Heritage Railway magazine - Issue 265

PAGE 82 WIN HORNBY PRINCESS ELIZABETH MODEL SEE

ISSUE 265

SOMERSET & DORSET’S

March 13 – April 9, 2020

TODDINGTON TAKEOVER ■ RIDE THE

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MAYFLOWER TO BE PAINTED BLACK?

TALYLLYN IN WORLD HERITAGE BID

■ STANIER 8F JOINS NEW SAINT AT BIG SEVERN VALLEY GALA

■ BENEFACTORS BAIL OUT LLANGOLLEN ■ SWANAGE PROJECT WAREHAM DMU ON TEST

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■ SPA VALLEY STEAM HELPS STRICKEN MAIN LINE ■ FLYING SCOTSMAN REOPENS WATERCRESS LINE

CONTENTS ISSUE 265

March 13, 2020 – April 9, 2020

News

6

Headline News

CONTENTS: LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea running as No. 45562 Alberta is seen at Griseburn on February 12, with ‘The Pendle Dalesman’. JOHN TITLOW COVER: Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35018 British India Line heads the Railway Touring Company’s February 29 ‘Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express’ past milepost 25.75 at Grayrigg. PAUL BERRY

6

■ Somerset & Dorset theme for

Cotswold Festival of Steam

■ Appeal to raise £40k for

Churchward County cylinders

■ Spa Valley steam ferries passengers

from stricken main line

■ Swanage main line certified DMU

tested for Project Wareham ■ Bluebell Railway’s 60th anniversary year to be ‘busiest-ever’

13

News

■ Wensleydale’s modern traction

10

heritage firsts with fleet additions ■ Supporters seek £8 million for GCR ‘Factory Flyover’ at Loughborough ■ UK Government household coal ban ‘will not affect steam trains’ ■ West Somerset Railway appoints new general manager ■ Classic Pennsylvania narrow gauge railroad to be revived ■ Alton back on line as sell-out Scotsman storms the Mid-Hants ■ Designs unveiled for new ‘world class’ NRM Central Hall ■ Austerity 0-6-0ST Welsh Guardsman moves from Gwili to Severn Valley

56

Main Line News

Regulars

Features

Subscribe Today Railwayana

30 52

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Centre

No. 45596 Bahamas is seen hauling a railtour from Haworth to Carlisle on February 22.

54

56

■ Main line farewell tour for Union of

South Africa now unlikely

Main Line Itinerary

62

Platform

90

Up & Running

94

on its first railtour of 2020

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

■ Pathfinder scores Bulleid hat-trick

Where your views matter most.

With Full Regulator

Guide to railways running in the spring.

■ Bahamas pulls in the passengers ■ Join Vintage Trains’ Pullman club

64

Don Benn reports on the first London-based ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’ of 2020 with No. 46115

4 Heritagerailway.co.uk

The Month Ahead

106

Living the steam dream

David Buck, owner of railtour operator Steam Dreams and Thompson B1 4-6-0 Mayflower, talks to Gareth Evans about the company and locomotive, as well as his private railways and railwayana collection. He also reveals his ambition for Mayflower to carry BR black livery later in its current boiler certificate.

48

Attention to detail!

Railway photography is undoubtedly a popular hobby, but David Rodgers did not just take railway photographs, he made them happen and not just for himself but for many others as well, and on a truly international scale.

Brian Sharpe presents a photographic tribute to a man with a unique talent.

84

Weathering the storms… or not

The current winter may well go down as the wettest on record. It has already led to landslips at several of our heritage lines and the need for immediate remedial action, write Robin Jones and Paul Appleton.

70

Models

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Thailand’s steam survivors

John Titlow highlights a host of steam locomotives which survive in Thailand – some in service, others on static display. He also shares his experiences of exploring the death railway built by Allied prisoners of war and local labourers, and the famous bridge over the River Kwai.

88

Model News

76

Lizzy's forgotten feat

78

See page 30

More than 30 layouts to feature in Severn Valley open weekend

No. 6201’s record run – plus first impressions of Hornby’s model

Princess Elizabeth model WIN Hornby See page 82 for full details

Find the latest news, images and discussion online only at: Like us facebook.com/ heritagerailway Follow us @HeritageRailMag Heritagerailway.co.uk 5

FACE TO FACE

LIVING THE

STEAM DREAM

I

David Buck, owner of railtour operator Steam Dreams and Thompson B1 4-6-0 Mayflower talks to Gareth Evans about the company and locomotive, as well as his private railways and railwayana collection.

t’s a damp, dreary afternoon in late January in the Berkshire countryside but the welcome inside David Buck’s home is decidedly warm. Greeting me with a smile and a handshake, he asks: “Can I get you a cup of tea? I don’t do coffee.”

There follows some friendly banter about how tea is the fuel of railwaymen.

It’s the first time we’ve met, but David quickly strikes me as the sort of person who is great company to catch up with over a pint or a brew. He’s friendly, approachable and chatty – he doesn’t ‘waffle’. It’s also all too apparent that both his feet are firmly on terra firma.

Background

Heritage Railway (HR): Tell us about your background. How did you become interested in railways? How did you get to where you are today?

David Buck: (DB): I’ve always had an interest in railways – steam in particular.

Born in Ipswich, close to the East Suffolk Line, I could hear the LNER B17s chugging up the bank. I was fortunate that my father had an office right by the railway station, so during school holidays, it was convenient to

46 Heritagerailway.co.uk

get dropped off at the station in the morning.

I spent a lot of the last days of steam at Ipswich station with B17s, B1s and Britannias – a wonderful place and time it was too.

My father also had a railway hobby background. He was the first secretary of the Hornby Railway Society in Ipswich.

One of my prize possessions is the original certificate signed by Frank Hornby himself.

It was a time when Dick Hardy was shedmaster at Ipswich, a legendary figure.

I then moved to London and started my working career as a television engineer with the BBC. My training is in electronic engineering with mechanical engineering not far behind.

I was in the TV business for a number of years, before moving across to the film industry. In 1975, I set up my own motion picture film processing business in Slough.

The core business was making copies of films for cinema. It was a busy 24/7 operation. We were producing millions of feet of 35mm film – big rolls every week.

It was all about deadlines, quality and service. There was no question of it being late – people would be queuing outside to watch it. It was a very interesting business. I sold it

in 2014 with the transition of 35mm film to digital. The business is still going strong but primarily in the digital area.

As a break from the business, my hobby was railways. That’s when I built the railways I have in the grounds of my home. It was a very time-consuming and absorbing hobby – but it was important to have something completely different to do from the day job.

After selling the business, I was able to concentrate on what really interested me – railways.

The one thing I always wanted, which until then I’d not been able to get, was a main line steam locomotive. I had smaller full-size locomotives here – the challenge was to find something which matched my requirements.

Due to my eastern heritage, it had to be an ex LNER loco – there aren’t many of them about.

Very fortunately, the one locomotive I never expected to be able to buy became available – Mayflower – which had been in the same ownership for 30 years. It’s a beautiful engine, which always had a reputation for looking immaculate. I could not have been happier when I acquired it.

I bought it and immediately prepared it for

TRIBUTE

ATTENTION TO

DETAIL!

Railway photography is undoubtedly a popular hobby, but David Rodgers did not just take railway photographs, he made them happen and not just for himself but for many others as well, and on a truly international scale.

Brian Sharpe presents a photographic tribute to a man with a unique talent.

R

ailway photography exploded towards the end of BR steam in the mid to late-1960s and so many of today’s well known photographers were drawn into this particular aspect of the railway hobby by the urgency to photograph steam trains as they rapidly disappeared.

Then in August 1968 it was all over. Some continued to photograph BR diesels, some took to travelling overseas in search of steam, some devoted their energy to steam preservation, but many abandoned their railway interest completely.

There is little doubt that steam preservation in the late 1960s

and early 1970s produced little to inspire the steam photographers at the time, although such pictures are of considerable nostalgic interest today. It is often forgotten now that there was virtually no steam action in the winter months on the heritage lines or the main line.

Serious enthusiasts and

photographers started to travel further afield in search of steam, particularly as European countries said goodbye to their steam traction fairly quickly after the end of BR steam. For some time though, there was exotic motive power to be found in far-flung corners of the globe for those prepared to track it down.

LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas hauled a railtour from Haworth to Carlisle and return on February 22. Organised by both the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and The Bahamas Locomotive Society and operated by West Coast Railways, the train is seen powering away from Appleby on the return leg. MAURICE BURNS

OVERSEAS STEAM

THAILAND’S

STEAM SURVIVORS In words and pictures, John Titlow highlights a host of steam locomotives which survive in Thailand – some in service, others on static display in a plethora of locations.

He also shares his experiences of exploring the death railway built by Allied prisoners of war and local labourers and the famous bridge over the River Kwai.

NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL

WEATHERING THE

STORMS

The current winter may well go down as the wettest on record, largely thanks to February’s three storms of Ciara, Dennis and Jorge. Flooding occurred at several of our heritage lines, and the soaked ground has already led to landslips and the need for immediate remedial action, write Robin Jones and Paul Appleton.

Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43106 passes New House Farm at Little Rock with a flooded River Severn dominating the background to the Severn Valley Railway on February 29. ANDREW BELL

Severn Valley Railway formation slips at Sterns again THE Severn Valley Railway’s trouble blackspot at Sterns near Eardington is causing concern once again, after the River Severn reached exceptionally high levels during above average rainfall during February.

Movement in the trackbed was detected and trains are subjected to a temporary speed restriction while the railway’s engineers assess the situation.

Towns along the river from Shrewsbury to Worcester made national headlines as storms Ciara and Dennis battered Britain over consecutive weekends, causing widespread flooding, especially in Ironbridge and Bewdley where many properties were under several feet of water.The problem was exacerbated towards the end of the month as Storm Jorge brought a further 80mm of rain.

The second wettest February on record brought 179.3mm of rainfall between the 1st and 25th of the month (193.4mm in 1990), while the river reached 5.48 metres at Bewdley, the record being 5.56 metres.

Although the excessive rainfall is bad enough, it is the water draining into the Severn from the hills over the border in Wales that causes the river’s level to rise

88 Heritagerailway.co.uk

to abnormal levels, with Sterns being one of its closest points to the course of the railway between Eardington and Hampton Loade. Movement of the trackbed has been a constant problem over the years and passengers are able to observe telegraph poles that were once just feet from the track now 30 or more feet away, among trees that have also slipped down the bank towards the river, as evidence of the instability of this stretch of line.

However, much work has been done over the years to stabilise the surrounding ground and until now, hasn’t presented a problem for some time.The railways has been plagued by land movement problems and washouts over the years; in 2007 it suffered washouts at several places along the line (Heritage Railway issue 100) which caused services to be suspended between Bewdley and Bridgnorth for almost a year and delaying the commissioning of the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley, while more than £3.7 million worth of repairs were carried out.

More recently, a short section of line at County Boundary north of Arley was the subject of extensive

repairs, including the use of‘soil nails’to help stabilise the shifting subsoil. However, the current problem at Sterns is not simply down to the swollen river; the river actually acts as a support to the land when it is high, but the saturated ground along its banks following incessant rainfall slips towards the river as the water recedes and as the water level started to drop at the beginning of March, engineers were keeping a close eye on ground conditions before a decision on what action needs to be taken could be made.

Already hampered by a 5mph speed restriction in the woods between Hampton Loade and Country Park, where a slight twist in the track was detected earlier in the winter, trains passing Sterns are now also currently restricted to 5mph with the first train of the day and all after dark movements having to observe a‘Stop and Proceed’directive, with footplate crews required to observe and report any further movement of the track along a 110-yard section of infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the West Somerset Railway sustained a minor slip at Crowcombe Heathfield on February 16, temporarily blocking the line until debris was cleared.

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