Heritage Railway 205 2015-07

GCR LOUGHBOROUGH BRIDGE DELAYED

ISSUE 205

July 30 – August 26, 2015

LNER

TEAK COACHES

BACK ON THE MAIN LINE!

NEW P2 A THIRD COMPLETE!

COLNE VALLEY SAVED, IF…

LYNTON & BARNSTAPLE AIMSTO BUY BLACKMOOR STATION

OPINION

Newly returned to duty after its overhaul and running 15 minutes late, Peppercorn A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado storms through Great Heck on the East Coast Main Line with the Up ‘White Rose’ on July 7. The locomotive carries flags in honour of Holocaust refugee hero Nicholas Winton, who had died six days earlier. ANDREW SOUTHWELL EDITORIAL

Editor Robin Jones 01507 529305 [email protected] Deputy editor Brian Sharpe [email protected] Senior contributing writers Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Fred Kerr, Roger Melton Designer Tim Pipes Reprographics Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production editors Sarah Palmer, Sarah Wilkinson Publisher Tim Hartley 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 August 14, 2015 Next issue on sale August 27, 2015

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Clash of the Titans

The date: 2016. The place: the East Coast Main Line.

I

n the BR Brunswick green corner is Flying Scotsman, legendary icon of the steam age. In the LNER apple green corner is Tornado, the young pretender. Let battle commence! We are in for a feast of steam next year, as the most famous steam locomotive of yesteryear takes on the modern-day equivalent. It’s been a decade since we last saw Flying Scotsman turn a wheel under its own power. In its absence has emerged a gleaming new guaranteed crowd-puller, built over 18 years by enthusiasts donating the price of a pint of beer a week to build it. As with Flying Scotsman, since its launch crowds gathered everywhere to glimpse it. There are many who said it has stolen No. 4472’s thunder, and Tornado is to the 21st century what Scotsman was to the 20th. Who said the magic of main line steam ended in August 1968? In the past few weeks, news of Scotsman’s imminent comeback has generated global news headlines and TV coverage. All of this is likely to intensify up to the day it undergoes its first running-in trials on the East Lancashire Railway before the end of this year. When former owner the late Dr Tony Marchington returned Flying Scotsman to the main line in July 1999, police estimated that a million people watched its comeback trip on the ECML from King’s Cross. I’ve no doubt that interest this time will be such that the figure will be exceeded, maybe on the day of its its maiden trip in February. And then there’s the little matter of the five-month Flying Scotsman event that the National Railway Museum will be staging at York, as reported in our last issue, to further whet the public’s appetite. Tornado, meanwhile, has been out of action for a

few months, although by no means anywhere as long as the A3. It is now back in action and the subject of reports of many a storming performance. So, which one will the modern-day public warm to most – the old timer or the new kid on the block? The impact of having them both in operation on the national network will be brilliant for the movement as a whole. As with similar events, the lure of steam will again cascade down to the heritage lines, as families clamour for a whiff of the smoke and clag, and ticket sales rise. Although the overhaul of Scotsman long ago exceeded original estimates, we are likely to all be winners here. Will we, I wonder, see the long dreamed of line up of A1, A2, A3 and A4 Pacifics that has eluded us until now, maybe at the NRM, Locomotion or Barrow Hill? Elsewhere, we share the bitter disappointment of the South Devon Railway that the Dartmoor National Park Authority seems determined to allow the classic terminus at Ashburton and the trackbed that would allow trains into it to be lost to the heritage sector forever; the gain being a dozen new homes, a convenience store and a community space. The decision at the authority’s planning meeting seems bizarre, in view of the multiple benefits that heritage railways bring to the economies of such towns, and smacks of minds being made up no matter what representations were made beforehand. We will fully support this railway at every twist and turn of each and every challenge to this tunnel-vision decision. The battle is far from being over yet, in fact it has only just begun, and we may well see a national campaign to bring steam back into town. Robin Jones Editor Heritage Railway 3

CONTENTS ISSUE 205

July 30 – August 26

News

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HEADLINE NEWS

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Great Central Loughborough bridge delayed by government electrification funding postponement; new deal could save Colne Valley Railway; LNER Gresley teak coaches to run in regular service over part of the national network; Lynton & Barnstaple aims to buy Blackmoor station and Flying Scotsman restoration in final stages.

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NEWS

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South Devon Railway to campaign for return to Ashburton despite park authority decision; a third of the new Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales built in less than two years; lizards delay Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway push to Broadway; action from the big Foxfield Railway gala; the car that drove along the Bluebell Railway; Severn Valley founders reunited to celebrate 50th anniversary; Bradley Manor return imminent; World Heritage Site status for Forth Bridge; GWR pannier tank reprises The Railway Children role 45 years on; Royal Scot reappears in green; and farewell to railway publishing giant Ian Allan and Mull Rail founder Graham Ellis.

Regulars

Features

Railwayana

46

Centre spread

54

Main Line Tours

66

Off the Shelf

86

Platform

88

Up & Running

92

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

66

MAIN LINE NEWS

Scots Guardsman storming up to Ais Gill by Dave Rodgers.

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Office of Rail and Road discharges Improvment Notice imposed on West Coast Railways as new threeman team joins Carnforth management; Steam Dreams to run second ‘Irish Explorer’; Union of South Africa booked for Borders Railway opening, and Tornado back in fine form.

WITH FULL REGULATOR 62

Don Benn reports on Tornado’s recent exploits in Scotland.

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Steam and heritage diesel railtours. Latest book and DVD releases.

Where your views matter most. Guide to railways running in August.

The Month Ahead

Upcoming galas and events.

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THE EMERALD ISLE EXPLORER Leading British tour operator Steam Dreams made its first ‘Cathedrals’ foray across the Irish Sea in June. Paul Appleton was on board the Guildford company’s first seven-day ‘Emerald Isle Explorer‘ to experience it first hand.

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HEADLINE NEWS

New deal to save Colne Valley now awaits Lottery funding By Robin Jones A NEW deal which looks set to save the Colne Valley Railway has been brokered. In a sudden turnaround of events, the Colne Valley Railway Preservation Society has been given the option to buy the land in Yeldham Road, Castle Hedingham where the railway is currently situated. The landowner, Australian businessman Christopher Young, has also agreed to a year’s extension of the railway’s lease, which was due to run out at the end of December. The extension gives the railway a breathing space to secure its bid for £1.65 million worth of funding from the Heritage Lottery so it can afford to buy the freehold of site. In January, the Heritage Lottery Funding gave the society £66,000 to draw up development plans as a Stage One Pass, in advance of a further £1.65 million if they were approved.

Last year on the site

However, in March, shockwaves reverberated throughout the heritage sector after the railway announced that 2015 would be its last year on the site, as Mr Young had indicated his intention to develop it for other purposes. As reported last month, the society immediately began hunting for a new home, and briefly considered a plan to re-lay its running line on a green field site on the opposite side of the river from its present base. Now in a major turn of events, Mr Young has agreed to sell to the society, a registered charity, the section of the original Colne Valley & Halstead

Castle Hedingham station on the Colne Valley Railway will now remain in place if a £16 million Lottery bid is successful. JERZY KOCIATKIEWICZ/CREATIVE COMMONS Railway trackbed that he owns. Included in this sale is his rolling stock, the buildings, track and all other materials from the present site. The area being sold also includes the piece of land between the trackbed and Yeldham Road, known as Newman’s Sidings. The remainder of the land is being retained by Mr Young as a prospective site for his own developments. Survival of the railway now depends on the Lottery bid, which also covers the cost of building an interpretation centre and a skills centre. The society will hear in March if its application has been successful. Railway chairman Paul Lemon said: “We are grateful to Chris Young for agreeing to sell us this unique section of the CV&HR track bed that has been the railway’s home for the last 40 years, and for the extension to our lease on the present site. “This sale should enable us to fully achieve our charity’s main objective as well as remain open to the public during the transition period while we reconfigure the site. We are also

grateful to the local landowners who have supported us in our search for a suitable alternative site and have agreed to consider the sale of additional land we might require.” It was Mr Young who suggested the deal presently on offer, said a society spokesman. He now considers that the railway and his prospective development can happily co-exist on the site.

Lifted the track

The first stretch of the 20 mile Colne Valley & Halstead Railway opened on April 16, 1860, with the passenger service withdrawn on December 30, 1961, and the last freight on April 19 1965. Demolition crews lifted the track the following year. In 1973, two enthusiasts – Dick Hymas and Gordon Warren – devised plans to relay a section of it and run steam trains as a tourist attraction. Permission was eventually obtained to lay a mile of track to the west of Castle Hedingham, between mileposts 60 and 61of the original line. The first preservation era steam

locomotive, War Department Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 190, arrived on the line in August 1973. It was brought on the back of a low loader in steam – and as the lorry passed through Hedingham, its enthusiasts sounded the whistle along the main street to show that the railway had returned to this idyllic part of Essex. The Colne Valley Railway Preservation Society was formed the following year, when a ‘new’ station, Castle Hedingham, was built on a green field site. The original Sible & Castle Hedingham station (originally opened as Castle Hedingham) lay derelict and awaiting demolition, but the owner agreed to donate it to the society on condition it was taken down within six weeks. It took two years to rebuild brick by brick, and its external appearance is as when it was built in 1861. Half a mile of spare track and five points lying unused at Sudbury station were bought from BR, while Essex County Council donated the crossing keeper’s hut from the former station at White Colne, it becoming a permanent way hut on the revived railway. The redundant signalbox from Cressing on the Braintree to Witham line, the sole surviving original girder bridge from Earls Colne, the GER signalbox from Wrabness on the Manningtree to Harwich line were subsequently moved to the railway. In June 2006, retiring site owners Dick and Jane Hymas sold the railway to the Young family just as volunteer enthusiasts were set to buy it with the help of a £1 million Lottery grant. They could not, however, match the Young family offer.

Flying Scotsman enters

FlyingScotsmanlooking every bit like a locomotive again in Ian Riley’s Bury workshops after being taken down to the bare bones. PA/NRM

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FLYING Scotsman – considered by many to be the world’s most famous steam locomotive – is on the last lap of its £4 million overhaul by Ian Riley, and is on course to steam by the end of the year. Colin Green, co-director at Burybased Riley & Son (E) Ltd, said: “We have come through all the critical milestones for a locomotive restoration and although there is a lot of work still to get through and parts to fit, there is nothing significant standing in the way of Scotsman coming back to steam.” A major milestone is currently underway with the fitting of the equipment needed for the steam legend to operate on the main line – the Train Monitoring Recorder and the Train Protection & Warning System. Once this is complete and some routine maintenance on the wheel bearings has also taken place,

another major hurdle will have bene overcome. Bob Gwynne, curator of collections and research at the NRM in York, said: “The fitting of the equipment for the main line really makes its return a reality. “We still anticipate that the restoration work to return Flying Scotsman to steam will be completed in late 2015. This will be followed by a full programme of running-in tests on heritage lines. “Once it has built up sufficient mileage on the main line - 1000 miles under its belt – and it’s resplendent in its new BR green livery it will be ready for its long-anticipated inaugural run between London and York – a triumphant return home at long last.” Last summer the decision was made to manufacture new sections of the frames after a trial fitting of the cylinders showed problems with

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HEADLINE NEWS

GCR Loughborough bridge work delayed by government decision By Robin Jones

THE £1 million cost of building a new bridge at Loughborough to link the two Great Central heritage railways may rise following the Government’s decision to postpone the electrification of the Midland Main Line for financial reasons. Furthermore, work on the bridge, originally scheduled to start this autumn, will also be delayed. Yet both Network Rail and the GCR insist the bridge will nonetheless be built. The bridge was to have been built by Network Rail at the same time as the £500 million electrification scheme was under way later this year, saving time and costs. However, in late June, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced the scheme would be “paused” because of rising costs. In the short term, other changes including “speed improvement works” would provide better services on the London to Sheffield route in the short term.

More money may be required

Network Rail said it will still build the bridge as agreed, but the Whitehall decision regarding electrification will mean not only will the timescale to install the new bridge now change, but the Great Central Railway may need to raise more money for the structure. As we closed for press, more than £920,000 had been raised towards the bridge following the launch of a

the cost of the new bridge. Together with our plans for a new railway museum at Leicester North, the reunification vision represents a real legacy for future generations. “Our plans may change slightly, but we are determined to succeed with the support of Network Rail. This is a project which is moving forward and the support we have had across the board is very gratefully received and inspires us to go forward.” At a recent meeting, Network Rail and the GCR reiterated their joint commitment to complete the work.

Seed of opportunity

BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92212 running as No. 92178 in specially-dirtied condition passes Swithland with a photographic charter goods train on the Great Central Railway on June 23. DAVE RODGERS nationwide appeal in 2013. However, the railway has warned that some of the opportunities for saving money on the scheme, created by carrying out the bridge construction at the same time as electrification have now been lost. As a result, more money may be required to complete the bridge, the key item in the scheme to create an 18mile inter-city heritage trunk railway. GCR managing director Bill Ford said: “Naturally, both the GCR and our partners at Great Central Railway (Nottingham) on the other side of the ‘gap’ are disappointed the

Steam ban hits excursion THE Railway Touring Company’s King’s Cross-Rowsley excursion scheduled for Sunday, July 19, was cancelled 48 hours before departure because of the introduction of a last-minute weekend steam ban. Originally planned for May 10, the train, the ‘Peak Forester’, was postponed on that occasion as a result of West Coast Railways’ operational difficulties imposed by the Office of Rail and Road. Redated for July 18, the ‘Forester’ was the victim of Network Rail’s lastminute decision to impose a fire risk ban on the use of steam locomotives in the area south of Doncaster. Explaining, a Network Rail

spokesman said that a weather warning received from the Met office earlier in the week had set off a fire risk warning covering part of the southern end of ‘Peak Forester’s’ weekend route. Network Rail said that it advised train operator West Coast Railways of the situation and offered the choice of a diesel-steam combination or all diesel motive power. West Coast referred the matter to RTC which took the late decision to cancel. It remains to be seen if RTC redates the train for a third time. Motive power for the ‘Peak Forester’ was to have been in the hands of B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower.

Hartland signed up for next 25 years

THE long-time owner of Bulleid west Country light Pacific No. 34101 Hartland, Richard Shaw, died in 2014 before he had signed a running agreement and there were concerns that the locomotive might move from the NYMR once its overhaul was complete. These concerns have been dispelled by the

8 Heritagerailway.co.uk

signing of a new agreement by Richard’s wife and daughters, who now own the locomotive, and which will see it based on the NYMR for at least the next 25 years. Work is progressing a major boiler overhaul and it is hoped that the engine will return to service at some point in 2016.

construction of the bridge will slip back. However, we are very pleased that Network Rail still wants to help deliver the structure. “They have been very supportive, despite the changes they face following the decision to pause electrification work. “Work is accelerating on the other elements of our plan to create an 18mile heritage line, so with the time pressure of imminent electrification removed, we are looking afresh at the construction sequence. “So many people across the country, young and old, have donated towards

Network Rail route delivery director Richard Walker said: “We are understandably disappointed that electrification has been paused, but in every challenge lies the seed of opportunity. “We now have additional time to review the way in which the bridge works at the GCR are delivered. “Our commitment to supporting the GCR remains unchanged: we have already had huge success by engaging with local schools and inspiring the engineers of tomorrow, and we look forward to continuing that throughout the project.” Several members of Network Rail staff from have freely given their time to the community-led scheme. Mr McLoughlin said: “Work on electrification will be paused. I want it to be done and done well. It will be part of our future plans for the route.”

Manor 50 in triplicate on the SVR By Paul Appleton

THE Severn Valley Railway has confirmed that WR 4-6-0 No. 7820 Dinmore Manor will team up with the railway’s two resident sisters for its November 14-15 Manor 50 mini-gala. As well as being one of the many events organised to mark the SVR’s own 50th anniversary year, the occasion also marks the half centenary of the withdrawal of the last remaining three Manors from Shrewsbury shed, in November 1965. Along with No. 7820, Nos. 7802 Bradley Manor and 7812 Erlestoke Manor, operated the final steamhauled ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ trains, with Dinmore Manor being the last to haul the famous train from Aberystwyth. The Erlestoke Manor Fund, which owns Nos. 7802 and 7812, has reached agreement with Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd for the hire of No. 7820 for a short period that will take in the Manor 50 event, a number of photographic charters and footplate experience turns along the 16-mile line. No. 7802 Bradley Manor is nearing the end

of its overhaul, with the bottom end – which has been completed by EMF volunteers at Tyseley Locomotive Works – returned to Bridgnorth in July to be reunited with its boiler, which nears completion in the boiler shop at Bridgnorth. It is hoped that the locomotive will be ready in time to make an appearance at the railway’s September 17-20 autumn steam gala from so that it can accumulate a decent mileage in the weeks before starring at the November event. This will be the first time that three Manors have appeared together in steam at the SVR. Although it does have a third Manor resident on the railway in the shape of No. 7819 Hinton Manor, the three have never been in traffic together, No. 7819 having last steamed in 1994. No. 7819 operated heritage era ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ trains in 1991, itself being a veteran of the Cambrian line, having been a ‘first pick’ in the early 1960s, when along with No. 7822 Foxcote Manor it conveyed the Queen to Pwllheli on August 10, 1963.

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GLOUCESTERSHIRE Warwickshire Railway-based WR 4-6-0 No. 7820 DinmoreManor has gone on loan to the Dartmouth Steam Railway for the summer season. There, it is running alongside home-based sister No. 7827 LydhamManorwhich is also painted in BR black livery. It was the first time since the 1950s that two members of the class of have been seen together on a train in BR black. No. 7820 and 7827 climb Goodrington bank on July 1. MARK WILKINS

Lynton & Barnstaple aims to buy Blackmoor station EXCLUSIVE By Robin Jones LYNTON & Barnstaple Railway revivalists have set up a new company to buy the ‘halfway point’ station of Blackmoor for £1.5 million. Decades ago, the station which served Blackmoor Gate was turned into the Old Station Inn, a popular and profitable pub and restaurant complex at a major crossroads of North Devon holiday routes on the edge of Exmoor. The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust has set up L&B Blackmoor Company plc, to purchase and operate the inn. The inn is not on the market but the owner has agreed to sell it to the trust. The offer includes the adjoining sixbedroom house which he built a few years ago and the surrounding land as well as the former station. The new company will also need to raise money to upgrade the property. As a public limited company it will be

able to advertise shares to the general public, but the trust will hold a controlling share to ensure that the station will be available for railway use when the revived railway needs it. Dividends will be issued to shareholders as soon as the business is sufficiently profitable.

Swiss chalet style

Blackmoor (never called Blackmoor Gate) was the most important intermediate station on the original line. Like Woody Bay and Lynton stations, it was built in 1897 in the Nuremburg or Swiss chalet style in this area promoted by the Victorians as the English Switzerland. All three stations were far more substantially built than most country stations because their remote locations obliged the company to provide homes for their respective stationmasters as well; Lynton station was at the top of a very steep hill high above the town.

The railway closed in 1935 and the stations along the line were sold off by the Southern Railway in 1938. Blackmoor station became a cafe and guesthouse and then a pub and restaurant and the building was extended across the trackbed. The building today is very much recognisably the former station, however, and takes a pride in its railway associations. Before the opportunity to buy the Old Station House Inn arose, the trust had planned to build a new Blackmoor station on the far side of the crossroads, but it will now be located next to the original station. The revivalists plan to sympathetically remodel it in keeping with the Victorian building to provide a visitor centre incorporating a restaurant, pub and tea-room, shop and museum as well as a station. If the planning applications now being finalised to extend the heritage line from its current western terminus

at Killington Lane a further four miles to Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound Reservoir are successful, the operational headquarters of the railway will be transferred from Woody Bay to Blackmoor.

Line will be realigned

A new engine and carriage shed will be erected in the small valley on the Lynton side of the crossroads where it will fold into the landscape. Rather than demolish the postwar extension to the Old Station House Inn and destroy the successful hospitality business, the main line will be realigned on lower ground a few yards to the west and rejoin the original route either side of the station. This adjustment will have the additional advantage of making it easier to get the railway under the crossroads. ➜Anyone who would like to register their interest in buying shares in the inn is asked to visit www.lyntonrail.co.uk Left: The Old Station Inn as seen from the same direction earlier this year. TONY NICHOLSON

Far left: Manning Wardle Yeo passing sister Taw (hidden from the camera) at Blackmoor on August Bank Holiday Monday, August 5, 1935. GN SOUTHERDEN Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 9

NEWS

South Devon may launch national campaign for Ashburton return By Robin Jones THE South Devon Railway is to mount an all-out effort to return to the former Ashburton terminus – despite a setback meted out by planners. Railway officials, members and supporters were left bitterly disappointed by a decision by the Dartmoor National Park Authority on July 3 to approve a masterplan for Ashburton’s Chuley Road area, in which the former station, its goods shed and locomotive shed stand. The masterplan involves the conversion of the station trainshed into a community centre, building a convenience store in front of it, and then allowing the trackbed to the southern edge of the town to be used for housing. If the trackbed is built over, SDR’s hopes of ever restoring the GWR branch in its entirety, and bringing a tourist boom to Ashburton, will be scuppered forever. The South Devon Railway Trust Board met to consider its options about Ashburton on Friday, July 17, in the wake of the park authority’s decision, and it reaffirmed its support for the extension project. It was decided that the trust will support the Friends of Ashburton Station (FoAS) group to obtain urgent legal advice about seeking a judicial review of the masterplan decision. Furthermore, the trust will support FoAS in seeking public donations for a dedicated fund which will initially carry out a public opinion survey in the area to judge public and business support for the railway returning to the town. If the findings show widespread support for the project then it will go forward to fund a new, costed feasibility study and linked economic impact study to show that SDR trains could return to Ashburton in the future and what economic benefits this would bring. Also, the trust will support the friends group in seeking and identifying people in Ashburton and elsewhere to form a new, separate Ashburton project management team to deal with the issue and so raising greater public and business awareness and support. It will seek to attract members with specific skills, such as planning law expertise. If the public opinion survey reveals widespread support, and if feasibility and economic impact studies show it is possible, the SDR Trust will then support the new Ashburton project management team to develop a national fundraising appeal for the proposal and buying land if opportunities arise – as the masterplan is expected to fail. All monies raised will go into a designated fund and, if the project proves to be unsustainable, the cash will go forward to fund the restoration of the line’s former Ashburton branch engine, GWR auto tank No. 1420, which is expected will cost around £250,000.

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ThedayaftertheDartmoorNationalParkAuthority’svote,GWR0-4-2TNo.1420,returnedtothetown,carryingitsformerDart ValleyRailwaynameBulliver,leftBuckfastleighonaGilpinDemolitionlowloadertotakepartinAshburton’sannualcarnival– possiblythelasttimeasteamenginegoestoAshburtonfromBuckfastleigh.Thelowloaderwasfittedwithtrackandarampbuiltby ateamofvolunteersandfulltimestafffromSouthDevonRailwayEngineering.LocaltownanddistrictcouncillorCharlieDennis, whoisalsoanSouthDevonRailwaydriver,sortedouttheentryandtransport,andwentonthefootplatewiththetwoyoung cleanerswhohadsprucedupthelocomotive.SDRchairmanAlanTaylor,FriendsofAshburtonStationchairmanAlasdairPageand memberAlanJohnsonaccompanieditthroughthetownhandingoutleaflets.Thefloatwonfirstprizeinitsclass,andthenNo.1420 thentravelledtoNewtonAbbotforitscarnivalonJuly11. SDR

‘No approach for consultation’

The park authority made its decision in the face of claims by the friends that the group was not fully supported, and in direct contravention of official support from the same body for an extension of the line into Ashburton 17 years ago. A letter from Heritage Railway Association vice-chairman Mark Smith went to the park authority before the meeting, before which copies of last month’s issue of Heritage Railway and our editorial about the issue were handed out to members, but to no avail. Trust spokesman, Dick Wood, said: “All the Dartmoor national Park Authority has endorsed is a planning blueprint for the area about what it would like to see happen there which would, of course, then be subject to all of the usual requirements of detailed planning applications and due consideration of all of the relevant issues such as flooding etc. “DNPA did start a general public consultation in 2012 when I was the railway’s general manager, but at no time did it approach us formally as an organisation, or any other heritage railway body or individual, about the proposal. All of this seems mightily strange after DNPA had previously endorsed our 1997 Exeter University

feasibility study about the SDR going back to Ashburton. We have a letter from it saying this. “Given the strong railway heritage of the town, and the fact that the line was only severed in 1971 to make way for the building of the A38, plus our known wish to return there some day, DNPA planners either simply did not do their homework properly about the railway elements, or other commercial forces were apparently at work here to try to secure a non-railway development. “DNPA planners admitted at the meeting that the strength of the views expressed in favour of the railway had taken them by surprise!”

‘Saddayfortherailway’

Commenting about the park authority decision, SDR Trust chairman, Alan Taylor, said described the decision as “a disappointing and sad day for this railway as we have always harboured hopes of returning to our former true ‘home’ in the centre of Ashburton”. He added: “The members of the DPNA certainly heard what we all had to say about protecting the station and route so that our steam trains might run to Ashburton, but it seems they did not listen at the same time. “The big attraction of going back to

Ashburton was for us to return to the historic, original Brunel design overall timber-roofed station which is just 200 yards from the town centre rather than an out-of-town development which people would find remote from the town. “What we need now is for everyone who thinks that Dartmoor National Park has got it wrong to write to the DNPA chairman Peter Harper, via whatever means are at their disposal, so that Dartmoor National Park understands the strength and depth of feeling about this flawed decision. “Had we been consulted fully and early enough, the SDR could have started a fundraising campaign to develop a properly conducted study to establish the true costs of the scheme – which we already know is feasible – and with the aim of a ‘win, win’ for Ashburton and the railway. “There is now an accepted and significant economic gain for areas served by the heritage railway sector and, with no fewer 20 other heritage railways around the country all working closely with local communities, planners and councils to expand their railway operations, it seems that Dartmoor is out of step with this vision and lacking in imagination for the future.”

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NEWS

A third of the new P2 built By Robin Jones

LESS than two years since the project to build a new Gresley P2 2-8-2 was launched, a third of the £5-million locomotive is now complete by weight. The milestone was passed with the delivery of the 12 tyres for No. 2007 Prince of Wales. In just 17 months since the launch of the project’s ‘P2 for the price of a pint of beer a week’ (£10 per month) regular donation scheme, to which 670 people have subscribed, funds either already raised or pledged by standing order have already reached £1.9 million. The P2 Mikados were the most powerful passenger steam locomotives to operate in the UK, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley to haul 600-ton trains on the arduous Edinburgh to Aberdeen route. Tornado builder The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust launched the project to build the seventh member of the class over seven years through its P2 Steam Locomotive Company subsidiary in September 2013. Now 38% of the estimated construction cost has been raised. Gresley’s design was never fully developed and the six P2s were rebuilt in 1943-44... and all scrapped by 1961.

Above: The P2 project’s Ian Matthews and Mick Robinson checking the front alignment. Left: Ian Matthews opens out the first of more 1000 holes on July 15. A1SLT

Artist’s impression of new P2 No. 2007 PrinceofWales. A1SLT

Deliver its full potential

The project aims to demonstrate how the design can be fully realised through use of modern computer design and modelling techniques, enabling the new locomotive to deliver its full potential hauling trains at high speed across the national network. Construction progress to date includes: ➜ Frame plates for engine and tender rolled and profiled ➜ The engine’s frames erected at Darlington Locomotive Works ➜ All 20 wheels for engine and tender cast ➜ Eight 6ft2in driving wheels proof machined ➜ Engine’s tyres delivered ➜ All major engine frame stays, brackets and horn blocks cast and machined – 26 in total; further 16 axle box and buffer castings underway. In addition the roller bearings for all engine and tender wheelsets and engine tyres, axles and crank pins have been ordered, along with 1000 fitted and driven bolts, while preliminary discussions have been held with boiler manufacturers and forged foundation ring corners manufactured and machined. A Vampire study into ride and suspension has been completed and Finite Element Analysis of the crank axle is underway to ensure that the locomotive complies with modern standards. An assessment and notified body has been appointed to oversee certification, while the nameplates have been delivered and the chime whistle ordered The project’s use of the latest Computer Aided Design technology

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The frame extensions with castings fitted. A1SLT means that the weight of all of the components now in existence can easily be calculated. The weight of the engine parts now in existence stands at 37.2 tons (39% of an estimated completed empty weight of 96 tons) and the tender at 4.8 tons (17% of an estimated completed empty weight of 28.4 tons) giving a figure of 34% for the whole locomotive by weight.

Level of support

Trust chairman, Mark Allatt, said: “We are delighted with the level of support that the project to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive has received since its launch. “With No. 60163 Tornado’s overhaul now complete, our team at Darlington Locomotive Works is now ready to resume the erection of No. 2007 Prince of Wales’s frames, fitting the frame stretchers, horn guides and other components manufactured by external contractors over the past few months. “We are hopeful that we will have completed the rolling chassis for No. 2007 Prince of Wales next winter and we remain on track for completion of the new locomotive in 2021. “However, to maintain this rate of progress we need to continue to raise

The rear frames of the new P2 inside Darlington Locomotive Works on July 15. A1SLT

in excess of £700,000 per year which, given the nature of the regular donation scheme, becomes more challenging as each year passes. “I would encourage all steam enthusiasts who haven’t yet contributed to this exciting project to help us to meet these deadlines by becoming a monthly covenantor or joining The Boiler Club. It’s time to get on board! “This year will see further major announcements as the construction of new Gresley class P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales gathers pace.” In addition to the core £10-a-month donation scheme, funds have been raised through The Founders Club (more than 360 people have donated £1000 each – target 100 people, now closed); The Boiler Club (more than 80 people have pledged £2000 each – target of 300 people) and Dedicated Donations (£120,000 from existing supporters sponsoring a variety of components). Furthermore, the Gresley Society Trust has agreed to sponsor the locomotive’s unique smokebox ‘Face’. The sponsorship includes design changes, rolling and assembly of the smokebox barrel, the smokebox/boiler and smokebox front rings, the

smokebox door and most fittings including the hinges and dart, the cross bar, ribs and crinolines, the chimney pattern and machining, fairing around the chimney and smoke lifting sheets and the whistle bracket, most handrails and knobs.

Slightly different

Gresley Society Trust chairman, David McIntosh, said: “The class P2s were Sir Nigel Gresley’s equivalent of Sir Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations – each of the six built were slightly different from one another but to an original theme. “The seventh P2 will complete the development work started in 1934 but was unfinished because of other projects and the Second World War. Only 10 locomotives designed by Gresley survived dieselisation in the Sixties and the Gresley Society Trust, owner of the oldest-surviving Gresley locomotive (N2 No. 1744/69523) is delighted to be able to support the construction of the newest and most powerful – No. 2007 Prince of Wales.” ➜ For details of how to join the P2 project visit www.gresley.org or call 01642 781641.

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London Underground’s steam tea party!

Above: Classic narrow gauge locomotives were lined up like never before at Tywyn Wharf on July 4, when the Talyllyn Railway celebrated its 150th anniversary. Joining the home fleet for the special photographic night shoot of the celebratory event, even though they were out of gauge, were Welsh Highland Heritage Railway flagship Hunslet 2-6-2T Russell (far left) and England 0-4-0ST No. 2 Prince from the Ffestiniog Railway (second left), pictured next to Talyllyn 0-4-2T No. 1 Talyllyn, which was built in 1865, and 0-4-0WT No. 2 Dolgoch, built a year later. TR Below: A daylight view of the same line-up. TR

THE latest series of Steam on the Met runs over London Underground will feature a tea party. A vintage pop-up tea room will be set up at Watford tube station for the trips to Chesham on September 12-13. London Transport Museum has teamed up with Tea Darling, organiser of quirky and tailormade vintage tea parties, to create the pop-up tea room. Steam train passengers will be able to sip tea brewed in beautiful teapots on the station platform. A gramophone will be playing while the kettle boils to recreate the atmosphere of a bygone era of suburban London. Victoria sponge cake served on ornate crockery will be waiting for trippers who have purchased a special Tea and Steam event ticket. As reported in our last issue, travellers will be able to choose from trips runnings from Harrowon-the-Hill to Watford via Chesham, a return journey to Watford via Chesham, and Watford to Harrow-on-the-Hill via Chesham. Again, the vintage train will comprise Metropolitan Railway Jubilee coach No. 353 and The Bluebell Railway’s Chesham set, hauled by Metropolitan Railway 0-4-4T No. 1 backed up by maroon-liveried GWR prairie L150 from the Flour Mill workshops . Tickets range from £20 to £35 for adults and £10 for children for the event. The combined Vintage Summer Tea and Steam tickets range from £30 to £45 for adults and £20 for children. The Tea and Steam ticket entitles customers to a slice of cake and pot of tea each. Passengers are invited to join the festivities and dress up in vintage clothing. Further information about tickets and prices will be available at www.ltmuseum.co.uk

New GCR museum could end southern extension hopes By Robin Jones PLANS to redevelop a £15-million museum at Leicester North station could extinguish any hopes of extending the Great Central Railway back into the city. As reported in Heritage Railway issue 203, the railway, in partnership with the National Railway Museum in York and Leicester City Council, has obtained a Stage One pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a £500,000 grant to develop a blueprint for the museum. If approved the Lottery will then release a further £9.5 million towards the scheme. However, the plan may involve the demolition of the modern-day station buildings at Leicester North, which were built by the GCR as a

replacement for the original nearby Belgrave & Birstall station, which it demolished following years of vandal damage. The track might then be skewed slightly off the original formation – and would therefore no longer line up with the vacant trackbed on the far side of the A563 dual carriageway. Although any idea of returning the railway to Leicester Central station has long since been abandoned because of the cost of replacing several missing bridges and embankments and removing structures built on the line, it has often been mooted that the line could be taken back inside the city as far as Abbey Park. There, a new terminus would be a stone’s throw from the National Space Centre.

However, a study undertaken five years ago appeared to rule out any southern extension on the grounds of sheer cost, not least of all the expense of building a major new bridge to span the A563 outer ring road. GCR general manager, Richard Patching, said: “We are drawing up the plans for the museum now and it could be that Leicester North station has to be moved. “It would therefore probably make any extension into Leicester more difficult. If we were to rebuild the line into Leicester, the cost would be so great that knocking down the museum to make way for the track would be small in comparison. “I don’t think that the money would ever be found for the huge cost of a southern extension.”

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The museum is intended as a second ‘outreach’ station of the NRM after Locomotion at Shildon, and indeed, an ‘operating arm’ of the York museum. It will become a major destination for international visitors, lying at the end of an 18-mile unique ‘steam highway’ once the missing bridge over the Midland Main Line at Loughborough is replaced and the GCR is connected to its northern counterpart the GCR (Nottingham). The building will sit alongside Leicester North station and will be designed with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, facilitating close up views of trains arriving. The series of halls and galleries would have direct access to the GCR’s track, allowing engines and rolling stock to move in and out of the museum. Heritage Railway 13

BettonGrange’s front footplating cut and offered into place before final fixing. The buffers and drawhook were recently fitted. MICK PRIOR

Betton Grange: boiler work starts at Llangollen AFTER a frenetic year for the 6880 Betton Grange project that has included the manufacture of the locomotive’s cylinders, the staging of Steel, Steam & Stars IV, the launch of its 225 Boiler Club appeal, and much progress on fitting components to the frames in time for display at SSSIV, volunteers have been concentrating on fundraising, both for the boiler appeal, and for parts needed to complete the chassis. At the Llangollen Railway’s workshops, recent work has included the fitting of the remaining footplating, including the curved plating in front of the smokebox saddle. Other milestones reached in recent months include fitting of the coupling rods, the eccentric straps and links refurbished, the splashers and fire iron tunnel completed and fitted, reverser stand and brake hanger brackets fitted, step stays fitted, and motion brackets completed. Work is currently focused on the reverser assembly, sand boxes and the cylinder drain cock and relief valves, which are now being machined.

The boiler appeal has now reached £30,000 since being launched in March and it is planned to place the order for refurbishment of the boiler from No. 7927 Willington Hall, once the halfway mark of the £225,000 target has been achieved. Meanwhile, arrangements have been made with Llangollen Railway Engineering to lift No. 7927’s boiler onto a boiler trolley at the end of July so that 6880 members can begin de-tubing, cleaning and generally preparing it for inspection by those organisations that have expressed an interest in carrying out its overall. A start has also been made on stripping components from the boiler of No. 5952 Cogan Hall for re-use, copying or storage as appropriate. The boiler will then be lifted, cleaned up and placed into No. 6880’s frames to act as a template for pipework, boiler fittings and cladding sheets while the boiler from No. 7927 is being refurbished. ➜ Anyone interested in supporting the Heritage Railway-backed 225 Club Boiler Appeal is invited to go to www.6880.co.uk or see the advertisement opposite.

Four steam at Bala bank holiday extravaganza THE Bala Lake Railway’s August 28-31 bank holiday weekend steam gala will be the last chance to ride behind repatriated Hunslet 0-4-0ST No. 364 of 1885 Winifred in its authentic Penrhyn Quarry paintwork. The gala will see all four home fleet locomotives in steam. Doubleheaded passenger trains and demonstration Dinorwic and Penrhyn quarries slate trains will feature in one of the most intensive services ever run by the line. There will be trains passing at Llangower, including two freight trains passing, and a rare chance to ride behind diesels Bob Davies on the Friday morning and Meirionnydd on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday A cavalcade of steam locomotives will be staged on Sunday and Monday evenings with a diesel-hauled passenger train to get

photographers on location. A Saturday evening return from Llanuwychllyn to Bala will run behind Winifred, with an extended stop at Llangower. A 5in-gauge miniature railway and a 16mm-scale model garden railway layout will be running, while there will be guided tours of signalbox and engine sheds. Visitors can ride both the line’s new Wickham trolley and the yellow Dinorwic ‘royal’ coach at Llanuwchllyn. London Routemaster double deckers will also be running a service between Bala town centre and the railway’s Bala station. Day rover tickets, allowing unlimited travel on any one day, cost £18 for adults, with discounted Friday-only tickets £15, seniors £15 and children £5. For more details and to buy advance tickets visit www.bala-lake-railway.co.uk

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Heritage Railway 15

NEWS IN BRIEF ➜MAUNSELL U class 2-6-0 No. 1638 has been withdrawn from Bluebell Railway traffic with a year left on its 10 year boiler ticket. The railway said that too many issues needed to be addressed imminently, including a new hydraulic boiler test, and resources had to be used to keep other locomotives in working order. ➜AN ASTHMATIC 17-year-old who collapsed on the summit of Snowdon was rescued with the help of the mountain railway after a coastguard rescue helicopter was unable to reach her because of 70mph winds. A special train took mountain rescue teams to the top where the girl, who was on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition on July 7, was carried to the train. She was taken to hospital at Bangor. ➜THE East Lancashire Railway has booked West Country light Pacific No. 34092 Wells for its summer season. The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway-based locomotive will remain on the line until late August. ➜THE Foxfield Light Railway Society has taken ownership of Peckett inside-cylinder 0-6-0ST No. 1567 of 1920 Ackton Hall No.3 from the National Coal Mining Museum at Caphouse Colliery. Now at Foxfield, plans are in place for a full overhaul and restoration to steam. ➜PROPOSALS to rebuild a miniature railway in Peterborough, which left its previous site two years ago, have been rejected by city council planners. The Peterborough Society of Model Engineers quit the city’s Thorpe Hall after 20 years after owners Sue Ryder wanted to use the land. However, the society has been refused permission to relocate in nearby London Road, Yaxley, where a 5100ft track was planned, because the land was earmarked as open space. ➜THE Bluebell Railway was named as joint winner at the inaugural Lewes and Wealden Business Awards ceremony at the East Sussex National Hotel and Spa in Uckfield on June 19. The purpose of the awards is to offer formal recognition of business excellence, and the railway shared the top prize with the Pelham House Hotel.

Class 117 DMU for Buckfastleigh

CHILTERN Railways’ redundant Class 117 DMU trainset No. 960301, formed of vehicles DMBS No. 51371/ DMS No. 51413, was moved to the storage base at Long Marston via Tyseley depot on June 25. The unit is being restored to its original condition as a prelude to it being transferred to Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway where it will be used in traffic.

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Where Smart cars become little trains By Robin Jones

THE latest Mercedes-Benz Smart Forfour for driving around town – and on Bluebell Railway tracks – has been unveiled. Since the dawn of the motor car, the world has seen numerous examples fitted with flanged wheels to run on railways, notably as inspection saloons. Nicknamed the Smart Forrail, a modern 99cc Mercedes-Benz was converted into a passenger-carrying train by Interfleet, a specialised railway engineering business based in Derby, as a light-hearted experiment to see if two different modes of transport could be combined to provide a direct form of travel. The vehicle was produced following six months of engineering and CAD modelling and fitted with unique, solid steel wheels each measuring 22in in diameter. It was given a run-out on the Bluebell Railway during the weekend of July 27-28, when the line’s model railway exhibition was being held, and even carried passengers. Mercedes-Benz Cars communications and events director Rob Halloway said: “We had 24 guests enjoy a ride in the mini-train over the weekend. “There was a huge cheer when it finally made its way towards Sheffield Park where the model railway was, as word had quickly got around. People were scrambling for their phones to take photos.” The experiment was short lived, for the vehicle was reconverted to its original form as a car shortly afterwards. Elsewhere, a unique new locomotive is set to be unveiled at Pecorama’s Beer Heights Light Railway and named by rail enthusiast and BBC news correspondent Ben Ando. Beer Heights chief mechanical engineer John Macdougall, of the Light Railway, has been building a special internal combustion engine, code named ‘Mini’, for the past four years, It is being built to replace Pecorama’s ageing Severn Lamb diesel Jimmy, which is being phased into retirement. The power unit selected is a Mini motor car 998cc petrol engine incorporating an automatic transmission. The plan is to convert it to run on LPG, or auto gas, giving it greener credentials and making it cheaper to run than a conventional petrol machine. The new locomotive was mechanically complete early in the summer of 2014 and underwent trials on the 7¼in gauge line during that season and occasionally was pressed into service on passenger duties for several hours at a time. The naming ceremony will take place on August 30, as one of the

The most unusual train to ever run on the Bluebell Railway: the unique MercedesBenz commuter-savvy Forrail. JOHN SANDYS

The Mini ready for painting. PECORAMA

Work in progress on the new Beer Heights locomotive, which shows its Mini car ancestry. PECORAMA highlights of the line’s 40th anniversary celebrations.” John said: “Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the classic Mini way back in 1959, developed an engine and gearbox combination so compact as to fit transversely in the first really

small, economical and affordable modern front wheel drive car of its kind. He would never have guessed that all these years later, it would also prove ideal for our new locomotive, for it so happens to fit neatly within the available bonnet space.”

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Unwanted, unloved, out of reach of today’s Great Central Railway and now tucked down a back alley – Leicester Central could now have a glittering future as a luxury hotel. ROBIN JONES

Luxury hotel planned for Leicester Central station PLANS to convert Leicester city centre’s Great Central Railway station into a 100-bedroom boutique hotel have been announced. Owner and developer Charles Street Buildings wants to revamp the station as part of multi-million pound proposals to regenerate a neglected corner of the city. The station last saw trains in 1969, and is currently used as industrial units. Enthusiasts regularly ask if the modern-day GCR could ever be extended from its southern terminus at Leicester North into the old station, but far too many bridges and sections of embankment have been removed. The latest scheme involves the

removal of part of the viaduct in Great Central Street and the establishment of shops, cafes and restaurants in the remaining arches. The hotel plans are part of a wider development that CSB has proposed, extending on to other land that it owns next to Vaughan Way. Leicester Civic Society chairman Stuart Bailey said: “The Great Central station is still a treasure and if it is restored sensitively it could make a wonderful hotel.” Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “CSB are a major landowner and I am delighted that they are looking how the Great Central station could be used.”

AN INVESTIGATION is underway after a Manx Electric Railway tram toppled over on to its side, leaving services suspended. The incident on July 7 involving Car 58 – which was built in 1904 – happened north of Laxey station at around 10am during a routine shunt. The trailer was being reversed at the time, with only crew on board. No one was injured. CLASSIC TRACTION

Class 47 is back in ScotRail colours

The Crewe Diesel Preservation Group has unveiled the completed restoration of its Class 47/7 No. 47712 which now carries the Chris Green-inspired ScotRail livery that it bore while operating the Edinburgh-Glasgow push-pull services. The work has been carried out at the Weardale Railway, following the locomotive’s move from its initial base at Crewe Heritage

Centre. RMS Locotec recreated the livery at its Wolsingham workshops. The fully-operational dual-braked ETH-fitted locomotive made its first public appearance at the DRS open day at Carlisle on July 18. CDPG members Jon Rawlinson; Andy Quayle; Antony Proudlove and Brian Bailey are now seeking further invitations to visit diesel galas and special events.

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Heritage Railway 17

NEWS

Following Gresley’s last main line run – the easy way By Maurice Burns

IT IS well known that serious steam photographers will travel the length of the country by car to obtain the “master shot”, and the last main line run, from Edinburgh to York of A4 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley was no exception, but Maurice Burns showed that there is an alternative way. This is his story of a remarkable day. With the heavy traffic of today, major roadworks for miles, and 50mph speed restrictions, driving is becoming ever more stressful so is there another way of chasing Sir Nigel? A careful study of the steam special times and the rail timetable showed there was an alternative way – let the train take the strain.

Running early

No.60007departsfromawaterstopatTweedmouthwiththeRoyalBorderBridgeinthebackground. ALL IMAGES MAURICE BURNS

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While some enthusiasts were battling through the Newcastle traffic for the Scottish border I relaxed on the 6.15am departure from Darlington, arriving at Berwick-upon-Tweed station in sunny weather at 8.18am. The steam train times showed a stop at Berwick from 8.35 to 9.15am so I had plenty of time. Not so! I was just walking over the road bridge over the River Tweed with the magnificent Royal Border bridge in glorious sunlight before me when No. 60007 surprisingly appeared running early to a water stop not at Berwick but at Tweedmouth. By total chance in about the right spot, pictures were taken of No. 60007 crossing the bridge, but with my

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NEWS

Bradley Manor on home straight By Paul Appleton THE fully overhauled chassis for Erlestoke Manor Fund-owned GWR 4-6-0 No. 7802 Bradley Manor arrived at Bridgnorth from Tyseley Locomotive Works during the first week of July. Work on the bottom end of the locomotive has largely been completed in Birmingham by volunteer members of the EMF. Now work on the boiler is getting close to completion ready for it to be fitted back into the frames, whereupon final piping-up and cladding will be fitted prior to testing. Outstanding work, expected to be completed during August, includes remaining riveting of the copper tube plates, riveting of the foundation ring and retubing.

It is planned to steam No. 7802 in time for the SVR’s September 17-20 autumn steam gala and for it to star in the line’s Manor 50 celebration on November 14-15 (see separate story, Headline News). “The target is to have it ready for the autumn steam gala,” Bridgnorth locomotive workshop manager Ian Walker told Heritage Railway, “but it is just that, a target at the moment.

Broken springs

“Ideally we want it run-in and be ready to take over from No. 34053 Sir Keith Park in mid-October when it is due to be stopped for piston and valve work.” Meanwhile, the operational fleet has recently suffered a spate of broken springs, with recently restored Bulleid West Country light Pacific

No. 34027 Taw Valley also out of action briefly with a hot tender axlebox. Nos. 2857, 1501 and No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor have all had to have replacement springs – in the case of No. 7812, two of them – thought to be down to two rogue sections of track that need the attention of the SVR’s permanent way gang. Running seven days a week at the moment causes obvious difficulties in repairing affected sections of track. In the works, the chassis of GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7714 is almost complete, having been re-wheeled and moved off the lifting jacks. Its boiler is currently in the boiler shop and it is hoped will be finished in time for a return to service in the first quarter of 2016. Another GWR locomotive close to

completion is No. 813. Its boiler has been hydraulic tested for insurance purposes and the frames are almost complete, with final assembly due to take place shortly, although work on the 0-6-0ST is not a high priority at the moment.

New sections of barrel

Replacing No. 7714 on the jacks is BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75069, while its boiler, including new sections of boiler barrel, are due into the boiler shop once No. 7802’s comes out. Meanwhile, volunteers have stripped the cladding sheets from flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley Hall’s boiler ready for moving to the outside area of the boiler shop so that its boiler furniture can be removed. The tender for No. 4930 also progresses in the main workshops.

Royal Scot goes green

LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 Royal Scot has emerged from Crewe Heritage Centre sporting a coat of fresh BR Brunswick green paint. Still lacking numbers or lining, the 4-6-0 is obviously close to steaming and, said Locomotive Service’s Peter Greenwood, will make its first moves in Jeremy Hosking’s newly opened diesel depot. “There is about a quarter of a mile of running line within the depot’s yard, a length suitable for an initial test move or two,” he said. As previously reported, the ‘Scot’ will not be given a main line proving run when finished, but instead will be moved to a nearby heritage railway for intensive running-in trials.

After that, it is likely that the 4-6-0 will be returned to Crewe, given a Vehicle Acceptance Body and boiler insurance examination, before being prepared for a test run and main line ticket. Unless plans are changed, Royal Scot will be allocated to Southall from where it will work alongside BR 7P 4-6-2 No.70000 Britannia and Bulleid light Pacific No. 34046 Braunton. Additional work on the West Country’s boiler has resulted in the locomotive’s projected overhaul completion date being extended into the autumn. ROYAL SCOT LOCOMOTIVE & GENERAL TRUST

New heritage line coming to Crowle peatlands next year? A BID to open a new industrial heritage railway on the peatlands of North Lincolnshire by 2016 is underway. The Crowle and Thorne Moors Peat Railway Society, which was launched two years ago, wants to relay a section of peat railway track near Crowle, at a cost of around £120,000. The 500-yard line would be laid to 2ft gauge and use Simplex internal combustion locomotives

which were used on the moors until the late 1990s and which the society has already obtained. The society also has a pair of Schoma diesels, one from Hatfield Colliery and the other from Swinefleet. Society chairman Mel Bailey said it was hoped to have the line running next year. An application for Lottery funding is being drawn up. For further details about the society visit: ctmprs.com

Southern steam to reach new heights in Bronte country autumn gathering THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway will adopt a Southern theme for its October 9-11 autumn steam gala, with the first visit of Battle of Britain light Pacific No. 34053 Sir Keith Park to another heritage line since it completed its restoration at the Severn Valley Railway. It will be joined by Maunsell U 2-6-0 No. 31806.

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The pair will run alongside the home fleet of West Country light Pacific No. 34092 Wells, BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75078, Midland 4F 0-6-0 No. 43924, WD 2-8-0 No. 90733, USATC S160 No. 5820 ‘Big Jim’, LNWR 0-6-2T ‘Coal Tank’ No. 1054, and Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 1704 Nunlow. Returning following overhaul is Taff Vale Railway 02 0-6-2T No. 85.

Middy coach windows smashed by vandals POLICE are investigating a vandal attack on the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway in which four windows in a 140-year-old GER coach were smashed. During a pre-service track walk on Sunday, July 19, it was discovered that four of the six end windows in the guard’s compartment of coach No. 12 had been smashed, using steel rail chair keys which were found inside the vehicle. The MSLR coaches had been at

stabled at the Dovebrook end of the line all week due to shunting operations so it was not known exactly when the damage was sustained. Railway chairman Jon Taylor said: “We are going to have to spend money and volunteer time making good the damage. We may be Suffolk Museum of the Year but as a charity we depend on the goodwill of members and supporters funding and unpaid effort. You just can’t believe the mindlessness of it.”

Another award for Mallard 75

THE Locomotion museum at Shildon has won the Best Event Durham category at The Journal Culture Awards 2014. The Journal Culture Awards, which began in 2006, annually reward the best of North East culture. Locomotion won the category, supported by Durham University, for the Mallard 75:

The Great Goodbye line-up of all six surviving A4s in February 2014. The event attracted nearly 120,000 visitors over a nine-day period, setting a new record for the museum. Representatives from the Locomotion team were awarded the trophy at a ceremony at Sunderland Minster in June.

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NEWS

Wissington

on the 1-in-19

By Brian Sharpe

WISSINGTON is a County of Warwick class 0-6-0ST built in 1938 by Hudswell Clarke for the newly formed British Sugar Corporation. It was delivered to the Wissington Light Railway, which was a sprawling system of lines in a remote area of the Fens near Downham Market, connecting several farms to the corporation’s Wissington sugar factory. A separate line connected the factory to the exchange sidings on the Stoke Ferry branch.

worksplate as thanks for his contribution to the project. Wissington has continued to work regularly on the MSLR and occasionally on the NNR, but July saw its first big trip away from East Anglia, to star in the ‘Crocks & Curios’ gala on the Foxfield Railway, where it did battle with the 1-in-19 gradient out of Foxfield colliery, a far cry from the flatlands of the Fens.

Lightweight design

The BSC bought several engines of this design, including the sister locomotive at Wissington, Hayle, now Derek Crouch on the Nene Valley Railway. The lightweight design was well suited to the light trackwork of an agricultural railway with an axleload of around eight tons. Wissington remained at the BSC plant for virtually of all of its working career, but with the arrival of diesels and a reduction in rail traffic, was relegated to standby engine, and in the early 1970s was out of use. By 1978 Wissington had become the last steam locomotive in commercial ownership in East Anglia and had come to the attention of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway society. After an approach by Society member, Chris Beckett, the BSC donated Wissington to the M&GNJRS and in February 1978 it departed for a career in preservation on the North Norfolk Railway. Eventually in the late 1990s, it was decided to restore Wissington to working order. The locomotive was completely dismantled at a private restoration site at Yaxham. Supported by a grant from the PRISM fund and several smaller donations, it was completely overhauled with volunteer input from a small dedicated team. By the mid2000s, the boiler repair had begun, with much of the firebox being replaced along with a new smokebox and front tubeplate, and in 2010 the boiler was steamed for the first time out of the frames.

Ready to run

In late 2010, the partially reassembled engine was transferred to Weybourne for further work by the volunteer team, and after almost two more years of hard work and around £70,000, Wissington was ready to run. After a test run on the NNR in July 2012, it moved to the Mid Suffolk Light Railway for further running in and to star in its first ever steam gala. On September 15, 2013, Wissington was officially commissioned during a special M&GNJRS and Wissington supporters’ day at Brockford station. John Howard, who had singlehandedly led much of the overhaul efforts in the 1990s and early 2000s, was presented with a special commemorative plaque and

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Right: Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Wissington shunts at Foxfield colliery during an early-morning photo charter. FRED KERR

Left: Wissington and Haydock Foundry 0-6-0WT Bellerophon on the 1-in-19 climb of Foxfield bank with a 12-wagon train banked by Bagnall 0-6-0ST FlorenceNo. 2

Below: and Bellerophon pass Dubs 0-4-0T No. 4101 at the foot of Foxfield bank. BRIAN SHARPE

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Heritage Railway 23

NEWS IN BRIEF

GWR icons return to Swindon

TWO GWR icons are to return to their Swindon birthplace to mark next year’s 175th anniversary of the town being chosen as the site for Brunel’s locomotive works. GWR 4-4-0 No. 3440 (3717) City of Truro, the first steam locomotive reported to have broken the 100mph barrier, and 4-6-0 No. 6000 King George V, which ended BR’s steam ban in 1971, will be loaned by the National Railway Museum for display at the town’s STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway museum. Next year marks the 175th anniversary of when Swindon was chosen as the site for Great Western Railway works. STEAM curator Frances Yeo said: “King George V is very close to people’s hearts in Swindon.”

Clerestory coach back on Corris

A sight not seen in the Dulas Valley since 1930 will appear once more on Sunday, September 6 in the form of the Corris Railway’s new carriage, No. 22. To date, the heritage line’s carriages have had elliptical roof lines, but No. 22 will evoke memories of some of the original passenger vehicles on the original line by having a clerestory roof. Although the vehicle will have a Victorian external appearance it has been built to modern safety standards and has extra provision for passengers in wheelchairs.

Brunel’s hotel for sale

A BRISTOL hotel designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for passengers travelling on the GWR and SS Great Britain to America is on the market for more than £6 million. Brunel House in St George’s Road was redeveloped behind the listed façade in the early 1980s, since when it has been occupied by Bristol City Council’s planning department. However, the council plans to move to other offices once the refurbishment of City Hall is completed next year. The sale of the building is being handled by property consultancy JLL.

The Telford Steam Railway’s GWR 0-6-2T No. 5619, which last steamed in spring 2014, is hauled out of the Flour Mill workshops at Bream in the Forest of Dean following repairs, by works shunter Kerr Stuart 0-4-0WT No. 3063 of 1918. No. 5619 has now gone on loan to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway for the summer. Built for the Admiralty for use in the National Shipyard at Chepstow, No. 3063 stayed there all its life and was eventually sold by Fairfield Mabey to Flour Mill founder Bill Parker and his brother in 1980 BILL PARKER

Patriot to appear at landmark LMS gala By Robin Jones NEW-build LMS Patriot No. 45551 The Unknown Warrior is the latest locomotive to join the Barrow Hill 65 gala to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Staveley Midland roundhouse to steam. Now at the rolling chassis stage and looking every bit like a locomotive minus the boiler, the 4-6-0 will be brought from Tyseley Locomotive Works, where more work is being undertaken on it, to Barrow Hill in time for the September 25-27 event. It will be the first member of its class to visit the roundhouse since the Sixties. Its visit will be a unique opportunity for visitors to see the locomotive in a genuine working shed environment for the first time with every other major component in place. The gala is already shaping up to be one of the biggest gatherings of LMS locomotives in the heritage era, with Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233

Duchess of Sutherland making its firstever visit to the roundhouse. It will join Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45690 Leander, Pacific No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth, ex-Turkish State Railways Stanier 8F No. 8274, two ‘Black Fives’, No. 45305 from the Great Central Railway and No. 45337 from the North Norfolk Railway, ‘Jinty’ 3F No 47406 and Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43106 at the event, which is sponsored by Heritage Railway and sister title The Railway Magazine. Heritage Railway readers also raised £60,000 to cast the wheels for the Patriot – the National Memorial Locomotive – which is scheduled to be completed in 2018, the centenary of the Armistice. Also on static display with the Patriot will be Johnson ‘half cab’ No. 41708, Stanier three-cylinder 2-6-4T No. 2500 and Midland compound 4-4-0 No. 1000. The last steam working out of 41E Barrow Hill Roundhouse at the time took place on October 4, 1965. The

gala will welcome the 100th steam locomotive to visit the roundhouse since it reopened in July 1998. The gala includes free steam rides, cab visits, turntable demonstrations and a real ale bar. Advance tickets are now available from www.seetickets.com (a booking fee will apply). The event will be open from 10am to 5pm on all three days. Those holding advance tickets will be able to enter the show at 9.30am each day. A free shuttle bus service from Chesterfield station will run throughout all three days. Photographic charter organiser Russ Hillier will be running an event on September 23. There will be a daytime session in the yard with freight trains, followed by an evening floodlit session in both the yard and roundhouse. Anyone interested in attending the charter is invited to email [email protected] or telephone 07831 217061.

Unique diesel for Severn Valley Railway diesel gala Vintage steam came to the rescue in The Netherlands on July 10 when a modern Dutch Railways inter-city EMU became stuck at Westwoud near Hoorn, north of Amsterdam, because a lorry had damaged the overhead wires. The nearby Stoomtram Hoorn-Medemblik heritage line had a Victorian 0-4-0T running at the time. It was hurriedly coupled to a small diesel and they came to the rescue and towed the stricken EMU to Hoorn, after passengers had been taken by bus to their destination.

24 Heritagerailway.co.uk

SOLE- surviving Clayton Type 1 Bo-Bo D8568 is to make a return visit to the Severn Valley Railway this autumn, joining the impressive fleet of motive power for its diesel enthusiasts’ gala during October 1-3. It will also feature also on diesel footplate experience duties on September 30 where participants can take the controls of the 1964built machine for £325. The locomotive visited the SVR briefly in October 1998, the only time it has left its current base at the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway. A total of 117 of the

Clayton Type 1s (later designated Class 17) were built, with D8568 spending its entire BR career in Scotland, operating trip freights from Haymarket and Polmadie depots, being withdrawn from the latter in October 1971 before being sold into industry. It first went to Hemelite of Harpenden and later Ribble Cement at Clitheroe. It was acquired for preservation in February 1983 by the Diesel Traction Group, which initially based it at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, before moving it south in 1991. It is currently

restored in BR green livery with small yellow warning panels. At the gala, D8568 will join Class 55 No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, owned by the Deltic Preservation Society, which has been on an extended stay at the railway during 2015, Class 35 Hymek D7076 and Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9531; both courtesy of the East Lancashire Railway Diesel Group. These will be supported by residents including Class 52 D1062 Western Courier, 0-6-0DEs Nos. 12099 and D3201, plus the line’s Class 108 DMU.

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NEWS

Ian Allan

The greatest trainspotter of them all! By Robin Jones TRIBUTES have flooded in for Ian Allan, the man who laid the foundations for modern-day railway enthusiast publishing and who has been credited with inspiring the success of the preservation movement. Ian died on June 28, the day before his 93rd birthday. Ian Allan was born on June 29, 1922, at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, the son of George Allan, a school clerk, and his wife Mary, nee Barnes. He was educated at St Paul’s School in London. Ian lost a leg in a camping accident during exercises with the Officers’ Training Corps at the age of 15 in 1937 and that seemed to limit his career opportunities, as he was left technically unfit to take up a traffic apprenticeship with the Southern Railway. However, he was already a railway enthusiast with a model railway set in his loft and was a regular visitor to the signalbox at Christ’s Hospital station. He was riding his bicycle six weeks after his accident so he could go trainspotting. Two years later he joined the staff at the office of the general manager of the Southern Railway at Waterloo as a Grade 5 clerk. Shortly after the Second World War broke out, young Ian was moved to the publications department, where he was trained to organise the print and production of the Southern Railway magazine, as well as handling inquiries from members of the public, including fellow enthusiasts. Trainspotting had already been recognised as a mass participation hobby by then, but it lacked the direction it was to be gifted in the years to come. So he could answer questions from enthusiasts, Ian was provided with a notebook listing the numbers of all the

railway’s locomotives and their shed and trolleybuses, and the 20,000 print allocations. run sold out in days. Soon, all the major He immediately saw the immense bookshops including WHSmith, whose value of such information in printed bookstalls had a presence on major UK form to the lineside enthusiast and station platforms, were queueing to suggested to his bosses that the stock Ian’s ABC spotters’ guides. notebook be published. Ian’s favourite locomotives were They turned down the idea and so the Schools 4-4-0 No. 909 St Paul’s and 15-shillings-a-week clerk asked if he No. 913 Christ’s Hospital. could publish it on his own, at his own risk and expense. He was given TheIanAllanLocospotters’Club permission and it was a watershed Ian added a new dimension to his moment in railway publishing. business when, in 1944, a group of Despite the wartime trainspotters wandered paper restrictions and on to the busy West Coast other difficulties in not Main Line tracks at giving away information Tamworth, laying pennies deemed useful to the on the rails so that enemy, he had 2000 6in x passing trains would 4in booklets printed at a flatten them. The trespass cost of £42 and took out made national a small advertisement in newspaper headlines and a railway magazine at a the culprits were hauled cost of five shillings and before the juvenile court sixpence to sell it. in the process. The little notebook was Ian addressed the an instant success and problem by drawing up a soon Ian had received code of conduct for nearly 2000 one-shilling lineside enthusiasts and postal orders, making a in doing so he founded Ian Allan – the man who reasonable profit. The invented modern railway the Ian Allan Locospotters notebook went for a Club. publishing and helped second printing with the By 1951 it had 150,000 shape the heritage new title of ABC of members and by 1956 movement. IAN ALLAN Southern Locomotives nearly 250,000. Spotters and under the name of Ian Allan rather had to sign a pledge “not to interfere than I Allan. He followed it up with with railway working or trespass on similar volumes on the GWR, LMS and railway property” on pain of expulsion LNER. from the club. Membership eventually The phenomenal response was too exceeded 300,000. much for him to handle, so he enlisted However, in 1964, Ian remarked that the aid of friends, colleagues and mods and rockers had infiltrated the neighbours to help send out the little club. booklets. Ian’s business soared beyond his expectations. IanAllanthecompany He then brought out a book on After the war, Ian founded his own book London Transport also including buses publishing company, Ian Allan Ltd, with

Ian Allan driving a train at the Great Cockrow Railway, his 7¼in gauge at Lyne, near Chertsey. IAN ALLAN

26 Heritagerailway.co.uk

its offices at bomb-damaged 282 Vauxhall Bridge Road in London, employing a colleague and a typist. His father soon joined as its financial director. In 1951 he moved the business to Hampton Court, removing the need to commute. In 1946 Ian brought out his first magazine, Trains Illustrated, followed by Locomotive Railway Magazine and Railway World. The first secretary of the Locospotters Club was Mollie Franklin, who Ian married in 1947, and has survived him. The company grew to the point where it moved to bigger premises at Hampton Court, where a printing business was established. During the Fifties and Sixties a million ABC guides, listing 20,000 locomotives, were sold every year. The hobby of trainspotting had by then become enormous and during the summer holidays, police were summoned to oversee spotters at Clapham Junction, Willesden and Tamworth. There was also the problem of clandestine shed visits by spotters. The club’s response was to organise official ‘shed bashes’ as well as fully fledged railtours, often over lines which were earmarked for closure. The most famous of all of these trips was the May 9, 1964 Plymouth to Paddington ‘Ian Allan Rail Tour’ held to mark the 60th anniversary of the legendary GWR 4-4-0 No. 3440 City of Truro’s 102.3mph unofficial record run with the ‘Ocean Mails Special’. That trip was run behind GWR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle reaching 96mph while descending Wellington Bank in Somerset, the scene of the alleged record the same day in 1904.

Therailwayowner

Railways remained a major hobby and passion for Ian. In 1948 he and five friends became the owners of the Hastings Miniature Railway. In 1962 he bought the 7¼in gauge Greywood Central Railway at Waltonon-Thames when its owner and founder John Samuel died. Moving it to 56 acres of land he had bought at Hardwick Lane in Chertsey, it reopened to the public on September 14, 1968, renamed the Great Cockcrow Railway. A new firm, Ian Allan (Miniature Railway Supplies) Ltd was established to supply equipment for commercial miniature railways nationwide, including those at Buxton, Bognor, Bournemouth, Whitby, Sandown, Prestatyn and a second at Bognor’s Hotham Park. Ian became a significant player in the nascent preservation movement. He became president of the Main Line Steam Trust that set up the Great Central Railway, vice-president of the Transport Trust and the Heritage Railway Association, chairman of its predecessor the Association of Independent Railways and the Dart Valley Railway when it was established on the Buckfastleigh branch in the Sixties. He was also patron of the MidFind us on Facebook.com

A young Ian Allan (far right) sharing centre stage with Laurel and Hardy at the reopening of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in 1946. IAN ALLAN

Young publisher Ian Allan with a horde of admiring trainspotters alongside Bulleid Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No. 21C16 EldersFyffes at Waterloo in 1947. IAN ALLAN Hants Railway. From 1982-84 he served on the Transport Users’ Consultative Committee for London.

Thebusinessempireexpands

As steam began to vanish from the national network in the wake of British Rail’s 1955 Modernisation Plan, sales of the spotters’ guides fell. Ian looked at expanding his business interests outside railways and in 1962 he formed the Ian Allan Group with its headquarters,Terminal House, built on land bought beside the terminus of the Shepperton branch – with the boardroom the 1922 Pullman car Malaga, once used by King George VI. The group eventually expanded to include a travel agency, hotels, other specialist publishing, car sales and regalia manufacture. He launched numerous other magazines, among them Buses Illustrated, Tramways and Urban Transit, Model Railway Constructor, Aircraft Illustrated, Combat Aircraft and Hornby Magazine. In 1967 a political row began when British Rail chairman, Sir Stanley Raymond, sacked Gerry Fiennes, the general manager of the Eastern Region, after Ian Allan published his book I Tried To Run a Railway. In it, Fiennes reported

the lengths to which the BR hierarchy would resort to stifle enterprise and drive away business. As the group expanded, so more and more properties were acquired to house its various activities. To manage this ever-increasing portfolio, the group formed Ian Allan Developments Ltd (later to become Tennay Properties Ltd), leasing and licensing to third parties the premises no longer occupied by the group’s operating companies. Apart from being an enthusiastic member and supporter of the Shepperton Rotary Club, Ian had for some years been a freemason and when an opportunity came to acquire a specialist publishing company, A Lewis (Masonic) Ltd, Ian found it too tempting to turn down and the company moved to Shepperton. Masonic publishing led to the manufacture of masonic regalia and expanded into military regalia, both national and international. In 1986 manufacturing premises were acquired at Hinckley in Leicester to produce all forms of masonic, police, military, corporate and club regalia items and the Ian Allan Regalia company was established. Before his publishing venture springboarded him to fame, Ian had considered becoming a hotelier and in 1969 he purchased the picturesq que

Ian Allan (left) talking and trading experiences with a keen ‘spotter’ as they pore over one of the first ABC titles, the little books that first started the trend of ‘trainspotting’. IAN ALLAN Broadway Hotel in Worcestershire, followed by the Mansion House Hotel in Evesham. It was an interesting and “eventful” encounter into a very different type of business and while the Evesham hotel was sold on very quickly, the Broadway hotel remained in the group until 1996. Ian’s Shepperton Rotary Club connection also spawned the group’s interest in the motor industry when, in 1976, a fellow Rotarian’s garage business failed. To aid his plight, the group, together with another local company, Chase Organics, bought a small freehold garage site in Virginia Water. Ian Allan Motors peaked at five garages distributing at various stages in its evolution Volvo, Land Rover, Peugeot, Saab, Subaru, Cadillac and Ssangyong new and used cars and after sales. In 1982 the Group acquired Chase Organics, which quickly expanded its product offering of seaweed plant growth stimulants and organic seed retailing. Today it is the home of the Organic Gardening Catalogue and is one of the leading organic seed retailers in the UK. Ian always described the development of the Ian Allan Group as “serendipity” – a happy circumstance of chance - but it was typically and

inevitably the outcome of a great entrepreneurial spirit. The group today has consolidated into five distinct trading companies, still run by family members, true to the ethos and tradition of its founder.

Honoursnationalandlocal

In 1992 Ian published his own biography, Driven By Steam, and five years later he was awarded an OBE. In 1998 he acquired the Oxford Publishing Company, Midland Publishing and Midland Counties Publications the following year and, in 2002, Classic Publications. The railway magazine business was sold in 2012. In 2001 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the borough of Spelthorne “in recognition of the eminent services he rendered to the borough over a number of years, through his publication of a unique range of books, his operation of various businesses which employ a number of local people, undertaking charitable work, both nationally and locally, particularly for people with disabilities and for the part he played in the creating of the Bradbury Centre in Shepperton.” Ian was presented with the Heritage Railway Association’s The Railway Magazine Award 2013 for services to railway preservation “for popularising the hobby of train and loco spotting by launching the ABC number book series; for inspiring and educating a generation of enthusiasts through publication of hundreds of quality railway publications and for his long-running sponsorship of the National Railway Heritage Awards”. He chaired the governors of King Edward’s School, Witley, and was treasurer of Bridewell Royal Hospital. His final years saw him in increasing ill health, largely because of the onset of Heritage Railway 27

NEWS

Parkinson’s Disease. He is also survived by his two sons, David and Paul who have run the business for more than a quarter of a century. Its turnover is now around £30 million.

Founders recall the first Severn Valley meeting

Tributes

By Robin Jones

Continued from p26

Ian Allan

Keith Whitmore, vice-president of the East Lancashire Railway, secretary of the Bahamas Locomotive Society and chairman of the Heaton Park Tramway, said: “Ian has been a tower of support for railway preservation and rather like Blackpool rock his name is etched through the preservation movement. “Since the publication of his first ABC Spotters book thousands of youngsters and those not so young have clutched his latest volume while standing at the end of a railway platform copping every locomotive to pass through and crossing off the number with a pencil, usually in need of sharpening, for myself I spent many ABC hours at Stockport Edgeley station. “Ian was a father figure in railway preservation and after such a long life he will be sorely missed. His passion for steam never died and his name will, of course, live on in print and memory forever.” South Devon Railway Trust chairman, Alan Taylor, said: “Ian was a legend. He was the man who had both the foresight and business acumen to open up railways and all forms of transport as a hobby to an enormous and wide generation of enthusiasts of all ages immediately after the Second World War. “As a teenage enthusiast in the midSixties, even though I was not a trainspotter, his many pocket-style ABC publications were excellent works of reference. “He was founding director of the Dart Valley Light Railway Ltd as the company was originally known. In that sense, he became one of the preservation movement’s true pioneers, being heavily involved in the saving of the Ashburton branch for the first time in 1965. “It has been said that while Ian was a railway enthusiast at heart, his commercial head ruled the day when it came to railway preservation. Certainly, some of his ideas for how the Dart Valley Railway should be run did not go down well with the early volunteers. “However, his heart was definitely in the right place when the chips were down, and it was Ian who stepped in to mediate between some of his more intransigent colleagues then on the DVR board and the SDR directors over our purchase of the freehold. “I well remember a meeting between the two of us in the vast office of Ian Allan Ltd next to Shepperton station in which he proposed a plan to move the deal forward. After some tough talking, we shook hands and, a little while later, success was celebrated over lunch in the company dining room – the Pullman car Malaga that was on an isolated length of track in the office complex overlooking the public platform. “Looking back, we have much to thank him for and, without his intervention, the South Devon Railway may not be what it is today.”

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FIFTY years to the day since local enthusiasts held a meeting in Kidderminster with a view to setting up a West Midlands heritage line, founder members of the Severn valley Railway were reunited. More than 100 of the Severn Valley Railway’s early members took part in a day of celebrations to mark the half centenary of the meeting at the Coopers Arms in the Kidderminster suburb of Habberley on July 6, 1965. The reunion was one of the highlights of the SVR’s Golden Jubilee year. Half a century ago, after a few informal meetings between friends and other interested parties, a notice was placed in the local press inviting interested members of the public to the meeting, arranged at the instigation of enthusiast Keith Beddoes. It was left to those in attendance to vote on which line – the GWR route from Bewdley through the Wyre Forest towards Cleobury Mortimer, the Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors Light Railway or a Severn Valley Railway founding members left to right: Columb Howell, Christopher George, Keith Beddoes and Jeremy Colbourn, with Golden Jubilee SVR birthday card competition winner Millie Blewitt. The July 6 reunion was one of the main highlights of the Severn Valley’s Golden Jubilee year. BOB SWEET/SVR

section of the Severn Valley branch should be saved, if possible. A total of 50 people turned up, and chose the Severn Valley line, forming a society for the purpose of buying and reopening part of it. The initial target was the 41⁄2 miles of line from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade, to be reopened for steam trains, plus the track from Hampton Loade to Alveley Colliery sidings, from where coal trains were still being run south to Bewdley, and which would give the heritage line a connection with the national network.

Incredible achievement

Columb Howell, one of the young enthusiasts who attended the meeting, said: “What an incredible achievement it has been over the last 50 years. It is beyond our wildest dreams and really goes to show the value of the dedicated volunteers and the paid staff at the railway. “Little did we realise what we had taken on, but we refused to be beaten and we have a lot to be proud of – it’s wonderful that part of our railway history has been preserved in

this way. I would also like to say thanks to Keith Beddoes for having the idea in the first place, because without him we wouldn’t be where we are today.” Fellow founding member Christopher George said: “I was there right at the very start on July 6, 1965 and here I am today. “It has been absolutely marvellous to bring together a fair selection of founders and other colleagues from those early days in the Sixties and just listening to the buzz of excited conversations with many memories and reminiscences being retold, has been truly memorable and has made the celebration that much more special. “The Severn Valley Railway started with nothing and over the last 50 years it has grown into a mature heritage railway, which is known all over the UK and in many parts of the world. Long may it prosper!” Founding members enjoyed a welcome speech on Kidderminster station before which the official Severn Valley Railway 50th birthday card was revealed by its designer – 11-year-old Millie Blewitt from

Keith Beddoes, the man who started it all back it 1965 cuts the cake to mark the Severn Valley Railway’s Golden Jubilee on July 6. BOB SWEET/SVR

Severn Valley Railway founding members, current members, volunteers and guests lined up at Bridgnorth on July 6, to mark the line’s Golden Jubilee, 50 years to the day since its first meeting was held. The locomotive line up, which recalled a similar one in 1969, comprised Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43106, Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34027 TawValley, GWR prairie No. 4566, Collett 0-4-2T No. 1450 and GWR 4-6-0 No. 4936 KinletHall. BOB SWEET/SVR Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

The Severn Valley Railway’s first four main line engines lined up at Bridgnorth on April 6, 1969: left to right, Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 46443, Collett 0-6-0 No. 3205, Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43106 and Stanier 8F No. 48773. DAVID WILLIAMS Worcester, who beat off hundreds of entries in a special competition. The guests then boarded a special anniversary dining train, headed by Ivatt Standard 4MT No. 43106, which arrived at the railway in 1968 and was in operation on the SVR’s official opening day in May 1970. The locomotive’s VIP passengers then stopped off at Bridgnorth to pose for an iconic photograph in front of a line-up of five steam locomotives including No. 43106 in the Bridgnorth Works yard, recalling an iconic four-engine line-up in 1968, two years before the first public passenger trains ran.

Special dinner

The Golden Jubilee celebrations continued on July 17, when SVR supporters attended a special dinner at West Midland Safari Park, featuring guest speaker, Paul Atterbury, star of BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. The SVR has already enjoyed an eventful Golden Jubilee year, winning both the Group Travel award for Best Preserved Railway for Groups and the BBC Countryfile Magazine award for Heritage Site of the Year. It also welcomed Princess Anne in April. A new event for the year will be Sounds of the 60s on August 14-16.

New posters for SVR Golden Jubilee

Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43106 stands at Bridgnorth station at the head of the special Golden Jubilee dining train on July 6, which took founder members from Kidderminster Town to Bridgnorth and back. BOB SWEET/SVR Shropshire artist Alan Reade has produced six new art deco posters to raise money for the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust. With prices starting at £8 for an 8in x 6in print, £9 for an A4-sized

print and £16 for a fine-art print, they can be ordered direct from Smith York Fine Art Publishing Limited at Jackfield Tile Museum, telephone 01952 883461 or email [email protected]

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

A minimum of £5 per print will be donated to the appeal fund for the restoration of SVR flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley Hall and the historic Bridgnorth station buildings.

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Iconic Forth Railway Bridge given World Heritage status By Robin Jones THE Forth Bridge has become the sixth Scottish landmark to be awarded World Heritage Site status – placing it alongside the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Sydney Opera House in terms of global cultural significance. The decision was announced at an early July meeting in Bonn after the Unesco committee spent more than a

year considering its nomination. Now the status could lead to a rail-oriented tourist boom.

Draw more tourists

UK heritage minister, Tracey Crouch, said: “Recognition as a World Heritage Site will draw more tourists to the area as well as making sure one of the UK’s great engineering feats stands for future generations.” Scotland’s other World Heritage

Sites are New Lanark, St Kilda, the Old and New Towns in Edinburgh, Neolithic Orkney and the Roman Antonine Wall. The bridge was designed by Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler and built under the direction of William Henry Barlow, who had engineered the Midland Railway’s London extension and designed St Pancras. He also helped complete Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Clifton

Suspension Bridge four years after the Great Western railway engineer died. He sat on the commission which investigated the causes of the Tay Bridge disaster and designed the replacement, with his son Crawford Barlow as engineer. A cantilever design, it was the first bridge in Britain to be made entirely from steel. It was constructed by the Glasgow firm of Sir William Arrol & Company between 1883-90. However, during its construction, more than 450 of the estimated 4600 workers were injured and 98 lost their lives, a death toll that exceeded that of the earlier Tay bridge disaster.

65,000 tons of steel

Stretching 1.6 miles from North to South Queensferry, the main crossing comprises tubular struts and lattice girder ties in double cantilevers each connected by 345ft ‘suspended’ girder spans resting on the cantilever ends. It has two 1710ft main spans of 521.3 metres, two side spans of 680ft and 15 approach spans each 168ft long. Standing 151ft above high tide and weighing 50,513 tons, it used nearly 65,000 tons of steel, 18,122 cu m of granite and 6.5 million rivets. Where possible, natural features were incorporated into the design for added stability, such as the island of Inchgarvie, and the headlands and

Within hours of the Unesco decision being announced, A1 Peppercorn Pacific No. 60163 Tornado steams across the Forth Bridge. PETER DEVLIN/FORTH BRIDGE EXPERIENCE

Shillingstone needs more volunteers THE Shillingstone Railway Project is holding a volunteers day on Saturday, August 15 as part of its expansion drive. In the 10 years since the North Dorset Railway Trust, volunteers have worked tirelessly to restore the almost derelict Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway station buildings to the condition they were in their Fifties heyday. A track-laying programme is well established and the intention is to lay double tracks through the station. More rolling stock has been acquired recently and is now awaiting restoration. The project needs more helpers to speed up progress. ➜ More information can be obtained from the station which is open 10am to 4pm during weekends, direct from Patrick Law on 07769 748186 or email [email protected].

34 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Rick Wills to drive underground railway project By Geoff Courtney Former airline executive Rick Wills has been appointed chairman of the trustees of the British Postal Museum & Archive, the organisation which next year will bring a new heritage railway experience to the heart of London. Described by Adrian Steel, director of the BPMA, as someone who brings “a wealth of relevant experience” to his new role, Rick started his career in the late Sixties as a management trainee with British European Airways, following which he moved on to the Thomson Travel Group, where he became management services director. In 1987 Rick returned to the aviation industry with British Airways, for which between 1990 and 2001 he was managing director of BA Speedway and subsequently managing director of BA Enterprises. He was also chairman of the London Eye Co for eight years and has held a number of trustee and non-executive director roles, including with the National Trust and the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. He is due to take over as chairman of the trustees on August 4 in succession to Dr Helen Forde, who has held the

Taking the chair: Rick Wills, who has been appointed chairman of the trustees of the British Postal Museum & Archive in succession to Dr Helen Forde. Next year the BPMA will open to the public for the first time a section of the closed Mail Rail system, which transported letters and parcels beneath the streets of London for 76 years. BPMA position since 2011 and has been a trustee of the BPMA since it was founded 11 years ago. Rick joins the BPMA at a momentous time in its short history. A £22½-million project to build a new postal museum and open to the public part of the former Post Office Underground

Railway is well advanced, with completion scheduled for next year. The ride will be over a 1km stretch of the line at Mount Pleasant, halfway along the 6½-mile subterranean route that ran from Paddington station in the west of the capital to Liverpool Street and Whitechapel Road in the east. “I look forward to handing over the reins of this fantastic project to Rick,” said Dr Forde, who will continue to be actively involved, while Rick said: “This is an incredibly important project, and the result will be a destination we will all be proud of for years to come.” Speaking to Heritage Railway, he added: “Opening Mail Rail to the public for the first time in its history is a fantastic opportunity for both the railway world and London’s visitor attraction industry. I look forward to many years of success as an established part of the capital’s vibrant culture and heritage scene.” The 2ft gauge line, the world’s first driverless electric railway, was opened in 1927 and at its peak transported four million letters a day 70ft beneath the streets of London. Renamed Mail Rail in 1987, it was closed and mothballed by Royal Mail in 2003, although regular maintenance is carried out to this day.

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LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado steams across the Forth Bridge with the Belmond Pullman on June 23, during a firework display celebrating the 125th anniversary of construction of the bridge. DAVE COLLIER high banks on either side. The double-track bridge was officially completed on March 4, 1890, when the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, tapped an inscribed golden rivet into position. The bridge, regarded as the key component of the EdinburghAberdeen northern extension of the East Coast Main Line, cost a total of £3,200,000, nearer to £235 million by today’s standards. Bettering the routes to Aberdeen offered by the Caledonian Railway, the short cut across the Forth provided a huge boost to the fortunes of the North British. However, it was not owned outright

by the company. A conference at York in 1881 had set up the Forth Bridge Railway Committee, to which the North British agreed to meet 35% of the cost. The Midland Railway agreed to contribute 30%, while the rest came equally from the NER and the GNR.

Iconic structure

On October 16, 1939, the first Luftwaffe attack on Britain during the Second World War took place over the bridge, when Nazi bombers attacked the Royal Navy base at Rosyth. The incident also saw the first German planes to be shot down over Britain during the conflict, thanks to the RAF

Iconic stations to the fore at NRM THE National Railway Museum is to stage a major new exhibition about Britain’s iconic stations. Destination Stations, which runs from September 25 to January 24 next year, will take visitors on a journey through the evolving architectural history of Britain’s railway stations, chronologically exploring the changing roles and appearances of some of the UK’s best-known stations throughout history.

Rudimentary stopping points

Held in the York museum’s Gallery space and broken into four key periods, the exhibition will track the development of railway stations over time: from the rudimentary stopping points of the 1800s, the Victorian architectural masterpieces which coincided with the railway boom, the functional passenger hubs of the 20th century, through to the modern-day stations which combine rich architectural heritage with the needs of the 21st-century railway. The exhibition will feature

striking images and items from the museum’s extensive collection including architectural fragments, paintings, models and photographs from across history, alongside loaned artefacts from key architectural archives across the country.

Desirable leisure destinations

There will be new digital features such as computer-generated flythroughs and interviews which explore the modern station’s future as a desirable leisure destination for people who are constantly on the move. Interpretation developer Ellen Tait said: “Station architecture has undergone significant changes over time, from the earliest stations which were focused on trains rather than passengers to the luxury shops and restaurants that line the halls of stations like St Pancras International today. I’m sure the public will be fascinated by the range of unusual artefacts and beautiful objects that offer us new insights into the history of the nation’s stations.

603 City of Edinburgh Spitfire squadron. The bid for World Heritage status was led by the Forth Bridges Forum, set up by the Scottish government. Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the bridge was one of the “industrial wonders of the world”, adding: “Its endurance is testament not only to the ingenuity of those who designed and built it but also to the generations of painters, engineers and maintenance crews who have looked after it through the years.” The bridge is owned by Network Rail, whose infrastructure director, David Dickson, described it as “a prime example of civil engineering

and an iconic structure, not only in Scotland but across the world.” Mike Cantlay, chairman of tourism agency VisitScotland said World Heritage Site status would lends “even greater aura and appeal to one of the planet’s most instantly recognisable landmarks”.

Year of innovation

He added: “The timing is perfect as, in 2016, this country will celebrate the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design and you would be hardpushed to find a better example of all three qualities anywhere in the world than in the Forth Bridge.”

Blackpool trams and steam trams spectacular – in Manchester!

The first major event of the newly formed Greater Manchester Heritage Partnership will be held over the Weekend of August 8-9, with ‘day trips to Blackpool’-themed steam trains and trams in operation. The partnership between the East Lancashire Railway, the Heaton Park Tramway and the Manchester Museum of Transport is organising the ‘Blackpool Spectacular’ with seaside special steam trains on the railway, Blackpool trams running in Heaton Park and the Manchester X60 Manchester to Blackpool bus service revived for the weekend to link up the various attractions. In addition there will be displays at the Manchester Bus Museum in Boyle Street, Cheetham on public transport to Blackpool, a display on railways to Blackpool at Bury transport museum. In addition there will be a beach at Heaton Park, seaside activities in the Bury Transport Museum Castlecroft yard including Punch and Judy. There will also be displays at the People’s History Museum at

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Spinningfield in the city centre on wakes weeks and how Blackpool was made by the railways and mass tourism from Manchester and thus developed into the UK premier seaside resort. There will also be an exhibition by the Patriot Project as this class was a common sight between Manchester and Blackpool. A display at the Manchester Central Library on Manchester people’s love affair with Blackpool will also feature. In a reverse of the opening of the Blackpool Corporation Tramway by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the mayor of Blackpool will be taking part in the weekend events. Partnership chairman Keith Whitmore said: “The weekend is going to be a major event in our region and is so appropriate to launch our first event as we really did love and still do going to Blackpool. Many will remember the excitement when nearing Blackpool on the train or bus as to who would be the first to see the Tower. You might even be able to take home a little stick of Blackpool rock!” Heritage Railway 35

NEWS

GWR pannier reprises Railway Children role

By Robin Jones

THE Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s GWR 0-6-0PT No. 5775 is taking centre stage in a production of The Railway Children for the second time in its career. The locomotive has been cosmetically restored at the Locomotion museum workshops in Shildon in the fictional Great Northern & Southern Railway caramel-brown livery it carried when it appeared in the 1970 EMI big-screen version of the Edith A Nesbit children’s classic. It will now take part in the forthcoming production of Mike Kenny’s hugely successful stage adaptation of the book at the National Railway Museum which will run from July 31 until September 5. The long-awaited homecoming of the Olivier Award-winning production to York marks a new milestone in the seven-year partnership between the National Railway Museum and York Theatre Royal. Last staged at York in 2009, it forms part of the theatre’s temporary residency at the museum while it undergoes its £4.1m redevelopment.

Thrilling set-piece

The production will be staged in the purpose-built 1000-seat Signal Box Theatre in which it delighted Canadian audiences during its 2011 run in Toronto. The show has won extensive critical praise for its use of a live steam locomotive in a thrilling set-piece, and for the first time, the new production will feature one of the same locomotives as in the film. The production is directed by York Theatre Royal’s artistic director Damian Cruden, and will feature York pantomime favourites Martin Barrass and Berwick Kaler in the respective roles of Mr Perks and the Old Gentleman. The Railway Children was the first of the NRM’s joint ventures with the theatre, and played to sell-out audiences in 2008 and 2009. It went on to delight audiences at Waterloo station – where it was staged in the old International platform – and in

Toronto in 2010 and 2011, and most recently has enjoyed a successful run in a temporary theatre at King’s Cross. More than 24,000 people saw The Railway Children in 2008, and demand for tickets was so great that the last three weeks of the show were completely sold out. NRM head of operations, Jim Lowe, said: “The partnership between the museum and York Theatre Royal is flourishing during the theatre’s residency here, and both organisations are delighted to welcome The Railway Children back to its original home. We think audiences will love the latest adaptation of this wonderful production, and will be as excited as we are to see Bobby and her siblings reunited with the instantly recognisable pannier tank locomotive from the iconic film.” While Nesbit wrote the novel in 1906, Charles B Collett’s 57XX pannier tanks did not appear until 1929, the year in which No. 5775 was built, as one of 863 constructed between then and 1950. No. 5575

Above: GWR pannier tank No. 5775 tries out the stage for size in the National Railway Museum’s Signal Box Theatre prior to taking a starring role in the latest production of The Railway Children, which is returning home to York after international success. NRM Right: George Costigan as George Hudson and Ian Giles as George Stephenson in In Fog and Falling Snow. ANTHONY ROBLING was one of 19 class members sold on to London Transport from 1956 onwards, and was bought by the KWVR in 1970. Meanwhile, the King’s Cross production, which opened on January 14, has been extended by a further four months to January 3, such has been the public demand for tickets. The Railway Children will take over at the York venue from In Fog and Falling Snow, another major collaboration between the museum and the city’s theatre which has attracted five-star reviews. The community production, written by Bridget Foreman and Mike Kenny,

told the story of George Hudson the ‘Railway King’ (played by George Costigan) and his rise to fame and fortune (and fall from them both), and featured 200 performers and a 40-piece choir. It was a tale of two halves. The first featured a walking tour around some of the museum’s most famous exhibits in the Great Hall, with scenes played out next to each. The second half was staged in the temporary trackside theatre. Tickets for The Railway Children are available via the York Theatre Royal box office on 01904 623568, or online at tickets.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

BBC films ‘secret’ drama on Worth Valley Railway SERVICES on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway were cancelled so that the BBC could use the line for location filming. The feature film project was being kept top secret by the BBC, with no announcement as to its title or content, although there were reports that a station had been renamed Portsmouth and actors were seen in Forties clothing. KWVR officials said they were contractually bound not to reveal

36 Heritagerailway.co.uk

details of the production. On Wednesday, July 15, a reduced service ran, with no trains between Ingrow and Keighley. The following two days saw all trains cancelled for safety reasons while filming was in progress. Instead, a special vintage bus service ran between Oxenhope, Haworth, Ingrow and Keighley stations with reduced fares, but the museums on the line remained open. KWVR spokesman Roger France,

said: “This has been more of a closekept secret than is usual. There is very little information available, and they are keeping their cards very close to their chest. “We’re delighted to get this particular project. It’s good for the local economy to have a large film crew here for a few days.” It was understood that the film is to be screened later this year. The KWVR is arguably the most famous of all the many filming

locations in the heritage sector, following the huge international success of the 1970 EMI classic The Railway Children. More recent productions filmed there include Testament of Youth, which portrayed a woman’s experiences as a First World War nurse, Peaky Blinders, a series about post-First World War gangsters in Birmingham, and The Great Train Robbery, the true story of the 1963 hold-up in Buckinghamshire.

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Nene Valley buys old Wansford listed station

THE Nene Valley Railway has completed the purchase of the original Victorian station building at its Wansford headquarters. The 1845-built yellowstone structure on Platform 3 has been empty for 15 years, and is in need of serious refurbishment. Following its purchase from owners the Hutchinson family in early July, the heritage line will now redecorate and renovate the ornate station building as an educational site. The railway will be working with Huntingdonshire District Council’s conservation officer to work out a strategy. The council’s Buildings at Risk Register lists the station building as category 1, the highest category. As reported in Heritage Railway issue 183, the railway was offered the structure for £50,000, and immediately launched a £150,000 appeal to buy it and carry out basic protective repairs to save it from falling into ruin. It is intended to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund for major grant aid for a project that has previously been estimated at £700,000. In 2010, the Georgian station building, designed by George Parker Bidder, was classified by the Victorian Society as one of the top 10 that it would like to see restored. The station opened along with the Northampton & Peterborough Railway in 1845, and for a time was the railhead for Grantham, as it lay on the Great North Road. Originally known as Sibson, it was changed to Wansford by the LNWR which took over the line in 1846. As well as the main Peterborough-Oundle-Northampton route, it also once served a line to Stamford via Barnack. Wansford closed for regular passenger services on July 1, 1957, although they continued to run over the line to Northampton until 1964 and Rugby until 1966. *Topping the bill at the NVR’s September 12-13 Small Engines, Big Steam Gala event will be guests LNWR ‘Coal Tank’ No. 1054, former New England shed GNR N2 No. 1744 and WR 0-6-0PT No. 1501 They will run alongside Hunslet Austerity No. 22, Hunslet 0-6-0ST No. 1982 Ring Haw and Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 1800 Thomas, subject to completion of its overhaul.

Whitby effect holding up THE hoped-for increase in business that was the premise for the grant funding of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s new Platform 2 at Whitby by the Coastal Communities Fund and others does still seem to be justifying the investment, with ticket sales from Whitby up 50% on 2014 up to the middle of July. The figure seems to be being achieved without significant loss of business elsewhere. Sales at Pickering were up 12%, broadly in line with expectations.

A display of Whitland & Cardigan Railway relics inside a restored wagon at Login station. PETE TOWNS

Anniversary celebrated at Login station

MEMORIES came flooding back as the restored station at Login on the former Whitland to Cardigan line held an open day over July 11-12. The event celebrated the 140th anniversary of the opening of the station on July 12, 1875. A marquee on the track bed housed a display of old photos, memorabilia and films along with 3mm-scale models of Kilgerran, Boncath and Cardigan stations. On the Sunday, four former BR employees from Whitland four miles away, drivers Ronnie Howells and Gerwyn Williams, signalman Brynmor Thomas and railwayman Roy Harverson were guests of honour.

Opened on July 12, 1875, the station was downgraded to a halt in 1956 and closed on September 9, 1962, along with the rest of the Cardi-Bach branch. The former stationmaster’s house which stands on the platform has been converted into a bed and breakfast establishment run by Peter and Dawn Towns who moved there from Caldey Island where they ran a guest house. The original ground frame cabin has been returned to the site after being rediscovered two miles way and restored, and a new running-in board has been installed. To book B&B accommodation at Login station, telephone 01994 419181.

Steam power supreme at Stapleford: the line’s New York Central Niagara class locomotive No. 6019 alongside Berkshire No. 752 on its first day back in traffic in June. SMR

Three-day gala at Stapleford THE 10¼in gauge Stapleford Miniature Railway, which opens to the public only twice a year, is to hold a three-day steam gala over the August 29-31 bank holiday weekend as part of a charity steam rally. In action will be the line’s Nickel Plate Railroad Berkshire 2-8-4 No. 752 which was returned to traffic in June after a three-year major boiler overhaul.

The railway at Stapleford near Melton Mowbray was constructed in 1958 and closed as a commercial venture in the early Eighties until being restored and reopened by the supporting volunteer group in 1995. It is an extensive line of nearly two miles of running with a replica of Box and Primrose Hill tunnels and extensive engineering and gradients running through scenic parkland and lakeside.

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Heritage Railway 37

NEWS Talyllyn backs World Heritage bid for North Wales THE heritage of the North Wales’ slate industry could see the region following the Forth Bridge into becoming a Unesco World Heritage site. On July 3, at a special ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Talyllyn Railway, it was announced that the railway was backing a bid for status for the industry. The bid is being led by Gwynedd Council, and has already been shortlisted as one of the UK sites being considered for World Heritage Status in the wake of the success of the bid for the Forth Bridge (see separate story). The Talyllyn is backing the bid because it is the only example of a railway built for the transportation of slate, which has been in continuous operation since it was opened in 1865. It was also the first statutory narrow-gauge railway designed for steam operation from its inception. In addition, it was also the world’s first preserved railway, being saved from closure by the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society in 1951. Tens of thousands of men were employed in quarries throughout the area. Many communities in villages and towns across the region were created because of the industry, and its legacy continues on into the present day. Part of the industrialisation of the area was the development of new transport systems and the pioneering of narrow-gauge railways was particularly significant in this process.

Bees on the line halt trains SERVICES on Brighton’s historic Volk’s Electric Railway ground to a halt – because of bees on the line. On June 30, a swarm of bees alighted on a bush too close to the track for comfort. A beekeeper speedily cleared away the swarm to allow normal services to resume. The oldest-surviving operational electric railway line in the world will be running latenight services until 8pm on August 30 and until 7pm on September 20.

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Farewell to Mull Rail founder Graham Ellis Tribute by Phil Ashworth

THE funeral of Graham Ellis, the founder of Mull Rail, has taken place following his death in nearby Oban at the age of 90. Graham was born on August 23, 1924, in Wilmslow, the son of Dorothy and Thomas, a director of the family’s estate agency, Ellis and Sons. He said his love of trains began in his pram. In 1938, Graham went to Malvern College in Worcestershire. When war broke out, the school was relocated to Harrow, despite reservations from Graham and his fellow pupils that this was a bit too near the air raids on London. When common sense prevailed, the school moved to Blenheim Palace near Oxford. The dormitories were cramped and cold and during their lessons, in converted Nissen huts, icicles fell from the roof on to desks and pupils alike. Graham had seven bouts of pneumonia during this time and when, after his 18th birthday, he applied to join the Navy he was turned down on health grounds. Graham contributed to the war effort by helping his cousin Dorothy Campbell run the family’s farm near Beaulieu in Hampshire. He was in his element as tractors and farm machinery fired his latent love of engineering.

Home Guard

He also joined the Home Guard, the inspiration for the TV series Dad’s Army. One day they were travelling by train to take part in a major exercise. The officer lined his men up on the station platform and told them when the train arrived they would allow the civilians to board first. When he gave the signal, they would join the train. The other passengers were safely in their seats when he commanded the men to board by blowing his whistle. The train promptly chugged out of the station, leaving the men still lined up on the platform. After the war, Graham joined the family estate agency and one of his jobs was collecting rent in Manchester. He worked during the day and studied at night to become a chartered surveyor, proudly adding FRICS to his name. Graham was in his mid-thirties and marriage had eluded him but fate was soon to change that. Before the war, as a 13-year-old, he’d gone on holiday with his mother and father to the Cregdhu Hotel at Onich, on the west coast of Scotland, north of Oban. In the late Fifties he drove his parents back there and spotted Elisabeth, the daughter of hotel owners Betty and Jackie Shields. The couple married, and Libby, as she was known, was to become the bedrock and inspiration for Graham’s life. He realised he’d met his in-laws nearly 20 years before he met his wife. They moved to Buglawton near Congleton and in 1964 their son Gavin

GrahamEllisputsonabravefaceasthelasttrainontheIsleofMullRailwaypreparesto leave,headedbyhislocomotiveLadyoftheIslesonDecember4,2011.NICK DODSON was born. In 1966, on a trip back home, they saw the Smiddy House for sale at Aros on Mull. It was bought at first as a holiday home, but Libby had a plan. With steam on Britain’s main line coming to an end, a chance meeting with the late Morecambe GP Dr Peter Beet led to them buying LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 44781, direct from service with British Railways. That friendship grew and Graham supported Peter, as along with Joe Greenwood, he developed the former motive power depot at Carnforth into the Steamtown centre. It was an inspired move because although the steam engines themselves were being saved, the infrastructure of steam, coaling towers, ash pits and water columns were being bulldozed. Even through it’s no longer open to the public, the now rare trappings of steam have been preserved as part of the headquarters of West Coast Railways. Despite his busy schedule, Graham still found time for others, helping the Outward Bound Trust. In 1972 the family moved permanently to Mull even through Graham continued to work two weeks a month with his cousin Michael Campbell for the Ellis-Campbell group, developing property all over the northwest. In 1974 Graham and Libby started the Smiddy gift shop. The following year the Puffer Ground Restaurant opened, taking its name from the fabled Clyde coastal Puffer steam boats. Graham came up with the idea for a railway on Mull linking the ferry terminal at Craignure with Torosay Castle 1¼ miles away. In 1982, after much debate and persuasion, the 10¼in gauge Mull & West Highland Railway opened. It was a big success and carried more than 20,000 passengers a year. He put his heart and soul into the railway and didn’t know the meaning of an eight-hour day. Often, after a hard shift immersed in the grease and

soot of a steam railway, he presented himself to Libby for the evening restaurant service. Her wrath was only slightly softened when he donned white gloves to hide the coal-black hands. Graham supported his son Gavin as they took over the Knockhomie Hotel in Forres In 1987, transforming it into an award-winning enterprise, Ten years later, in 1997, he faced his biggest challenge. While he was away in Wales, Libby died suddenly leaving Graham devastated. It was then that his friends faraway and on Mull rallied round to ensure his welfare without ever challenging his independence.

Another major challenge

In 2004, when most 80 year olds would be thinking of a quieter life, Graham took on another major challenge. The historic steamship SS Sir Walter Scott, on Loch Katrine, faced an uncertain future. Graham rallied support and along with his fellow trustees raised the money for the ship’s overhaul, preserving the steam engines. Sadly the Mull railway was to flounder, even though it was a commercial and community success. In 2011 it was forced to close after the landlord did not renew the lease, an incomprehensible blow to the local economy, the railway’s supporters and the millions of passengers who travelled on it over its lifetime. In an area heavily dependent on tourism, it robbed Mull of one of the few manmade attractions it possessed. However, Graham never retired and never stopped working; he still had plans and schemes afoot when he died in hospital in Oban on June 17. His funeral took place at Salem Church, Salem, Mull, on June 30. No. 44871, in service on the West Highland ‘Jacobite’ train, carried a wreath on the day. Graham is survived by his son Gavin and daughter-in-law Penny and his grandsons Hamish and Lachlan.

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School’s out: GER J15 0-6-0 No. 65447 heads away from Haughley on to the Mid-Suffolk Railway with an afternoon school train – comprising vintage stock and a guard’s van – bound for Laxfield in the summer of 1951, a year before the line closed. The structure enveloped in scaffolding is a huge grain silo being built by the Ministry of Food. The silo, which was constructed entirely of reinforced concrete and reached more than 100ft, dominated the countryside until 2008, when it was demolished. DR IAN C ALLEN

‘Middy’ and Colne Valley join forces By Geoff Courtney

The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway and its Essex neighbour, the Colne Valley & Halstead Railway – two East Anglian lines that remained fiercely independent until the Grouping of 1923 – will be the centre of attention at a steam gala on August 2. The event is being held at the revived Mid-Suffolk, which is based at Brockford station near Stowmarket, and will feature an exhibition of railwayana, paperwork and other historical artefacts from the Colne Valley line collected over the past 30 years by leading railway artist Malcolm Root. The original Mid-Suffolk, affectionately known as the ‘Middy’, is a tale of a line built too late to cash in on the railway boom. Two lines were planned, one from Haughley, on the GER London-Norwich main line, to Halesworth on the East Suffolk line, and the second a branch from Kenton near Debenham to Westerfield on the outskirts of Ipswich.

Financial problems

Construction began in 1902, and 19 miles from Haughley to Laxfield and 1½ miles from Kenton to the edge of Debenham opened to goods traffic in 1904. However, technical difficulties and financial problems meant the remaining part of the line from Laxfield to Halesworth was never completed, the spur to Debenham was soon abandoned, the contractor building the line proved to be unreliable, the chairman went bankrupt, and the railway went into receivership. Astonishingly, despite these problems, the railway continued to operate freight traffic between Haughley and Laxfield and in 1908 even opened to passengers, serving 10 stations. In 1924 the LNER agreed to

used on the line during its days of independence and later. The history of the Colne Valley & Halstead Railway is much less fraught than that of the Middy, the 19-mile line opening in stages from Chappel & Wakes Colne to Haverhill between 1860 and 1863 and remaining independent until becoming part of the LNER in 1923. Passenger services were withdrawn by BR in 1961 and freight four years later.

Similar East Anglian railways

Collector’s corner: Malcolm Root with part of his Colne Valley & Halstead Railway collection which will form an exhibition at the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway on August 2. MERYL ROOT take over the line, but passenger traffic was gradually lost to public and private transport. The line did enjoy a busy period during the Second World War, supplying two RAF bases but the struggles carried on into the BR era and closure came in July 1952. Nearly four decades later, with almost all traces of the line disappeared, a group of preservationists decided to resurrect the Mid-Suffolk, and the Middy is alive once again, with ¼ mile of line on the original trackbed at Brockford, midway between Haughley and Kenton. The group is also in the process of applying for planning permission to extend further towards Kenton, which if approved will provide a line of nearly a mile. The ‘new’ station building at Brockford, built on the site of the original cattle dock, used surviving parts from the original station and two

others, Mendlesham and Wilby. John Reeve, marketing manager of the railway, said: “The Middy provided very simple buildings at its stations, which were constructed with timber framing, matchboard interior and exterior corrugated iron cladding. When the line closed in 1952 some of the buildings were sold, often to local farmers and smallholders.” Brockford station is also home to an award-winning museum which tells the story of the original line through displays, artefacts and photographs, while it is also home to the preservationists’ two locomotives, 1928 Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 1604, currently undergoing restoration, and a 1952 Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM. Rolling stock includes two restored GER four-wheeled wooden-bodied coaches, the oldest-known railway horsebox dating from 1869, and a number of goods wagons of the types

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Malcom Root’s Colne Valley Railway exhibition at Brockford will include enamel and cast-iron signs, signalling equipment, permanent way artefacts, paperwork, paintings and photographs, and such miscellaneous items as a notice of closure poster and handlamps. Malcolm, who is 64 and has lived in Halstead all his life, started his collection in the Eighties. “The Middy and the Colne Valley lines were similar East Anglian railways,” he said. “They were of almost identical length, each had their own distinctive locos, both were independent up to Grouping, and both regularly used GER class J15s.” The August 2 gala will see two locomotives in steam, ex-British Sugar Corporation 0-6-0ST Wissington, built in 1938 by Hudswell Clarke (works No. 1700) and the last working steam engine in East Anglia, not being withdrawn until the Seventies, and Bagnall works No. 2565, an 0-4-0ST built for the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1936 that returned to steam last year after major restoration. The event will also be a Hornby collectors’ day, featuring layouts in 0 and 00-gauge, trade and swap stands, and a Meccano display. It will be open from 11am-5pm. Heritage Railway 39

NEWS

Locomotive still active, but its nameplate’s up for sale! By Geoff Courtney A DECISION by BR in the mid-1960s to cash in on the growing interest in steam nameplates by selling plates from locomotives that were still in service has been highlighted by a catalogue in the archive of Great Central Railwayana director and auctioneer Mike Soden. Photographs of the dying days of BR steam often show main line engines

shorn of their nameplates, but many of today’s enthusiasts and railwayana collectors assume they had either been officially taken off for safe keeping or removed by souvenir hunters.

First 50 years

But such an assumption is in some instances misplaced, says Mike, who is currently delving into his catalogue archive as part of research into the

first 50 years of commercial railwayana auctions. One of the first commercial auction houses to start selling railwayana at dedicated sales was Christie’s – indeed, it may have been the very first – and among 15 BR, Big Four or preGrouping nameplates in a sale in central London on October 5, 1966, were Owen Glendower from Standard Britannia No. 70010 and Bushbuck from LNER B1 No. 61017.

Both of these locomotives were alive and kicking on the day of the auction, especially the ‘Brit’, which was not withdrawn – from Carlisle Kingmoor (12A) – until September 23, 1967, nearly a year later. The Christie’s catalogue mistakenly states that the Pacific was withdrawn in 1965, but this may have been the date that the nameplate itself was removed. Although still in active service at the time of the auction, No. 61017 was close to its end, being taken out of service from York (50A) five weeks later, on November 15. The decision by BR to sell nameplates from still operational locomotives appears to have been a result of the rising value of nameplates. In the early 1960s the Western Region, for example, was selling plates for £2 whatever the class, all from withdrawn engines, but in August 1964 Swindon informed collectors the price had risen to £15.

Bought direct from BR

Lady like: GWR Saint class No. 2906 LadyofLynn on Cardiff Canton shed in the 1930s. A nameplate from the 4-6-0, which was withdrawn in August 1952, sold for the then high price of £170 at auction in October 1968. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE

With its accountants doubtless realising what an asset they had on their hands, BR launched its own railwayana auctions, the one at Stoke being particularly popular, and by 1966 Christie’s was joining in – and so nameplates from still active locomotives had entered the commercial auction scene, being sold by private collectors who had bought direct from BR. Mike Soden, a 1950s/60s trainspotter who started collecting

Victorian answer to a railway problem By Geoff Courtney TO MOST steam era trainspotters, our hobby was all about writing down numbers and bunking sheds. The way our great railway system operated, its various nuances, and its buildings, were of secondary interest at best, of no relevance at worst. Ours was a blinkered passion. Fortunately, some had a far broader vision. Their fine photographs of steam at work survive today and provide pleasure and memories, and some even looked beyond the locomotives and recorded stations and infrastructure. One of those was an unknown photographer whose image of an unusual wagon hoist in east London has been acquired by railway author and former driver Dave Brennand. In addition to the 44ft high wagon hoist, the photograph shows a fascinating spider’s web of railway lines, tunnel, bridges, viaducts, freight wagons, a distant steam locomotive and shed, and a goods office.

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The hoist came into operation in 1900, but the seed for its conception can be traced back more than three decades earlier. In May 1865 the East London Railway Co was founded to provide a rail link between the Great Eastern, London Brighton & South Coast, and South Eastern lines.

Built by Marc Isambard Brunel

The company was a consortium of six railway companies, including the GER, LBSCR, SER and London Chatham & Dover Railway, and the link opened in stages between 1869 and 1884. It went beneath the Thames through the Thames Tunnel, which had been built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This tunnel, built between 1825 and 1843 from Wapping on the north bank to Rotherhithe on the south at a cost of well over £500,000, was intended for horse-drawn carriages but in the event was used by only pedestrians. It was a triumph of engineering that was described at the time as the “eighth wonder of the world” but was a

commercial disaster, and in September 1865 the East London Railway bought it for £800,000, doubtless to the relief of the tunnel’s financial backers. The East London line was operated in its early days by the GER, LBSCR and SER and carried both passengers and freight – until 1886 the LBSCR ran trains between Liverpool Street and Croydon using Class A1 ‘Terrier’ 0-60Ts which William Stroudley had designed partly for use on the line – while much of the freight was coal from the midlands and north destined for homes and businesses in south London, Kent and Sussex. A downside to these freight operations was that trains from north of the Thames had to be shunted into the busy Liverpool Street station and drawn forward for their onward journey on the East London route, and so the wagon hoist came into being. Built close to Whitechapel goods yard and within sight of Spitalfields engine depot – a small single road shed opened by the GER in about 1872 and a sub-shed to Stratford (30A)

in BR days – the hoist was hydraulically operated and could carry two 10 ton wagons. The wagons would access the top of the three-level hoist from the GER line at Bethnal Green by way of a viaduct and be lowered to East London Railway sidings where they would be formed into trains for onward movement under the Thames onto southern lines. The structure gave its name to the nearby ELR Hoist Junction, and remained in use until 1955, a testimony to the ingenuity of Victorian engineering.

Remains in use today

So too the Thames Tunnel, which remains in use today, as part of the London Overground railway network. Dave Brennand, who has written four books on the railways of east London and is currently working on a fifth, had a 40 year railway career that started in 1973 as an engine cleaner at Stratford and saw him driving diesels by 1978. “The shunting operations using the

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Standard price: A nameplate from Britannia No. 70010 OwenGlendower, seen here on March shed (31B) in August 1962, was sold by BR while the Standard Pacific, which was withdrawn in September 1967, was still in active service. NORMAN PREEDY railwayana in 1965 and has been an auctioneer for more than 20 years – over which time he has been on the rostrum for about 100 sales – recalls the era well. “I remember visiting my local shed of Banbury in late 1964, by which time it had been recoded from 84C to 2D, and the shedmaster showed me a pile of nameplates from Halls that were still in service. I believe the order had gone out from BR to remove plates from any engines that were in their shed and send them to Swindon.” In the half century since railwayana collecting began to make its mark in the world of auctions, much has changed, not least in the astonishing increase in the value of such hardware as nameplates and in the impact of specialist auction houses. The early tentative steps in the mid-1960s by such big names as Christie’s and Knight Frank & Rutley became giant strides that have led down a path to professionalism and big business, and what were sales for a few have become auctions for a vast army of collectors in the UK and indeed worldwide. Live bidding

remains at the heart of the movement, but telephones, commission bids and the internet now play a vital role. Just how much has changed is revealed by two of the Christie’s catalogues in Mike’s archive, that for the October 1966 auction and another, also in central London, on June 5, 1968. The former catalogue cost 6d (2½p) and the latter 1s (5p), there was no buyer’s premium, and many of the vendors were named, a far cry from today when a seller’s identity is rarely revealed.

Prices were in guineas

Rather quaintly, if a vendor doesn’t wish to be named, the catalogues state that the items were “the property of a gentleman”, or even of a “lady.” Also, the prices in the 1966 auction were in guineas, but this had changed to pounds two years later. The top nameplate realisation in the 1966 auction was 130 guineas (£136.50) for Isinglass from LNER A3 No. 60063, a plate which 46 years later, at a Great Central Railwayana sale at Stoneleigh in October 2012, was to sell for £14,500.

Other three figure prices in the 1966 sale were 120 guineas (£126) for each of Sedgemoor (GWR Bulldog No. 3339) and Hercules (LNWR Improved Precedent No.1105/LMS No. 5077), and 100 guineas (£105) for Straight Deal from LNER A2 No. 60522. Owen Glendower went for 75 guineas (£78.75) and Bushbuck for 50 guineas (£52.50). Another sign of the rise in nameplate values since those early days is the 55 guineas (£57.75) for Seaview from Isle of Wight loco W17, which compares with £16,400 at Stoneleigh in June this year for Ryde from another IoW engine, W3. Two years later, at a Christie’s sale on October 5, 1968, the top end was showing a definite upward curve, with Beaconsfield from GWR Queen class 2-2-2 No. 1122 going under the hammer for £250 – a world record for a steam locomotive nameplate at that time, perchance? – and Lady of Lynn from GWR Saint class No. 2906 for £170. Nottingham Forest (LNER B17 No. 61666), also made it into three figures, at £110. The middle range prices, however, were similar to those in the 1966 sale,

examples being 75 guineas (£78.75) for Sir Ironside (SR King Arthur No. 30799) in 1966 and £75 for Sir Persant (No. 30780) two years later. An exception in 1968 was Dick Turpin (LNER A3 No. 60080) which realised £75, substantially less than the £136.50 for Isinglass two years earlier.

Other than nameplates

A feature of the 1968 auction was the emergence of railwayana other than nameplates. Three headboards went under the hammer – ‘Royal Scot’ for £35 and ‘The Shamrock’ and ‘The Caledonian’ for £18 each – while GWR cabside numberplate 907 also realised £18. Two further batches each comprising four GWR cabsides also went for £18 per batch (Nos. 3639, 3717, 8785 and 9791 in the first batch, and Nos. 3754, 4646, 4695 and 6629 in the second, equating to £4.50 per cabside). A complete set of the seven Southern Region 75 shedplates (75A75G) sold for £12, smokebox numberplates 31556 and 42243 for £8 the pair, three LMS clocks for £10 each, and three LNER, LMS and GNR handlamps for £10 the lot.

High riser: The three-storey hoist which opened in 1900 to transfer freight wagons from the GER Whitechapel goods yard to the East London Railway 44ft below, from where the freight was steam-hauled under the Thames for distribution in south London, Kent and Sussex. A ferry van is at the top of the hoist in this 1950s scene, and a small tank locomotive can just be made out in the middle distance beside Spitalfields engine shed above an arch. The three lines at ground level beneath the bridge were intended to form a through route under the GER main line, joining at a junction near Cambridge Heath, but this was never built and so became East London Railway sidings. The line on the lower viaduct (right) is part of the internal transfer system, and there are further sidings on the left full of wagons. The hoist, which was hydraulically-operated, closed in 1955. DAVE BRENNAND COLLECTION hoist in its heyday must have been fascinating, and one of the wagons in the photograph, which I date as probably from the 1950s, appears to be a ferry van,” said 58-year-old Dave. “It was certainly an unusual structure with a very rare three-level design.” Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 41

NEWS

Two more Garratts now at Welsh Highland Railway By Robin Jones

TWO more Beyer Garratts have joined the Welsh Highland Railway restoration queue, bringing the total number of the articulated locomotives on the line to seven. The latest arrival is South African Railways NGG16 No. 130, major components of which have now been moved from the Exmoor Steam Centre to Dinas. As previously reported, the locomotive was acquired by locomotive restorer Pete Best’s Gloucester-based Steam Powered Services Limited late last year. Two power units, the boiler cradle, bunker and water tank arrived by road from the Exmoor Steam Railway, having been acquired at the end of 2014. The boiler is being assessed at the South Devon Railway’s Buckfastleigh boiler works. With the project to be managed by Pete, SPS intends to restore the 1951built locomotive to service with an anticipated first steaming date in the spring of 2018. The work will be done by contractors, and the Ffestiniong & Welsh Highland Railways has already secured the contract to build a new bunker, water tank and cab, along with the examination of the power bogies to draw up a list of the work needed to return them to service.

The power unit of NGG16 being loaded at Dinas on June 26. F&WHR F&WHR works manager Tony Williams said: “We’re very much looking forward to working with Peter and seeing another Garratt in action in Snowdonia.” No. 130 was one of a batch of 12 built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in 1951 and exported to South Africa for use on the extensive 2ft-gauge railways of the Cape and Natal. The design dates from 1937 and various batches were made by four different manufacturers, with the last being built in South Africa in 1968. Last operational on the Port

Swindon empire takes over Bury THE East Lancashire Railway is to become the latest non-Great Western heritage line to stage a GWR gala. The autumn steam gala will see the line receive its first visit of a GWR auto train, in the form of pannier tank No. 6430 and autocoach No. 167 from the Llangollen Railway. Autotrains will run exclusively between Bury and Heywood operating an intense service to connect with a bus service to Castleton and trains from Bury to Rawtenstall. Travel in these will be included in the standard gala admission ticket. Also in action will be BR 2-6-4T No. 80080, LMS ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 No. 13065, L&Y A Class 0-6-0 No. 12322, WD Austerity 0-6-0STs Nos. 132 Sapper and 75008 Swiftsure, Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 32 Gothenburg and Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1370 May.

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Shepstone-Harding branch in Natal, No. 130 was withdrawn in 1985. It was imported for the abortive project to lay a 2ft gauge line along the Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay section of the NER’s Whitby to Scarborough coastal route in the 1990s, before being moved to the Exmoor Steam Railway. At Dinas, it has joined 1939-built elder sister No. 109, the first NGG16 to be repatriated to the UK. Brought back by the Exmoor Steam Railway, it was subsequently sold to pop mogul Pete Waterman. However, the Government

apprentice scheme under which he had planned to restore the locomotive was wound up. Following the sale of his Crewe operations to Jeremy Hosking, No. 109 was recently moved to Dinas and placed in storage. The Welsh Highland has four NGG16s of its own, Nos. 87, 138 and 143, which are all in service, and No. 140 which is awaiting restoration, along with prototype Garratt K1. No. 87 which was built by Cockerill in Belgium, the others by Beyer Peacock. No target date has been set for the restoration of Nos. 109 and 140.

Buffer stop back at Burnham-on-Sea THE buffer stop is back at the western terminus of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. A project to reinstall a set of buffers at the top of Pier Street in Burnham-on-Sea has been completed this week following six years of negotiations. The buffer stop came from the former ROF Bridgwater site at nearby Puriton. John Strickland, of the Buffer Memorial Project Team and the North Sedgemoor Local History Group, said: “Many of our older residents will remember the days when holidaymakers and day-trippers flocked to Burnham on the Somerset & Dorset Railway and saw the engine unhook from the coaches, travel up the line towards a buffer stop before reversing back to rejoin the coaches

for their return journey.” He said that the new buffer stop was “a stone’s throw” from the site of the original. A formal unveiling ceremony is being planned August 19 at 11am, followed by a service of blessing by Rev Graham Witts in St Andrew’s church. Opened as plain Burnham by the Somerset Central Railway on May 3, 1858, it was renamed in 1920. It was the terminus of the original S&D main line before the route to Bath via Evercreech Junction was built. The station closed when regular passenger services were curtailed at Highbridge on October 28, 1951, but excursion traffic continued until 1962, and the goods depot remained open until 1963.

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GNR J6 0-6-0 No. 64199 with a Railway Correspondence and Travel Society Special at Horncastle on May 16,1954. The photo was taken from the signalbox and shows the station area and the coal drops on the right. REAL PHOTOGRAPHS

When Horncastle had a railway AS THE home of Mortons Media Group, Britain’s biggest publisher of railway magazines, Horncastle might be considered a centre of the railway world. Yet the Lincolnshire town has not seen a train since 1971, and the last passengers arrived in 1954. Opened on May 11, 1855, in time for the town’s annual fair, the Horncastle branch ran from Woodhall (Kirkstead) Junction on the GNR’s BostonLincoln Loop Line and proceeded to Woodhall Spa, following a route alongside the Horncastle Canal into the town, and was a total of seven mile and 28 chains long. Woodhall Spa was the only intermediate station, and the railway played a significant role in its development as a Victorian spa resort which peaked between 1880 and 1914 it terms of popularity, and which later became a golfing centre. Cattle and sheep provided a major

source of revenue for the branch, for which locomotives were initially provided by Boston shed. However, passenger loadings were light, for the final decade before closure, there was a basic timetable with no Sunday trains. In 1952, the Eastern Region published closure proposals, nine years before Dr Richard Beeching was appointed chairman of British Railways. Local people and organisations fought hard against the plans, but nonetheless the last train ran on September 11, 1954, in the form of the 7.57pm from Horncastle comprising a six-coach special headed by GCR A5 4 6 2T No. 69803. The line stayed open for the conveyance of agricultural machinery, coal, tyres and petrol, in later years worked by Class 37s, 10s and 08s. The branch was finally closed on April 6, 1971, and the trackbed was bought by Lincolnshire County

After collecting two tank wagons at Horncastle, D4075 returns over the branch and onwards to Lincoln. DAVID ENEFER

Council, eventually becoming part of the Viking Way footpath. Horncastle’s station was demolished in 1985. A new biography of the branch has just been published by the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Society, and all profits will go towards the heritage line which has embarked on an extension to Louth. Written by local railway historian Alf Ludlam, it is Volume Two in the

Branch Lines of East Lincolnshire series. Priced £6.95, and containing many rare and unpublished photographs, the 48-page book is available from the society at Ludborough station, Station Road, Ludborough, Lincolnshire DN36 5SQ, telephone 01507 363881, or visit www.lwrs.uk

Woodhall Junction, looking towards Boston from the road bridge. Everything is beginning to look run down and in need of a coat of paint in this late view. M COOK

GCR N5 0-6-2T No. 69253 at Horncastle station with a train from Woodhall Junction.

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Heritage Railway 43

VETERAN BRIT HEADS TOUR TO THE HIGHLANDS: Against a deep blue sky, former New South Wales Government Railways’ C32 class express locomotive No. 3237, built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester 123 years ago, crosses Cooks River in the Sydney suburb of Tempe, on July 11. Behind the veteran 4-6-0 is another ex-NSWGR engine, Class D59 No. 5917, which is nearly half the age of No. 3237, having emerged from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1952. The two main line ticketed locomotives were heading a railtour from Sydney to the southern highlands of NSW via Wollongong, a seaside city 51 miles south of the state capital. No. 3237 was built in 1892 and entered traffic down under the following year after being shipped halfway round the world. It was withdrawn in November 1971 with an impressive 2,225,224 miles on the clock and is now owned by the Lachlan Valley Railway, of Cowra, NSW. No. 5917, a 2-8-2 freight locomotive, was taken out of service in August 1972 and is owned by a syndicate of mainly train drivers. MICHAEL KEMP

Keep the Gresley duck say top artists and authors RAILWAY authors and artists have joined the campaign to keep a mallard duck alongside a new bronze £95,000 statue of Sir Nigel Gresley at King’s Cross. The campaign to save the duck on a controversial statue of railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley has received a boost with the support of eminent railway authors and artists. The crowd-funded 7ft 4in sculpture commissioned from award-winning sculptor Hazel Reeves by the Gresley Society Trust is due to be unveiled in the Western Concourse at King’s Cross station in London on April 5, 2016, the 75th anniversary of Sir Nigel’s death. The original statue proposal included a mallard duck at the engineer’s feet, symbolising the Gresley-designed locomotive Mallard, which set the world speed record for a steam railway locomotive on July 3, 1938. The mallard was also intended to draw attention to the statue and generate interest in Sir Nigel and his achievements.

However, with half the funding secured, the Gresley Society announced earlier this year that it had decided to remove the mallard from the statue because Sir Nigel’s elderly grandsons feared it would cause ridicule. A petition and campaign urging the Gresley Society Trust to reinstate the mallard was then launched, attracting overwhelming support for the duck in social media, national and railway press. So far, the trust has stoutly refused to reconsider. Don Hale, author of Mallard: How the ‘Blue Streak’ Broke the World Steam Speed Record, said: “Gresley and Mallard were like a marriage made in heaven. Without Mallard he would have just been known as one of many outstanding railway engineers of his time. And without a tribute to Mallard, it will completely devalue this statue and make it worthless and futile.” Michael Williams, author of The Trains Now Departed, Steaming to Victory and On the Slow Train, said:

Jonathan Clay’s sketch of Mallard complete with flying mallard. “How nice to spark the imagination of a new generation of young people with this witty statue of Gresley and the duck. I live just up the road from King’s Cross station, and I know my own young children would love it...” Christian Wolmar, author of The Iron Road and Fire & Steam: How the Railways Transformed Britain, said: “I support the duck!” Joining the artists in support of the mallard on the statue are four top railway artists in Malcolm Root, Fellow of the Guild of Railway Artists (FGRA), Philip D Hawkins FGRA, Jonathan Clay GRA and Matthew Cousins GRA. All have given examples of their work to

be used in the campaign to reinstate the mallard. Jonathan Clay, whose Birds In Flight drawing for the campaign website (gresleyduck.org) depicts a mallard flying ahead of the locomotive Mallard said: “The inclusion of the mallard duck on the statue is an inspired idea. I urge everyone to sign the petition to keep the mallard.” ➜ The petition to save the duck can be accessed at http://www.gresleyduck There is also a Save Gresley’s Duck Facebook page.

Southern Railway’s Tavistock North station for sale TAVISTOCK North station – which could one day see trains running through it again – is on the market for £540,000. Opened on June 2, 1890, the Plymouth, Devonport & South Western Junction Railway which became part of the LSWR/Southern Railway main line between Plymouth

and Exeter it was closed along with the route on May 6, 1968. The neglected and semi-derelict Grade II listed property was acquired by the current owners in 2007, and converted into two luxury holiday cottages, the Porters Office and Ticketing Hall. It was named best restored station at the National

Railway Heritage awards in 2011. Both cottages have outside private patio and dining areas on part of the original platform area. The Government is looking into the possibility of rebuilding the route as an alternative to the flood-prone Dawlish sea wall. If that happens, the trackbed, currently open to the public as a

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footpath and nature reserve for around a mile south of the station, would be brought back into use. The cottages are being marketed by Paul Goss of Huntley & Partners. The owners will consider selling the properties as separate units with the ticketing hall available at £265,000 and the Porters Office at £275,000. Heritage Railway 45

RAILWAYANA

BY GEOFF COURTNEY

Britannia rules at Solent ALTHOUGH they hardly ranked with the Kings, Merchant Navies, Princess Coronations or A4s, the Standard Britannia class had a following among the 1950s and 60s trainspotting fraternity that has endured to this day, particularly among those of us who regularly saw them sparkle on such Liverpool Street-Norwich expresses as ‘The Broadsman’. The Southern Region didn’t take them to heart as much as the men on the former GER lines, but deep in SR territory a ‘Brit’ made its mark on June 20, when nameplate Firth of Clyde from No. 70050 was the star by a country mile at Solent

Railwayana’s summer auction at Wickham, selling for £14,000. Such a realisation eclipsed Worsley Hall from GWR No. 5919, although this GWR locomotive’s result of £7300 was well up to par, while close behind at £7000 came Lanarkshire (LNER D49 No. 62705). Nameplates Aden (LMS Jubilee No. 45633) and Galopin (LNER A3 No. 60076) failed to sell. Finally, Sir Launcelot from SR King Arthur No. 30455 sold for £1000, a figure which on the surface will raise eyebrows. The explanation was that this was a third plate which, while genuine and not a reproduction, was not carried by the 4-6-0. Other category winners

included shedplate 72D, the code for Plymouth Friary from 1948-58 (£1300), smokebox 80127 from a lifetime Corkerhill (67A) Standard 4MT 2-6-4T (£825) followed by 5562 from a GWR 2-6-2T (£625), and a Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint Railway handlamp (£560). A 1926 LNER ‘King’s + for Scotland’ poster that sold for £900 has an interesting history. It was the personal copy of the poster’s artist Freda Lingstrom, and was among several rescued by a gardener who was asked to burn her material after her studio was turned out following her death in 1989. A collection of seven Southern

Railway and Southern Region signalbox diagrams and charts went for £540, and worksplates were headed by a 1917 Great Central Railway Gorton example at £530. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 10% other than the nameplates, which did not carry the charge. Solent’s Nigel Maddock said the auction continued the trend of recent sales in that there were collectors in the room he had never seen before. “New people are joining the hobby, which is good news,” he said. “I was very happy with how it all went, and thought the Hall went for a very good price.”

Oarsome poster sails to the top

A POSTER advertising London Transport’s tram, bus and rail services to the 1935 Boat Race sailed to the top at an Onslows’ vintage poster internet auction on July 9, selling for £800. It was the work of Heather Perry (1893-1962), who signed her work ‘Herry-Perry’and was responsible for a number of posters for both LT and London Underground in 1928-37. A circa 1949 BR North Eastern Region poster by J C Moody (1884-1962) promoting Harrogate sold for £600, and a second London Transport example advertising country walks in winter for £470. It was the work of Laura Knight (1877-1970) and dated from 1957. Top Big Four poster at £420 was by Philip Reid for the GWR promoting Torquay ‘The English Riviera’ issued circa 1925. Another strong-selling LT poster was ‘The Proud City’ by Walter Spradbery (1889-1969), which realised £350. Dating from 1944, it showed Chelsea Power House rising above the wartime rubble in Meek Street.Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 18% (+ VAT).

Quick march over to Bloxham sale UP TO 1000 lots will be going under the hammer at a Great Central ‘quickfire’ railwayana sale in Bloxham, near Banbury, on August 8, when auctioneers Mike Soden and Martin Quartermain will be expecting to sell at least 120 lots an hour. Almost all the items will be hardware, ranging from works and shedplates to lamps and signalling, and successful bidders must take away their newly-bought items on

46 Heritagerailway.co.uk

the day. The start is at 9.30am at The Warriner School, with viewing before and, unusually, also the previous day, from 4-7pm. These Bloxham sales feature second-tier items which don’t make it into Great Central’s flagship Stoneleigh auctions or its internet Railwayana.net sales. They are ‘no frills’ events, with no reserves, no commission or telephone bidding, and no trade stands.

Signal success at Carlisle A 31in high ground signal was the star of a railwayana and model trains auction held by Thomson Roddick & Medcalf in Carlisle on June 11, selling for £850. Complete with original lamp, the signal was made by Stevens & Sons of London and Glasgow, whose signalling products were widely used by a variety of railways, including the Great Eastern, North Eastern, Great Northern, LSWR, S&D, and Maryport & Carlisle. An NER 12in clock realised £650, while

£420 secured a bench from Fourstones station near Hexham, which was opened by the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway in 1839 and closed in 1967.

Riccarton Junction

Memories of the much-loved Edinburgh-Carlisle Waverley route line were revived by a milepost from the line which was marked ‘Edinr.66’, placing it ¼ mile south of Riccarton Junction station (£340). Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 17½% (+ VAT).

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BY GEOFF COURTNEY

RAILWAYANA

Signs of the times highlight Talisman’s Newark sale A SELECTION of cast iron signs from a variety of major and minor railway companies is a feature of Talisman’s August 1 auction, with the highlight being a Lancashire & Yorkshire and Halifax & Ovenden Joint Railways’ bridge notice. Other offerings are from the L&Y & Great Northern Railway, the Great Central & Midland Railway, the North Lindsey Light Railway, and the Halifax High Level Railway. There is also an 1896 Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast Railway master and slave 14in dropcase clock from Ollerton station, the main dial of which was in the booking office and its slave dial on a platform, plus a Lancaster & Carlisle Railway fully-titled cast iron paperweight discovered in a box of junk.

Smokebox numberplates include 4997 from GWR Elton Hall – a nameplate from the same locomotive was sold by Talisman at its May 23 auction at Templecombe – and 43146 and 80093 from two BR-built locomotives.

Midland & Great Northern

No. 43146 was built at Doncaster in 1951 and spent its first eight years shedded at Melton Constable (32G) for working the Midland & Great Northern Joint line, and No. 80093, a Standard 4MT built at Brighton in 1954, was latterly a Perth (63A) loco that became a regular on the Killin Junction-Killin branch and headed the last train on the line in September 1965. An unusual ‘hybrid’ worksplate from a wartime 0-6-0ST will also be going

under the hammer. The engine was ordered by the War Department in 1944 from Hunslet Engine Co, which sub-contracted the work to its Leeds neighbour, Hudswell Clarke. The saddle tank, which spent time at the MoD Shoeburyness and Bicester depots, carried a Hunslet pattern worksplate but with Hudswell Clarke identification and works number (1762). Another nicety which may appeal is a pair of Furness Railway silver trophies for the wagon coupling championships of 1912 and 1913, awarded to a Mr

Wilkinson who coupled and uncoupled 20 wagons in one minute and two seconds! I wonder if 60 seconds was the four-minute mile of wagon uncoupling. The auction of 500 lots is at Newark showground and starts at 10am.

Personal Harry Beck memories are sold for £5000 A PERSONAL scrapbook compiled by Harry Beck, who in 1931 designed the iconic London Underground diagrammatic map, sold for £5000 at London Transport Auctions’ June 29 sale in Croydon, annihilating its lower estimate tenfold and achieving a record realisation for the auction house. The scrapbook, with his monogram on the cover, contained

many items special to Beck, including cartoons, Tube maps, drawings and sketches. There were also family photographs and correspondence, a design for an Underground timetable cover, and a London Transport rejection letter. Shortly after this mini-archive had gone under the hammer, a second edition Beck fold-out diagrammatic map of

the Underground, issued in February 1933, sold for £900. Beck died in 1974 at the age of 72. Cap badges also made their mark at the sale, with the top price of £2000 being realised for an LT Green Line controller’s badge issued in the 1960s to a small group of staff based at Oxford Circus and described in the catalogue as “the most sought-after LT badge of all”. This was followed at

£1100 for both a London General Omnibus Co pointsman’s (inspector’s) badge and a 1935 LU poster map. Station roundel platform signs are always popular, and top prices in thi category were £750 for Oxford Circus, £700 for Marble Arch, and £600 apiece for Bayswater and King’ Cross/St Pancras. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 15%.

PRIVATE COLLECTOR wishes to buy Railwayana

I wish to purchase whole or part collections of RAILWAYANA and other transport items. Payment is always prompt and in full. Cash is available if preferred. Collection arranged from any location.

DISCRETION ASSURED AT ALL TIMES For an informal discussion please phone

01704 840726 Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritage Railway 47

IRISH STEAM

THE EMERALD ISLE

EXPLORER Leading British tour operator Steam Dreams made its first ‘Cathedrals’ foray across the Irish Sea in June. Paul Ap ppleton was on board the Guildford comp panyy’s first seven-dayy ‘Emerald Isle Explorer‘ to experience it first hand.

T

here once was a steam club from Belfast, Whose trains were comfortable and fast, It wasn’t the ‘rattler’, That picked up the stragglers, It was Steam Dreams with Guinness from Ennis, first class! This was my feeble effort in the impromptu Limerick competition announced by Steam Dreams supremo Marcus Robertson over the tannoy as we headed to the town of Limerick itself with GNR (I) 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin at the

No. 85 slows for its water stop at Mallow on June 21. NEIL DINNEN

head of our train: The reason for this wasn’t simply because he wanted to test his passengers’ skills at tapping out a traditional-style five line stanza, said to have originated from the Maigue poets from the town of the same name. It was brought about by something far more prosaic than that. Even though the through line between Athenry ryy and Limerick was reopened only in 2009, and has not seen the expected levels of traffic, the only way that Steam Dreams’ special

train was going to be granted a path along the route at anyt ything t like the required time, was if it doubled up as the 11.40am public serv rvice v train between Ennis and Limerick.

A few anxious faces

“You couldn’t make it up,” Marcus explained to his passengers, “but normally there are about eight passengers for this train. However, the local team have made it to the next round of the All Ireland Cup, so there may well be a few

Right: It’s a long way to Tipperary: Tour participants on the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’ gather for a group photograph, alongside No. 461, during the planned water stop at Tipperary on June 23. GRAHAM NUTTALL

supporters heading for Limerick as well. We will have to wait and see.” With visions of 200 or so flag-waving, chanting supporters cramming onto our special train, there were a few anxious faces on board, but in the event around a dozen passengers joined us at Ennis. The surprise on their faces as our light blue steam locomotive drew up at the station was understandable, but imagine their further surprise as they were ushered into the Craven set’s Guinness bar, the only vehicle not to have seats allocated to Steam Dreams’ passengers! This was day five of the Guildford-based company’s flagship 2015 multi-day ‘Cathedrals Explorer’ tour, and its first foray into Ireland. Given ‘that incident at Wootton Bassett’ which caused a variety of cancellations and postp ponements in mainland Britain,, this was one trip that Marcus and his team didn’t have to worry ryy about too much; certainly not as far as motive power and rolling stock were concerned anyw yway. w Departing on June 17 with the majority of its 176 customers on board, Steam Dreams chartered a Virgin Trains Pendolino unit to transport us from London Euston to Holyhead. Others elected to fly fll to Dublin to join the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’.

The holiday had begun

After a full day travelling to Ireland it was a relief to get to our hotels in Dublin city centre. At last,

our holiday had begun. To tour the Republic of Ireland behind steam required two of the Railway Preserv rvation v Society of Ireland’s (RPSI) locomotives in attendance. As the normal practice is for one to be kept at Dublin while the rest of the fleet fll is at home at Whitehead, near Belfast, this required a positioning run to get recently restored No. 85 Merlin down to Dublin. As a result, Steam Dreams kept day two as a day of leisure to enjoy Dublin, or take advantage of the opportunity to travel on the positioning run behind Merlin between Belfast and Dublin, with a further option to visit the Titanic

Exhibition in Belfast before the evening run south. Understandably, there was quite a take up for the trip, but things didn’t go quite according to plan. Passengers turned up at Dublin Connolly at the appointed time to learn that the diesel that was bringing the RPSI excursion stock down to collect us had failed at Belfast. It was the first full day in Ireland and already the team at Steam Dreams was having to think on its feet in order to avoid a complete failure. Although this would not affect the main body of the trip, a substantial number of passengers had

the oldest working main line steam locomotive in the British Isles, having been completed at Beyer Peacock’s Gorton works in Manchester in 1922, the year before the Grouping of railways in the UK to form the ‘Big Four’. It is also the only inside cylinder 2-6-0 operating in these islands. Built for the Dublin & South Eastern Railway, it and its sister were built specially for goods traffic on the Dublin to Wexford route. Designed by G Wild it is the only surviving D&SER locomotive and was first returned to steam at Whitehead in 1990, having been presented to the RPSI by CIE in 1977. The journey through Ireland’s Midland region was pleasant enough, but most of the route across Counties Kildare and Offaly is across a flat and fairly featureless landscape, well known for its peat bogs and associated narrow gauge railway systems. But now as we approached Galway the scenery was beginning to change to something more wild and rugged. On arrival at the terminus station in Galway we were welcomed by the city mayor, resplendent in his chains of office. He shook everyone’s hand and welcomed them to his city and wished them an enjoyable stay. His efforts were certainly appreciated by the ‘Explorer’s’ passengers. It had been a great day, packed with steam-hauled action, but now we had a ‘rest day’with various tour options.

Huge triangle

Day five and we are heading for Killarney with the sprightly No. 461 running tender-first to Athenry, where Merlin is waiting to take us south along the ‘Western Rail Corridor’ towards Ennis and Limerick. This line was closed in 1976, but the section between Limerick and Ennis had its passenger services reinstated in 1988, at first on just two days a week, but by 2003 this had increased to a daily service. A great deal of investment has gone into Ireland’s railways and roads over the last decade or so, and in 2009/10 trains started to run over the section between Ennis and Athenry. Custom, however, has been fairly thin on the ground and there is talk of the line closing again. The railways around Limerick once boasted a huge triangle so that trains could pass in all directions to reach any of three principal routes out of the town. Now, the line from Ennis trails into the main line from Dublin, with most trains heading to other parts of Ireland having to go to Limerick Junction, which incidentally is nowhere near Limerick, being over the border in Co Tipperary. We draw into Limerick past the old locomotive works, before arriving at the impressive station there. Limerick is a terminus, and like many others we have witnessed so far still retains much of its original steam-days infrastructure, with signal cabins, old goods

sheds and station platforms with overall roofs. Indeed it is still possible to spot the odd water tower or water column, and the remains of old turntable pits. The customer interface is always modern though, with modern booking halls and waiting facilities. Unlike in the UK, Ireland has precious few qualified locomotive crews to call upon. The RPSI’s all-action ‘steam fixer’, Jerry Mooney, tells me that there are only two drivers, two firemen and one footplate inspector. “One of the firemen’s wives is expecting a baby any day soon,” he tells me, “so we are dreading his ‘phone ringing.” As it turns out it doesn’t ring, but you get the idea that running something on this scale is stretching resources to the limit. “This is big for us, the biggest and best thing we have done so far,” explains Jerry, “we have the annual two-day excursion in May, which always goes down well, but this is the first time we have done anything like this.” With a white-toothed grin through blackened face he says “let’s hope we can do it more often!” Watering on normal excursions can add a considerable amount of time to the schedule as it has to be drawn from standpipes, but on the ‘Emerald’ we have the redoubtable ‘Bells & Two Tones’ who have brought their eight-wheeler ERF tanker across. At each water stop they are ready and waiting and this saves a lot of time. With No. 85 up front we pass through Heritage Railway 51

No. 461 departs from Tipperary for Waterford on June 23. GRAHAM NUTTALL

Limerick Junction and onto the line south to Mallow in Co Cork, where we pick up the branch for Killarney and Tralee. We enjoy afternoon tea as the rolling countryside of Co Cork drifts past the window as we head due west into Co Kerry, to arrive at Killarney.

Well worthwhile

The next day is another free day, but just as in Dublin there is an optional steam tour along the remainder of the branch line to Tralee. Although only 211⁄2 miles away, the journey to Tralee is well worthwhile. First, there is the interesting arrangement at Tralee Junction to negotiate as No. 85 propels our train out of Killarney the short distance to the loop just outside the station so that it can gain the road to Tralee, which bypasses Killarney station itself. Soon we are climbing on the 1-in-120 high above the town with splendid views of the distant mountains. After another burst of 1-in-100, the line levels before falling all the way to Tralee, which although built as a terminus in 1859, became a through route in 1883 when the GS&WR absorbed the Limerick & Kerry Railway. When the North Kerry line was closed in 1976 it was remodelled, once again as a terminus. The 3ft- gauge Tralee & Dingle also had an interchange here. Today, there is little left of the old locomotive depot, but the 55ft turntable still exists. Merlin was facing the right way now anyway, but it couldn’t be used as the siding that runs to it is blocked by condemned wagons. The next day Merlin returned us to Mallow for the run up to Limerick Junction, where there was a change of locos to take us onward to the most southerly point of our tour – Waterford. The former Great Northern railway V class compound has performed well so far and my fellow passengers are suitably impressed. “It’s like a Midland compound only better,” one enthused. Built in 1932, it too is a product of

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Beyer Peacock’s Gorton works, built to the design of GT Glover, for expresses on the Dublin-Belfast main line. The locomotive was withdrawn in 1963 and is owned by the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra, Co Down. After a period on display at the museum it was restored at Harland & Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast between 1977 and 1982, returning to the main line in 1986. On long-term loan to the RPSI, Merlin was overhauled and returned to steam at Whitehead again only last year. Its steam-era main line career has taken her to all points of the network in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, but

“The logistics are mind blowing when you consider the whims of individual passengers that need to be catered for, the multiple hotel bookings, the add on trips and the running and crewing of the trains themselves.” this is its most intensive programme to date. The arrangements at Limerick Junction are quite complex, based on a large triangle with a flat crossing, where two main lines cross. As No. 461 came onto the rear of our train and No. 85 was removed, the K2 propelled us out of the station to a loop alongside the Limerick line before hauling us out and across the flat crossing on the line south-east through Tipperary and Clonmel. One interesting feature of the tour is that every time we stop for water on the single track sections, we are allowed to disembark. Usually there is a service train to cross and so passengers can roam the stations, photograph the train and

the remaining steam-era infrastructure. As always, each stop is accompanied by an attentive and often excited crowd and at Tipperary half the town must have come out including hundreds of schoolchildren. What we had learned by now is that the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’ had made national news and that local newspapers were also full of it. The Irish public were following our journey around their country with great interest. I have seen lineside crowds before, but at times it reminded me of black and white footage of the Beatles arriving at JFK airport, but without the screaming teenagers! We arrived at Waterford, which again has plenty to interest the enthusiast, including a superb elevated signalbox straddling the tracks. Cement traffic still uses the line east of the station and there is a container terminal on the north bank of the River Suir. Beyond there the line is still intact as far as Wexford, where it joins the line to Dublin, but it will need considerable work to bring it back to passenger carrying standards, although there are plans to do just that. As Marcus Robertson explained to me: “It would make touring the southern part of Ireland much easier if we could take trains along it”.

Oh Mr Porter!

After a night at the home town of Waterford Crystal and its bustling quayside, we reboard the train bound for Kilkenny behind No. 461, which is now running tender-first. The later departure of 12.20pm means that some of our fellow passengers even manage to squeeze in a visit to the nearby preserved 3ft gauge Waterford & Suir Valley Railway. After swinging north at Waterford West Junction we are soon climbing away towards Mullinavat. Someone points out a line of washing at the side of the track, right next to the ballast shoulder – shades of Oh Mr Porter! Soon our little 2-6-0 starts to struggle with the ruling 1-in-100 grade and slows to a stop for a blow-up. After a couple of attempts, the gallant

LMS Royal Scot 4-6-0 No. 46115 ScotsGuardsman climbs towards Ais Gill at Angerholme with Statesman Rail’s ‘Fellsman’ returning from Carlisle on July 15. DAVE RODGERS

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ORR lifts West Coast restrictions as new management appointed THE Office of Rail & Road has lifted its Improvement Notice served on West Coast Railways Limited on May 20 after being satisfied the Carnforth operator has now improved its safety management system. West Coast has also appointed a new director and general manager in John Fogarty. The Improvement Notice was imposed as a supplementary to the original notice of total suspension on April 1, following the Signal Passed at Danger incident involving Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34067 Tangmere at Royal Wootton Bassett on March 7. In a statement, the ORR said: “ORR has inspected, reviewed and audited West Coast Railway Company and concluded it has complied with an enforcement notice which required the company to improve its management of safety.”

Closely monitor

When the notice was issued, in May, the ORR required West Coast to complete the list of outstanding improvements by July 20. The statement continued: “The regulator continues to closely monitor WCRC’s railway operations and our inspectors will not hesitate to step in if further failings are found.” A footnote to the statement added that the ORR continues to investigate the Wootton Bassett SPAD. John Fogarty will be responsible for the day-to-day running of West Coast’s rail operations both in terms of freight and charter work. Having studied railway operations management at Glasgow Caledonian University, he joined Balfour Beatty’s London office as head of operations responsible for all operational performances, control and planning. Seven years later he was appointed head of operations for GB Railfreight, a position he held for 10 months before moving to Peterborough as head of

LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45690 Leander passes Ribblehead with West Coast Railways’ ‘Dalesman’ on July 9. BRIAN SHARPE the company’s operational safety. In June, John joined West Coast Railways as the company’s director and general manager. Chris Baddeley, an operations and management professional, said: “John and I have worked together and known each other in the rail industry for well over a decade and I consider John to be a consummate rail professional who has a strategic thought process to be envied.” As head of the new team at Carnforth, John is joined by Alex MacGregor, who was with Lloyds Register Rail, and seconded from First Class Partnerships, as interim head of safety pending a permanent role and

Peter Babbage from the gas industry, as non-executive director. In a letter to West Coast chairman David Smith, Network Rail freight director Paul McMahon said: “We welcome the commitment West Coast Railways has made to improving safety management; the changes to your management and the three new roles being introduced to strengthen safety leadership and corporate governance.”

Promoter interest

IThe appointment of John and his team will no doubt be of particular interest to railtour promoters who rely on West Coast to fulfil charter train plans.

Since the ORR issue its Notice of Suspension and in subsequent weeks after the Train Operating Company was placed on what was effectively three months’ probation we have seen plethora of postponements and cancellations. The Railway Touring Company has been hit hard and Steam Dreams has also felt the impact of West Coast’s difficulties, cancelling some departures with at least two ‘Cathedrals Express’ trips being diesel hauled. When the suspension was initially lifted, the first trains to run were West Coast’s ‘Jacobite’ tourist trains in Scotland, a key part of the West Highland tourist economy.

Vintage Trains back on track following postponements IN KEEPING with other railtour promoters who lost trains during West Coast Railways’ period of track access suspension, Vintage Trains’ revised excursion programme gets back on track in August with a trip to Hereford. Originally planned to run on July 4 with guest engine LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland at its head, the ‘Welsh Marches’ excursion was postponed until Saturday August 29 when the Stanier 4-6-2 was declared to be unavailable. The tour will now run with GWR 4-6-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, in place of the previously advertised ‘Seaside Express’. The train makes one pick up

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stop – at Birmingham Snow Hill – before heading down Old Hill bank towards Gloucester and Chepstow. Crossing the border into Wales, the train turns right at Maindee Junction then climbs up through Pontypool and Abergavenny and over the Marches to Hereford.

Attack on Shap

The trip returns via Craven Arms bypassing Shrewsbury and picking up the line home through Wolverhampton and Smethwick. Next up comes the ‘Coastal Express’ which departs Tyseley Warwick Road behind Class 47 No. 47773 The Queen Mother bound for Carlisle, the diesel taking the ‘Express’; as far as Carnforth where

Earl of Mount Edgcumbe takes over for an attack on Shap. Picking up at New Street, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe and Wigan North Western, the train returns from Carlisle via the Cumbrian Coast line. On Saturday, September 26, a second ‘Welsh Marches’ runs from Tyseley via Snow Hill and which his basically a repeat of the excursion which ran on August 29. Finally Vintage Trains’ current programme ends on Saturday, October 3, with the ‘Cotswold Explorer’. With No. 5043 in charge, the excursion departs Tyseley, calling at Snow Hill and Worcester Shrub Hill en route to Oxford.

Routed via Cheltenham, bypassing Gloucester and turning off the Bristol line at Stonehouse, the ‘Explorer’ heads on through Stroud and the Golden Valley where the 4-6-0 faces the challenging climb up through Sapperton Tunnel to Kemble.

Old Hill bank

Continuing via Swindon to Didcot, the ‘Explorer’ turns left at Foxholes Junction then makes for Oxford. The return journey takes the Cotswold Line passing Moreton-inMarsh and Evesham to Worcester and Kidderminster, after which the ‘Explorer’ heads on for a second steam challenge, the climb up Old Hill bank.

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LNERA1PacificNo.60163TornadospeedspastOffordClunysouthofHuntingdonwiththeA1Trust’s‘WhiteRose’returningfromYorktoKing’sCrossonJuly7.MICK ALDERMAN

Refreshed Tornado in top form on run to King’s Cross FOLLOWING its exploits in Scotland which included standing in for A4 Pacific Union of South Africa around the Fife Circle, refreshed Peppercorn 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado showed top form working The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s ‘White Rose’ from York to King’s Cross on July 7. However, before a snapshot of Tornado’s run, it must be mentioned that the A1 stepped in to assist the Railway Preservation Society of Scotland mark the Forth Bridge’s 125th anniversary by working morning and afternoon trains over the bridge (for full story see News pages 34). Delayed at York by a lightning strike at Doncaster, which adversely affected signalling in the area, the ‘White Rose’

was eventually flagged away around 20 minutes late, a departure which was hampered by slow line working until after Colton when given its head, the 4-6-2 was accelerated up to line speed via Temple Hirst to Doncaster, where more ‘reds’ brought the proceedings to a halt outside the station.

Speed rose markedly

On the move again, the ‘Rose’ passed through the station only to checked at Loversall Junction. However, speed then rose markedly, ignoring the water stop at Retford, Tornado touched the sixties and seventies through Grantham and on up to Stoke tunnel, then eased as the slow line was indicated.

Troubles continuing after Tangmere return HAVING successfully returned to the main line following the Royal Wootton Bassett SPAD incident in March by working RTC’s ‘Welshman’ from Poole to Cardiff on Saturday, June 20, Southall based Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34067 Tangmere failed to make the grade a week later. This resulted in the Railway Touring Company taking yet another hit by being forced to cancel its Three BridgesWeymouth ‘Royal Wessex’ trip on Saturday, June 27. It seems that the 4-6-2 did not even make its fitness-to-run examination when earlier it was discovered that one of its tender wheels had suffered a flat. It was obvious that the engine could not run in that condition so it was arranged that Tangmere would be moved from Southall to Bristol St Phillips Marsh depot for wheel skimming. The move took place on July 2, the 4-6-2 and support coach travelling direct from Southall via Reading, Swindon, Chippenham and Bath. Since then, there has been no indication of the Bulleid returning to west London but it seems to have remained in Bristol in anticipation of working several RTC excursions. That did not happen because of a series of cancellations. The bookings for Tangmere began with a ‘Royal Duchy’ on Sunday, July 5 and 12. Both trains were cancelled. The 4-6-2 was also due to head the ‘Dorset Coast Express’ on Wednesdays July 15, 22 and 29. Departures on July 15 and 29 were cancelled and, as we closed for press, doubt remained about the ‘Express’ running on July 22.

By Tallington, the train was running ahead of time but suffered another signal check at Eastfield approaching Peterborough. A change of crew and regulation to allow several southbound service trains to pass extending the wait for favourable signal in the station and again at Fletton Junction. Diverted onto the slow line, progress was also affected by speed restrictions keeping the 4-6-2 bowling along in the fifties and sixties towards Hitchin followed by stops at Stevenage and Potters Bar. Nevertheless, time was in hand and but for further checks approaching Finsbury Park, Tornado would have arrived right time at King’s Cross.

So, fresh from overhaul, the A1 showed it is well and truly back on top form and capable of holding its own with today’s faster moving traffic especially when driven and fired by a knowledgeable DB Schenker crew.

British Pullman

The A1’s subsequent booking, on Sunday July 12, was the first of three trips from Bristol to Kingswear with the ‘Torbay Express’, the second and third trips dated for July 26 and August 2. Following two cancellations Tornado will now make its ‘Belmond British Pullman’ debut on August 8 heading a a luncheon train from Victoria around the Surrey Hills route, repeated on August 21.

‘No. 9’ confirmed for Borders opening GRESLEY A4 No, 60009 Union of South Africa has been confirmed as the chosen locomotive to open the rebuilt section of the Waverley route from Edinburgh to Tweedbank on Friday, September 4. However, with less than month before the grand opening of the newly rebuilt 35 mile railway, little or no publicity has been published by ScotRail, Abellio or Borders Railway as we closed for press. It is thanks to the A4’s owner, John Cameron, that the dates of the tourist trains can be revealed. The grand opening takes place on September 4 with the A4 working the inaugural steam-hauled train from Edinburgh. Following that, 18 specials – to test the market – are planned to run for six weeks on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays commencing September 9, to be operated by DBS. By early July, Union of South Africa was at Crewe having tender axleboxes remetalled following the hot box incident when the 4-6-2 was running light engine on the West Coast Main Line approaching Warrington

on Thursday, June 11. Work on the engine should be completed well in time for the Scottish festivities. That said, a standby engine has been named as A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado. However, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust’s chairman Mark Allatt has said that there is no intention of taking it back to Scotland. Whichever engine works the tourist trains, there is of course one big drawback with the operation, and that is that the terminus at Tweedbank which has no run round facilities. The station platform has been lengthened to accommodate tourist trains but does not have a loop or better still, a short triangle. Accordingly, steam-hauled trains will be tailed by a diesel which will be used to tow the coaches and locomotive back to Edinburgh. That was something the Holyrood Parliament overlooked in the rush to support the project, estimating that the line could carry up to a million tourists each year, after public services commence on September 6. Heritage Railway 57

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Gresley beats the odds and runs

When A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley was reported to have failed its ‘fitness to run’ exam before working the Scottish leg of Steam Dreams’ three-day visit to Edinburgh, beginning Sunday, July 5, all steam seemed lost, but events proved otherwise. Already hit by the change in plans to head the train from King’s Cross to York by B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower in favour of diesel haulage for ‘operational reasons’, Steam Dreams’ chairman Marcus Robertson was resigned to modern traction throughout the three days when the announcement of Gresley’s failure reached him. As usual, rumours flashed around the electronic chat network with enthusiasts vying with each other to explain reasons for the A4’s misfortunes, but little did they know… While it is true that the A4 suffered an unexplained loss of water from its boiler, the 4-6-2 was, it appears, prematurely and incorrectly reported

as a failure to West Coast Railways by an individual not directly associated with the A4 Locomotive Society. When those responsible for the engine learned of the incident, a working party quickly assembled at Grosmont to examine and check the 4-6-2’s condition, in a joint effort with North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s engineers. Suffice to report that when boiler inspector Bob Garnett arrived from Kent, he gave the A4’s boiler a clean bill of health on the Friday evening, and so the trip to Scotland was on, much to the delight of Marcus.

Thorough investigation

According to Gresley’s hands-on marketing director Tod Slaughter, who travelled to Grosmont from London, the outcome of the incident is subject to a thorough investigation and findings will not be established until reports have been received. So, the 4-6-2 was fired up and proceeded light engine and coach to

York on Saturday, July 4, well in time to meet and take over the Scottish bound ‘Cathedrals Express’ the following day. Having arrived at Edinburgh on the Sunday, the A4 was stabled at Joppa overnight but not before the local fire brigade had been called out when passers-by spotted steam and smoke rising – they wrongly thought – from a building on Waverley Bridge. When fire crews turned, up they discovered that the smoke was coming from a steam-hauled train passing though Waverley. It was of course Sir Nigel Gresley! On the Monday morning, the A4 worked an excursion from Waverley to Dumfermline and return. In doing so Sir Nigel Gresley became the first steam locomotive to cross the Forth Bridge the day after it was declared a World Heritage Site (see separate story, News). That afternoon, a dieselhauled excursion travelled from Edinburgh to St Andrews via Dundee to round up the Scottish trip.

SEE CLASSIC TRACTION ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK

By Fred Kerr DESPITE their veneration, the Class 37 fleet is still prominent with new activities being added to the workload of surviving class members. The best-known operator is DRS whose Class 37/4 fleet has recently returned to passenger duties working 2 diagrams in top-and-tail mode from Carlisle round the Furness coast to Barrow and a similar mode working a single branch-line diagram from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The Furness Coast operations have not been without problems as the original four locomotives (Nos. 37402/9/19/23) have encountered operating problems, including stock and crewing problems, that have seen Class 37/0 No. 37218 and Class 37/6 No. 37603/6/11 used as replacements while faults are fixed. There seem to be fewer problems at Norwich where Nos. 37405/25 are operating, although they have suffered similar operating problems that have resulted in service cancellations. The demand for class members continues however, as DRS is currently negotiating to increase its fleet; in addition to the recent reregistration of class doyen No. 37401 Mary Queen of Scots on July 10, the company is negotiating with the Scottish Class 37 Group, based at Bo’ness, for a 30-month hire of No. 37403 once the locomotive’s restoration has been completed. The prospect of a hire agreement has moved the restoration up a gear. Reports have also been heard of DRS purchasing No. 37413, currently resident on the East

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Lancashire Railway, in a deal that involves Class 37/5 No. 37510, currently stored at Barrow Hill; at the time of writing this report no official confirmation of the sale/purchase has been noted from either party. A recent addition to the list of Class 37 operators is Colas Railfreight, which has recently gained a number of Network Rail test train contracts and has consequently contracted HNRC to upgrade its Class 37 fleet with Nos. 37116/175/219/421 at Barrow Hill receiving attention. Nos. 37175/ 219 were released on July 5 and worked their first service for Network Rail with a DerbyDoncaster working via Chesterfield, York and Malton (reverse) thence York and Doncaster via the East Coast Main Line. The following day they worked a second NR service to Immingham and Grimsby. It was also reported that the duo was allocated to NR Inspection trains thereby replacing DRS Class 37s on these duties.

Colas Railfreight fleet

The increase in NR duties has also seen the Harry Needle Railroad Company receiving further Class 37s that are rumoured to be joining the Colas fleet with No. 37029 (ex Epping Ongar Railway), No. 37057 (Barrow Hill), No. 37146 (Wensleydale Railway), No. 37188 (Peak Rail), No. 37207 (Barrow Hill) listed and another yet to be identified. All these locomotives are expected to receive attention from HNRC before joining the Colas Railfreight fleet. A further arrival at Barrow Hill has been Class 37/5 No. 37670, reportedly as a spares donor, while

37718 has been stripped at RVEL’s Derby site and the remains forwarded to Booths at Rotherham for scrapping. Another class with revised fortunes is the Class 56 fleet which is also operated by Colas – among other operators. A recent sighting of No. 56049 in fresh Colas Rail livery and the reallocation of No. 56096 to the operating pool has confirmed the continuing usefulness of the class but their lack of use is reported to be a shortage of replacement wheelsets rather than locomotive failures. The Colas fleet is still in use with Nos. 56078/113 currently in Scotland, based at Bo’ness, with one operating on Grangemouth – Prestwick oil-trains and the weekly Grangemouth-Sinfin (Derby) service. The pair has also worked on infrastructure duty on July 5 from Millerhill to Moy via the Highland Main Line. The shortfall in Class 56 availability has been eased with the delivery of further Class 60 locomotives from Toton and the delivery of No. 60056 as the ninth of the 10 locomotives being upgraded to the ‘SuperTug’ specification. The Colas fleet now includes Nos. 60002/21/47/56/76/85/87/95/96 with No. 60026 currently being upgraded to complete the contract. The other main operator of Class 56 traction is UK Rail Leasings (UKRL) which has now created the pools for its fleet covering leased (UKRL); overhauled (UKRO) and stored (UKRS) locomotives. The UKRL pool currently includes No. 56081/104 which are on hire to Devon & Cornwall Railways, while

Next morning, Tuesday, July 7, the 4-6-2 worked the ‘Express’ back to York where top-and-tailed diesels took over for the remainder of the journey back to King’s Cross.

Last main line run

By 9.30pm, the A4 was back at Grosmont having possibly completed its last main line run before its ticket expires in September… The following Thursday, July 9, Steam Dreams’ annual, end of Southern, steam trip from Waterloo to Weymouth took a hit when booked engine B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower failed its fitness-to-run exam at Southall. The 4-6-0’s owner, David Buck, explained that a boiler washout before the exam may have contributed to a new joint blowing during the actual examination on the Wednesday. There was no time to effect a repair, so the trip to Weymouth marking the end of steam was, ironically, completed with diesel power.

the UKRO pool contains Nos. 56007/98 while the UKRS pool contains No. 37906 and Class 56 56018/31/32/37/38/60/65/69/77/1 06. Throughout these recalls of Class 37, 56 and 60 veterans to main line service the Class 47 fleet continues to serve its operators with both West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) and DRS continuing to use class members and GB Railfreight (GBRf) hiring Riviera Trains members through HNRC as required.

Rethink has taken place

It had been thought that DRS would be reducing its use of Class 47 locomotives with only 47805/13 currently operational but the transfer of 47790 and 47841 from Crewe to Eastleigh on 12 July for a bogie transplant from 47841 to 47790 suggests that a re-think has taken place. The GBRf familiarisation with the Class 92 fleet has seen the need for Class 47s, that were allocated to Glasgow for Caledonian Sleeper empty coaching stock workings, reduced, with only No. 47847 being retained on standby while No. 47812 has been returned to Doncaster for GBRf duties there. The continued disappearance of Class 92s still continues with pairs of venerable Class 90s now firmly in charge of West Coast Main Line intermodal services that were the province of Class 92s until the beginning of the new financial year in April. There is also a pair of 90s on standby for use by GB Railfreight on WCML sleeper services, so the 25-year old fleet is still proving a valuable asset on the modern railway network.

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LNER A4 Pacific No. 60007 SirNigelGresley arrives at Newcastle with Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ from York to Edinburgh on July 5. PHIL WATERFIELD

RTC launches ‘Poldark Express’ to Cornwall FOLLOWERS of BBC TV’s remake of the popular Poldark series set in Cornwall can, by steam train, visit the harbour village of Charlestown, which has played a major part in the programme’s production. The Railway Touring Company has launched its ‘Poldark Express’ aka ‘The Royal Duchy’ over a five-week period which was scheduled to start from Bristol Temple Meads on Sunday, July 5. Calling at Yatton, Taunton and Exeter, the train sets down at Plymouth and Par, the latter close to Charlestown by road, the transfer being included in the price of the rail ticket. “This year we are expecting

heightened interest in the ‘Royal Duchy’ as we offering passengers the option of taking a short bus journey from Par station to either Charlestown – featured in the Poldark series – or the seaside town of Fowey,” said RTC supremo Nigel Dobbing. However, when RTC planned this year’s programme of trains before operator West Coast Railways was hit by suspension, nine ‘Duchy’ tours were scheduled to run on Sundays commencing June 14. As of early July, six of these trains had been cancelled because West Coast was unable to supply the necessary coaching stock. It appears that a number of coaches have been withdrawn from traffic for

upgrading as a result of the Office of Rail & Road intervention into the Carnforth’s Train Operating Company’s affairs following the Wootton Bassett SPAD incident on March 7. The ‘Duchy’s’ Bristol departure from Bristol on Sunday, July 5 was cancelled because the Western Region introduced a fire risk steam ban. RTC is now hoping to run three departures on Sundays August 16 and 30 and September 6. July has proved to be a frustrating month for RTC which has been forced to cancel many trains during the first two weeks of the month. These have included ‘The Yorkshireman’ on Saturday, July 4 because of A4 Pacific

Mayflower’s high summer season underway B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower continues its busy main line activities working four ‘Cathedrals Express’ excursions during the high summer season. On July 26, the 4-6-0 heads what only can described as a ‘stopper’ between Windsor & Eton to Whitstable’s Oyster Fair and Faversham. A ‘stopper’ ‘Express’ calls at Datchet, Wrysbury, Twickenham, Clapham Junction, East Croydon, Merstham, Redhill, Penshurst and Canterbury West.

‘New’ mileage

By comparison, it’s the East Coast Main Line all the way for the B1 on Sunday, August 16 when the Class 5 engine departs King’s Cross for York. Calling at Hatfield, Biggleswade, Huntingdon and Newark Northgate, the apple green engine – water stops

excepted – should have a clear run to the historic city. On Saturday, August 22, Mayflower logs more ‘new’ mileage taking a ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Southend Airport to Stratford-upon-Avon. Once underway, the ‘Express’ is booked to stop at Hockley, Wickford, Shenfield, London’s Stratford and Warwick, giving the 4-6-0 an opportunity to show its paces on Hatton bank. No. 61306 ends the month with what could be termed an Inter-City special, working an ‘Express’ from Salisbury to Canterbury. Picking up at Andover, Whitchurch, Basingstoke, Farnborough, Woking, West Byfleet, Hounslow and Clapham Junction, the train marks 15 years of Steam Dreams’ main line operations when inaugural ‘Cathedrals Express’

excursions first visited the two cities. In a distinct change of motive power, Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland makes a rare appearance in the south when scheduled to head a ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Rugby to Bath and Bristol on Thursday, September 3. The ‘Express’ calls at Northampton, Milton Keynes, Watford Junction, Slough and Reading.

Locomotive exchanges

It is not yet established if the train will be routed via the Berks & Hants Line or run direct to Bath passing Swindon, Chippenham and Box en route. If the former, it will recall the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges when sister No. 46236 City of Bradford worked trains from Paddington to Plymouth.

No. 60009 Union of South Africa’s hotbox incident reported in issue 204; the end of Southern steam trip to Weymouth on Thursday, July 9 and the first of this season’s VictoriaWeymouth ‘Dorset Coast Express’ trips on Wednesday, July 15. Although it did run, RTC’s Cumbrian Mountain Express Euston-Appleby trip was heavily delayed after a ‘operational incident’ on July 11 (see separate story). The ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ King’s CrossSkegness ‘50 years’ excursion featuring B1 No. 61306 originally planned for July 1 and redated for July 29 was cancelled. However, the ‘Swanage Belle’ from Victoria with Mayflower on Thursday, July 16 ran.

Class 73/9s fleet makes progress

THE return to Loughborough of GB Railfreight’s Class 73/9 diesel electric locomotives Nos. 73961-64 has proved to be a brief visit to adjust the third rail equipment with which the shakedown trials around Tonbridge had identified a problem. Nos. 73962/3 returned to Tonbridge on July 1 while No. 73961/4 returned on July 4 and No. 73963 was noted operating on third rail services a few days later through Kensington. Work continues at Loughborough with No. 73965 reported on main line test runs to Derby on July 8, Nos. 73966/7 rebuilt and now in Caledonian Sleeper livery and 7396871 in various stages of rebuild. The parallel programme at RVEL’s Derby site has seen No. 73951 rebuilt but awaiting network registration and No. 73952 being assessed after its test sojourn on the SVR during June. Heritage Railway 59

MAIN LINE NEWS

COMPILED BY CEDRIC JOHNS

Delayed ‘CME’ hit by ‘events’ WHAT should have been just one of a regular ‘milk run’ trip for the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ on Saturday, July 11 turned out to be anything but, owing to a sequence of events which severely delayed the train. Departing 28 minutes late from Euston because passenger stock had been incorrectly directed to King’s Cross, the ‘Express’ finally got underway with the usual Class 86 electric at its head. Well into its stride, a Signal Passed at Danger was reported to have occurred at Hillmorton Junction, but Control allowed the train to continue to Rugby where it is reported that the driver was taken off the ‘footplate’, while it is alleged that he claimed a brake malfunction. A relief driver arrived by taxi, and a fitter sent from Bescot turned up separately at Rugby to examine the

braking system. Before the fitter could begin his task, Network Rail’s permission had to be given to enable the ‘Express’ to be moved to an adjacent line free of regular traffic. The request, permission and move added some 35 minutes to the delay which at that point was estimated at 120 minutes. Having had the braking system given clearance, the ‘Express’ set off with a new driver at the controls of the 86.

Delay built up again

Now running well out of its path, the train was reported 173 minutes late at Crewe where a change of platform added another 10 minutes to the stop while joining passengers walked across the station to board. Making up some time the ‘Express’ arrived at Preston, the 86 reducing the deficit to 165 minutes. Travelling against ‘yellows’, the

delay built up again, the train arriving at Carnforth a reported 170 minutes late. A quick change of motive power, with the 86 being replaced by LMS 4-6-0 No. 46115 Scots Guardsman, the train was set to go but Control stepped in by holding the ‘CME’s departure by allowing four northbound service trains to pass through. Getting away at last, it soon became evident that the Scots’ driver was going all out to regain some of the lost time. Working hard with exhaust beats matching the effort, the 4-6-0 was timed at 49mph through Oxenholme, 42mph at Grayrigg then accelerated to 75mph on the flat passing Tebay at 73mph. Reported 123 minutes late at Appleby, after taking the avoiding line at Carlisle, the train was reduced to a 15-minute water stop before the 4-6-0 continued to pull back lost time

working hard over the Settle and Carlisle line, breasting the summit at Ais Gill at a recorded 36mph.

A very long day

Making a 10-minute water stop at Hellifield, the ‘Express’ was baulked by a ‘red’ at Horrocksford Junction to allow a freight train to gain the road. Despite another slack, the ‘Scot’ accelerated in fine style to tackle Wilpshire bank making 32mph at Langho, 31mph at the tunnel and 29mph at the summit… At the end of a very long day, the 86 was given a good road back to London, the deficit being reduced to 121 minutes at Watford Junction arriving at Euston 117 minutes adrift at 10.15pm. Despite ‘events’ it is reported that the majority of passengers were in good spirits lifted by an outstanding performance put up by Scots Guardsman.

Deltic D9009 Alycidon departs from Paignton with Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Torbay & Dart Explorer ‘ returning from Kingswear to Derby on July 4. MARK WILKINS

60 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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BR Standard 8P Pacific No. 71000 Dukeof Gloucester at Wansford in 2013. BRIAN SHARPE

Australian backing for the Duke’s main line return FOLLOWING a recent visit to Carlisle Diesel Depot to view unique BR 8P 4-6-2 No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester, Martyn Mayer AO, president of the Australian Mayer Foundation, has agreed to back the locomotive’s overhaul and return to traffic. Martin, owner of a 3.5in scale steam model of the Duke built by the late master builder Denis Evans, has told the 71000 Trust management that he is prepared to provide ‘significant’ support to the 4-6-2’s overhaul and subsequent ongoing maintenance.

“This is tremendous news,” said trust chairman Trevor Tuckley. “His support will help give us a solid base on which we can build a positive future for the Duke in terms of main line operations.”

Renewed membership drive

Trevor added that the Duke’s management committee is continuing to give priority to its task of increasing the trust’s membership numbers. “As a result of the committee’s

‘Portrush Flyer’ returns THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s ‘Portrush Flyer’ makes a welcome return this month offering holidaymakers and day trippers the chance to flavour steam as it heads along the coast to the Atlantic seashore. RPSI operations officer Mervyn Darragh said: “We are pleased to be able to share our famous ‘Portrush Flyer’ again. These annual trains are the high point for our society.” Timetabled to run on Sundays July 26 and August 9 and 23, trains are scheduled to depart from the RPSI’s depot at Whitehead excursion station (9.35am), Carrickfergus (9.50am) and Belfast Central at 11.30am. Motive power for all three trains is 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin. Mervyn said: “We always enjoy helping the public – especially children – to get closer to the industrial railway heritage we maintain as a society. “Merlin was relaunched last year after a 10-year engineering overhaul

carried out in our engineering workshops at Whitehead.” In addition to the ‘Flyer’, the RPSI is running steam train rides behind newly outshopped 2-6-4T No. 4 during the Folk & Food Fest at Whitehead on Saturday, July 25. Next day, Sunday, July 26, Dublinbased 2-6-0 No. 461 is rostered for ‘Bray-Wicklow Shuttle’ services. During the ‘Portrush Flyer’ days No. 85 will also work trains between Portrush and Coleraine. On Sunday, August 9, No. 461 is down to head the ‘Great Northern Getaway’ between Drogheda and Dundalk, and Drogheda and Skerries. The ‘Marble City’ runs from Dublin to Kilkenny, Sunday, August 23 with No. 461 at the head of proceedings. Tickets for the ‘Portrush Flyer’ can be purchased in advance by telephone, or call and collect from the Belfast Welcome Centre, on 028 9024 6609. Further details may be obtained at http://www.steamtrainsireland.com

initiatives in promoting a renewed membership drive during the past three months, an encouraging increase in numbers is evident,” he said. “The news that Mr Mayer is backing our efforts is a boost to our objectives and ensures that a start on the engine’s overhaul will begin in the autumn and be considered as a vote of confidence in the Duke’s future. “Nevertheless, the trust is hoping that the current situation will be consolidated by more steam

enthusiasts joining us by making personal contributions towards the day when the sight and sound of the Duke – the only three-cylinder 4-6-2 built at Crewe by British Railways – in steam becomes reality.”

Become a member

Details of membership – for just £5 a month – can be obtained by visiting www.theduke.uk.com or by writing to the Membership Principal, Folgate House, Folgate Road, North Walsham, Norfolk NR28 OAJ.

Americans boost ‘Irish Explorer’

STEAM Dreams’ ground-breaking nine-day tour taking in Irish 5ft 3in gauge main line railways proved to be so successful that the tour promoter’s chairman, Marcus Robertson, has confirmed a second trip for June 15-23 next year. This year’s tour (see feature, pages 48-53), which began with a specially charted Virgin Pendolino taking tourists to Holyhead on June 17 received an encouraging boost when a group of 19 Americans travelling on the tour asked if 50 places could be reserved for themselves and friends next year. Some testimonial! By coincidence the Irish Tourist Board became aware of the tour as it progressed and has said that it will be promoting it to overseas travel agencies and tour operators as an added (steam) attraction to Ireland. Marcus said that co-operation

between the Steam Dreams’ team and Railway Preservation Society of Ireland members was first class. “The two teams came together and established an excellent working relationship with plenty of good humour and one or two glasses of Guinness thrown in!” He said that the itinerary for next year would change in terms of overnight stops and some destinations. “I am hoping that new ground – Sligo and Londonderry-Coleraine – can be incorporated along with a visit to the Giant’s Causeway. “Interestingly, we established that the balance of rail travel and leisure time activities worked out well and will be a key element in our future itineraries.” Motive power for the ‘Irish Explorer’ – the society’s biggestever staged event – was provided by Dublin based 2-6-0 No. 461 and Whitehead’s 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin. Heritage Railway 61

MAIN LINE NEWS

WITH FULL REGULATOR

TABLEONE:INVERNESSTOPERTH Date Train Loco Load Driver Fireman Inspector Weather

June 22, 2015 The Highland Aberdonian A1 Class 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado 8 coaches, 288 tons tare, 300 tons gross Wayne Thompson Dave Proctor Bob Hart Cloudy

miles INVERNESS (No 2) 0.00 Milburn Junction 0.51 Cradlehall Crossovers 1.44 MP 115 3.00 MP 114 4.00 MP 113 5.00 MP 112 6.00 Culloden 6.58 Nairn Viaduct 7.28 MP 109 9.00 MP 108 10.00 Daviot 10.85 MP 106 12.00 MP 105 13.00 Aultnaslanach Viaduct 14.47 MOY LOOP 14.95 14.95 MP 101 17.00 Tomatin 19.00 Findhorn Viaduct 19.80 MP 97 21.00 MP 96 22.00 MP 95½ - Slochd 23.50 MP 92 26.00 Carrbridge 27.96 MP 88¼ 29.75 Avielochan Road 31.83 Aviemore 34.64 MP 81 37.00 Kincraig 40.40 Balavil Gates 43.91 KINGUSSIE 46.37 46.37 Newtonmore 49.24 MP 66 52.00 Inchlea Crossing 55.50 Dalwhinnie 59.42 MP 56 62.00 MP 55 63.00 MP 54 64.00 MP 53½ 64.50 MP 52 ¾ - Druimuachdar 65.25 Dalnaspidal Box 67.08 Edendon 72.00 Dalnacardoch Box 73.19 Dalanraoch 74.23 Struan 78.31 Blair Atholl 82.86 Killiecrankie 85.98 Pitlochry 89.64 River Tay Viaduct 97.39 Inver Tunnel 101.10 Dunkeld and Birnam 102.56 MP 14 104.00 Kingswood Tunnel 104.99 Murthly Crossing 107.79 Kinclaven Crossing 108.20 Stanley Junction 110.88 Strathord 112.93 Belvedere 114.76 Almond Valley Junction 116.43 PERTH (No 4) 118.15

sched 0.00 3.00 5.00

mins 00 02 04 08 10 11 13 14.00 14 14 17 18 19 21 22 25 30.00 28 0.00 00 04 7.00 06 07 08 10 16.00 11 14 22.00 16 19 22 29.00 25 28 37.00 31 34 44.00 41 0.00 00 5.00 04 07 11 19.00 16 21 22 23 24 24 26.00 26 30 33.00 31 32 37 43.00 44 48 52.00 54 62 66 66.00 69 72 73 76 79 78.00 80 83 85 87 91.00 92 *brakes or speed restriction

secs 00 35 59 13 11 55 29 16 47 05 31 45 25 58 36 11 00 20 22 11 41 12 00 40 50 00 13 41 39 57 58 00 00 40 39 25 59 10 20 28 02 51 30 48 55 56 10 28 32 26 14 52 14 04 23 22 04 50 09 20 13 20

speed 21/*22 24 29 30 36 39 54 57 44 41 42/43 41 39 sigs *10 58/61 57 54 43 38 37 65 *55 46/57 *15/59 *38 54 69 74/ sigs *12 58 52 62/63 sigs *22/*19 47 54 55 54 58 62/72 66 64 *57 *47 *16 *35 *36/72 *33/61 *52 *22 35 42 72 57 *34 72 *36/61 53

“The mountains echoed to the roar from the front as the crew lifted the train from 19 to 54mph and sustained this for two miles before we passed the summit board on the easier final quarter at 58mph.”

62 Heritagerailway.co.uk

LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW By Don Benn

THIS time I am going to look at Scotland with the theme of ex-LNER Pacifics. For the topical run I have chosen No. 60163 Tornado and its southbound run with the ‘Highland Caledonian’ on June 22. This was one of the trips organised by Scotrail and its new steam-friendly owner, Abellio, and originally was to have been operated by West Coast Railways with either LMS 8F 2-8-0 No. 48151 or one of the Jubilees. However, Scotrail decided that its operator of choice would be DBS: “ScotRail had also planned to use WCR to run a series of steam specials across Scotland from June 20 but it is now seeking another operator.” So, Tornado operated the four trips of this package, each of which could be booked separately, and were surely the bargain of the year priced at £29 each. Despite this the trains were very lightly loaded, which is a great shame and I hope that this doesn’t discourage Scotrail from its stated objectives of further steam trips including on the partially reinstated Waverley route. When I heard that Tornado would be involved I looked at timetables to see if I could fit one of the trips into an already busy weekend. If the southbound Scotrail sleeper had run on Saturday nights then I would have booked on the northbound Stirling to Inverness trip on Saturday, June 20, and still have been home for a family day on the Sunday. But it does not, though all was not lost as my correspondent Alan Rawlings had booked on the southbound trip on Monday 22 and has kindly supplied me with details of the engine performance plus some commentary. The train running log is shown in Table One and Alan comments: “Everyone will have their favourite stretch of line that pits man and machine against the terrain. “The Settle and Carlisle is an obvious example but if you also factor in the elements to the list of challenges then one’s mind has to turn to Scotland where there is arguably little to beat the Highland Line from Stanley Junction, north of Perth to Inverness. “The clues are in the station names like Aviemore, the skiing capital of Great Britain. Then there are the formidable climbs to Slochd and Druimuachdar (the highest point on the network), plus the multiple filming opportunities from the nearby A9 offering so much for the enthusiast. “The news that ScotRail was running trips over the weekend of June 20-21 was an opportunity not to be missed. The preferred option was the southbound run from Inverness as this must be one of the most demanding climbs in Britain. Consider the challenge. A cold engine faced with an

ascent of some 1300ft in the space of only 23 miles from the platform end. In charge of Tornado, straight from its recent major overhaul, was the capable combination of Wayne Thompson and Dave Proctor from DB Schenker. The load of eight for 300 tons gross was hardly going to stretch the engine but that simply added to the expectation of hill climbing. We were not disappointed. “The first of more than a dozen locospecific speed restrictions was on the bridge over the Aberdeen line within a mile of the start so speed was only in the mid-20s by Cradlehall. Wayne then dropped Tornado over to 50% and speed built up rapidly on the 1-in-70 to Culloden. Power was kept on and the cut-off reduced to 25% for a quick dash down to Nairn Viaduct crossed at 57mph before the assault of the next six miles of 1-in-60. A commendable minimum of 39mph was reached before we drifted along to the pathing stop at Moy. “The final leg of the climb to Slochd was taken with similar flair. From a starting speed of 60mph at the foot of the last five miles, speed dropped away to 37 but the abrupt profile change of this particular summit meant that the train was already up to 40 by the time the last coach passed

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MAIN LINE NEWS TABLETHREE:PERTHTOSTIRLING Date Train Loco Load Weather

5th August 1966 130 pm Aberdeen to Glasgow A2 Class 4-6-2 No. 60532 Blue Peter 7 coaches 234 tons tare, 250 tons gross Cloudy

miles 0.00 2.10 4.00 6.90 9.65 10.30 11.30 12.30 13.30 13.80 14.30 15.30 15.85 0.00 MP 135 0.45 Blackford 2.20 Carsebreck Box 4.45 Greenloaning 6.45 Kinbuck 9.65 MP 124 11.45 Dunblane 12.30 0.00 Bridge of Allen 2.05 Cornton Box 3.00 Stirling 4.90 Perth Hilton Junction Forgandenny Forteviot Dunning MP 141 MP 140 MP 139 MP 138 Auchterarder MP 137 MP 136 Gleneagles

sched mins secs speed 0.00 00 00 5.00 04 25 48 06 22 57½ 09 13 60/58½ 12 08 60 12 57 52½ 14 08 50 15 23 47 16 47 42½ 17 18 41 18 14 39 19 56 34 25.00 20 50 0.00 00 00 02 32 21 05 05 50 07 30 64 09 21 60½ 12 38 55 14 30 66½ 17.00 15 40 0.00 00 00 02 59 70 04 47 72½ 8.00 06 17

almost exclusively hauled by Gresley A4 Pacifics, transferred in 1962-63 to Aberdeen Ferryhill and Glasgow St Rollox after their work on the East Coast Main Line had been taken over by the Type 5 Deltic diesels. My normal method of getting to Scotland was via the 7.30pm King’s Cross to Aberdeen, ‘Aberdonian’ which conveniently connected nicely into the 7.10am Aberdeen to Glasgow threehour train, and so Table Two shows part of a run on this train on July 5, 1965, from Stonehaven to Forfar over the now closed route from Kinnaber Junction to Stanley Junction, also north of Perth as is the Highland Line, but with much less severe gradients. In my view this was the most testing part of the three-hour train schedule as the line abounded with sharp gradients and some speed restrictions which prevented any long spells of high-speed running and a 75mph overall speed limit applied anyway at that time. To get a mile a minute time over the 41.15 miles was quite rare, but we just did it on this occasion, having suffered quite a few near misses prior to then, with the magic ‘even time’ being eluded by just a few seconds. The 43-minute schedule was normally kept comfortably though. The start from Stonehaven is initially at 1-in-223 up but soon steepening to 1-in-92/107 to Dunottar ‘box where there is a brief easing to 1-in-423 before a final mile of 1-in-102 to a summit before Carmont. I always thought that this was a most attractive piece of railway, which of course is still in use today. No. 60034 Lord Faringdon on its usual load of six coaches for 225 tons was doing 41½mph at the top of the first climb and then recovered to 51mph before doing well to get to the top of the 1-in-102 at 49. We then ran fast down to Fordoun at 77½mph

64 Heritagerailway.co.uk

before the section of 1-in-285 up past Laurencekirk brought speed back to 68. Speed was allowed to rise to just touch 80mph down the steep drop to Marykirk before braking to 59 for Kinnaber Junction, where we were just outside even time and nicely within the booking. The run downhill from there to Bridge of Dun was taken very easily with nothing higher than 69mph before a good climb of the 1-in107/120 of Farnell Road bank reduced speed to 56mph. After that it was easy and a sharp stop gave me my mile-aminute run. The fastest known time over this section is 39 mins 9 secs with No. 60019 Bittern in May 1966, involving 81mph at Craigo and 80 at Bridge of Dun, where No. 60034 achieved only 69. The continuation of this line to Perth produced many even time runs over the largely level track, apart from a pronounced dip over the River Tay at Cargill, which usually resulted in the maximum speed of the journey and indeed gave me my only 90mph speed in Scotland, with No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley. The 1.30pm semi-fast from Aberdeen also sometimes produced an even time run and did so the day after my run on the 7.10 with No. 60034. Our engine was No. 60009 Union of South Africa, still a main line performer and the load was seven for 265 tons full. We were slightly late from Forfar which may have been why our driver decided to hurry for we ran the 16.65 miles to the stop at Coupar Angus in 16 mins 24 secs at a start-to-stop average of 60.9mph and then the 15.85 miles on to Perth in exactly 18 minutes including the usual very slow finish. We were three minutes early into Perth. From Perth, where crews were usually changed, it was very

Above: LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado passes Blackford with Abellio ScotRail’s ‘Highland Rambler’ to Inverness on June 20. DAVE COLLIER

Left: Wayne Thompson and Dave Proctor on No. 60163, June 22 2015. ALAN RAWLINGS different as after an easy start the line climbs for nearly seven miles from Dunning to just beyond Gleneagles mainly at 1-in-100. Over this section I have chosen my one and only run with A2 Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter, which was the regular engine on the 1.30pm Aberdeen to Glasgow semi-fast train for a while in 1966. With only seven on for 250 tons the engine made mincemeat of the easy schedule south of Perth on this train and the run requires little comment. Performance on this train from Perth could be dreary, as the A4 Pacifics in charge for most of 1964-1966 required very little effort to keep time. The three-hour trains, of course, were a different matter being allowed only 36 mins for the 33.05 miles nonstop but such was the power of the A4s that even-time runs weren’t uncommon. I hope to return to Scotland in a later issue to cover the work of other classes, but this depends a bit on how the planned programme by Scotrail pans out. I have prepared this article earlier than usual and at the time of writing it is very hot, so inevitably Network Rail has imposed a steam ban in some regions so I am not sure at present what my theme will be next time.

TABLEFOUR:FORFARTOPERTH Date Train Loco

Load Recorder Weather

July 6, 1965 130 pm Aberdeen to Glasgow A4 Class 4-6-2 No. 60009 Union of South Africa 7 coaches, 247 tons tare, 265 tons gross Don Benn Warm and sunny

miles 0.00 0.70 2.85 5.65 7.85 11.90 13.15 14.20 16.65 0.00 Burrelton 2.20 Cargill 4.55 Ballathie 6.40 Stanley Junction 8.65 Strathord 10.70 Luncarty 11.65 Almond Valley Jct 14.20 Perth 15.85 Forfar Forfar South Box Kirriemuir Box Glamis Eassie Alyth Junction Ardler Box Ardler Coupar Angus

sched mins secs speed 0.00 00 00 02 53 39 04 28 62 06 57 72 08 42 78 11 55 74½ 12 58 76 13 49 73 19.00 16 24 0.00 00 00 03 57 55½ 06 14 68/75 07 53 73 09 56 66 11 41 72 12 30 73 14 45 66 20.00 18 00

start to stop average 60.91mph

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ADVERTORIAL

Axle fund launched at G5 unit opening

The New Build G5 had a very successful event to celebrate the opening of its new unit. The bad weather, thankfully, held off for the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon by chairman of Durham County Council, Coun Jan Blakey. The event was attended by many share holders and ‘Super Friends’ as well as the local Mayor, Coun Matthew Burdess. Also launched at

the event was the Crank Axle Fund to raise the £36,000 needed for the crank axle, the last major component required for the build. £100 buys you one degree of the axle. Also ‘hot off the press’ – or rather still in it – the front wheel-set is nearing completion. They still require the tyres fitting and balancing. The complete assembly should be back in Shildon early August.

Unit 8S, Hackworth Industrial Estate, Shildon, Co Durham DL4 1HF Any question: either ring Richard 07764 304210 or email [email protected]

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

Heritage Railway 65

TOURS

LNER A1PacificNo.60163TornadoheadsaBelmondPullmanspecialforthePrincesTrustfromEdinburghviaShotts,Mossend,Larbert,Stirling,Alloa,Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath,KirkcaldyandbackovertheForthBridge.ItisseenpassingMagiscroft,betweenGreenfootandGreenfaulds,onthelinetoCumbernauld.IAN LOTHIAN

August SAT 1: ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’

Crewe, Liverpool, Settle, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled: Liverpool, Carlisle and return. Loco: No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. RTC

SUN 2: ‘North Wales Coast Express’

Liverpool, Holyhead and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC

TUES 11: ‘Cathedrals Express’

West Ruislip, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Blackburn. Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman. SD

SAT 15: ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ Crewe, Manchester, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. RTC

SUN 16: ‘Cathedrals Express’

King’s Cross, York and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD

SAT 22: ‘Cathedrals Express’

Southend Airport, Stratford-upon-Avon and return. Steam hauled: Southend, Stratford, Willesden. Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD

SUN 23: ‘Pembroke Coast Express’

Bristol, Pembroke Dock and return. Steam hauled. Bristol, Carmarthen and Pembroke, Bristol Loco: TBA. RTC

Regular steam TUES, THUR to August 27: ‘Dalesman’ York, Carlisle and return. Steam hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle and return. Loco: No. 45231, No. 45690 Leander, No. 45699 Galatea, or No. 46115 Scots Guardsman. WCR

DAILY: ‘Jacobite’

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.

66 www.heritagerailway.co.uk

Fort William, Mallaig and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 45407, 44871 or 62005. WCR

WEDS to Aug 26: ‘Fellsman’

Lancaster, Preston, Carlisle and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 45231, 46115 Scots Guardsman, No. 45690 Leander, or 45699 Galatea. SMR

SUNS Aug 2, 23, Sep 13: ‘Torbay Express’

Bristol, Bath /Weston, Kingswear and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado or No. 70000 Britannia. TEL

SUNS to SEP 6: ‘Shakespeare Express’

Tyseley, Stratford-upon-Avon and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall or No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. VT

TUES Aug 4, 25: ‘Welsh Mountaineer’

Preston, Blaenau Ffestiniog and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 61994 The Great Marquess. RTC

SAT AUG 8, FRI 21: ‘Surrey Hills Luncheon’

Victoria, Guildford, Redhill, Victoria. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado. BEL A1T

A1 Trust Bookings through UK Railtours

BEL

Belmond British Pullman 0845 077 2222

PTH

Pathfinder Tours 01453 835414

RTC

York, Carlisle and return. Steam hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle and return. Loco: No. 45231, 46115 Scots Guardsman, No. 45690 Leander, or 45699 Galatea . RTC

Railway Touring Company 01553 661500

SD

Steam Dreams 01483 209888, 0845 310458

SATS AUG 8, 15, 22:, 29 ‘West Somerset Steam Express’

SMR

Statesman Rail 0845 310 2458

Paddington, Minehead and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC

TEL

Torbay Express Ltd bookings through Pathfinder

WEDS Aug 5, 12, 26: ‘Dorset Coast Express’

VT

Vintage Trains 0121 708 4960

Victoria, Weymouth and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC

WCR

West Coast Railways 0845 850 4685

SUNS Aug 2, 16, SEP 6: ‘Royal Duchy’

Bristol, Par and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC

WEDS AUG 5, 12, 26, SEP 2, 9: ‘Dorset Coast Express’ Victoria, Swanage and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 34067 Tangmere. RTC

SUNS to SEP 6: ‘Waverley’

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Heritage Railway 67

74 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Heritage Railway 75

Hunslet’s administration offices at 125 Jack Lane, bearing the date of the foundation of the enterprise but in fact dating from the 1880s. The remains of the railway connections to the main network, used to convey the final products of Hunslet’s Leeds premises in 1995 (three-car EMUs for the ManchesterBirmingham service), can be seen in the roadway. MARK SMITHERS

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his year marks the 150th anniversary of the commencement of locomotive construction at the Jack Lane works of the Leedsbased locomotive manufacturer Hunslet Engine Company. To mark this occasion in an appropriate fashion, a gala was held on the Middleton Railway where five visiting Hunslet-built locomotives joined the Middleton’s operational fleet for the weekend’s train roster. The venue was totally appropriate, for the Middleton Railway, in an earlier incarnation as a rack railway with cast-iron rails, played host to the first locomotive constructed in Leeds way back in 1812, and indeed the first successful commercial operation of steam locomotives anywhere in the world. The early Middleton Railway locomotives were built at a works known as the Round Foundry by Fenton, Murray and Wood, a concern which, as Fenton, Murray & Jackson, manufactured locomotives until 1843. One of this factory’s latter-day apprentices was David Joy, later to become chief draughtsman at EB Wilson’s Railway Foundry and produce designs for the well-known Jenny Lind 2-2-2s and their relatives. What was of equal or greater significance for subsequent events in Leeds was that Joy’s diaries reveal that he closely studied the raised firebox back-dome boilers of the Hirst/Hawkshaw 2-2-2s designed for the Manchester & Leeds Railway, and would also have been familiar with Thomas Russell Crampton’s Courier with its domeless inverted ‘U’ firebox wrapper, albeit of peculiar design at its base.

Founded in 1864

Indeed, Joy bequeathed the general arrangement drawing of his Crampton patent ‘dummy crankshaft’ 0-4-0 back tank with domeless boiler and high inverted ‘U’ firebox wrapper to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers where it remains to this day. EB Wilsons itself did not prove as enduring, falling victim to internal strife among the shareholders and a Chancery winding-up action in 1858, but the company’s break-up, and the consequential piecemeal disposal of its land the following year spawned such familiar names as Manning Wardle, Hudswell Clarke and the subject of the present feature. Hunslet Engine Company was founded in 1864 by civil engineer and colliery owner, John Towlerton Leather. Leather had been a customer of EB Wilson for broad gauge 0-4-0WTs for his work at Portland Harbour, and for Wilson and Manning Wardle 0-6-0STs for his Waterloo Main Colliery in Leeds, and he felt that there was still sufficient market potential for a new locomotive manufacturer in the latter city. Early attempts to interest his son Arthur in the Heritage Railway 81

The last steam locomotive built at Jack Lane for any commercial user was this 750mm gauge 0-4-2ST for Indonesia.TrangkilNo.4works No. 3902 of 1971 was repatriated to the UK in 2004 and re-gauged to 2ft. The engine returned to its birthplace for the duration of the gala and is seen here in steam, alongside Quarry Hunslet IrishMail. The water supply for the locomotives at Jack Lane was contained in a portable vessel, with a petrol-driven pump to raise the water into the saddle tanks. ALLAN WIGGINS

This privately owned 0-4-0T (works No. 1684 of 1931), although unrestored, is a good example of Hunslet’s more modern designs of industrial locomotive employing outside Walschaerts’ valve gear. This photograph was taken on June 24 2012 during the Middleton Railway’s bicentenary celebrations. MARK SMITHERS

One of the most significant developments of the inter-war period was the introduction of a new series of inside-cylinder 0-6-0ST standard designs for industrial work. These were a break with many of the 19th-century designs in that they had the shortest feasible wheelbase and domed boiler barrels allied to inclined foundation rings to clear the rear axle. The smaller designs of this group (12in to 16in cylinders and saddletank not covering the smokebox) started to appear in 1923 with the 15- and 16in classes and representative visiting locomotive Beatrice from the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway proved invaluable on the passenger workings during the day of my visit. Beatrice is a 16in machine (works No. 2705 of 1945) which previously worked at Ackton Hall Colliery in Pontefract before coming to Embsay, where a thorough overhaul (including a new firebox) has been carried out in recent years. After the first working of the day from Moor Road to Park Halt, Beatrice was uncoupled from the train and posed for photographers in the loop, albeit after ‘chocking’ the middle wheelset to counteract the effect of the downward gradient at this location towards Moor Road. One of Beatrice’s stablemates at Embsay is a similar but smaller machine Airedale (works number 1440 of 1923), the prototype of the ‘15 inch’ class, while the smallest-surviving member of the design group, Brookes No.1 is resident on the Middleton Railway and is currently undergoing an overhaul. This is a ‘14 inch’ locomotive dating from 1941.

The last steam locomotive built for domestic industrial service in the UK, NCB No. 66 (Hunslet works No. 3890 of 1964) crosses Moor Road on July 18. The rather squat chimney, associated with the gas producer system originally fitted to the engine, is very much in evidence. ALLAN WIGGINS

For most of the life of the Jack Lane works, Hunslet relied heavily on export orders. This 2-6-2T (No. 1540 of 1927) spent its revenue-earning career in Trinidad before being repatriated in poor condition in 2008, subsequently being sold to the Middleton Railway. It is intended to restore the locomotive cosmetically for display as a representative example of Hunslet’s products for overseas markets.

The ‘18 inch’ inside cylinder 0-6-0ST classes evolved from a side tank locomotive of 1930 (works No. 1506) through the 48150 class of 1937, which retained the general main features and uncovered smokebox found on the smaller standard inside-cylinder designs with the exception of firebox-mounted safety valves, and the Stewarts & Lloyds 50550 class (works Nos. 2411-18 of 1941-2) with full-length tank to the well-known ‘Austerities’, of which 485 specimens, constructed by Hunslet and other manufacturers, entered service between 1943 and 1964.

Ministry of Supply

The 50550 class was intended for a development on the part of ironstone quarry owners Stewarts & Lloyds Ltd at Islip necessitating a railway to Corby, but this never came to fruition and the eight class members were dispersed, with three coming into Ministry of Supply ownership. This fact, together with the efforts of Hunslet’s managing director at the time, Edgar Alcock, ensured that it was a modified version of the 50550 class, not the LMS ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T, which was adopted as a standard Ministry of Supply class, with the first example Hunslet works No. 2849) being steamed at Jack Lane on New Year’s Day in 1943. Modifications to the 50550 design adopted on what became known as the ‘Austerities’ included a radiused cab roof and enlarged bunker (increasing coal capacity by 5 cwt), an increase in wheel diameter from 4ft 0½in to 4ft

3in, steel boiler tubes instead of brass, and the replacement of as many steel castings as possible with fabrications or cast-iron components (as an aid to economic massproduction in wartime conditions). The ‘Austerities’ proved a major success in their military duties at home and abroad, and when peacetime returned were adopted as a standard design by the NCB, providing muchneeded replacements for many worn-out units of considerable antiquity. Two visiting class representatives were in steam during the Hunslet 150 Gala, the older of which was NCB Fife Area No. 19 (Hunslet works No. 3818 of 1954), a locomotive built for service at Michael Colliery, East Fife before transfer to Comrie Colliery and eventual sale to the Scottish Railway Preservation Society’s Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway. The locomotive has therefore always had a Scottish home base. The other visiting representative was Buckinghamshire Railway Centre-based NCB No. 66. This locomotive has the distinction of being the last new steam locomotive built in the UK for domestic industrial service, emerging from Hunslet’s workshops in 1964 (maker’s No. 3890) for use at Cadeby Main Colliery, Conisborough. In order to comply with the requirements of the 1956 Clean Air Act, the engine was fitted when new with a mechanical stoker and a ‘gas producer’ system of combustion. Both of these refinements have fallen out of use today, but the distinctive chimney design is still evident and provides an Heritage Railway 83

REVIEWS

The Railways of Great Britain – A Historical Atlas

By Col Michael H Cobb, PhD, MA, FRICS, MInstRE (hardback, Patrick S Cobb/Riiley, Dunn & Wilson, 646pp, £295, ISBN 978 0 993210103 0 4, 978 0 993210103 1 1).

YES, it is expensive, but in terms of quality of this magnitude, you get what you pay for. This is the third edition of a definitive atlas first published in 2003. It features all railway lines in Britain operating between 1807 and 1994 overlaid in colour on outline Ordnance Survey maps, the names of the companies that built them, and the opening and closing dates of each of the stations en route. It was compiled over 18 years by cartographer, railway historian and Second World War veteran Col Cobb, who travelled on every route on the British public national network, although he did not visit industrial and military systems. So thorough was this work that at the age of 91

he became the oldest person to be awarded a PhD by Cambridge University for it. Coming in a presentation slipcase, the two volumes are not only a standard reference work but a masterpiece of cartography. Indeed, it lies at the point where mapmaking meets high art. This new edition, the first to be published for a decade, has been carefully edited and improved by the colonel’s eldest son Patrick, with pages of late amendments. Particularly useful are the family trees of the Big Four companies and the index of all station names. The price is a big ask, but for those seriously interested in railway history and research, it is an investment.

Castles: The Final Years 1954-55 By Laurence Waters (hardback, Ian Allan, 128pp, £22.50, ISBN 978 0 7110 3822 6). SADLY, the great Ian Allan, the man who revolutionised railway publishing if not invented it in its modern form, is no longer with us, but the publishing firm he founded still continues to turn out classics. Guaranteed to delight those who are enthralled by the sight of Tyseley’s No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on its regular Vintage Trains outings, Laurence Waters of the Great Western Society has produced this superb album capturing the final decade of this majestic and world-beating GWR class. The book comprises 230 archive colour and monochromatic archive

EDITOR’S CHOICE UNIQUE REFERENCE WORK

The East Fife Central Railway: The Lochty Line

pictures of Castles in each of the stated years, highlighting the variations in the class. Many of the pictures, drawn from the GWS archives, are previously unpublished. The album section preceded by an informative and fascinating introduction which gives a potted history of the class. LOCOMOTIVE PORTRAIT WITH ATTITUDE

By Andrew Hajducki, Mike Jodeluk & Alan Simpson (softback, Oakwood Press, 1044pp, £10.95, ISBN 08553817389). THIS Scottish backwater of a branch is probably best remembered for the period after closure, when a mile was rebuilt at the Lochty Private Railway for farmer John Cameron on which to run his LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa.

Peter’s Railway: The Great Train Robbery

Marsden Rail 35 On Yorkshire Lines (DVD, Cinerail, PO Box 245 Manchester M24 0AX, 70 minutes, £19.95) THE programme features Yorkshire in the Sixties, beginning with views of the East Coast Main Line in and around York, with scenes at the shed and station, moving via Church Fenton to the Leeds and Bradford area, then Barnsley, Penistone and Rotherham, and Skipton and the Dales. The picture quality is excellent particularly for the early Sixties and is all in colour. The atmosphere comes across well, with views of shunting, and parcels trains being loaded. An enormous variety of LMS, LNER and BR Standard steam classes are supplemented by green diesels and DMUs; plain blue EM2 electrics on the Woodhead line will come as a surprise to many viewers. There is a glimpse of Huddersfield trolleybuses, and the early preservation scene is well covered, with the beginnings of the Middleton Railway, LMS Jubilee

It is amazing that this 14½-mile very rural branch survived long enough to be closed under the Beeching Axe, for it basically carried little more than coal and agricultural supplies, apart from a brief period of workmen’s trains for local collieries. This typical Oakwood volume contains probably everything you will need to know about this line, packed with archive photographs and essential facts alongside highly readable text. SPLENDID LOCAL HISTORY No. 5596 Bahamas leaving Hunslet’s works after restoration in 1968, and views of the Derwent Valley Light Railway with NER 0-6-0T Joem when it briefly operated passenger services. The Marsden Rail series continues to come up with highly watchable footage from the good old days and this programme is well up to the usual standard. BRILLIANT TIME TRAVEL

interesting findings. The text is accompanied by some magnificent colour pictures from the Mark Warburton collection, many of which are unpublished, as well as black and white archive views. There is much inside here both for those new to the subject and seasoned enthusiasts. FASCINATING NEW HISTORY

Isle of Wight Railways: A New History By Richard C Long (hardback, Ian Allan, 96pp, £20, ISBN 978 0 7110 3816 5). THIS fresh look at this history of the island’s once-extensive railway network is excellent summer reading for visitors. The pithy but lucid text crystalises new research on the development of the Wight lines, and reports many

By Christopher Vine (softback, 48pp, £4.99, Peter’s Railway, PO Box 9246 Bridge of Weir PA11 3WD, ISBN 978 1900889 70 53) AIMED at children in the age range six to 12, this series has now sold 100,000 copies and the stories still keep coming. This one is based on a miniature farm railway where Peter, Harry and Kitty foil a terrible robbery and catch the dangerous villains. Their methods are brave and unconventional, causing much damage and enjoyable mayhem. The book explores how they have protected the railway, including a home-made burglar alarm. This is put to the test in the story and is also explained in a simple technical page. At the end of the adventure the children are presented with a huge reward!

Heritage Railway 87

PLATFORM

READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE STAR LETTERS

Spam Cans or not? THE GREAT DEBATE!

I AGREE with the sentiments made by Michael Malleson (Platform, issue 204) referring derogatory remarks to the original Bulleid Pacifics as Spam Cans. As a group of avid trainspotters on Ashford station, Kent, in the 1950s we would revere their presence,

especially on the express boat trains as they sped by close to the 70mph speed limit necessary for the curve at the west end of the station. We simply called the Merchant Navies Merchants and the Light Pacifics, West Countries and Battle of Britains using their full titles with

respect. I had never heard reference to the Bulleids as Spam Cans until well after the end of steam on the main line and would assume the mickey taking had come in the main from enthusiasts from outside of the old Southern Railway system or BR Southern Region.

The first batch of Merchant Navies were introduced in 1941 into the austere period of the Second World War. Their unusual characteristics unlike anything that had gone before were perhaps open to ridicule and banter. But today it would appear derogatory and ridicule has become even more prevalent. Sadly the name Spam Can has become the norm and it is a slang word many people won’t change. In my opinion the original Merchant Navies and Light Pacifics were aesthetically perfect but their symmetry was spoilt from 1956 onwards after the tender high side eves were removed, although the inset tenders suited the rebuilt engines very well, now referred by some as rebuilt Spams! SE Black, Tenterden, Kent

MICHAEL Malleson considers the term Spam Can to be derogatory. I wonder if younger readers know what Spam was? It was a US product and the initials meant Spiced Pork and Mutton (I think!). It was very tasty. It came in a tin, which in shape was very similar to a head-on view of a Bulleid Pacific. I understand the product is still available but the tin shape has changed. I personally dislike the term Spam Can and never use it. I much prefer and use the ‘official’ term air smoothed in my writing. Barry Fletcher, Edenbridge

Two of Britain’s most distinctive locomotive types together at Ropley on June 18: ‘Streak’ No. 4464 Bittern and ‘Spam Can’, or rather Bulleid unrebuilt West Country light Pacific No. 34007 Wadebridge. RICHARD YEOMANS

Happy memory of meeting Roger Barker

I HAVE just read issue 204 again and realised I had not fully noticed the tribute to Roger Barker, though I had seen the photo of him with 60007! May I offer my sympathies to all of his friends and family on the passing of yet another railway character. I first met Roger in 1980 when he was taking Sir Nigel Gresley to the Rainhill Trials event. The engine ran via Northwich station and stayed there for a few hours. I went there with my dad, we got chatting and he took us on the footplate for a short ride up and down the track. I was doing some work for railway journalist Peter Kelly at the time and this episode gave me a good beginning to two weeks at Bold Colliery with the Rocket 150. Over the next 30 years I met Roger a number of times and found him to be a decent bloke. Thanks Roger, RIP. The steam movement is poorer by your passing. Allan McGuire, Warrington

88 Heritagerailway.co.uk

I MUST immediately take Mr Malleson to task over the term Spam Can. Perhaps he doesn’t realise it is a term of endearment to the beasts and as a 1945 child, Spam is also

Poor services led to Blyth rail demise I WAS a little surprised your correspondent did not fully include North Blyth depot in the article about South Blyth in issue 203. The article itself was extremely interesting and brought back many memories of the Blyth sheds, as well as Percy Main and the continual coal trains (whatever happened to those?) travelling the Blyth and Tyne line and into Newcastle and through Central Station on their way to various local power stations, coupled with NCB locomotives from Backworth taking rakes of wagons to the river and docks for shipping wherever.

Early interest in railways

As a Newcastle resident living near Heaton Junction, I had an early interest in railways and eventually knew all the Northumberland and County Durham sheds very well. However, in the days before driving, I could never understand how Blyth was so difficult to get to by rail. I never understood why the

trains went from Newcastle Manors station, a mere half mile from Central. This involved a change from coast-bound trains at Manors and the another change at Newsham, half a mile from Blyth, two changes in a journey of 10 miles or so. Trains were infrequent and, of course, the lack of passengers resulted in closure when really it should have been as busy as the coast circular trains with commuters during the week. A lot of Blyth and district people worked in Newcastle. It was the same for trains going to Ashington and the like – poor service resulted in low usage and closure. As the tracks are mainly still there, hence a railtour last year, it is a shame that more use is not made of the facility, especially with overcrowded roads and although buses are frequent, they take hours to get from the Blyth area to Newcastle. Alan May, Derby Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

An unrebuilt air-smoothed Bulleid Pacific – nicknamed by some as ‘Spam Cans’ – headed the earliest departure in the history of the Swanage Railway. The 5.30am Corfe Castle to Poole empty coaching stock on Saturday, June 20 for that day’s Poole to Cardiff ‘Welshman’ excursion is seen between Motala and Furzebrook, crossing bridge No. 11 at Furzebrook (which used to cross a narrow gauge ball clay tramway) and then passing the former Wytch Farm oil/gas sidings and the Imerys ball clay works. On the front of the 11-coach train was Battle of Britain No. 34067 Tangmere and on the rear was West Coast Railways’ Class 57 No. 57315 which used to be a Virgin Trains Thunderbird rescue locomotive. The in-coming ECS from Southall to Corfe Castle had taken place at teatime the day before. The train returned for stabling at Swanage – late on the Saturday night and departed on the Sunday morning. ANDREW PM WRIGHT fondly remembered. My wife still doesn’t like me slipping a can into our shopping so it’s an age-based attitude we have in conflict here. It is just like ‘coffee pot’ for the Q1, which became ‘Charlie’ as the design of coffee pots altered to the glass Cona styles. No Sir, your ridiculous term ‘damp bananas’ for the ‘Streaks’ is a real insult and a hint that you considered the breadth of OVS Bulleid’s work to have shortcomings makes a Southern steam spotter boil. I will totally agree with your statement that the use of unrebuilt (is it an adjective?) is both annoying and unnecessary. They are either a West Country or a rebuilt West

Country or whichever. A unrebuilt West Country would, literally, mean a rebuilt one put back to original condition. PS think of Monty Python’s Spam sketches Richard Yeomans, email I echo the thoughts expressed by Michael Malleson in his letter published in issue 204. Why can’t we use the term trainspotters did in the early Fifties when looking down the track from Waterloo Station, when someone would call out “here comes a Flat Top”? This is much more descriptive than ‘Meat Tin’. Stuart Lawrence, email

THERE is nothing derogatory about the epithet Spam Can. The light Pacifics were thus named in the 1940s and the Merchant Navies were Packets or Flannel Jackets. Garth Hentley, Yetminster, Dorset. I WAS much amused by Mr Malleson’s rather thin-lipped irritation at the use of the cognomen Spam Can. I can’t for the life of me see how it is derogatory – it is simply an acceptable reflection on the crosssectional profile. May I suggest that Mr Malleson browses through Steam Locomotive Nicknames (Middlemass) where he will find many far more demeaning sobriquets for the iron

Can steam beat a work of art? AFTER reading the amazingly informative article, The Land of the Midnight Sun, in issue 203 and seeing all those Scandinavian steam locomotives lined up in the open at Haapamãki, I have a rhetorical question for all you railfans. In 1895 in nextdoor Norway, artist Edvard Munch drew a very crude (in my opinion) picture in pastels on cardboard of a disturbed mental patient entitled, The Scream, and, in 2012, it was sold for $120 million. This was one of four versions of the same picture produced by Munch. All four are still in existence. In 1903, the Great Western Railway built a very beautiful 4-4-0 named City of Truro, designed by George Jackson Churchward. It was one of 20 locomotives of the same design. Only City of Truro now remains. My question is: Which would you rather own, City of Truro or The

Scream? And I don’t mean as an investment. Quite simply, would you rather take your friends to your local preserved railway and show them the City or into your living room and show them the painting? City of Truro took many more hours and a lot more expense to make. In fact, if you happen to really like a painting, you can buy a print of it for just a few quid to hang on your wall and only an expert would be able to tell the difference! Perhaps the best judge might be your 10-year-old child or grandchild. I suspect they would look at the painting and openly declare that they could do better but they would spend all day enjoying the steam locomotive. So, where do we get our values from? It would take a lot less time and effort for a reasonably skilled artist to make an identical copy of

The Scream (or, for that matter, any other great painting) than it would take to make a brand new steam locomotive. How is intrinsic value determined? In most cases, unless they are portraits of historical figures, paintings represent one artist’s imagination while the locomotive represents a whole nation’s engineering history. In the same issue of Heritage Railway, there was a two-page advertisement for a 5½in gauge working live-steam model of a GWR 1400 class locomotive for less than $5000 – you could own 24,000 of those models for the price of one painting. As I say, as far as I’m concerned, the locomotive is by far the prettiest and, what’s more, I could have loads of fun driving it! I fear that the world has gone mad. David R Holt, Queensland, Australia

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

horse (some indeed rather coarse!) One wonders if there is perhaps a degree of class-distinction lurking? Perhaps Mr M finds the thought of Spam repellent to his evidently lofty tastes? I quite like the stuff myself occasionally with real Italian ketchup in a toasted sandwich. (During the Second World War people enduring the privations of rationing would fight over it.) In summation I would say his vitriolic, tedious and (eventually) pedantic diatribe is misplaced in the pages of HR. Alternatively, John Cleese might find it inspiring if Monty Python’s Flying Circus ever makes a comeback. Martyn McGinty, Frome, Somerset.

Marlow not Fairley

I MUST correct the caption on the top of page 48 in the article on CB Collett in issue 204. It shows No. 1453 at ‘Fairley’. This location is in fact Marlow and having spent many happy hours on that platform in my school days, I recognised it straight away. The engine is a stranger to the “Marlow Donkey” but was probably standing in for one of the regulars, which was no doubt receiving attention at Slough shed where these locomotives were based. Thoroughly enjoyable and informative reading. Keep up the good work. David Lane, email Heritage Railway 89

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Heritage Railway 91

UP & RUNNING

Bagnall 0-4-0ST Armistice and Orentein & Koppell 0-4-0T Eigiau head a Bredgar & Wormshill Railway goods train during a Continental Railway Circle visit. JOHN TITLOW

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: Daily.

Bentley Miniature Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum, East Sussex. Running: Suns.

Bluebell Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Engines: 263, 178, B473, 323, 592, 847, 30541. Running: Daily.

East Kent Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover. Tel: 01304 832042. Running: W/Es + Aug 12, 19.

Eastleigh Lakeside Railway Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience. Running: Daily.

Hastings Miniature Railway

Narrow gauge, 600 yards, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex. Running: Daily.

Hayling Seaside Railway Narrow gauge, one mile, Hayling Island, Hants. Running: Daily.

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight. Tel: 01983 882204. Engines: 8, 11, 24, 41298. Running: Daily.

Kent & East Sussex Railway

Standard gauge, 10½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Tenterden, Kent. Tel: 01580 765155. Engines: 30065, 32670, 32678, 1638. Running: Daily.

92 Heritage Railway

Lavender Line

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

Mid Hants Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. Tel: 01962 733810. Engines: 34007, 850, 925, 45379, 92212. Running: Daily.

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway

Narrow gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience, New Romney, Kent. Tel: 01797 362353. Running: Daily.

Royal Victoria Railway Narrow gauge, one mile, Netley, Southampton. Tel: 02380 456246. Running: Daily.

Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¾ miles, Sittingbourne, Kent. Tel: 01795 424899. Running: Suns, Weds.

Spa Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Tel: 01892 537715. Running: W/Es, Tues, Thurs.

SOUTH WEST Avon Valley Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Bitton, Bristol. Tel: 0117 932 7296. Running: W/Es, Tues - Thurs.

Bodmin & Wenford Railway Standard gauge, 6½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Bodmin, Cornwall. Tel: 01208 73666. Engines: 6435, 4247, 4612, 30587. Running: Daily.

Dartmoor Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, Okehampton, Devon. Tel: 01837 55164. Running: W/Es.

Dartmouth Steam Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, wine and dine, Paignton, Devon. Tel: 01803 555872. Engines: 7827, 5239, 4277, 7820. Running: Daily.

Devon Railway Centre

Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Bickleigh, Devon. Tel: 01884 855671. Running: Daily.

East Somerset Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Cranmore, Somerset. Tel: 01749 880417. Engine: 46447. Running: W/Es, Weds, Thurs.

Helston Railway

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

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Woody Bay, north Devon. Tel: 01598 763487. Running: Daily.

Moors Valley Railway

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

Plym Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Marsh Mills, Plymouth. Running: Suns + Aug 15.

Seaton Tramway

Narrow gauge, three miles, Harbour Road, Seaton, Devon. 01297 20375. Running: Daily.

South Devon Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Engines: L92, 3205, 5542, 6412. Running: Daily.

Swanage Railway

Standard gauge, six miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Swanage, Dorset. Tel: 01929 425800. Engines: 30053, 31806, 34070, 80104, 30120. Running: Daily.

Swindon & Cricklade Railway

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

West Somerset Railway

Standard gauge, 20 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BG. Tel: 01643 704996. Engines: 3850, 4160, 7828, 6960, 5541. Running: Daily.

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

Bure Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, nine miles, footplate experience, Aylsham, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 733858. Running: Daily.

Colne Valley Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine & dine, Castle Hedingham, Essex. Tel: 01787 461174. Running: Suns, Weds, Thurs + Aug 18, 20.

East Anglian Railway Museum Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Wakes Colne, Essex. Tel: 01206 242524. Open: W/Es. Running: Aug 2.

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: W/Es, Tues - Thurs.

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

EVENTS

Heritage Railway 93

UP & RUNNING

One-timeSouthHettoncollieryHunsletAusterity0-6-0STNo.69 (3785of1953)departsfromStoneacreloopontheEmbsay&BoltonAbbeySteamRailway. ALAN WEAVER

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

Nene Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Wansford, Peterborough, Cambs. Tel: 01780 784444. Engine: 60163. Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds + Aug 6, 24.

North Norfolk Railway

Standard gauge, 5½ miles, footplate experience, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA. Tel: 01263 820800. Engines: 564, 8572, 92203, 76084, 45337. Running: Daily.

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

Whitwell & Reepham Railway

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Reepham, Norfolk. Tel: 01603 871694. Running: W/Es + B/H, steam first Sun.

HOME COUNTIES Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, footplate experience, Quainton Road, Bucks. Tel: 01296 655720. Engines: 30585, Met 1. Open: Sun, TuesThurs. Running: Suns, Weds.

Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway

Standard gauge, 3½ miles, Chinnor, Oxon. Tel: 01844 353535. Engine: 1369. Running: Suns, Thurs.

Cholsey & Wallingford Railway

Standard gauge, 2½ miles, Wallingford,

94 Heritage Railway

Oxon. Tel: 01491 835067. Running: Aug 1, 2..

Didcot Railway Centre

Standard gauge, footplate experience, Didcot, Oxon. Tel: 01235 817200. Engines: 93, 3650, 5322, 4144. Open: Daily. Running: W/Es + Weds.

Epping Ongar Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Ongar, Essex. Tel: 01277 365200. Engines: 4141, 1744. Running: W/Es + Weds.

Leighton Buzzard Railway Narrow gauge, 2¾ miles, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. Tel: 01525 373888. Running: Suns, Tues - Thurs.

MIDLANDS Amerton Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffs. Tel: 01785 850965. Running: Daily.

Apedale Valley Railway

Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Apedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Tel: 0845 094 1953. Running: W/Es.

Barrow Hill Roundhouse

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

Battlefield Line Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Shackerstone, Leics. Tel: 01827 880754. Engine: 3803. Running: W/Es, Tues - Thurs.

Chasewater Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Walsall, West Midlands. Tel: 01543 452623. Running: W/Es (steam) + Thurs.

Churnet Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 5¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Cheddleton, Staffs. Tel: 01538 750755. Running: W/Es + Weds.

Dean Forest Railway

Standard gauge, 4¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Norchard, Lydney, Glos. Tel: 01594 845840. Engine: 5541. Running: Weds, Fri - Sun.

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

Evesham Vale Railway Narrow gauge, 1¼ mile, A46 north of Evesham, Worcs. Tel: 01386 422282. Running: Daily.

Northampton & Lamport Railway

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

Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre Standard gauge, four miles, Ruddington, Notts. Tel: 0115 940 570. Engine: 8274 Running: W/Es.

Peak Rail

Standard gauge, four miles, Matlock, Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 580381. Running: W/Es, Tues, Thurs.

Perrygrove Railway

Narrow gauge, B4228, Coleford, Glos. Tel: 01594 834991. Running: Daily.

Foxfield Railway

Rocks By Rail

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Rudyard Lake Railway

Standard gauge, 5½ miles, Blythe Bridge, Staffs. Running: Suns, Weds.

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Toddington, Glos. Tel: 01242 621405. Engines: 2807, 7820, 4270. Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs + Aug 7.

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Cottesmore, Rutland. Open: Tues, Thur, Sun. Running: Third Sun. Narrow gauge, 1½ miles, Leek, Staffs. Tel: 01995 672280. Running: Daily.

Rushden Transport Museum

Great Central Railway

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

Midland Railway-Butterley

Standard gauge, 16 miles, footplate experience, Bewdley, Worcs DY12 1BG. 01299 403816. Engines: 1501, 4566, 7812, 2857, 43106, 1450, 34027, 34053. Running: Daily.

Standard gauge, eight miles, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW. Tel: 01509 632323. Engines: 48624, 47406, 46521, 92214, 45305. Running: W/Es, Tues - Thurs. Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 570140. Engines: 23, 73129. Running: Daily.

Severn Valley Railway

Steeple Grange Light Railway Narrow gauge, ½ mile, footplate experience, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Running: W/Es.

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EVENTS

Heritage Railway 95

UP & RUNNING

1874-vintage Haydock Foundry 0-6-0WT Bellerophon approaches Cheddleton with Foxfield’s NSR vintage train on June 28. BRIAN SHARPE

Telford Steam Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, Telford, Shropshire. Email [email protected] Tel: 01952 503880. Running: Suns (diesel second Sun).

NORTH WEST East Lancashire Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Bury, Lancs. Tel: 01617 647790. Engines: 80080, 13065, 34092, 12322. Running: Wed-Sun.

Eden Valley Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Warcop, off A66 Cumbria CA16 6PR 01768 342309. www.evr-cumbria.org.uk Running: Suns.

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

Stainmore Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile, Kirkby Stephen East Station, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4LA. Open: W/Es. Running: Suns (steam Aug 9).

West Lancashire Light Railway Narrow gauge, Hesketh Bank, Lancs. Tel: 01772 815881. Running: Suns.

NORTH EAST Aln Valley Railway

Standard gauge, half mile. Lionheart station, Alnwick, Northumberland. Running: W/Es.

Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society

Standard gauge, 15 miles, Tata Steelworks, Scunthorpe. Tel: 01652 657053. Running: Aug 1, 15, 22

Lincolnshire Wolds Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Ludborough, Lincolnshire. Tel: 01507 363881. Running: Suns + Aug 5, 12, 19.

Middleton Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham. Tel: 01388 526203. Running: W/Es , Weds, Thurs (diesel).

Wensleydale Railway

Standard gauge, 22 miles, Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire. Tel: 0845 450 5474. Running: Daily except Mons.

WALES Bala Lake Railway

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Tel: 01685 722988. Running: Daily.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Standard gauge, ¾ mile, Llynclys station & Oswestry station. Tel: 07527 107592. Running: (Llynclys) W/Es. (Oswestry) Suns.

Narrow gauge, two miles, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. Tel: 01472 604657. Running: Daily.

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

96 Heritage Railway

Narrow gauge, four miles, Huddersfield, West Yorks. Tel: 01484 865727. Running: Daily.

Weardale Railway

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

Standard gauge, one mile, Springwell, Tyne & Wear. Tel: 01914 161847. Running: TBA.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

Ribble Steam Railway

Kirklees Light Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Tel: 01913 887545. Running: W/Es + Weds.

Bowes Railway

Derwent Valley Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Preston, Lancs. Tel: 01772 728800. Engine: 5643 Running: W/Es.

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214. Engines: 43924, 90733, 1054, 5820, 75078. Running: Daily.

Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Hunslet, Leeds. Tel: 0113 271 0320. Engine: 1310. Running: W/Es + Weds.

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

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

Tanfield Railway

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile, Murton Park, Layerthorpe, York. Tel: 01904 489966. Running: Suns.

Elsecar Railway

Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, Embsay, Yorks.. Running: Daily.

North Tyneside Railway

Standard gauge, 18 miles, wine and dine, Grosmont, North Yorks. Tel: 01751 472508. Engines: 60007, 45428, 75029, 76079, 61994. Running: Daily.

South Tynedale Railway

Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Alston, Cumbria. Tel: 01434 382828/381696. Running: Daily.

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

Brecon Mountain Railway

Cambrian Heritage Railways

Corris Railway

Narrow gauge, ¾ mile, Corris, Machynlleth. Tel: 01654 761303. Running: Sat - Tues.

Fairbourne Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles, Fairbourne, Gwynedd. Tel: 01341 250362. Running: Daily.

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

EVENTS

Heritage Railway 97

UP & RUNNING Ffestiniog Railway

Narrow gauge, 15 miles, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: Daily.

Gwili Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire. Tel: 01267 238213. Running: Daily.

Llanberis Lake Railway

Narrow gauge, three miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870549. Running: Daily.

Llangollen Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Llangollen, Denbighshire. Tel: 01978 860979. Engines: 3802, 5199, 6430. Running: Daily.

Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Blaenavon, Torfaen. Tel: 01495 792263. Running: W/Es + Wed.

Rhyl Miniature Railway

Narrow gauge, Rhyl, North Wales. Running: Daily.

Snowdon Mountain Railway 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: Daily.

Vale of Rheidol Railway

Narrow gauge, 11¾ miles, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. Tel: 01970 625819. Engines, 8, 9. Running: Daily.

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 513402. Running: Daily.

On the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge line in 1985, the Lavender Line’s Class 205 ‘Thumper’ DEMU No.1133 waits at Groombridge on the Spa Valley Railway on July 4. PETER HOLLANDS

Welsh Highland Railway Narrow gauge, 26 miles, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: Daily.

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Narrow gauge, eight miles,

Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway

Running: Daily.

West Clare Railway

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: W/Es.

Keith & Dufftown Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles, Dufftown, Banffshire. Running: Fri-Sun.

Waterford & Suir Valley Railway

Tel: 01938 810441. Engines: 822, 823.

IRELAND

Standard gauge, four miles, Brechin, Angus. Tel: 01356 622992. Running: W/Es.

Narrow gauge, two miles, Bushmills, County Antrim. Tel: 0282 073 2844. Running: W/Es.

Narrow gauge, two miles, Kilmeadan, County Waterford. Running: Daily.

Llanfair Caereinion, mid-Wales.

Caledonian Railway

Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway

Narrow gauge, one mile, Leadhills, South Lanarkshire. Tel: 0141 556 1061. Running: W/Es.

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

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: Daily.

Royal Deeside Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, Milton of Crathes. Kincardineshire. Running: W/Es + Weds except Aug 19.

Scottish Industrial Railway Centre

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

Strathspey Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, Aviemore, Inverness-shire. Tel: 01479 810725. Engine: 46512. Running: Daily.

Railway Museums Beamish

County Durham. The Living Museum of the North. Open: Daily.

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.

98 Heritage Railway

Museum Of Scottish Railways Bo’ness. Open: Daily. 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 Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends. Tel: 01984 640869.

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

STEAM – Museum of the GWR

Midsomer Norton

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

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

Monkwearmouth Station Museum

St Albans South Signalbox & Museum

National Railway Museum

Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

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.

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Heritage Railway 99

WEB WATCH

Heritage Railway 101

STAY A WHILE

Helmsdale Station

01743 588654 www.helmsdalestation.co.uk

The station building is category B listed. The original stationmaster’s accommodation has been converted into self-catering accommodation with the living room in the old ticket office. Restoration work on the building, completed in 2014, has also reopened the station waiting room for public use, making it a display area for local school children’s art work and a visitor information point for Helmsdale.

those agreeing to spend half a day in a week helping to maintain the station, a further 10% discount is gained if you arrive by transport other than a private car – such visitors are more likely to support local shops and businesses. From the south of England the Caledonian sleeper will get you to Inverness; the rail journey onwards, following the east coast, is one of the most spectacular in the country.

Helmsdale is a small coastal community 70 miles north of Inverness on the Far North Line, originally an east coast fishing port, now increasingly reliant on tourism; an excellent area for walking and cycling, two stops down the line from the RSPB reserve at Forsinard in the Caithness Flow Country and within striking distance of Orkney.

CARMARTHENSHIRE

The old stationmaster’s office has been converted to a photographic darkroom for occasional residential photography courses. The views and the coastal lighting makes the area outstanding for large format black and white photography. The project is a non-profit making community venture. Any surplus is donated to local community causes. A 10% discount is available for

CORNWALL/DEVON BORDER

FFESTINIOG/WHR

LLANGOLLEN

MID HANTS

B&B Trawsfynydd, Snowdonia 17th Century farmhouse. En-suite converted farm buildings, excellent garden railway. Central for the narrow-gauge railways. Llamas.

Tel: 01766 540397 www.oldmillfarmhouse.co.uk

MID NORFOLK

CUMBRIA

MID SUFFOLK

102 Heritagerailway.co.uk

The Goodshed

Station Road, Little Dunham, Swaffham, Norfolk PE32 2DJ

The Goodshed was converted 13 years ago and now provides a home for the owners and a lovely spacious apartment for two holiday guests. Sitting in gardens of over one acre on the old (closed in 1968) King’s Lynn to Dereham line, the setting is relaxing and peaceful and the garden is a wildlife haven.

The Goodshed is centrally situated in mid-Norfolk not far from the busy market town of Swaffham, with its shops, restaurants and cafes. For railway enthusiasts there is a choice of heritage railways within easy reach: the Mid Norfolk Railway, North Norfolk Railway, the Bure Valley and Wells and Walsingham narrow gauge railways. If you enjoy cycling or walking you will be spoilt for choice with the quiet country lanes and footpaths. For birdwatchers there are many reserves in Norfolk and Suffolk. The city of Norwich, the North Norfolk coast and many National

Trust properties are all within easy reach. The apartment is south facing and fully self- contained with its own entrance. Its super-thick walls and central heating make it a cosy retreat at any time of the year. The comfortable lounge is fully furnished and also has a flat screen TV, dvd, and cd player. If you like

[email protected]

to curl up with a book there is a small library of books to choose from. The bedroom is large with a king-size bed. Exposed brick and flint walls and beams give the room lots of character. The bathroom is modern with excellent over-bath shower. The kitchen has an electric oven, fridge and microwave and is well equipped with all the little things to make life easier for the cook. Tea, coffee and milk are all provided to get guests started plus a few little extras. Laundry facilities are available in a shared utility room.

01760 720617

NORTH NORFOLK

WEST SOMERSET

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 YORK MOORS

SCOTLAND

www.thegoodshed.co.uk

SU N FIEL D

BLUE ANCHOR

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

M in eh ea d

Spacious bungalow on beach by Blue Anchor Station. Two bedrooms, sleeps 4. Fully equipped kitchen, TV, patio, BBQ.

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

01984 634242 www.blueanchor-beach-bungalow.co.uk

NORTH WALES

WEST SUSSEX

WORTH VALLEY

Bronte Hotel Haworth

YTB ★★★

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

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

Tel: 01535 644112

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

Heritage Railway 103

EXPRESS GOODS CLASSIFIED

Contact Helen Martin on 01507 529310 • [email protected]

BOOKS

DVD

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]

ENGINEERING

Find us on Facebook

DVD

104 Heritagerailway.co.uk

MODELS

MODELS

RAILWAYANA

SPECIALIST PAINTS

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THE MONTH AHEAD

LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. 24 Calbourne approaches Deacon’s Lane Bridge on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway on April 12. NICK GILLIAM

The busiest month for the heritage lines August really is the height of the summer season and enthusiasts events have to take a back seat on the heritage lines while daily services are in operation. The August bank holiday does, however, see the annual Island Steam Show centred on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

SPECIAL EVENTS August

July 31 – Aug 2: Spa Valley Railway: Summer Diesel Gala ■ 1: Dean Forest Railway: DMU Festival ■ 1, 2: Aln Valley Railway: Everything Goes Gala

Issue 206 is out on August 27 Catch up with the latest news, views and great features every four weeks. 106 Heritagerailway.co.uk

1, 2: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■ 1, 2: East Lancashire Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 1, 2: Llangollen Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 2: East Anglian Railway Museum: Fighting Forties 3-9: Crich Tramway Village: WW2 Home Front 6-9: Llangollen Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 7-9: Talyllyn Railway: 1865-2015 Gala 8, 9: Bluebell Railway: Vintage Transport Weekend 8, 9: Devon Railway Centre: Steam Gala 8, 9: Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 8, 9: Swindon & Cricklade Railway: Steam & Vintage Weekend KEY ■ Major or featured galas

8, 9: West Lancashire Light Railway: Gala Weekend 16: Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway: Summer Steam & Diesel Gala 21-23: Dean Forest Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 21-24: Kirklees Light Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 22, 23: Epping Ongar Railway: Mixed Traction Weekend 22, 23: Isle of Man Steam Railway: Island at War 23: Eastleigh Lakeside Railway: Southern Railway Engines Day 25, 26: Caledonian Railway: Days Out With Thomas ■ 28-31: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: Island Steam Show ■

This well-established event is much more than a steam gala. As well as an intensive service on the railway, there will be traction engines and vintage vehicle displays,

■ Diesel and/or electric galas

medieval knights, stunt shows, birds of prey, musical entertainment, real ale and even native Americans.

28-31: Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway: 15in Gauge Centenary 29: Llangollen Railway: Peppa Pig ■ 29-31: East Anglian Railway Museum: Days Out with Thomas ■ 29-31: Midland Railway - Butterley: Vintage Train Event 29-31: Ribble Steam Railway: Friendly Engines Weekend ■ 29-31: Stapleford Park Railway: Open Weekend

RAILWAYANA August 1: Talisman Railwayana, Newark Showground

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