preservation publication and has never wavered from that remit. The other thing is the editor himself. When I first decided that producing a new magazine about railway preservation would be a good idea, it came as a welcome relief to find an editor to launch the magazine who was not only as enthusiastic about the project as I was, but who shared the same vision for how it should cover and report on this wonderful hobby of ours.

Everything that runs on rails

There would be no favouritism; of course, there is no escaping the fact that glamorous machines such as Tornado, ‘Lizzie’ and Scotsman steal the headlines, but it has always been the case that Heritage Railway magazine would report on everything that runs on rails and is associated with them – whether that be a group of youngsters restoring an old five-plank open wagon in a draughty siding somewhere, or a seemingly hare-brained scheme to build a longlost type of diesel locomotive. They would all have their place, and indeed they have. For Robin Jones to still be at the helm 200 issues after he edited that very first edition tells you that he must be doing something right, for I believe this magazine is currently the best at delivering the news that people want to read about and delivering it as fast as is possible in print, but also by paying proper attention to electronic media and making sure that latebreaking news is there to keep the insatiable appetite of the enthusiast topped up. A mention too for Brian Sharpe, who has also

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Above: The recipient of HeritageRailway’s own major national award, the Heritage Railway Association’s Interpretation Award, was in 2014, won by The Colonel Stephens Railway Museum at Tenterden, as reported in previous issues. At the HRA annual dinner in Manchester on February 7, Doug Lindsey, a member of the Col Stephens Museum Committee, receives the award from Nick Pigott, editor of our sister title The RailwayMagazine. HRA Right: The star exhibit inside The Colonel Stephens Railway Museum is 1893-built Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway 0-4-2ST Gazelle. ROBIN JONES

served the magazine well for an appreciable number of years. I remember interviewing Brian along with several other candidates for the deputy editor’s post in the early noughties, and he is still there working alongside Robin – what a team. It has been my privilege to still be able to contribute articles and news stories to Heritage Railway, long since I ceased being its publisher. At the moment I am working on a feature about diesels. As a steam man, I find this slightly at odds with my own personal interests, but when I think about it, as a child of the 1960s, I grew up with the new generation of diesel locomotives and multiple units, many of which are more than 55 years old. That is older than a good number of the steam engines were when I first started becoming actively involved in railway preservation in the 1970s. Indeed the diesel locomotive has an increasingly important role to play in railway preservation today. Whether you love them or hate them, they are proving to be very useful on quieter service trains where their better economy and ease of starting allow the steam engines to

be saved for use on busier days, helping to balance the books. And how better to demonstrate the point I made earlier about Heritage Railway’s broad remit? Heritage Railway is the one magazine you can rely on to deliver the diverse array of news and stories that are the lifeblood of railway preservation in the 21st century

Need to operate at a profit

Long gone are the days of hobby magazines selling 80,000 copies every month. But the publishers aren’t being benevolent, they need to operate at a profit, so the presence of advertising – seen by some as taking up valuable space – is vitally important, otherwise you would have to pay £8-£9 for your monthly fix. So a word here too for those who advertise in these pages, because without them I am not sure some magazines would be viable. Let’s raise a glass to the publishers, especially Mortons Media, for having the faith to continue investing in magazines such as Heritage Railway. Our lives would be much the poorer without it.

Heritage Railway 81

REVIEWS

Railway Architecture

By Bill Fawcett (softback, Shire Publications, 64 pages, £7.95, ISBN 978 0 74781 445 0)

THE railways have been an integral, and indeed influential, part of our architectural scene since their very beginnings, and to this day the topic remains a source of both historical and modern interest, writes Geoff Courtney. As a professional engineer who has written and lectured extensively on architecture and railways, Bill Fawcett is well placed to write about this esoteric subject. An adviser to the Railway Heritage Trust, he starts his book in the 18th century with the Causey Arch in Co Durham, and leads the reader via the railway pioneering days of the early to mid1800s into the 20th century and on to the present day. Engine houses, warehouses,

goods sheds, tunnels, viaducts, bridges, signalboxes and, of course, stations, all come under the written and pictorial microscope, with the spotlight understandably dwelling longest on stations. I have no qualified eye for architecture, but St Pancras station fascinates and thrills me whenever I pass through, as I do often, and this magnificent terminus deservedly has its place in Bill’s book. It was, the author writes, a prestige product for the Midland Railway, designed by William Barlow to “herald the arrival” of the MR into the capital and set new standards in terminal planning. An example of this was the departure cab road climbing up from a side street into a

glazed cabstand adjoining the booking hall and then emerging through an arch in the frontage of the station hotel, while the arrival cab road was served by a second arch and ran the full length of the platforms. Barlow’s masterpiece, dating from 1868, inspired stations in both Germany and the USA as well as three in the UK – Glasgow St Enoch (1876), Middlesbrough (1877), and Manchester Central (1880), with that in Glasgow bearing the closest resemblance to St Pancras. It was closed in 1966 and demolished a decade later. He doesn’t say as much, but his feelings on the demolition are easily inferred. This may be a small book, but it

love, magnificently illustrated with colour photographs and diagrams. Unlike a dry car maintenance manual, this is eminently readable by enthusiasts of any age or level of technical knowledge. Separate chapters cover the history and evolution of the class, the differences between batches, tenders and liveries, how they work and the views of the locomen who drove and fired them, and the story of Pendennis Castle. And yes, if you want to get your Castle up on the ramps in the garage for a quick service on a sunny Sunday morning, there is a section on maintenance, which is also accessible to an informed and interested layman. TERRIFIC REFERENCE WORK

During a February 14 book signing at Didcot Railway Centre to launch the Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual for the Castle class, a cheque for £2500 was presented by Kevin Paul, sales manager of Haynes Publishing, to author Drew Fermor, towards the restoration fund for No. 4079 PendennisCastle. Members of the PendennisCastle team, standing left to right, Keith Turfrey, Richard Croucher, Dudley Allewey, Kevin Paul (holding cheque), Clive Sparling, Angus Pottinger, Jim Secchi, Drew Fermor (holding cheque) and Mike Bodsworth. On the locomotive’s chassis are Andrew Vaughan, Charlie McCarthy and Ben Shakeshaft. FRANK DUMBLETON

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covers a big subject and casts an interesting light on a part of the railway scene that many enthusiasts take for granted. BUILDING THE PICTURE

Narrow Gauge Lines of the British Isles

GWR/BR (WR) Castle Class: Owners’ Workshop Manual

By Drew Fermor (hardback, Haynes Publishing, 156pp, £22.99, ISBN 978085733271 4). TO MANY, a Haynes’ workshop manual is immediately reminiscent of those low-budget days when you tried to save costs by servicing your very second-hand Triumph Herald by yourself, and the sight of a manual with much the same cover appearance dedicated to one of the world’s most iconic steam locomotives cannot but raise a smile. Laugh no more once you have opened the book, for this is a fabulous biography of Collett’s world-beating GWR 4-6-0s. Written by the project manager for the restoration of Didcot’s reimported No. 4079 Pendennis Castle, it is a true labour of

EDITOR’S CHOICE

London Railway Atlas

By Joe Brown (hardback, Ian Allan, 160 pages, £20, ISBN 978 0 7110 3819 0). GO ON – admit it. Especially if you live in London, or even on the opposite side of the river, you will occasionally pass through stations that you have never heard of. Or maybe you are confused by the double labyrinthine nature of the capital’s railways – the Underground network underlapping the overground system. The fact is that London’s railways as a whole are a system within a system, and even seasoned enthusiasts find it hard to make sense of parts of them. Worry no more – this A4-sized atlas is the ultimate answer. Superb mapmaking outlines every route, station and siding and shed, with the more complex arrangements highlighted in detail. There is an exhaustive gazetteer of every station with the dates of opening and closure, and this, the fourth edition, not only includes early railways such as the Surrey Iron and Croydon Canal lines, but also those yet to open such as HS2, Crossrail and the Croxley link. The extend of the coverage is astounding. This one of the finest railway atlases we have ever seen. Every enthusiast with even a passing interest in London should make it their first stop. An absolute bargain at the price. COMPREHENSIVE CUTTING-EDGE CARTOGRAPHY

By Peter Johnson (hardback, Ian Allan, 160pp, £25, ISBN 9798 0 7110 3766 3) THE subject has been well covered before, but this encyclopaedic offering is a sheer joy to read. Superbly illustrated with photographs ancient and modern, it is both a detailed overview and celebration of our narrow gauge railways and all of their wonderful idiosyncrasies including bespoke engines and rolling stock. The A4-size book is divided into sections that cover lines given assent by Parliament; light railways, industrial lines, tourist railways and Ireland and the Isle of Man. Within them, the text covers all of the well-known lines as well as the forgotten and never-heardof backwaters which are also delightful in their obscurity. Did you know, for instance, that Glenfaba brickworks at Peel operated the last plateway in Britain? With this book you are buying into a lifetime’s collection of rare and archive pictures, many of which have never been seen before, and amassing expert knowledge. There’s blanket coverage from Woody Bay to Wells & Walsingham, with classic views to bring out the bespoke nature of each of the lines; there is so much to find out. INSPIRATIONAL TREASURE TROVE

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

news focus special

NOWILTING INWILTSHIRE

Who would ever preserve a length of railway on the outskirts of Swindon that was never part of the pre-Grouping Great Western? Peter Brown reports on the latest developments on the ambitious Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

I

t was a Saturday morning in late September when the autumnal sunshine blended with the myriad high-visibility vests as gangs of volunteers toiled away to extend the Swindon and Cricklade Railway through rural Wiltshire. Clearing is already well under way to extend the line to Cricklade in the north and plans are ongoing for an extension to Mouldon Hill in the south, but that’s only part of the success story of what has been an arduous battle to bring this line back to life. Originally the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, it became a part of the GWR at the Grouping. It was a minor route that ran for 60 miles between Southampton and Cheltenham, although its own metals were between Red Post Junction, just outside Andover, and ended at Andoversford, serving Marlborough, Swindon, Cricklade and Cirencester. It had its own station in Swindon – Swindon Town – completely separate from the

one on the Great Western main line. The railway provided a direct link from Southampton to the industrial heartland of the Midlands. During both world wars it provided a vital route for military traffic and ambulance trains.

“Everyone jumped for joy when they heard the original plan for the heritage railway that served Swindon Town station.” Heritage Railway called in on the S&CR, which is one of the great secrets of railway preservation, with a number of misinformed enthusiasts assuming it to be a line with railway items dotted about and nothing much happening. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a hive of industry with a loyal, hardworking, dedicated volunteer force that has the

intention of expanding the line as soon as possible. It also has restored locomotives that have gone on to other railways. A recent arrival is ex-GWR 4-6-0 No. 6984 Owsden Hall, formerly on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. It is on the S&CR for a full restoration, following in the tracks of other much-loved locomotives, though in this case it will remain on the S&CR when finished. The tender is currently complete and awaits final coats of paint. The locomotive itself is now complete below the running plate, with work now concentrating on the cab and other pipework before a boiler overhaul. The railway began 36 years ago and two members of the present executive team were in from the start: Adrian Crafer, now company secretary, and Dave Peacey, vice-chairman and trustee/building and works manager. “It started in September 1978 with a meeting at the Co-op Hall in Swindon, when a Mrs Jean Gibbs wanted to have some form of Visiting GWR 0-6-0PT No. 4612 is seen at Hayes Knoll with a short goods train on June 20, 2010. PAUL CHANCELLOR

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Swindon & CriCklade railway

Mapoftherailwayshowingtheplannedextensions toCrickladeandMouldonHill.

GWR 2-6-0 No. 5306 is seen at Cricklade with a railtour on September 10, 1961. CoLoUr-rAIL.CoM

heritage related to railways,” Dave points out. As ideas were buzzing around about how to restore the S&CR, Adrian consulted a local councillor, who in turn consulted the relevant council officer, and permission was obtained to write a letter to Mrs Gibbs. “I was told my reply could state that negotiations to establish a heritage railway were already under way.” Then came a public meeting to announce plans for the railway. “It was a big public meeting,” recalls Dave. “Everyone jumped for joy when they heard the original plan for the heritage railway that served Swindon Town station. “Everything was going well until we heard there was opposition from residents who didn’t want steam engines running past the end of their back gardens. The plan for the old town station was dropped but it was decided to aim for Mouldon power station.” At that time the Central Electricity Generating Board as was had plans to build a

gas turbine power station on the site with fuel oil delivered by rail. This meant that a section of track was to be retained by BR north of the power station sidings; the trackbed was owned by Swindon Borough Council all the way to Cricklade – so the only sensible place to start a heritage centre was at Blunsdon. Dave adds: “When we got here there was nothing. The track had been lifted. The original station, of which nothing remained but a mound of soil, had a small siding with such a tight curve that only wagons were permitted on it, the propelling locomotive staying on the main line. What we wanted to do was to drop rails in the pathway to show what it would look like. “We built a station at Blunsdon and laid 200 yards of track. Then we built a station at Hayes Knoll. What appears to be the station building is in fact one wall of the engine shed. We have been fundraising recently to extend the engine shed – a project that has cost £50,000.”

Taw Valley Halt – the station sign that signals an extension of the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. Taken on Saturday, September 20, 2014, a few weeks before opening.

Old Blunsdon station circa 1935. LoCoMotIVe & GenerAL rAILwAY PHotoGrAPHS

Blunsdon station on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. In the platform is DEMU Thumper No. 1302.

This crossing ‘box was found dumped at Purton on the Gloucestershire line and was donated to the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. It has been fully restored and doubles up as a booking office and is also used for crossing duties. Peter Brown 2014 Heritage Railway 85

Keeping the momentum of expansion going, track development is taking place at both ends of the line with plans moving ahead to reach Cricklade in the north and beyond Taw Valley Junction in the south. “The main track is going to reach Cricklade north from South Meadow Lane, which is the present limit for operations at that end of the line, although it is beyond Hayes Knoll station and loco shed,” says Dave. “It was decided to turn our attention south to Taw Valley Halt. We had £65,000 for that development and £5000 is left in our contingency fund. “The borough council requested a path be constructed to improve access; this wasn’t in the original plan. We were hoping to open the station last year but there were planning issues.” Adrian adds: “Design work is also well under way for the permanent station within the Mouldon Hill Country Park. Though yet to be confirmed, it is expected that the station will resemble Swindon Town station buildings. There will also be a gated level crossing within the park.” Despite the high cost of transportation, purchase and legal fees, the Swindon & Cricklade Railway has had some help from local authorities which obviously can see the boost to tourism in the area. Then there’s Readypower, the plant hire specialists for the rail industry, which has teamed up with the railway to provide a training facility for the industry as a whole. The has been very supportive in many ways. The vice-chairman of the S&CR admits that he does a fair bit of scrounging for the railway to keep costs down. “Things are expensive, but if we can find materials such as wood and other commodities that people don’t want anymore, they are usually quite generous. There are all sorts of useful items on this railway that have been turned into something else, helping the railway by saving us money,” he revealed. It’s far from plain sailing though, as chairman Brian Pound points out: “We’re held up from going north by an infilled bridge, still owned by a BR residuary, which has now been absorbed into the Highways Agency. Until resolved, this will block development north of Fairfield Lane. “Going south we have had to get an agreement with the local council. There’s a plan for an interchange station at Sparcells, also known as Moredon Bridge, on the Gloucester line. Network Rail made passive provision for the station in the redoubling of the line to Kemble.” Perhaps for the moment the 40-minute round trip may not seem a lot, but on this railway there’s been plenty of obstacles to overcome – and more visualised for the future – but there is also hope and determination such as the possibility of a deviation to reach the Cotswold Water Park, prompting Dave to exclaim: “The vision is brilliant.” Talks taking place between the railway and Cotswold District Council are very encouraging, we understand, but are a longterm ambition. Brian is directing the way forward for the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. He took early retirement from the NHS as property maintenance manager six years ago. “I saw the line extending south and thought then that what I had done in my work at the

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GWR Hall 4-6-0 No. 6984 OwsdenHall from Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway at Blunsdon on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway where it is being restored.

Hayes Knoll signalbox on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

Looking south from Blunsdon station on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

NHS could be put to use on the railway,” he says. “I joined as a member and was seconded on to the board five years ago. I think my background has been quite useful, particularly in dealing with policies, procedures and health and safety.” Company secretary Adrian adds: “I was involved right at the beginning, but did leave for a while and came back five years ago. “I am a broadcast engineer by training, an industry I worked in for 30 years. I then worked for a major civil engineering company on the West Coast Main Line remodelling and have spent the last five years in retail.”

“We give the public the railway they want to be associated with. We have 600 members with 60 to 70 being active volunteers. We encourage younger people, with some recently doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards through the railway.” Hearing this, chairman Brian adds: “There’s no age or disability restriction here.” Wandering through the railway on our visit, a feeling of friendship exudes from members to visitors. They chatter eagerly about some of the locomotives that have visited such as City of Truro for the GWR 175 celebrations and Met 1 in June and July 2014. Merchant Navy class Port Line had a partial restoration including a rewheeling carried out on the railway in the mid-1980s and Modified Hall class No 7903 Foremarke Hall was completely restored 10 years ago before moving to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Given the change of movements, it is difficult to be precise as to what locomotives are on the railway at any set time. So, with permission of the S&CR, we have used the information from its list of motive power on the railway as of May 2014.

“There are all sorts of useful items on this railway that have been turned into something else, helping the railway by saving us money.” He also runs his own company supplying mechanical railway signalling equipment to the UK market. Dave is very proud of his railway roots. “I was born in 1943 outside Snow Hill station and came to Swindon with my adopted family. I became an apprentice in the railway works.” During his working life he has run his own business in landscape gardening and building design and has also been a coach and lorry driver. He joined the Swindon & Cricklade Railway in 1978 and returned after some years and is now the works manager, trustee and vice-chairman. “We feel we are a family railway,” he says.

➜ Main line steam locomotive: Ex-GWR Modified Hall No. 6984 Owsden Hall for restoration. ➜ Main line diesel locomotives: Class 73/0 No. E6003 Sir Herbert Walker operational; Class 09 No. 3668 operational; class 08 No. 13261 operational; class 03 No. 2022 repairs; and class 03 No. 2152 repairs. ➜ Main line multiple units: Gloucester crosscountry DMU Nos. 51074, 51104 and 5914 restoration; DEMU Thumper two-car No. 207203 operational.

BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75029 at Swindon Town on August 2, 1960. COLOUR-RAIL.COM

➜ Industrial steam locomotives: Andrew Barclay 0-6-0ST No. 2138 Swordfish restoration; Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 70 overhaul; Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 2413 Gunby restoration; Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 2354 Richard Trevithick overhaul. ➜ Industrial diesel locomotives: Fowler 0-4-0DM No. 21442 Woodbine operational; Fowler 0-4-0DM No. 4210137 operational; Fowler 0-4-0DH No. 4220031 Blunsdon operational. ➜ Self-propelled engineering vehicle: Plasser & Theurer TASC 45 No. 98504. So many heritage railways solely rely on ex-British Railways’ rolling stock for their carriages, but here on the S&CR things are different thanks to its Vintage Train Project.

This is located to the south of the car park near to the area occupied by Readypower. The man in charge of the project is former insurance employee, Nick Bailey, who claims to have had no previous knowledge of railways whatsoever. But his enthusiasm for research and historical importance more than makes up for that as he enthuses about the 123-year-old ex-North London Railway carriage number 111, which is under restoration following a last-minute rescue from bulldozers. “It became part of a bungalow at Quedgeley in Gloucester where it was joined by one half of an ex-NLR brakevan,” he explains. “But we were told we would have to be quick as the bulldozers were on their way. We got both out just in the nick of time.”

The new two-road shed at Hayes Knoll. On the left protruding from the old shed is class 09 diesel shunter No. D3668, while on the line near the new building is 0-4-0 industrial shunter appropriately namedBlunsdon.

This railway may initially seem rather small compared with others but the enthusiasm and the care taken by all involved makes up for it. Annual events include the wartime weekend, diesel gala and Santa Specials, not forgetting the uses of the Moonraker dining train with its various offerings such as high teas, cream teas and the full wine and dining experience. The railway also runs its own driving experience; popular with people looking for a rather special way to celebrate a birthday or other event. The Swindon & Cricklade Railway is certainly one to keep an eye on. Those involved will be doing everything they can to make a dream come true and as a result there will be no wilting in this part of Wiltshire.

Theendoftheline,butnotfortoolong.Thisisthehope oftheSwindon&CrickladeRailwayatTawValleyHalt withaspirationsofservingthecountryparkbeyond. Heritage Railway 87

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Heritage Railway 89

NEW-BUILD PROJECTS

GRESLEY MEETS

CHAPELON: THEBESTOFBOTHWORLDS!

LNER Gresley D49/2 Shire/Hunt 4-4-0 No. 62766 TheGrafton. P2SLC

One of the major challenges in building the seventh Gresley P2, No. 2007 Prince of Wales, is choosing the valve gear. Director of engineering David Elliott details the research and design route which has led to the P2 Steam Locomotive Company deciding to evolve an improved form of Lentz apparatus.

The valve gear of LNER D49/2 Shire/Hunt 4-4-0 No. 62760 TheCotswold. P2SLC

he decision was taken early on to base the new P2 on class leader No. 2001 Cock o’ the North, being one of the most iconic designs of the 20th century. It was fitted with Lentz rotary cam poppet valve gear, which had the promise of improved performance and efficiency. The main benefits with poppet valves are, firstly, that the inlet and exhaust valves are driven by separate cams or groups of cams so that their opening and closing timing can be independent and optimised for the conditions; and secondly, the valves can be set up to fully open and close quickly allowing a greater volume of steam to be admitted or exhausted for a given size of valve, compared with conventional piston valves. By 1933, when Cock o’ the North was being designed, a sizeable batch (eventually to number 42) of the Gresley D49/2 Hunt 4-4-0 locomotives fitted with Lentz Rotary Cam valve gear were in service and performing well. Thus, the Associated Locomotive Equipment Company, which owned the licence for the Lentz equipment, was commissioned to design and supply a set of rotary cam valve gear for Cock o’ the North. Two significant design changes were incorporated: The first arose from the steeply inclined middle cylinder, which was necessary to ensure that the inside connecting rod did not foul the leading coupled axle. On the D49 design, all

long cut-off, letting steam into the cylinder for up to 75% of the stroke. As the train accelerates, the force required reduces, but the speed increases, so it is possible to reduce the cut-off in stages, which is similar to changing up through the gears on a car. Most express locomotives will cruise on the level at 15 to 20% cut-off, allowing the steam to expand in the cylinders and give up more of its energy mechanical power. It can be observed with Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado that when cruising on the main line the drivers make very small changes in the cut off as the gradient of the track alters. One notch on the reverser handle is equal to about 1½% cut off. With the Lentz stepped cams the steps are much bigger than this, which can cause the driver to partially shut the regulator to achieve fine control of the power and speed. As soon as full boiler pressure is not being used, the efficiency of the engine reduces. The Lentz gear for No. 2001 was fitted with continuously variable cams to overcome this problem and No. 2001 produced some exceptional performances for the period. However some difficulties were encountered. Firstly, the locomotive was not as economical as expected, then the exhaust beat was uneven compared to that expected, the continuously variable cams and rollers (that follow the cams)

T

three cylinders were in line, enabling the poppet valves to be driven by a single camshaft, which stretched right across the engine. With the P2 design, the inclined middle cylinder prevents a single camshaft, as the camshaft for the outside cylinders would pass straight through the middle of the inside cylinder. To overcome this, the inlet and exhaust valves on the outside cylinders were mounted conventionally above the cylinders. However, for the inside cylinder, the inlet valves were mounted on one side of the cylinder and the exhaust valves on the other. Two cam shafts were used, one on each outside cylinder, with the camshafts extended through the frames to drive the inside cylinder valves. The second change was to fit continuously variable cams to No. 2001. The normal Lentz design used a series of stepped cams, each providing a fixed cut-off (typically seven steps). This is satisfactory with relatively small or large freight locomotives, which tend to be worked hard for much of the time, however on a large express passenger design, it is desirable to have the cut off infinitely variable. The cut-off of the valves controls the percentage of each piston stroke that steam is let into the cylinder, and is analogous to the gearbox on a road vehicle. When starting, a large force is required at low speed, which is achieved with a

The Franklin B gear fitted to Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3752 will influence the P2 Steam Locomotive Company’s modifications to the design of Lentz valve gear over the coming months. P2SLC

90 Heritagerailway.co.uk

P2 director of engineering David Elliott studies the original drawings of Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3752 and its Type B inlet valve arrangement. P2SLC

P2 2-8-2 No. 2001 Cocko’theNorth. P2SLC

One of the new forged foundation ring corners before machining. P2SLC

The eight-coupled wheels at Pattinsons of Sheffield on January 29. P2SLC

The valve gear on a South African Railways 15E 4-8-2. P2SLC

The valve gear arrangement on P2 2-8-2 No. 2001 Cocko’theNorth. P2SLC

wore rapidly, and finally there were problems with wear caused by excess heat in some of the other cambox components. The lack of economy was partly down to some of the diagrams the locomotive operated to in Scotland, where it was being used on trains for which the locomotive was much bigger than necessary. However, a basic design issue with the cylinder block was excessive clearance volume. This is the space left in the cylinder when the piston is at the end of its stroke and the port between the cylinder and the valves, which has to be filled with steam during each stroke, but which does not give up all its energy to the piston.

gear components fitted to No. 2001 have been found. However, a number of component drawings of South African Railways 15E and 16E locomotives have been located: these feature Lentz rotary cam valve gear from the same period as No. 2001’s construction.

the risk of introducing new unexpected problems is significant. Through the good offices of one of our supporters, John Wilkes, who happens to be nearing completion of a beautiful 10¼in-gauge model of Cock o’ the North, we were introduced to George Carpenter, a hugely respected locomotive engineer, who worked with Chapelon and Porta, and knew many of the later steam locomotive engineers, including Bulleid and Stanier. George translated Chapelon’s book La Locomotive a Vapeur, which was published by Camden Miniature Services in 2000.

Why not Walschaerts?

A well-designed Walschaerts valve gear locomotive has a clearance volume of 7-8%. When built, No. 2001 had clearance volumes varying between 11.8% (outside cylinders) up to 16.1% for the front of the inside cylinder. This arrangement would have contributed to the uneven exhaust beat which was observed with No. 2001 and would not have helped with thermal efficiency. The problem with rapid wear of the cams and rollers was probably down to the limitations of surface-hardening techniques that were available at the time, before the rapid advances made during the Second World War. With the locomotive due to go to Vitry, in France, for static testing, in liaison with ALE, a new set of stepped cams was made and fitted. Wear and damage to other components was partially alleviated by fitting oil coolers to the cam boxes to reduce the temperature they were encountering, however a basic problem was the high stress levels encountered in No. 2001’s valve gear drive train. The power of the Gresley class P2 design was beyond that of a valve gear, which in basic terms was a beefed-up version of that from a 4-4-0. The builders’ research suggests that subsequent developments with poppet valve gear, both in the UK and around the world, would have overcome the problems experienced with No. 2001. Very few detailed drawings of the Lentz valve

Available options

We have some choices: ■ Adopt the British Caprotti valve gear as used on No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester and a batch of BR Standard 5MT locomotives ■ Improve and develop the Lentz design to overcome the shortcomings ■ If the above are impracticable, fit Walschaerts gear as was eventually fitted to all six of the original Gresley P2s. Use of Caprotti gear has two issues. Firstly, it is going to need a major redesign to adapt it to the steeply inclined middle cylinder, and secondly it represents a major change from the original class P2 design, which increases the risk of importing new unforeseen problems. Thanks to the efforts of our researcher Andy Hardy, we have found some correspondence between the LNER and the Associated Locomotive Engineering Company (which supplied and held the rights to the Lentz gear) that has never come to public light before. This correspondence includes two handwritten documents, one of which compares the forces in the Lentz valve train in the D49 and P2 classes, the other covers several other classes of locomotive. These show that the class P2 valve gear had substantially higher maximum forces than the class D49, and was not vastly different to those experienced with the South African 15E and 16E classes. However, the South African locomotives did not have such severe loading gauge restrictions, enabling the use of larger and stronger camboxes. There is little doubt that use of modern materials and heat treatments to produce extremely hard cams and followers would overcome the cam failure problem. However, without extensive design and testing resources,

US influence now in the mix

George’s knowledge of valve gears is encyclopaedic. He suggested that we researched Franklin Type B valve gear from the USA, and produced excerpts from a book One Man’s Locomotives, by Vernon Smith, who was deeply involved in the development of Franklin gear and subsequently with its fitment to a number of USA locomotives during the 1940s. The Franklin Railway Supply Company’s two types of poppet valve gear (A and B) were derived from Lentz oscillating and rotary cam gears, respectively, and in the case of the type ‘B’ rotary cam gear, used infinitely variable scroll cams throughout. Further development improved the other weak points of the Lentz design. The USA does not have a central national railway museum like our National Railway Museum, and research for drawings and information is more difficult and has taken a lot of time and effort by many of the A1/P2’s volunteer team, led in this area by Andy Hardy. Fortunately George Carpenter knew Vernon Smith and was aware that his son Charles had some of Vernon’s archives and it was hoped these would include details of Vernon’s work in fitting the Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3752 with Franklin B gear. Charles, who amongst other things is a railway artist (see www.vickeryart.com/associated/ smith/smith.html) has proved to be most helpful, lending us some drawings and two Franklin manuals for the Type B valve gear fitted to No. 3752. This loan has given us enough information to Heritage Railway 91

carry out detailed design of the valve gear and cylinders for No. 2007, which will be the focus of design work over the next few months. Scanning the drawings has been slightly problematical as the largest one is 11ft long! Our local scanner can cope only with 8ft-long drawings, so they have been scanned by passing them through from both ends to produce two partial scans which have been subsequently recombined electronically. These drawings show that the basic layout of the Franklin B gear is very similar to Lentz rotary cam gear. However, there are number of detailed design changes which we will incorporate where appropriate. The preferred solution for No. 2007 is to use the Franklin B design to improve the original Lentz rotary cam gear to produce the desired outcome of greater efficiency and a higher maximum power output with satisfactory reliability. This approach has the benefit of keeping close to the original No. 2001 concept and design. Redesign of the No. 2001 one-piece monobloc three-cylinder casting as a welded fabrication using 3D CAD provides the opportunity to improve the layout of the steam ports to reduce and equalise the clearance volumes. Careful attention will also be applied to the design of steam and exhaust passages in the cylinder block to keep live steam and exhaust steam separated – there are several places in the original design where steam and exhaust passages share a common wall which encourages transfer of heat from the live steam to the exhaust before it reaches the cylinders. This is another cause of loss of efficiency. The intention is to continue the best aspects of Gresley and Chapelon design development to enable No. 2007 Prince of Wales to reach its full potential, and it is with this in our minds we will continue the development and detailed design work.

Steaming ahead with the rest of the P2

Baker’s Patterns have completed the next batch of polystyrene patterns comprising Cartazzi axleboxes, pony truck frame stay, front boiler support and Spencer Moulton double spring buffer casings – to produce six castings in total. They have been sent to principal sponsor William Cook Cast Products in Sheffield to join four Tornado wooden patterns which will produce 12 castings for coupled axle and cannon boxes. All 18 castings are expected to be delivered before Easter. The machining of coupled wheels by Pattinsons Brothers Ltd of Sheffield and frame stays (large ones by Multi-tech Engineering Ltd of Ferrybridge and small ones by Northview Engineering Solutions Ltd of Darlington) is progressing well, with delivery expected by Easter.

Lessons from Tornado

With Tornado’s boiler at Meiningen for its seven-year overhaul, some of the detailed design improvement work for the boiler for No. 2007 has been brought forward to be incorporated in Tornado’s boiler during the overhaul. The main improvements being incorporated are the increased use of flexible stays, particularly in the lower corners of the firebox and the routing of the steam supply to the lubricator atomisers and the chime whistle. The standard LNER design for this has a live steam pipe coming through the front tubeplate into the smokebox and appearing as a valve on

92 Heritagerailway.co.uk

The first P2, No. 2001 Cocko’theNorth, on rollers at the Vitry testing centre in France. P2SLC

the side of the smokebox. Given the very corrosive environment in the smokebox, there is a small risk that the pipe (which is partly steel and partly copper) might fail which would result in steam escaping into the smokebox, with the resultant risk of a blow back of flame into the cab. By routing the pipe out to flanges on the side of the boiler, with the shut-off valves bolted directly to the boiler, any leak will become immediately apparent and will not cause any untoward effects in the smokebox. Furthermore, two additional washout doors near the front of the boiler will be fitted. With the use of hard water, particularly in the south of England, a high level of treatment is required to prevent the formation of hard scale, which can be damaging to the firebox. However, there is a side effect that the treatment can sometimes precipitate out as a fine powder where the water enters the boiler. On the LNER Pacific boilers, the feed water enters the boiler through the injector control valves in the cab, and then passes through long internal pipes, before being discharged into the boiler near the front tube plate. To assist mixing there are trays that look like pieces of half-round gutter under the pipe outlets. These tend to accrete precipitated water treatment, along with the smoke tubes near the front tube plate. The two new washout doors will enable us to clean this area properly during boiler washouts. At the end of 2010, Tornado’s boiler suffered cracks to the foundation ring corners, which necessitated removal of the boiler from the frames to renew them. The main cause was thought to be due to scale build up on the firebox causing it to become hotter than normal (scale is quite a good insulator). This effect caused greater than normal expansion and contraction in the firebox, which in turn placed greater cyclic stresses on the foundation ring corners, resulting in fatigue cracking. New corners were welded in and an improved water treatment regime has allowed the new corners to last longer, however there are some initial signs that cracks may be forming. When steel is cast the grain structure is fairly homogeneous – i.e. most of the crystal grains are of similar size and shape. When plate is rolled, it starts as a cast billet and is repeatedly run through rollers when red hot

until it the required thickness is achieved by which time it wider and a lot longer. This has the effect of stretching the grains in the steel in the direction it is rolled, which improves the fatigue strength along the axis of the grains. The foundation ring corners fitted to Tornado’s boiler are cut and machined from boiler plate, but this results in the long grains in the steel being at right angles to the maximum stresses, which does not help in prolonging their life. It is possible to control the direction of grain flow in steel by forging, and this is often used for manufacturing highly stressed components such as coupling and connecting rods. Forging involves hammering the hot steel to the required shape, and by careful control of the process the grain flow can be made to go in the optimum direction. After some searching, Brooks Forgings in the West Midlands has been contracted to produce tooling and make forged corners. As the tooling is a large part of the cost, we have ordered 12 corners, four for Tornado’s boiler, four for Prince of Wales’s boiler and four spares. The new corners are being made with extra metal on their upper edges and ends so that when they are used as replacements, they can be welded to fresh metal on the firebox. On a new firebox they will be cut back to the original size. Brooks Forgings at Stourbridge has now produced the first batch of four forged foundation ring corners (which are being applied to Tornado’s boiler during its overhaul. The remaining eight – which includes the first boiler components for No. 2007 Prince of Wales – are expected to be delivered by Easter.

Fundraising

Pledges to the project have now reached £1.65million, including Gift Aid. This includes almost 60 members of The Boiler Club, which has already reached 20% of its 300 member target. Regular monthly ‘covenanted’ donations are already running at more than 75% of those for Tornado just 12 months after the scheme’s launch (excluding The Founders Club, The Boiler Club and Dedicated Donations. ➜ Tofindouthowyoucanhelptheworld’s fastest-growingnew-buildproject,visit http://www.p2steam.com [email protected]

SCALE HERITAGE RAILWAY

‘Little Black Goods’ a big winner

EDITOR’S CHOICE By Robin Jones JUST as the final touches were being made to the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society’s Y14 0-6-0 No. 564, Hornby stole a march – and issued three versions of its later incarnation, the J15. The type, synonymous with freight working across East Anglia, dates back to 1883, when Thomas Worsdell designed the GER Y14 class. Following the opening of the Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint Line, giving the GER a direct route to Doncaster and the South Yorkshire coalfield, the company sudden found itself short of goods engines.

Most numerous

The first J15s were built in July that year, and a further 27 batches saw a total of 289 built, making it the most numerous GER locomotive type. In the 1890s, Holden attempted to standardise the J15 design with his J14 design, but it proved unsuccessful. All of the J15s were built at Stratford, apart from a batch of 19 built by Sharp, Stewart in 1884. The J15s were fitted with Holden’s standard small engine boiler, with the dome placed well forward and a long stovepipe chimney, giving them their

decidedly antiquated appearance. Superheaters were never fitted. There were some small variations though. The J15s were particularly successful because of their simple design which allowed for very easy maintenance. In 1913, the GER set an unbeaten world record for erecting a steam engine when No. 930 was assembled in nine hours and 45 minutes and went straight into service. Their low axle loading meant that they could run almost anywhere on the GER network. J15s with train brakes were frequently used on the growing excursion traffic, and could also haul secondary passenger trains. During the First World War, 43 J15s were loaned to the Government for use in France and Belgium. Although their withdrawals began under the LNER, 127 survived into British Railways days, largely confined to pick-up goods services. The last four were withdrawn on September 16, 1962. No. 65462 was purchased by the MGNJRS, and its overhaul has seen it back-converted to its original 1912 form before it was modified by the LNER. For practical engineering reasons, certain features of the LNER-rebuilt J15 will be retained. During its 10-year boiler ticket, No. 564 will carry as many

liveries as it did during its working life, beginning with GER blue. Sadly, no other J15 was preserved: maybe future generations might look at the versatility of the locomotive and consider it a prime candidate to form the basis for a batch of newbuilds. In the meantime, we have the magnificent new Hornby model. Given the popularity of the class, it is surprising that none of the major manufacturers has produced a proprietary model before, although it has been available in kit form in 3mm, 4mm and 7mm scales.

Die-cast boiler

Hornby’s J15 features a die-cast boiler, which aids adhesion, a removable coal load, NEM couplings and sprung buffers, It is available initially as No. 7524 in LNER black, No. 65356 in BR black with early crests and as No. 65445 in BR black with late crests. No. 7524 began life as GER No. 524 in October 1899 and saw service at March, Cambridge and Peterborough East. One of the early withdrawals, it was scrapped in 1936. No. 65356 emerged from Stratford Works in January 1888 as GER No. 532 and was renumbered 7532 by the LNER in October 1925. First shedded

at Cambridge, it was also based at Stratford and Bury St Edmunds. It was scrapped at Stratford a month after being withdrawn in April 1957. No. 65445 was built in August 1889 as GER No. 645 and became LNER No. 7645 in October 1924. Initially based at Stratford, it also served at Ipswich and Colchester. Withdrawn in August 1962, it was cut up at Stratford in March 1963. The detailing in the cab is particularly superb, but maybe it is wrong to pick out that aspect, because Hornby has pulled out all the stops to make the locomotive a masterpiece in miniature. The pulling power is not all that bad either! It comes fitted with an 8-pin decoder socket. The price for such a magnificent machine is also enticing.

HORNBY R3230

J15 0-6-0 No. 7524 LNER black livery DCC Ready £109.99

HORNBY R3231

J15 0-6-0 No. 65356 BR black with early crest DCC Ready £109.99

HORNBY R3232

J15 0-6-0 No. 65445 BR black with LATE crest DCC Ready £109.99

Bound for the Western Front

COMMEMORATING the role that railways played in war, Hornby is bringing out a series of train packs. The first, limited to 1000 sets, is a GWR troop train from the First World War. It contains the latest incarnation of Hornby’s Churchward Star 4-6-0, previously reviewed in Scale Heritage Railway, in the form of No. 4050 Princess Alice. The Star is paired with two clerestory third class coaches, Nos. 3133 and 3134, and brake coach No. 3374.

94 Heritagerailway.co.uk

A wonderfully charismatic representation of the period, when such trains ferried soldiers to the Channel embarkation points, this set will be welcomed by many collectors.

There is a dearth of ready-to-run models representing this period and it will plug a major gap for those lucky enough to find one before they sell out.

HORNBY R3219

GREAT WESTERN TROOP TRAIN Star 4-6-0 Princess Alice and three coaches DCC Ready £154.99

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The new Hornby LNER K1 2-6-0 cannot but impress... SADLY we have but one LNER K1 2-6-0 in our heritage fleet. However, if you have a layout, preferably with a BR era Eastern, North Eastern or Scottish theme, you can now add a proprietary model, thanks to Hornby’s eagerly awaited new release. The K1s were the final LNER locomotive design to be built. In 1945, LNER chief mechanical engineer Edward Thompson, who preferred a simple two-cylinder design to Gresley’s three-cylinder one, had his principal assistant Arthur Peppercorn rebuild K4

No. 3445 MacCailin Mor to a K1/1. When Peppercorn succeeded Thompson the following year, he evolved the end result into a new class of 70 mixed traffic locomotives. They were built by North British in 1949-50. Forty were allocated to the North Eastern Region and the other 30 to the Eastern Region. They proved themselves to be useful and versatile engines, and were popularly associated with the West Highland Line, where the sole survivor, No. 62005, named Lord of the Isles in

preservation, has regularly hauled the ‘Jacobite’ and is based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Dieselisation rendered them obsolete. All of the K1s were withdrawn between 1962 and 1967, No. 62005 being the last. Hornby’s new super-detailed model is the 15th to be outshopped, No. 62015, in early BR black livery. Built in July 1949, it was allocated to March, Stratford and Scunthorpe Frodingham. It was cut up at Drapers scrapyard in Hull in November 1965.

The model has a die-cast body and is powered by a 3-pole motor with flywheel. As with the J15s, the cab detail is stupendous. The splendid overall appearance is matched by the running – on our layout it would run either at snail’s pace or with a vengeance.

HORNBY R3242

K1 2-6-0 No. 62015 BR early black livery DCC Ready £129.99

Model event for Shildon THE Locomotion museum in Shildon will be holding a model motion event over the weekend of March 14-15. The event will feature a wide range of model railway layouts and there will be displays of other types of toy trains – including a collection from the North East Meccano Society. In addition, for a small charge, visitors will have the chance to ride behind Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20, Britain’s oldest operating classic steam locomotive. On March 27-29, Locomotion will stage a display of 5in gauge model locomotives by the Ground Level 5 Association. Driver experience sessions are also available on the fullsize J72 0-6-0T No. 69023 Joem on March 28-29.

Jersey Post is to issue a set of six stamps featuring Hornby trains as part of its Traditional Toys series. Featuring a selection of models from Britannia to an industrial shunter, the set will be available from March 24. For more details or to obtain one, visit www.jerseystamps.com JERSEY POST

An unrebuilt Merchant Navy Pacific coming from Hornby

HORNBY has announced that it will add an unrebuilt Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific to its 2016 range. Fuller details will be released later in the year, but speculation was that the range might include No. 35028 Clan Line, the most prominent member of the class in the heritage era. March 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the entry of the class into Southern Railway service. Conceived in 1937 when Oliver Bulleid became chief mechanical engineer of the Southern Railway, his vision was for a 4-6-2 fast mixed traffic engine, with quick acceleration and equally capable of hauling services to a speed of around 75mph. Production began in November 1940 at Eastleigh Works, with the first locomotive, No. 21C1 Channel Packet, named on March 10, 1941. Bulleid Merchant Navy light Pacific No. 35012 UnitedStates Lines hauling the ‘Bournemouth Belle’ in 1950. BEN BROOKSBANK/CREATIVE COMMONS Heritage Railway 95

Heritage Railway 97

PlatFOrM

READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE

track talk ➜ Museum has got Flying Scotsman livery right at last AFTER years of despair reading about the problems surrounding Flying Scotsman, not least the continuing saga of the livery, I have to congratulate Paul Kirkman, the director of the National Railway Museum, on ﬁnally announcing that the engine will be returned to the livery it carried at withdrawal by British Railways. Now in my latter years, I have written several letters to the museum over the last decade, pleading for the NRM to stop treating Scotsman as a hybrid and to revert to one of its authentic presentations. I have no problem with, say, apple green and single chimney, but have to say, having withdrawn my support for the NRM owing to its initial failure to honour its promise to return it to Brunswick green, I am delighted that I will now, God willing, see this engine on the main line in its ﬁnal BR form. I sincerely hope that, whatever livery the engine subsequently carries, the NRM will treat the livery question with respect and never again revert to a hybrid presentation, which seemed acceptable to many of Paul Kirkman’s predecessors. It is refreshing, at last, to read that the NRM intends to do what we expect it to do, i.e. represent our engines in as authentic a historical form as possible. Mike Dickinson, Carnforth, Lancashire ➜ Big new builds deprive smaller ones of support “NEW build? Forget it without a business plan!” – issue 199. It is very sad to think that David Champion thinks this way. Yes the P2 and the several other heavy locomotives at present being built do have a monopoly on the cash ﬂow and this appears to be all the big names are interested in – those built for main line excursion use that bring in large returns. The small groups that try to ﬁll the gaps left on the preserved railways and attempt to produce the smaller historic machines to operate with the vintage carriage stock are starved of funds mainly because they do not receive the same publicity and fundraising appeals in the railway press. The Holden F5 Trust is progressing well and will shortly have the frames assembled in spite of raising funds the hard way, The George the Fifth group is trailing behind but is ﬁlling a gap that will complement the four GCR ‘Barnum’ coaches when restored and should be ready about the same time with any luck, while the Phoenix group (a young group) is researching a Claud Hamilton. Maybe David Champion is right but we, the readers, could change that – even the carriage restoration needs our help. Come on readers – choose one of these projects and give it your support. They can all be found on the internet. Derrick Martin, Hornchurch, Essex

98 Heritagerailway.co.uk

STAR LETTER

‘Crass’ comments on main line steam from new HRA chairman GWR 4-6-0 No. 4965RoodAshtonHall passes Moreton-in-Marsh on the Cotswolds line with Vintage Trains’ ‘Valentines Dinner Express’ from Tyseley to Oxford on February 14. DAVE RICHARDS

IN RESPONSE to My Vision for the Heritage Railway Association in issue 199, I think that it is entirely fair to say that the Heritage Railway Association, together with its predecessor the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, has been of little or no consequence to the main line steam movement since BR acceded to a return to steam in 1972, at which point the ARPS Return to Steam committee was disbanded. From that date the main line community has made its own way in the world, and while I may be a little prejudiced, I would say that we have made a pretty good job of it. I can certainly say that during my time in managing and running Vintage Trains, I cannot recall receiving any significant assistance from the HRA. When considered, this is not entirely surprising, because while we may have common equipment, there is actually a wide disparity between the needs and demands of the main line business and those of the private railway. For instance, we really only need to concentrate on our passengers, locomotives and rolling stock while the private railway sector often has such pressing factors as landslips and the like. We have Network Rail to care for those sort of factors and to deal with the discontinuity and disruption caused. It is, however, quite apparent that there is no representation of main line interests on the board of the HRA, and probably little experience of such matters either. This is hardly surprising as the HRA should be focused solely on the interests of the vast majority of its members. While this lack of understanding is of absolutely no consequence to what we do as a sector, what is of the

utmost concern is to find the HRA putting out news items to the media containing the sort of deeply unhelpful comments regarding main line steam uttered by its new chairman Mr Simpson. While they form only a small part of the article they appear to be full of exaggeration, inaccuracy and illinformed judgment. If I may be allowed to just touch on some of them: Can anyone back up his exaggerated claim that a steam loco set fire to half of Lincolnshire? It is after all a pretty large county, and even the Danes and Hereward the Wake didn’t manage a conflagration on that scale, but no doubt Mr S hasn’t heard that there are occasions when lineside fires occur with no steam engine within 100 miles of the outbreak. Reliability and ‘breakdowns’ as he calls them: it is a documented fact that last year there were nine recorded technical casualties that caused some form of delay. The figure for miles per technical casualty for the total main line steam fleet was slightly over 10,000 miles per casualty, and this figure equals, or in some cases betters, such figures for a number of ‘modern’ vehicle fleets operated by the mainstream Train Operating Companies. As an aside our figures at Vintage Trains are more than a match for the very best fleets of modern trains operating on Network Rail. While there are those who take every opportunity to headline the claimed unreliability of steam, and to broadcast the delays caused when a steam locomotive develops problems, there seems a distinct reluctance to do the same when a diesel breaks down on the Lickey incline or the Chiltern main line,

bringing many other weekday services to a halt for several hours until it is rescued. Nobody ever seems to quote the vast sums of delay claims for such instances. What too of the delays and disruption when infrastructure maintenance issues cause line blockages for weeks? Harbury in particular has probably already created more costs than have steamassociated delays since delay attribution charges first began. Then there is charter stock. Before Mr Simpson makes any further comment on charter stock he should perhaps do some widespread sampling of stock being run by some of his members. As a company we have for a number of years been spending considerable sums of money on our rolling stock, and a couple of recent refurbs to Mk. 2 vehicles have each seen the sort of expenditure which some of his members would expect the purchase of a 10-coach train to cost. I know that our colleagues at West Coast are spending far more than us on such work, with Mk.1 coaches now regularly being virtually rebodied. In conclusion, it would be to Mr Simpson’s benefit if he were to do considerably more and better research before espousing such crass and inaccurate remarks about main line steam. Even better, he could always desist from involving himself in matters to do with main line steam, as we neither want nor welcome his particular brand of chairmanly support. He would then be able to focus on matters of far more concern to the vast majority of his membership as there is more than enough therein to keep him occupied well into old age. Bob Meanley, Vintage Trains, Tyseley

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TRACK TALK

Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34051 WinstonChurchill inside the National Railway Museum at York, where it is the centrepiece of an exhibition about the wartime leader’s funeral train, and which runs until May 3. ROBIN JONES

Churchill’s funeral train: an inside view REGARDING Andy Gibb’s letter in issue 197, some of the personal recollections of the working of Churchill’s funeral train 50 years ago are erroneous. The train did not work from Waterloo via Basingstoke to the Western Region but was booked over the Southern route to Reading via Staines and Ascot. Jamie Lester, who was fireman on the train, in his book Southern Region Engineman published by Kevin Robertson, Noodle Books 2009, includes copies of the relevant traffic notices detailing the working arrangements and confirms they were carried out as planned in his description of the day. After arrival at Handborough No. 34051 waited while the passengers were detrained, then uncoupled from the coaches and went light engine to Oxford to take coal and water before returning light to Nine Elms.

The train was held at Handborough until after the funeral ceremony in order to take the passengers back to Paddington to which it was hauled by Western diesel hydraulic D1015, the only involvement of diesel power on the day. I suspect Henry Sanderson, as WR traffic manager, met the train at Handborough and supervised the arrival over the temporary crossover to the Up platform before overseeing the unloading of the coffin as Andy describes. He may also have travelled on the train back to Paddington. A commemorative display involving the restored No. 34051, the coffin van S2464S, and one Pullman car was unveiled at the National Railway Museum on January 30 when Jamie Lester, your editor, and a number of us who were involved were invited to attend. I originally met Jamie at Nine Elms the day before the funeral train ran in

1965 when my mechanical inspector, Jesse Stevens, and I carried out our final inspection to ensure all was well. As Assistant, Steam Locomotives, to the CME of the Southern Region, I and my team had been responsible for the mechanical preparation of No. 34051 in Eastleigh Depot before its move to Nine Elms for cleaning. This had been necessary as the locomotive had been taken out of store at its home depot Salisbury and doubts expressed regarding its condition, suggestions being made that substitution by an ex-works locomotive might be preferable. In fact with help from works staff we were able to ensure that the actual locomotive was used on the day, although a myth has persisted ever since that a replacement locomotive was used. Mike Johns, Taunton, Somerset

Reinstate lost routes before building High Speed Two+ WE, THE public, keep being told that the railways are reaching full capacity and yet the answer is, I believe, staring politicians and the railway operators in the face. Instead of vanity project such as HS2 and now HS3, would this money best be spent undoing some of the damage done by the Beeching/Marples years, and to some extent Barbara Castle? While it wouldn’t be possible to open some of the lost routes due to industrial, housing and farming encroaching on the trackbed and infrastructure lost or demolished, there are many others that could be reinstated, such as taking the Waverley Route all the way back to Carlisle. The Buxton to Matlock line should never have been closed – this is one route that cries out for reinstatement, if not only to relieve the pressure on the roads in the Peak District and provide an

alternative route to the south. Have you ever tried parking in Bakewell on a bank holiday? The latest piece of insanity in the press recently was a new route from Manchester to Sheffield and a new tunnel under the Pennines. You have to ask why, when the old Woodhead route is still there and the tunnel is still in excellent condition. Then there’s Bideford to Barnstaple which surely would be of use to both local residents and tourists. I fear that the Beeching way of thinking still exists in the corridors of power – why else would the Dawlish diversion become bogged down in endless reports? There was talk of reinstatement not being economic, however, since the route to Okehampton was closed, the community it served has expanded considerably with all the associated transport problems. Then there is the tourist trade and other economic and social economic

benefits that railways bring and, of course, heritage trains. Imagine a steam train though the Peak District, the sound of the exhaust reverberating off the hills – fantastic. As a nation nothing is thought of building yet another motorway across a green field site at the cost of millions and all the social problems and loss of land that causes, but to reinstate a lost route seems totally impossible without endless reports. Just look at all the problems with trying to bring a station back to Leek in Staffordshire. One chink of light: I understand the Train Operators Association is due to send a report to the Government to press the view that lost routes should be looked at again. Hopefully, there will then be a moratorium on remaining routes until they are fully assessed. But I am not holding my breath. PJ Lawrence, email

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➜‘Hush-Hush’ was not successful DERRICK Martin in issue 198 presents a case for the recreation of examples of locomotives from the Victorian era. Depending on the deﬁnition of “gaps in the National Collection” and having looked at The British Steam Locomotive 1825-1925 by E L Ahrons, I can ﬁnd some cause for the building of as many as 40 examples for the sake of one advance or another but I think most people with an average interest in the development of steam locomotives ﬁnd the National Railway Museum records and archive quite adequate. In any case I suspect there are more existing examples of the infancy of locomotive design than Mr Martin suspects, However, for aﬁcionados, if serious consideration is to be given to a new build, it must be made attractive enough to the general public so as to engage their wallets. This requires a more sophisticated sales pitch than simply pointing out missing representatives. With regard to the so called ‘HushHush’, the record shows that No. 10000 was not really ‘great’ at all and even Gresley himself conceded defeat, stultiﬁed by the ever more frequent repairs. He dumped it in a siding at Darlington and eventually, in 1937, had it rebuilt as a W1 – an unhappy arrangement that led to several derailments. In defending the possibility of No. 10000 as a new build, Mr Martin compares the Yarrow HP boiler and the Brotan boiler of middle-European usage. Regrettably the similarities to be found are only general (see PM Kalla-Bishop, Hungarian Railways) and outweighed by crucial diﬀerences as well as the deﬁciencies of the Yarrow boiler in day-to-day service. The reason is simple: it was a marine boiler thrust into the harsh reality of railway life, with all the vibrations and the wide variations in temperature and water quality this implies, far from the cocooned existence of a life on the breast of the deep. In summation I agree with the view of the editor that any new-build has to be able to ‘sing for its supper’ – but the ‘Hush-Hush’ only whispers. In the meantime I think there is a more arguable need for a turntable at St Blazey. Martyn McGinty, Frome, Somerset. ➜ GCR industrial appeal JUST wanted to say how much I thoroughly enjoyed the article about the restoration of the industrial tank engines at the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) by Martin Smithers in issue 198. Having visited Ruddington previously, I will look forward to going back to see Dolobron and Julia in service. Alex Krill, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire

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PlatFOrM

READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE

track talk

➜ Appeal for Glen Gloy information HERE is a postcard photograph of North British K 4-4-0 No. 35 Glen Gloy with seven crew/staﬀ members posed in front of it. This engine was a sister to the preserved No. 256 Glen Douglas. I believe the young man standing at the far left rear to have been my late uncle, William (Bill) Robertson, of Springburn, who was latterly an engine driver out of Eastﬁeld shed. He was often on the Queen StreetFort William train as driver, and when his train was between Drumchapel and Drumry stations, he would sound the engine whistle a couple of times to let us know he was passing (we lived in Linnvale, within earshot of the line). Bill Robertson retired to Dunbar about 1960 where he died several years later in his eighties. I would be interested to know where the photograph was taken. I believe it had to have been taken between 1913 (when the engine was built) and 1923 (when the North British was incorporated into the LNER) from the overall condition of the engine and tender (no dings or dents visible). I would suggest that the photo was taken early in its career. Stuart Gray, Scottish Railway Preservation Society, Bo’ness ➜ Access to railway workshops is important REGARDING health and safety on open days, Platform, issue 197. As stated, the Didcot depot is basically a static display with workshops and short running links secured out of bounds. Accordingly, adequate staﬃng on open days was easier than where an operational line was the main priority, with staﬀ required to have a full range of disciplines. As a result, suﬃcient staﬀ may not always be available to permit an open-access policy as at Didcot but their excellent record over the years regarding health and safety speaks for itself. In conclusion, I agree that regular access to workshops is important, especially to encourage the young generation to acquire skills required in the future. Now retired, I have happy memories of my trainspotting days circa 1940, such as ‘bunking’ the GWR and SR sheds at Reading. This required avoiding shed superintendents and also shovels of hot ash and clinker thrown out from engine ﬁre boxes by the cleaners. Another happy memory was being oﬀered and accepting a footplate trip on the local service to Basingstoke and returning to Reading; the engine driver was a nextdoor neighbour. His starting wage in 1911 at Newton Abbot as an engine cleaner was 11/- weekly. J H Sutton, Pitlochry, Scotland

100 Heritagerailways.co.uk

Diesel Chattenden heads a short works train east of Castle Caereinion, an original point lever at Welshpool (Raven Square) and the overgrown Golf Halt, all pictured in early 1970 with a Kodak Instamatic. ROBIN JONES

Pioneer days at Llanfair – and a 40 shilling fine

I NOTE from your comments (issue 198, page 76) in the article on the Bala Lake Railway that you were a member of the Welshpool and Llanfair. As a teenager in the early 1960s, I joined the society and tried to help to rebuild the line at weekends and on school holidays. At that time, the track was in a terrible state and very overgrown. I was, therefore, on the permanent way gang. A working party of about half a dozen would leave Liverpool and travel to Llanfair Caereinion on a Friday night. Here we would meet up with other society members from all over the country, but mainly from Birmingham and the Black Country, and work from first light on Saturday morning. I usually travelled with an old school friend and the first thing we would do on Saturday morning would be to take photographs of the engines and rolling stock before starting the serious work. I can still remember climbing on to the cab roof of the Earl to have my photo taken and sitting in a pool of diesel oil. What was that doing up there? Once we had loaded the service train with our equipment, we rode out to work. The job consisted mainly of digging out the overgrown track, ascertaining which sleepers needed replacing (most of them). In the process we would check that the rails were level and within gauge. We did this work both in high summer when the temperature was in the 80s and in the winter enduring hail, sleet and snow. One hot summer Saturday, I stuck my pick into a rotting sleeper and discovered that it had become a nest for red ants. We dragged it out and threw it into the River Banwy, which flowed alongside the track. Then somebody had an idea. Why not remove a lot of sleepers all at one go and then replace them all? Surely it must be quicker.

Well, we had just taken out about a dozen when we heard a whistle and a passenger train appeared round the bend. They had had a sudden influx of visitors at Llanfair and had decided to run a special train. Somebody found a red flag and ran back to stop it. The locomotive stopped just short of our section and the passengers were treated, at no extra charge, to the sight of a dozen young men slaving away while the driver and the leader of the working party (whose idea it had been) carried on a most colourful conversation during the course of which even the most hardened of us learned a couple of new epithets. I noticed one lady passenger sitting in an open toastrack coach with her hands over her young son’s ears. The look on her face was a picture. Eventually, the driver became impatient and, as we had now replaced a couple of sleepers, started to take the train over the section. For our part, we tried to hold the rails in place with crowbars and prayed that the engine wouldn’t fall through the middle. The rails weren’t held in position by chairs but by spikes as used in the Wild West (see any cowboy film with railways). I looked hard but couldn’t find any golden ones. Anyway, we set to with sledge hammers spiking the rails to the sleepers before the train returned. We didn’t try that again. At the end of the day we would return to the local hostelry (the Wynnstay Arms) and, after a bath, would sit drinking lime juice and lemonade (too young for anything stronger and I never did really acquire a taste for beer anyway) while looking at railway films and relating anecdotes of our experiences. It was on such a night that one member of the Birmingham working party told us about the happenings of the previous month. It seems that a

train had not been sent out to pick up the working party, so they had to trek back along the main road. They had not gone far when they discovered a county council wheelbarrow in a ditch next to some road works. They dragged it out, sat their leader in it and lined up in single file behind with their picks and shovels over their shoulders. They then set off in this formation, singing “Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho as home from work we go”. All would have gone well if the local constable hadn’t stopped to upbraid them. The leader offered to swap him the wheelbarrow and a shovel for his bike. The local magistrate almost fell off the bench laughing when the case came up, but still managed to impose a 40 shilling fine; which was why the person concerned had to stay away for a few weeks. He couldn’t afford to travel to Wales, pay his hotel bill and a 40 shilling fine every week. Yes, those were the days. Obviously, health and safety regulations are a lot tighter these days but I hope that today’s volunteers still have as much fun as we did. I last returned more than 25 years ago when my son was about seven or eight years old and took him on a (for me) nostalgic trip to Welshpool. That was the first time I had travelled all the way to Welshpool. Sadly, his interests were more related to sport and he didn’t inherit the steam bug. I hope all goes well at Bala. I was once sent to work in the town for a couple of months in the early 1970s. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there meeting many of the local farmers and business owners in the area. It was while there that I heard that my mother’s friend’s father had died in Corwen. He was one of the last stationmasters at Bala. Sadly, I couldn’t go to his funeral as I had meetings booked with clients. Roger Walsh, Hightown, Liverpool

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THE MORGAN COLUMN

ISSUESPAST,PRESENTANDFUTURE

Former Heritage Railway Association chairman David Morgan looks back over his half century of involvement in the sector.

L

ast year marked for me 50 years of involvement in what was known in 1964 as railway preservation. In that year, I attended a public meeting organised by the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society in Norwich. By chance, I met Tom Carr, who was already involved and subsequently became a close friend (and still is), and later asked me to help with legal advice. At that time, the society had named several lines as candidates for reopening, but had not decided which one it should support. It subsequently opted for Sheringham to Weybourne, now part of the North Norfolk Railway, when my help was sought, but my active participation really began in 1967 when I became company secretary of Central Norfolk Enterprises Ltd, the forerunner of today’s North Norfolk Railway plc. A rift had appeared between two warring groups, partly fuelled by a clash of personalities and partly caused by two different policy priorities. One group was out to reinstate a public train service over a railway ‘which should never have been closed’ and another focused on restoring historic locomotives and rolling stock and the return of steam-hauled trains.

Plethora of railway closure

Readers might think that such an argument was a little unreal, but you have to remember that the Beeching Report had only been published a few years before and the plethora of railway closures coincided with the withdrawal of steam. Indeed, there was considerable interaction between the two events: steam trains were labour intensive, and were therefore costly, and they were slower, while the closure of secondary lines and branch lines allowed the quicker withdrawal of steam. It could be said that the railway preservation movement was motivated, if not galvanised, by anger at the loss of local rail services and nostalgia for the era and ambience of steam trains. The anger vented against British Railways for rail closures was exacerbated by the strong suspicion that they were fiddling the figures, a fear that was not entirely unjustified as Chris Austin and Richard Faulkner’s book Holding the Line testifies. You could say that I was a relative latecomer to the scene. The Tallylyn was the first railway in the world to be opened by volunteers, in 1951, followed shortly afterwards by the Ffestiniog, but both these were narrow gauge and their revival presented little threat to BR. The campaign to save the Bluebell line in the late 1950s was the flagship for standard gauge preservation, although the Middleton Railway may have pipped them to the buffer. These organisations soon realised that there was a

Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Wissingtonworks a vintage train on the North Norfolk Railway on February 14, consisting of the line’s Wisbech & Upwell tramway coach, GER No. 7. BRIAN SHARPE

need for a representative body to speak on their behalf and after a number of trial runs, the Association of Railway Preservation Societies was set up under the leadership of Captain Peter Manisty. The number of volunteer-led railways proliferated with major players such as the Severn Valley, North Yorks Moors and the Dart Valley Railway. Some of the larger railways began to employ paid staff, including general managers. One of these, Allan Garraway, discovered that there remained in existence the Association of Minor Railway Companies, set up in 1923 to represent those companies which had not been taken into one of the Big Four. He revived it into becoming a sounding board for general managers, who met twice a year in Birmingham. Ian Allan was invited to become its chairman in 1992, and under his guidance it adopted a new constitution and changed its name to the Association of Independent Railways. Ian also recognised the unnecessary duplication created by having two representative bodies, and both AIR and ARPS merged in 1996 to become what became later the Heritage Railway Association. Ian was a shrewd operator and also a very successful publisher and businessman – his group of companies is still run by his sons – but he was not a man you would accuse “of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing”. While he was chairman of the Dart Valley Railway, which depended almost entirely on paid employees, Ian recognised the value of volunteers. I remember that some general managers tried to resist the introduction of InterRail passes for volunteers. “So,” he asked, “if I come to your railway, would you charge me?” “Of course not” was the reply. “Why not?” “Because you’re a colleague” “And what about David and the others here?” “Of course not” – “So why not volunteers whom you don’t

David Morgan (right) with North Norfolk Railway director Julian Birley, who is now masterminding a major push to bring the Bala Lake Railway into Bala town centre. ROBIN JONES

recognise?” No answer, usually because he made clear his contempt of those who hesitated on this issue. As he pointed out, their own volunteers would be beneficiaries of these concessions and he could not understand why anyone would wish to deny them.

Need to pass skills

What concerned Ian and his fellow HRA directors was how to help member railways flourish, and quite frankly the impact of those concessions was minimal. Ian saw rising costs, such as coal prices, being of greater significance and appreciated the need to improve the marketing of heritage railways. It is fair to say that I think that those issues are still with us today. However, more prevalent today as priority issues are the need to pass skills to the next generation, its recruitment and training, the requirement for clear governance, the maintenance of high standards of safety, the importance of lobbying and the creation of good links with Government and politicians. I have little doubt that the future will be equally, if not more, challenging. Heritage Railway 101

UP & RUNNING

A shunt around of stock has revealed a new panorama inside the LBSCR locomotive shed at Tunbridge Wells West. Locomotives (left to right) are Barclay LadyIngrid, Hunslet Austerity Walkden, Peckett Fonmon, RSH 0-6-0ST Ugly, Nos. 33063 and 33065 and LBSCR ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0TSutton. DAVID STAINES

Brian Sharpe’S full liSting of operational lineS and muSeum venueS SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre

Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370. Running: Wed-Sun + Mar 30, 31, Apr 6, 7.

Lavender Line

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine and dine, Isfield, East Sussex. Tel: 01825 750515. Running: Suns + B/H.

Mid Hants Railway

Bentley Miniature Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. Tel: 01962 733810. Engines: 34007, 850, 925, 45379, 92212. Running: W/Es , daily from Apr 3.

Bluebell Railway

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum, East Sussex. Running: Suns. Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Engines: 263, 1638, 178, B473, 323, 592. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

East Kent Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Mar 21, 22, 29, Apr 4-6.

Eastleigh Lakeside Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience. Running: W/Es + Sch Hols.

Hastings Miniature Railway

Narrow gauge, 600 yards, Rock a Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex. Running: W/Es + Sch Hols.

Hayling Seaside Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Hayling Island, Hants. Running: W/Es + Weds.

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight. Tel: 01983 882204. Engines: 8, 11, 24, 41298. Running: Suns, Weds , daily from Mar 29.

Kent & East Sussex Railway

Standard gauge, 10½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Tenterden, Kent. Tel: 01580 765155. Engines: 65, 3,32678, 1638. Running: Mar 15, Apr 6-9.

102 Heritage Railway

Narrow gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience, New Romney. Tel: 01797 362353. Running: Mar 14, 15, daily from Mar 21.

Royal Victoria Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Netley, Southampton. Tel: 02380 456246. Running: W/Es + Sch Hols.

Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¾ miles, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01795 424899. Running: April 3-6.

Spa Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Tel: 01892 537715. Running: W/Es + Apr 2, 3, 6.

SOUTH WEST Avon Valley Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Bitton, Bristol. Tel: 0117 932 7296. Running: Mar 15, 28 - Apr 10.

Bodmin & Wenford Railway

Standard gauge, 6½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Bodmin, Cornwall. Tel: 01208 73666. Engines: 6435, 4247, 4612, 3298, 30120. Running: Mar 15, 18, 21, 22, 28 - Apr 9.

Dartmoor Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, Okehampton, Devon.

Tel: 01837 55164. Running: W/Es + B/H from Apr 3.

Dartmouth Steam Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, wine and dine, Paignton, Devon. Tel: 01803 555872. Engines: 7827, 5239, 4277. Running: Daily except Mar 13, 15, 16, 20.

Devon Railway Centre

Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Bickleigh, Devon. Tel: 01884 855671. Running: Mar 28 - Apr 12.

East Somerset Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Cranmore, Somerset. Tel: 01749 880417. Engines: 46447 Running: W/Es + B/H.

Helston Railway

Standard gauge, Helston, Cornwall. Tel: 07875 481380. Running: Thurs, Sun + B/H from Easter.

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Narrow gauge, one mile, Woody Bay, north Devon. Tel: 01598 763487. Running: W/Es, Weds, Thurs + Mar 31, Apr 3, 6.

Moors Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Ringwood, Hants. Tel: 01425 471415. Running: Suns.

Plym Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon.Running: April 5.

Seaton Tramway

Narrow gauge, three miles, Harbour Road, Seaton, Devon. 01297 20375. Running: W/Es , daily from Apr 1.

South Devon Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Engines: L92, 3205, 5542, 6412. Running: W/Es , daily from Mar 21

Swanage Railway

Standard gauge, six miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Swanage, Dorset. Tel: 01929 425800. Engines: 30053, 34070, 6695, 80078, 31806. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 21.

Swindon & Cricklade Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, Blunsdon, Wiltshire. Tel: 01793 771615. Running: W/Es.

West Somerset Railway

Standard gauge, 20 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BG. Tel: 01643 704996. Engines: 3850, 4160, 7828, 4936, 6960, 5541, 70000, 4270, 6695, 46521. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 25.

EAST ANGLIA Bressingham Steam Museum Narrow gauge, one mile, Diss, Norfolk. Tel: 01379 686900. Running: Daily from Mar 26.

Bure Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, nine miles, footplate experience, Aylsham, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 733858. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

Colne Valley Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine & dine, Castle Hedingham, Essex. Tel: 01787 461174. Running: Mar 31, Apr 1, 3-6, 8, 9.

East Anglian Railway Museum Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Wakes Colne, Essex. Tel: 01206 242524. Open: W/Es. Running Apr 3-6.

Mangapps Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, near Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. Tel: 01621 784898. Running: W/Es + B/H.

Mid-Norfolk Railway

Standard gauge, 11½ miles, footplate experience, Dereham, Norfolk. Tel: 01362 690633. Running: Suns + Mar 27, 28, 31 - Apr 9.

For more details when planning your day out, visit the HRA website: http://heritagerailways.com Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

GALAS

Heritage Railway 103

UP & RUNNING

WR 0-6-0PT No. 1501 departs from Quorn & Woodhouse on the Great Central Railway on February 8. JOHN STORER

Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Standard gauge, 1⁄4 mile, Brockford, Suffolk. Running: April 5, 6.

Nene Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Wansford, Peterborough, Cambs. Tel: 01780 784444. . Running: Suns + 1, 3-9.

North Norfolk Railway

Standard gauge, 5½ miles, footplate experience, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA. Tel: 01263 820800. Engines: 564, 8572, 92203, 76084, 61306. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

Wells & Walsingham Railway Narrow gauge, four miles, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Tel: 01328 711630. Running: Daily from Mar 28.

Whitwell & Reepham Railway Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Reepham, Norfolk. Tel: 01603 871694. Running: W/Es + B/H, steam Apr 5.

HOME COUNTIES Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, footplate experience, Quainton Road, Bucks. Tel: 01296 655720. Engines: 30585, Met 1. Open: Mar 31-Apr 9. Running: Mar 29, Apr 1, 3-6, 8.

Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway

Standard gauge, 3½ miles, Chinnor, Oxon. Tel: 01844 353535. Engine: 1369. Running: Suns + B/H.

104 Heritage Railway

Cholsey & Wallingford Railway

Standard gauge, 2½ miles, Wallingford, Oxon. Tel: 01491 835067. Running: March 15, Apr 4-6..

Didcot Railway Centre

Standard gauge, footplate experience, Didcot, Oxon. Tel: 01235 817200. Engines: 93, 3650, 5322, 6023, 4144. Open: W/Es + Mar 28 - Apr 12. Running: Apr 3-6.

Epping Ongar Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Ongar, Essex. Tel: 01277 365200. Engine: 4141. Running: Apr 3-6, 8..

Leighton Buzzard Railway Narrow gauge, 2¾ miles, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. Tel: 01525 373888. Running: Suns + Apr 1, 3, 4, 6, 8.

MIDLANDS Amerton Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffs. Tel: 01785 850965. Running: Suns + B/H from Apr 5.

Apedale Valley Railway Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Apedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Tel: 0845 094 1953. Running: April 4-6.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Tel: 01246 472450. engine: 62712. Open: W/Es.

Battlefield Line Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Shackerstone, Leics. Tel: 01827 880754. Engines: 3803, 4141. Running: Suns.

Chasewater Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Walsall, West Midlands. Tel: 01543 452623. Running: Suns, B/H + Apr 9.

Churnet Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 5¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Cheddleton, Staffs. Tel: 01538 750755. Engine: 69621. Running: Mar 15, 22, 4-6, 8.

Dean Forest Railway

Standard gauge, 4¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Norchard, Lydney, Glos. Tel: 01594 845840. Engine: 5541. Running: Suns + B/H + April Weds.

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Standard gauge, eight miles, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. 01629 823076. Running: W/Es, Tues + Apr 1-9.

Evesham Vale Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¼ mile, A46 north of Evesham, Worcs. Tel: 01386 422282. Running: W/Es + Mar 28 - Apr 12.

Foxfield Railway

Standard gauge, 5½ miles, Blythe Bridge, Staffs. Running: Apr 3-6, 8.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Toddington, Glos. Tel: 01242 621405. Engines: 2807, 7820, 4270. Running: W/Es, B/H, + Tues/Weds from Mar 31.

Great Central Railway

Standard gauge, eight miles, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW. Tel: 01509 632323. Engines: 48624, 47406, 46521, 777, 92214, 70013, 45305. Running: W/Es + Mar 31 - Apr 9.

Midland Railway-Butterley

Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 570140. Engines: 23, 73129. Running: W/Es.

Northampton & Lamport Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Pitsford, Northants. Tel: 01604 820327. Running: TBA.

Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre

Standard gauge, four miles, Ruddington, Notts. Tel: 0115 940 570. Engine: 8274 Running: Apr 4-6.

Peak Rail

Standard gauge, four miles, Matlock, Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 580381. Running: W/Es + B/H.

Perrygrove Railway

Narrow gauge, B4228, Coleford, Glos. Tel: 01594 834991. Running: W/Es + Mar 28 - Apr 12.

Rocks By Rail

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Cottesmore, Rutland. Open: Tues, Thur, Sun. Running: Third Sun.

Rudyard Lake Railway

Narrow gauge, 1½ miles, Leek, Staffs. Tel: 01995 672280. Running: Suns, B/H + Apr Sats.

Rushden Transport Museum

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Rushden, Northants. Open: Weekends

Severn Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 16 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Bewdley, Worcs DY12 1BG.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

UP & RUNNING

A three-car DMU waits to depart from the Wensleydale Railway’s recently opened temporary platform at Northallerton West, as the 12.30 service to Redmire on Saturday, February 14. MIKE HADDON Tel: 01299 403816. Engines: 1501, 4566, 5164, 7812, 2857, 43106, 1450, 1054, 4270, 90733. Running: W/Es + Mar 30 - Apr 10.

Steeple Grange Light Railway

Narrow gauge, ½ mile, footplate experience, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Running: Suns + B/H from Apr 4.

Telford Steam Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, Telford, Shropshire. Email [email protected] Tel: 01952 503880. Running: Suns + B/H Mon from Easter.

NORTH WEST East Lancashire Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Bury, Lancs. Tel: 01617 647790. Engines: 80080, 13065, 61994, 44871, 45407, 12322. Running: W/Es + Apr 1-10.

Eden Valley Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Warcop, off A66 Cumbria CA16 6PR 017683 42309. www.evr-cumbria.org.uk Running: Apr 4-6.

Heaton Park Tramway

Standard gauge, half mile, Manchester. Running: Suns pm.

Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Narrow gauge, 15½ miles, Douglas, Isle of Man. Tel: 01624 662525. Running: Daily.

Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway

Ribble Steam Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Preston, Lancs. Tel: 01772 728800. Engine: 5643 Running: Suns + B/H + Mar 21.

Stainmore Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile, Kirkby Stephen East Station, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4LA. Running: Apr 4, 5 (steam).

West Lancashire Light Railway Narrow gauge, Hesketh Bank, Lancs. Tel: 01772 815881. Running: Suns + B/H from Apr 3.

NORTH EAST Aln Valley Railway

Standard gauge, half miles Running: Mar 29, Apr 4-6.

Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society

Standard gauge, 15 miles, Tata Steelworks, Scunthorpe. Tel: 01652 657053. Running: April 11.

Bowes Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Springwell, Tyne & Wear. Tel: 01914 161847. Running: Apr 4, 5.

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. Tel: 01472 604657. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

Derwent Valley Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile, Murton Park, Layerthorpe, York. Tel: 01904 489966. Running: Suns + B/H from Easter.

Standard gauge, 3½ miles, near Ulverston, Cumbria. Tel: 01539 531594. Engines: 42073, 42085. Running: Daily from Mar 28.

Elsecar Railway

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

Narrow gauge, seven miles, Ravenglass, Cumbria. Tel: 01229 717171. Running: Daily from Mar 14.

106 Heritage Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Elsecar, South Yorks. Footplate experience. Tel: 01226 746746. Open: Daily. Running: Suns + Apr 4, 6.

Standard gauge, five miles, Embsay, Yorks.. Running: Suns + Apr 4, 6, 7.

Tanfield Railway

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214. Engines: 43924, 90733, 1054, 5820, 34092, 75078. Running: W/Es + Mar 30 - Apr 10.

Kirklees Light Railway

Narrow gauge, four miles, Huddersfield, West Yorks. Tel: 01484 865727. Running: W/Es + Mar 30 - Apr 17.

Lincolnshire Wolds Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Ludborough, Lincolnshire. Tel: 01507 363881. Engine: 1744. Running: Mar 15, Apr 4-6.

Middleton Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Hunslet, Leeds. Tel: 0113 271 0320. Engine: 1310. Running: W/Es from Mar 28, + Apr 6.

North Tyneside Railway

Standard gauge, two miles. North Shields. Tel: 0191 200 7146. Open: W/Es, B/H + sch hols from Easter. Running: Suns + B/H from Easter.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Standard gauge, 18 miles, wine and dine, Grosmont, North Yorks. Tel: 01751 472508. Engines: 60007, 45428, 75029, 61264, 44806, 63395, 76079. Running: Daily from Mar 28. Esk Valley Mar 14, 15, 21, 22.

South Tynedale Railway

Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Alston, Cumbria. Tel: 01434 382828/381696. Running: W/Es + B/H.

Standard gauge, three miles, near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Tel: 01913 887545. Running: Suns + Mar 28, Apr 3, 4, 6.

Wensleydale Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire. Tel: 0845 450 5474. Engine: 69023. Running: Mar 14, 15, 22, 28, 29, Apr 3-6, 8.

WALES Bala Lake Railway

Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd. Tel: 01678 540666. Running: Daily from Mar 31.

Brecon Mountain Railway

Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Tel: 01685 722988. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

Cambrian Heritage Railways

Standard gauge, ¾ mile, Llynclys Station & Oswestry station. Tel: 07527 107592. Running: TBA.

Corris Railway

Narrow gauge, ¾ mile, Corris, Machynlleth. Tel: 01654 761303. Running: April 3-6.

Fairbourne Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles, Fairbourne, Gwynedd. Tel: 01341 250362. Running: Mar 21, 22, daily from Mar 28.

Ffestiniog Railway

Narrow gauge, 15 miles, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: W/Es, Wed, Thur, daily from Mar 24.

For more details when planning your day out, visit the HRA website: http://heritagerailways.com Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

GALAS

Heritage Railway 107

UP & RUNNING

Class 31 No. 31101 made its first passenger runs on the Avon Valley Railway on February 22. SAM BILNER

Gwili Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire. Tel: 01267 238213. Running: Mar 15, 22, 28 - Apr 16.

Llanberis Lake Railway

Narrow gauge, three miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870549. Running: Sun, Tues, Wed + Mar 26, daily from Mar 29.

Llangollen Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Llangollen, Denbighshire. Tel: 01978 860979. Engines: 3802, 45337, 5199, 80072, 92212, 4270, 3205, 1450, 34092. Running: Mar 13-15, daily from Mar 21.

Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Blaenavon, Torfaen. Tel: 01495 792263. Running: W/Es + B/H from Apr 3.

Rhyl Miniature Railway

Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: Daily except Mar 16, 17, 20, 23.

Snowdon Mountain Railway

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway

Narrow gauge, Rhyl, North Wales. Running: W/Es + B/H from Apr 3. Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870223. Running: Daily.

Talyllyn Railway

Narrow gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Tywyn, Gwynedd. Tel: 01654 710472. Running: Mar 15, 21, 22, daily from 28.

Vale Of Rheidol Railway

Narrow gauge, 11¾ miles, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. Tel: 01970 625819. Engines, 8, 9. Running: W/Es, daily from Mar 28.

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 513402. Running: Mar 28 - Apr 12.

Welsh Highland Railway Narrow gauge, 26 miles,

Narrow gauge, eight miles, Llanfair Caereinion, mid-Wales. Tel: 01938 810441. Engines: 822, 823. Running: March 28, 29, 31 - Apr 9.

SCOTLAND Almond Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Livingston, West Lothian. Tel: 01506 414957.

Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Bo’ness, West Lothian. Tel: 01506 822298. Engine: 62712. Running: W/Es from Mar 21, daily from Apr 3.

Caledonian Railway

Standard gauge, four miles, Brechin, Angus. Tel: 01356 622992. Running: Apr 5.

Keith & Dufftown Railway Standard gauge, 11 miles, Dufftown, Banffshire. Running: W/Es + B/H from Apr 3.

Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Leadhills, South Lanarkshire. Tel: 0141 556 1061. Running: Apr 4, 5.

Royal Deeside Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Milton of Crathes. Kincardineshire. Running: Mar 15, Apr 3, Apr W/Es.

Scottish Industrial Railway Centre

Standard gauge, 1⁄3 mile, Dunaskin, Dalmellington Road (A713), Waterside, Ayrshire. Running: Apr 5, 6.

Strathspey Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, Aviemore, Inverness-shire. Tel: 01479 810725. Engines: 46512, 828. Running: Mar 14, 15, Apr W/Es, Wed, Thur + 6.

IRELAND Cavan & Leitrim Railway Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Dromod, County Leitrim. Tel: 00353 71 9638599. Running: TBA.

Downpatrick & County Down Railway Standard gauge, four miles, Downpatrick, County Down. Running: Mar 15, Easter.

Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles, Bushmills, County Antrim. Tel: 0282 073 2844. Running: TBA.

Waterford & Suir Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles, Kilmeadan, County Waterford. Running: May 1.

West Clare Railway

Narrow gauge, Moyasta Junction, Co Clare. Running: Daily from Easter

Railway Museums Beamish

County Durham. The Living Museum of the North. Open: W/Es, Tues-Thurs.

Cambrian Railways Museum Oswestry station. Open: Tues-Suns. Tel: 01691 688763.

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.

Crewe Heritage Centre

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

Head of Steam

North Road Station, Darlington. Open: Wed-Sun. Tel: 01325 460532.

108 Heritage Railway

Museum Of Scottish Railways

Bo’ness. Open: Daily Apr-Oct. Tel: 01506 825855.

Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Near Wellingborough, Northants. Open: Suns. Tel: 01604 675368.

Kidderminster Railway Museum Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Open: SVR operating days. Tel: 01562 825316.

Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon Co Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01388 777999.

London Transport Museum Covent Garden Piazza. Open: Sun-Thurs. Tel: 0207 379 6344.

Manchester Museum of Science & Industry

Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust

Midsomer Norton

STEAM – Museum of the GWR

Monkwearmouth Station Museum

St Albans South Signalbox & Museum

National Railway Museum

Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

Castlefield, Manchester. Open: Daily. Tel: 0161 832 2244.

Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends. Tel: 01984 640869.

Silver Street, Midsomer Norton. Open: Suns/Mons. Tel: 01761 411221.

Swindon, Wilts. Open: Daily. Tel: 01793 466646.

Sunderland, County Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01915 677075.

Leeman Road, York. Open: Daily. Tel: 01904 621261.

Penrhyn Castle Industrial Railway Museum Bangor, Gwynedd. Open: Daily except Tues.

Shillingstone Station

Shillingstone, Dorset. Open: Sat, Sun and Wed. Tel: 01258 860696.

St Albans City station. Tel: 01727 863131.

Cultra, Co Down. Open: Tues-Sun.

Vintage Carriage Museum

Ingrow, West Yorks. Open: Daily. Tel: 01535 680425.

Yeovil Railway Centre

Yeovil Junction, Somerset. Open: Certain Sundays and special events.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

WEB WATCH

Heritage Railway 109

STAY A WHILE

River, Steam & Sea

Rushock, nr Droitwich, Worcestershire WR9 0NW A family-run business that offers holiday accommodation in the Severn Valley

We have six self-catering cottages and lodges sleeping from 2-8 people. They are situated in the picturesque Severn Valley, nestled between the River Severn and Highley Severn Valley steam railway station. The line runs just above all our properties. You can sit and watch and wave at the trains as they steam by. Sit and fish over a quarter-mile beat of the river, which is included, perfect for barbel. The 18th century Ship Inn is located in between the properties right on the river. They serve breakfasts,

01562 777563

meals, afternoon teas and a great selection of locally sourced beverages. It can be as little as 50 yards walk to catch a train from the station or watch from the foot bridge. The surrounding area is rich in historic towns such as Ironbridge, Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Shrewsbury. We are also not far from the West Midland Safari Park. There are footpaths all around; they lead along the river or up past the engine house train museum opposite the train station.

Mobile: 07710 000 071

CORNWALL

CUMBRIA

DEVON

MID SUFFOLK

LLANGOLLEN

110 Heritagerailway.co.uk

www.riversteamsea.co.uk

MID NORFOLK

PHOTO CREDIT: COLOUR-RAIL

STAY A WHILE

Login Railway Station

Login, Whitland, Carmarthenshire, SA34 0TH Wales

If you enjoy a sense of history, the countryside and Welsh railway heritage you will find it all at the former Login Railway Station. A warm welcome awaits guests looking for peace and quiet but also easy access to the varied attractions of both Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The former Station Master’s House stands on the platform at Login, four miles from Whitland and six miles from Narberth, on the Carmarthenshire/ Pembrokeshire border. It is part of the old Cardi-Bach Line, which ran from Whitland to Cardigan until 1962, when it fell under the Beeching cuts. The house and platform have recently been restored, and comfortable

accommodation is now offered in one double and one twin-bedded room. Opening at Easter 2015, your hosts Peter and Dawn, who have recently returned to the mainland after spending four years running a guesthouse on Caldey Island, look forward to welcoming you to the station. Meals will be served in the dining room, which may have been the waiting room at some time. A cosy sitting room (with a wood-burning stove) is available exclusively for guests, where a television and a selection of DVDs are available. Guests are

login railway station 01994 419181 NORTH NORFOLK

welcome to relax and unwind in the garden, or what could be nicer than just sitting on the platform on a sunny evening and imagining how it was in times gone by? Freshly cooked and varied breakfasts will include homemade breads and muffins, and locally sourced free-range eggs, bacon, sausages and jams. If you have any dietary requirements we are happy to cater for you. Vegetarian? Vegan? Glutenfree? No problem! Pick up can be arranged from Whitland or Clunderwen Stations.

www.loginrailwaystation.co.uk SHROPSHIRE

WEST HIGHLANDS

BRIDGE COTTAGES

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

www.bridge-cottage-holidays.co.uk

Tel: 01263 577847

NORTH YORKSHIRE

SHROPSHIRE

SCOTLAND

WEST SOMERSET

WEST SOMERSET

WORTH VALLEY

SU N FIEL D

Bronte Hotel

M in eh ea d

Sm a ll f a m ily run GuestHouse close to W SR Sta tion . A ll en -suite room sf rom £ 30.00 f orB&B

Tel: 01 64 3 703565 w w w .su n field m in ehea d .c o .u k

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

Heritage Railway 111

EXPRESS GOODS CLASSIFIED

Contact Helen Martin on 01507 529310 • [email protected]

BOOKS

MODELS

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]

BATTE R D AL E BO O K S

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THE MONTH AHEAD

LNER D49 4-4-0 No. 62712 Morayshire climbs away from Lynch Bridge towards Ferry Meadows during the Nene Valley Railway’s 35A New England steam gala on February 21. The D49 moved on to the North Norfolk Railway for its gala, after which it is due to appear at Barrow Hill Roundhouse for one day on March 14. JOHN TITLOW

Easter approaches on heritage lines The spring gala season winds down somewhat as Easter approaches but the month sees the second weekend of the Steel Steam & Stars spectacular at

SPECIAL EVENTS March 13-15: Llangollen Railway: Steel Steam & Stars IV ■ The Betton Grange Group’s fourth Steel, Steam & Stars gala at the Llangollen Railway over two long weekends, sees SR light Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells running as just Wells from the KWVR, BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 from the Mid Hants Railway, GWR 2-8-0T No. 4270 from the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway, GWR 0-6-0 No. 3205 from the South Devon Railway and GWR 0-4-2T No. 1450. The Autotrain will be operating along the whole line along with a freight train and a suburban set as well as two passenger sets plus supervised brakevan rides on goods trains. It is the first gala to feature running to Corwen.

Issue 201 is out on April 9 Catch up with the latest news, views and great features every four weeks. 114 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Llangollen and the traditional big events on the Severn Valley and West Somerset railways in late March.

14: East Lancashire Railway: DMU Day ■ 14: Barrow Hill Roundhouse: Morayshire Gala 14, 15: Kirklees Light Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■ 15: Rocks by Rail: Stanton Ironworks Gala 20-22: Severn Valley Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■

For one of the great enthusiasts’ events of the year, confirmed visiting locomotives are: WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90733 from the KWVR, LT 0-6-0PT No. L92 from the SDR, a former SVR resident, Jeremy Hosking’s GWR 2-8-0T No. 4270 from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway and LNWR Webb Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054. Additional 50th anniversary attractions include: Severn Valley Railway – Our first 50 years. A new exhibition celebrating in words and pictures, the first 50 years on the Severn Valley Railway, in the Visitor Centre, The Engine House at Highley.

21, 22: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Half Price Weekend 21, 22: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Mixed Traffic Weekend 21, 22: Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway: Thomas Weekend ■ 21, 22: Moors Valley Railway: Open Weekend 21, 22: Ribble Steam Railway: Steam Gala KEY ■ Major or featured galas

There are still plenty of events throughout March and April for diesel fans, and devotees of industrial steam and our narrow gauge lines.

21, 22: South Devon Railway: Half Price Weekend 21, 22: Swindon & Cricklade Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 28: Statfold Barn Railway: Enthusiasts’ Day ■ 28, 29: Battlefield Line: Steam Gala 28, 29: East Somerset Railway: Steam Gala 26-29: West Somerset Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■

Another of the year’s traditional big gala events, with a South Wales theme, will see: GWR 2-8-0T No. 4270, 2-6-2T No. 5542 and 0-6-2T No. 6695, plus Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46521 and BR Standard Pacific No. 70000 Britannia. Resident power in action over the four days will be: GWR 2-8-0 No. 3850 (due for withdrawal for 10 year overhaul later in 2015), GWR 2-6-2T No. 4160, GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 Kinlet Hall, WR 4-6-0s No. 6960 Raveningham Hall and No. 7828 Odney Manor.

27-29: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Spring Diesel Gala ■ 28, 29: Great Central Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 29: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Beattie & T9 Day 29: Eastleigh Lakeside Railway: Spring Steam Gala

April

3-6: Isle of Man Steam Railway: Rush Hour on the Railways 3-6: Mangapps Railway: 25th Anniversary Gala 3-6: South Devon Railway: Delivering the Goods 3-12: Mid Hants Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■ 4-6: Cholsey & Wallingford Railway: Ivor the Engine ■ 4-6: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: Easter Steam Gala 5, 6: Chatham Historic Dockyard: Festival of Steam & Transport 5, 6: Crich Tramway Village: WW2 Home Front 5, 6: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Steam into Spring 5, 6: Mid-Suffolk Light Railway: Easter Steam Up

RAILWAYANA April 11: GW RAILWAYANA, Pershore

3-6: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre: Days Out with Thomas ■

■ Diesel and/or electric galas

3-6: East Anglian Railway Museum: Days Out with Thomas ■

25: DAVID LEWIS, Crewe Heritage Centre

■ Thomas and family events Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway