Heritage Railway magazine - Issue 269

WHICH WAS THE FIRST LINE TO RUN SERVICES AFTER LOCKDOWN? FIND OUT INSIDE!

ISSUE 269

July 10 – August 6, 2020

STEAM’S BACK FOR SUMMER! Railways restart in time ffor high season ■ MIDNORFOLK BUYS 18CARRIAGE FLEET! ■ WELSH PONY STEAMS AGAIN AFTER 80 YEARS

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN AT 50

KOLHAPUR

Back for 2022 Commonwealth Games plan

■ SUMMER LUXURY SETTLE & CARLISLE CHARTER TO RUN THREE TIMES DAILY! ■ HRA REPORT BACKS WEST SOMERSET PLC

Now help save “their” line a second d tim time

CONTENTS ISSUE 269

July 10, 2020 – August 6, 2020

News

7

Headline News

6

■ Dartmouth leads the way out of

lockdown as steam back for summer

■ Tributes paid to popular main line

traction inspector Jim Smith

■ Sir Rod Stewart becomes patron of

B17 Spirit of Sandringham builder ■ Steam action at Minehead for two weekends this summer ■ Heritage lines make new Restoring Your Railway Fund shortlist

27

News

10

■ Infrastructure schemes set to halt

Severn Valley Railway slippages ■ Tyseley to return its Jubilee Kolhapur to main line for 2022 ■ Closed Middleton operates its 60th anniversary train on June 20 ■ Mid-Norfolk buys 18 carriages in historic deal with Porterbrook ■ Coronavirus fails to halt progress of LMS Patriot locomotive project ■ Peterborough signalbox reborn as a bird hide and rail viewing point ■ “Collaboration is key” to West Somerset survival – chairman ■ Mangapps ‘ready for the off’ says owner after £1 million expansion

Regulars

Features

Subscribe Today Railwayana

30 58

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

46

52

Main Line News

52

operate with steam from July 15 ■ New luxury trains operator for Settle and Carlisle this summer ■ David Buck to temporarily rename and renumber his LNER B1 Mayflower

With Full Regulator

54

In his latest column, Don Benn reports on the consistently fine performances by LMS 8F No. 48151

4 Heritagerailway.co.uk

In the 50th anniversary year of the big-screen dramatisation of The Railway Children, which was filmed on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the line is fighting a survival battle, and desperately needs donations from well-wishers to help it meet day-to-day overheads, writes Robin Jones.

42 Centre

■ ‘Jacobite’ and Saphos Trains plan to

The Line You Have All Loved For 50 Years

Life after The Railway Children.

Half-a-century on from the making of a family film favourite, we showcase the steam locomotive ‘stars’ in operation on the delightful Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in more recent times.

Off the Shelf

85

Platform

86

Next Stop

90

Latest book and DVD releases.

Where your views matter most.

A lighter, quirkier look at events

CONTENTS: The quintessential GWR country branch: a canoeist waves to GWR 0-6-0PT No. 5786 as it heads a South Devon Railway service train alongside the River Dart near Woodville. Such timeless scenes can, however, be guaranteed only for future generations if heritage lines manage to raise sufficient money to cover overheads and lost income during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. To contribute to this magnificent line’s emergency appeal, make a donation today at www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/ fundraising/ SARAH ANNE HARVEY COVER: The pioneering line that became world famous through the 1970 film The Railway Children – BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78022 heads past Oakworth with a Keighley & Worth Valley Railway service on January 18. BRIAN DOBBS/KWVR

50

Revealed: the real Railway Children station

It is possible that nothing else related to railway heritage has ever reached such a wide international audience as Edith A Nesbit’s The Railway Children novel. David Staines unveils the idyllic English setting where it all took place.

Beeching: a man of his 70 time – or ahead of it?

£3.50 AN ISSUE

IF YOU PAY BY DIRECT DEBIT EVERY 6 MONTHS

See page 30 West Riding miniature delight

74

Yorkshire’s great little steam trains reside at Clayton West, on the 15in gauge Kirklees Light Railway.

Oliver Edwards looks at what the railway offers, as well as discussing recent developments with general manager Erin Towey.

At the beating heart of Valley steam

STEAM: 20 years of a 82 modern Swindon success

The late Philip Williams recorded and wrote the memoirs of 23 surviving Pontypool Road shed staff spanning the years 1914 to 1967, researching hundreds of photographs along the way. Robin Jones reports.

FROM JUST £21* *THAT’S JUST

To coincide with the publication of his new book, Britain’s Railway Closures and their Legacy – The Definitive Guide, Robin Jones asks whether Dr Beeching was a man rooted in his day, a scapegoat, or a visionary who saved the network.

80

SUBSCRIBE

Models

Swindon’s Steam – Museum of the Great Western Railway had its 20th birthday in June, but celebrations were postponed as the venue, in part of the great works, remained shut due to Covid-19, writes Robin Jones.

News

63

Sought-after models to aid Welshpool & Llanfair; 4mm Class 89 proposed; and sleeping cars and ‘Pacers’ from Dapol in N gauge.

Find the latest news, images and discussion online only at:

The mighty 64 Peppercorn A1 Pacifics Pete Kelly retells the story of the LNER’s majestic but short-lived 49 Peppercorn A1 Pacific locomotives and the construction of the 50th, No. 60163 Tornado.

Like us facebook.com/ heritagerailway Follow us @HeritageRailMag Connect with us heritage-railwaymagazine Heritagerailway.co.uk 5

LIFE AFTER THE RAILWAY CHILDREN Steam ‘stars’ on the K&WVR – 50 years on from the making of a family film favourite

On-loan GWR pannier tank No. 5775 was repainted into its fictitious Great Northern & Southern Railway caramel livery that it carried in the 1970 film The Railway Children when it starred in the York Theatre Royal’s 2015 Olivier Award-winning stage production in a temporary auditorium, the Signal Box Theatre, at the National Railway Museum in York. NRM

46 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 1887-built Class 25 ‘Ironclad’ 0-6-0 No. 957 double heads with visiting LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 5690 Leander at Oakworth on October 13, 2006. No. 957 became ‘Green Dragon’ to haul the Old Gentleman’s Train in the 1970 film The Railway Children and also featured in BBC TV’s Born and Bred and the remake of The Hound of the Baskervilles. BRIAN SHARPE

GWR 0-6-0PT No. 5775 heading out of Keighley on April 1, 2008, in the maroon livery it carried as No. L89 in the London Transport fleet from January 1963 until bought by the KWVR in January 1970. COLIN SMITH

GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744, one of the first residents of the nascent KWVR, returned for a guest visit on February 20, 2010 from its then Great Central Railway home, and is seen storming out of Keighley. It is now based on the North Norfolk Railway. BRIAN SHARPE

In its original GWR Brunswick green livery, 0-6-0PT No. 5775 takes a service train past top field in August 1997. COLIN SMITH

‘The Green Dragon’ in BR black as No. 52044 passes the Mound on August 1, 2002. COLIN SMITH

Heritagerailway.co.uk 47

SHED STAFF TALES

AT THE BEATING HEART OF

VALLEY STEAM

By Robin Jones

T

he late Philip Williams spent more than four years recording and writing the memoirs of 23 surviving Pontypool Road locomotive depot staff spanning the years 1914 to 1967, researching hundreds of photographs along the way.

Phil’s interest in railways was derived from his father John Williams and a near neighbour, also by coincidence named Phil Williams, a Pontypool Road driver who started his railway career in 1923 and retired in 1968.

It was the stories of life on the rails that driver Phil imparted to the young Phil growing up in the 1970s which sparked his interest and would eventually lead him to write up the life and times of the steam age railwaymen of the Welsh valley shed, 82G Pontypool Road.

The result is a two-volume work, the first of which has been published by the Silver Link imprint of Mortons Books.

Railwaymen Of The Welsh Valleys 19141967: Memories of steam working from (86G) Pontypool Road shed, is a remarkable work which records in detail a period of Britain’s railways that, although long since passed into history, is still fondly remembered by many who lived through part or all of it. For those born since the steam age years, this volume provides an insight into the detailed workings of a steam age locomotive shed and the services for which it provided the motive power.

Told by the men who lived it, the story is one of hard, often physical work, of grit and determination, and of unsociable

An aerial view of Pontypool Road locomotive depot and yards, looking east to west, on April 14, 1959.

TERENCE SOAMES CARDIFF LTD/PHIL WILLIAMS COLLECTION

shift working, in an often tough and dirty environment. However, the author has also captured the lighter moments, recalling many humorous tales and events that were also part of a railwayman’s life.

Reproduced here is a small selection of the more than 300 illustrations contained in this first volume, available from www.mortonsbooks.co.uk or telephone 01507 529529 to order your copy.

Pontypool Road loco shed basks in the autumn sunlight as viewed from Coedygric Road viaduct on October 14, 1962. In the foreground on the left are Coedygric Sidings, with New Sidings on the right. W POTTER/RC RILEY COLLECTION

ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW? THE BEST ACTION IN TRIALS AND MOTOCROSS

DIRTb bike ke

VELO MAC MA S SPECIAL PECIAL NORTON RT RTON INTER AJS SCEPTRE SCEP E SPORTS! SCEPTR SPORTS POR !

PORTS

CLASSIC

#48

ISSUE

Forty-eight Autumn 2018

OCTOBER 2018

No. 330 October 2018 £4.30 UK Off-sale date 31/10/2018

MOTO MEMORIES // TECH TALK // MONTESA COTA 200 // BULTACO MATADOR

3.60

Running, Riding & Rebuilding Running, Rebuilding Real RealClassi RealC Classic C lassi Motorcycles

BOXER CKS TRIC

HOW THE LEGEEND BEGAN

SUPERMAC’S TRIUMPH DRAYTON

PRINTED IN THE UK

PLUS MOTO MEMORIES TECH TALK MONTESA COTA 200 BULTACO MATADOR AN HOUR WITH: GERRIT WOLSINK

£3.60 US$9.99 C$10.99 Aus$8.50 NZ$9.99 PRINTED IN THE UK

HOME, JAMES!

UNIVERSITY GRADUATE

#48

001 Cover_OCT.indd 1

AT THE CASTLE

DRUMLANRIG 2018 D 20

WINNER

SUPER PROFILE: ARIEL’S HT3

GREEVES ESSEX TWIN BUYING GUIDE // STRIP YOUR TWOSTROKE // BSA B31 RESTORATION // MALLE MILE // CAFE RACER CUP // SHETLAND CLASSIC // THE CLASSIC TT // MIKE HAILWOOD REPLICA

CLASSICS

65 PRE65 PRE

PRINTED IN THE UK

R 2018 ISSUE 174 OCTOBER

N48 2018 US$15.99 Aus$14.99 NZ$18.99 UK£5.50 UK Off-sale date 15/11/18

BUY  SELL  RIDE  RESTORE

13/09/2018 10:34:50

001 CDB Cover_048.indd 1

02/08/2018 14:53:55

001 Cover_174.indd 1

03/09/2018 10:18:26

•SINGLE ISSUES •SUBSCRIPTIONS

CLICK HERE

www.classicmagazines.co.uk

ENDOFPREVI EW

I fy oul i k ewhaty ou’ v e r eads of ar ,whynot s ubs c r i be,ort r ya s i ngl ei s s uef r om:

www. c l as s i c magaz i nes . c o. uk