Heritage Railway 224 2017-01

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL FOR DIDCOT’S FIRST LADY OF STEAM

ISSUE 224

January 13 – February 9, 2017

Complete 2017

EVENTS GUIDE

SEPTEMBER STEAM

CO COMEBACK C

FOR UNDERGROUND

SAVING THE SETTLE AND CARLISLE

THE UNTOLD STORY!

■ IAN ALL AN QUITS R AILWAY PUBLISHING ■ MA JOR NATIONAL AWARD FOR LEIGHTON BUZZ ARD

OPINION

Visiting LSWR T9 ‘Greyhound’ 4-4-0 No. 30120 departs from Market Bosworth on the Battlefield Line on December 29. ALAN WEAVER 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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EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions to this magazine should be clearly typed and ideally sent by email. Photographs, which should be clearly marked with the contributor’s name and address, are submitted at the owner’s risk. Mortons Media Group Ltd cannot be held responsible for loss or damage, however caused. All postal submissions must include an appropriate SAE for the return of all material. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or his staff. © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher. ISSN No 1466-3560

Published Every four weeks on a Friday. Advert deadline January 26, 2017 Next issue on sale February 10, 2017

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Books that inspired so many generations T HERE was a time, not so long ago, when the British public woke up to be told there would no longer be Woolworths in the High Street. Now the heritage sector has been told that Ian Allan Publishing will produce railway books no longer. Unlike Woolworths or British Home Stores, Ian Allan is far from going out of business, as the Shepperton outfit has a multi-faceted empire which for years has extended far beyond the realm of railway books. However, it has sold its transport publishing division to Crécy Publishing, bringing the curtain down on an era in which Ian Allan was a defining backbone of railway enthusiasm and its by-product, the heritage movement. It may be an unalike comparison, but amongst the Fifties schoolboy fraternity, Ian Allan abc locospotters books were far more widely read than Shakespeare. Back in the early 1940s, young Ian Allan pulled off a publishing masterstoke when he produced a pocket-sized pocket-money-priced booklet listing the numbers of all Southern Railway locomotives. He did not invent railway enthusiasm – he was a participant himself – but he came up with the tools to turn it into a tangible hobby that was more widespread and popular than any modern-day computer game. It is impossible to estimate, or rather, underestimate, the colossal impact which Ian Allan publications had on the railway preservation movement. With the advent of dieselisation and the total eradication of steam, there were of course those who placed their spotters guides in the drawer or cupboard for the final time and were left with no choice but to walk away. However, there

were others who had been so inspired by their hobby that they decided to do their utmost to ensure that at least some of their precious steam engines lived on to tell the tale of a golden age. I have very fond memories of trainspotting at Widney Manor station in Solihull during the early 1960s, with my elder brother Stewart and our small but wellthumbed abc collection with numbers of locomotives we had seen underlined. Aged eight, I had a brief flirtation with bus spotting as a Midland Red service 153 terminated outside our front garden, and yet again, Ian Allan came up with the goods. As a teenager, I would visit a bookshop to spend my Christmas and birthday money and find but a small shelf of railway titles, most of them from Ian Allan. Prized possessions, they still have pride of place on my bookshelves today. Nowadays, scores of publishers are in on the act, yet despite intense competition, Ian Allan books have been a joy to receive and review, and that name remained a byword for quality, admirably maintained by the calibre of superb modern-day staff like Nick Grant and Sue Frost.The firm’s series of railway atlases, for example, are essential reference books. Very rarely does a publisher enshrine itself in folklore, but Ian Allan managed that early on. Over more than seven decades, the firm has made an immense contribution to popular British culture, and we look to Crécy to maintain the exacting standards set at Shepperton.

“Ian Allan abc locospotters books were far more widely read than Shakespeare”

Robin Jones Editor Heritagerailway.co.uk 3

CONTENTS ISSUE 224

January 13 – February 9, 2017

News

9

Headline News

6

Steam on London Underground to return for two weekends in September; Ian Allan quits railway publishing; British Empire Medal for Didcot Railway Centre lifelong volunteer; miniature live steam Flying Scotsman sells for £35K and money rolls in for new Patriot ‘Tenner for the tender’ appeal.

11

News

10

Top Heritage Railway Association award for Leighton Buzzard; Peckett Jurassic back after 32 years; ‘forgotten’ Darlington turntable moves to Kirkby Stephen East; Didcot prepares for a Saintly spring; Thomas the Tank Engine ‘banned’ from West Somerset; National Rail Heritage Awards 2016 winners; Lottery awards £1.1m for Bluebell exhibition project; fast-track overhaul for NER Q6; appeal launched for Blackmoor Vale inner firebox; enthusiasts vow to fight shock closure of railway museum and remembering the pioneer West Somerset-Taunton railbus.

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CONTENTS: Prairie sunset: On its last day in service before overhaul, GWR 2-6-2T No. 4566 climbs towards Foley Park tunnel on the Severn Valley Railway on January 2, 2017. ALAN CORFIELD COVER: Fresh from overhaul at Bridgnorth, GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7714 made an unexpected appearance on Severn Valley Railway mince pie trains on December 28. ALAN CORFIELD

Regulars Centre

54

Duchess of Sutherland at speed by Andrew Southwell.

Main Line Itinerary

67

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

Railwayana

Main Line News

63

The political U-turns that saved the Settle and Carlisle line revealed for the first time; Mayflower back in March; ‘Cathedrals Express’ overcomes motive power shortage and Western diesel hydraulic 40th celebrations on hold.

With Full Regulator

Don Benn reports on steam performances in Kent.

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68

Features A Trip to the Unknown

Britain’s heritage railways may set out to re-create the experience of a bygone age, but still have to interact with the digital age. Peter Brown reports on how the use of social media now has potentially far-reaching implications for the steam movement.

72

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Platform

88

Where your views matter most.

Off the Shelf

100

Latest book and DVD releases.

Up & Running

101

Guide to railways running in January.

The Month Ahead

106

40 Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Events Guide

47

The definitive list of all heritage line enthusiasts’ events in 2017.

Holidays by Steam 2017 Advertising feature.

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80

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74 The Brecon Mountain Railway

Narrow gauge heritage lines run on standard gauge trackbeds in many parts of Britain. Mark Smithers outlines the history of one line in South Wales and its motive power.

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96

Working on the footplate is often regarded as having been glamorous, especially as a driver. Brian Bell tells what it was like as a fireman, keeping the coal flowing towards the metropolis in the 1950s.

It is unusual for a well-established preserved railway to be forced to close, but fortunately, in one case, this proved not to be the end of the story. Don Benn reports on the revival of one of France’s best-known heritage lines.

The fascination of footplate working – the other side of the story!

See page 30

The Vivarais Railway in France

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

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HEADLINE NEWS

Steam back on London Underground By Robin Jones STEAM is set to return to London Underground after an absence of two years.The weekends of September 2-3 and 9-10 have been pencilled in by organiser LondonTransport Museum for public steam trains over the Metropolitan Line betweenWembley Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill andWatford. The trains will be hauled by Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1, based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, and a pannier tank, possibly Dennis Howell’s Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 9466. Back-up will be provided by veteran Metropolitan Railway Bo-Bo electric No. 12Sarah Siddons, as before. Bill Parker’s GWR small prairie No. 5521, which has carried LondonTransport maroon livery for several years as L150, and which has been fitted with a cut-down cab to conform to the tight clearances of the Underground tunnels,

will not be appearing, as its boiler ticket has run out. Several trips a day will run over both weekends, it is planned. One of last year’s planned events, which had been arranged for September 10-11 betweenWembley Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill to Amersham, in connection with Amersham Old Town’s heritage day was, as reported in issue 220, cancelled by the museum because of the threat of industrial action precluding access to Ruislip depot, where the locomotives taking part would have been based. Outstanding repairs The first planned event, which had been scheduled for July, was cancelled because the Bluebell Railway’s wooden-bodied Chesham set of carriages was unavailable because of outstanding repairs.The previous steam on the Underground event was the Watford 90 series of public trips in September 2015.

Class 20 No. 20142 is to haul a landmark special train from the capital to Quainton Road using London Underground tracks. ANDY BARR Meanwhile, the Underground’s 4TC set, which is used for locomotive-hauled services, is being given a facelift at Eastleigh, with the‘scumbled’mock teak finish being replaced by a different colour. Class 20 No. 20142, which is owned by Class 20189 Ltd and has been reliveried in LondonTransport red livery and named Sir John Betjeman, has taken the 4TC to Eastleigh for the work to be carried out. The 20, which had been due to take part in the cancelled September 10-11 Underground steam programme, will return again to collect the 4TC and a special LMS district engineers’saloon, which London Underground acquired from Network Rail for a token penny, on condition that it was rebuilt. The bogie saloon, No. 45029, which was built atWolvertonWorks in 1942, had been stored out of use at Motherwell. It has been saved because of its historical importance as the last vehicle in which the entire Royal Family travelled together, for the investiture of Prince

Charles as Prince ofWales at Caernarfon in 1969. Since then the Royal Family have always travelled separately. Later taken into Departmental use, its condition had badly deteriorated, and its new owner hired Knights Rail at Eastleigh Works to restore it to running order. No. 45029 will be used on the Underground along with the 4TC set for special trains.

Premium prices

It is planned to run a special train headed by No. 20142 and comprising both No. 45029 and the 4TC set from London over the Underground to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road – once part of the Underground system – for the venue’s late April/early May steam gala.Tickets for the 120 seats will be sold at premium prices. In February, the museum is looking at taking its 1938 tube stock set out of ActonWorks and running it over the Underground.

British Empire Medal for Didcot’s first lady of steam By Robin Jones GREATWestern Society rolling stock company secretaryViv Cooper has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2017 NewYear’s Honours list for her 53 years of service to railway heritage. Viv, 70, who is married, has three daughters and four grandchildren and lives in Maidenhead, joined the society when she was in her teens and she quickly became involved in its administration. When the first locomotives and coaches were based on theTotnes Quay branch,Viv rolled up her sleeves to clean them alongside her role in promoting the society through a sales stand at outside events and open days.

A teenage Viv Cooper with the society’s first locomotive, GWR Collett 0-4-2T No. 1466, in 1964. GWS

6 Heritagerailway.co.uk

When the society moved to its permanent home at Didcot Railway Centre,Viv liaised with British Railways for open days and filmings and arrangingVIP entertaining. For many years her home telephone number was the Society’s main point of contact. Viv has covered most aspects of administration in the society, including 40 years of producing newsletters for its members and latterly transferring them into digital format. She is now compiling the society’s own history. A spokesman said:“She has always felt part of a team to make GWS and the Didcot Railway Centre successful and accepted the BEM on behalf of all the volunteers.”

Viv Cooper celebrates her British Empire Medal success with No. 1466 at Didcot on January 2. FRANK DUMBLETON/ GWS

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Era ends as Ian Allan quits railway publishing business By Robin Jones

IAN Allan – regarded by many as the world’s greatest publisher of railway titles – has pulled out of the sector after more than seven decades. The shock announcement, made before Christmas, has seen Crécy Publishing acquire the railway, transport and military books previously published by Ian Allan Publishing. Crécy has also acquired the Oxford Publishing Company and abc imprints. However, Crécy will not be allowed to publish under the Ian Allan imprint, and neither can the abc series retain the Ian Allan name. Shepperton-based Ian Allan pulled out of railway magazine publishing several years ago, with its portfolio of titles being acquired by Stamford-based Key Publishing. Ian Allan chairman David Allan said that the decision to sell the railway book publishing business had been made for “commercial reasons”.

Dedicated bookshops

However, Ian Allan Publishing will continue in its own right as a publisher of Masonic books and will still run its dedicated bookshops in London and Birmingham.The Ian Allan Group will continue to develop its other interests, including property, organic retailing and distribution, motor franchises and business travel management. Of course, Ian Allan Publishing needs no introduction in the railway sector, where for decades it not only led the market, but made it. After losing his leg at the age of 15 in 1937, young Ian Allan, an enthusiast since childhood, began his working life two years later in the office of the general manager of the Southern Railway at Waterloo. After the Second World War broke out, Ian was moved to the SR’s publications department, where he learned how to organise the print and production of the company magazine, and was given the task of handling enquiries from the public. In order to perform this role, he was given a notebook with the numbers of the Southern locomotives, their classes and their shed allocations. Quickly realising that there was a fervent interest in these names and numbers, he suggested that the company should publish the notebook.The idea was turned down, but a determined Ian was given permission to publish it

In his company’s early years, Ian Allan takes down essential details from a locoman. IAN ALLAN at his own expense. He placed a small classified advert in a railway magazine and quickly received nearly 2000 one shilling postal orders, which produced an unexpected profit. A reprint with the new title of ABC of Southern Locomotives was quickly ordered, and similar guides to the other three‘Big Four’Railway companies followed. Friends, work colleagues and neighbours were roped in to help satisfy the demand, and a publishing legend was born. In 1944, the Ian Allan Locospotters Club was formed, after a group of schoolboy enthusiasts were seen trespassing on the main line.The first club secretary was Mollie Franklin, who Ian married in 1947. Further growth led to a move to Hampton Court, where a printing business was established, and then the purchase of land at the end of the Shepperton branch where new offices calledTerminal House were built, with the 1922 Pullman car Malaga, previously used by King George VI, becoming the boardroom.

Later, the company, which was incorporated in 1945 and operated from offices at 282 Vauxhall Bridge Road in London, went on to organise enthusiast specials across the network. The most famous trip was the May 9, 1964 Plymouth to Paddington‘Ian Allan RailTour’held to mark the 60th anniversary of legendary GWR 4-4-0 No. 3440 City of Truro’s 102.3mph unofficial record run with the‘Ocean Mails Special’. The tour was headed by GWR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle, which hit 96mph while descending Wellington Bank in Somerset, the scene of the ‘record’the same day in 1904. In the Fifties and Sixties, a million ABC guides, listing 20,000 locomotives, were being sold every year. Railway publishing led to the acquisition in 1962 of a privately-owned 7¼in gauge miniature railway, which became the Great Cockcrow Railway, based near Chertsey. Ian Allan (Miniature Railway Supplies) Ltd was set up to provide equipment for commercial miniature railways across the country.

Bibles for schoolboys

The business empire expanded into different sectors outside the transport publishing sector. While abc locospotters books were bibles for schoolboys in the steam era, David said that the best year for the railway publishing side was 1981, 13 years after the end of British Rail steam haulage on the main line. Until recently, Ian Allan had been involved with the National Railway Heritage Awards and sponsored a railway of the year award, often chosen by Ian himself. He died on June 28, 2015, the day before his 93rd birthday. A memorial service was held at Guildford Cathedral on November 23, attended by many leading figures from the railway and publishing sectors. Manchester-based Crécy claims to be Europe’s premier transport publisher with over 700 titles in print. Its managing director, Jeremy Pratt, said:“All of us at Crécy are very mindful of the wonderful heritage of the book lists we are taking on and we are determined to carry them forward in the finest traditions of quality specialist publishing. “Our first priority is to integrate the former Ian Allan Publishing titles into our systems and to make sure that we meet demand for these books as seamlessly as possible.”

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

Boom year for NYMR, but… THE North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Britain’s most popular heritage line, performed well in 2016, with revenue 4% up on budget and costs held to budget, resulting in a 4.0% increase in operating surplus, but the coming year will represent a challenge as a backlog of carriage wheel repairs – a potential bill of £100,000 or more – will have to be dealt with. The NYMR has now introduced EPOS equipment that will allow instant analysis of ticket sales patterns and reaction, for example, discounting to encourage passengers to wait for less-heavily-loaded trains, which it hopes will lead to less overcrowding at certain times (and hence a better experience for passengers) and to improve revenue by charging a premium price for travel on the teak train, which will be marketed as a special heritage experience.

Why the Settle and Carlisle line was saved A SERIES of previously unreported political U-turns and manoeuvrings at Whitehall that led the unexpected landmark decision to keep open the Settle to Carlisle line has been documented in a new book. Martin Pearson has made extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act to reveal the chain of events that led, on April 11, 1989, to the-then Transport Minister, Michael Portillo, informing the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line that its campaign to keep the route open had succeeded, thus saving one of Britain’s best-loved scenic routes. ➜ Full story: Main Line News, page 63.

Lost no longer THE postcode for the Leighton Buzzard Railway’s award-winning Page’s Park station has been changed to LU7 4TG, after complaints from Satnav users that they were getting lost in a nearby industrial estate. The new postcode is shared with the shop at the end of the station’s access road. See News, page 38. Heritagerailway.co.uk 7

HEADLINE NEWS

NELPG mourns a second key member Left: In service on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395 carried a wreath and blue star on December 8, the day of Peter Proud’s funeral. A wreath and the same blue star was also carried on December 20, the day of David Martin’s funeral. MAURICE BURNS

By Robin Jones

THE North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group is in mourning following the death of another of its stalwarts. David Martin, who served as secretary from 1988-91, and has remained a key member ever since, died in hospital following a long illness on December 8, after developing an infection. A retired civil engineer with North Riding County Council, his funeral was held in his adopted home village of Hawsker, which once had a station on the Scarborough to Whitby line, on December 20, two days before his 70th birthday, followed by burial in the local churchyard. As well as having a long-term involvement with NELPG, he had served as secretary of the Severn Valley Railway-based Erlestoke Manor Fund and also of 76084 Ltd. He was also a prime mover in the fundraising for the restoration of A2 Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter. David last attended a NELPG event in April last year, when a 50th anniversary tea train was run. He leaves a wife.

Peter Proud: an obituary

As we reported in our last issue, NELPG founder member Peter Proud, 68, passed away after a long illness in late November. His health prevented him from attending the NELPG 50th anniversary celebrations at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle, where it all began. Born in Sunderland, Peter was an avid enthusiast who, at the age of 12 in 1959, set out to see every steam

Peter Proud at Ribblehead on August 13, 2016. JOHN HUNT locomotive listed in his Ian Allan abc spotters’books. There were then 15,984 locomotives in 237 classes in 495 sheds and sub-sheds, and he almost accomplished his goal by the end of BR standard gauge steam haulage in 1968. Along with Kevin Gould and the late Kevin Hudspith, he decided that one North Eastern locomotive would survive the demise of steam, and the three saved J27 0-6-0 No. 65894 and Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395. In 1977, he once again joined up with Kevin Gould, to buy ex-Barry hulk GWR 0-6-2T No. 6619. The pair also went into partnership in 1980 with Brian Cooke and Bert Hitchen and bought the

Flying Scotsman sells for £35K!

THIS beautiful 5in gauge model of Flying Scotsman sold for £35,400 at Special Auction Services’30th Trains Galore auction at Newbury on December 14-15.That was more than double the top end estimate. Originally owned by a stationmaster who had several live steam models, this beautifully executed and detailed live steam coal-fired model, built in the 1930s or 1940s, was highly sought after and bought by a UK collector. It has an eight-wheel non-corridor tender fitted with hand pump, conjugated valve gear and screw reverse, whistle, injector, twin water gauges, boiler and steam chest pressure gauge and a steam brake

8 Heritagerailway.co.uk

with pressure gauge, and is painted in LNER green as No. 4472. Lord Braybrooke’s miniature railway built for the grounds of his home at Audley End that comprised live steam and battery operated locomotives, coaches and rolling stock, was also included in the sale. The top lot was a 5in gauge Live Steam Coal-fired LNER B1 4-6-0, finished in lined BR black as No. 61379 Mayflower, which sold for £8024. In addition, an electric-powered LNER P2 2-8-2 Märklin-made Britishmarket from 1937 sold for £7080, while a collection of 57 lots of GWR locomotives, coaches and wagons realised more than £25,000. SAS

remains of BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75014 from Barry.

A king’s ransom

Kevin Gould and fellow NELPG official John Hunt paid tribute to Peter:“It was a rare sight indeed to see Peter on the footplate on either of his locos, his excuse always being that the 5am starts never agreed with him! Despite spending a king’s ransom and most of his spare time on the locomotives he would say he was quite content giving new generations the same feelings of well-being that he had experienced as a spotter. “For many years, on behalf of his own and other locomotive-owning groups on

the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway, he took on the role of locomotive owners’representative. “Each year he would negotiate with the NYMR the terms, conditions and hire rate which would be applicable to all hired-in locos for the next season. “During Peter’s 45 years of association with NELPG, NYMR and his wandering two locomotives, he was well known and liked countrywide. “Over that time, wherever the loco fraternity have gathered in the pubs at Grosmont, Bridgnorth, Kidderminster, Bury or Ribblehead, the name of Peter Proud has always been synonymous with good humour and coupled with an unswerving passion for his beloved steam locomotives. “Sadly, Peter was too ill to play a role in the recent NELPG 50th anniversary celebrations, but his wife Hilary was able to drive Peter down to the crossing at Grosmont so that he could witness the departure of the J72 during the NELPG gala at the end of October. “Those on board the GN saloon had been primed and, hopefully, the exchange of friendly hand waves meant a lot and the gesture was much appreciated on board. It was somewhat ironic that his passing coincided with NELPG’s K1 No. 62005 leaving Grosmont forYork. However, it was quite befitting, since if it hadn’t been for Pete’s vision way back in 1966 there probably wouldn’t have been an NELPG and a K1. “Peter thoroughly enjoyed every minute of his much fulfilled life and we all enjoyed having him as our friend and companion-in-steam.”

Williton to get Brunel attraction THEWest Somerset Railway is drawing up plans to build a major Isambard Kingdom Brunel-themed attraction at Williton station. A spokesman said that the scheme would involve a new strategic engineering centre“together with the opportunity to sustainWilliton as a prime example of a Brunel country branch line passing station”. A project board ofWSR partner organisations including the ASR Association, the Diesel & Electric

Preservation Group andWest Somerset Council is in the later stages of drawing up a planning brief for the site before making a Heritage Lottery Fund bid for developments at the station’s goods shed. Guarding the level crossing atWilliton station is the original Bristol & Exeter Railway signalbox, believed to be the only one surviving in operational order. The two platforms are separated by a larger distance than usual because they date back to Brunel broad gauge days.

N2 equipped for main line debut GRESLEY N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 is set to become the latest steam locomotive to be registered for main line running, with a series of dining trains over the Bittern Line from Sheringham to Cromer being pencilled in for as early as the spring. No. 1744 finished its loan period at the Epping Ongar Railway early last autumn because of a cracked driving wheel spoke and it was taken for repairs toTyseley locomotive works, where TPWS, GSM-R and OTMR equipment for running on the national network is

being fitted. Once it is approved for main line running, in theory it could operate anywhere, and the society’s vice-chairman, Graeme Bunker, said: “The ultimate ambition would be to have it hauling seven or eight coaches out of King’s Cross.” The 96-year-old veteran of King’s Cross suburban traffic still has two years left on its boiler ticket, and Graeme said if the funding was found, it could run for the last six months in BR black livery as No. 69523.

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‘Tender for a tender’appeal gets off to flying start NEARLY £7000 has already been subscribed to the Heritage Railway-backed appeal by the LMS-Patriot Project to raise money for the tender of new-build 4-6-0 No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior. As highlighted in issue 222, supporters and well-wishers have been asked to contribute £10 a month by standing order towards the completion of the tender, and are now digging deep into their pockets.

Courageous servicemen

On its last day in service before overhaul, GWR 2-6-2T No. 4566 departs from Bewdley on the Severn Valley Railway on January 2, 2017. JOHN TITLOW

GWR 4-6-0 No. 7821 Dinmore Manor departs from Gotherington on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway on December 28. MALCOLM RANIERI

The LMS-Patriot Project aims to build a new National Memorial Engine to serve as a permanent memorial to the courageous servicemen and women who fought and died in the First World War and in all subsequent wars, and have it running by the centenary of the Armistice in 2018. The tank is currently at the design stage and will need to be approved by the appropriate bodies before materials, profiling and delivery of the plate work can be made and it will also require many more parts, including tender axlebox brasses. When completed, The Unknown Warrior will appear in LMS crimson lake livery. During its first decade in steam No. 5551 will carry each of the liveries worn by class members, the others being LMS lined black, BR lined black and BR express passenger green. ➜ Anyone wishing to donate to the project is invited to contact The LMS-Patriot Company Ltd, The Hub, 17 Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2LZ, or visit www.lms-patriot.org.uk

Cambrian revivalists march south from Oswestry THE Oswestry-basedCambrianHeritage Railwaysisplanningtoopena1¾-mile southernextension in2018. During2016themainlinewasrelaid fromOswestrystationsouthwards towardsGasworksBridgeatacostof £200,000.Ithasseenthelengthofthe journeyincreasefromMiddletonRoad BridgetowithinsightofGasworksBridge. Workisnowwellunderwayonthe nextphaseoftherailway’s reopening,to WestonWharf,onthesouthernedgeof thetown.ThetrackbedbeneathGasworks

Bridgewillbelowered,allowingtrainsto passunderneaththeprops,whichenable thestructuretocarry44-tonheavygoods vehicles,workinginpartnership with ShropshireCouncil.Theresultwillbea steadiergradeontherestoredrailway.

Trackbed levelled

Volunteershavebeenclearingthetrack ofscrubbetweenTravisPerkins’yard and WestonWharf, and work to renew the line is now underway. Around 1500ft of track was lifted in just three days in

December, and the trackbed was levelled in readiness for replacement sleepers. CHR chairman RobertWilliams said: “Significantly expanding the running line in Oswestry in 2016, coupled with the presence of a steam engine, has attracted increased numbers of both passengers and volunteers, from the local area and further afield alike. In addition to the familiar weekend working parties, a gang now comes together everyThursday. New volunteers arealwayswelcometo join us.”

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

Extended running line

To cope with the anticipated increase in passenger numbers over the extended running line, volunteers at the CHR’s Llynclys-based carriage and wagon department continue to work towards the creation of a three to four-coach rake to be available for the 2018 season. During 2016 the historic footbridge from Machynlleth was donated by Network Rail, for eventual re-erection at Weston Wharf. Heritagerailway.co.uk 9

NEWS IN BRIEF ➜ LIGHT repairs to LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 Royal Scot at Locomotive Services Ltd’s Crewe works have taken longer than expected, the ‘Scot’missing its slot to work a ‘Cathedrals Express’from London Victoria to Bath and Bristol December 10. Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 34052 Lord Dowding worked the train instead, and on December 17 stood in for Stanier 4-6-2 No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth heading a‘Cathedrals Express’from Victoria to the West Somerset Railway. The 4-6-2 also worked Steam Dreams’ last train of the year, a luncheon special running around Kent on December 22. ➜ A SERIES of talks by Shildon-based Locomotionmodels.com will be held during 2017, giving railway modellers the opportunity to learn more about their hobby and develop new skills. The first talk will take place in the Hackworth Room at Locomotion on Saturday, January 14, starting at 10.30am. The topic is An Introduction to DCC and tickets are £2.50. ➜ THE Downpatrick & County Down Railway has taken delivery of the distinctive old semaphore railway signals recovered from Castlerock station, which have been replaced with modern colour light signalling as part of a £46 million upgrade to the Londonderry line aimed at improving journey times and frequencies by Translink. ➜ POLICE are hunting thieves who stole a full-size model giraffe and lion from a model railway attraction at the Hollybush Garden Centre in Warstone Road, Wolveerhampton, on Christmas Eve. Operator Mick Leonard, who bought the models only three months ago, is appealing for their return. ➜ FORMER GWR driver Gordon Shurmer, a familiar face at Swindon’s STEAM museum where he used to talk to visitors about his career on the railway, died in December. He was in his mid-90s.

The last journey of Jurassic in 1985 on the old formation of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, leaving North Sea Lane station at Humberston for South Sea Lane. The line closed the following week, reopening at Skegness in 2009. CHRIS BATES/LCLR

Jurassic period is back... after 32 years By Robin Jones

PRESERVATION pioneer 2ft gauge Peckett 0-6-0ST Jurassic is to return to service on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in 2017 after a third of century out of action. Built in 1903 in Bristol by Peckett and Sons as works number 1008 for the quarries and cement works of Kaye & Co in Southam in Warwickshire, together with similar locomotives named after prehistoric geological periods, it was bought by the Lincolnshire line in 1961. In 1958, the LCLR made preservation history by being the first to be built on a green field site, using equipment from Nocton estate potato fields railway, south of Lincoln.

Land for the railway at Humberston near Cleethorpes was leased from Grimsby Rural District Council and opened in 1960 using a Motor Rail Simplex locomotive and a single open bogie carriage. The line also became one of the first heritage railways to offer‘real’– as opposed to tourist or enthusiast – transport, linking the bus terminus at Humberston with the local beach and holiday camp. The original LCLR closed in 1985 and eventually relocated to a new home at the Skegness Water Leisure Park in Ingoldmells, north of Skegness. Requiring a major overhaul, Jurassic had been placed in store in 1985 and moved to the new location.

Unique collection

The boiler repairs are nearly completed at Weybourne. Pictured in November, the new firebox has been fitted and damaged areas of platework replaced. The new parts have been riveted into place using traditional techniques. PAUL WALKINSHAW/LCLR

The line reopened to passengers in 2009, since when the historical significance of its unique collection of rails, locomotives, carriages and wagons from the trench railways of the First World War and industry and farms in rural England has become more widely recognised. In 2016, the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Jurassic’s owners, a charitable trust, £43,000 for its restoration and for interpretation of its significance to Britain’s economic and transport history. The first task was to dismantle Jurassic, with the boiler and firebox being sent to the North Norfolk Railway for repair and rebuilding at

Jurassic’s newly restored saddle tank, topped by a newly-manufactured brass dome cover and showing the original nameplate. DAVE ENEFER/LCLR its workshops in Weybourne. The cab, saddle tank, frames, controls and even its long chimney are under restoration by volunteers from the LCLR Historical VehiclesTrust in the workshops at Skegness. New components, such as a brass dome cover and other fittings to replace those stolen several years ago, have been manufactured and specialist contractors throughout the country agreed to work on some of the other fittings and components essential to Jurassic’s restoration. Once repairs to the boiler and firebox have been completed and tested satisfactorily, they will be moved back to Skegness for reassembly and repainting. If all goes well, Jurassic will haul public services from the line’s Walls Lane station this summer.

Fast-track overhaul for North Eastern Q6 0-8-0 By Roger Melton BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76084, which had been visiting the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway, moved to the East Lancashire Railway in late December by mutual agreement, after it was decided that there was no further work available for it at present. The NYMR has Q6 No. 63395,‘Black Five’ No. 44806, BR Standard tank No. 80136 and B1 No. 61264 all available for traffic. The overhaul of‘Black Five’No. 45428 EricTreacy is proceeding well and it is hoped to have it back in service in time for the 2017 season, while the reassembly of SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 926 Repton is proceeding rapidly.This engine is

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expected to be ready for the start of the new season, returning in SR Maunsell green livery. No. 63395 ran its final trains on its current boiler certificate over the Christmas/NewYear period, but following the extensive work carried out at Crewe two years ago it is hoped that the locomotive, which covered a significant mileage in 2016, can be returned to traffic very rapidly, with perhaps as little as a retube required. The NYMR and the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group are cooperating closely to try to ensure that it will be back in service as soon as possible. An area of concern that had threatened the long term future of the Q6 on the

NYMR was that of wheel flange wear. The NYMR’s origins as a horse drawn railway mean that there is some very severe curvature on the line and this had been causing some wear to the wheel flanges, but following the installation of additional flange lubricators, and adjustment of the existing examples, flange wear last year has been negligible despite the high mileage covered. In addition, the increasingly high standard of track being delivered by the permanent way dept has helped to reduce the numbers of broken springs and other mechanical damage. At the South Devon Railway, work is progressing well on the new steel firebox forWest Country light Pacific No. 34101

Hartland, with the boiler expected back at the NYMR in July ready for completion work which will include fitting of the firebox stays. It is unlikely to be in steam in 2017 but should return to traffic in 2018. After a problematic start to the 2016 season, when the steam fleet was reduced at times to a single example, the NYMR finished the year in a strong position and it is hoped that it will carry that position into 2017, particularly as the timetable has been modified to reduce demands on the steam fleet. It is hoped, nevertheless, to bring in one or two more medium term visitors to bolster the home fleet, with a CVR S160 a prime candidate.

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After 12 years under overhaul at Churston, BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75014 has returned to service and is seen climbing past Waterside on the Dartmouth Steam Railway on December 11. MARK WILKINS

Festive visits herald steam comeback at Yeovil By Cedric Johns YEOVIL Railway Centre ended its year on a high note with visiting main line steam and record Santa crowds joining in the festive attractions organised during the month of December. Main line steam appeared in the shape of two‘Black Fives’Nos. 44871 and No. 45407 doubleheading the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Christmas Carol’to Salisbury and Sherborne which arrived at the centre on December 15. Thanks to Yeovil’s experienced volunteers, both 4-6-0s were turned and serviced in the time allotted for a right time departure, the train picking up at Sherborn and Salisbury en route back to London.

Centre chairman Paul Gould said the arrival of the two 4-6-0s and the record numbers of parents and children riding behind 0-4-0ST Lord Fisher push pulling Santa trains gave all associated with the venue a lift after a year when main line steam was conspicuous by its absence due to a series of engineering signalling work between Salisbury and Exeter and a change of railtour itineraries.

Two trains

That said, negotiations are in hand for one, possibly two trains arriving in July to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern steam supported by a anniversary weekend of local events. Back in October the centre marked the 40th anniversary of the closure

of Yeovil Town station by Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST No 1398 of 1915 Lord Fisher carrying a single white disc as carried by traditional shuttles running between Yeovil Junction and the town’s terminus station. Despite the lack of main line steam last year, the centre’s finances were boosted by its own steam weekends and other attractions including a model railway weekend as well as a tractor event. On the preservation front ,work is currently focused on restoring a fiveplank Port of Bristol wagon and a WD guards van based on a Southern Railway design. Paul said he was looking forward to an increase of visiting main line steam after the centre reopens on March 19.

Lord Dowding forced to reverse on‘Cathedrals’in Kent By Cedric Johns THE last train of Steam Dreams’ 2016 programme of excursions, a pre-Christmas luncheon train running from Victoria on its usual route around Kent on December 22, suffered an unexpected deviation of its planned route on the way back to London. Having taken water at Folkestone West, the train, hauled by Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 34052 Lord Dowding was given an instruction by south London control to take a revised route via Yalding, West Malling and Borough

Green en route to Swanley Junction where the train, a‘Cathedrals Express’, would return to Victoria by its outward route.

Not gauged

Exact details are unconfirmed but it appears that the signaller responsible for the train’s progress suddenly realised that the 4-6-2 was not gauged for the new route. In the event, the train was halted and instructed to return to Paddock Wood. Fortunately a West Coast diesel was attached to the rear and was able to reverse the train

– including the 4-6-2 – back to the originally planned route back to Victoria. On arrival at Paddock Wood No. 34052 was facing London and given a‘green’worked the ‘Express’homewards via Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Orpington and Bickley Junction. The whole episode obviously took time, the train arriving back in Victoria an hour late. Afterwards, Steam Dreams’Marcus Robertson said that despite the unexpected reversal passengers enjoyed a festive trip.

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NYMR/Churnet coach exchange THE NorthYorkshireMoorsandthe ChurnetValleyRailwayhavestruck adeal thatwillseeaMk.1RMBmovefromthe CVRtotheNYMRwithaMk.1SO travelling intheoppositedirection. TheNYMR is nowlookingforan additionalRMBsothateachnormal servicetrainwillcontainabuffetcar.The exchangesignalsachange inNYMR cateringpractice,whichhashithertorelied almostexclusivelyontrollies. Thesearegettingincreasingly oldand failtoholdenough hotwatertocopewith demandforhotdrinksandareheavyand difficult tomanoeuvre. They’llbe replacedbylighterexamples thatcanbereplenished fromtheRMB,but thepresenceoftheRMBwillallowmore cateringoptionstobeoffered,ifrequired, particularlyontrains fromWhitby.

New tenant deals at West Somerset THEWestSomersetRailway’s partners innewdevelopmentsalongthelineare tobeofferedlong-termagreementsto providesecurityandattractinvestment. Thisfollowsagreementwiththeline’s owner,SomersetCountyCouncil,which will allowtheWSR toenterintosub-leases andlicenceswith railwaypartners involving landandfacilities,including Willitonstation,hometoseveralseparate railwaygroups. Aspokesmansaid:“Historically,manyof these agreementshavebeenshort-term but,withnewdevelopments planned alongtheline,notablyatBishopsLydeard, WillitonandWashford,manyofthegroups areseekinglonger termarrangements.” Heritagerailway.co.uk 11

NEWS

Thomas ‘banned’ from West Somerset for ‘space shortage’ By Robin Jones

TWO years ago, the West Somerset Railway was named as the organiser of the bestThomas theTank Engine event. This year, Britain’s longest standard gauge heritage railway has been barred from holding one. The 2015 award was made byThomas rights holder HIT Entertainment.The rights were subsequently sold to American multinational Mattel, which has decided that Minehead station is not big enough to hold the event. Accordingly, the WESR has been told that it will not be allowed to stage its plannedThomas event on the first weekend in July and has accordingly been refused a licence to do so. Mattel considers that the Minehead platform is not big enough to hold large amounts of people at such events. In BR days, the Minehead branch was double tracked between Dunster and the resort, partially to handle large amounts of seasonal traffic. Minehead today is a popular destination for charter trains, using the main line

connection at Norton Fitzwarren. WSR general manager Paul Conibeare said: “I can’t think of a larger platform in the preservation sector other than maybe Loughborough Central. It may be that Mattel considers the site to be restricted because there is no adjacent field to accommodate additional attractions.

Royalty fees are high

“We are talking to Mattel about future years, but this time round we will hold another event that weekend. In any case,Thomas is not a great income earner for us because the royalty fees are quite high.” On May 17, BBC’s Antiques Roadshow will revisit Minehead station, 20 years after its first appearance there. The show will be recording the first episode of its 40th anniversary series, four decades to the day that it was first recorded as a pilot show at Hereford Town Hall on May 17, 1977, presented by Bruce Parker with antiques expert Arthur Negus. Current presenter Fiona Bruce, who will mark her 10th series on the show in

2017, announced the venues for 2017 in a special episode looking back at the Antiques Roadshow highlights of 2016 The show’s executive producer Simon Shaw said:“We are looking forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to each Antiques Roadshow in 2017. “It’s a real chance to be part of the programme’s history and to have an informative, enjoyable free day out, seeing how the programme is made and meeting everyone who features on it. “Even after almost 40 series, the winning formula of helping visitors unlock the story of their item’s past and hopefully astonishing them with its value, is still as popular as ever.” More information on attending Antiques Roadshow can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/antiquesroadshow. Other heritage venues to be visited include the Abbey Pumping Station Museum in Leicester on June 15 and the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley on June 21. However, the West Somerset Railway’s biggest event of 2017 is set to be

the visit of Flying Scotsman between September 4-12. Last September, 45,000 people descended on the Severn Valley Railway to watch No. 60103 in action alongside Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, and WSR officials are now hunting around for extra car parking spaces for their big Scotsman event.

Supplementary parking

WSR head of commercial services Colin Howard said:“In view of the large number of visitors likely to be coming toTaunton Deane and West Somerset, we are keen to identify supplementary parking in the area. “If you own any land which has the potential for safe, dry car parking, the West Somerset Railway would love to hear from you.This could include parking at a disused office block or factory.” If you are able to offer parking, contact Colin Howard on 01643 700383 or email [email protected]. Tickets for the Scotsman visit will go on sale from February 16.

‘Forgotten’ turntable moves to Kirkby Stephen East By Robin Jones A BURIED turntable once used by locomotives running over the legendary Stainmore line has been uncovered and moved from one end of the transPennine route to the other. On December 12, the Stainmore Railway Company (SRC) took delivery at its Kirkby Stephen East station base of the original steam locomotive turntable which had been buried for many years beside the East Coast Main Line at Darlington station.

The SRC heard about the turntable from Dave Husband of 76084 Locomotive Company Ltd.Working closely with a team from Network Rail lead by Bob Colley, Dave and volunteers from SRC spent months of negotiations to get all the approvals required to take heavy lifting gear onto the side of the main line and extract the 50ft metal turntable deck from within yards of tracks with 25000 volt overhead wires. The turntable was smoothly lifted from its well by Bray Cranes and loaded onto specialist transport provided by Reed

Freight for its journey from Darlington over the A66 to Kirkby Stephen East. As daylight faded, unloading saw the turntable settled onto its temporary home in a space specially cleared for it at the side of the main station car park, where restoration work will be carried out to make it ready for installation in a new well so that it can be brought into use again. It is intended to place it in full view of the visiting public. The turntable is a great find because it comes from part of the same railway system which operated trains from

Darlington to Kirkby Stephen until the line closed in 1962, and is of the same design as the original turntable at Kirkby Stephen East shed. The turntable will become another key feature in the authentic recreation of North Eastern Railway style operations SRC has been working towards since 1997. Current projects include the construction of a new 300ft running and restoration shed, building a new water tower and crane and an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to restore aVictorian steam locomotive.

In December 1965, Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42085 is seen being turned manually on the Darlington turntable. The locomotive, which was allocated to 51A Darlington shed and was being readied for a working to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, was subsequently preserved on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. MAURICE BURNS

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Big Irish tours for 2017

The Talyllyn Railway, the world’s first heritage line, has held the last of its 150th anniversary celebrations with a re-enactment of the first public passenger train which ran in December 1866. Composed of the same locomotive, No 2 Dolgoch, and carriages that are believed to have made up the original train, it ran between Tywyn Wharf and Abergynolwyn stations carrying members of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society and their guests on December 16. A special stop was also made at Tywyn Pendre, the original passenger terminus in Tywyn. On its arrival at Abergynolwyn station there was a short speech given by the railway’s general manager Tracey Parkinson, before the passengers enjoyed some seasonal refreshments. Later on the same day a special carol train was run conveying 100 people to an informal carol service at Abergynolwyn station. BARBARA FULLER/TR

THE Railway Preservation Society of Ireland – still basking in the glow of a complete Santa sell out i n December – opens its 2017 steam season on April 17-18 with Easter egg specials running twice a day from Belfast toWhitehead. Before that however, the RPSI has planned a fundraising trip,‘The MarbleTribesman’, a diesel powered day tour to raise additional funds to help complete the restoration of its Class 121 and 141 diesels. The‘Tribesman’starts from Dublin Connolly on Saturday, April 8, heading for Galway then on to Kildare. A second locomotive change is made for the homeward journey to Dublin. Then comes the‘big’event in May with a three-day, 45th Irish Railway Heritage weekend‘Shannon & Suir’international weekend tour which begins with a ‘fringe’train from Belfast to Dublin with 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin onThursday, May 4. The tour‘proper’departs Dublin Saturday, May 6 with 4-4-0 No. 85 and 2-6-4T No. 4 sharing duties to Althenry, Ennis and Limerick. On the Sunday, the tour starts out from Limerick to Dublin viaWaterford and Kilkenny.The following day, Monday, No. 85 heads the train back to Belfast and Whitehead. A second‘fringe’train,‘The South Kerry’, a diesel hauled day trip leaves Dublin for Killarney and return on Friday, May 5. Day tickets for the‘fringe’trains and three day tickets for the‘Shannon & Suir’tour must be booked in advance from now onwards.

North Yorkshire Moors considers coal stockpile

The disused Darlington turntable being lifted. SRC

THE NorthYorkshire Moors Railway is considering buying up to 1000 tons of coal in advance of the 2017 season, because a substantial rise in coal prices is anticipated in the coming year, and it is thought that such a purchase, representing around 65% of the coal the railway uses in a season, could result in savings of £50-60,000. This possible move has come about as a result of the substantial level of unbudgeted income achieved as a result of the week-long visit of Flying Scotsman in the early part of last year, which equates approximately to this amount of coal at current prices. Details of the opportunity have still to be worked out before it is confirmed, the question of

where this much coal could be stored. It is hoped that the success of the Flying Scotsman event will be replicated to a degree in 2017 by the very similar event being staged with Royal Scot on March 25-26, 28-30 and April 1-2 and so far the indications are good, with around two thirds of the available seats already sold by late December. Although the event is expected to make a far lower surplus than the Flying Scotsman event, it still represents important income that is outside the normal budget. It will be used to further reduce the railway’s overdraft which in turn will allow opportunistic decisions to be taken that could not otherwise be afforded.

NER coach project makes progress

The rescued turntable being unloaded at Kirkby Stephen East.

HAVING reached agreement for NER open third coach No. 945 to become associated with the LNER Coach Association, the possibility of the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway being able to offer travel in an NER coach on an NER line is moving closer. One of the final obstacles to returning No. 945 to service is the condition of its bogies, which have tyres that are at scrapping limits.

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The LNERCA has a spare underframe with bogies in good condition and this has been moved to DC Engineering at Shildon for the bogies to be removed and overhauled for use under 945, with an exchange to be made when the coach moves from its current restoration base at Levisham to the carriage works at Pickering. No. 945’s bogies will then go under the spare underframe. Heritagerailway.co.uk 13

NEWS

Yuletide

DUCHESS By Brian Sharpe

THE festive season normally sees an intensive programme of main line steam tours, many originating in London and bound for a variety of Christmas markets or carol services.The RailwayTouring Company usually runs several tours from King’s Cross or East Anglia to both Lincoln andYork in December and 2016 was no exception, although operational problems affected the programme more than in previous years. Motive power was originally expected to be John Cameron’s LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa but this was unavailable and the substitute engine was the rather less appropriate LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland, which

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nonetheless has an exemplary record on ECML trains. However, a broken buckeye coupling on a coach caused the cancellation of the King’s Cross-Lincoln tour of December 3 and the late notification that the engine has become out of gauge at many locations in East Anglia, caused trains to be diesel-hauled from Norwich on the 8th and Cambridge on the 21st with No. 46233 only working the Peterborough-York section of each train. The‘YorkYuletide Express’on December 17 was booked for one-way haulage by Sutherland, from Victoria to York via Corby. At the last minute, the departure point was altered to Ealing Broadway but it was also found that the engine had become out of gauge

between Corby and Manton Junction. However, in a surprising development it was found that the locomotive had become‘in gauge’for the route from Kettering to Syston via Leicester.Tight clearances on a bridge near Market Harborough had precluded any steam engines from using the route since 2000. It is thought that preparatory work for the Midland Main Line electrification has eased the clearances on the bridge in question. Unfortunately the train’s departure from Ealing Broadway was delayed by 50 minutes after an incident near Southall but some time was recovered en route toYork and as the skies cleared north of Leicester, some memorable images were recorded of the train’s progress.

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Above: LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland passes Toton Centre on the Erewash Valley line. KEN WOOLLEY

Left: No. 46233 passes Slitting Mill, north of Barrow Hill on the MR ‘Old Road’ between Chesterfield and Rotherham. MICHAEL ANDERSON

Right: Duchess of Sutherland is on the slow line at Barrow-onSoar south of Loughborough. GRAHAM NUTTALL Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

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NEWS

Didcot prepares for Saintly spring with Lady of Legend By Robin Jones ONE of the heritage sector’s leading newbuild projects is on course for completion by late spring, when new GWR Saint 4-6-0 No. 2999LadyofLegend may steam at its Didcot Railway Centre base for the first time. No. 2999 is in the final stages of construction at Didcot, and while no firm dates have been set, it is inferred that it could be in action by early summer. Piping up has been in progress using the No.1 boiler from GWR 2-8-0 No. 2861 as a dummy. As we closed for press, the actual boiler was almost ready for a hydraulic test, after which it will have a steam test. If all goes to plan the locomotive will then be finally assembled. Already, one photographic charter operator,TimeLine Events, has booked LadyofLegend for a series of enthusiast photoshoots in the spring.

Revolutionary advances

The completion of the project marks the filling of yet another major hole in the UK heritage fleet. George Jackson Churchward’s Saints, introduced in 1902, represented one of the most important steps forward in railway traction of the 20th century.The class incorporated many revolutionary advances in design and the Saints are now said to have had a core influence on almost every aspect of subsequent steam locomotive development. Sadly, no example was saved for preservation, the final engine, No. 2920 SaintDavid, being withdrawn from

Lady of Legend’s tender in green top coat in the Didcot workshops. FRANK DUMBLETON/GWS service and scrapped in 1953. The ideal of re-creating the class dates back to the early Seventies when the GreatWestern Society came up with the idea, and to make it happen, bought GWR 4-6-0 No. 4942 Maindy Hall from Dai Woodham’s Barry scrapyard to use as the basis for a new-build project. It was a case of reverse technology, as Churchward’s successor Charles B Collett in 1924 turned out the first Hall by rebuilding No. 2925 Saint Martin with 6ft driving wheels. The society’s first project to build a new Saint failed, amidst widespread doubts at the time about the ability of the preservation sector to build new locomotives, but it was revived around 1979, with a decision to revert to the original design featuring an inside steam pipe cylinder block, straight frames and square drop ends at the front in the style of the early‘Lady’and‘Scott’locomotives. Since then, many major new components have been manufactured include three new driving wheel sets,

The backhead of No. 2999 being piped up. ALASDAIR MATTHEWS/GWS

two bogie wheelsets, two identical‘half’ cylinder blocks and the original lever reversing gear.The locomotive will also carry top feed, as applied progressively to the class from 1911. The frames from No. 4942 have been modified and strengthened to suit the Saint design.

Black livery

From the outset the plan has always been to finish the locomotive in the elaborate pre-First World War lined livery with garters rest, but the society is also fully aware of the strong interest in the BR period. Several Saints, especially those from the later Court series, were painted in BR mixed traffic lined black livery, although it is thought that only one of the 1906‘Lady’ series were turned out in black. To help raise money towards a shortfall in the project funding, agreement has been reached between the society andTimeLine Events to apply lined black livery to Lady ofLegend as soon

as the locomotive is complete. For a series of charters, it will carry black livery for just a few days in the spring, probably just on one side of the locomotive. It will be paired with the 1921-built black-liveried 3500-gallon tender currently attached to GWR 2-6-0 No. 5322 which is already black and more historically correct for the 1950s, and which will be lined and recrested accordingly. After the charters, Ladyof Legend will return to the Didcot workshops to be fully painted in GWR Edwardian green. A GWS spokesman said that there were no definite dates yet for the steaming of Ladyof Legendas everything depends on the availability of labour and whether anything shows up in the tests that requires rectification.“We are expecting it to steam in late spring or early summer 2017,” he said. ➜ Anyone who would like more details of the £60-a-head Didcot photographic charters is invited to visit www.timelineevents.org

The last of Churchward’s Saint class in BR service was No. 2920 Saint David, which is seen on July 27, 1950, bringing empty stock into Cardiff General station from Canton carriage sidings to form a train to Birmingham Snow Hill via Hereford. It was withdrawn in September 1953 and scrapped. BEN BROOKSBANK/CREATIVE COMMONS

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Butterley-based LMS ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T No 47327 carrying Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway livery as No. 23 at Swanwick Junction in 2014. MRB

Can you make two LMS ‘Jinties’ steam again? THE Midland Railway-Butterley wants to appoint a full-time engineering supervisor to bring two‘Jinties’back to life. Three of these LMS 3F 0-6-0s were rescued for the railway in the 1970s as being ideal for the operation of passenger trains, two coming from Barry scrapyard and one from industrial service in WestYorkshire. The two from Barry have been restored and used at Butterley while the third has still to see service. At present, none are in service but the restoration of two is now well under way, including No. 47445, the one that has not yet steamed in preservation.

Alan Calladine, the Midland Railway Trust’s development officer, said:“We have made excellent progress so far with the restoration of these locomotives but now need someone to take charge of bringing these machines back to steam.” The new engineering supervisor will be tasked with overseeing the completion of two‘Jinties’machines and developing the overhaul of additional locomotives. Anyone interested in this position and with the relevant skills should write to general manager Geoff Smith, Midland Railway–Butterley, Butterley Station, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 3QZ or email [email protected]

Inside Track for something different By Cedric Johns WINSLOW-based railway holiday company Inside Track has said: “We do not bulk out our itineraries with‘free days’or‘days at leisure’ and this is reflected in our value for money tour prices.” Compared to the usual run of rail tour promoters offering day or extended tours, the Buckinghamshire company provides something different in the form of holidays which combine rail and road travel. On Monday, April 3, its five-day ‘Welsh Highlander’starts out from Llandudno where passengers are taken for a tram ride up the Great Orme before catching a train to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and from there to Porthmadog by road for a night stop. The following day, the trip is centred in and around Porthmadog with visits to the Ffestiniog Railway, the Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) and a main line journey to Pwllheli and back.

The highlight of the following day, Wednesday, takes passengers from Caernarfon to Beddgelert and down to Porthmadog via the scenic Aberglaslyn Pass on the Welsh Highland Railway. On the fourth day, April 6, the tour heads for Llanberis and a circular road tour of Snowdonia and Anglesey, not forgetting the Llanberis Lake Railway. Friday, the last day of the five-day tour takes in a trip on the Ffestiniog Railway from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, a visit to a railway museum at Betws-y-Coed before returning to Llandudno for homeward-bound trains. On April 13 – over the Easter period – tourists are offered a six-day trip to Ulster which begins at Holyhead and from Dublin a first-class transfer by the Irish train, ‘The Enterprise’. Norfolk is the key to another five-day trip beginning Friday, May 5, which includes visits to the North Norfolk and the Nene Valley railways.

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NEWS Appeal launch for Blackmoor Vale firebox

THE Bulleid Society, owner of Bluebell Railway-based West Country light Pacific No. 21C123 Blackmoor Vale, has launched a nationwide appeal for a new inner firebox costing £199,900. The group has already purchased the major items necessary to fabricate a new inner firebox in two new thermic syphons, costing £15,000, the foundation channel sections, costing £7110 (necessary to construct a new foundation ring to connect the outer and inner firebox wrappers), the firebox tubeplate £8720 and the firedoor inner backhead, costing £17,000. The total cost of fabricating the new inner firebox utilising the items already bought, removing the old firebox from the boiler, fitting the new inner firebox to the outer wrapper and fitting all the water space stays and undertaking the necessary hydraulic and steam tests is £199,900.

One of last three

Blackmoor Vale was one of the last three unrebuilt Bulleid Pacifics in service at the end of Southern steam 50 years ago. It was chosen by the society, formed by a group of Nine Elms drivers and their colleagues in 1966 to purchase a Bulleid Pacific, because it was considered to be the most mechanically sound of the three. Bought for £1900, Blackmoor Vale’s first preservation base was the Longmoor Military Railway, and after that closed, in 1971 the locomotive was moved to the Bluebell Railway. It returned to steam there in May 1976, withdrawn from traffic in 1985 for overhaul and returned to traffic in 2000 complete with a new tender built in the Bluebell workshops. Problems with the firebox in the form of leaking stays and the comparative thinness of the inner firebox plate were the main reason for the withdrawal of the locomotive from traffic in May 2008. ➜ If you would like to help resteam Blackmoor Vale, an appeal form can be downloaded from http://www.bulleidsociety. org/21C123/Pictures/General/ Firebox_Appeal.pdf and sent to Vernon Blackburn, Bluebell Railway Trust, Sheffield Park station, Sheffield Park, Uckfield, Sussex, TN22 3QL.

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Lottery £1.1m for Bluebell shed exhibition project By Robin Jones THE Bluebell Railway has been awarded £1.1 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its Accessible Steam Heritage (ASH) project. The scheme involves substantial repairs to the Sheffield Park running shed, which will be partly converted and also extended at the side to create a new exhibition hall. This public space will feature a new exhibition of how steam engines work, plus footplate access by both pedestrians and wheelchair users to engines on static display. Visitors will also be able to take part in a footplate driving experience based on a mock-up of LBSCR‘Terrier’0-6-0T No. 55 Stepney,alongside the original engine which was built in 1875. Furthermore, the project will create more space in the running shed for routine locomotive maintenance, and a new maintenance facility over the washout pit and adjacent siding in the locomotive yard, improving the line’s ability to maintain its fleet while also providing a better working environment for volunteers. In addition to the HLF award, the Bluebell Railway will contribute £388,000 (including £214,000 raised by its ASH Appeal) in cash plus a substantial amount of‘effort in kind’to be inputted by many members of its 700 strong volunteer workforce.

The proposed new Sheffield Park maintenance facility will be painted in LBSCR colours. BR Right: An artist’s impression of the new exhibition space. BR Below: A bird’s eye-view of the Accessible Steam Heritage project. BR

Spring 2018

The three-year project will see the exhibition opening in spring 2018 after which it will run for a further two years with extensive plans to utilise the exhibition to engage the public and support the growth of visitor numbers. The project also aims to increase the Bluebell’s capacity to work with schools in developing their Science,Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) curriculum, with a target of increasing school visits by 150% by 2020. An interpretation and education development manager will be employed for an initial three year period and applications are already being sought to fill this post. Funding director Roger Kelly said: “This project is key to the sustainability and growth of the Bluebell Railway. Many visitors to heritage railways today, particularly the younger ones, want more than a ride on a train.They wish to be entertained.This project will not only do that but we hope ensure they leave better informed about steam power from the 19th to the 21st century”. Bluebell Railway plc chairman Dick Fearn, said:“The Bluebell Railway is fortunate to be custodian of one of Britain’s most varied and historically

important steam locomotive collections outside the National Railway Museum. “This award will enable us to display and interpret the collection for the enjoyment of all our visitors and to cherish and maintain it for the benefit of generations to come.”

‘Really has it all’

Stuart McLeod, head of HLF South East, said:“This is a heritage project that really has it all.What could be more exciting for visitors than actually getting on board the footplate of a working steam engine? “The Bluebell Railway’s new project will make the story of steam travel accessible to everyone with exciting new exhibitions, interactive experiences,

and restoration of new locomotives keeping the history of steam alive for visitors of all ages.” Tracey Crouch, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage said:“Thanks to the generosity of our lottery players, even more people will now be able to explore and learn about our fascinating railway heritage.The new exhibitions will be an exciting addition to the Bluebell Railway offer and I am pleased more partnerships with schools are to be formed too.” ➜The original clock from Horsted Keynes South signalbox has been purchased by the Bluebell Railway Museum in a recent auction.The clock cost the LBSCR £1-17s-6d and was made before the signal box was opened.

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Pessimism over future of Deltic Gordon Highlander OWNER MartinWalker has expressed doubts over the future of Class 55 Deltic D9016 GordonHighlander after revealing the restoration figures do not stack up. After recently inspecting the work being undertaken on the restoration of D9016 at Boden Rail’s Washwood Heath engineering site in Birmingham, he has now reconsidered his decision to repair it. Work began in January 2015 and has been progressing steadily since, starting with repairing the No.2 end cab followed by work on the No. 1 end cab. Martin, who also owns D9000/55002 Royal Scots Grey, said the vast bulk of the bodywork remains to be completed but the cost to date has been a five figure sum... but only a three-figure sum has been received in donations. He has asked himself whether he can justify an outlay of over £100,000 for a locomotive that is expected to earn only £3000 once the work is completed. Added to the restoration cost will be

further costs in five years’time to make good the damage resulting from external storage as undercover storage is not available. Martin set up a donation fund five years ago but it has raised only £500. More immediately, No. 55022 has recently received two train brake valves costing £1083.60 while the Deltic 2017 Calendar has sold only 446 copies in support of that expense alone. Martin may now consider an exchange of components from D9016 to keep D9000 in top condition but accepts that the time is fast approaching when he may have to seek another party to assume responsibility for D9016’s future. He accepts that D9016 is best suited to a role restricted to heritage lines without main line consideration and now hopes that revealing the full costs of custodianship of a Deltic will lead to resources being identified that will secure that future.

Tribute to The Railway Children star DEDDIE Davies, the actress best known as Mrs Perks in the EMI big screen production of The Railway Children filmed on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in 1970, has died aged 78. The Welsh star was also on TV screens from the 1970s onwards, starring in shows such as Some Mothers Do‘Ave‘Em, Grange Hill, The Bill, The Forsyte Saga, Doctors and Whitechapel. In recent times, the Bridgendborn actress starred as donkeyowner Marj in Sky 1’s Stella, which is set in the Welsh Valleys.

Stella star and co-creator Ruth Jones said:“She was one of those rare people who didn’t possess a grain of self pity and whose company always brightened your day. A highly intelligent, joyful, talented and spectacularly spirited woman who was an inspiration to us all. She absolutely lived life to the full.” Speaking after her death on December 21, Ruth said:“Deddie had been ill for a long time and I saw her about a month ago and showed her the Christmas special on my laptop.”

Class 31s on the move CLASS 31/1No. 31206 leftitshome baseontheRushden,Higham& WellingboroughRailway(RHWR) at theendof2016 andtransferredtothe EcclesbourneValleyRailwayforasojourn during2017. Anotherclassmemberonthemove hasbeenClass31/4No. 31465 whichwas transferredfromLongMarstontothe WeardaleRailwayand,followingtesting,

hasbeen clearedforoperationontheline. Main line-registered Class 31/1 No. 31106 was collected from Derby on December 6 by the Midland RailwayButterley-based Class 20s Nos. 20189 and 20205 and moved to Swanwick Junction, following confirmation that its tyres were too thin for continued network activity, and joins fellow‘Skinheads’ Nos. 31108/418.

Golden Valley gets new coach A SECOND ex-Ffestiniog Railway open third coach, No. 118, has moved to join its sister vehicle No. 119 and the Golden Valley Light Railway at the Midland Railway-Butterley, having been stripped of various components not required by the purchasers, such as its FR bogies

(to be replaced at the GVLR by South African examples) and vacuum brakes. Meanwhile, at the FR’s Boston Lodge works, work has started on the construction of new double-Fairlie James Spooner’s boiler, from a recently delivered kit of cut and shaped parts.

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Heritagerailway.co.uk 19

NEWS Class 26 failure ‘not too serious’

THE Llangollen Diesel Group said that the damage sustained by its Class 26 D5310 during its recent visit to the SevernValley Railway in October has proved not be as serious as first thought. The damage occurred when D5310 suffered electrical failure and minor generator flashover but as a result of careful testing, repairs to the electrical cubicle and cleaning of the generator the locomotive was able to move. The group has thanked those who assisted the recovery including Ken Joy for supplying replacement relay and boards, Matt Stoddon for arranging their despatch, Dave Hesketh and team at Bowers Electrical and the SVR crews whose prompt action prevented more serious damage being caused.

LMS ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 No. 13065 and Bulleid West Country Pacific No. 34092 City Of Wells stand side by side at Ramsbottom with East Lancashire Railway Santa specials on December 18. LIAM BARNES

92 Squadron signed for SVR gala roster By Paul Appleton and Brian Sharpe

NEWLY-OVERHAULED Bulleid Battle of Britain light Pacific No. 34081 92Squadron is the latest visiting locomotive to be booked for the SevernValley Railway’s March 17-19 spring steam gala. It joins previously announced Ivatt 2-6-2T No. 41312 which will be appearing courtesy of the Mid Hants Railway and John Jones. The air-smoothed Bulleid is in the final throes of its overhaul at the Nene Valley Railway after its newly overhauled boiler returned from Chatham Steam in Kent, and was lit up for the first time at Wansford on December 12, after an eightyear overhaul by its owning group the Battle of Britain Locomotive Preservation Society. It moved under its own steam the following day. No. 34081 92Squadron entered service,

after Nationalisation of Britain’s railways, in September 1948 and remained in original condition with air smooth casing and chain driven valve gear until withdrawn at Eastleigh in August 1964. It was sold toWoodham Brothers scrap yard at Barry.

21-year restoration

The locomotive was purchased from Barry scrapyard by the society and moved to the NVR in December 1976. The initial restoration took 21 years and the Pacific first returned to steam in 1998. It worked regularly on the NeneValley Railway and made visits to many other heritage lines until its withdrawal from service in 2008, after a period working on the North Norfolk Railway. It was agreed to take the locomotive back toWansford for overhaul as the owning group’s members are based in

the area and therefore more easily able to work on its overhaul. The locomotive has been turned out once again in the livery it carried when first built in 1948; SR malachite green but carrying its BR number 34081 in SR style. 92Squadron is expected to return to service on the NVR early in the new year and will star in a Bulleid 50 gala on the railway over the weekend of February 25-26, along with rebuilt Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34053Sir Keith Park visiting from the SevernValley Railway. The spring gala will be the first time No. 34081 has visited the SevernValley Railway. Its appearance will make an interesting contrast with resident rebuilt Bulleid Pacific Nos. 34027 TawValley, and fellow Battle of Britain 34053Sir KeithPark. The SVR gala will also feature a third guest locomotive, yet to be announced.

These will be joined by locomotives from the home fleet, including Kerr Stuart-built GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7714 which will be making its gala debut after returning to traffic in December.

Candidates

As well as the railway’s light Pacific ‘twins’, other candidates include Port Talbot Railway/GWR 0-6-0ST No. 813, Collett 0-4-2T No. 1450, Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 1501, GWR 4-6-0s Nos. 7802 Bradley Manorand 7812ErlestokeManor, Churchward 2-8-0 No. 2857 and Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43106. The intensive gala timetable will feature local trains, including auto-trains, using the smaller locomotives between intermediate stations, as well as full line services and a demonstration freight train.Tickets can be bought on line. Visit www.svr.co.uk

State-of-the-art expertise prepares North Eastern G5 for modern railway THE builders of new NER G5 0-4-4T No. 1759 have enlisted the help of one of the UK’s top railway engineering consultancies to ensure it is fit to run on the main line. The Class G5 Locomotive Company Limited has engaged the services of Mott MacDonald Ltd, which has considerable expertise in the design of railway wheelsets and rail vehicle analysis. When the A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado was built and certificated in the first decade of the 20th century, the general principle for accepting the design of critical components was based on what is known as‘grandfather rights’. In other words, if the original design was known to be reliable and did not break, it was deemed good enough for a new locomotive to the same design. However, the railway industry has moved on and the basis for certificating

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new rail vehicles now uses the Common Safety Method for Risk Assessment, a pan European standard. The existing G5 design needs to be assessed against today’s exacting design standards for wheelset design, and where necessary, changes made to incorporate modern practice.The problem area here is the crank axle.

Crank axle

The G5 class, in common with many locomotives designed in the late 19th and early 20th century, has its cylinders mounted between the frames.This necessitates having a crank axle to transmit the drive from the connecting rods to the wheels.Yet by the time that today’s design standards were written, steam had been withdrawn and no modern rail vehicles have crank axles. Therefore, the need arises to undertake

calculations and modelling to assess whether the existing crank axle design meets modern requirements. The A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust which built Tornado and, as highlighted on page 26, is now building a Gresley P2, has recently had to undertake the same task for their new engine, and also engaged Mott MacDonald. Mott MacDonald engineer Bob Harris said:“Having just been able to remember the last steam where I grew up on the NorthWales coast, in my wildest dreams I could not imagine doing this work towards the end of my career, let alone using state-of-the art ANSYS Finite Element Software to do the work. “The ANSYS software produces a very convincing picture of the stress in every part of the axle so it is vitally important that we define the correct inputs.The stress levels can then be used to work

Engineer David Elliott weighing the G5 wheels. NORMAN RAINE out how often, as well as where, the axle needs to be checked that it hasn’t started cracking, since they are critical to the safety of the G5.” In September, Ian Howitt of ID Howitt Limited, manufactured and fitted the smokebox onto the G5 frames at the group’s depot in Shildon. ➜ Anyone who would like to help or contribute to the project is invited to e-mail [email protected] call 07764 304210 or visitg5loco.co.uk for more information.

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Heritagerailway.co.uk 21

NEWS

Tenterden celebrates record Christmas trains sell-out By Geoff Courtney

THE‘no seats available’sign went up early on the Kent & East Sussex Railway at Christmas when, for the very first time, every one of the railway’s 67 Santa Special trains was sold out in advance. Indeed, there was no seat available by the end of November, three days before the first special on December 3, followed by trains on eight more days leading up to Christmas Eve. The packed trains carried 7½% more passengers than the previous year with bookings running a month ahead of 2015, a result that thrilled general manager Shaun Dewey.“We were delighted that the Santa Specials proved to be so popular,” he said. “We have a new commercial team, and a big‘thank you’goes to them as well as all the staff and volunteers – and of course Santa and his elves – who together made these days so special for

kids both big and small, young and old.” Operating steam locos included three of the railway’s stalwarts – GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1638, SR USA class 0-6-0T No. 30065, and 2-6-0 No. 376 Norwegian – while‘Terriers’ Nos. 32670 and 32678 simmered in the shed yard at Rolvenden ready to provide back-up were it to be needed.

Last for a while

This pair of Class A1X 0-6-0Ts totals 282 years of age, with the oldest being No. 32670, built by the LBSCR at Brighton works in 1872.This Christmas season was the latter’s last for a while, as it was taken out of service at the end of December for a 10-year overhaul. Meanwhile, a rather more formal event took place during the Christmas festivities on the nearby Rother Valley Railway, which is set to link up with the KESR to form a 14 mile heritage line. The occasion, on December 6, was

the official opening by Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy of new sidings at the RVR’s Robertsbridge base, part of a major project to link the railway with the KESR 3½ miles away. The sidings provide access to the national network’s Charing Cross to Hastings line at Robertsbridge station, and are a fundamental part of the RVRKESR tie-up which, it is hoped, will be achieved by 2020. Sir Peter said at the opening ceremony:“I would like to congratulate the team at Network Rail, the RVR volunteers, and all who helped make the new connection and sidings a reality. “This is a tremendous example of rail organisations working together for the benefit of passengers and the public.” In addition to being an integral part of the project to link the two heritage lines, the sidings will be used by Network Rail for training, testing rail equipment and stabling engineering trains.

RVR trustee Mike Hart said the sidings and main line connection would be of great mutual benefit to both Network Rail and the RVR, while NR programme director Mark Budden said:“We have worked closely with the heritage railway team from the start of the project. “The sidings will be a real boost to our engineering teams, and the fact that the heritage railway will also benefit is a real bonus.”

Privately-funded

The KESR currently runs for 10½ miles from Tenterden to Bodiam, while the neighbouring RVR has ½ mile of track, and the project of which the new sidings and main line connection are a part is a £4½ million privately-funded scheme that in addition to linking up the two railways also includes at Robertsbridge a station with five-coach platform, engine and carriage sheds, plus other facilities.

Rolvenden rush hour: Busy Rolvenden station on the Kent & East Sussex Railway has an international flavour on December 10 at the height of the Christmas season. On the left, in the shed yard, is GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1638, in the centre on a Santa Special is 2-6-0 No. 376 Norwegian, built in 1919 by the Swedish firm Nydqvist & Holm for the Norwegian State Railway, and on the right USA class 0-6-0T No. 30065 departs with the 1.25pm Tenterden to Bodiam Santa Special. Behind the photographer two other 0-6-0Ts are in steam on standby, A1X ‘Terriers’ Nos. 32670 and 32678, the former on its final spell of duty before being taken out of service for a 10-year overhaul. GEOFF COURTNEY

SLS becomes company THE Stephenson Locomotive Society has been incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee. The transfer of assets from the existing society will take place on

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January 1. Chairman Bob Bemand said:“This is a fantastic opportunity for the society to modernise and adapt to an evolving market place without losing sight of our core activities.”

Original FR is revealed WHILE preparingtheformationforthe newBlaenauEndpointsatTan-y-Bwlch, theoriginalcourseoftheFfestiniog Railwayalong CreuauBankwasrevealed. The southern end of this embankment

was covered when the formation was widened prior to the construction of Tan-y-Bwlch station in 1873, when it replaced the original horse stage at Hafod-y-Llyn.

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It’s a bus? /surely it should be on the road crossing the railway, not vice versa? STEPHEN EDGE/WSR

Is it a bird? Is it a train? No – it’s the Lucas Aerospace Workers Road-Rail Bus! STEPHEN EDGE/WSR

West Somerset plans spark memories of pioneer railbus By Robin Jones

THE two-year trial of DMU services planned for 2018 is by no means the first bid to link the West Somerset Railway to the national network at Taunton. A scheme which attracted plenty of attention was tried over 25 years ago. As reported in Headline News in our last issue, senior officials of Britain’s longest standard gauge line are in talks with main line operator Great Western Railway about running DMU services from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard to connect with West Somerset trains on selected days. Under the trial scheme, which is being backed by Minehead Chamber of Commerce, West Somerset steam services will not run into Taunton, nor Great Western Railway trains north of Bishops Lydeard, where passengers will have to change. However, visitors will be able to travel to the WSR over the national network without using buses to cover the gap between the two.

Stumbling block

The heritage line reopened the GWR Minehead branch in stages from the resort, and reached Bishops Lydeard in 1979. However, a stumbling block to running services into Taunton, maybe on a similar basis to the Dart

Valley Railway’s three-year trial of operating in and out of the main line station at Totnes between April 1985 and September 1987, arose in the form of union opposition to the potential loss of one bus driver’s job. Since then, the WSR has developed Bishops Lydeard as a passenger terminus. However, in 1980-81, a trial was undertaken with a prototype roadrail bus developed in the UK in the Seventies with a view to restoring the missing link It was designed by Richard Fletcher and modified by Lucas Aerospace workers as part of a trade union-led initiative to turn engineering skills to peaceful use. The essence of the system was that, unlike other road-rail vehicles, the flanged bogies did not guide the vehicle, but acted to steer the rubber-tyred wheels and keep them on the rails. The flanged bogie could thus be much lighter than a bogie with a flange solid with the tyres. However, the experiment failed as ultimately it proved impossible to engineer a guidance system accurate and robust enough, and the road-rail bus was later scrapped. Meanwhile, the business case for extending the rail link from Minehead to Taunton has been made by a group of American students who spent a term researching some of the challenges

Attracting more attention at Bishops Lydeard on the day than the average resident steam locomotive was the experimental railbus. STEPHEN EDGE/WSR facing community and business leaders in West Somerset. Members of Minehead Chamber of Commerce and the WSR were given presentations by the group of 21 students from Susquehanna University, Pennsylvania, who spent a term in London as part of their accountancy and finance degrees.

Developing economy

Their research into what Minehead needs to do to develop its economy underlined the case for extending services into Taunton. The WSR’s own plans suggest the best way into Taunton would involve extending the current Cardiff to Taunton stopping service with an extra stop at Bishops Lydeard. The service would not be in competition with the regular bus

service into Taunton as it would run during peak holiday times in order to bring visitors to Bishops Lydeard. “Because the train line exists there is no physical reason why it cannot go ahead,” said WSR general manager Paul Conibeare.“The plans are in very early stages but why not bring people to our historic train station via public transport? It would relieve the roads of some of the holiday traffic.” He was backed by Taunton Deane MP Jeremy Browne who said:“I hope the timetabling and practical issues with this proposal can be overcome because it would be of huge benefit to the steam railway. “The exciting new ideas from the West Somerset Railway are exactly what is needed to secure its future for the next 50 years.”

Officers say costs put Brixham rail link beyond reach TORBAY mayor Gordon Oliver’s dreams of a new rail link to Brixham appear to have been quashed. Council officers were asked to investigate the possibility of a light railway system to the port in a bid to improve transport links. The short branch from Churston staiton on the Paignton to Kingswear line was opened by theTorbay & Brixham Railway in 1868, but closed by Dr Beeching in 1963. The Association ofTrain Operating Companies in 2009 indicated that

Brixham would benefit from a passenger railway service. It suggested that the Great Western Railway service to Paignton would be extended to Churston station on the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Churston would serve as a railhead for Brixham, and also serve housing developments in the area. However the study, Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network, did not indicate a source of funding, and no progress has since been made.] However, the council officers’report

cast doubts that any new rail link could be delivered. The report concluded that the levels of growth in Brixham would“not have supported the need”. The officers said that a further feasibility study would cost £30,000, money that the council does not have, and which would have to come from outside grant aid. It was also highlighted that there are constraints in the area, particularly the landscape. Further work on a feasibility study

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is estimated to cost the already cashstrapped council £30,000 alone. The report stated:“While a capital cost of works at this stage is unknown, it is likely to be very significant.” The officers recommended that because of the potential cost, the idea should not be be pursued further. The mayor now said he will ask BrixhamTown Council, businesses and rail user groups to consider if building a light railway system would benefit the long-term economic prospects of the Devon town. Heritagerailway.co.uk 23

NEWS

Festive season success ByBrianSharpe THE run-up to Christmas is always one of the busiest periods for Britain’s heritage lines with virtually all of them staging their Santa

special operations in an increasing variety of forms. Sadly there was no snow to give the season its icing on the cake, but one or two weekends saw cold, clear and sunny conditions across much of the

country, in contrast to December 2015. Many lines reported sold-out trains as is generally the case, with many putting on extra trains to cope with the ever-increasing demand.

Above: SR Q 0-6-0 No. 30541 heads a Bluebell Railway Santa special up Freshfield bank. NICK GILLIAM

RSH Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 71515 climbs the hill away from Furnace Sidings with a Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Santa special on December 4, assisted by Barclay 0-4-0ST No. 1219. Santa specials were formerly worked in push pull fashion, with the steam locomotive on the bottom as they were propelled to and from the Whistle Inn. This year however, Santa set up his grotto at Blaenavon High Level so all the trains have been worked top and tail for the first time. ALISTAIR GRIEVE

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GWR 4-6-0 No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor departs from Bewdley with a Severn Valley Railway seasonal service on December 4. JOHN DUNGATE

NER-designed J72 0-6-0T No. 69023 Joem heads the 12.30pm Leeming to Constable Burton Santa special on the Wensleydale Railway on December 17. All records are being broken on the railway with Joem hauling 30% more trains than in previous seasons. MAURICE BURNS Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 25

NEWS How the new Gresley P2 will look in 2021 – providing that fundraising continues at its present rate. A1SLT

Gresley P2 project back on the road By Robin Jones THE project team behind the £5 million building of the world’s fastest-growing standard gauge new-build project is to hold a fresh series of Saturday roadshows across the country, in an endeavour to boost support. The A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust, builder and operator of A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, has announced that it will be holding presentations on the project to build new Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales along the route of the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh and Aberdeen this year. The first roadshow, on Saturday, January 14, will be held at London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, where all attendees will receive complimentary access to the museum galleries on the day. Each presentation will feature key trust personnel including chairman Mark Allatt and director of engineering David Elliott. The presentations will run from 11am to 1pm on each of the days listed here and are open to existing supporters and interested members of the public.They will cover the background to the project to build Britain’s most powerful steam locomotive, progress to date, future plans and details of how to get involved. Other dates are: February 18 –The Great Northern Hotel, Peterborough; March 18 – Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery, Doncaster; April 22 –York Railway Institute,York; May 13 – the trust’s base at Darlington Locomotive

Works, Darlington; June 2017 – Newcastle Mining Institute, Newcastleon-Tyne; July 1 – Edinburgh Jury’s Inn, Edinburgh; October 14 – Dundee HeritageTrust Discovery Point, Dundee; November 25 – Aberdeen Jury’s Inn, Aberdeen. The six P2 2-8-2 Mikado locomotives were the most powerful passenger steam locomotives to operate in the UK, designed to haul 600 ton trains on the arduous Edinburgh to Aberdeen route. Sadly, the design was never fully developed and they were rebuilt in 1943/44 and scrapped by 1961.The project to build the seventh member of the class has already received pledges, almost 50% (including Gift Aid) of the money needed to complete the new locomotive by 2021. Mark Allatt said:“The past three years have seen dramatic progress toward our aim of completing new Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales by 2021 – already at the stage Tornado was eight years into the project. Now is the time to get on board this ground-breaking project and help theTrust to raise the £5 million needed to ensure its completion in 2021.”

Surprise £1000 gift

The Friends ofThe Head of Steam Railway Museum has just donated £1000 to the project as a thank you gesture following the trust’s Darlington locomotive works managerTony Lord covering for a guest speaker who had dropped out at short notice. “They said they would like to give us

The part-machined axleboxes at Timsons in Kettering on December 15. A1SLT

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more than the usual £30 that they pay to speakers, but this took us completely by surprise,” saidTony.“The Friends wanted to make a substantial donation to a project that is already raising a great deal of interest in Darlington and in particular, to the Head of Steam museum, and the railway heritage of the area.” In the works in recent weeks, much detail work has been carried out including riveting of the smoke lifting plate joint strips and permanent riveting and bolting of the front footplating.The chimney has also had all its mounting bolts and studs fitted. With delivery from NorthView Engineering of the remaining coupled wheel manganese steel-faced hornblock liners, detail fitting of them is underway. This has involved ensuring that the liners are making full contact with the horn blocks followed by opening out the bolt holes and reaming to take driven bolts. The gaps between the hornblocks were measured and mapped, after which the 16 hornblock liners have been fitted and their surfaces measured and mapped.The aim is to have both liners in each hornblock truly square to the frames and parallel with each other. Individual liners will then be surface ground where necessary to achieve this. Final machining of the last of the major frame stays, the leading brake stay, is nearing completion at North View Engineering Solutions in Darlington. Timsons in Kettering is machining the cannon and axle boxes.

Ian Matthews measuring the hornblocks on December 6. BOB HUGHES/A1SLT

The plain coupled axles have at last been delivered from South Africa and are presently at Unilathe at Stoke-onTrent for finish machining. Unilathe has completed the initial machining of the crank axle stubs and crank pin, which along with the crank webs have been sent to South Devon Railway Engineering at Buckfastleigh for assembly.

Good progress

Unilathe are making good progress with machining the crank pins (from axle material – specifically from axle stock made for Class 56 diesel locomotive wheelsets) and has delivered the bolts and rod retaining washers for the leading crank pins. Work continued to complete detailed manufacturing drawings for the remaining frame stays, spring hanger brackets and the pony truck frame. Mark added:“We are confident that we will have completed the rolling chassis for No. 2007 Prince of Wales in spring 2017 having reached 70% of our target forThe Mikado Club 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 in excess of £700,000 per year, which given the nature of the regular donation scheme becomes more challenging as each year passes.” ➜ For details of how to get on board with the P2 project, visit www. p2steam.com, email enquiries@ p2steam.com or telephone 01325 460163.

The leading brake stay under construction at North View Engineering Solutions in Darlington on November 22. A1SLT Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Heritagerailway.co.uk 27

NEWS

Heritage railways honoured with national awards

Above: Rail Minister Paul Maynard presents the awards. NRHA Right: The Arley station facelift completed. PHILIP CHATFIELD By Robin Jones THREE heritage railways have been honoured in this year’s National Rail Heritage Awards. Rail Minister Paul Maynard presented the 2016 National Railway Heritage Awards at a ceremony held at Merchant Taylors’Hall in London on Wednesday, December 7. The Supporters’Award for the best small project entered in the competition went to the New Glyn ValleyTramway & Industrial HeritageTrust for its

conservation and restoration of the original Glyn ValleyTramway locomotive shed at Glyn Ceiriog.

Structural projects

Volunteer input is essential for the successful completion of many structural projects on heritage railways, a factor recognised by the Stagecoach Volunteers Award. This year it went to the Severn Valley Railway plc for its ongoing work in bringing its Arley station back to its pristine condition.

Heritage railways often achieve effective signalling by using redundant structures and equipment from the national system; such was the case with the Bluebell Railway with its new Kingscote signalbox and signalling, the judges decided. The railway used a signalbox from Brighton and installed a miniature lever frame from Clapham Junction and so won the Siemens Signalling Award. The Rail Minister presented the award to Brian Hymas, Chris Bassett, and Chris Chambers who represented the railway.

The judges referred to“... a first rate project, well thought through, designed, and executed to a very high standard”; the“re-creation and preservation of a full working example of an historically important type of lever frame and associated signalling practice as used extensively by the Southern Railway and Southern Region”; and the recreation“of signalling for a country station as it might have been in the 1950s, following Southern Railway and Southern Region practice”. Mention was made of the 1950s

Kingscote station, where the signalling system won a major national award. NRHA

28 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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Professor Kirstie Blair with a copy of Poets of the People’s Journal. HUGH DOUGHERTY

University don rediscovers lost Victorian railway poetry The Glyn Ceiriog locomotive shed which won the New Glyn Valley Tramway & Industrial Heritage Trust a major award. NHRA Right: Arley stationmaster Ian Latimer and longtime Severn Valley member Alan Davies atop the scaffold above their station admiring the new chimney stack... which returned the station profile to its original form of a century ago complete with a proper octagonal pot. The waiting room chimney stack will be tackled later this year with a new half-ton stone carved capping and restored pot to match the latest one fitted. PHILIP CHATFIELD rail-built and lattice signal posts, and there was a particular comment about the design of the up home signals using a single post with two arms as an“interesting re-creation and demonstration of an old practice... giving added interest and historic value”.

Runners-up

The runners-up for the award were Carnforth Junction signalbox (Network Rail) and Midsomer Norton signalbox (Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust). The London Underground Operational Enhancement Award recognises significant operational improvements at a station that respect its heritage character. It was made to VirginTrains for its work in bringing back to life the longneglected West Side Buildings at Stokeon-Trent station. In this category, the North Norfolk Railway was highly commended for the new building at Sheringham which houses theTourist Information Office for the resort, a new railway shop and new public and station toilets. The building has been designed to match the other station buildings at Sheringham. The Railway HeritageTrust Conservation Award for the best restored structure, supported by funding from the trust, was won by Network Rail Property for its regeneration work in restoring Corrour station and signalbox for overnight accommodation. The NRHA Award for the overall Best Entry for 2016 was presented this time in memory of DeborahTrebinski, the awards manager for many years who sadly died from cancer when

only 58 years old and to celebrate her considerable contribution to the awards over the past 12 years. It went to Kier Construction & King’s Cross Partnership for their remarkable transformation of the disused King’s Cross Midland goods shed complex into a supermarket, cookery school and events venue, where the original ironwork stands above the grocery shelves. TheTaylor Woodrow Partnership Award was made to the Port of Dover for its sympathetic conservation of the former Dover Marine Station Building for continuing use as a cruise terminal. The Great Western Railway Craft Skills Award, recognising the best use of traditional craft skills in the restoration of a building or structure, was made to London Underground for the skilful removal, conservation and reinstatement of the Paolozzi mural mosaics at itsTottenham Court Road Station as part of the extensive Crossrail works.

Historic ambience

The Urban Heritage Award, now sponsored by MTR Crossrail, recognises the success of a train operator in enhancing the environment of a significant urban station in its care while harmonising its historic ambience with modern passenger requirements. It was awarded to Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Ltd for its imaginative work at James Street station in Liverpool. The Contractors Award, which concentrates on historic civil engineering structures on the railway, was made to Iarnrod Eireann for its refurbishment and strengthening of Boyne Viaduct at Drogheda in County Louth, Ireland.

ByHughDougherty A SCOTTISH universitydonhas unearthedvolumesoflong-forgotten, railwaypoetryfromthe19thcentury, which,shesays,portraysthetrue, andlost,voiceofenginemen,guards, surfacemenandrailwayworkshop engineersoftheearlydaysand goldenageofsteamrailways. ProfessorKirstieBlairofStrathclyde Universityhasbeendelvinginto ScottishVictoriannewspapers,allof whichcarrieddailyorweeklypoetry columns.Nowshe’s discovered literallyhundredsofpoemswritten byrailwaymen,whichpaintapicture ofhardtoilbutprideinthejob,aswell asshowingthatmenworkingina masculineworkenvironment,were notshyaboutexpressingthemselves throughverse. “Everyrailwaystation,locomotive depotandworkshopseemstohave hadanofficialorunofficialpoet,”said ProfessorBlair.“Menwouldworklong hoursagainsttherumbleandthump ofthemachineryofthesteamage, andthengohomeandwritepoetry aboutit.Somewoulddosotoshow thebossestheycouldwriteand,asa result,somewerepromotedtoclerks, butthemajoritydiditbecausethey wereproudofwhattheydidand wantedtoshowtheywerecultured.

Authentic voice

“Ifeelthatthisistheauthenticvoice oftheworkersoftheVictorianrailway age.Wearetoousedtoreadingabout dreadfulconditions,butwhatIam findingareversesfullofprideinthe jobandtherhythmofthelocomotives themselves,whichcelebratethepride ofworkingontherailways,thesunrise industriesoftheirday,andinjobs whichcouldmeanadvancement.” ProfessorBlair,wholecturesin Englishliterature,wasborninBelfast andattributesherinterestinindustrial poetrytohavingcomefroman industrialcity,butalsotothefactthat shefeltthatviewsoftheindustriallife wereheavilybiasedtowardsmiddle classwriters,suchasCharlesDickens who,especially,wasaversetowhat heregardedasnew,fangledrailways, withlittleoftheauthenticvoiceofthe workerscomingthrough. KirstieistheeditorofPoetsof

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

ThePeople’sJournal,publishedin November2016,whichcarriesa selectionofpoemstakenfromthe weeklyScottishpaperfamousfor itspoetrycolumns.Theselectionof poemsincludesworksfromfactory workers,minersandrailwaymen,allof which,shesays,wouldhavebeenlost toposteritywithoutherresearch.

Self improvement

“Whatweneedtorememberismany Victorianrailwaymenembracedthe cultureofself-improvement,were highlyliterateandthatmanyofthe railwaycompaniesprovidedinstitutes andlearningfortheirstaff.I’vecome across,forexample,Alexander Anderson,whoworkedonthe Glasgow&SouthWesternRailwayas asurfacemanatKirconnelandwho wroteextensivelyinverse.Hispoetry book,SongsoftheRail,publishedin 1878,waswellreceivedbythepublic, andhelefttherailwayin1880towork hiswayuptobecomechieflibrarianof EdinburghUniversity. “TheG&SWRalsoboastedof WilliamAitken,atrafficinspectorat StEnochStation,whowasknownas apublishedrailwaypoet,andwriting poetry,oftenwitharhythmechoing thechuffsofasteamlocomotive,or theclatterofrailwaywheelsonrail joints,wascommonplace.” NowKirstiewouldliketosee heritagerailwaysandrailway museumsdoingmoretounearthand displayfurtherhiddenpoemsand songsandshe’s workingonprojects withSummerleeIndustrialMuseum andtheNationalRailwayMuseumto helpdojustthat.Sheissupervising aPhDstudentattheNRMwhois researchingthemuseum’s archivesto unearthforgottenrailwayverseand toprepareitfordisplay. Hernextprojectwillincludethe northofEngland,andshewould liketotakeherresearchfurtherinto Englandafterthat.“Ialsofeelthat HeritageRailwayreadersmayhave comeacrosssomeofthesehidden poeticgemsofthepast,perhaps throughresearchorbyhaving materialpasseddowninfamilies,and I’d befascinatedhearfromthem. “Ifanyonecanhelporwouldliketo discussthesubject,pleasecontactme [email protected]” Heritagerailway.co.uk 29

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NEWS

Snowdon preparing for ‘first’ visitor from Switzerland By Robin Jones

BRITAIN’S only rack railway is preparing for its first-ever visiting locomotive. Plans are in hand for the Snowdon Mountain Railway to borrow 1891-built Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works 0-4-2T No. 2 from the Brienz Rothorn Bahn (BRB) near Interlaken in Switzerland for a month this year. No. 2 was built at the same works as the Snowdon line’s classic steam locomotives. Michael Ellis, an Englishman living in Switzerland who works part-time on the BRB, said:“This has never been done before. It’s the first time an“in service train”has been taken from the Swiss Alps and operated in the UK. “Agreements are still to be signed but at this point we are in partnership with the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the SwitzerlandTravel Centre in London, SwitzerlandTourism and of course the Brienz Rothorn Bahn. “The scope is to transport BRB No. 2 and its partner coach B1, from Brienz to Llanberis where we intend to provide a special service part way up Snowdon. “The great support and flexibility at SMR and the interest and major funding from SwitzerlandTourism and STC will make it happen.

No more exclusive days at Eaton Park THE public are to be allowed back on to Norwich’s Eaton Park Miniature Railway throughout the month after the society that runs it made a U-turn. Norwich and District Society of Model Engineers upset local people last summer when its committee decided to close the track off on the last Sunday of each month and make it a members and enthusiasts-only day. However, the committee has now reversed the unpopular decision. A statement said:“Any members with smaller locomotives who cannot haul the heavy public trains or anyone who wishes to run freight wagons can do so in the morning and during public running. After all with half a mile of track there is room for all to enjoy!” The railway, which has 3½in and 5in gauge lines, has been in Eaton Park since 1957.

32 Heritagerailway.co.uk

“We are going to put Llanberis well and truly on the Swiss map.” The idea of the Welsh line borrowing a steam engine from the traditional‘home’ of rack railways was first mooted three years ago. The 2ft 7½ in gauge BRB, which climbs 4.7 miles from Brienz to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, was opened on June 17, 1892, and its two designers, engineer Alexander Lindner and contractorTheo Bertschinger, were supported by the mountain railway pioneer Roman Abt, who had responsibility for equipping the line with his newly-developed Abt double lamella rack system. The line was designed to carry 25,000 passengers per annum but only managed 5000 passengers in the first year and struggled financially, a situation made worse by the opening of nearby railways. Trains were suspended on August 1, 1914 as a result of the First World War, but did not restart until June 13, 1931. Unlike other Swiss mountain lines, the BRB was not electrified and this made it a special attraction as from 1953 to 1990 it was the only steam-operated line in Switzerland. Although other Swiss mountain railways offer special‘steam’trips this is

Brienz Rothorn Bahn No.2 is earmarked for a high-profile visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway this year. BRB the only line which offers a full steam service, the diesel locomotive only being used for additional trains and for light traffic periods.

The BRB reaches a height of 7362ft, about twice the height of Wales’highest mountain.The line is Switzerland’s fourth-highest railway.

Do you remember Hampshire’s steam days? THE Mid Hants Railway has appealed for help in compiling an archive of memories of times past travelling by steam train. Everyone is welcome to share their memories as the Watercress Line is looking for a broad range of stories to paint a picture of what life was like on the railways between 1940 and 1965. Examples could include memories of evacuation or troop movements on the railways during the Second World War, collecting goods from the stations, venturing on holiday to the south coast or even emigrating through Southampton docks – all using the steam railway. Other stories to be told are those from trainspotters and of course those who worked on the railways. Collecting people’s oral histories is part of the Heritage Lottery Fund-supported Canadian Pacific restoration project. This project will see the return to steam of the Watercress Line’s flagship steam locomotive, Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35005 Canadian Pacific and two rare wooden-bodied carriages. Sharing memories will usually involve a simple face-to-face voice recording. Equally, those who would rather write their individual story or share pictures or

No. 35005 Canadian Pacific battles the right kind of snow on the Watercress line on January 21, 1963 during the Big Freeze. NIGEL KENDALL film, will also be welcome to contribute. Dave Deane, Canadian Pacific Project supervisor, said:“The story of the railways is one of massive social change and it is the human stories that bring this to life. “With this project we want to tell these

stories while we work on creating new ones.” Get in touch to arrange an interview by emailing canpac@watercressline. co.uk or dialling 01962 733810 and asking to speak to Becky Peacock or Dave Deane.

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From Country to the Heart of Town by Dora Batty (1925). LTM

Poster Girls star in Covent Garden exhibition

NER-designed Y7 0-4-0T No. 985 heads a Mid Suffolk Light Railway Santa special on December 11. JAMES KINDRED

Second Tynwald vote will decide the future of the Douglas horse tramway THE Tynwald is to hold a second vote on controversial plans to cut the Isle of Man’s world-famous Douglas horse tramway in half. As reported in our last issue, the 3ft gauge line is subject of proposals to cut its length by half as part of the £23 million redevelopment of the resort’s promenades to go before the island’s parliament –Tynwald – in December. Only the northern section of the 3ft gauge double-track line running between Strathallan and Broadway will be retained under the plans. However, a corridor will be designated so that the tracks could be extended along Loch Promenade back to the SeaTerminal in future years. The plans, announced by the island’s Department of Infrastructure,

have already caused widespread controversy and have been attacked by conservationists, enthusiasts and some Members of the House of Keys (MHKs). The Manx Electric Railway Society (MERS) has inundated elected members with e-mails and letters asking for support in keeping the tramway along the full length of the promenade. The MERS was launching a crowdfunding campaign to fight the Department over its proposals. Secretary Julian Nutter said the group will raise the funds oppose the shortening of the horse tramway and will continue to fight for its preservation. He said MHKs have been“led down the garden path”about the proposals and has accused the department of having a hidden agenda on the issue.

In December,Tynwald approved a number of plans for the reconstruction of Douglas promenade, but could not agree on the length of the horse tram tracks and that part of the proposals was defeated. With the House of Keys and Legislative Council vote split, there will be a combined vote in January’s sitting. It is intended to start work on the promenade in September. Meanwhile, the tramway’s horses may be given a new home after plans were submitted to the government. The plans would see a temporary facility built on the vacant Summerland site and include tram sheds, stables and parking.The current stables, which have been used since 1877, are in need of major repairs.

Worth Valley prepares for Scotsman crowds LOCAL councillors have held a meeting on how best to cope with the expected crowds during Flying Scotsman’s visit to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in early spring. Oxenhope parish councillors were given a presentation by KWVR operating company acting chairman Ross Graham about plans to handle the crowds. Last autumn’s Pacific Power event at the Severn Valley Railway featuring No. 60103 and A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado attracted 45,000 people, and a bumper crowd is expected a the KWVR between March 31 and April 9. Ross said that the railway was hoping to arrange five or six round trips per day during the locomotive’s visit, which will be available only for passengers with

pre-booked tickets. He said:“Among the challenges will be crowd control and parking. We are going to run a bus service to take people from various car parks. “We’re very conscious of the disruption the visit could cause if we don’t handle it properly. “For example, there will be a large contingent of photographers who will probably be parking where nobody else tends to park. “I am concerned about using fields for overspill parking, because this event will be happening at the end of what might be a very wet winter and during what could be a wet spring.” Coun Peter McManus asked if the KWVR could contactTimothyTaylor

Brewery and ask whether it might be willing to allow land to be used for temporary coach parking. Former parish council chairman Neal Cameron said the KWVR could seek advice from the organisers of the Haworth 1940s Weekend on how to safely accommodate extra vehicles. Visitors can check the railway’s website kwvr.co.uk for further information. After the KWVR visit, Flying Scotsman will head south to Sussex, running over the main line connection at East Grinstead on to the Bluebell Railway where it will appear from April 13-19. The third railway chosen by the NRM to host it this year is the West Somerset Railway, where it will haul services on September 5-7 and 9-12.

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TWO major art exhibitions will be held at LondonTransport Museum in Covent Garden this year. Prize for Illustration 2017: Sounds of the City, will run from May 19-September 3. Poster Girls: 20th century female graphic artists, will be held from October 13 to summer 2018. Sounds of the City is an exhibition of 100 illustrations that interpret artists’relationships with sound in an urban context taking inspiration from the familiar, the curious, the persistent and the distinctive chorus of sounds we hear about us day and night, celebrating the hubbub and the quiet spaces, the songs and the sounds, of vibrant, diverse, multilayered cities. Girl power comes to Covent Garden when Poster Girls – a major new exhibition about 20th and 21st century female graphic artists opens. It will highlight some of the key female artists who have designed for LondonTransport andTransport for London including Dora Batty, Herry Perry, Laura Knight, Anna Zinkeisen, Margaret Calkin James and Freda Lingstrom.The artists and featured work will be examined and contextualised by both the era in which they lived and worked and their style, looking at influences both from within the design community and from the wider world. As well as stunning original posters from LondonTransport Museum’s collection, Poster Girls will include accompanying material such as letters, books and ceramics, photographs and original artworks. Both exhibitions take place at the Exterion Media Gallery, LondonTransport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza,WC2E 7BB. Entry is included in the adult admission ticket, which allows unlimited daytime entry for a whole year. Children go free. For advance booking information, telephone 020 7565 7298 or visit www.ltmuseum.co.uk Heritagerailway.co.uk 33

NEWS

Enthusiasts vow to fight shock closure of railway museum By Geoff Courtney

A GROUP of railway enthusiasts in Australia has vowed to fight for the survival of one of the country’s major railway museums, home to a prized collection of UK-built steam locomotives, after its dramatic and unexpected closure in November. As reported in last month’s Heritage Railway, Canberra Railway Museum closed its doors on November 15, called a halt to all the railtours it operates, changed all the external gate locks, instructed restoration projects to cease, and transferred two steam engines and two heritage diesels to another museum 150 miles away. One of the locomotives moved was recently-restored No. 6029, a 4-8-4+48-4 Garratt built by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in 1953 for New SouthWales Government Railways and currently the world’s largest operational steam engine. The other was also a Beyer Peacock product, 1903-built 4-6-0 No. 3016. The museum was run by the Australian CapitalTerritory division of the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS ACT), which also owned the two locomotives, while on site were three other Beyer Peacock products, 4-4-0 No. 1210 dating from 1878 – an engine of such historical significance that it is listed as a heritage object – 4-6-4T No. 3013 of 1903, and No. 3102, a 4-6-0 built in 1912. Following the shock closure of the museum, David Sommerville, president of ARHS ACT, sent a message to members explaining that a recent

financial review had revealed certain matters that were severely restricting cash flow, while additionally a downturn in the rail freight industry had hit the society’s commercial freight arm, ESPEE Railroad Services. The society’s liabilities, he said, were more than $500,000 (approximately £300,000), and the society’s council had resolved to place it in voluntary administration, with Deloitte Canberra appointed as provisional liquidator, which in this role had taken control of all the assets of the society and the Canberra Railway MuseumTrust.

Once restructured

David said that the move of Nos. 6029 and 3016 toTrainworks Railway Museum inThirlmere, south-west of Sydney, was to safeguard them from pilfering and souvenir hunters, and said they would be returned once the society had been successfully restructured and freed of debt, which the society’s council believed could be achieved.That positive note, however, was somewhat tempered when he admitted in a subsequent media interview that permanent closure of the museum, which opened in the early-1980s, was a real possibility. However, a group of ARHS ACT members who have been shaken by the unexpected news have set their sights on reversing the decision. Calling themselves Friends of the Canberra Railway Museum, the enthusiasts said in an online post that they would work to ensure the museum and its assets were not sold off or dispersed, but remained

in situ as an enjoyable place to visit and used for educational purposes, especially in the area of rail heritage. “Is Canberra Railway Museum worth saving? Most definitely,” said the post. It added that a number of long-term, life and foundation members had formulated a plan to save the assets and had already held meetings with Deloitte and local government officials, who had acted favourably to the plans, while an experienced legal team was providing support and assistance and taking them through the legalities of the situation. “Obviously, the past has happened and cannot be changed. However, we can plan for the future.The museum will have to start off modestly with static displays, and build up to running local trips, while the fabric of building a successful fully-operational museum is worked on.” Inviting enthusiasts to become a Friend, the post said there was no membership fee involved.“By having a large number of Friends we will be able to demonstrate to the relevant authorities that the continuation of a railway museum in Canberra will be viable and an important tourist asset.” Speaking exclusively to Heritage Railway following the post, Friends’ spokesman Peter Anderson said that after the initial shock of the museum’s closure, there was a growing movement to plan for a different future, which would be built on the lessons being learned by the Friends. “We are looking to reach into the community to embrace new ideas in

reinvigorating this home of treasured community assets of steam and diesel locomotives, rolling stock and artefacts telling the story of rail in and around Australia’s national capital. “A working group has been formed whose legal focus is on a complex trust arrangement that had been designed by the museum’s council many years ago to protect the precious collection should an event such as forced closure due to financial default take place.”

Extensive benefits

Peter said the Friends were confident they could demonstrate to the community and ACT government the present and future extensive benefits of the museum. “Refocusing the management of the museum will be critical, building on its volunteer strengths and relevance to the community. I have already noted the keen interest within the ACT government in exploring ways to secure such a future,” he said. “We are looking at not just the government, but also museum members, the private sector and philanthropists to examine the key role they could play in the resurrection of this once great organisation – one that attracted global interest by rebuilding and operating Beyer-Garratt No. 6029.” Peter said the Friends were“thrilled” by the number of ideas and offers of help.“We are already developing a new organisation model based on a successful structure employed by other heritage railways.”

Giant at rest: The massive proportions of 1953-built former New South Wales Government Railways Beyer-Garratt No. 6029 are illustrated in this profile of the 4-8-4+4-8-4 at Canberra on May 16, 2015, shortly after its return to steam following a seven-year restoration. This UK-built giant is at the centre of moves to reopen Canberra Railway Museum, which to the anger of enthusiasts was unexpectedly closed in mid-November. HOWARD MOFFAT

34 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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NRM gives standard gauge wagon to Welshpool By Robin Jones THE National Railway Museum has gifted a standard gauge wagon to a 2ft 6in gauge line. TheWelshpool & Llanfair Light Railway is now the proud owner of the 1925-built GWR five-plank open wagon No.W108246.TheYork museum has made this vehicle available as part of a rolling stock collections review. The heritage line intends to display the wagon atWelshpool Raven Square station in order to demonstrate the transhipment of goods that took place between the railway and the main line in pre-preservation days. Standard gauge wagons were once common beside (although not on) theWLLR. At the interchange with the main line atWelshpool station, the light railway had exchange sidings over which goods were transhipped between the two railways.The former cattle docks still exist, complete with a short section of mixed-gauge track, andWelshpoolTown Council is planning to restore this area as a historical exhibit. Theoriginal majorreasonfor constructingtheWelshpool&Llanfairline in1902-03wastoconnecttheagricultural

areasurroundingLlanfairCaereinion with theimportantmarkettownofWelshpool, carryingcoalandothersuppliesup thevalleyandreturningwithlivestock, timberandotheragriculturalproductsfor Welshpoolandotherpointsonthe main-linerailway. In a conversation with the National Railway Museum,WLLR general manager Charles Spencer mentioned the railway’s interest in recreating the transhipment scene at the railway’s currentWelshpool terminus of Raven Square as part of the Llanfair line’s mandate to educate the public about the railway’s history. After the transfer of ownership was arranged, theWLLR organised transport from Shildon toWelshpool.

Taking responsibility

Charles said:“We are delighted to be taking responsibility for this heritage vehicle and to have the opportunity of demonstrating how the narrow-gauge railway served the rural community with a connection to the big railway. Having the wagon helps us fulfil our mandate as an educational charity to preserve and display our part of Britain’s railway heritage.”

The GWR wagon from the National Collection that is now in the custody of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway is welcomed by the line’s officials at Raven Square station. WLLR NRM senior curator Anthony Coulls said:“TheWLLR has an outstanding record for preserving and displaying heritage goods wagons, something which is paramount to the museum, allowing the public to appreciate and understand fully.TheWLLR runs transhipment demonstrations which the museum knew would interest railway enthusiasts and helped us to make the decision to entrust the wagon to them.” TheWLLR regularly runs vintage weekends featuring mixed trains, including the railway’s three replica Pickering carriages and heritage wagons hauled by one of the original Beyer Peacock 0-6-0Ts built for the opening of the line in 1903.Vintage steam and petrol road and farm vehicles are often displayed and on the move

The Subway Anniversary Coach on the Glasgow Underground. HUGH DOUGHERTY

Subway car marks line’s 120th anniversary By Hugh Dougherty

STRATHCLYDE Partnership forTransport has turned out Glasgow Subway car No. 101 in a mock, historic livery as original car No. 55, complete with simulated trellis gates on the doors, to mark 120 years of the 4ft gauge system. Thespecially-liveriedcarjoined inthe celebrationsonDecember14,the exact 120th anniversaryoftheline’s openingby theGlasgowDistrictSubwayCompany in1896,byrunning inservicewhile performersappearedatstations andlocal radiostationsranthemedcompetitions. A series of events are also planned, and SPT has set up a special microsite, spt.co.uk/120,which charts the history

of the line and will give advance notice of milestone events taking place throughout 2017. SPT chief executive Gordon MacLellan said:“This is an important birthday for us. The 120th is an opportunity to look at all that has happened to the Subway since its opening in 1896.We know that the Subway holds a very special place in the hearts of many Glaswegians, and others, so we are keen to mark these milestones.” The Glasgow Subway was operated by cable until 1935, when Glasgow CorporationTransport bought the 6 ½-mile circular railway, and electrified the original Oldbury-built carriages using tramway traction equipment. In 1977, the line was closed for three

years for modernisation, using new Metro Cammell-built rolling stock serving its original, now refurbished 15 stations. A further modernisation process in now underway with a £288 million investment by SPT, including modernised stations, smart ticketing and driverless trains, due to be operational by 2020. Several railway heritage bodies and museums have expressed an interest in acquiring the current 40-year-old rolling stock when it comes out of service in 2020. A spokeswoman said: “We are considering various expressions of interest at this stage and will make decisions over the coming months.”

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at the Llanfair end of the line, and transshipment activities with the new wagon will add to the shunting and other demonstrations that are featured on these weekends.

Original yard

TheWLLR’s Raven Square station is located one mile up the line from the originalWelshpool yard, which was reached by a section of line that ran through the town.Today’s passengers board the narrow gauge train at Raven Square for the eight-mile journey to the farming town of Llanfair Caereinion. Trains run at weekends from Easter to October and during the week from May to September.The regular timetable and special events calendar are available at www.wllr.org.uk

THE Stephenson Locomotive Society has presented Allan C Baker and Mike G Fell with its second annual literary award. The 2016 award was presented during the recent Warley National Model Railway Show weekend for their book The Stafford & Uttoxeter Railway, published by Black Dwarf Lightmoor. In presenting the award Dr Michael Bailey, the locomotive historian and society president, emphasised the book’s quality of research and in depth coverage matching the quality reproduction by the publisher. Left to right, are Mike G Fell, book designer Stephen Phillips and Allan C Baker. JOHN NEW/SLS

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NEWS

The bell tolls for Britain’s largest locomotive class By Geoff Courtney

NOSTALGIA takes many forms, and at its core are many subjects. It may be memories of family or friends, perhaps a long-remembered incident, a former family home, or a beloved pet. It is about recalling what once was, but may never be again. For many railway enthusiasts, at its heart is the steam locomotive, coupled with the so-called‘golden age’of steam. Kings, Merchant Navies, Princess Coronations or A4s will feature strongly – their sight, sound and smell being the essential fabric of trainspotting. Lesser classes will also resonate, workhorses often away from the main line and on the byways of the national network at the head of a freight or resort-bound branch line holiday service. To most, diesels don’t have the same ring nor tug at the heartstrings with the mighty pull of a steam engine. They are usually remembered with a certain fondness rather than misty-eyed nostalgia, although I readily recall my awe when King’s Cross began to echo to the sound of the Deltics as they started their reign on the East Coast Main Line.

Increasingly common

Lower down the diesel pecking order came the shunters, which to a trainspotter of the late 1950s and early 1960s was just about as boring as it could get. Scribble down the number and move on to what mattered – steam in its various forms. From 1953, what was to become the Class 08 was an increasingly common sight, efficient, compact and practical 0-6-0s that shuffled around the yards

One of the many and of the few: D3991, one of nearly 1000 Class 08 diesel shunters in operation on the BR network, at Gloucester Horton Road (85B) on November 26, 1961. The 0-6-0 was built at Derby in September 1960 and is one of the few still commercially operational today. NORMAN PREEDY and motive power depots but failed to set the trainspotters’pulses racing.Yes, something new to underline in our Ian Allan ABCs, but quickly forgotten. More than six decades later, the class survives on the national network, but in dwindling numbers, and the recent news that DB Cargo has put up for sale its remaining fleet of 08s – totalling 24 locomotives, including a sole 09 derivative – somehow seems not only the end of an era but close to a final nail in the coffin of the class. And so, almost overnight, the Class 08 has achieved a status that would have seemed impossible even a few

years ago – it is now filed under‘N’for nostalgia. The 08s have not only earned entry into the bank of nostalgia, but are also in the UK railway hall of fame, due to it being the most numerous class of locomotives ever to have operated in the UK. Just under 1000 were built at Crewe, Darlington, Derby, Doncaster and Horwich works, and this number swells to 1193 if the Class 09 and 10 derivatives are added. Based on an LMS design that was built between 1945-52 and became TOPS class 11, the first 08 – No. 13000,

Midland-bound: GWR No. 4077 Chepstow Castle departs from Penzance with ‘The Cornishman’ on July 22, 1957, at the start of a nine-hour journey to Wolverhampton Low Level. Penzance was an outpost of the 08 diesel shunter class that spread as far as Forres, more than 700 miles away. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE

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subsequently D3000 – was completed at Derby in November 1952 and entered traffic early the following year. Production continued until 1962, and the class was allocated to all six BR Regions, from Penzance (83G) in the far South West to more than 700 miles away at Forres (60E), east of Inverness. How well I remember them going about their business in the motive power depot, works and sidings at Stratford (30A), which was home to about 20 of the class in the late-1950s, as were two other MPDs in the capital, King’s Cross (34A) and Old Oak Common (81A).

Heritage interest

The first member of the class to be withdrawn was D3193 in 1967, followed by four more before theTOPS renumbering in 1973, including the now preserved class pioneer No. 13000. As withdrawals gathered pace heritage railways took an increasing interest, and one recent count was that more than 70 have been preserved. The locomotives being sold by DB Cargo range from 08405 (D3520, built at Derby in June 1958) to Horwichbuilt 08922 (D4152), one of the last to enter service, in November 1962. One of the last it may be, but the fact that it emerged to traffic 54 years ago emphasises the longevity of the class. The DB Cargo sale follows eight other members of the class being offered for sale by the company last year, when it was operating as DB Schenker, meaning it has offloaded more than 30 in the space of 18 months. The bell is certainly tolling for the most ubiquitous locomotive class ever seen on the UK national network.

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Three Seaburn Pullman cars offered for sale By Roger Melton SUNDERLAND City Council is offering three Pullman coaches for sale along with a BR Mk.1TSO. The coaches formed part of the Pullman Lodge Hotel at Seaburn and the site has recently been acquired by the local authority. The three Pullmans – Rosalind and Padua with six-wheel bogies and Sapphire with four-wheel bogies – are survivors of later use as holiday homes or mobile offices. As such, they have very good interiors, with much of the priceless panelling intact. However, all three date from the early 1920s and are of all-timber construction, they do not have a separate steel

chassis. Indeed, this design feature may preclude them being restored to running order, even for 25mph running. The problem is compounded by the fact that the 12-wheelers are on their original bogies, which are timberframed, albeit clad in protective steel sheet. So far as is known, there is no precedent for a timber-bogied coach running nowadays, let alone an alltimber passenger carrying vehicle, and even to get dispensation for low speed use on a heritage line is likely to be problematical.. Lastly, there is an additional problem in that at least one of the Pullmans and the Mk.1 have had large sections of body cut away to make for easier access between them.

Two of the coaches outside the Pullman Lodge Hotel at Seaburn. ROB BISHOP/CREATIVE COMMONS For those restorers with very deep pockets, a lot of ambition and a need for quality static catering vehicles these coaches could be an attractive proposition and the interiors are said to be in very good condition. The council is looking to clear it for redevelopment with a tentative target for the coaches to be removed by the end of March. The person responsible at the council is valuation surveyor Kevin Simm and he is looking for expressions of

interest based on the following criteria: firstly, what particular significance the carriages have to your railway – did they used to run or originate in the North East and Yorkshire area? Secondly, for what use are they intended and how you could restore them, and thirdly, how they could be safely removed? Kevin can be contacted at 0191 5612637 or at Economy and Place Directorate, Sunderland City Council, Room 2.74, Civic Centre, Sunderland, SR2 7DN.

Bedfordshire village to finally get railway station... 144 years late By Geoff Courtney

THE quiet Bedfordshire village of Stevington is to get its own station... nearly 150 years after being ignored during the Victorian railway boom. The settlement of some 700 souls was located literally within sight and sound of the railway that linked the county town with Northampton, but the line’s nearest station was four miles away, at Turvey. Now, though, that will soon change. The 22½ mile line is no more, having been closed to passengers in 1962, but Stevington is soon to witness the opening of its very own station. Mind you, there’s a catch for those villagers who may want to enjoy rail travel, and a clue lies in the name chosen for the station – not Stevington, but St Evington.

For this newcomer to the railway scene is being built in an upstairs room in the historic Stevington Baptist chapel, and is being created in OO gauge by a group of modellers led by local resident Graham Wareing. On Sundays the congregation worships, on Mondays the needleworkers meet, on Wednesdays the 360-year-old building hosts a bible study meeting – and on alternate Thursdays, Graham and his fellow model enthusiasts continue their task of bringing miniature locomotives and rolling stock to the attractive village. “When the Bedford & Northampton Railway built the line it passed within half-a-mile of the village, but the route’s nearest station was four miles away at Turvey,” said Graham, who has been attending the chapel for 45 years.

Making tracks: Members of Stevington Railway Modellers with their partially-completed St Evington station layout. From left: David Bonham, Peter Evans, Eric Patterson, Peter O’Dell, Graham Wareing and Terry Horsman. GEOFF COURTNEY Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

In 2014, the Stevington Railway Modellers was formed, a group of like-minded individuals who decided to design and build a model railway based on the line that ran close to the village. When complete, the layout will incorporate St Evington station, two lines with four loops, digital command control, and locomotives of the type that would have operated on the line. There will also be miniature versions of the chapel and another distinctive local landmark, a restored working windmill that was built in 1770, operated commercially until 1939, and is the only complete windmill in Bedfordshire. Graham, a 65-year-old gardener who was a keen trainspotter in the late-1950s and early 1960s –“my dad John was mad on trains and got me interested”– estimated it would take another two years to complete the 16ft long layout, which is being built to a high standard and is sectioned so that it can broken down and transported to exhibitions. Although built by the Bedford & Northampton Railway, the line, which opened in June 1872, was operated from the outset by the Midland Railway, and vested in that company in 1885. It was closed to passengers by BR in March 1962 and to freight in January 1964 with the exception of a short stretch near Northampton that served an MoD depot at Piddington until 1981. Ironically, in recent times a private railway ran on a stretch of the old trackbed between the villages of Turvey and Stevington. Named the Stevington and Turvey Light Railway, it was a 2ft gauge line established in the early-1980s by former members of the Surrey Light Railway. Rolling stock included a collection of diesels, one of which was a Hudson Hunslet 28hp, while there was also a workshop, locomotive cover, and a signalbox housing a 31 lever Westinghouse L frame from Battersea Park Junction signalbox. Sadly, the three-quarter mile line was closed in July 2014 after a series of metal thefts. The Bedford to Northampton line has thus witnessed two closures – in the 1960s by BR, and in 2014. Graham and his group of modellers aim to rectify that, with a layout that will bring a station to Stevington for the first time. Heritagerailway.co.uk 37

NEWS Lottery backs bid to boost M&GN line’s heritage THE history of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway’s line from Norwich to Aylsham is to be brought into focus under a new county council interpretation scheme costing £668,000 with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund. The 26 mile stretch is now the Marriott’s Way long-distance footpath and cycleway, which is used by around 100,000 cyclists, walkers and horse riders each year. It is named after the chief engineer of the MGNJR,William Marriott. Norfolk County Council wants to bring the railway heritage of the trail to life. Its scheme will involve the creation of a new mobile phone app, allowing visitors to use augmented reality to explore the line’s history. They will be able to see what certain parts of the trail looked like in the steam age from their location, using similar software to that in the Pokemon Go app. The council will be speaking to people who used or worked on the line to record their memories as part of the project. The project is expected to cost £667,906, with the Lottery announcing a £455,000 grant in December and £167,399 coming from developers through planning obligations. MartinWilby, chairman of the county council’s environment, development and transport committee, said:“It’s a race against time to preserve memories of the historic route, so the project will be recording and preserving the first-hand accounts of people who used to work and travel on, and live nearby the old railway line.

Appreciate and explore

“Overall our aim is to help people to better understand the industrial past of the trail and encourage them to appreciate and explore the haven for nature and recreation on their doorsteps that it is today.” During the past year, £310,000 has been spent on improving the surface of the trail betweenThorpe Marriott and Norwich. This year, there will also be a series of events along the trail, including a marathon and vintage cycle rally in September.The council also hopes to train 200 volunteers to assist with heritage and conservation. The line fromThemelthorpe to Norwich was built in 1882 by the Lynn & Fakenham Railway, two years before the GER opened the route fromThemelthorpe to Aylsham. Both routes were closed to passenger trains in 1959, along with much of the MGNJR system. In 1960, the two by-then freight-only lines were joined by theThemelthorpe curve, which was said to be the sharpest bend on the national network at the time. The curve facilitated the movement of concrete products from Lenwade station. The line closed in 1985 when concrete production ended.

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Top heritage award for Leighton Buzzard By Robin Jones

THE Leighton Buzzard Railway has carried off Britain’s top heritage sector award after opening its new £386,000 station at Page’s Park. The Heritage Railway Association confirmed at its board meeting on December 10 that the 2016 Peter Manisty Award for excellence would go to the 2ft gauge Bedfordshire line. This award is named in memory of the long-serving chairman of HRA predecessor the Association of Railway Preservation Societies, the late Captain Peter F Manisty RN, MBE. This occasional award is made for an outstanding contribution to railway preservation. The new building, which is three times bigger than the structure it replaced, and includes space for local community activities, was officially opened on October 29, but was first used by the public at the end of July. The ceremonial first brick was laid by localTory MP Andrew Selous on February 20, and the official opening was performed by LBS Society president Alan Moore, the major benefactor of the Bodmin &Wenford Railway. The‘Museum Gateway’station building is designed in the style of the LNWR island-platform structure at the town’s main line station, and 74% of the cost was raised from within the modest membership of 419, with £100,000 in grant aid for the community rooms. That capped a momentous year for

the former sand-carrying line, which in September launched Orenstein & Koppel 0-6-0WT Pedemoura – now the most powerful steam locomotive on the line – after an 11-year restoration. Also, the line completed the heavy overhaul, in conjunction with owner the Greensand Railway MuseumTrust, of Baldwin 0-6-0ST No. 778 so it could appear in the centenary commemoration event of the Somme conflict in 1916, at the LBR’s twinned French railway, the CdF Froissy Cappy Dompierre. Shortly after its return to the UK, it appeared to support the Moseley Railway Trust’s Tracks to theTrenches event which commemorated the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Return to service

In addition, the LBR completed the overhaul and return to service of four home-based locomotives, O&K 0-4-0WT PCAllen, Baguley 0-4-0TRishra, deWinton 0-4-0VBT Chaloner and O&K 0-6-0WT Elf. In conjunction with another accredited museum,The Higgins at Bedford, the LBR celebrated the centenary of Simplex builder Motor Rail &Tram Car Co coming to Bedford in 1916. As ordered by the Ministry of Munitions, Motor Rail assembled and supplied 823 locomotives by the time of the Armistice in 1918.The exhibition ran from April 23 to October 2 and was seen by 19,465 visitors, a 28% increase over the previous year. With the support of Bedford Borough Council, the LBR sited a large road sign

on the Ropewalk roundabout illustrating the Motor Rail 40hp protected Simplex. The roundabout lies 200 yards from the Houghton Road site of Motor Rail’s 1916 works. The LBR also staged its own Simplex weekend where guest locomotives joined home-based examples, and a 17-locomotive headed passenger train set a new record. As announced in our previous issue, the HRA Interpretation Award for 2016, sponsored by HeritageRailway, is to go to the South Devon Railway for the creation ofTotnes Riverside station using parts from GWR station elsewhere, and creating a purposeful destination in serving both the town centre and the Totnes Rare Breeds Farm. TheRailway Magazine Annual Award for Service to Railway Preservation goes toTomTighe, the Great Central Railway’s locomotive engineering manager. TheRail Express ModernTraction Award has been won by the SevernValley Railway for the opening of its purposebuilt diesel depot at Kidderminster. Other major awards will be announced at the HRA’s annual dinner at the Grand Central Station inWolverhampton, formerly the GWR’s Wolverhampton Low Level station. Presentations will be made by Sir Peter Hendy, the chairman of Network Rail, who is also the guest speaker. Tickets for the dinner, which follows the HRA’s annual general meeting, are on sale to the general public online via hrashop.com

Pedemoura heads the official opening train at the new Page’s Park station, which has earned the Leighton Buzzard Railway the Heritage Railway Association’s Peter Manisty Award for 2016. LBR Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

More‘Jacobite’ Santas for next Christmas?

Fifteen years after it was donated to the Llangollen Railway as a kit of parts, Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 1731 of 1942 Jennifer has hauled a service train on the line. The engine spent its working life as Stocksbridge-based Samuel Fox & Co Ltd’s No. 20 and after spending some time in preservation based at the West Somerset Railway, was donated to the LR by Winson Engineering of Daventry in 2001. It was rebuilt there and ran in 2008, afterwards being hired out to lines such as the Colne Valley and Epping Ongar railways. During the LR’s Winter Warmer event on December 30, Jennifer stood in for unready GWR 2-6-2T No. 5199 and headed a train comprising three Mk.1 coaches away from Llangollen at 10.15am. It is pictured at Berwyn ready to restart on the gradient. Jennifer suffered a fractured steam manifold last autumn and came back to Llangollen for it to be repaired and is now ready for hire again. GEORGE JONES/LR

WEST Coast Railways’venture into the festive season by running Santa Specials and post-Christmas‘Jacobite’trains from Fort William to Mallaig is, judging on early reports, likely to be repeated this year. Bookings for the Fort William Glenfinnan shuttles showed a good take up by early December and at least one Fort WilliamMallaig‘Christmas Express’train was fully booked. So the prospects appear to be encouraging for this December. Turning to the now traditional summer‘Jacobite’services, West Coast is taking advantage of a late Easter to open the season in April whereas the timetable normally starts in May. Latest information shows ‘Easter Specials’run from Good Friday, April 14, to Easter Monday. The summer timetable commences Friday, May 1 and runs to the beginning of October. Afternoon trains are introduced on June 17 and will operate until October 1.

Tribute to Eastleigh engineman extraordinaire Roy Sloper By Don Benn EASTLEIGH engineman Roy Sloper passed away on December 19 – he was 95 years old. He had a long railway career which started as a cleaner on the Isle of Wight, where he was born. He moved to the mainland soon after the outbreak of the war – being encouraged to make the move given the national situation, and that it offered the opportunity for quicker promotion than would have been possible staying on the island. Having got to Eastleigh he then remained there and saw the end of steam in 1967, progressing to modern traction and working with Wayne Thompson, now a well known DB Cargo driver, amongst others. Wayne described him as“an absolutely smashing bloke to work with. He was 95 but you would think he was much younger. Always smiling. A sad loss”. He attended the annual Eastleigh reunion until 2015 and at the Nine Elms reunion at Sheffield Park in 2007. Then aged 86 Roy said that generally the engine crews were not sorry to see the back of steam given the associated dirt and the condition of many of the engines and looked forward to a cleaner job, but then he found driving multiple units a lonely job and missed the comradeship of the footplate. He may not have mourned the loss of

Driver Roy Sloper on ‘Black Five’ No. 45186 in 1966. steam but he was a great engineman and gave this writer his first footplate ride in 1964, during a week which saw him produce no less than three runs from Southampton to Waterloo in 79 minutes or less including one of the fastest-ever times with steam.This came about after he had arranged late running with the Weymouth crew who had brought the train from Weymouth. He told the Weymouth driver that he would‘fix’the lost time ticket... and then recovered all of the nine minutes late start to arrive at Waterloo on time. He

Roy Sloper at the Nine Elms reunion at Sheffield Park in 2007.

was so pleased with this run which I am sure was done for my benefit.That’s the kind of bloke he was. A fellow enthusiast from the days of steam writes:“My great memory of Roy was the night he was on the 20.51 arrival in 1967. An excellent run which reached Waterloo at about 20.40.“Prior to arrival Les Kent set off to make a collection for the crew from the usual suspects only to find ordinary passengers chipping in. I recall he raised close on £12, a lot of money then and the equivalent of about £200 today.’’

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It wasn’t always plain sailing though and I remember a very rough trip with him on the footplate of No. 34034 with a heavy Bournemouth semi fast train.The engine was overdue for a boiler washout and simply would not steam. Roy helped the fireman but to no avail so he just got on with it without moaning and adjusted the regulator and cut off accordingly. He coped with any engine and any problem out on the road with a smile. This was Roy Sloper, a lovely man and great engineman. RIP Roy. Heritagerailway.co.uk 39

NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL

A TRIP TO THE

UNKNOWN

Britain’s heritage railways may set out to recreate the experience of a bygone age but they still have to interact with the digital age. Peter Brown reports on how the use of social media now has potentially far-reaching implications for the steam movement.

S

o many changes have happened in recent years affecting the lives of all of us but perhaps the one that stands out most is social media and all the implications that have come with it. TripAdvisor is one of the spin-offs where it appears that unqualified people can go to an event or purchase an item and publicly condemn the supplier whether a product, entertainment or a day out. Heritage railways and museums have won top accreditation from TripAdvisor and if not, they have received very positive reviews. But there are also those that have been very negative. So how are the people who run such venues coping with it? Here at Heritage Railway we decided to run an exclusive survey and despite the often salacious comment from a reviewer, most of the people we surveyed take the reviews very seriously

LMS Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41312 departs from Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway. EDWARD DYER

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indeed and if they consider the remarks to be truthful they act upon them. Such actions can only be good for the whole heritage movement. For our survey to be accurate we have picked out heritage railways at random, from the major players, to the some of the smallest concerns whether standard or narrow gauge. Likewise we have contacted museums and steam centres. There were a few that declined to take part, although they have been in the minority. And at the end of it all we got a statement from TripAdvisor itself as to the legality of what it offers and what its reviewer should be adhering to.

Most favourable

Starting off at the Great Central Railway, its marketing manager Kate Tilley tells us that most of the reviews they have received have been most favourable but she also advises

others to be prepared to answer points made. “GCR has received 782 reviews on TripAdvisor, 717 of these do fall into the ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ categories and we have received a Certificate of Excellence, which is a great marketing tool,” she says. “Having said that, some of the reviews obviously don’t shed such a good light on the business and we have found that a lot of these reviews can be somewhat unbalanced, with visitors having misconstrued website information, for example. “We seem to perform better than other major local attractions in the area. Sadly, we weren’t resourced enough to answer any reviews.” Trevor Eady, general manager of the North Norfolk Railway, reckons it’s difficult to gauge just what impact the reviews have, but admits to being happy with most of them. “The North Norfolk Railway receives regular certificates from TripAdvisor,” he reveals. “We do display

Visitors to the 2016 Certificate of Excellence holder, the Didcot Railway Centre, admire GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II taking a lunch break from pulling passenger trains on Wednesday, August 24.

BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73050 City of Peterborough arrives at Wansford from Yarwell with the 2.05pm Nene Valley Railway service to Peterborough on Thursday, August 16, 2012. The railway has the 2016 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

these but it is difficult to establish what effect this has on potential visitors. “We receive a number of references on the site, the majority of which are good but again there are no obvious indications to us whether this attracts more visitors or not. Having said this, any publicity is good publicity and hopefully our inclusion and certificate level does result in more visitors to our attraction.” Another line that sees TripAdvisor as an advantage is the Mid Hants Railway. Marketing manager Woodies Mountford observes: “TripAdvisor is free and influential. With a Result of Excellence it works to our advantage. Any bad reviews obviously have to be replied to. In addition this is good feedback for where we can improve if needed.”

Digital age

For the Dartmouth, Steam & River Boat Company, the advice to others is not to ignore the digital age of social media. Such things seem so contrastingly different while travelling behind a steam engine between Paignton and Kingswear. “In this digital age every part of our daily life is monitored by social media, ignore the power of it at your peril, especially TripAdvisor, as it is one of the most powerful, reflecting every angle of a personal experience of a day out,” declares general manager Peter Roach. “It is very rewarding for both the company and staff, to see that in the outdoor activities section for Paignton, the railway is rated as top with almost 2300 comments posted, but it must be remembered that for every good comment there are so many people that have had a great day out without feeling the need to comment. “However, get things wrong and you will receive the bad reviews. With this in mind, as well as what the company has to offer, and value for money, we stress to all our staff as well as those working on the boat and bus part

A busy platform one at Loughborough with GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 waiting to haul the 12.30pm Great Central Railway service to Leicester North on Thursday, July 18, 2013. The GCR has a 2016 Certificate of Excellence.

Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway 4-6-2 No. 3 Southern Maid departs from Dungeness on November 5. MICK ALDERMAN

of the company, how important it is to be of smart professional appearance, be courteous to everyone, give accurate information and, most importantly, smile.” He adds: “However, TripAdvisor can be a very useful tool to an attraction also. There are times when those that work somewhere and the management can be too close to the action, and it is only by reading reviews that you then see your business from the visitor’s angle. So, at all times, read your reviews, good, bad or indifferent, be very grateful that people have given their time to write a review and then act if required.” Revealing detailed figures of reviews about the South Devon Railway, general manager Dick Wood is adamant that TripAdvisor has to be taken seriously. “We take TripAdvisor very seriously, whether it is praise which is usually shared with paid and volunteer staff, and criticism which is taken up with all relevant managers. We also aim to respond to all posts,” he admits. “We have had consistently good accreditations from them and been granted Certificates of Excellence for the last few years, which we not only use in our publicity, but also our visitors find very helpful. “We have had 748 reviews so far, of which 521 have been ‘excellent’ and 181 rated as ‘very good’, so 702 in total and a positive 94 per cent, which is impressive. The ‘average’ posts have numbered 28 in total (3.74 per cent) and ratings of ‘poor’, just seven and ‘terrible’ only five, so 1.6 per cent. ” He continues: “By taking on board TripAdvisor comments, where appropriate, they enable us to fine-tune our product. It is very beneficial to have objective views on what we offer and the way they perceive our interaction with our customers. It’s easy to be too close to what we do, while not every bit of criticism is always justified, sometimes it is and we can only learn from it.

“It’s always good to get praise and it’s vital that all those people in customer facing positions are told that the public does appreciate their efforts and the high level of service they provide.” Amanda Kilburn, business development director of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, operators of the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, tells us that they are proud of their TripAdvisor accreditation, the Certificate of Excellence for 2014 and 2015. “It is still one of the most popular ratings website for travellers worldwide,” she explains. “It enables us, along with other feedback, to react to comments about our strong and weaker points where necessary.”

Readily available

“It is readily available to all our volunteers and staff too if they want to see how we are doing and we regularly use it to praise them. It also allows us to benchmark where we stand in relation to other visitor attractions in our area. Negative feedback may be seen as a disadvantage but TripAdvisor gives us the chance to reply to all comments, which we do.” A slightly different view on TripAdvisor comes from Peter Vail, general manager of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. He claims it causes much frustration among managers but he also admits the accreditation is vital in upholding standards. “TripAdvisor has a tendency to frustrate the life out of the business owner managers being reviewed, but we cannot ignore it,” he states. “I work on the basis that the best 10 per cent of reviews and worst 10 per cent of reviews can be extreme. It is the middle 80 per cent that give a true reflection of the attraction. “As a general manager I accept that the view of the middle 80 per cent is a genuine view of how visitors see the attraction. It is therefore a useful guide to demonstrate how we are doing. I do actually use quotes from TripAdvisor

Heritagerailway.co.uk 41

comments for staff training. It is important to get a good ranking in relation to other local attractions and we’d have a genuine desire to better ourselves and climb that ranking. At present we are ninth out of 178 attractions on the island. We also accept that TripAdvisor does not always compare like with like, two attractions ahead of us are free and the public like something for nothing.” He continues to point out: “The TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence must be held by any quality attraction. To not have it indicates a serious need for improvement. Our Certificate of Excellence was recently renewed with a 2016 certificate.” Peter comments further: “It is particularly disappointing to receive a poor review when the reviewer makes statements that are clearly incorrect. In such cases without delay it is good practice for the business owner to respond robustly, with clear facts. In situations where there is a failing or the visitor experience has not been up to standard, then an apology with action being taken for the future is required. “It is interesting we now receive very few direct complaints compared to just a few years ago. Such complaints now appear on TripAdvisor. Fortunately, 88 per cent of our reviews rank us four or five out of five. When we get the occasional review of one, two or three stars, then it stands out. We know that a small minority of our visitors just do not connect with the heritage experience and that can lead to a poor review.” John Jolly, who runs Mangapps Railway Museum in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, has been on both sides of the TripAdvisor fence. He is a Level Six contributor but admits to having misgivings about its application to attractions, particularly heritage railways. “I have no doubt about the relevance of hotel reviews, after all the standards relevant to hotels and to a lesser extent, restaurants, are obvious – is it clean, comfortable, quiet, is the service good etc?,” With attractions it’s more problematic,” he argues. “What one person finds incredibly interesting and enjoyable is a boring turn-off to another. “A couple of years ago we took our grandson to a Second World War-related visitor attraction. It is well known and popular and

42 Heritagerailway.co.uk

has excellent TripAdvisor reviews. However, in spite of my grandson’s strong interest in the subject and our memory of the immediate postwar period, all three of us found it very poor for a variety of reasons and I reviewed it accordingly.” He adds: “On the other hand, last month the three of us visited a village museum, based in a preserved railway station in Saskatchewan, Canada. It only had two reviews, both of them ‘terrible’. One reason was the alleged unpleasantness of the staff/volunteers. Yet we found the museum very interesting and the staff particularly pleasant and helpful. Needless to say I gave them a five star review.

Competing site

“Our own experience at Mangapps has reflected this to some extent. When TripAdvisor started listing us in 2013, the second review was quite damning. We were at a loss to understand why, but we later discovered that the reviewer had connections with another competing heritage railway site. We’ve had another similar since – so much for objective reviewing.” Mangapps has recently adopted a policy, when a visitor is particularly fulsome in their praise, of suggesting they leave a review on TripAdvisor, Google or elsewhere. “I find it interesting to note how few are TripAdvisor members and how many have never heard of it,” muses John. For the Middleton Railway research has been undertaken that has led its management to believe that positive reviews entice prospective visitors to a venue. “We had some market research done earlier this year and one of the findings from this was that positive reviews from others are one of the factors that potential visitors who have not been before take into account in deciding where to visit,” explains company secretary Dr Tony Cowling. “Since our reviews are generally very positive we were happy to take this into account. Conversely, any negative reviews would probably give an indication of things that we ought to be doing to improve the experiences of our visitors.” The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, a popular narrow gauge tourist attraction, believes in TripAdvisor as a source of information for potential visitors that also

acts as a boost for those involved with its operation. “Increasingly we use TripAdvisor as our main source of feedback from customers,” insists general manager Danny Martin. “We receive many high scores, which we are very proud of and we use that to further enthuse and recognise our frontline teams. “Similarly, an occasional low score initiates a detailed investigation to understand how we have failed or disappointed that particular customer and how as a management team we can put in place a resolution. If possible we get the writer to link to us directly by email or phone so we can engage on a personal basis to rectify the relationship. We consider it a great facility and a major support for our drive for continuous improvement to customer satisfaction.” Sarah Howsen, marketing manager at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, stresses the importance of being a part of TripAdvisor. “I believe it is essential to be an active part of TripAdvisor as an increasing number of people rely on online research before visiting an attraction,” she tells us. “To be rated so highly in our area and to have received a Certificate of Excellence proves how visitors actively review visits to attractions. “In a world where people plan their trips primarily online, having a site which is honest and open is an important marketing tool for the railway. Visitors who wouldn’t necessarily plan to visit heritage railways may see the review while looking at other places to visit and may choose to visit but before they would not have known what is on offer.” She adds: “A key point is you need to monitor your reviews and if there are any negative comments to respond and show that you listen to visitors and take all feedback, both positive and negative, on board.” But there are mixed feelings towards TripAdvisor operations on the Avon Valley Railway, where reviews are generally accepted but there is also a belief that reviewers should be more accountable, a point we made in the introduction to this survey. “TripAdvisor has a range of benefits as well as some obvious downsides, says AVR commercial and business manager Mark Simmons. “It provides a useful snapshot of how our visitors

feel we are doing and it’s lovely to be recognised for the efforts that we go to. “Visitors often post their comment and rating within a few days, which brings an immediacy to their response. I also think people like TripAdvisor reviews as they’re seen to be more informal and not part of the organisation’s corporate marketing, giving what some people see as a more truthful view on the attraction.” He argues: The biggest downside is that it’s so easy for people to make a comment or provide a low star rating, even if it seems unjustified, with little recourse. However, so long as you’re offering a consistently good day out, the vast majority of reviews should reflect this.”

Can be removed

Contrastingly, Jeremy Johnson, business advisor on the Gwili Railway, believes that a review can be removed. “With TripAdvisor it is a wonderful advertising vehicle, providing they are good reviews,” he declares. “I personally use TripAdvisor, particularly when I am looking for small guest houses to stay overnight. “I understand there are some restrictions and if something is on there that is wrong that it can be taken off. It is interesting to see people’s comments. I often wonder who these people are that bother to do such reviews.” Bluebell Railway communications director Roger Garman insists that whatever one’s view, TripAdvisor has become a universally recognised medium for the tourist to not only research an intended venue but, of course, to provide their own feedback once they have visited. “At the Bluebell Railway we have over 160,000 visitors a year and for the four quarters to June 2016, 250 had used TripAdvisor to record their sentiments about their visit,” he reveals. “In the majority of cases these were casual family visits but the Golden Arrow Dining Train, Santa Specials, Supper Trains, coach parties and weddings are included in the feedback. We are delighted with the high level of positive feedback we receive which, in 2014, earned us a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor. “It is, of course, nice to be able to pass on to our staff and volunteers the positive reports from our customers. This feedback also helps the railway in tracking that we are delivering to

Passengers arriving at Paignton on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, having travelled on the 1pm Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat service from Kingswear hauled by GWR 2-8-0T No. 5239 Goliath. The company is a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence winner.

the standards expected by our visitors. The flip side is that we do occasionally receive negative feedback.” He continues: “Each case is specifically reviewed to see what lessons can be learned to avoid future disappointments and responses given to the customer concerned. “Sometimes it can be a gap between what is expected and what is actually delivered and here again we can look at better information flow for the customer to close or minimise this gap. “We do need to learn from mistakes and customer’s poor experiences, however what we would always hope is that any visitor who is not enjoying their visit will speak to a member of our staff so that we can try and put it right on the day.” Some people in the heritage railway movement are big fans of TripAdvisor. One of these is Tracey Parkinson, general manager of the Talyllyn Railway. “I like TripAdvisor,” she says enthusiastically. “It provides a platform for our customers to give us feedback, like it or not. Do more of what people like and give us the opportunity to change what our customers don’t like. It is not really for me to say how we are treated. It is all down to the customer and what we offer on the day.” However, if you think that only the major players in the heritage railway movement get the best accreditation, a look at the Mid Suffolk Light Railway – where volunteers have worked hard to recreate what was known as The Middy line – have been well rewarded, according to marketing manager John Reeve. “We have a TripAdvisor rating of four-and-ahalf. I can’t quantify how this affects our visitor numbers but most people would have done some research on our attraction/attractions and Left: One of the plusses for visitors to the Mid Hants Railway is to be able to sit in the picnic area at Ropley while children entertain themselves in the play area and savour the sights, sounds and smells of the past. On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 they saw LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45739. Behind is LNER A4 Pacific No. 4464 Bittern and on the right, undergoing a steam test, is Southern Railway Schools class 4-4-0 No. 925 Cheltenham. The Railway holds a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

see that in the heritage railway league we are very small,” he beams. “So for us to have such a high rating has to be a good thing in helping to persuade the public to turn up. “Once we’ve got them we do turn on the charm. Plus, of course, making the point of our uniqueness in terms of being a museum/railway and trying to ensure all the inventory is keeping with the old Middy – no BR Mk.1s or rusting ‘Black Fives’ for us – only things that might or could have pertained to the old MSLR.”

Great reviews

Mid-Wales narrow gauge Corris Railway welcomes TripAdvisor reviews, press officer Amanda Jolley confirms. “TripAdvisor is a go-to website for many people before visiting attractions,” she points out. “Being listed and having great reviews is a real plus. We are really grateful for visitor’s reviews and it is so rewarding when people have really enjoyed their visit.” It was a similar reaction we received from Colin Howard, head of commercial services, West Somerset Railway. “TripAdvisor accreditation legitimises our status as a major visitor attraction,” he comments. “It gives us an insight into what our customers think of their experience. To see what we do well and, more importantly, to see where we can improve.” In Cambridgeshire on the Nene Valley Railway there is also a feeling that such reviews do some good and they also feel they spot the mischievous comments. “On the whole TripAdvisor reviews are fair and the vast majority are positive,” insists press officer Jerry Thurston. “The few poor or uncomplimentary ones we do receive are often the result of somebody turning up on a day when we are not running or following an occasion where we have had to substitute diesel power for steam, the unfortunately disappointed customer then turns to TripAdvisor to vent their frustrations. “It is noticeable too that if they are going to write a poor review they are really going to complain and in some one suspects more than a little lily gilding to really hammer their point home. All are taken very seriously, the issues are looked into and dealt with accordingly. Unreasonable or inaccurate reviews will receive a management response dealing with any

Heritagerailway.co.uk 43

spurious claims.” He adds: “Sometimes we do shake our heads with incredulity. One stinking review went into quite some detail about things like the lack of a café, opening and closing times, the list went on and on. This received an instant and strong response. Alas, the reviewer had got rather confused and wasn’t actually talking about us!”

Respond and learn

Ann Middleton, commercial manager at Didcot Railway Centre, has a policy of answering every TripAdvisor review, regardless of it being positive or negative. “We took the decision to respond to every TA review, good or bad,” she admits. “I find it very useful as it is a way of our visitors telling us what they think. Although I sometimes wish they had said something on the day, it is better to have the feedback so we can respond and learn. “We use the negative comments to improve. Many are about things we can’t do anything about such as our access up steps to the centre, but some are very useful. We used comments about friendliness and unfriendliness in our

customer care training for front of house staff and for our train operations volunteers. We have also picked up on comments about the Refreshment Room and the feedback helped with the business case for investment.” She continues: “I circulate the positive comments in our regular e-newsletter to our volunteers and staff, which is one way of rewarding them for their efforts. If someone is named or if I can guess who it was I will congratulate the volunteer or member of staff involved. The Certificate of Excellence is an opportunity for marketing the centre with a press release and web announcements. We have the TA logo on our website and leaflet.” The National Railway Museum has had some prolific accolades from TripAdvisor, so much so that it encourages reviews. “The National Railway Museum was named the eighth-best museum in the UK in TripAdvisor’s 2015 Traveller’s Choice Awards and was awarded a 2015 Certificate of Excellence based on our aggregate review score of 4.5 stars,” a museum spokesperson says. “TripAdvisor offers many benefits to the

National Railway Museum. Aside from our regular visitor exit surveys, the site provides a valuable way to collect feedback from our visitors, which we continually take on board to offer the best possible museum experience. We’re delighted that the vast majority of visitors enjoy their time with us, and we are grateful to everyone who takes the time to review us online.” Enthusiasm for TripAdvisor is also evident on the Plym Valley Railway. “TripAdvisor is important to the Plym Valley Railway as it allows customers to review the railway after a visit or event and it is valuable to gain their feedback,” insists publicity officer Daniel Phillips. “It is used a lot by the general public so having a good score on TripAdvisor is important, as it is often used as the basis for the trip. “We are able to promote our TripAdvisor as we are sent certificates and use plugins on our website to display our accreditation. It also allows responses from the railway to the public to perhaps attempt to solve a negative review or thank for a positive review. Overall it is a good website if used in the right way, but it has to be remembered that anyone can write a review and the review may not be representative of an entire visit or event.” Mervyn Leah, chairman of the popular narrow gauge Leighton Buzzard Railway, is also generally satisfied with TripAdvisor but he is very concerned about the trolls that use the site. “We welcome all forms of customer feedback and TripAdvisor adds to our knowledge of what our customers are thinking – and perhaps more importantly – saying about us,” he explains. “Over 77 per cent of our ratings are ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’, so we must be doing something right.”

Suffer from trolls

LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. 24 Calbourne departs from Ashey on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. NICK GILLIAM

Ffestiniog Railway double-Fairlie Livingston Thompson illuminated during the Locos in a Different Light event at the National Railway Museum. STEVE DONALD

44 Heritagerailway.co.uk

“Where there are constructive suggestions for improvement, we act on them so far as it is in our power to do so. We can do nothing about the housing estates that accompany part of our route, for example. Unfortunately, we all suffer from trolls, those for whom nothing was right and probably never would be. Sometimes they are raising legitimate points in an unhelpful tone, other times they are just downright unpleasant, or after a refund. Fortunately, we get relatively few.” He adds: “One criticism of TripAdvisor is that it continues to display troll reviews that are several years out of date, so incidents otherwise long forgotten spring back to life without warning. It would be nice to have a time limit on them.” Building on passenger numbers and good customer relations, the Swanage Railway relies heavily on TripAdvisor, which it tends to use as a marketing tool. It considers it to be extremely useful, as last year it carried a record breaking 217,080 passengers on five-and-a-half miles of line between Norden, Corfe Castle, Harman’s Cross and Swanage in Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck – not bad since it was rebuilt from nothing in 1976. “As a customer-focussed organisation seeking to continually improve the experience and service that we deliver to our customers, the Swanage Railway welcomes feedback from our visitors,” reveals David Rawsthorn, head of sales and marketing. “The posting of reviews on TripAdvisor enables both ourselves and potential customers to consider hundreds of visitor experiences from the customer perspective. “Each review is an opportunity in itself. Most

GER Y14 0-6-0 No. 564 approaches Weybourne with the North Norfolk Railway vintage train during a Timeline Events photo charter on November 7. JAMES KINDRED

often, a TripAdvisor review is a validation of the experience and service that we deliver but occasionally it’s a clear indication of where we need to focus our attentions. There can be no more valuable tool for improving our business than a constant stream of visitor opinion. A business ignores the insight goldmine that TripAdvisor provides at its peril.” He continues: “We occasionally get a poor review but the beauty and simplicity of TripAdvisor is that the more reviews one receives, the more accurate the overall impression given to potential customer is – and the easier it is to know where improvement is needed. If you receive a great review then share in the success. “If you receive a bad review then you must fix the problem. If you receive an unfair review then it’s important to say so and why you feel that it’s unfair. Do not ignore TripAdvisor, because it’s here to stay and is potentially the best advertising that a business can have.” Another line to benefit from TripAdvisor is the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, which claims it will help boost the interest and finances needed for its expansion programme. “We greatly value our TripAdvisor accreditation – after all it is the collective experiences of people who have had a wonderful day with us that lead to such an accolade,” says spokesman Ian Crowder. “It suggests that we are getting something right, although of course we can never rest on our laurels, so we are constantly looking to find ways to increase the enjoyment of visitors. In turn they will stay longer with us and make return visits with their friends and family. “If they are having a happy experience they are likely to spend more money which, in turn

goes towards developing what we have to offer. So the level of enjoyment grows and so too will positive TripAdvisor reviews. “High on that list of developments is the extension to Broadway and although we have a successful share offer running, a good part of our profit also goes into growing the railway and improving our facilities.”

Looked after

He adds: “Reviewers talk about the friendly way they are welcomed to the railway and looked after. We are a volunteer-run enterprise, which I think makes a big difference: we all thoroughly enjoy what we do and we want to share that enjoyment with our visitors. Not only do they experience a ride on what must rate as one of the loveliest train journeys in Britain, but they can participate in a host of family as well as enthusiast-orientated events.” “Great TripAdvisor reviews are part of the overall social media mix and there is little doubt that by telling the world how much they have enjoyed their visit, they are contributing to our rising passenger numbers, as well as our growth.” So where does the Heritage Railway Association fit into this and what does it advise members regarding TripAdvisor? In a statement it said: “Many visitors to the UK’s heritage railways are enthusiasts and pretty knowledgeable about where they’re headed and what to expect when they get there. TripAdvisor.co.uk is probably most helpful for the less-knowledgeable or less-experienced visitors. “TripAdvisor is useful for railway operators too. Not only does it flag up the things that visitors particularly enjoyed – which can

sometimes be a surprise – it can also identify areas for improvement. “Our advice to members is: by all means sign-up for TripAdvisor. But, be prepared to accept criticism as well as compliments, and above all, be ready to respond to questions or grumbles very promptly and courteously. Just as you would with Facebook or Twitter, dedicate someone to look after your TripAdvisor presence, to be sure it works well for you.” This article earlier highlighted the problem of untrained reviewers not knowing the pitfalls of critical writing, unlike the often maligned but highly-trained journalists who have to be aware of various laws. We put this to TripAdvisor and they directed us to a number of directives and guidelines on its website. As a result of that we have chosen to quote, with full and kind permission of them, a directive called Your Responsibility as a Reviewer. It states: “As a reviewer, it’s important to remember that you have a responsibility to ensure that you are sharing a truthful account of your own experience. It is strictly against our guidelines to use the threat of writing a review as a form of intimidation or coercion of any kind. “When submitting a review on TripAdvisor, you expressly agree not to post any message, information, photos or other material (“content”) that is unlawful, libellous, defamatory, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy, abusive or fraudulent.” The situation, according to most people we have spoken to at heritage railways, steam centres and museums, seems to be working. Let’s hope it continues to be that way for all those concerned.

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Galas and Special Events Guide INCLUDING RAILWAYANA AUCTIONS

SR S15 4-6-0 No. 847 climbs Freshfield bank on the Bluebell Railway. NICK GILLIAM

2017

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE

2017 GALAS AND SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE

INCLUDING RAILWAYANA AUCTIONS The complete 2017 Heritage Railway guide to special events at preserved lines and museum centres.

EVENTS are listed here in chronological order, concentrating on those of interest to the enthusiast. All railways will be holding

additional events to those listed here, which are aimed more towards the family market, details of which can be obtained direct from the

railway, but Thomas and similar events are included in the listing. The information was correct at the time of going to press,

however we strongly advise that you confirm details of a particular event with the railway concerned to avoid disappointment.

JANUARY

12: Great Central Railway: Quorn Swapmeet

2: West Lancashire Light Railway: Friendly Engines Day ■ 3/4: NorthYorkshire Moors Railway: Royal Scot ■ 6-9: Beamish Museum: Great Northern Steam Fair 7-9: Nene Valley Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 8/9: Avon Valley Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 9: Amberley Museum: Industrial Trains Day 13-19: Bluebell Railway: Flying Scotsman ■ 14-17: East Anglian Railway Museum: Easter Day Out with Thomas ■ 14-17: Great Central Railway: Easter Vintage Festival 14-17: Isle of Man Steam Railway: Rush Hour on the Railways 14-17: South Devon Railway: Easter Heritage Gala 14-23: Mid Hants Railway: Day out WithThomas ■ 15: Elsecar Heritage Railway: Welcome Back Mardy Monster 16/17: CrichTramway Museum: 1940s Event 21-23: Llangollen Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 21-23: North Norfolk Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■ 22: Bala Lake Railway: Launch of George B

22/23: Colne Valley Railway: Vintage Vehicle Rally

20-22: Alexandra Palace: London Model Engineering Exhibition 27-29: Great Central Railway: Winter Steam Gala ■

FEBRUARY

5: Moors Valley Railway:Tank Engine Day 11/12: Kent & East Sussex Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 11/12: Nene Valley Railway: Thomas Branch Line Weekend ■ 11-19: South Devon Railway: Winter Steam Gala ■ 17-19: Mid Hants Railway: Pre Spring Gala ■ 18/19: East Lancashire Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 18/19: Kent & East Sussex Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 25/26: Churnet Valley Railway: Winter Steam Gala 25/26: Nene Valley Railway: Bulleid 50 ■

MARCH

3-5: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway: Steam Gala ■ 3-5: Llangollen Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■ 10-12: East Lancashire Railway: Spring Steam Spectacular ■ 11/12: Spa Valley Railway: Diesel Gala ■

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17-19: Severn Valley Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■ 18/19: Chasewater Railway: Spring Gala 18/19: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Diesel Locomotive Weekend ■ 18/19: Great Central Railway: Spring Diesel Gala ■ 18/19: South Devon Railway: Half Price Weekend 18/19:Tanfield Railway: Great War Weekend 25: Statfold Barn Railway: Steam Gala ■ 25/26: NorthYorkshire Moors Railway: Royal Scot ■ 25/26: Ribble Steam Railway: Diesel Weekend ■ 26: Elsecar Heritage Railway, Sentinel Gala 28-Apr 1: NorthYorkshire Moors Railway: Royal Scot ■ 31-Apr 2: Bluebell Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 31-Apr 2: Swanage Railway: Strictly Bulleid Gala ■

APRIL

1/2: Ribble Steam Railway: Steam Gala 1-9: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway: Flying Scotsman ■

22/23: Epping Ongar Railway: Spring Diesel Gala ■ 22/23: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Wartime in the Cotswolds 27-30: West Somerset Railway: Spring Steam Gala ■ 28-May 1: Ffestiniog Railway: Quirks & Curiosities ■ 29: Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway: Blue Electric Day ■ 29/30: Bressingham Steam Museum: Heritage Steam Gala 29/30: East Somerset Railway: Spring into Steam Gala 29/30: Moors Valley Railway: Visiting Locomotives Weekend 29/30: Peak Rail: Steam Gala 29-May 1: Devon Railway Centre: Steam Gala 29-May 1: Didcot Railway Centre: Steam Gala ■ 29-May 1: East Lancashire Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 29-May 1: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: EVR150 29-May 1: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Spring Diesel Gala ■ 29-May 1: Midland Railway – Butterley: VintageTrain Event 29-May 1: Nene Valley Railway: TPO Weekend

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LMS 4F 0-6-0 No. 43924 departs from Oakworth on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on December 28. KARL HEATH

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 49

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE

GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7714 re-entered service on the Severn Valley Railway after overhaul and passes Sterns on December 28. KEN WOOLLEY

29-May 1: North Norfolk Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 29-May 1: Ribble Steam Railway: Friendly Engines 29-May 1: Rushden Station: Cavalcade of HistoricalTransport 29-May 1: South Devon Railway: Days Out WithThomas ■ 30-May 1: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre: Steam Gala 30-May 1: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Anything Goes Spring Gala ■ 30-May 1: Mid-Suffolk Light Railway: Middy in the WarYears 30-May 1: Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway: Mixed Traction Weekend

MAY

4-7: Swanage Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 6: Bala Lake Railway: Maid Marian 50Years 13/14: Apedale Valley Railway: Stanhope Centenary Gala

50 Heritagerailway.co.uk

13/14: Bluebell Railway: Branch Line Weekend ■ 13/14: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Day Out WithThomas ■ 13/14: Dean Forest Railway: Wartime Weekend 13/14: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Multiple Memories ■ 13/14: Nene Valley Railway: Industrial Weekend 13/14: Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway: 90th Anniversary Gala ■ 13/14: Spa Valley Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 14/15: Kirklees Light Railway: Day Out withThomas ■ 18-20: Barrow Hill Roundhouse: Diesel Gala ■ 18-20: Severn Valley Railway: Spring Diesel Festival ■ 20: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Beattie WellTank Day 20/21: Kent & East Sussex Railway: 1940s Weekend 20/21: Spa Valley Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

21: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: Isle of Wight Festival ofTransport 21: Nene Valley Railway:Thomas’ Big Adventure ■ 21: Severn Valley Railway: Mixed Traction Day 26-29: South Devon Railway: A Sixties Celebration 27: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: T9 Day 27/28: Bala Lake Railway: Festival ofTransport 27-29: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Cotswold Festival of Steam ■ 27-29: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: May Spring Gala ■ 27-29: East Lancashire Railway: 1940s Weekend 27-29: Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway: Branchline Weekend 27-29: Epping Ongar Railway: Steam Gala 27-29: Fairbourne Railway: Steam Gala 28/29: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: Steam Punk Weekend

JUNE

1: Talyllyn Railway: Peter Sam’s Party ■ 1-4: Nene Valley Railway: 40th Anniversary ■ 2-4: Great Central Railway: 1940s Wartime Weekend 3: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Beattie WellTank Day 3/4: East Lancashire Railway: Small Engines Weekend 3/4: Llangollen Railway: Heritage Railcar Gala ■ 3/4: Royal Deeside Railway: Victorian Weekend 9-11: North Norfolk Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 9-11: West Somerset Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 10: Statfold Barn Railway: Steam Gala ■ 10/11: Amberley Museum: Midsummer Steam 10/11: Kirklees Light Railway: Day Out withThomas ■ 10/11: Mid Hants Railway: War on the Line

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 51

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE 10/11: Moors Valley Railway: Grand Steam Gala

24/25: Severn Valley Railway: Back to the 1940s Weekend

10/11: Nene Valley Railway: Thomas Branch Line Weekend ■

24/25: Tyseley Locomotive Works: Open Days ■

16-18: Great Central Railway:The Model Event 2017

25: Great Central Railway: Quorn Swapmeet

17/18: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: HeritageTransport Festival 17/18: Keith & Dufftown Railway: 1940s Weekend 17/18: Midland Railway – Butterley: Summer Diesel Gala 17/18: Tanfield Railway: Legends of Industry ■ 23-25: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Summer Steam Gala ■ 24/25: Caledonian Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

JULY

1: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: T9 Day 1/2: GCR Nottingham: Summer Diesel Extravaganza ■ 1/2: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: 1940s Experience 1/2: Mid Hants Railway: 40th Anniversary Steam Gala ■ 1/2: Nene Valley Railway: Vintage Weekend

24/25: Churnet Valley Railway: Anything Goes

1/2: Severn Valley Railway: Back to the 1940s Weekend

24/25: Epping Ongar Railway: Victorian Steam Weekend

1/2: South Devon Railway: South Devon 1940s Festival

24/25: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

1/2: Spa Valley Railway: Summer Steam Festival

24/25: North Norfolk Railway: Tracks &Trenches

52 Heritagerailway.co.uk

1-30: Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway: 60th Anniversary of Closure

7-9: East Lancashire Railway: Summer Diesel Spectacular ■ 7-9: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway: Small Engines Gala 8-9: Amberley Museum: Rail Gala Weekend 8/9: Mid Hants Railway: 40th Anniversary Steam Gala ■ 8/9: Midland Railway – Butterley: 1960s Event 8/9: Nene Valley Railway:Thomas Branch Line Weekend ■ 8/9: Yeovil Railway Centre: End of Southern Steam 50th 9: East Anglian Railway Museum: Summer Steam Gala 15: Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway: Gala 15/16: Cholsey & Wallingford Railway: Diesel Weekend ■ 15/16: Epping Ongar Railway: LT Weekend 15/16: Foxfield Railway: Summer Steam Gala ■ 15/16: Kirklees Light Railway: Day Out withThomas ■ 15/16: Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway: 90th

Anniversary Party 22/23: Caledonian Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 22/23: Crewe Heritage Centre: 30th Anniversary 22/23: Llangollen Railway: 1960s Weekend 22-24: Kent & East Sussex Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 26-30: Isle of Man Steam Railway: Isle of ManTransport Festival 28-30: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Heritage Diesel Weekend ■ 29/30: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Day Out WithThomas ■ 29/30: Leadhills & Wanlockhead: Steam Weekend 30: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: Summer Special

AUGUST

3-6: Spa Valley Railway: 15th Annual Diesel Gala ■ 5/6: East Lancashire Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 5/6: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Weekend at War

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Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST Hurricane lifts its train out of Foxfield colliery yard on December 29. ROBERT FALCONER

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 53

LMS Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland passes Little Fenton near Sherburn-in-Elmet, with the ‘York Yuletide Express’ on December 17. ANDREW SOUTHWELL

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE 5/6:Talyllyn Railway: Victorian Weekend

18-20: Kirklees Light Railway: Day Out withThomas ■

5-13: Mid Hants Railway: Days out WithThomas ■

19/20: Didcot Railway Centre: Rails on the Western Front

10-13: Llangollen Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

19/20: Royal Deeside Railway: Steam & Vintage Rally

12/13: Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway: 1940s Weekend 12/13: CrichTramway Museum: WW2 Home Front 12/13: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: Diesel Locomotive Weekend ■ 12/13: Midland Railway – Butterley: Midland Railex 12/13: Nene Valley Railway: Thomas Summer Holiday ■ 12/13: Swindon & Cricklade Railway: Steam & Vintage Weekend 12/13: West Lancashire Light Railway: Nearly Fifty Weekend

20: Amberley Museum: Petrol Locos Day ■ 24: Talyllyn Railway: Peter Sam’s Party ■ 25-28: Bala Lake Railway: Annual Steam Gala 25-28: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: Island Steam Show ■ 25-28: Mid-Norfolk Railway:Tanks &Tankards Weekend 26/27: Caledonian Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 26-28: East Anglian Railway Museum: Days Out withThomas ■

13: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre: Moving the Mail

26-28: East Somerset Railway:The Way We Were, 1930s-50s

18-20: Dean Forest Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

26-28: Midland Railway – Butterley: VintageTrain Event

18-20: Isle of Man Steam Railway: Island at War

26-28: Ribble Steam Railway: Friendly Engines ■

56 Heritagerailway.co.uk

26-28: Spa Valley Railway: 20th Anniversary Bash 27: Colne Valley Railway: Bus & Commercial Vehicle Rally 27/28: Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway: Gala Weekend

SEPTEMBER

1-3: North Norfolk Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 1-3: Welshpool & Llanfair Railway: Annual Gala Weekend ■ 2/3: Cholsey & Wallingford Railway: Bunkfest 2/3: London Underground: Steam on the Met 2/3: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: 1940s Weekend 5-7: West Somerset Railway: Flying Scotsman ■ 8-10: Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway: Steam Gala ■ 9: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 9: Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway: Blue Electric Day ■ 9: Statfold Barn Railway: Steam Gala ■

9/10: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Day Out WithThomas ■ 9/10: Chasewater Railway: Summer Gala 9/10: Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway: 1940s Weekend 9/10: Great Central Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 9/10: Kent & East Sussex Railway: Hop Festival 9/10: Kirklees Light Railway: Steam & Diesel Gala ■ 9/10: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Iron Warhorse Centenary 9/10: London Underground: Steam on the Met 9/10: Mid-Suffolk Light Railway: Steam Gala 9/10: Nene Valley Railway: September Steam Gala ■ 9/10: Ribble Steam Railway: Steam Gala 9/10: South Devon Railway: Heritage Open Days 9/10: Swindon & Cricklade Railway: Wartime Weekend 9-12: West Somerset Railway: Flying Scotsman ■

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10: Great Central Railway: Quorn Swapmeet 15-17: Dean Forest Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 15-17: Welsh Highland Railway: Super Power ■ 16/17: Chatham Dockyard: Salute to the 40s 16/17: Locomotion: Autumn Steam Gala 16/17: Moors Valley Railway: Autumn Gala 16/17: North Norfolk Railway: Wartime Weekend 16/17: Vale of Rheidol Railway: Roaring 20s & 30s 21-24: Severn Valley Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 22-24: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: China Clay Gala ■ 23: Welshpool & Llanfair Railway: Diesel Day ■ 23:West Lancashire Light Railway: 50th Anniversary Gala 23/24: Avon Valley Railway: 1940s Weekend 23/24: Bluebell Railway: Steam Through the Ages ■

23/24: Barrow Hill Roundhouse: Steam Gala 23/24: Devon Railway Centre: Anything Goes Weekend 23/24: Didcot Railway Centre: Anything Goes Weekend 23/24: East Lancashire Railway: Autumn Diesel Gala ■ 23/24: Epping Ongar Railway: Autumn Diesel Gala ■ 23/24: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 23/24: Kent & East Sussex Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 23/24: Llangollen Railway: Diesel Weekend ■ 23/24: Nene Valley Railway: Thomas Branch Line Weekend ■ 23/24:Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway: Ivor the Engine■ 24: Lincolnshire Wolds Railway: Diesel Day ■ 29-Oct 1: NorthYorkshire Moors Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 30-Oct 1: Churnet Valley Railway: War in the Valley

30-Oct 1: Leighton Buzzard Railway: FiftyYears of Preservation 30-Oct 1: Ribble Steam Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 30-Oct 1: Spa Valley Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 30-Oct 1: Welshpool & Llanfair Railway: Vintage Weekend

OCTOBER

1: Buckinghamshire Railway Centre: Autumn Steam Gala 1: East Anglian Railway Museum: AllTrains Great and Small 5-8: Great Central Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 5-8: West Somerset Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 6-8: Ffestiniog Railway: Victorian Weekend ■ 7/8: Apedale Valley Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 7/8: Chasewater Railway: Coal Train Weekend 7/8: Cholsey & Wallingford Railway: 1940s Weekend 7/8: East Lancashire Railway: Days Out withThomas ■

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

7/8: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Autumn Diesel Weekend ■ 7/8: Spa Valley Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 13-15: Llangollen Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 13-15: NeneValley Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 13-15: NorthYorkshire Moors Railway: Railway in Wartime 13-15: Swanage Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 14/15: Avon Valley Railway: Autumn Gala 14/15: East Lancashire Railway: Autumn Steam Gala ■ 14/15: Ecclesbourne Valley Railway: EVR150 14/15: Royal Deeside Railway: End of Season Gala 15: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Diesel Day 20-22: Mid Hants Railway: Diesel Gala Weekend ■ 20-22: Spa Valley Railway: Autumn Diesel Gala ■

Heritagerailway.co.uk 57

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE GWR 0-6-2T No. 5619 approaches Butterley on December 22. ALAN WEAVER

58 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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21/22: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Steam Gala 21/22: Churnet Valley Railway: 25th Anniversary Gala 21/22: Llangollen Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 21/22: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Autumn Diesel Gala ■ 21/22: Nene Valley Railway: Thomas Branch Line Weekend ■ 27-29: Dean Forest Railway: Days Out withThomas ■ 28/29: Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway: End of Season Parade 28/29: South Devon Railway: Half Price Weekend 28: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Steam Glow 29: Leighton Buzzard Railway: Small Engines Day 29/30: East Anglian Railway Museum: Spooky Day Out with Thomas ■

NOVEMBER

3-5: South Devon Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 4: East Lancashire Railway: DMU Day ■

5: Moors Valley Railway:Tank Engine Day 5: West Lancashire Light Railway: Children in Need 11/12: Kirklees Light Railway: Day Out withThomas ■

DECEMBER

2: East Anglian Railway Museum: Festive Day Out withThomas ■ 9/10: East Anglian Railway Museum: Festive Day Out with Thomas ■ 16/17: East Anglian Railway Museum: Festive Day Out with Thomas ■ 26/27: Mid Hants Railway: 40s Christmas Leave 28: Swanage Railway: Winter Warm-Up 29/30: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Christmas Cracker ■ 29/30: West Somerset Railway: Winter Steam Festival ■ 30: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Winter Steam Up 30/31: Llangollen Railway: Winter Warmer 30/31: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Winter Warmer Diesel Gala ■

LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45407 departs from Irwell Vale on the East Lancashire Railway on January 2. BEN COLLIER Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 59

60 Heritagerailway.co.uk

GALAS & SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDE

RAILWAYANA AUCTIONS FEBRUARY

11: Solent Railwayana, Wickham

18: Great Central Railwayana, Bloxham

24: Transport Auctions of London, Croydon

JULY

25: Transport Auctions of London, Croydon

15: GW Railwayana, Pershore

MARCH

5: Great Central Railwayana, Bloxham 12: Talisman Railwayana, Newark Showground

4: Great Central Railwayana, Stoneleigh Park 25:Talisman Railwayana, Newark Showground

APRIL

1: GW Railwayana, Pershore 8: Great Northern Railwayana, Poynton 22: David Lewis, Crewe Heritage Centre

MAY

13:Talisman Railwayana, Templecombe

JUNE

3: Great Central Railwayana, Stoneleigh Park 17: Solent Railwayana, Wickham

62 Heritagerailway.co.uk

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

2: Great Central Railwayana, Stoneleigh Park 30: Great Northern Railwayana, Poynton

OCTOBER

14: David Lewis, Crewe Heritage Centre 21: Solent Railwayana, Wickham 28:Transport Auctions of London, Croydon

NOVEMBER

18: GW Railwayana, Pershore 25:Talisman Railwayana, Newark Showground

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MAIN LINE NEWS

Political U-turns that saved the UK’s favourite steam main line

Above: Michael Portillo. ROBIN JONES Right: LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea crosses Lunds viaduct with a Statesman Rail ‘Fellsman’ working. BRIAN SHARPE By Geoff Courtney A SERIES of previously unreported political U-turns and manoeuvrings in theWestminster corridors of power that culminated in the unexpected decision to keep open the Settle to Carlisle line – one of the most popular railways in the UK today for steam train operators, enthusiasts and linesiders – has been revealed in a new book written and published by a former senior NHS manager. Martin Pearson has made extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act to write what he describes as“as near the official record as one can get of what really happened”. The book reveals a litany of events throughout the 1980s that reached its climax on April 11, 1989, when the-then Transport Minister, Michael Portillo, informed the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line that its long-fought battle to keep the route open had succeeded.

Refreshing for its honesty

Indeed, it is Portillo who sets the scene in a foreword in the 86 page publication – a foreword that is refreshing for its honesty and revelationary in its content. He reveals that when he becameTransport Minister in the summer of 1988, his predecessor, David Mitchell –“a man of old-fashioned good manners”– told him: “You have to save the Settle-Carlisle.” That, writes Portillo, may seem surprising advice, as the government had recently announced at the time that it was‘minded’to accede to BR’s application to close the line. BR, he said, offered a gloomy scenario of a route that made severe losses, a problem that would get worse as the infrastructure, particularly the Ribblehead

viaduct, needed heavy investment. “I was quite unnerved by the issue,”says Portillo.“The politics of northern England were pretty clear even to a southerner like me. In any case, the line was a thing of beauty, a part of the national heritage and a monument to those many who had died building it in the 1870s.” Thus, Portillo decided to “surreptitiously”see the line for himself, travelling incognito on the sleeper to Carlisle and then onto the line to Settle. His visit, however, proved to be far from a confidential recce.“The presence of a television camera at 6am shook me. As the sun rose on the train moving south, the stations and bridges were crowded with demonstrators with banners that welcomed me by name. Clearly the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line had friends in the department and had received a leak.” Describing the Friends as effective and serious, he said the government had to be wary of a legal challenge by them or local authorities if it put a foot wrong, adding:“I had to maintain a poker face, even as I sought to find a solution that would keep the trains running.” Two developments turned the tide, he explains.“First,Tony Freschini, the line’s engineer, proposed a different method for tackling the Ribblehead viaduct repairs, and his cost estimate was dramatically lower than the figure in British Rail’s case for closure. Second, thanks to the Friends and other campaign groups, the numbers using the line rose steeply.The financial case for closure now looked weaker.” Portillo refers to a six-page letter unearthed by Martin Pearson and reproduced in full in the book, in which Transport Secretary Paul Channon wrote to Prime Minister MargaretThatcher on

April 6, 1989, proposing that BR’s closure application be refused. “Of course, the whole thing had been settled within government before the letter was sent,”reveals Portillo.“My recollection is that MrsThatcher was not anti-railway as people supposed, but she was a conservative, that is to say one who valued our heritage very much.

Pushing an open door

“She had no particular wish to antagonise Cumbria andYorkshire, and she was fond of Willie Whitelaw, who had been MP for Penrith andThe Border until June 1983 and was deputy prime minister (in the Lords) until early 1988. We needed thoroughly to make the case to save the line, but we were pushing an open door to Number 10.” Portillo’s foreword ends:“In my letter to the Friends announcing the reprieve back in 1989, I asked them to live up to the promises they had made.They have.

The community is strongly invested in the line, and the intermediate stations are superbly maintained, decked out in nostalgia and flowers. “I believe that the Settle to Carlisle journey could be better marketed still. My own hobbyhorse is the trains should be glass roofed.That’s how the Swiss railways announce to passengers that they are in for a visual treat. But that is a battle for the future. I fought mine more than a quarter of a century ago.” The first steam train scheduled to use the route after its planned reopening in March will be the RailwayTouring Company’s ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ to be worked south on April 22 by LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 DuchessofSutherland. ➜The Settle-Carlisle Railway 1850-1990 is written and published by Martin Pearson. A full review will be published in next month’s issue of Heritage Railway.

Express on the S&C: With its smokebox numberplate and 55A (Leeds Holbeck) shed code plate piercing its unkempt appearance, LMS Royal Scot 4-6-0 No. 46117 Welsh Guardsman heads the Down Thames-Clyde Express across Lunds viaduct towards Ais Gill – at 1169ft the highest point of the Settle to Carlisle line – some time in the late-1950s/early 1960s. The story of how, and why, this popular route was saved from closure has been revealed in a new book written by Martin Pearson. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 63

MAIN LINE NEWS

Western 40th celebration on hold By Cedric Johns PATHFINDER Tours 40th anniversary event with Class 52 diesel-hydraulic D1015 Western Champion has been put on hold because the loco is temporarily out of action with engine problems. As reported last issue, Pathfinder’s ‘Western Glory’trip has been organised to mark the withdrawal of the 52s in February 1977.Then, BR(W) ran a ‘WesternTribute’farewell excursion doubleheaded by D1013 Western Ranger and D1023 Western Fusilier which departed Paddington for Swansea, Plymouth and back to London. Now, four decades on, Pathfinder Tours has planned a celebratory excursion on February 25 – virtually to the day of the 1977 withdrawal – from Paddington to Cardiff, Bristol, Westbury and Plymouth viaTaunton. Whether the trip runs depends on whether Western Champion, the only surviving class member currently registered to run on the national network, can be engineered back to health in time. Having taken the‘EastYorkshireman’

trip to Scarborough on December 17, the Western experienced a problem with its‘B’Maybach engine. The tour had begun at Swindon with DB Cargo Class 67 No. 67029 hauling the train to Kidderminster, where it was replaced by D1015, on the outward journey.The 67 replaced D1015 at Worcester on the return trip. Owner the Diesel Traction Group issued a report saying that initial assessments were that this was serious enough to withdraw the 52 from traffic. However, in the cold light of day and after some reflection it was later felt that that the group should wait until the locomotive returned to the Severn Valley Railway, and a full inspection undertaken by group engineering staff. The Western is still available for all previously advertised railtour duties until notified otherwise. PathfinderTours general manager PeterWatts said he’d review the situation in early January before deciding to run his‘Western Glory’trip or not. “Luckily we have time on our side and I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed,“

Railwayana for the Duke ONE of unique BR 8P Pacific No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester’s long-term supporters, Jeff Irving, has donated his entire collection of railwayana to the owning group. The British Rail Class 8 Steam LocomotiveTrust will now sell the collection at auction, the proceeds going towards the engine’s overhaul at Tyseley Locomotive Works. The collection includes works plates, photographs and paintings, one of which is a limited edition print of the Duke signed by artist Alan Fearnley, Robin Riddles andTom Daniels. David Lewis of Crewe Heritage Centre, has offered to waive the seller’s fee when putting the collection under the hammer. His estimate of the collection’s value is £1175 but who knows what might happen on the day, Saturday, April 22, when the auction takes place. Four months ago, the trust applied to the Veronica Awdry Charitable Trust for help in funding the Duke’s overhaul. “They generously donated £2000 for

which we are extremely grateful,” said trust chairmanTrevorTuckley. A meeting betweenTyseley Locomotive Works and the trust to discuss various options for overhauling the Caprotti boxes was arranged for January 7. Trevor also said thatTyseley will also overhaul the Duke’s support coach approved both internally and externally to bring it up to the required main line standard, the work scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2017. Unless the situation had changed by the end of this year, the trust’s target of lifting its membership numbers to 300 fell short at 296. Nevertheless the steady growth of new members this yearhas been more than encouraging, saidTrevor. “Maybe we will get some Christmas crackers over the festive season when folk have time to look at our website and decide to join our family of enthusiasts keen to see the Duke back on the main line.” For details visit www.theduke.uk.com

Class 73/9 enters traffic CLASS 73/9 electro-diesel No. 73951, rebuilt by RVEL/LORAM with a pair of Cummins QSK engines, finally entered service with GB Railfreight on December 5 when it towed Class 73/1 No. 73138 from Derby to Tonbridge. The following day, December 6, in the company of Class 66/7 No. 66718

64 Heritagerailway.co.uk

and Class 73/9 No. 73965, it ran to Robertsbridge down siding traversing the new link between the network and the Rother Valley Railway (see News, page 18). After celebrating the opening of the link, the locomotives returned to Tonbridge behind No. 73965.

he said.“The worst case scenario will either mean I postpone the trip or cancel it. Passengers already booked will be kept in touch with events as will those yet to book a seat”.

Class 52 D1015 Western Champion passes Beverley with Pathfinder Tours’ ‘Yuletide East Yorkshireman’ to Scarborough on December 17. BRIAN HALL

Mayflower back in March THE much delayed main line return of B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower is now being projected as March, which will be a relief for its owner, David Buck, who has suffered more than a year of frustration at being sidelined along with his green engine. It was back in December 2015 that the B1 was‘stopped’with a cracked axlebox and as was considered at the time, ‘minor’work on the boiler. As it happened the condition of the boiler turned out to be much more serious than initially thought and remedial work has continued at Stockton into this year when having passed its hydraulic and steaming tests, it will be delivered back to Carnforth. Meanwhile the 4-6-0’s bottom end has been subject of a comprehensive

overhaul to the highest standards at Carnforth to ensure that when the boiler is mounted back into position, the B1 will be ready for 10 years of main line running or as David said:“We shall be looking to maximise the use of the engine”. Parallel to the work being carried out on the B1 and tender, its Mk.1 support coach is being refurbished to another level of comfort for the support crew’s working environment including the provision of sleeping quarters for four crew members. When all has been completed the 4-6-0 will be booked for light and loaded proving runs around the West Coast circuit before being stabled at Southall or wherever the engine needs to be at the commencement of a railtour.

‘Lizzie’back in Butterley West Shed FOLLOWING its unexpected failure with a leaking tube, discovered at Southall over the weekend before LMS 4-6-2 No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth was booked to head a Christmas train to Lincoln on December 1, the bid red engine is back safely at the Midland RailwayButterley. With rods taken off, the 4-6-2 and support coach departed Southall just before midnight on Wednesday December 14, top and tailed by West Coast diesels, the‘train’

reaching Butterley around 6am the next day. Stabled in the West Shed, work has already started with the removal of small tubes, said society chairman Clive Mojonnier. Despite the failure, the early arrival of‘Lizzie’back at Butterley allows more time to work through a long job list of 34 items, however, it remains to be seen if the projected main line return scheduled for between April and May can be improved upon.

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SR Pacific No. 34046 running as No. 34052 Lord Dowding passes Wandsworth Road with Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ to Dover on December 22. JAMES HAMILTON

‘Cathedrals’ overcomes motive power shortage By Cedric Johns DESPITE the continued general lack of motive power, Steam Dreams’chairman Marcus Robertson has managed to book enough locomotives to fulfil his ‘Cathedrals Express’demands until May when Flying Scotsman is set to begin another season of excursions. Steam Dreams’programme begins on Wednesday, March 1, with a St David’s Day trip to Chester and Holyhead with a ‘Black Five’, either No. 44871 or No. 45407. OnTuesday, March 7, RoyalScot is booked to head an‘Express’from Ely to Bath and Bristol, steam coming on at Hanwell.

Four days later,the‘Black Five’is back in action with a Southend to Bath and Bristol excursion, the 4-6-0 joining the train at Hanwell. The trip from the Bluebell Railway on March 18, to Oxford, hopefully booked for B1 No. 61306 Mayflower, has been provisionally postponed because of gauging issues at Dormans station two miles down the main line from East Grinstead.Whether Network Rail solves the problem in time for the trip to run remains to be seen. On March 21, an‘Express’departs Victoria for a visit to Gloucester, unusually running via Bath with a‘Black Five’at its head.

The next trip – another‘Black Five’duty – departs Kettering and Bedford for Bath and Bristol on April 1. LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchessof Sutherland makes a rare appearance on April 5, working an excursion from London to Loughborough andYork. On the 8th, a‘Cathedrals’heads for Salisbury from Faversham, steam coming on in the London area in the form of Bulleid 4-6-2 LordDowding which may have reverted to its original name of Braunton by then. Steam Dreams again heads west on April 20 when a‘Black Five’works an‘Express’from London to Bishops Lydeard,West Somerset Railway. An

unspecified 7F takes the train forward to Minehead. LordDowding is back in the frame on April 22 with an excursion to Oxford, Worcester and Stratford-upon-Avon. The month closes with a trip from Horsham to Bath and Bristol with Royal Scot working the train on April 26. From May 13, the Steam Dreams Flying Scotsmanseason begins with a sold-out trip from King’s Cross toYork. The season continues from May 19 and involves the A3 on every‘Cathedrals Express’trip until June 9. The last six are luncheon or evening trips over the Surrey Hills route and the Chiltern Hills line.

Clun Castle invites sponsors for last stages of overhaul AN APPEAL for sponsorship of Clun Castle’s heavy overhaul is still being made, despite the work on theTyseley flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 7029 nearing completion in the first half of 2017. Spokesman MichaelWhitehouse says individual sponsors are still needed to help finish the job. Although the 4-6-0 has been painstakingly restored byTyseley LocomotiveWorks using its own resources and donations by supporters, another £70,000 is needed to ensure that Clun Castle makes its latest main line debut. According to MrWhitehouse the

extra money is required to provide parts, labour costs and commissioning trials.

Demand will be high

“We know that demand for seats on the Castle’s first excursions will be high so we offer an early chance to secure seats by helping to achieve reality in an interesting and enjoyable way with the last stages of the engine’s overhaul,” he said. GreatWestern enthusiasts are invited to sponsor parts of the 4-6-0 by bidding at auction to achieve reserved prices or more.Typical

examples of the bids on offer are; sponsor for the repair, repaint and installation of the driver’s side original nameplate or for that on the fireman’s side at a reserve of £500 each. Similar bids are on offer for the Castle’s original cabside number plates which have a reserve of £250 each or the smokebox numberplate at £100. Going higher, bids are invited to sponsor repairs for the original double chimney, £1000 or sponsorship for the modifications to the original cab roof to match modern loading gauge requirements at £1500.

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

All bids must be submitted on the appropriate form, available from [email protected]

Winning bid holders

Bids must be received by January 30 and will be opened atTyseley the next day. Do not send money, as successful bidders will be contacted and payment arranged. In addition, all winning bid holders will receive a standard class ticket for a ride behind Clun Castle on a scheduled ‘Shakespeare Express’trip or a special, subject to demand and availability. Standard terms apply. Heritagerailway.co.uk 65

MAIN LINE NEWS SEE CLASSIC TRACTION ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK

By Fred Kerr

THE season’s Rail HeadTreatmentTrains have seen less use of heritage traction with DRS Class 20 / 37 being at the forefront, although theYorkshire circuit was more frequently operated by replacement Class 68 locomotives due to problems with the diagrammed Class 20 based at York. With the cessation of RHTT programs, the five Class 20s have been placed into storage. TheTyneside diagram operated from Carlisle saw the use of Class 37 traction while the Stowmarket circuits saw the use of both Class 57/0 and 57/3 locomotives. GB Railfreight operated a pair of Class 73 locomotives but, as elsewhere, most of its diagrams were powered by Class 66 traction while Colas Railfreight mostly operated its Class 56 on the Shrewsbury diagram supported by a Network Rail Class 97/3 for Cambrian Lines services. Colas had problems with the Gloucester RHTT trainset leading to the replacement of the Class 56s by a pair of Freightliner Class 66s and a revised diagram. The Colas Class 56 is slowly returning to service as overhauls are completed and new wheelsets are fitted with seven of the 10-strong fleet available for traffic in mid-December. Other Colas traction remaining in evidence is its Class 37 fleet, with eight of the 10-strong fleet finding regular use on the Network Rail inspection / test trains during December. Also noted during December was the dated Royal Mail service between Shieldmuir (Glasgow) andWarrington hauled by Class 90 No. 90019. Despite their age – and storage of a number of class members at Crewe Electric depot – 36 of the class of 50 still see regular usage.The first 15 locomotives are leased to Abellio for East Anglian services while 10 class members are operated as five pairs to replace Class 92 locomotives now being transferred to DB Cargo operations within Europe, 10 locomotives are operated by Freightliner including four on sub-hire to GB Railfreight for Caledonian Sleeper services plus one on hire toVirginTrains East Coast. The Caledonian sleeper services are of particular interest because of their haulage by heritage traction; in the case of both Euston and Glasgow Class 86/7s on empty coaching stock duties and at Edinburgh with the use of re-engineered Class 73s. Although these are being fine-tuned at Loughborough they are currently being paired with Class 66/7 for services north of Edinburgh although a Class 66/7 + Class 47739 is also operated on the Edinburgh-Inverness service. The main point of interest, however, remains the position of Class 37 traction with DRS reportedly selling class members because of high engine hours.This has not prevented interest in sales with Europhoenix’s recent purchase of Nos. 37608/11 and immediate sub-hire to Rail Operations Group, where they have joined that company’s pair of 37/7s on stock transfer duties. No. 37608 has received a repaint in house colours of Europhoenix at EastleighWorks. Despite these sales however, DRS is still using Class 37/4 traction on passenger services around the Cumbrian Coast and the Norfolk branches around Norwich where No. 7424 arrived in mid-December to bolster the local fleet. A recent addition to the‘heritage’fleet is the‘new’Class 230 trainset comprising three cars of withdrawn 1978 D-stock from LondonTransport; this is being trialled during 2017 on the Nuneaton–Coventry–Leamington Spa service and raises the interesting question of whether it is new (because of its date of re-engineering) or old (because of its original date of introduction to service being 1978).

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GWR 4-6-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe passes Beighton with Vintage Trains’ ‘Christmas White Rose’ from Tyseley to York on December 10. ALAN WEAVER

Will LNER Scots duo become museum pieces? By Roger Melton, Robin Jones and Cedric Johns OWNER John Cameron is giving serious consideration to placing LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa and K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess on static display in a new purposebuilt museum on his Fife farm. John, 77, who first came up with the idea two years ago, said that the plan is still very much a ‘maybe’but could take place once‘No.9’s’main line ticket has expired in two years’time. The Great Marquess is currently based at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it is stored out of service. John is holding talks with NYMR officials to explore the possibility of the line undertaking the firebox repairs needed on the engine in return for a period of use. However, with £250,000 of repairs needed and just two years of potential boiler ticket remaining, the sums have yet to add up, and so far John has not offered the possibility of a longer running agreement.

‘We’d have snapped his hand off’

NYMR general manager Chris Price said:“If John Cameron had been willing to let us take it on a 10-year agreement, on condition that we paid for the repairs, we’d have snapped his hand off but he wasn’t willing to consider that on the day and we respect his decision.” If the museum plan, earmarked for John’s home at Balbuthie Farm, goes ahead it will be a case of No. 60009 returning somewhat to its preservation roots.

John bought the locomotive straight out of service in July 1966 and created the 1½-mile Lochty Private Railway at Lochty Farm near Anstruther in Fife on which to run it. It left that now-defunct line in 1973 to return to the national network. John said that he hopes to open his current farm home to the public, with free admission. It would also be made available to horticulturists and researchers. “I have two years to make up my mind as far as ‘No.9’is concerned,” he said.“The museum is just a maybe at the moment.

Based in Scotland

“Both of these locomotives were based in Scotland during their working lives. Railways have been a big part of my life and I would like to give something back.” The withdrawal of both locomotives would come as a massive disappointment to LNER enthusiasts in particular, given the relatively small numbers of preserved locomotives from that‘Big Four’company, the dwindling numbers of Gresley locomotives in running order (No. 4771 Green Arrow being another now in retirement) and the lack of potential replacements until the overhauls of A4s Nos. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and 60019 Bittern are completed. Meanwhile, Union of South Africa remains at Bury where it is undergoing axlebox adjustments and a series of bottom end repairs which, according to one of the locomotive’s engineers, will take some time to be completed. At present the A4’s return to traffic is reported to be March.

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MAIN LINE ITINERARY

LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s Nos. 44871 and 45407 pass Chertsey with Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Ashford to Winchester on December 14. EDWARD DYER

January SAT 21: ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ Manchester Victoria, Whitehaven, Carlisle and return via Shap. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 45690 Leander. RTC SAT 28: ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ Euston, Shap, Carlisle and return via Whitehaven. Steam hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle and return. Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman. RTC

February FRI 3: ‘Surrey Hills Luncheon’ Victoria, Guildford, Redhill and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado. BEL SAT 4: ‘Buxton Spa Express’ Manchester Victoria, Blackburn, Todmorden, Chinley, Buxton and return. Steam hauled throughout. Locos: Nos. 76084 and 45690 Leander. RTC SAT 11: ‘Red Rose’ Victoria, Coventry, Telford, Shrewsbury and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 60163 Tornado. UKRT

Tour Promoters BEL

Belmond Pullman 0845 077 2222

RTC

Railway Touring Company 01553 661500 SD Steam Dreams 01483 209888 UKRT UK Railtours 01438 715050. VT Vintage Trains 0121 708 4960 WCR

West Coast Railways 01524 737751.

SAT 18: ‘Valentines Diner’ Tyseley, Trent Junction and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. VT SAT 18: ‘Cumbrian Mountain Steam Express’ Stevenage, Peterborough, Preston, Carlisle and return. Steam hauled: Preston, Shap, Carlisle. Loco: TBA. WCR SAT 25: ‘Buxton Spa Express’ Preston, Stockport, Buxton and return via Sheffield and Copy Pit. Steam hauled throughout. Locos: Nos. 76084 and 45690 Leander. RTC

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.

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

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MAIN LINE NEWS

WITH FULL REGULATOR LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW

IT has been some years since I sampled steam round Kent due to there being less available and what there is almost always having a tail gunner in the form of a diesel locomotive. However, as soon as I saw that UK Railtours had advertised a trip to Canterbury behind Tornado I booked, as I knew with some certainty that it would be diesel free and that it would also be a relatively short day out for once. Personally I don’t find spending most of the journey in the dark, having taken six hours plus to get to the destination, around two hours there and another six

TABLE ONE: BROMLEY SOUTH TO CANTERBURY WEST Date Train Loco Load Driver Fireman Inspector Weather Recorder

Monday, December 12, 2016 0943 Victoria to Canterbury West A1 class 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado 13 coaches, 482 tons tare 510 tons gross Jim Clarke Graham Ward Bob Hart Cloudy and damp Don Benn. 13th coach of 13 miles sched mins secs

Bromley South MP 11½ Bickley Bickley Jct Petts Wood Jct Petts Wood Orpington Chelsfield Knockholt Tunnel North Tunnel South Polhill Box (site) Dunton Green Sevenoaks

0.00 0.65 1.10 1.45 2.32 2.73 3.93 5.42 6.66 7.38 8.84 9.29 10.64 12.22 0.00 Tunnel North 0.56 Tunnel South 2.52 Weald Box (site) 2.97 MP 26 3.98 Hildenborough 4.98 MP 28 5.98 Tonbridge 7.42 MP 31 8.98 Paddock Wood 12.71 MP 36 13.98 MP 38 15.98 Marden 17.28 Staplehurst 19.73 Headcorn 23.09 Pluckley 28.35 Ashford 34.07 MP 58 35.98 Wye 38.27 Chilham 43.00 Shalmsford Street 44.29 Chartham 45.05 Canterbury West 48.20

0.00 00 03 05 3.00 07 4.00 09 11 10.30 14 16 18 19 21 21 23 20.00 26 0.00 00 03 06 06 07 08 09 8.00 10 12 16.00 16 17 19 20 24 39.00 30 37 55.00 46 52 64.00 56 63 64 65 81.00 71

* brakes or speed restriction

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00 39 05 40 47 03 18 43 45 52 30 55 11 45 00 26 06 34 28 18 08 55 44 38 44 31 54 50 15 29 36 08 39 23 34 58 43

speed 20/21½ 18½/8* sigs 25½/28½ 21½* 7* tsr 34½/37½ 37/35½ 36 46 61½ 63/62½ 65

hours back, sometimes risking missing the last train home, a particularly attractive proposition so I tend to avoid these sort of trips. And so it was that we bought South WestTrains London tickets from Fareham on Monday, December 12, not wanting to risk the direct Southern route to Victoria and arrived at Platform 2 at Victoria courtesy of a slightly late 12-coach train of class 450 electric units and London Underground in good time just after 9am to await the arrival of the stock to form the‘Christmas CanterburyTale’. I was surprised to see that we had 13 coaches including two kitchen cars, the generator coach and support coach which weighed 482 tons.The train wasn’t full so I estimate the gross weight to have been 510 tons.

Tatty stock

The other surprise was that the stock was really quite tatty on the outside, with refurbishment definitely needed – a decent wash would have helped to remove some of the grime. Later in the day it transpired that one of the dining coaches had no lights! It was though no surprise at all to find us at the back of the train and the wrong side for mileposts. We could do nothing about the former problem which meant we would be unlikely to hear any loco noise, but we soon swapped sides with a willing couple and so were all set for our 9.43am departure. Departure was just over five minutes late and the Class 67 which had brought the stock in gave us a good shove up the bank to Grosvenor Bridge before dropping off and leaving Tornado to get on with the job unaided throughout the damp and cloudy day. DBC’s Jim Clarke was on the regulator with Graham Ward firing, accompanied by traction inspector Bob Hart. The running to the first stop at Bromley South via

the Catford Loop line was the usual trundle with no speed higher than 41mph noted. Still five minutes late we made a steady climb from Bromley South up the 1-in-95 to Bickley before being checked down severely before Bickley Junction. The time allowed from Bromley South to this point was an incredibly impossible three minutes, compared to the standard electric time of two-and-a-half minutes! So it was no surprise that we were 10 late at that point and that the 10.10am Charing Cross to Ramsgate had been put in front of us, though we were sufficiently far behind not to catch it until later on at Marden. From the severe bridge restriction at Petts Wood we had recovered to 37.5 after Orpington and then climbed the 1-in-120/170 to the summit just after Knockholt at a minimum of 35.3mph, nothing special here, though comparable with what an unconverted Merchant Navy would achieve with 14 on for about 450 tons on boat trains in the 1950s, with the light Pacifics not far behind; maybe 3-4mph slower. After 65mph at Dunton Green we stopped at Sevenoaks 15 late having lost over seven minutes from Bromley South, all of it down to the ridiculous schedule. Wouldn’t it have been better to have pathed us behind the 10.10am from Charing Cross in the first place and then to follow it which is what happened in practice anyway. Do the train planners look at the gradient profile and take into account that steam locomotives make slower starts than modern traction? Clearly not in this case. Table One shows the detail of the running as far as Sevenoaks and then onwards to Canterbury. I was concerned about Tornado on the curving 1-in-160 restart up to the north entrance of the nearly two-mile long tunnel under the North Downs but she got away well to reach 22.4mph at the tunnel entrance and dashed away downhill toTonbridge with 73.5mph being the highest speed of the day as it transpired.

22½ 54 58½ 67 73½ 70* 47*/49½ 47 67/66 67½/66½ 69 56* sigs 35* sigs/44 35* sigs/49 43* sigs/56 8* sigs 46/17* sigs 40½/53/47½ 56½ 24* tsr 42/49½ SR Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34067 Tangmere at Westenhanger with a Taunton to Folkestone Harbour charter on April 12, 2008. DON BENN Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado at Canterbury West on December 12, 2016. DON BENN

TABLE TWO: TONBRIDGE TO CANTERBURY GOODS LOOP Date Train Loco Load Driver Weather Recorder Tonbridge MP 31 MP 33 Paddock Wood MP 36 MP 38 Marden MP 41 Staplehurst MP 43 Headcorn MP 47 MP 49 Pluckley MP 52 Ashford Wye Chilham Chartham Canterbury West Canterbury Goods Loop

February 14, 2008 1035 Spl Victoria-Canterbury West 34067 Tangmere 10 coaches 338 tons tare, 370 tons full Pete Roberts Cloudy, cold NE wind Don Benn. 10th coach of 10 miles 0.00 1.47 3.47 5.28 6.47 8.47 9.86 11.47 12.33 13.47 15.72 17.47 19.47 20.91 22.47 26.58 30.87 35.58 37.65 40.81 41.06

sched 0.00 8.00

19.00

36.00 47.00

58.00

mins 00 03 06 07 08 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 19 21 22 29 35 40 42 sigs 51

* brakes or speed restriction ** very slow to stop

secs 00 51 07 41 44 21 27 48 27 24 11 44 36 00 27 44 27 14 26 54

December 22, 2008 1124 Spl Victoria to Canterbury West 34067 Tangmere 11 coaches 367 tons tare, 400 tons full Pete Roberts Cloudy, cold Don Benn. 8th coach of 11 speed 3 late 41 64 72 73 74 70 74 75 76 73 67 61 66 57 14* sigs 66/68 47* 62 ** 3 early

sched 0.00 8.00

20.00

32.00 40.00

52.00

mins 00 03 06 07 08 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 19 20 21 29 35 39 41 sigs 50

secs 00 15 06 44 44 22 28 46 25 18 07 37 19 30 45 28 07 41 39 22

* brakes or speed restriction ** very slow to stop Started from down Tonbridge slow line loop. All distances 0.60 mile less

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December 22, 2011 0942 spl Victoria to Canterbury West 34067 Tangmere 12 coaches plus 37.685, 517 tons tare, 550 tons full Pete Roberts Sunny, cold, calm Don Benn. 12th coach of 12 speed 5 late 34 61½ 70 73 76 72½ 78 76½ 79 73 70/71½ 69 76 74 6* sigs 64/69 55* 66 ** 3 late

sched 0.00 8.00

19.00

35.00 45.00

57.00

mins 00 04 06 08 09 10 11 sigs 15 sigs 21 22 24 25 26 31 40 45 47 sigs 56

secs 00 22 37 07 04 35 44 41 00 34 30 41 59 50 47 55 49 28

speed 3 late 38 64 76 78 80½ 63* sigs 23* 27* 40* 57 65½ 69½ 75 73/74 14*sigs 53½/4* sigs 60/53* 69 ** 3 late

* brakes or speed restriction ** very slow to stop 37.685 wasn’t detected pushing anywhere except away from the Chilham restriction

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TABLE THREE: CANTERBURY WEST TO ASHFORD PASS Date Train Loco Load Driver Fireman Inspector Weather Recorder

Monday, December 12, 2016 1523 Canterbury West to Victoria A1 class 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado 13 coaches, 482 tons tare 510 tons gross Paul Major Rob Binsted Bob Hart Cloudy and damp Don Benn. 13th coach of 13

Canterbury West St Stephen’s Xing Sturry Chislet Halt Grove Ferry Xing Sarre Bridge Monkton Minster Minster South Jct Richborough SB Richborough Xing Woodnesborough Xing Sandwich Blue Pigeon Xing Betteshanger SB Deal Walmer Ripple Road MP 94 MP 94½ Martin Mill MP 96¼ Guston Bridge Guston Tunnel North Buckland Jct Dover Priory Hawkesbury Street Jct Archcliffe Jct Shakespeare Tunnel In Abbotscliffe Tunnel In Folkestone East SB Folkestone Central Folkestone West Saltwood Jct East Saltwood Tunnel In Sandling Westenhanger Herringe Smeeth Sevington Ashford (pass)

miles 0.00 0.39 2.41 4.41 6.47 8.15 9.09 11.51 11.92 12.55 14.97 15.85 16.22 17.25 18.80 20.42 21.98 22.97 23.67 24.17 24.69 25.92 26.15 26.41 28.74 29.71 30.30 30.57 31.08 32.63 36.04 37.09 37.72 40.52 40.76 41.62 42.86 45.02 46.74 48.97 50.91

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 02 15 6.00 05 48 08 32 11 15 13 36 14 43 20.00 18 56 21.00 20 23 22 08 25 32 26 27 28.00 26 51 27 57 29 33 34.00 31 13 33 16 34 48 36 05 37 12 38 18 40 25 40 57 41 20 48.00 46 02 50.00 48 23 50 51 51 38 52 55 55 30 59 46 65.00 60 55 61 37 70.00 64 38 64 51 65 46 67 07 69 12 70 48 72 54 83.00 74 57

speed 24½/41 30* tsr 53½ 39½* 49 53½/56 15* 16* 28 54½ 56½ 58½ 61 56½ 50* 44½ 35½ 27½ 24½ 31/35½ 30 33 34/38 19*/29 * 17½* 20* 26 43½ 52 55½ 54½ 56 55½ 56½ 61 63½/65½ 60*/66½ 63½/51* sigs 53½

No. 60163 after arrival at Victoria with the ‘Christmas Canterbury Tale’. DON BENN Once again on an impossibly tight eight minute allowance for the 7.45 miles from Sevenoaks, time was lost and it had been exceeded by nearly three minutes. After braking for the curves we were away to reach 69mph after Paddock Wood but of course it couldn’t last as we then caught the 10.10am from Charing Cross which we then followed all the rest of the way to Canterbury, reached just three minutes late due to omitting the pathing stop in the Cranmore loop before Headcorn. Back in the day when Tangmere was in top form it headed a number of Canterbury trips, mainly circular runs on the same route as the‘Christmas Canterbury Tale’but with a water stop in the Canterbury down loop so therefore passengers couldn’t alight there.

performances turned in regularly in the days of steam. After a break of just under three-and-a-half hours in Canterbury, we reboarded the train for what was for me one of the highlights of the day, the climb of Martin Mill bank; the other being the expected flight across the Weald of Kent as the planners had given us a decent path between the half hourly train service from Ashford to the water stop at PaddockWood. In fact the return journey is of much greater interest than outwards as it also includes the long drag from Dover up to Sandling and the testing Hildenborough bank. After a lengthy shunting move to get the stock into the platform, we left just over eight minutes late on a day which was still cloudy and damp, now with Paul Major driving and Rob Binsted firing.Time recovery started straight away, though with the various restrictions nothing higher than 56mph was recorded before we joined the Ramsgate to Dover line at Minster, from there we ran through the site of the Kent coalfield with many names familiar to me in my youth when summer holidays were spent in this area. After Sandwich, 61mph was as good as we got before easing down to 50mph for the restriction through Deal and onto the notorious Martin Mill bank where gradients steepened from 1-in-260 to the first really steep stretch of 1-in-70 beforeWalmer, passed at 44.4 mph. Now, I thought, how is No. 60163 going to cope with this big load in the gloom and on damp rails?Well as TableThree shows it did okay, being handled sensibly by Paul Major. By Ripple Road on the 1-in-72 speed had dropped to 35½ but then the 1-in-64/71 to Milepost 94 took its toll and speed dropped to 27.6mph when some slipping was evident, bringing speed down further to a minimum of 24.7 on my GPS before it stabilised at around 25.5mph at the top of the 1-in-69 at Milepost 94½. Tornado had coped well and the worst was now

Dash across Kent

Pete Roberts, ex Nine Elms fireman and one of the few drivers who knows exactly how to drive this unconverted Bulleid light Pacific, was in charge of most of these trips and I travelled on nearly all of them.Table Two sets out details of the dash across theWeald of Kent on three such trains. On all of them good starts were made from Tonbridge and even time reached on two of the three before checks intervened. Pete was obviously enjoying himself and the best of the three was probably the one on December 22, 2011, which had reached 76mph by PaddockWood (for 25 years my home station) despite having 550 tons on the drawbar after an understandably slow start and without help from the trailing class 37 diesel, which was there to ensure we made it up Martin Mill bank later in the day. My notebook states that the noise from Tangmere up the 1-in- 270/220 climb to Milepost 31 was deafening as the engine was thrashed into speed. All three of these runs compare well with the sort of

Engine slipped at times Ripple Road to MP 94½ * brakes or speed restriction

TABLE FOUR: MARTIN MILL BANK Date Train Loco Load Driver Weather Deal Walmer MP 94 MP 94½ Martin Mill MP 96¼ Guston Tunnel

miles 20.42 21.98 23.67 24.17 24.69 25.92 26.41

gradient 260/140/70 R 120/72/64 R 71 R 69 R L/120 R 120/280/400 R 210 R

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12.12.2016 1523 Canterbury West to Victoria A1 class 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado 13 coaches 482/510 tons Paul Major Cloudy and damp

14.02.2008 1304 Canterbury West to Victoria BoB class 4-6-2 No. 34067 Tangmere 10 coaches, 338½/370 tons Pete Roberts Cloudy, cold NE wind

04.06.08 1745 Canterbury West to Victoria BoB class 4-6-2 No. 34067 Tangmere 11 coaches, 372/400 tons Pete Roberts Cloudy

21.12.2008 1343 Canterbury West to Victoria BoB class 4-6-2 No. 34067 Tangmere 11 coaches, 367/400 tons Pete Roberts Drizzle

mins 00 02 04 05 07 09 10

mins 00 02 04 05 06 08 09

mins 00 02 05 06 07 09 10

mins 00 04 08 10 11 14 15

secs 00 03 52 59 05 12 07

speed 50* 44½ 27½ 24½ 31/35½ 30 34/38

slipping at times Walmer to MP 94½

secs 00 09 45 42 34 40 36

speed 48* 44½ 32½ 30½ 36 31 32/38

secs 00 09 00 11 13 18 06

speed 46*/47½ 42 28 24 30/38½ 35 38½

secs 00 43 48 10 19 06 11

speed 12*sigs/27 24*/22*sigs 25/20½/22 17½ 27/30½ 20 28/43

slipping at times throughout the climb

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SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 30926 Repton at Ashford prior to working the ‘Kentish Venturer’ to London on February 25, 1962. DON BENN over as speed climbed to 35.7 on the short stretch of level track and easier 1-in-120 after Martin Mill. The last climb at 1-in-120/280 to Milepost 96¼ saw a minimum of 30mph and then we were into Guston tunnel with the train wreathed in smoke, reviving memories of Bulleid Pacifics taking us to Dover from Martin Mill during those holidays in the far off 1950s. For comparison I have set out three runs with Tangmere from 2008 inTable Four against our effort. Though No. 60163 had by far the heaviest load, No. 34067 shows up well, particularly the run on February 14, 2008 where Pete Roberts again showed his mastery with this engine and Tangmere even managed to throw off the effects of a severe signal check at Deal on the run in December 2008, in drizzle to triumph with 11 on for 400 tons. Of course it wasn’t always like this and on November 11, 2011 with very bad rail conditions, Tangmere disgraced itself by slipping to stand on the bank.

Tortuous track

After negotiating the tortuous track layout on the edge of Dover Docks, No. 60163 tackled the next climb, this time the nearly 12-mile stretch on gradients of mainly around 1-in-264 through the various tunnels by the sea past Folkestone to Sandling tunnel. Speed rose steadily to reach a good 55-56 at the top of the climb, comparable with the work done by unconverted Merchant Navy Pacifics on the 450 ton boat trains. We were now within reach of being on time and I had anticipated a lovely sprint down past Ashford and along to the PaddockWood stop. But it wasn’t to be as the brakes came on at Willesborough and a quick check on RealTimeTrains showed that we had caught the 3.23pm Ramsgate to Charing Cross train which had contrived to lose time all the way and was 10 late away from Ashford. We were on time passing Ashford where the log ends, but had lost it all again by the time we got to Paddock Wood.Thus fast running both ways on the racing stretch had been thwarted by service trains. To show what could be done I have includedTable Five which shows the detail of a fine run behind SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 30926 Repton on a bitterly cold and snowy evening back in 1962.With Bricklayers Arms’ driver Kennett in charge working‘The KentishVenturer’ railtour, well after the end of normal steam, I can still recall that superb flight across theWeald of Kent reaching 79mph near Headcorn, probably just getting

inside even time before braking forTonbridge. Back in 2016, we left PaddockWood nearly 13 late for what was to prove to be the best piece of running of the day.The first part to Milepost 31 is all uphill and we had reached 49mph at the summit of the 1-in-240/260 before braking for theTonbridge curve. Speed was up to 45mph by the Medway bridge and then clearly a big effort was being made up the 1-in-122 Hildenborough to Sevenoaks tunnel section. After touching 49.3, speed settled down to a steady and unbroken 48½mph, very good work indeed during which I calculate thatTornado was producing just over 2,000 equivalent drawbar horsepower.This was definitely better than the big Bulleid Pacifics used to do on the boat trains in the 1950s. We had gained two-and-a-half minutes to the Sevenoaks stop and were away just 10 minutes late for the tightly timed section over Knockholt summit to Bromley South. Speed reached a maximum at 55mph at the site of the old Polhill Box before falling to 50mph at the summit. I lost the GPS signal on entering Polhill tunnel but with help from Alan Rawlings and evidence of the 51.8mph average through the tunnel we concluded that speed hadn’t fallen below 50mph, not bad but not in the same class as Hildenborough bank. With a severe speed restriction at Bickley Junction we lost nearly two minutes to Bromley South but even

TABLE FIVE: ASHFORD TO TONBRIDGE Date Train Loco Load Driver Weather Recorder

February 25, 1962 4pm Appledore to Charing Cross Kentish Venturer Railtour Schools class 4-4-0 No 30926 Repton 9 coaches for 293 tons tare, 320 tons gross Driver Kennett Weather: very cold with snow showers Don Benn

Ashford Chart Box Pluckley Headcorn Staplehurst Marden Paddock Wood Tonbridge

miles sched mins 0.00 0.00 00 2.11 04 5.67 08 10.86 13 14.25 16 16.72 18 21.29 19.00 21 26.59 24.00 27

average speed Headcorn to Paddock Wood 76.63 mph

secs 00 25 40 25 08 05 35 30

speed 20*/22* tsr 38 64/57 72/79 76 74/78 76 35* sigs

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with the usual slow running round the Catford loop we ran into Victoria close to right time after an enjoyable, if at times frustrating day. The least said about our journey home the better, but both Southern and South West trains were in chaos and one wonders how much longer regular Southern travellers will put up with the sort of late running and overcrowding the like of which I have never seen before in 60 years of rail travel. Next time I will be reporting on steam out of Marylebone in the 1960s and 1980s.

TABLE SIX: PADDOCK WOOD TO BROMLEY SOUTH Date Train Loco Load Driver Fireman Inspector Weather Recorder Paddock Wood Five Oak Green MP 31 Tonbridge Stocks Green Road Hildenborough Weald Bridge Tunnel South Tunnel North Sevenoaks Dunton Green Polhill Box (site) Tunnel South Tunnel North Knockholt Chelsfield Orpington Petts Wood Petts Wood Jct Bickley Jct Bickley Bromley South

Monday, December 12, 2016 1523 Canterbury West to Victoria A1 class 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado 13 coaches, 482 tons tare 510 tons gross Paul Major Rob Binsted Bob Hart Cloudy and damp Don Benn. 13th coach of 13 miles 0.00 1.31 3.73 5.29 7.24 7.73 9.85 10.19 12.15 12.71 0.00 1.68 2.93 3.38 4.84 5.56 6.80 8.29 9.49 9.90 10.77 11.12 12.22

* brakes or speed restriction

sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 04 29 07 33 11.30 09 35 12 16 12 52 15 27 15 52 18 23 22.30 20 23 0.00 00 00 03 13 04 50 05 18 07 01 07 50 09 32 8.30 11 21 12 42 10.30 13 30 15.30 16 43 18 29 19.30 21 19

speed 43½ 49/52½ 37½* 48½/47½ 49½ 48½ 48½ * 53½/50½ 55 52½ 50 52 33½* tsr 55½ 45* 43½* 7* tsr 26½/36½

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RAILWAYANA

BY GEOFF COURTNEY

Big hitters dominate with massive show of strength A TRIO of big-hitting nameplates utterly dominated the Great Central auction at Stoneleigh on December 3, selling for a combined total, with the addition of buyer’s premium, of more than £108,000.They were two Southern Railway representatives, Royal Mail and Sir Keith Park, and LMS contender Duchess of Norfolk. The first was from Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35003, which went for £38,000, while the second, which was accompanied by its RAF crest, was carried byy Battle of Britain No. 34053,,

and the third from Princess Coronation No. 46226, each of which went under the hammer for £28,000.

Buoyant as ever

It was a massive show of strength which illustrated, if any illustration was needed, that the top end of the market is as buoyant as ever, even if it does rely on just a handful of collectors whose financial muscle is far above the average enthusiast. Trailing way behind the heavyweights came no fewer than 13 more main line

steam nameplates, led at £14,400 by Northern Rhodesia from LMS No. 45621 (my, how the Jubilee bandwagon keeps rolling along), supported by Banbury Castle (GWR No. 7011) at £11,000, another GWR offering, King Stephen from Star 4-6-0 No. 4029 (£10,800), and Home Guard from LMS Patriot No. 45543, which went for £10,200. A tightly-knit bunch close to five figures comprised Solomon Islands from LMS Jubilee No. 45603, Bryn-Ivor Hall (GWR No. 6997), and Sir Ector de Maris (SR King Arthur No. 30794), which sold for £9500, £9200, and £9000 respectively.The smokebox numberplate from the King Arthur sold for £1000 immediately after the plate to the same bidder. Then, at £8400 each, came GWR duo Buckenhill Grange (No. 6830) and County of Chester from 4-4-0 No. 3814 – there’s a Chester County in Pennsylvania, USA, but was there ever one in the UK? – and at £8000, Peregrine from Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60146. Bringing up the rear were Geoffrey H Kitson (LNER B1 No. 61237 – £5500), and two further GWR representatives, Grantley Hall from No. 6924 at £4800 and Hown Hall from No. 7910 at £3500.

Donated to charity

Top of the non-nameplate selection was a chromed regimental badge from Class 55 Deltic D9021/55021 Argyll and Sutherland Highlander that went for £7600, while a lively totem station signs category resulted in a £5400 victory for SaffronWalden, appearing at an auction for the first time, ahead of Llanymynech (£3100), and Nethy Bridge (£3000), the proceeds from which were being donated to charity by the vendor in memory of his wife. A painting by Barry Freeman of LMS Princess Coronation No. 6239 City of Chester that had been commissioned by Hornby for use on a train set box sold for £4250, the headboard‘The Devonian’for £2700, and a cabside numberplate from GWR 2-8-0 No. 2802 went for £2450,

followed by 6803 from Bucklebury Grange at £1800. Other category winners included the smokebox numberplate from Britannia Pacific 70011 Hotspur (£2200), a GWR 12in dropcase clock that ended its railway service in 1969 at the Cornish station of St Germans (£2100), a shedplate from 35B Grantham (£1600), and an LNER 1932 poster promoting Silloth (£1450).

Worthy of mention

For signalling enthusiasts there was a nameboard from Knowle and Dorridge signalbox on the Birmingham-Warwick main line (£2100), and worksplates were topped by three steam locomotives comprising a 1945 LNER Darlington‘built by and on loan to’ example from LMS 2-8-0 No. 48543 (£1750), a 1933 Kitson & Co from preserved quarry 0-6-0ST No. 45 Colwyn (£1650), and an LNER 1929 Doncaster from K3 No. 61874 (£1550). Other items worthy of mention are a chime whistle from a Gresley A4 Pacific (£2300), and a London Brighton & South Coast Railway illuminated address presented by the company to chief mechanical engineerWilliam Stroudley with the 1878 Paris Exhibition gold medal awarded to the railway for Class A1‘Terrier’0-6-0T No. 40 Brighton. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 15% (+VAT). Relaxing in the Stoneleigh Park hall as the visitors wended their way home, auctioneer Mike Soden said of the three top nameplates“quality will always sell”, adding that the realisation for Royal Mail was the highest ever achieved for a SR Merchant Navy class nameplate. “Overall, the place was really bubbling,” he said.“We were delighted to sell all 16 nameplates under the hammer, and realisations were good everywhere. Totems deserve a mention, as there has been a marked increase in their prices in the past few auctions, and what was also good news was the number of new collectors, one of whom registered on the day and bought a nameplate.”

Long-held memories of the short life of an unwanted unwan diesel-hydraulic THE five Warship diesel-hydraulics D600 to D604 were unpopular with BR Western Region bosses –“the locos the WR did not want”was their epitaph – so their short lives of fewer than 10 years was no surprise. However, their memory lives on, as will be evident at Solent’s sale on February 11 when nameplate Cossack from D604 will be going under the hammer. The class, which was designated Class 41 but was never to carry its

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TOPS numbers, wa as built b by North British with the e first introduced intto service in January 1958. D604 was the last to be builtt, beginning its operational life of a mere nine years in January 1959 an nd being withdrawn w with its four stablemate es in n December 1967.

Smokeb bo ox numberplates in the e auction a include 505 59 9 from GWR Earl Stt. Aldwyn, A while tthe e smokebox and worksplate w from LN NER B1 4-6-0 No o. 61385 will alsso be on offer, a as will w a cab gauge fro om m LNER A4 No. 6 600 026 Miles Beevor. This Gre esley-designed

Pacific started life in March 1937 as No. 4485 Kestrel, but was renamed in November 1947, on the very cusp of Nationalisation. Beevor was the LNER chief legal advisor from 1943-48, and also became acting chief general manager in June 1947, five months before the A4 was renamed in his honour. He died in 1994 at the age of 94. The auction, to be held at Wickham, starts at 10am.

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BY GEOFF COURTNEY

RAILWAYANA

Gresley rescues Gresley as A3 shines While nameplate Gayton Hall from LNER B17 class 4-6-0 No. 61641 may have disappointed by not selling under the hammer at Talisman’s November 26 sale – although it was to go subsequently for £4500 – another Gresley loco came to the rescue in the shape of A3 No. 60044 Melton, whose smokebox numberplate topped the charts by going under the hammer for £3800. Named after the winner of the 1885 Derby

and St Leger – a colt that in turn was named after the Norfolk village of Melton Constable – No. 60044 was part of an A3 class double act, for a whistle from an unidentified A3 sold later for £620. Behind the Pacific’s smokebox came a 12in long-cased clock that was supplied to the Midland Railway in about 1875 and saw out its railway days in the goods manager’s office at Nottingham’s Carrington Street

depot (£2400), followed by a Macclesfield, Bollington & Marple Railway handlamp that fetched £2000. A signalbox train indicator instrument with a dial written“fish waiting/coal waiting/ goods waiting”made £1400, the top totem was Stowmarket (£1250), and a 5in gauge model of a North Eastern Railway Bo-Bo electric fetched £1200.These locomotives were built in 1914 for the Shildon to Newport coal traffic and became Class EB1, with the last not being withdrawn by BR until 1964. An LNER platform seatback nameplate from Skegness realised £1150, and a platform seat from ECML station Essendine, featured in Heritage Railway issue 221, sold for £1000, as did an LNER buffet glass display case. Other category chart toppers included a 1962 BrushTraction worksplate from D1505/47406 (£880), a Frank Mason LNER poster promoting Banff (£700), and shedplate 52H (Tyne Dock) at £600. Prices exclude the buyer’s premium of 10%.

COLLECTOR IN LOCATION PLEA The railwayana collector who bought a worksplate from LNER K3 No. 61874 at Great Central’s Stoneleigh auction on December 3 has appealed to readers of this column for help in identifying the location of a photograph he has sourced of the locomotive. The grainy picture shows the 1929 Doncaster-built 2-6-0 on a five-coach train beneath the wires, but enquiries have not managed to establish where it was taken, or even on what line.“The fact that

it is beneath wires is obviously a help, but the location has stumped some people who are much more knowledgeable about this subject than me,” said the collector.

Should be a clue

One of those is Brian Sharpe, the deputy and picture editor of Heritage Railway, who said:“No. 61874 was shedded at Hull Dairycoates for much of its life and almost certainly when this photograph was taken, so that should be a clue.” Brian believes

semaphore signals in the background were Great Central Railway style, and the location may be under the wires between Rotherwood Sidings and SheffieldVictoria. The picture comes from the archives of top railway photographer Norman Preedy, but he too is unable to shed light on the location, although he dates the pic at around the mid to late 1950s. ➜ If you believe you know the location, email Brian on [email protected]

Overseas trio takes honours at Rugby A Vectis model train sale at Rugby on November 26 was a resounding success for overseas representatives, three of whom achieved four-figure realisations. They were headed by a Marklin O-gauge three-rail electric Continental outline Pacific that sold for £2000, followed at £1600 by another Marklin three-rail product, an HO-gauge Swiss‘crocodile’ electric locomotive. Thirdly, at £1000, came a 4-4-2T built by Hornby to O-gauge for the Argentine market and carrying the letters FCS (Ferrocarril del Sud, or Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway) on its tank sides. Settling in behind this trio was a 3½in gauge live steam LMS ‘Black Five’No. 5478 (£900), a Hornby O-gauge LMS No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth (£850), and an Aster of Japan Gauge One GWR 0-6-0PT No. 5764 (£750). Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 20% (+ VAT).

We want your news and views LOCATION MYSTERY: Gresley LNER K3 No. 61874 is seen here on a five-coach train beneath the wires – but where was it taken? The 2-6-0 was shedded at Hull Dairycoates for much, and indeed probably all, of its BR life, and was withdrawn from there in May 1961. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE. Inset: The worksplate carried by No. 61874 that is now in a private collection and has sparked a location mystery.

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

Write to us at Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ or email [email protected].

Heritagerailway.co.uk 73

NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL

THE BRECON

MOUNTAIN

RAILWAY Narrow gauge heritage lines run on former standard gauge trackbeds in many parts of Britain. Mark Smithers outlines the history of one such line in South Wales and its motive power with a transatlantic flavour.

T

he abandonment of parts of the standard gauge railway network deemed to be of no further commercial use during the post-Nationalisation era provided the railway preservation movement with the opportunity to reutilise their trackbeds in the construction of new narrow gauge leisure-orientated lines. In many respects a precedent had been set for this trend many years earlier with the 1915 reopening of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

(admittedly a 3ft gauge line as built) as a 15in gauge system. More recent 2ft gauge steam-hauled lines created in similar circumstances include the Launceston Steam Railway; the Bala Lake Railway; the South Tynedale Railway and the subject of this feature, the Brecon Mountain Railway. This system owes its trackbed to the former main line of the Brecon & Merthyr Railway, opened progressively during the 1860s and clos to passengers in 1961-2 and closed freiight in 1964. Following over a decade of dereliction, d the part of the trackbed thaat offered the most potential for devvelopment as a 2ft gauge railway was thee five-mile section between Pant, situ uated some three miles north of Meerthyr Tydfil, and Torpantau, the sum mmit of the original line and some 1313 feet above sea level.

New N terminus required

The course of the line, as depicted in an ‘altered’ Ordnance Survey map on sale in the railway’s shop.

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Fo ollowing the closure of the original railway, the bridge girders had been reemoved for scrap and there was no trace of the original rails or ballast. The land had been sold off to 13 different ow wners, including the original station siite at Pant, which was not available fo or acquisition by the new venture and hence h a new terminus was required on an n adjacent plot. Seven new bridges were reequired and while Pontsticill station and a signalbox buildings were still in existence, e they needed a considerable amount a of restoration work to be fit for reuse r by the new railway. The project was undertaken from its inception by a partnership involving the t late Tony Hills and Peter Rampton. The T process of obtaining the necessary legal l sanction for a reconstructed line, l as was to be expected, was a protracted one and it began in 1972, taking some six years in all. The work

Baldwin Pacific No. 2 departs from Pant with the first train of the day to Torpantau on August 28. The rolling stock consists of the railway’s entire complement of passenger rolling stock. The railway’s main building complex, consisting of station, restaurant, shed and workshops can be seen.

comprised obtaining the necessary planning permission for the works and a Light Railway Order. During 1979-80, track was laid between Pant and Pontsticill and a small workshop established in the old waiting room at the latter station, in addition to storage facilities. A bogie carriage was built to accompany the first locomotive to work over the new line on its opening in June 1980, namely former Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Sybil (No. 827 of 1903). The Brecon Mountain Railway quickly established itself on the South Wales tourist map and a new station and two-level workshop complex was built at Pant between 1982 and 1996, including booking, toilet, café and shop facilities plus a car park. The addition of further passenger carrying capacity ensured that, within a season, Sybil had yielded its place as the line’s main source of motive power to Graf Schwerin-Lowitz. Initially restored in the original workshop at Pontsticill, this 1908-vintage Arnold Jung 0-6-2WT+T (No. 1261) came from the Mecklenburg-Pommersche Schmalspurbahn in what, prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, was East Germany. The design of this locomotive shows a certain family resemblance to 0-6-2Ts built by the same maker for Namibia’s Otavi Railway prior to the outbreak of the First World War and it is pleasing to record that a sister engine survives in California.

Sole steam power

By the end of the 1980s, the number of passenger carriages had risen to four. These were all constructed to one design incorporating end verandahs, with ex-South African Railways bogies and drawgear obtained from the Isle of Man. The value of Graf Schwerin-Lowitz to the Brecon Mountain Railway during its first two decades of operation cannot be understated: it was the sole effective source of steam motive power from 1981 to 1997 and the first of the railway’s locomotives to avail itself of the boiler manufacturing facilities installed in the workshops at Pant, being fitted with a new boiler made in 1993 and having run over 125,000 miles in service prior to its eventual superseding as the main source of passenger motive power. By May 1994 it was announced that the railway was to be extended from Pontsticill a further 1¾ miles in a northerly direction along the original trackbed to Dol-y-Gaer and this extension was completed in time for the 1995 season. The work that was carried out involved the total replacement of three bridges There are no buildings at Torpantau, where the Baldwin Pacific is seen running round its train prior to the return working to Pant, which, unlike the outward trip, will entail a stop at Pontsticill. Heritagerailway.co.uk 75

Under restoration in the workshop complex at Pant is No.1 Santa Teresa, with its characteristic US-pattern smokebox and cylinder configuration very much to the fore. This locomotive has had a varied career, having started life as a 2ft gauge 2-6-0 for the Mogyana Railway in Brazil and spent the latter part of its spell on the South American continent as a 2ft 6in gauge unit. This locomotive will re-enter service returned to its original gauge but as a 2-6-2. In addition to the benefit of better riding characteristics in reverse, the addition of a rear pony truck also allows for better accommodation for the crew in the commodious cab. Inset: The Baldwin worksplate of Santa Teresa.

One of the major tasks remaining to return Santa Teresa to working order is the fitting of the new boiler and firebox. These components are currently under construction in the workshop.

The rear of Santa Teresa’s inner firebox, showing the holes drilled for the stays and the firehole ring.

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The split-level shed/workshop complex at Pant is equipped with an extensive range of machinery, some dating from the 19th century, including a lathe from Southend Pier, once used for turning tram wheels. Some idea of the size of the undertaking can be appreciated from this view of the upper level looking towards the shed doors.

and extensive repairs to a further five. It was partly financed by a £25,000 grant from the Development Board for Rural Wales. This section of the route skirts the Lower Pontsticill and Upper Pentwyn Reservoirs and was constructed using 75lb/yd rail and Australian Jarrah sleepers. Dol-y-Gaer station building, although still extant, was not available for acquisition and re-use by the BMR, as it is now owned by the South Wales Scouts Council. The summit of the original trackbed, Torpantau (1313ft above sea level) remained the ultimate realistic goal however, and by May 2004, track had been laid at the current terminus of the line. The site chosen for the terminus was on land adjacent to the original formation and to the south of the re-aligned road that currently separates the railway from Torpantau tunnel. Further extension of the line to enable it to pass through the tunnel would entail the construction of a new bridge to cross this road, and given the work involved, is not currently thought to be a feasible undertaking.

Not uneventful years

The current Torpantau extension was officially opened on April 1, 2014 and current standard operating practice is for passenger trains to run nonstop between Pant and Torpantau on the outward journey, with a 15-minute stop at Torpantau and to take a 25-35-minute stop at Pontsticill on the return trip, allowing passengers to alight and take advantage of the facilities on offer, namely a tea room and the steam museum, before continuing their journey on the same train, or if available, a later one, back to Pant. The 1980s and 1990s were certainly not uneventful years for the BMR, as between December 1988 (when the relevant contracts were exchanged) and 1996, it and the Vale of Rheidol Railway were in the common ownership of the Rampton-Hills partnership. Consequences of this move included the conversion of the three VoR 2-6-2Ts from vacuum to Westinghouse braking in the workshops at Pant, and also the construction of a new 0-6-0 diesel-hydraulic locomotive for the VoR (No. 10) in 1987 from components obtained following the liquidation of Baguley-Drewry Ltd (a similar locomotive being constructed for use on the BMR).

Other locomotives were also to be seen in store on the BMR during this period and these included ex-South African Railways NGG13 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt No. 77 (Hanomag No. 10629 of 1928) and a classic Hudswell Clarke ‘9in by 15in’ 0-4-2ST Santa Ana (No. 640 of 1903), originally supplied with sister engine San Justo (No. 639) to the San Salvadore Spanish Iron Co system near Santander for £755 apiece and ending their revenue-earning careers on the SA Huellera-Vasco Leonesa’s system at the Matallana de Torio Collieries, where they worked until 1971. In company with San Justo’s chassis and other components, Santa Ana was stored at Pant for several years, but today these precious Leeds-built relics are currently out of public view in storage in Surrey, having departed from South Wales after the dissolution of their partnership in 1996 and the transfer of the BMR to the sole ownership of the late Mr Hills. When one takes into account the severe gradient on the section of railway between Doly-y-Gaer and Torpantau, a case could certainly have been argued for restoring No. 77 to working order for use on the BMR. By the latter part of 1986, this course of action appeared to be very much the preferred long-term solution to satisfying the line’s need for a more powerful locomotive and some renovation work was indeed carried out, but in fulfilling this need, events were ultimately to take a different turn and today, No. 77 is to be found in static condition at the Exmoor Steam Railway at Bratton Fleming, in company with other ex-SAR 2ft gauge locomotives, having been sold to the Stirland brothers in 2002. South Africa was also the workplace of another of the locomotives acquired during the formative years of the BMR project, and one whose impact on the line’s development was destined to be more profound than that of the Garratt. In1930 Baldwin, of Philadelphia, USA, supplied to the Eastern Province Cement Co Ltd of Port Elizabeth a Pacific officially classified by the makers as 12 20¼ D.11 (works No. 61269). This outside-framed locomotive, with 13.5in by 18in cylinders, 3ft coupled wheels and an approximate total weight in working order of 50.5 tons, was built to a design based on the SAR NG10 class of 1916 vintage with some detail differences.

Graf Schwerin-Lowitz in the workshops beneath the Smith-Keighley 3-ton overhead travelling crane. The engine is in sound mechanical condition, but is not the first choice for passenger operation, as it is too small to handle fully-loaded trains between Dol-y-Gaer and Torpantau.

Although its bar frames, cab and tender design and cylinder/smokebox saddle configurations clearly betray the type’s US pedigree, the engine, along with its NG10 precursors, was built with a Belpaire firebox, a requirement of a customer based in a country under significant British influence at the time of its construction. The Baldwin Pacific underwent a certain amount of modification during its 44-year career hauling limestone trains in South Africa, including to its tender, sanding arrangements, cab and chimney. In 1974 its revenue-earning days in the African continent were brought to an abrupt end by a derailment following a runaway while it was left unattended.

Extensive restoration

The accident resulted in a considerable amount of damage, especially to its front end and it was written off, being shipped to the UK as deck cargo through Liverpool during the following year. Given the amount of work necessary to repair the damage to the engine and return it to working order following initial dismantling, full restoration was an extensive process and was undertaken during 1993-7. Following this work, the engine re-entered service as BMR No. 2 with its appearance restored as far as was possible to its original state. Since its return to service, No. 2 has proved to be a boon to the railway, as unlike Graf Schwerin-Lowitz, it is able to handle fully-loaded passenger trains over the section from Dol-y-Gaer to Torpantau. Following the 1996 partnership dissolution, and with the BMR now under the sole influence of Tony Hills (who died on May 26, 2015), the US influence on the railway’s steam locomotive practice was strengthened by a further acquisition. In 1990, a Baldwin 2-6-0, originally built in 1897 (No. 15511) to

The coupled wheel centres for No. 4 in the lower level workshop.

Work is also proceeding well on the boiler and firebox for No. 4, a replica of 1916-vintage Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railway ‘Forney’ pattern 2-4-4T No. 10. Unless there are any efforts elsewhere in the UK to alter the situation, when completed the engine will be the only domestically based representative of its type.

Above: The classic balanced flycranks for No. 4. Left: Two new front tubeplates in the lower level, after finishing work.

2ft gauge for the Mogyana Railway in Brazil and converted to 2ft 6in gauge when sold to the Santa Teresa sugar mill (being given a non-original tender) was imported into the UK and initially based at the Ffestiniog Railway. Although some restoration work was carried out on the engine, it was eventually decided to re-sell it and in 2002 No. 1, as the locomotive has now been designated, arrived at Pant. Given the fact that this much-modified locomotive has been out of service since 1976,

it is no surprise that an extensive rebuild is necessary, and in deciding what form this should take one important fact about the BMR has to be appreciated, namely that it has no turntable facilities at present. It has been decided to incorporate a trailing truck to mitigate the potential for poor riding characteristics during tender-first working on the return run from Torpantau to Pant. This measure has the added benefit of allowing for a larger cab, thereby eliminating

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One of the major attractions in the steam museum at Pontsticill is the tiny 2ft-gauge vertical boiler locomotive Redstone originally completed in 1905 for a private railway in the grounds of Plas Mawr House, Penmaenmawr, the residence of CS Darbishire, and later used at Trefor quarry in around 1921-22 and returned to storage during the following year.

the weakness inherent in many US tender locomotives without trailing trucks, namely the effective separation of driver’s and fireman’s spaces by the firebox. In addition to the work necessary to return No. 1 to its original gauge, a new tender has been built and a new boiler and firebox are also in the process of production. Once these are complete, the engine will be ready to re-enter service and it will be a useful addition to the line’s motive power fleet. Given the extensive work that has been necessary to restore Nos. 1 and 2 to running order and the facilities now available at Pant, it was a relatively short step from such

The other side of Redstone, showing the reversing lever and reach rod.

work to the construction of completely new locomotives on similar principles.

Two new locomotives

An obvious US-based inspiration for such projects was the iconic, but tragically short-lived Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, a system of approximately 112 miles extent in Franklin County, Maine that operated in its mature form, having absorbed earlier systems, from 1908 until 1935. In addition to a new caboose, which entered service in time for the 1992 season, two new locomotives inspired by SR&RLR practice are currently under construction.

Although inspired by the 3ft-gauge De Winton locomotives then in use in the Penmaenmawr slate quarries, Redstone differed from them in general design as built by having a free-standing (as opposed to boiler-supported) cylinder/steam chest layout and also by having uncoupled wheelsets, although coupling rods were later fitted at Trefor quarry, when a short-lived attempt was made to put the engine to serious work.

BMR No. 3 is a 2-6-2 based on SR&RLR No. 23 (Baldwin No. 40733 of 1913), while No. 4 is based on SR&RLR No. 10, a ‘Forney’ pattern 2-4-4T (Baldwin 42231 of 1916). Given that only one original Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes locomotive, 0-4-4T ‘Forney’ No. 6 (Portland No. 622 of 1891), survives in its native country, the replication of a selection of items from this system in Wales, not only serves to strengthen the representation of the system in the preservation world generally, but also adds an important new dimension to the domestic railway heritage scene. In order to appreciate the capabilities that the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes locomotives

Above: Although displaced as the BMR’s main source of passenger motive power in 1981, today Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Sybil is to be found in the museum. Left: By way of comparison with Redstone, the museum also contains the former Pen-yr-Orsedd De Winton locomotive Pendyffryn of 1894.

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No. 2 sets off from Pant with the last train of the day to Torpantau on August 28.

will possess when completed, it is important to note that BMR No. 3 will have 13in by 18in cylinders, 2ft 9in coupled wheels, a coupled wheelbase of 8ft 6in, a total engine and tender weight of 47.32 tons and an overall engine length of 22ft 6in. By way of comparison, the ‘Forney’ will have 12in by 18in cylinders, 3ft coupled wheels, 5ft coupled wheelbase, a total length of 26ft and a weight of 29.69 tons. From the point of view of historic items with connections closer to home, it should be noted that in addition to Sybil, two vertical boiler steam locomotives are also present as part of the BMR collection and these three locomotives, all of which are too small for ordinary service on the line, are currently to be found in the steam museum at Pontsticill, which also contains a selection of stationary engines.

The BMR has four of these verandah observation coaches, the first of which was completed in 1979.

Standard maker’s pattern

The earlier of the two vertical boiler locomotives is Pendyffryn, an 1894 product of De Winton & Co of Caernarfon. This engine was originally rescued for preservation from the Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry in 1965 and is of standard maker’s pattern, similar to Chaloner, George Henry and Kathleen. The other vertical boiler locomotive is unique and was originally built as an 0-2-2VBT in the workshop of CS Darbishire’s quarry at Penmaenmawr by a Mr Redstone, after whom it is named, being inspired in general appearance by the 3ft gauge De Winton 0-4-0VBTs at work in the quarry, although differing in design fundamentals by reason of the lack of coupling rods and the fact that its cylinders are free-standing, rather than anchored to the boiler. Following a transfer to Trefor quarry (along with Mr Darbishire) in around 1921, the fitting of coupling rods and a short-lived attempt to earn a useful living on the Trefor system, Redstone was put into storage until acquired

The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railway-pattern caboose completed in 1992.

from Plas-yr-Eifl, Trefor in 1972, spending the period prior to transfer to the BMR in 1977 in company with Pendyffryn in storage at Llanberis. In 2012, Sybil, Pendyffryn and Redstone were all given extensive attention in order to restore them to working order: in the case of the latter pair, this involved the construction of new boilers. In addition to the steam locomotives and passenger rolling stock, there is a selection of goods vehicles and the internal combustion

fleet has been strengthened by the import of two Soviet-era Kambarka ‘TU7’ bogie diesel-hydraulics, of 1981 and 1985 vintage respectively from Latvia and Slovakia, which will require regauging before they are able to enter service on the BMR, the original design having been produced for gauges of 750mm and upwards. In conclusion, I would like to thank Michael Hills and the staff of the Brecon Mountain Railway for their help during the preparation of this feature.

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017

Isle of Man Steam Railway 2-4-0T No. 10 Fenella at Santon station. BRIAN SHARPE

THE ISLE OF MAN: The perfect place for a timeless and stress-free railway holiday EXPERIENCING an Isle of Man Railways holiday is just like taking a journey back in time. The island is adorned with a charming network of Victorian steam, electric railways, even horse drawn trams and spotlessly clean stations. En route, you’ll be exposed to breathtaking landscapes, delightful countryside, rugged coastline and uninterrupted sea views. There’s even a seasonal mountain railway, which takes you to the top of Snaefell, the highest point of the island at just over 2000 feet, from where you can survey the world around you. Being such a friendly place where railway enthusiasts are always welcome, there’s plenty of opportunity to have

a chat with the volunteers who man the railways and to marvel at the 19th century engineering of the locomotives and carriages. With Isle of Man Events, the island’s leading specialist in booking and travel accommodation at the footplate, you’re sure to be heading in the right direction. They will arrange all travel to and from the island and provide the best hotel and guesthouse deals.They can package three, five or seven-day Explorer tickets, which can include trips to many historical sites of interest around the island. To explore the delights of the Isle of Man’s enchanting trains and trams, call Isle of Man Events on 01624 664460.

Multiple locos on big freight trains are a linesiding feature of Darjeeling’s USA tours.

DARJEELING TOURS: Old favourites PLUS a new venture in Australia WE HAVE an exciting programme for 2017/18 covering our favourite areas of India and the USA. However, we are expanding and have a fabulous new tour covering all the best of the railways, and tourist draws, in south-east Australia, at a remarkably reasonable price. Our good friend, Bob Cochrane (chairman of Australia’s Puffing Billy Steam Railway) is our mentor and has arranged all sorts of amazing visits – download, or ask for an itinerary, and see just how much we have packed into this wonderful holiday.

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Following the success of our recent tours to California and Colorado, they appear on the 2017 roster.The California tour now includes a morning of whale-watching, and the Colorado will have a visit to the‘Big Boy’, being rebuilt in Cheyenne, in addition to all of the usual attractions. On top of this, we have our best ever programme for India, ranging from the ‘Magic’tour (an ideal introduction) to Indian Mountains, plus a tour of the less well-known Indian narrow gauge. Come and join us, and enjoy the best of scenery and the best of railways!

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017

The Harz Railway in Germany is a popular destination in winter. Mallett No. 99.5906 arrives at Alexisbad on February 5, 2015, with a vintage train. TRACKS NORTH

INSIDE TRACK: Leave your cares behind, sit back, relax and have some fun… SINCE 1986 InsideTrack has run a range of hotel-based, escorted holidays with an emphasis on nostalgic transport. The daily itineraries combine travel by coach, train, boat, tram and anything else that moves, and incorporate visits to museums, steam railways, scenic, cultural and local attractions. Once you have joined an InsideTrack holiday you can leave any cares or worries behind; we try not to approach things too seriously, it’s a holiday after all – so let’s have some fun! So to 2017. On the UK front we have a range of four-eight-day holidays, and new to the programme are holidays based in Carmarthen, the farWest of Wales, and Edinburgh, for a borders exploration that ranges from the Trossachs to Lindisfarne. There’s an unusual combination of railways and maritime interest on‘The Captain’s Table’, including a sea-going treat aboard theSSShieldhall. A Devon-based holiday returns to the fold, and old favourites remain in place so the Scottish Highlands, Ulster and the Isle of Man are all still there, to name but a few. Our overseas adventures all start by Eurostar from London except, not

surprisingly, our new‘Irish Craic’to the Republic in September. Also new to the brochure are our‘Great Dane’ extravaganza that gets‘off the tourist trail’ in Denmark, an Alsace trip that crosses into the Black Forest and Switzerland, an autumnal trip to the Ardèche, and a fantastic adventure to Austria for 11 days in June. As ever we also find steam in Holland, France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and all combine interesting highlights such as the Maldegem Steam Festival in Belgium and the unusual opportunity to sail aboard a privately chartered tall ship in northern Holland – you struggle to find such variety elsewhere. We remain committed to staying small enough to give that personal service to each and every one of our customers. Each holiday is accompanied by a representative, who works solely for InsideTrack, as your satisfaction is our foremost aim. This is just a taste of what InsideTrack is all about and what we are offering in 2017. So, to find out more why not send for the brochure? It’s free after all and a cracking read to boot!

Always popular on Inside Track holidays is the Welsh Highland Railway, it’s beauty typified by the Ffestiniog Railway’s No. 10 Merddin Emrys heading north out of Tunnel 3 on the Aberglaslyn Pass on November 6, 2010. ROBIN STEWARTSMITH Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017

PTG TOURS: Montenegro the ‘jewel in the crown’ for 2017 FOUNDED in 1998, this established UK-based company offers‘general interest rail, nature and culture’and a few‘enthusiast’holidays from the UK, using rail travel as a theme. Comfort, enjoyment, leisurely days and friendship are the secrets of their success. They specialise in countries and areas that are not covered by other operators. The company is one of the only rail holiday companies that are both ATOL and ABTA bonded. The majority of PTG’s trips are for people who want to see the culture and scenery of the destination country, travelling by train and staying at great hotels. Destinations in 2017 include Sicily, the Loire Valley, Galicia, Portugal, Hungary, Portmeirion and Snowdonia, Douro Valley, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Baltic States, Scandinavia, southern France, Sardinia, and Corsica. Long-haul destinations include Cuba, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Colorado (USA), Ecuador, and Burma. A regular tour is the renowned ‘Vintage Port’holiday that celebrates its 39th running in September. This tour is centred on the beautiful Douro Valley, in the north of Portugal, famous for its port wine and stunning scenery. A superb way to see this unique landscape – a World Heritage Site. For a holiday away from the trains PTG offers a unique‘Royal’Douro River

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The Hr1 Pacific steam loco that will feature in PTG Tours’ seven-day charter around Finland in July.

cruise in August, using the royal barge The Spirit of Chartwell for a seven-night cruise through stunning scenery. This was the boat used by HM The Queen during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. For steam enthusiasts PTG is the only company now running rail holidays to Cuba, where this paradise island is traversed using a private railcar. Visits are made to see the last workings at the sugar mills and include several steam runs. As the visit is made during the sugar cane harvest several‘real’workings are expected to be witnessed. The next tour departs the UK on February 16 and readers are urged to visit Cuba now before increased

numbers of Americans result in added investment and the loss of the unique ‘lost-world’experience. Other steam highlights are a weekend visit to Bulgaria, with three different steam locomotives, and a seven-day charter around Finland, including two days with an Hr1 Pacific steam locomotive. Finally, in September, we have what we believe is the first dedicated rail tour of Colombia in the 21st century. For modern rail enthusiasts there are several tours planned on top of the Finland one. The first, at the end of April, is a five-day charter around Hungary, including a small trip into Ukraine. This tour will feature a variety of unusual locomotive types.

Probably the highlight of the year, in October, will be a five-day charter around Montenegro. All of the main passenger lines radiating from Podgorica will be covered, taking the tour to Bar, Bijelo Polje and Nikšić. It is also hoped to include the line via Tuzi and over the border to the Albanian border station of Bajzë. Requested traction will be some of the four ex-Slovenian Class 644 locomotives (Spankas) and, if available, a Class 661. Freight lines will also be requested in the Bar, Podgorica and Nikšić areas. The Belgrade to Bar railway is without a doubt one of the most scenic in Europe and our tour will cover the most impressive sections from Podgorica to Bijelo Polje and over one of the tallest railway bridges in the world at Mala Rijeka. A unique attraction of PTG is that anyone booking a holiday is given a completely free customer day out on a special steam-hauled charter train, covering both the Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog Railways in North Wales – usually featuring three of four different locomotives. The 2017 trip is on Monday, June 5. For a free copy of its colour brochure see PTG’s advert, or contact PTG Tours on 01235 227288, or visit its website at: www.ptg.co.uk

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017 STEAM DREAMS: Southern steam anniversary… plus much more in 2017

One of the refurbished Cravens carriages used on the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’. STEAM Dreams has recently announced an exciting programme of holidays by steam, including a nine-day trip to Ireland, a nine-day trip to the Isle of Man and Ireland, a four-day‘Devon Belle’trip to Dartmouth andTorbay, and a four-day trip to theYorkshire Dales and Moors. Steam Dreams is offering an exciting new nine-day steam tour, encompassing the Isle of Man and Ireland.The inaugural ‘Emerald Manx Explorer’will set out on Tuesday, June 13, with an optional extra day’s travel from London to Chester behind the world’s most famous engine, Flying Scotsman.The next day, the trip starts in earnest as passengers will make their way by ferry or air for a three-night

stay in Douglas on the Isle of Man.This will be followed by five nights in Ireland, returning on June 22. Alternatively, passengers may choose a full nine-day tour of Ireland, the ‘Emerald Isle Explorer’, which includes a coastal journey by steam to Rosslare, and a stay in Killarney (June 14-22). Passengers on the Emerald Isle also have the option of an extra day with a trip behind Flying Scotsman on June 13 to Chester and a night’s stay in the seaside town of Llandudno. In the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern steam, Steam Dreams is giving passengers the opportunity to celebrate

Steam Dreams regular No. 6201 Princess Elizabeth at Harlow Mill. DON SMITH the anniversary in style with a recreation of the last steam-hauled service from Weymouth to Waterloo on July 9. On Thursday, July 6 the‘Devon Belle’will pull out of London on the first leg of a four-day trip to Dartmouth andTorbay. Passengers will stay here for three nights, before returning on Sunday, July 9 from Kingswear to Waterloo via Weymouth, retracing the steps of Elder Dempster Lines in 1967. On Saturday, July 8 there is an optional steam-hauled day trip fromTorbay to Penzance. On Friday, September 15 the‘Moors & Dales Express’leaves London Victoria behind Flying Scotsman on a route via the Midland Main Line over the famous

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

Harringworth Viaduct towardsYork. North ofYork, passengers have the choice of travelling to Northallerton for transfer to the stunningYorkshire Dales for three nights, or travelling on to Whitby via Battersby, to enjoy a threenight stay near Whitby. The return journey, which will be hauled by a locomotive from a pool including Princess Elizabeth and B1 Mayflower, will give passengers a short break in Lincoln before returning to London Victoria. For further information about steam holidays with Steam Dreams, contact the booking office on 01483 209888 or visit: www.SteamDreams.co.uk

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017

Bagnall Isaac at work on Devon’s Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. TONY NICHOLSON

STEAM TRAIN TOURS: Offering the best in coach and rail travel holidays

STEAMTrainToursisofferingholidays especiallyforrailwayfansin2017. Thecoachtraveltoursvisit many preservedsteamrailways,andother placesofrailwayinterest,likerailway museums.Forloversofsteamtraintravela holidaylikethisis amust! Newfor2017is atouroftherailwaysof theIsleofMan.Afulldaytravelling theIsle ofManSteamRailway,plustheSnaefell Mountain,ManxElectric,DouglasHorse DrawnTram,Groudle Glenline,andavisit tothemagnificent LadyIsabellaLaxey Wheel.Ifyouhavenot visitedtheIsleof Man,andyouloverailways,putthisone onyourlist! TheLake Districtholidayfeaturesa steam-hauledrideonthe‘Fellsman’over thefamousSettle toCarlisleline,crossing

theworld-renownedRibbleheadviaduct, AisGill,andDentstation;theRavenglass andEskdaleandEastLancashireRailways; anda boatrideonLakeWindermere. YorkshireincludesYorkRailway Museum,theWensleydaleline,Beamish museum,andthe NorthYorkshireMoors Railway(Heartbeatline). WealsovisittheGreatLittleTrainsof Wales,ofmassiveinteresttofansofnarrow gaugelines,and10railwaysinsixdayson ourtourofDevonandCornwall. ThetourofKentandSussexincludes theBluebellLine,andtheRomney,Hythe &DymchurchandtheKent&East SussexRailways. Contactandwebsitedetails,andhowto getyourFREEbrochureof2017tours,are ontheSteamTrainToursadvert.

unforgettablescenicviews. Theserailroads coveralarge areaof thisvaststate,butas partofanescortedtouryouwill havethe benefit ofanair-conditionedprivatecoach totakeyoutoeachrailroad. Theholidayalso includesavisit tothe Colorado RailroadMuseumandthe multi-storeyedvillageofTaosPueblo,a UNESCOWorldHeritagesite. Incontrastwhy not headeast toJapan withFfestiniogTravelonan18-daytour inSeptember.Itcombines tramandtrain journeyswithspectacular sightseeing acrossJapan’s threemain islandsof Honshu,ShikokuandKyushu. ExploreTokyo,Kyoto,Matsuyama, Beppu,Kumamoto,Nagasakiand Fukuoka.AfirstclassJapanpassallows theoption forindependentsightseeing aswellasorganisedexcursionstoKyoto

RailwayMuseum,UNESCOsitesanda journeyonthe‘SLHitoyoshi’steam train. Or exploreVietnam,Cambodia andthe MekongDeltabytrainandroadandenjoy guidedtoursofHanoi,DalatandSaigon. AjourneyontheReunificationLine includesoneofVietnam’s mostbeautiful stretchesofrailwaytoDanangasthetrain travelsthroughverdantlandscapesonto adramaticcoastline.This 20-daytour, whichdepartsOctober29,includestwo shortflightstoseeCambodia’s national treasuresinPhnomPenh,arideonthe steamtraintoSihanoukvilleandvisitstoits famoustemples. ThetourincludesfiveUNESCOWorld Heritagesites,includingancientHoiAn andAngkorWat. Fulltourdetailsandinformationat: www.ffestiniogtravel.com

Left: Japan’s stunning and aerodynamic ‘bullet’ trains. Right: A double-header on the 64-mile long Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in Colorado climbing through the Rockies from Antonito to Chama, New Mexico.

FFESTINIOG TRAVEL: How to make the most of a long-haul holiday – enjoy expert guidance on a plane/train tour A RAILjourneyisthemostefficient, effectiveandenjoyablewayoftravelling throughacountrybylandandenjoying sceniclandscapes,culturesandtourist landmarks. Beingpartofanescortedrailtourmeans youhavetheadvantageofprivatecharters andexpertguidancetoensureyou experienceasmuchofacountryandits attractionsinthetraditionaltimeframeofa two-three-weekholiday. RailtouroperatorFfestiniogTravelis runningthreeverydifferentescorted railtourstolong-hauldestinations in2017. Theyofferthetouristanopportunityto travelacrossahugeexpanse oflandby train,withsomebeing about theactual railjourneysthemselves,while others usemodernandheritage trainstoreach newdestinations.

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TheUSstateofColoradohasadiverse landscapeofariddesert,rivercanyonsand thesnow-coveredRockyMountains,so whatbetterwaycouldtherebetotravel throughthis‘OldWest’statethanviaits pioneeringrailroads? A13-day‘BestofColorado’escortedtour, thatdepartsJune15,includesjourneyson the‘Magnificent 7’railroadsthatcriss-cross thestate. FromDenver,onthefringes oftheRockyMountains,youwilltake theGeorgetownLoopnarrowgauge line beforeajourneyontheRoyalGorge RailroadthatfollowstheragingArkansas river.Ascendto14,110ftonthePikesPeak cograilwaybeforevisitingLeadville,the highestcityintheUSA. Furtherjourneysonthe Durangoand Silverton,CumbresandToltecandRio GrandeRailroadsfollow–alldelivering

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RAIL HOLIDAY GUIDE 2017 A1 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE TRUST: Luxury travel and opulence aboard Tornado SITTING in an elegantly appointed dining car partaking of high tea while white smoke drifts gently past the window. Gazing out across the quintessential English countryside dotted with farmsteads and church spires. Admiring the breathtaking wonder of theYorkshire Dales’limestone pavements to the accompaniment of the hard-working steam locomotive. The elegant nature of the golden age of rail travel when trains such as the‘Flying Scotsman’and the‘Golden Arrow’were the last word in luxury and opulence can still be enjoyed in the 21st century. The A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust is the charity behind the creation of brand new main line steam locomotive No. 60163 Tornado. Since its introduction into service in 2008, Tornado has travelled more than 75,000 miles throughout the country, delighting railway enthusiasts and leisure travellers young and old. The A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust runs its own programme of railtours to destinations such as, Lincoln, Scarborough, Bath and Bristol, Cardiff, Chesterfield and many more. The locomotive is also regularly hired out to other UK railtour operators. Details of these railtours are available at: www.a1steam.com All profits from the operations of these tours are ploughed back into the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of Tornado. Additionally, a number of innovative funding schemes support the ongoing aims and objectives of the A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust. Buoyed by the success of Tornado, the trust is now well on the way to building a second new locomotive, Gresley ‘P2’No. 2007 PrinceofWales. This will re-create a long-lost leviathan of the rails, the

‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado on December 12 near Great Chart, on the approach to Ashford, hauling ‘Canterbury Christmas Tale’ railtour. JOHN WADDINGTON likes of which have not been seen in the country since the 1940s. Further details of this exciting new project are available at: www.p2steam.com Have you got a special anniversary approaching or want to treat a loved one to a day out?

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

Why not consider a steam-hauled trip behind Tornado and explore one of Britain’s many heritage destinations? Our tours will feature Tornado hauling historic carriages with passengers in first class dining, receiving traditional silver service throughout. First class non-dining and standard class also available.

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PLATFORM

READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE

Can General Steam Navigation ever become ‘unrebuilt’? OKAY, I know, it’s been discussed before but the semantics of our language would appear to be rearing up again with the announcement on page 11 of issue 220 where readers learned that the owners of No. 35011 GeneralSteam Navigation are planning to, as the article so carefully worded it,‘retroconvert the locomotive to original as-built condition’. I have, for many years, openly objected to the use of the term ‘unrebuilt’to describe the members of theWest Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives still extant in their original form with chain motion and air-flow casing. As far as I have been concerned, there are just two examples of Bullied light Pacifics – light Pacifics and rebuilt light Pacifics – period. As several other readers, both in the pages of HR and on the Facebook pages, have pointed out, the term unrebuilt is perfectly correct English when referring to original locomotives and that is, indeed true. However, it certainly leads to misunderstandings – especially to readers who are not dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts who may not be anything more than people who enjoy reading about and seeing pictures of steam trains. The implication is that something was done to the locomotives and subsequently undone and I would venture that is exactly what casual readers would assume. So, what now?When No. 35011 is back in action complete with air-flow casing (possibly the only significantly visible difference between it and all the other preserved Merchant Navies to those future supporters), how will it be described? Well, the obvious answer to that would be as an unrebuilt MN. It leaves no doubt that it was once rebuilt and that that work has been reversed – i.e. undone. Up to now, no Bullied Pacifics have been unrebuilt – they have simply remained in original as-built condition. But the time would appear to be coming when there will be an unrebuilt Bullied Pacific so how will HeritageRailway and other written accounts differentiate between No. 35011 and the four WC and six BB locomotives still extant in original condition? Will it be simply an unrebuilt Merchant Navy or will it be a once-rebuilt, retro-converted locomotive? DavidRHolt, Queensland,Australia

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STAR LETTER

‘Missing the point’

on main line steam today MR McGINTY’S response to my letter in issue 221 shows a serious lack of understanding of the professional facts regarding steam locomotive operation on today’s railways. He asserts steam hauled trains are slow because of speed limits imposed by Network Rail.This is not so. They are slow because they accelerate slowly and their power to weight ratio is well below that of a modern train.The maximum speed for steam locomotives of 75mph imposed by Network Rail has little bearing on point-to-point timings. If the limit was raised to 90mph it would save only eight seconds per mile run at that speed compared with 75mph and very few of the authorised steam locomotives would be capable of achieving 90mph for any worthwhile distance. Network Rail does not insist on the use of BR footplate staff for steam locomotives.These staff are provided by theTrain Operating Companies who have a safety case to operate steam locomotives on the main line and they decide competency and training needs. It is 48 years since steam finally ceased as a normal means of traction on the main line. In many parts of the country it ceased over 50 years ago. Any residue of footplate staff with BR steam experience would therefore be at least 70 years of age now. The difficulty now is obtaining the necessary training and experience within today’s very limited steam operation. In any case this has no bearing on the variable quality of coal available today which can affect ability to keep time. Mr McGinty says steam locomotives have to conform to a far more rigorous

standard than pre-1968. If this is the case, why is today’s miles per casualty figure so much worse than BR’s?The fact is the experienced BR boilermakers, fitters or mechanical foremen no longer exist and hence the need for today’s method of certification which does not have their experience. Mr McGinty misunderstands the point I was making about 14-coach trains being unacceptable at Carlisle. If a train stopping in the station is too long to clear the track circuit at the other end of the platform then this locks up access to other routes and this is unacceptable at a busy station.

Average performance

Again on optimum performance Mr McGinty misses the point. Train loads and point-to-point timings have to be based on average performance taking all circumstances into consideration. Similarly he does not seem to understand that on exposed gradients like Shap and Beattock wind can blow the sand away from the sander’s outlets before it reaches the railhead. He also does not understand that damp rails can cause a real problem with adhesion even if there is no ice or oil contamination. By asserting once a train has lost its path the only people inconvenienced are those on that train, Mr McGinty really does show his lack of knowledge. Any train on today’s busy railway which is out of its path is a risk to the punctuality of other trains and this is particularly the case with a slow moving train and one not keeping to its point-to-point timings. Finally if penalty payments are limited or capped then their purpose is nullified if they then do not provide

an incentive to improve reliability. Also in the final days of BR, steam loads were not reduced because of falling demand but because even the best express steam locomotives did not have the power to keep time on the accelerated schedules necessary to meet market demand. Remember the 1960s exclamation of that great railway operator Gerry Fiennes:“We need nothing less than 3000 horse power under the bonnet”. The best a Class 8 steam locomotive could turn out on a continuous basis was about 1500 horse power. Today’s electric trains have four times that power and have anti-slip devices to aid adhesion. My comments were not based on me protesting too much but on my long experience in railway operations and particularly steam traction. No one wants to see steam squeezed off the main line but its continuance is not helped by making uninformed excuses for its shortcomings. The fact is, it is getting less and less compatible with the modern railway and therefore its reliability needs to be near perfect. In the context of realism it is perhaps timely to remind readers of a point made by Brell Ewart many years ago:“You would not be allowed to fly aTiger Moth at Heathrow”. A salutary suggestion to be thankful for what you have got and make sure you don’t jeopardise its fragile existence. David Ward, email PS. Delivery of the December advertised steam programme is a shambles with last minute cancellations, failure to provide the advertised locomotive and some very heavy delays. Operations have reached a nadir.

Corris claim at odds with Tom Rolt I READ with interest Peter Davis’s letter in Issue 223 entitled‘The man who bought the Corris pair’, in which he relates how J I C Boyd told him back in the 1980s how he had, in 1951, paid BR £50 each for the two Corris locomotives. This account is somewhat at odds with LT C Rolt’s telling in his excellent book Railway Adventure, published just two years after the event. In this he relates how, having inspected the locomotives at Machynlleth, he, as soon to be appointed general manager of the newly formedTalyllyn Railway Preservation Society, together with Jim Russell and society chairman Bill Trinder, drove down to Swindon to try to

negotiate the best possible price for the two locomotives, for which the asking price was £65 each. He recalls that BillTrinder stated the society’s case most eloquently and that the BR staff were clearly sympathetic towards their cause.They were informed that“they had decided that they could write them off their books at a figure much lower than that originally named. It was a figure that would enable us to acquire both engines for less than the previous price of one.” Moreover, as soon as their visit to Swindon was known“the committee decided to purchase both Corris engines, their cost being covered by generous

donations made by individual members.” So who is to be believed? In the regrettable absence of both these distinguished gentlemen my money is onTom Rolt. His account is much more plausible and matches the known facts, unless of course, there is someone out there who knows differently? What is certain is that without these two little engines the efforts of the fledglingTRPS may well have foundered. Instead, it became the vanguard of a movement that would reverberate throughout this country and the rest of the world. For that we can all be truly grateful. Glenn Lathall, Kimberley Nottingham

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The 9Fs remembered ROBERT Anderson’s excellent feature on the 9F locomotives in issue 222 revived personal memories of these fine engines in action. I never saw one operating a passenger train but read with excitement in Trains Illustrated of their high-speed exploits in other parts of the country. I lived right beside the line into Consett back in the 1950s and saw them daily, slogging up the final climb towards the steelworks right past my house. As a teenage engine spotter I had many illicit short footplate rides on them plus one official run on an iron ore train all the way from Tyne Dock to Consett. And I can confirm the smooth riding of these engines mentioned by crews from the Western Region’s Canton shed who preferred them on passenger trains to Britannia Pacifics, as reported by Robert. My earliest memories of the Tyne Dock-Consett iron ore trains are of the North Eastern Railway’s fine Q7 threecylinder 0-8-0s on this duty, later joined by a number of Thompson O1 2-8-0s. As a schoolboy in Consett I had many unofficial footplate rides on 9Fs, Q6s, Q7s, O1s, WDs, J26s, J39s and J94s

tootling around the lines of the area, but my first experience of riding on a really hard working locomotive on a longish trip was when I was about 13 and was invited by a driver and fireman on a Q7 to ride light engine down the line to South Pelaw and return to Consett on the engine working as banker to a sister locomotive with a heavy iron ore train. On the return to Consett I experienced about a dozen miles of thrilling action as the Q7 was opened right up on gradients of around the 1-in-50s and 1-in-40s. I was encouraged to take a hand firing.The first half the journey from Tyne Dock to Consett was relatively level and the Q7s and 01s easily handled the approximately 700-ton iron ore trains before the banker came on at South Pelaw for the final miles of climbing. When the 9Fs took over these duties the load was increased, I think from eight to nine 56-ton capacity iron ore wagons. The trains were always banked from South Pelaw, near Chester-le-Street, to Consett by a Q7 or 01 or a 9F after the 2-10-0s arrived on the scene. It was in the late 1950s that I had my one and only ever official footplate ride. By this time having left school, I

BR Standard 9F No. 92214 on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 2013, when it ran as Cock o’ the North. DAVID TROUT was a young reporter on The Consett Guardian weekly newspaper and we were running a series of features about various jobs in the thriving steel town. It was easy to convince the editor that the supply of iron ore to Consett steelworks was a vital part of the local economy. Getting his permission it was then equally easy to convince BR North Eastern Region atYork that a footplate pass was essential for my article. It was an unforgettable and treasured experience, in my opinion, of one of the finest steam locomotive types ever built in this country.

Flying Scotsman is in the right guise as No. 60103 HAVING read the comments about Flying Scotsman in recent issues of Heritage Railway I feel it is about time someone spoke up for the loco in its present form – numbered 60103, double chimney, proper green not LNER undercoat, and yes – with the German deflectors. I reach my 70th birthday in 2017 and the engine as running today is how I remember the A3s at 34A and 34F in the early 1960s when I took a proper interest in railways. In fact when No. 60076 Galopin arrived in Lincoln on a Christmas special without them by then it looked strange! To me it is No. 4472 that means little or nothing, and if Mr Pegler had not meddled when he acquired the engine by reintroducing its former number

A3 No. 60103 Flying Scotsman inside the workshop at the National Railway Museum in York on December 12, for winter maintenance after its phenomenally-successful comeback season. HENRY DAVID ALLUM most current enthusiasts would probably be none the wiser. Mind you, in my case you are looking at someone who enjoyed Green Arrow when it carried No. 60800 again a few years ago and who detests the ungainly

streamlining that has been foisted on Duchess of Hamilton, aka the ‘Upturned Bathtub’. Naturally everyone has a right to their own opinion but the above is mine – long live No. 60103. Peter Hollis, Waddington, Lincoln.

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

Towards the end of steam, a period that could, and perhaps should, have been extended a few more years on some lines, why weren’t these engines put to good use on new duties? They could easily have handled the heavier fast trains on the Settle to Carlisle line and on the Highland main line between Perth and Inverness for instance. The heaviest loads and tightest schedules on lines such as these were well within their capabilities. What a tragedy their working lives were so short. David Trout, Durham

Scotsman is now historically accurate WHEN I saw Mr Finn’s letter in issue 222, my heart sank. I thought“oh no, not another pointless debate about numbers, livery, authenticity etc.” As the National Railway Museum has spent nearly £7 million on the purchase of this locomotive, it is reasonable to expect it to realise its aim of authenticity.The comparison to the MGB is meaningless – to fit chrome bumpers to the rubber-bumpered models was purely cosmetic, whereas the smoke deflectors on Scotsman are for very sound safety grounds – essential to lift exhaust above the driver’s vision. As for the number, I believe it changed to 60103 around 1949, so most people who saw it in BR service (as I did when in the RAF in the 1950s), would remember it as such. Also for sound operational reasons, it was fitted with a double chimney, which in my opinion does not spoil the looks at all, unlike the GWR Castles. Finally, as I have said in years past“he who pays the piper calls the tune”so the choices must be the NRM’s. H M Foulkes, Corfe Mullen, Dorset.

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REAL STEAM DAYS

The fascination of

FOOTPLATE WOR The other side of the story! Working on the footplate is often regarded as having been glamorous glamorous, especially as a driver. Brian Bell tells what it was like as a fireman, keeping the coal flowing towards the metropolis in the 1950s.

M

onday, January 26, 1959. Driver R (Dick) Peart. New England shed. Booking on duty at 2.30am on a cold, windy winter’s morning to work a New England – Mansfield train of coal empties was not quite the best way to start the working week, especially after only a few hours’ sleep. This was a rostered ‘change over’ diagram working, (Working Timetable train No. 334) with the prospect of a long 10 or 11-hour shift. The dreaded thought that you would have to repeat the sequence for the next five days did not really enthuse when you were roused at 1.30am. ‘Change over’ diagram working was a system whereby a freight train destined from A (in this case a New England coal empties) to B (Mansfield) and another in the opposite direction from B to A, (coal train from Mansfield Colliery to New England) departed at about the same time and were booked to meet somewhere in-between. The exact place where engine crew and guard changed over and worked back to their home depot depended on how each train ran to time and

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the precise location Train Control decided was appropriate. It should be pointed out that in pre-Second World War times it was the accepted practice that most engine crews worked a train throughout to its destination, then lodged overnight and worked home the next day. Some larger depots, such as Immingham, even had purpose-built dormitories, but most lodgings took place in private houses, some of which left quite a bit to be desired, as I was regularly informed (i.e. climbing into a bed someone had just risen from!).

Archaic system

Following the end of the war the unions demanded an end to this archaic system and the railway companies then decided to bring in the more acceptable ‘change over’ system, especially for slow heavy freight duties, with the advantage of enginemen being rostered to cover freight workings within an eight-hour shift. However, during the 1950/60s period the majority of freight trains were still being operated loose-coupled and classified

as ‘unbraked’; coal trains especially, with the effect that few, if any, of these workings ever finished within the eight hours rostered working. (Unbraked meant that only the engine and guards van at the rear had brakes to control the train). Overtime working during this period of time was rampant and it would be fair to say that quite a number of drivers knew just how to work it to their own and the fireman’s financial advantage. (For instance, after passing a distant signal at caution, the golden rule was to never look back to see if it was pulled ‘off’ i.e. clear to proceed through the next section. That way it meant slowing down and being prepared to stop at the next ‘stop’ signal, obviously causing a delay and having to pick up speed again). However, you always tried to finish within 12 hours as rules were laid down that you were required to have 12 hours of rest before resuming work again. It was essential for obvious reasons that you didn’t miss a lucrative rostered weekly working. To cover certain long distance workings (main line expresses and ‘Class C’ express

KING WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90161 accelerates away from New England towards Werrington Junction with coal empties on July 11, 1957. COLOURRAIL.COM / D OVENDEN 19447

GCR O4 2-8-0s including No. 63734 on shed at Retford. COLOURRAIL.COM 362871

freight trains), some depots volunteered to have a ‘lodge’ link. These rostered workings were highly sought-after by some depots and crews, due to the very high mileage payments. (e.g. Kings Cross – York and Newcastle depots), plus having the top Pacifics to work on. Mileage payments were calculated at 140 miles, which equalled an eight-hour shift as a day’s work, plus every additional 15 miles was paid at one hour’s additional pay. In the 1950s, despite an increase in the use of oil, coal was still the main source of energy throughout the whole of Britain, used primarily in generating electricity; converting into coal gas; providing power for industry, and predominantly for domestic cooking and heating. With the bulk of the country’s main coalfields situated in Yorkshire and the East Midlands it was a massive transportation problem to transfer thousands of tons of coal daily to a power-hungry London and the South East. Rail was obviously the main method with one route via the old Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast line to Lincoln, then along the

GCR O4 2-8-0 No. 63807 passes Walton on the approach to New England with a ballast train on July 24, 1961. COLOURRAIL.COM / D OVENDEN 5836

Great Northern through Boston and on to Peterborough, where thousands of coal wagons would be shunted and reformed, before making their laborious way down to Ferme Park in London, via the East Coast Main Line. The other East Coast route was also via Lincoln, but down the Great Northern/Great Eastern Joint to Sleaford, then on to Spalding and March, where again trains were reformed at the massive freight yard at Whitemoor before being transferred to London via the GE.

Congested rail routes

The old Great Central route to the port of Immingham, originally designed for coal shipment, was also widely used. Thousands of tons of coal were transported daily by rail to the port, then loaded onto large bulk carriers that steamed south down the East Coast and in to the River Thames, thereby avoiding the congested rail routes into London. All coal trains ran under the class H heading but when returning as coal empties, they worked under the slightly faster-timed class F; both classes of trains being operated loose-

coupled and unbraked. These workings were all rostered as ‘change overs’ with the change over point on the originating LDECR area trains, usually at Bardney, which is just south of Lincoln. On New England – Ferme Park workings it would normally be at Hitchin, where trains could wait on the ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ slow lines while taking water. However, some diagram workings involved working all the way through to Ferme Park, a journey taking up to six and even eight hours after which crews travelled home ‘on the cushions’ (on the next available passenger train). Some rostered diagrams worked in reverse, whereby a crew would travel to Ferme Park and work a coal empties back to New England. At that time the Up and Down slow tunnels at Potters Bar were in the process of being constructed, thereby all slow freight traffic destined for the large marshalling yards at Hornsey were routed via the so called ‘New Line’. This branched off the ECML just south of Stevenage then via Hertford, rejoining the ECML at the massive rail complex at Wood

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Green, thereby avoiding the mass of commuter trains operating on the main line. Loose-coupled freight trains were the main method of freight train operation for nearly 100 years, right up to the 1960s and the end of steam power. Loose-coupled meant that each wagon was coupled up to the next with a three-link steel coupling, which gave a gap of around six to eight inches. This had the effect that when a driver applied power from stationary, he managed to pick up the weight of each wagon one by one rather than moving the whole train weighing around 500 to 600 tons dead weight in one go. Obviously, this relied totally on the skill of the driver; move off too quickly and the poor old guard sat in his van at the rear could be thrown to the floor. Equally, when running downhill the driver would shut off steam and freewheel; the weight of the train gradually pushing the engine, but when at the bottom and beginning the next climb, it required expert judgement as to when to gradually apply steam and pick up the weight of each wagon. Applying too soon could cause a violent snatch and the possibility of snapping a coupling and the train parting. Believe me, guards on such trains certainly had a rough ride with some drivers! With the introduction of the BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 and the development of 16-ton ‘fitted’ (vacuum-braked) coal wagons, it was decided to run express freight class C (fully brake-fitted) coal trains of 35 wagons maximum up the main line to Ferme Park. All these trains operated during the night when the main line was not so busy with a booked timing of three hours. On arrival at Ferme Park the engine ran light to Hornsey shed where it would be watered then coaled at the automatic coaling plant (if the driver dared sneak past the running foreman) otherwise the fireman had to shovel coal forward in the tender. The crew then took refreshments before returning back to Ferme Park to work a class ‘C’ coal empties back to New England, all within eight hours. I was in No. 4 link where most of these workings were rostered and I know from personal experience that it was an

GCR O4 2-8-0 No. 63703 heads a coal train through Lincoln in October 1957. COLOURRAIL.COM / M LONGDON BRE1493

exceptionally long hard day’s work. (150 miles total meant just one hour’s extra overtime). However I digress; back to the morning of January 26 and first the ritual of preparing your own engine. Today we were in luck; it was a Langwith O1 2-8-0 No. 63703; a Thompson rebuild of a GCR O4 with a B1 boiler, modern cab and bucket seats! It was nowhere near as good a steamer or ride as the original Robinson-designed engine, but on a winter’s day the modern cab with sliding windows afforded considerable protection from a cold wind. (At least Thompson did think about the crews’ comfort, pity about his locomotive alterations or design).

Allowed one hour

Crews were allowed one hour to prepare an engine (oil, retool, bring up to normal working steam pressure and test everything) and it wasn’t long before we were running light engine tender-first to the massive Westwood sidings, where we coupled up to our train of around 50-60 empty coal wagons. O1s were always top side of the job and it didn’t require much effort to get underway, passing slowly along the ‘Down goods’ line between the New England depot on one side and the rows of grimy terraced railway houses (the Barracks) on the other. After passing under the Midland & Great

Northern overbridge onto the ‘Down slow’, the gradient was slightly downhill to Werrington Junction and at this early time of the morning and not being required to cross the East Coast Main Line you were usually signalled direct onto the East Lincolnshire main line. Thereon to Spalding and Boston, the line passed through the very flat, featureless landscape of south Lincolnshire, but it was easy running and once a train was up to speed (around 35mph), on class F it was relatively easy to maintain it. The 30-odd mile stretch of line to Boston was dead straight virtually mile after mile, but once through Boston it ran practically parallel to the River Witham, following each curve in the river for the next 30 miles to Lincoln. It was remarkable how on a very windy day, as the railway line followed a curve in the river, the wind would catch the empty wagons and hold the train back. The driver would respond by either opening the regulator a little or notch down a turn on the reversing handle. Through experience the engine crew would exchange knowing glances as the train momentarily slowed down, acknowledging the fact: “It’s a train load of wind again.” One of the interesting aspects working over this section, especially during the early summer light mornings, was the vast number of anglers on the riverbank, for virtually the whole length of the river.

LNER O1 2-8-0 No. 63687 on shed at Retford on March 2, 1963. These engines were Thompson rebuilds, with B1 boilers, of the GCR Robinson O4s. COLOURRAIL.COM

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GCR O4 2-8-0 No. 63665 approaches Peterborough’s Westwood yard with an Up coal train on the goods lines to the east of New England shed. NORMAN PREEDY

This vast number were ‘Sheffielders’ who worshipped fresh fish angling and practically all gave a cheery wave as you passed by. Another fact was that due to the desolation of the line, during early summertime, BR ran ‘fishing special’ trains from Sheffield and allowed passengers to alight in between sections to reach their angling stations – most unusual, but at least one method of earning some extra revenue! Strangely, for the numerous times I passed by, I never saw anyone catch anything.

Signal at caution

Approaching Bardney you would be hoping to observe the distant signal winking green in the darkness ahead, indicating right through and on to Lincoln, because either your ‘change over’ was running late or cancelled. This meant relief at Lincoln and home ‘on the cushions’. Normally, as it was on this occasion, the signal would be at caution and as the driver gradually brought the train’s speed down, ready to stop at the home signal, it was obvious from the smoke and steam ahead that your ‘change over’ was already awaiting your arrival. The usual procedure was for the signalman to bring the train virtually to a halt at his home signal, then pull the signal ‘off’ so that the train would slowly roll past his ‘box, whereby he would slide open the window and shout “change over.” This was an opportune moment, if possible, for the fireman to jump off the engine; cross over to the ‘box and brew a fresh can of tea from a kettle that was always on the boil for that purpose. Speed was of the essence when changing over. As the engine slowly ground to a halt, adjacent cab to cab, the crews would change over, passing brief comments as to the train load and how the engines were performing.

Today we had another Langwith O4; No. 63707, an original one of its class built in 1911, unfortunately although still a superb steamer and smooth-riding engine, the wide open ‘D’-shaped cab did not afford much protection to the crew on a cold winter’s day. This type of locomotive had what was called the original vacuum-type injectors for topping the boiler up with water, which took a great deal of experience to operate as you had to create a vacuum in the delivery pipe to raise the feed water into the injector . Unfortunately, as your water level dropped in the tender, the delivery pipe fitted to the boiler faceplate became warm and a vacuum became difficult to create. This involved numerous methods of attempting to cool it, especially if the boiler water level began to drop dangerously low. But we always survived, just. Immediately I climbed back on board with a fresh brew of tea, my first concern was to check the condition of the fire. GCR O4s, being good steamers, rarely had problems, unlike the WD Austerity 2-8-0s, where the fire soon built up clinker on the firebars. Within a few seconds you were both slowly on your way, having also given the guards the chance to change over and this was an opportune moment to build up the fire. The coal on these engines was usually of poor quality, mostly ‘ovoid’ briquettes and a mixture of coal and wet coal dust. The reason to build up a big fire, if possible, was to give you the chance to try and eat your ‘snap’; usually sandwiches and a cake packed into a large Oxo tin. (Snap was the local name for your ‘pack-up’ but locomen from other areas called it odd names such as ‘bait’ (Sheffield men) or even ‘hockey’ (Geordies). Sandwich boxes were unheard of in those days and bread with black finger print marks didn’t seem to affect your constitution. At least

you had a fresh brew to drink, although some drivers carried a bottle of cold tea all the time. Normally you would place your white enamel tea can on a tray on the boiler front to keep warm but you had to beware that the boiler water from a leaking regulator gland directly above did not drip into it (that was an acquired taste!). As the train slowly got under way you would look to the rear of the train while waiting to observe the green flashing light being waved by the guard indicating he was safely on board. Then with a sharp blast of the engine whistle in acknowledgement, and a nod to the driver, you began the long journey back home, trying to eat your ‘snap’ in the best way possible. Firing a GCR O4 was totally different to the style required with the previous Thompson O1 rebuild with a B1 boiler. The O1s had an oval (GN) shaped firehole door that was lower and it required considerable skill, especially when a smokeplate was fitted, to throw coal to the front of the long firebox, whereas the GC engine had a Belpaire-type firebox with a much higher ‘O’-shaped firehole door. These fireboxes were smaller in length but were much deeper and required a more upright stance to fire; the usual method being to build up a good fire under the firehole door and feed the front end sparingly.

Driving experience

I wasn’t the only person to describe my mate Dick Peart as an eccentric person, but one exceptionally good point he had was that once he was satisfied with your competence and knowledge of the road, he was always prepared to share the driving with you, especially as practically the whole journey home was relatively flat. I loved driving and enjoyed the skill required to drive a loose-coupled

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train and give the poor old guard behind a smooth ride. To be honest some drivers had no consideration for the guard, I’m sorry to say, Dick especially, and they were well known by the ‘guard fraternity’ as very rough drivers to be wary of. I knew this from personal experience having had to ride on numerous occasions in a guard’s van, when required by ‘Control’, as the only way to travel out or return to your home depot. It was part of the long apprenticeship to driver status that drivers allowed senior firemen to drive to gain experience, but unfortunately it was not a compulsory company policy, just a matter for your driver. It was therefore possible that some firemen due to be passed out as ‘passed firemen’ had very little driving experience, made worse by the fact that there was no other practical ‘handson’ training. One of my regular drivers later on was one of the best drivers you could be with as a mate and as an engineman; someone who took immense pride in his skill and profession, but he would never allow you to drive under any circumstance except on the shed. Fortunately, I must say that Dick, on the other hand, when he realised that the engine was in good fettle, would just say “fill her up” (the firebox) then cross over to my side, allowing me to take over. One important skill required by a driver was ‘road knowledge’; that is knowing the exact location of every signal and gradient, especially when driving loose-coupled/unbraked freight trains. Bringing heavy coal trains under total control and being able to stop in the exact place required a great deal of forward planning, particularly when approaching a distant signal. Block sections could vary in length but those in the open country could be up to five or six miles between signalboxes so that when a distant signal was in the ‘off’ position, it meant a train was clear to proceed at the maximum permissible speed to the next section. However,

when running on a downhill gradient extra caution had to be exercised. This meant bringing the train under complete control so that if the next block section distant was at caution the driver needed to be confident that if the next home signal was showing ‘stop’ he had ample space to bring the train to a halt. The driver had not only to assess the gradient but also the weight of the train, the state of the track due to weather conditions and the engine’s braking capability.

Rather implausible

To a layman, describing the situation that a train was not under complete control seems rather implausible, especially under the present strict health & safety rules, but where the running of loose-coupled freight trains 60 years ago was concerned, this regrettably was a fact. Many a train failed to stop at adverse signals despite various methods employed by the driver, even putting the locomotive into reverse gear. Fortunately though, at main line junctions, there were in-built safety limits between additional ‘home’ – ‘inner home’ – ‘starter’ and ‘advance starter’ stop signals, and collisions were rare. With Dick situated snugly alongside the boiler on the fireman’s side of the cab, it was left for me to sit and face the elements, but once the train was running at a pleasant cruising speed, I could stand up in the corner and observe the view ahead through the large front-facing cab window. Fortunately, the whole of this run through the Fens of south Lincolnshire was virtually dead flat and it was relatively easy to maintain control of the train, obviously as long as you knew what you were doing. Approaching Boston though it was a case of sitting down at the controls and simply facing the elements, whatever they threw at you. By this time in the morning, Boston, being an important rail junction, was becoming busy and progress was regularly impeded, involving

a slow crawl, but once in open country you could open the engine up again. Some 16 miles further on the same situation would occur as the train threaded itself through a busy Spalding. Very often you would be held up on one of the Up goods lines as you watched a number of the East Anglian boat trains going through in both directions, hauled by a variety of LNER B17 4-6-0s. Once clear of Spalding you could open up the regulator for the final 16-mile lap to Werrington Junction and set the reverser at about 15% cut-off to maintain a reasonable speed. The vast majority of the older heavy freight locomotives had no modern facilities, speedometers etc and a driver relied on his experience and especially his hearing to judge speed. I was always curious to know how the rail authorities could honestly expect drivers to judge speed limits of 8-10 and 15mph. Noticeboards were located, with all the numerous speed restrictions you were supposed to comply with, especially at the approach to large station complexes such as King’s Cross. Fortunately, there were no speed cameras to tell. Finally, after negotiating Werrington, the greatest delays would be in the approach to New England, four miles further on, where under ‘permissive block’ working you could be in a long queue of freight trains, one behind the other, waiting to enter the vast Westwood marshalling yards. To explain: practically all main line running was under ‘absolute block’ signalling, meaning only one train was allowed in a section, but where a mass of freight trains on goods lines operated it could be under ‘permissive block’ operation. This would be indicated as the engine passed a signalbox where it operated, and the train brought practically to a standstill, the signalman then waved a green flag, indicating a train was in front of you and to proceed with caution. At the approach to exceptionally busy marshalling yards, such as those at New

WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90031 passes Lincoln on the through lines with an eastbound fright on June 20, 1960. COLOURRAIL.COM / D OVENDEN 19504

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LNER O1 2-8-0 No. 63985 heads along the Lincoln avoiding line on October 5/ 1957. COLOURRAIL.COM / M LONGDON BRE1490

WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90005 approaches Werrington Junction on the ECML with a coal train on July 25, 1962. The water troughs on the fast lines are clearly visible. COLOURRAIL.COM / D OVENDEN 19536

England, you could often be behind not just one other freight train but very often four or five. This was equally so from the London direction at Crescent Bridge signalbox where, on several occasions, Hornsey crews having waited for up to two hours, would throw the fire out, make the engine safe and go home on the first available train. You didn’t mess about with Hornsey crews! Fortunately, at New England shed there was always a considerable number of spare crews available throughout the 24-hour day especially for this purpose. However, before a running shed foreman sent out a crew to relieve you, his first consideration was to calculate how many hours overtime you had already worked, bearing in mind the fact that you required at least 12 hours’ rest to be available for your rostered 2.30am shift duty the next day. If not it would mean the list clerk (the person responsible for preparing the daily shift roster) being notified to find a replacement crew for that next day’s particular working. At that time, every large motive power

department had numerous ‘spare’ crews booking on duty every two hours simply to provide cover for these particular duties, plus sickness, additional workings, holidays etc. On this day we were fortunate as we must have been relieved, as according to my diary, where I recorded every firing turn I performed during my 10-year footplate career, we both worked this train for the next five days. Today, however, it is obvious that the numerous railway companies in operation on our railways at present do not obviously carry ‘spare men’, which explains why so many trains are cancelled due to the lack of a crew.

Every seven minutes

After arriving in Westwood sidings, the large number of coal trains would be sorted out for their relative destinations in London, later to be hauled by one of New England’s many Austerity 2-8-0s. At one time it was reported that one of these coal trains would depart every seven minutes, such was the need for coal in the London area. Although it was only

a distance of 75 miles, it is hard to believe that it would take around eight hours for these loose-coupled, unbraked freight trains to reach their final destination at Ferme Park, London. But that’s another story. This, I agree, seems a most archaic way of operating the bulk of freight trains in those days and must take a great deal of believing, but it is entirely true. However, this was the practice at that time and accepted by all over many, many years, especially as slow freight link crews made a considerable amount of extra overtime pay. How wives and families coped with it is questionable, but they did. Finally, may I say, although I didn’t realise it at that time, my diary has been a godsend to me to be able to recall those days, which although were extremely arduous at times, brought back some fabulous memories of a job I really cherished and was sad to leave. But times had changed and as the modern diesels took over it caused a mass of depot closures, together with the inevitable redundancies. So, reluctantly, it was time for me to move on.

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NEWS FO OCUS SPECIAL

‘Le Mastrou’

At possibly the best location on the line, Pont des Etroits, Mallet No. 414 heads the 10.15am Tournon-St Jean to Le Colombier on July 14.

It is unusual for a well-established preserved railway to be forced to close, but fortunately, in one case, this proved not to be the end of the story. Don Benn reports on the revival of one of France’s best-known heritage lines.

W

e have visited The Chemin de fer du Vivarais, or the ‘Le Mastrou’ as it is also known, many times over the 40 odd years we have been going to France, and although its superb scenery remains, of course, the terminus is now an air-conditioned modern building some miles out of Tournon, near to the beginning of Le Gorge du Doux.

This is somewhat out of character by comparison with the ancient locomotives and rolling stock being used, but was a necessary part of the reopening of the line in 2011, using a number of grants, and in view of the refusal of SNCF to allow the dual-gauge running into the town centre station in Tournon-sur-Rhône to continue.

No. 413 near Lamastre with the 10am from Tournon on July 20, 1986.

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The line was originally part of a network of metre gauge lines around Vivarais, built between 1898 and 1903, but closed in 1968. A tourist operation started over part of the line in 1969, running from what is now the terminus at St-Jean-de-Muzels to Lamastre and extended into the terminus at Tournon-sur-Rhône in 1970, a total distance of 33 kilometres. It continued without much change for the next 35 years, but lack of funds to maintain the line and rolling stock forced closure in 2008. Reopening started with a Velorail service in 2011, with the steam service following in July 2013. The steam service now runs from April to November each year and in July and August consists of a 10am departure on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, right through to Lamastre and return, plus a 10.15am train daily, except Saturdays, as far as Le Colombier-lesVieux and return, plus a daily 3.15pm return also to Le Colombier, and at the height of the season a train at 5.45pm. There is also an 8.30am railcar to Lamastre for the market on Tuesdays. This is a far better service than operated in the 1985-2008 period, and has resulted in the line becoming very popular. The velorail service is based on Boucieu-le-Roi, about 20km from Tournon. For further details see www.trainardeche.fr The scenery is quite outstanding as the line runs through the gorges of the River Doux, and

CFV Mallet No. 104 enters the Gorges du Doux with the 10am Tournon to Lamastre on July 8, 2003.

Mallet No. 403 outside the shed at Tournon-St Jean being prepared to work the 3.15pm train to Le Colombier on July 13.

has three main viaducts across that river and one tunnel, Mordane, which is 265 metres (859ft) in length. Roads in the area are few, narrow and winding, but it is possible with care to chase trains as far as Le Colombier using the D534 and D234 roads from the terminus at St-Jean, and as the images show this is the best section with some amazing locations. This is made easier when both the 10am and 10.15am trains run. Engines are turned at both Lamastre and Le

Billard railcar No. 214 at Tournon CFV on May 31, 1998.

Colombier. The mainstays of the motive power are the magnificent 0-6-6-0 Mallets, of which there are five, built by SLM in 1902/3 and still numbered in the old Vivarais system as 401, 403 and 404, plus 413 and 414 built by Société Alsacienne in 1932. There is also an 0-4-4-0 Mallet No. 104 built in 1906 by Blanc-Misseron. Of these Nos. 403 and 414 are currently operational and both are required when the full service operates. At Boucieu-le-Roi, tram-style

0-6-0 Pinguely tank and No.104 were stored in the open in July 2016. There are four Billard railcars and No. 214 was operating both in 1998 and in July 2016. There is a very good hotel in Rue de la Gare, in Tournon, and one in the tiny village of Le Crestet, near to the top end of the line, plus a number in Lamastre, and these make good bases for exploring both the Vivarais line and the area.

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OFF THE SHELF Southern DayRailRovers

ByDonBenn(softback,48pp,available fromwww.amazon.co.uk,£8.99+ postage,ISBN9781540553324) IN the 1960s the Southern Region offered three local Area Rail Rovers, each valid for a day within a defined area, at a cost of 10 shillings (50p today).To hardup youngsters these tickets were too good to miss and the Area 2 Rover in particular was a big attraction as it covered the SouthWestern main line fromWaterloo to Woking, as well as the Guildford to Redhill line, the latter being 100% steam worked until the end of 1964, writes Brian Sharpe. The line fromWaterloo of course carried the steam-hauled trains fromWaterloo to Basingstoke, Salisbury and Southampton and beyond, many of which stopped at Woking and so were ideal for the many local ardent train bashers. The author, who is a regular contributor to HeritageRailway has lost track of how many of these tickets he bought but a dozen survive in his ticket collection spanning the years 1960-64. Sometimes the author’s party would include brothers and his father and these trips tended to be track and unit bashes rather than chasing after steam as his father’s interest tended more towards such things rather than the dying steam era. However, the tickets bought in the spring of 1964 were mainly to time the train running of steam-hauled trains into and out ofWaterloo and to photograph them on the main line as far asWoking, while it was still almost entirely a steam-worked main line. This book tells the story of those day trips which whetted his appetite to seek out locomotive performance further afield, which he had already been sampling since 1961, and captures the atmosphere of Britain’s last steam-worked main line, the 50th anniversary of the eventual electrification of which will be commemorated in appropriate style in July. The book contains 38 train running logs and black-and-white illustrations throughout. SOUTHERN STEAM NOSTALGIA

Urie&Maunsell2-Cylinder 4-6-0s ByDavidMaidment(hardback,Pen &Sword Transport, 264pp,£30, ISBN9781473852532). AS might be expected for its cover price, this book provides a wealth of information about Robert Urie and Richard Maunsell’s engineering careers and the locomotives they designed and built, writes Cedric Johns. In addition, the author gives details of

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Armoured Trains:

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia 1825-2016 By Paul Malmassari, translated by Roger Branfill-Cook (hardback, Seaford Publishing/Pen & Sword, 528pp, £50, ISBN 978 1 84832 262 2).

“WOW”is the first reaction on picking up this stupendous reference work to military trains across the globe. An encyclopaedia on the subject, it covers armoured trains from nearly 80 countries, from Angola toVietnam andYugoslavia, and is magnificently illustrated by around 1500 black-andwhite rare archive photographs. The book is not new, written by the second-in-command of a French tank regiment who retired from that country’s army with the rank of colonel, and is also a scale modeller, it first appeared in 1989. This is a revised, updated, expanded and most importantly to British readers, translated version. Roger Branfill-Cook is a professional translator of French books on historical and military subjects and is also a battlefield guide. He has written extensively on military history in his own right. The chapter on Great Britain takes construction and performance both during Southern Railway and BR operations of the N15, S15, N15X, H15 and King Arthur classes. Profusely illustrated with quality blackand-white photographs dating from 1909 onwards, the introduction includes notes on Drummond’s influence. The appendix illustrates rarely-seen drawings of Maunsell’s four-cylinder 4-8-0 heavy freight and three cylinder 2-6-2 mixed traffic engines which were never built because of his retirement. AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE

SwindonWorksThrough Time ByAndyBinks andPeterTimms (softback, Amberley Publishing,96pp, £14.99ISBN9781445642611). THIS book is essentially for the serious follower of the history of Great Western steam and SwindonWorks in particular, writes Cedric Johns. Packed with photographs, line drawings and informative captions, the leading diagram illustrates the layout of Swindon Works in 1846 and in the 1950s, the period starting with Gooch and Brunel and ending with FW Hawksworth. Line drawings and photographs dating back to the 1840s begin a sequence of the Works’activities with many before and after

up 38 pages, and begins with William Bridge Adams’artillery train proposals of 1859, in which he suggested building a ring of railway around London to protect the capital. It looks at early designs for armoured trains, their BoerWar debut, and their widespread use in the First WorldWar (pictured is an armoured train comprising adapted GWR coal wagons). Even where pictures are not available, the volume is full of short descriptions of items which have almost certainly been missed by other railway historians. During the General Strike of 1926, an armoured train was built, complete with firing loopholes, as a response to the derailment of a train in Northumberland.The strike ended and this armoured train was never used. British armoured trains abroad in places such as the Middle East, India,

comparisons showing the development of Swindon’s numerous‘Shops’which in the 1920s employed a workforce of 14,000 local people. The book includes many unpublished illustrations and facts such as a photograph of the great G J Churchward relaxing in Newburn, a house originally built in 1873 for Joseph Armstrong. MUST-READ FOR GWR FANS

Norfolk’sLostRailways ByNeilBurgess (softback, Stenlake PublishingLtd, 97pp,£16,ISBN 9781840337556) NORFOLK’S railway network was at its height from the end of the 19th century to the 1920s, transporting agricultural produce and tourists, writes Brian Sharpe. Competition from motor transport took its toll and by the 1950s, before Beeching, Norfolk was seeing uneconomic lines close. The closure of almost the entire Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway system in February 1959 was the biggest railway closure in Britain to date and set the scene for an increasing rate of line closures. These early closures happened before the railway preservation movement took hold, although two steam railways – the North Norfolk and the Mid-Norfolk survive, plus the miniature BureValley andWells & Walsingham.

EDITOR’S CHOICE China and Africa are also described in detail. And yes, the heritage sector’s ‘own’armoured train, that which ran on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway during the SecondWorldWar, is included. In 1985, we are told, plans were drawn up for an armoured train for the royal family, to offer protection against terrorist attacks, but the scheme was abandoned after some MPs criticised the cost. The extent of research that has clearly gone into the volume is mind-blowing, and that goes for the translation too. Expensive maybe, but it is worth every penny for a once-in-alifetime volume like this PHENOMENAL DEFINITIVE REFERENCEWORK The book is the usual lost railways mix of facts and vital statistics and archive photographs, most of which are from preGrouping or LNER days and show a very different railway system to what we are used to today. RURAL RAILWAY NOSTALGIA

TheLondonRailwayAtlas: Then andNow ByPaulJordanandPaulSmith (hardback, NostalgiaRail/ CrecyPublishing, 112pp,£21.95, ISBN9781908347435). IT takes much, much more than a simpleTube map to even begin to start unravelling the Underground and overground network of Britain’s capital. Confusedbuteagertoknowmore?This splendidatlasisasuperbplacetostart. Comparingcoloured1921RailwayClearing Housemapswithcorrespondingsystem drawingstoday,eachisaccompaniedby thumbnailpicturesanddescriptionsof significantpointsoneachlinetoday. It makes for fascinating reading, and its pages contain much to learn and enjoy, with an index of all stations at the rear plus some vintage timetables. It is beautifully presented too. Interestingly, as reported in Headline News this issue, Crecy has just acquired the railway publishing division from Ian Allan. SPLENDID INFORMATIVE CARTOGRAPHY

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UP & RUNNING BRIAN SHARPE’S FULL LISTING OF OPERATIONAL LINES AND MUSEUM VENUES

Railway Museums Beamish

County Durham. The Living Museum of the North. Open: Daily except Mon, Fri.

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

Col Stephens Railway Museum Tenterden Station, Kent. Open: W/Es. Tel: 01580 765155.

SOUTH EAST

Conwy Valley Railway Museum

Bluebell Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800. Engines: 263, 178, 323, 592, 847, 30541, 73082. Running: W/Es from Feb 11.

Eastleigh Lakeside Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience. Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Hastings Miniature Railway

Narrow gauge, 600 yards, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex. Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Hayling Seaside Railway

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

Lavender Line

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

Mid Hants Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. Tel: 01962 733810. Engines: 34007, 925, 45379, 92212, 41312, 76017. Running: Feb 17-26.

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Narrow gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience. New Romney, Kent. Tel: 01797 362353. Running: W/Es.

Royal Victoria Railway

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

SOUTH WEST Moors Valley Railway Narrow gauge, one mile, Ringwood, Hants. Tel: 01425 471415. Running: W/Es.

South Devon Railway

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

Swanage Railway

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

Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 2104 passes Pitsford Sidings signalbox on its last day in service on the Northampton & Lamport Railway prior to withdrawal on January 2. ANDREW RAPACZ

EAST ANGLIA Mangapps Railway

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

Nene Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Wansford, Peterborough, Cambs. Tel: 01780 784444. Engine: 34092. Running: Suns.

Whitwell & Reepham Railway

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

HOME COUNTIES Didcot Railway Centre

Standard gauge, footplate experience, Didcot, Oxon. Tel: 01235 817200. Engines: 93, 6024. Open: W/Es.

MIDLANDS Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Tel: 01246 472450. Open: March.

Evesham Vale Railway

Narrow gauge, 1¼ mile, A46 north of Evesham, Worcs. Tel: 01386 422282. Running: W/Es.

Great Central Railway

Standard gauge, eight miles, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW. Tel: 01509 632323. Engines: 48624, 47406, 46521, 92214, 45305, 777, 6990, 30541, 78018. Running: W/Es + Jan 27.

Midland Railway-Butterley Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 570140. Engine: 5643. Running: W/Es.

Peak Rail

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

Perrygrove Railway

Narrow gauge, B4228, Coleford, Glos. Tel: 01594 834991. Running: W/Es.

Rocks by Rail

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

NORTH WEST East Lancashire Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Bury, Lancs. Tel: 01617 647790. Engines: 13065, 12322, 34092, 76084. Running: W/Es.

Heaton Park Tramway

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

NORTH EAST Elsecar Railway

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

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine and dine, Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214. Engines: 43924, 90733, 1054, 5820, 75078, 85, 45212. Running: W/Es.

Tanfield Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Tel: 01913 887545. Running: Suns

WALES Ffestiniog Railway

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.

Museum Of Scottish Railways Bo’ness. Open: April. Tel: 01506 825855.

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

Kidderminster Railway Museum

Kidderminster, Worcs. Open: SVR operating days. Tel: 01562 825316.

Locomotion: The National Railway Museum, Shildon

Co Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01388 777999.

London Transport Museum Covent Garden Piazza. Open: Daily except Fri, Dec 25, 26. Tel: 0207 379 6344.

Manchester Museum of Science & Industry Castlefield, Manchester. Open: Daily. Tel: 0161 832 2244.

Midsomer Norton

Silver Street, Midsomer Norton. Open: Sun/Mon. Tel: 01761 411221.

Monkwearmouth Station Museum Sunderland, County Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01915 677075.

National Railway Museum

Leeman Road, York. Open: Daily except Dec 24-26. Tel: 01904 621261.

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

Rail Story

Ingrow, West Yorks. Open: Daily except Dec 25. Tel: 01535 680425.

Shillingstone Station

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

Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends. Tel: 01984 640869.

STEAM – Museum of the GWR Swindon, Wilts. Open: Daily. Tel: 01793 466646.

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

St Albans South Signalbox & Museum

Narrow gauge, 26 miles, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000. Running: Feb.

West Cumberland Railway Museum

Welsh Highland Railway

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

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

St Albans City station. Tel: 01727 863131.

Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Cultra, Co Down. Open: Tues-Sun.

St Bees, Cumbria Open: Monthly, dates as per Facebook entry or email petergrooke@ btinternet.com

Yeovil Railway Centre Yeovil Junction, Somerset. Open: W/Es.

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STAY A WHILE

The Railway Carriage and Railway Cottage The Railway Carriage and Railway Cottage are two stunning self-catering properties – both graded four stars with gold awards – located next to theWest Somerset Railway between Stogumber andWilliton stations in the heart ofWest Somerset. THE Railway Carriage is a replica GWR brake van and provides spacious accommodation for up to four plus a baby, with a king-size bedroom and a twin room.There is a well-equipped kitchen, bathroom, dining, living area and a private hot tub. Railway Cottage also has a private hot tub but has three bedrooms and will accommodate six plus a baby.There is an en-suite shower room and a family bathroom as well as lovely kitchen dining room with

wood burner and a sitting room with panoramic views of the railway. Both properties accept a wellbehaved dog and have fenced gardens and private parking. There is lots to see and do in the area as well as the railway – Dunster Castle is nearby and there are beaches within a 15-minute drive as well as stunning walking on the Quantock Hills and Exmoor.The local village has a handy shop and a great pub that serves excellent food.

The sights and sounds of the engines as they pass within 10ft of the properties are amazing. Both

the Railway Carriage and Railway Cottage are perfect properties for steam fans.

■ For more information and to book online visit www.lavenderhillholidays.co.ukor call Kate on 01984 656622 / 0781 3821475. 102 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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THE MONTH AHEAD

SR Q class 0-6-0 No. 30541 heads up Freshfield bank on January 3, with a Jon Bowers goods train photo charter on the Bluebell Railway. DAVID KING

A quiet start to the year THE first few weeks of the year will see few major events for the enthusiast but the Great Central Railway, as usual, kicks off the gala season with a three-day spectacular at the end of January.

SPECIAL EVENTS January

20-22: Alexandra Palace: London Model Engineering Exhibition 27-29: Great Central Railway:Winter Steam Gala ■

Up to six locomotives will be in action on the Friday, with up to eight in steam on Saturday and Sunday.The guest locomotive, SR Q class 0-6-0 No. 30541 from the Bluebell Railway will be joined by selected home fleet locomotives: There will beTravelling Post Office and demonstration goods trains running to an intensive timetable with up to 80 locomotive

KEY ■ Major or featured galas

106 Heritagerailway.co.uk

or train movements on both the Saturday and Sunday.

February

5: MoorsValley Railway:Tank Engine Day ■

RAILWAYANA February

11: Solent Railwayana,Wickham 18: Great Central Railwayana, Bloxham 25:Transport Auctions of London, Croydon

■ Diesel and/or electric galas

Issue 225 is out on February10, 2017. Catch up with the latest news, views and great features every four weeks. ■ Thomas and family event

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