Heritage Railway - Issue 244 - 27th July 2018

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24,000+ items available on www.hattons.co.uk OO Gauge (1:76 Scale)

3922 Class O2/4 Tango 2-8-0 63975 in BR black late crest flush tender (RRP £184.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£89

Bachmann Branchline - Steam locos

31-128 Class 30xx 2-8-0 ROD 3036 in BR black early emblem weathered (RRP £142.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . £72

H4-AB16-002 Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 16” 2043 'No 6' in NCB green. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99

R3086 Class A1 4-6-2 4472 "Flying Scotsman" in LNER apple green - Railroad Range (RRP £110.99)BARGAIN . . £55 3923 Class O2/4 Tango 2-8-0 63982 in BR black late crest R3060 Class A1 4-6-2 60163 "Tornado" in British Railways Apple Green flush tender (RRP £184.95) . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . . . £89 (Railroad Range) (RRP £100.99) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . £68 3921 Class O2/4 Tango 2-8-0 63983 in BR black early crest flush tender (RRP £184.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£89

32-227DS Class 3F Jinty 0-6-0T 7365 in LMS black - DCC sound fitted NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £182.71

Diesel locos

H4-AB16-003 Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 16” 2226 “Katie” in lined maroon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99

2503 Class 05 Hunslet shunter "Cider Queen" green wasp stripes (RRP £129.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£69 2500 Class 05 Hunslet shunter D2574 BR green (RRP £129.95)BARGAIN £69

R3676 Class A4 4468 "Mallard" in LNER garter blue - as preserved NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£152

32-860 Class 9F 2-10-0 92211 in BR black late crest NEW .£161.46

R3338 Class B1 4-6-0 61310 in BR Apple Green (RRP £155.99)BARGAIN £87 R3171 Class P2 2-8-2 2001 'Cock O' The North' LNER Green (Railroad range)£84 R3419 Drummond Class 700 0-6-0 693 Southern Railway black (RRP £124.99). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . £69

2520 Class 05 Hunslet shunter D2592 in BR green wasp Diesel locos H4-AB16-001 Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 16” 2244 ‘No.10’ in stripes (RRP £129.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . . . £69 R3392TTS Class 40 40164 in BR blue - TTS sound fitted - Railroad Range (RRP £99.99). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . £74 NCB lined black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99 2521 Class 05 Hunslet shunter D2600 BR green wasp stripes (RRP £129.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£69 R3491 Class 42 Warship D805 "Benbow" BR green - Railroad Range (RRP £64.99). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . £39

DMUs

32-850A Class 9F 2-10-0 92220 "Evening Star" in BR green late crest NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £161.46

32-360A Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T 80104 in BR lined black late crest £114.71

Diesel locos

H4-P-001 SECR P Class 0-6-0T 178 in SE&CR full lined green (with brass). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99 2930 Class 07 shunter 07001 in Harry Needle Railroad H4-P-007 SECR P Class 0-6-0T 31027 in BR black early emblem . . . .£99 Company - Exclusive to Hattons Model Railways. . . . £111 H4-P-008 SECR P Class 0-6-0T 31323 in BR black late crest . . . . . . .£99 R3665 Class 121 'Bubble Car' 121034 in BR green Railroad Range NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£56

EMUs

32-377A Class 37/4 37401 "Mary Queen Of Scots" in BR large logo blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £117.26

R3341 Class 2-HAL 2 Car EMU 2677 in BR blue (RRP £130.25)BARGAIN £62

32-983 Class 66/7 66779 "Evening Star" in BR green GBRF branding . £144.46

Train sets - digital

R1126 Mixed Freight DCC digital train set Class 08 0-6-0 BR diesel electric loco, steam loco & 4 wagons (RRP £264.99)BARGAIN . . . . £170

H4-P-012 SECR P Class 0-6-0T 323 “Bluebell” in Bluebell 2911 Class 07 shunter 07005 in BR blue wasp stripes and Wagons Railway lined blue (2010s). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £99 air brakes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £111 R6884 Pack of three 6-wheel Milk Tanks "Express Dairy" . . . . . . . . . . £38

H4-P-002 SECR P Class 0-6-0T 753 in SE&CR full lined green (with brass) £99 H4-P-004 SECR P Class 0-6-0T A325 SR lined Maunsell green Maunsell lettering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£99

Oxford Diecast - Commercial vehicles

76ATKL004 Atkinson Cattle Truck - "J Haydon and Sons" NEW . . . . £13

Wagons

Oxford Rail - Coaches

31-590 Class 70 70015 in Freightliner air intake H4-BH-001 Beilhack snow plough (ex Class 40) ZZA ADB965576 BR yellow£43 modifications NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £144.46 H4-BH-004 Beilhack snow plough (ex Class 40) ZZA ADB965579 BR

DMUs

OR763FO002B Mk3a FO first open 11046 in Intercity Swallow NEW . £29 OR763RM002B Mk3a RFM Restaurant First Modular 10242 Intercity Swallow NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £29

yellow "Stratford Shark" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£43 H4-BH-007 Beilhack snow plough (ex Class 40) ZZA ADB965580 Railtrack Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£43

Heljan - Steam locos

O Gauge (1:43 Scale)

2901 Class 07 shunter D2990 in BR green wasp stripes £111

Corgi Collectables - Cars

Electric locos

Dapol - Steam locos

4780 Class 47xx 2-8-0 "Night Owl" 4704 in GWR green shirtbutton emblem£154 1409 Class 14 D9531 in BR green - as preserved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£110 VA12611 Ford Escort Mk2 1.6 Harrier, Strato Silver NEW . . . . . . . . . £24 4000 Hawker Siddeley Brush HS4000 "Kestrel" prototype diesel electric loco (RRP £155) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . .£129 VA11509 Triumph TR5 - Jasmine Yellow NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £24 7700 Class 77 EM2 Woodhead electric 27000 "Electra" in BR black early emblem - gloss finish - Ltd Ed for Olivias Trains (RRP £165)BARGAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£129

30-425 Class 251 Midland Pullman train pack in Pullman nanking blue - Collectors Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£490

Dapol - Diesel locos

4781 Class 47xx 2-8-0 'Night Owl' 4705 in GWR green Great Western lettering NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £154 7S-007-002 Class 57xx 0-6-0PT pannier 5700 in Great Western Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £199.75 7S-007-003S Class 8750 0-6-0PT pannier 9659 GWR green - DCC sound

4D-012-009 Class 22 D6322 in BR green small yellow panels and disc headcodes NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £127.46 4D-012-004 Class 22 D6325 BR green no yellow panels and disc headcodes NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £127.46

fitted NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £357.60 7705 Class 77 EM2 Woodhead electric E27003 "Diana" in BR green half yellow panels - Ltd Ed for Olivias Trains Heljan - Diesel locos (RRP £165). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . . £129

Class 77 EM2 Woodhead electric E27005 "Minerva" in BR green 4783 Class 47xx 2-8-0 'Night Owl' 4706 in BR black early 7701 half yellow panels - Ltd Ed for Olivias Trains (RRP £165)BARGAIN. .£129 emblem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £154 7706 Class 77 EM2 Woodhead electric E27006 "Pandora" in BR electric blue - Ltd Ed for Olivias Trains (RRP £165) . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . .£129

2012 Class 20 in BR blue full yellow ends; pre-TOPS style double arrows on the cabsides and 4-character 4D-012-006 Class 22 D6327 in BR blue small yellow 4782 Class 47xx 2-8-0 'Night Owl' 4707 in GWR green headcodes (RRP £599). . . . . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . .£360 panels and headcode boxes NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . £127.46 post-war GW lettering NEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £154 9007 Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric 11 "George Romney" in London Transport maroon (RRP £139.95)BARGAIN. . . £74 9009 Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric 12 "Sarah Siddons" in London Transport/ Metropolitan (1990s preserved condition) (RRP £139.95)BARGAIN . .£74 9008 Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric 12 "Sarah Siddons" in Metropolitan (As currently preserved) (RRP £139.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£74

DMUs

4D-012-008 Class 22 D6332 in BR blue NEW . . . . . £127.46

EFE - Buses

8921 Class 128 parcels DMU 55992 Royal Mail Letters red (RRP £119.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£59

3912 Class O2/3 Tango 2-8-0 63948 in BR black early crest stepped tender (RRP £184.95) . . .BARGAIN. . . . . £89

Hornby - Steam locos

2013 Class 20 in BR blue full yellow ends; TOPS style double arrows on the bodysides and 'domino' headcodes (RRP £599). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . .£360

34112 AEC RT Bus 'London Transport' NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £29.71 3911 Class O2/3 Tango 2-8-0 63954 in early British Railways black stepped tender (RRP £184.95). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BARGAIN . . . . . .£89

Hattons - Steam locos

R3619 Class 4073 'Castle' 4-6-0 5013 "Abergavenny Castle" in BR green late crest NEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £136 R3313 Class 4F 0-6-0 4323 in LMS Black (RRP £99.99)BARGAIN . . .£58

2010 Class 20 in BR green small yellow panels and 3920 Class O2/4 Tango 2-8-0 3962 in LNER black flush H4-AB14-004 Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 14” 1863 in R3617 Class 8P Rebuilt Merchant Navy 4-6-2 35030 "Elder Dempster Caledonian Railway lined blue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£99 tender (RRP £184.95) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BARGAIN. . . . . £89 Lines" in BR green late crest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£136 4-character headcodes (RRP £599) . . .BARGAIN. . £340

£2 P&P for single diecast items £7 P&P Next Day (Orders before 2pm)

UK P&P £4

All items in stock when advert created Prices valid until 06/09/18 . Errors excepted

OPINION LNER A4 Pacific No.60009 Union of South Africa joined in the 100th birthday celebrations of the RAF by hauling UK Railtours’ RAF100 special from Lincoln via Sleaford and Peterborough to King’s Cross on Tuesday, July 10. The tour was organised by The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust as it was hoped that No. 60163 Tornado would head it, but repairs to the A1 following its breakdown on the 90mph ‘The Ebor Flyer’ in April were not completed in time. No.60009, the repairs to which were recently completed, stepped in, assisted by Class 66 No. 66009 due to the dry conditions in the heatwave. The RAF100 special is seen emerging from Copenhagen Tunnel into King’s Cross.

Passengers were able to join in the centenary celebrations, which included a flypast of nearly 100 aircraft over The Mall to mark the occasion.

GRAHAM NUTTALL

EDITORIAL

Editor Robin Jones 01507 529305 rjones@mortons.co.uk Assistant editor Gareth Evans gevans@mortons.co.uk Senior contributing writers Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Fred Kerr, Roger Melton Designer Tim Pipes Reprographics Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production editor 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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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 August 9, 2018 Next issue on sale August 24, 2018

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The long-forgotten ‘missing link’ runs again

T

HE weeks ahead will see several special events and railtours to mark the 50th anniversary of the last steam train run over the main line by BR, the‘Fifteen Guinea Special’on August 11, 1968, and to mark the occasion, our special issue this month contains two features from photographers who were there to witness it.

We also have two features on the rebirth of steam half a century ago – that magnificent eight-day gala at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and the opening in September 1968 of the marvellous main line in miniature system that is the Great Cockcrow Railway in leafy Surrey.

Of course celebrating half centenaries is one thing, but September is also set to see a phenomenal part of world railway history being remade. It is then that we are likely to see the rebuilt North Eastern Railway petrol-electric autocar being relaunched.

The body was sold for use as a holiday home near Kirkbymoorside on the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway, and was forgotten for decades, its colossal importance in the evolution of railways overlooked.

Yet it is this vehicle and its long-scrapped twin that form the bridge link between the steam era and that of modern traction.They were developed around the same time that other railways were introducing steam railmotors as a means of running branch line trains as economically as possible by eradicating the need for locomotives to run round.

The NER’s assistant chief mechanical engineer Vincent Raven took this concept one stage further. He looked at the electric trams making their debut on city streets and saw the concept’s advantages over those of steam. However, instead of taking a power supply from overhead lines, his autocars carried their own power plant with them, in the form of a petrol engine driving a dynamo which supplied power to the electric motors.

They were the world’s first passenger-carrying trains

powered by internal combustion, and paved the way for DMUs, which today comprise a sizeable slice of the world’s everyday trains.

In this respect, the NER autocars are in terms of historical landmarks easily as important as Stephenson’s Rocket. Just as Rocket was by no means the world’s first steam locomotive but set the blueprint for the development of steam locomotive technology, so the NER autocars were the roots of modern traction, half a century ahead of their time, as BR did not introduce DMUs until the 1950s.

It is impossible to praise enough the efforts of coach restorer extraordinaire Stephen Middleton and the 1903 AutocarTrust which he set up in their efforts to bring this priceless piece of world transport historic back into the public glare and use.Those who watched Channel 4’s Great Rail Restorations will be familiar with Stephen’s work on historic carriages – but as the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet. So in this year that we are remembering the end of BR standard gauge steam haulage, we will also be marvelling at a vehicle which sounded the death knell for steam 65 years before!

On another tack, I am delighted to hear that fellow Beach Boys fan David Buck is now the owner of Steam Dreams, one of Europe’s top railtour companies. It seems just like yesterday when, a few months before the first issue of Heritage Railway, I discussed the firm’s founder Marcus Robertson’s vision for walk-on steam trips from London with him. Steam Dreams and its ‘Cathedral Expresses’went on to be a rip-roaring success story and acquired a reputation for style, comfort and reliability second to none, and now Mayflower owner David is at the helm, who knows to what further heights it will ascend?

Never mind August 11, 1968, steam is still very much here, and going from strength to strength.

Robin Jones Editor Heritagerailway.co.uk 3

CONTENTS ISSUE 244

July 27, 2018 – August 24, 2018

News

6

Headline News

6

Flying Scotsman nameplate for auction; North Yorkshire Moors Railway to star in a second TV series; Middleton Railway hit by warehouse 'arson'; new Southwold Railway 2-4-0 to be built in Darlington; diesels replace steam over lineside fires fear in heatwave; and Amberley’s Bagnall Peter celebrates 100th birthday.

32

News

10

Action from the Track to the Trenches Armistice centenary gala at Apedale; final push to complete Princes Risborough track changes in time for August 15 main line interchange opening; Cleethorpes Coast announces southern extension; council tourism chief slams Kent & East Sussex-Rother Valley link project; world’s first preserved locomotive Invicta given new Whitstable home; ladies handed top posts at Bluebell and Llangollen; Aln Valley bags £146K grant; Leighton Buzzard marks its 50th anniversary; and steam inside Rutland's Ketton Cement works.

59

Regulars

Subscribe Today

30

Railwayana

44

Centre

54

Main Line Itinerary

62

Platform

92

Up & Running

94

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Main Line News

56

Mayflower owner David Buck acquires Steam Dreams; ashes of Flying Scotsman saviour Alan Pegler to be thrown into its firebox on Stoke Bank; Scotsman heads into Cornwall; and Vintage Trains on verge of obtaining TOC licence.

With Full Regulator

Don Benn reports on heavy loads, including some recent notable performances by 'Black Five' No. 45212.

4 Heritagerailway.co.uk

76

Mark Wilkins' panorama of the 'Blue King' passing Waterside on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

Where your views matter most.

Features

Hunslet 125 highlights

Autocar - The first modern traction

The redisdcovered 115-year-old ‘missing link’ between the steam and diesel ages will debut in the coming weeks with the culmination of a ground-breaking 15-year project, reports Andrew Rapacz.

46

The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway celebrated the 125th birthday of two members of its popular steam locomotive fleet in style with a special three-day gala event, which brought together a large gathering of Hunslets, engaging them on a host of duties in what is a narrow gauge paradise.

Gareth Evans reports.

50

Guide to heritage railways running in August.

The Month Ahead

106 Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

CONTENTS: Spending the summer on hire from Tyseley Locomotive Works, GWR London Transport-liveried pannier tank no. L94 runs above the beach huts at Goodrington Sands with the 10.45pm to Kingswear on July 14. KARL HEATH COVER: GWR 4-6-0 No.6023 King Edward II climbs the bank at Goodrington on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, working the 4.30pm Paignton-Kingswear service during the KingsBeer Festival on July 14. COLIN WALLACE

1T57: The fabled final curtain!

Sunday, August 11, 1968, marked the end of British Rail steam haulage on the national network, when the legendary ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ was immortalised by the headcode 1T57. Trevor Gregg, who was there to record it on camera, continues his story about the demise of main line steam.

64

1T57: In search of that last steam photo

Maurice Burns remembers in words and pictures the day when he visited the Settle and Carlisle line to record the end of an era which had transformed our modern global society, and also looks at subsequent anniversary runs leading up to this August’s major Great Central Railway End of Steam Gala.

70

50 years since the return of steam!

82

While steam was fast disappearing from the main line in early summer 1968, it was returning with a vengeance to a Yorkshire branch.

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway held a stunning eight-day gala to celebrate its half century. Report by Robin Jones and Gareth Evans.

Surrey’s steamy wonderland main line is 50!

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88

Five weeks after BR steam haulage ended, classic engines were entertaining crowds again, at Surrey's magnificent Great Cockcrow Railway, writes Robin Jones.

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 5

HEADLINE NEWS

Withdrawn Flying Scotsman nameplate returns to market EXCLUSIVE

By Geoff Courtney AN original nameplate from No. 60103 Flying Scotsman that was controversially withdrawn from sale by leading auction house Bonhams in 2016 after an intervention by the late SirWilliam McAlpine, a former owner of the legendary locomotive, is returning to market.

The plate was carried by the 1923-built Pacific until 1996, when both nameplates were removed by new owner DrTony Marchington prior to the start of a major £1 million restoration. On completion of the work three years later, the locomotive was fitted with replica plates that remain on the engine today.

Dr Marchington, who died in 2011, sold both the original plates to a railwayana collector and dealer who, in turn, sold them on within the railwayana movement. It was one of these plates, the right-hand example, that was due to be sold by Bonhams in February 2016 and at one stage there was talk within railwayana circles that the world record of £60,000 for a nameplate, from Gresley A4 No. 60030 Golden Fleece, could be under threat.

However, that possibility never came to fruition following an intervention by Sir William, who owned the locomotive for 23 years until selling it to Dr Marchington in 1996 and was unaware, until publicity about the proposed nameplate sale in 2016, thatTony had fitted replica plates prior to its return to service in 1999.

SirWilliam said at the time that, although the plate had been bought from the dealer in good faith and that it was authentic, it should not be auctioned but instead reunited with the Pacific, “where it belongs”.

He subsequently wrote to a number of high-profile people within the railway heritage movement and also at board level to Bonhams, and the plate was withdrawn just five days before the auction.

Following its decision not to put the plate under the hammer – a move which caused considerable debate within the preservation and railwayana movements

Flying Scotsman arrived at the Locomotion museum in Shildon on July 9. It will be on show there until August 1, as part of Locomotion’s Steam Season. NRM – the auction house released few details about why it had been withdrawn, saying only that it was felt more investigative work needed to be carried out on the plate, which might take some time, and that the prudent thing was therefore to remove it from the auction.

Since then the plate has once again changed hands into another private collection and the new owner has asked GW Railwayana to sell it at its next auction in Pershore on November 17.The auction house’s director and auctioneer, Simon Turner, said:“I am absolutely delighted and proud that we have been asked to sell such a prestigious nameplate.

“Flying Scotsman is the one steam

locomotive that is known literally the world over, and to own one of its original plates must be the ambition of many collectors. It will surely create interest, not only within the railwayana movement, but also among non-enthusiasts and historians both in the UK and overseas, who will be able to take part through live internet bidding.

“It is also the first time either nameplate has been on public sale, which makes it even more special.

“I am greatly looking forward to putting it under the hammer.”

Simon said that a second nameplate rarity would be appearing in the auction – ManchesterCity, from an LNER B17

‘Footballer’that entered service in May 1937 as No. 2870.This nameplate was carried by the locomotive for just a few days before it was replaced by Tottenham Hotspur, but the following month it found its way onto the next member of the class to be built, No. 2871 (BR No. 61671).

In August 1945, No. 2871 became the first B17 to be rebuilt as a B2, and in April 1946 the ManchesterCity name was replaced by Royal Sovereign after the 4-6-0 became a royal train locomotive.

The‘Footballer’name had been carried by two locomotives for a total period of nine years and was never reallocated to a third engine.

“With Manchester City being the current Premier League champions, the nameplate has an added significance, which may appeal to collectors who are also football enthusiasts,” said Simon, who added that GW Railwayana held the current record price for the class, NottinghamForest from No. 61666, which sold for £43,000 in November 2007.

Hollycombe launches £25k appeal to steam Caledonia AN appeal for £25,000 has been launched to return a narrow gauge former North Wales slate quarry steam locomotive to action.

Hollycombe Steam in the Country wants to overhaul Caledonia, a Barclay 0-4-0WT No. 1995 of 1931.

“Caledonia requires serious work to the firebox,” said SimonWildgust, the

6 Heritagerailway.co.uk

museum manager.“Dismantled in 2007, work was paused when the extent of the task became clear and resources were targeted at other parts of the collection.

“The frames and motion are all in good condition.The firebox work will be outsourced to a specialist contractor and the remainder undertaken by volunteers.

New volunteers are welcome to assist us.”

Located near Liphook, Hampshire the steam museum’s 1½-mile circular Quarry Railway is home to another former Dinorwic Quarry veteran, Hunslet 0-4-0ST JerryM, which attended the recent Ffestiniog &Welsh Highland Railway’s Hunslet 125 gala (feature, page 50).

Simon added:“Having two steam locomotives available for service will

offer greater flexibility for us and provide variety for visitors.

“It will also allow us to engage more widely in the narrow gauge community without having to substitute a diesel for our own duties.”

Details of how to support the appeal can be found at https://www.gofundme. com/restoring-caledonia

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Tyseley to mark 50 years of open days

Arson attack spreads to Middleton Railway

By Robin Jones TYSELEY Locomotive Works – a rare and precious bolthole for standard gauge steam following its end on the national network in 1968 – is to celebrate 50 years since its first open day.

On September 29, 1968, Tyseley Depot opened its doors to the public for the very first time with a display of steam locomotives, traction engines and the like.

Now exactly half a century later, over September 28-29, the venue is aiming to recreate the atmosphere of that original event.

Back in 1968, the first steam locomotive preserved at Tyseley, 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle was in operation.

Having returned to steam last year, it will again be a star attraction at the

Replica Beyer Peacock works engine Tali will make its public debut at Tyseley’s 50th anniversary open weekend on September 28-29. MICHAEL WHITEHOUSE anniversary event. There will be a host of additional attractions, including historic miniature railway locomotives rarely seen in public and fairground rides, such as a steam-powered carousel built in 1893.

A 10¼in gauge miniature railway will feature locomotives John Terence built at Broome Hall by engineer Grimshaw in 1908 and Tali, a two-thirds scale replica of the Beyer Peacock works locomotive that was built in 1887.

Tali was completed in 2017 and resides at a private railway. The open

weekend will be its first and a very rare appearance in public.

Former Fairbourne Railway 15in gauge Bassett Lowke Count Louis will also attend.

Drivers and passengers of pre-September 29, 1968 vehicles can register in advance to park at the event depot and get discounted admission.

Visitors are encouraged to dress in 1960s fashion and enter into the spirit of the event.

The event is open from 10am to 5pm on both days.

Replica 3ft Southwold tank within two years?

A NEW-build working replica of one of Southwold Railway’s original locomotives is set to be built in Darlington – and it could bring steam to the Suffolk resort within two years.

As we closed for press, NBR Engineering Services, the engineering arm of Scarborough’s North Bay Railway, was set to sign a contract to finish the building of the replica of 3ft gauge Sharp Stewart 2-4-0 No. 3 Blyth.

One of three sister engines supplied to the line when it opened in 1879, Blyth was the only original locomotive that was in service throughout the entire 50 years of the legendary railway’s operation until it ceased operations in 1929.

The Southwold Railway Trust has already built several components for the locomotive in the main frames, buffer beams and frame stretchers, footplating, footplate brackets, cab floor, motion brackets, chimney, and smokebox door, and has completed much of the design work.

The trust is now busy developing its Southwold Railway Steamworks visitor centre in Blyth Road, on a former gasworks site next to the original formation of the line, and which includes a 7¼in gauge miniature railway.

NBR Engineering Services, which has moved to Darlington, the town where A1 Pacific Tornado was built and where P2 No. 2007 Princes of Wales is rapidly taking shape, has an established track record of its own in building replica steam locomotives.

For the North Bay Railway, it turned out Georgina, a full-size replica of a Bagnall Sipat class 0-4-0ST, based on an

A section of a general arrangement drawing of the new Blyth.

NBR ENGINEERING LIMITED original built in 1909 for the Sipat Water Works in India. The firm was formed specifically for that project by railway owner David Humphreys.

It has also built a replica Decauville 0-4-0T, a type that back in the Sixties was modelled by Playcraft in 009 scale.

The Decauville, Edgar, was shown at last year’s Warley Model Railway Exhibition and, recently completed, has been sold to private buyer John Sutton, with the possibility of further examples being built to order if required.

Major boiler work

The firm has constructed new boilers for railway locomotives and traction engines. The Isle of Man’s Groudle Glen Railway’s original steam locomotive, Bagnall 2-4-0T Sea Lion of 1896, has been sent to the firm to be reassembled.

It was discovered at the end of the 2017 season that Sea Lion required major, unexpected work to its boiler caused by issues with boiler water quality.

Its boiler departed the island earlier in the year, but further work was required to replace its side tanks with new stainless steel ones, the replacement of its back cab sheet and further work to its frames. It was decided that this was a job for specialist works, and so it was shipped to the mainland.

Southwold Railway Trust chairman John Bennett said: “Hopefully we can agree with North Bay Railway Engineering for them to build Blyth for us, and at the moment we are tying up loose ends. It is all subject to contract.

“It would be great to have it steam in Southwold within two years.”

The trust already has a 3ft steam locomotive, Peckett 0-6-0ST No. 1316 of 1913 Scaldwell, which was given to it

by Amberley Museum, but which needs extensive restoration to run again.

Despite planning setbacks, the trust’s ultimate aim is to restore as much of the original eight-mile line to Halesworth as possible.

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

MIDDLETON Railway sustained an estimated £30,000 worth of damage after a fire that gutted a nearby builders’ merchant spread to the attraction.

Having cancelled its steam operations because of the heatwave, the second day of the line’s July 14/15 Leeds Diesels on Display gala was cancelled on police advice, as 100 firefighters tackled a blaze at the Jewson store in Lake Terrace, from where occupants of around 30 terraced houses were evacuated.

The blaze, believed to have been arson, spread to the railway where a Palvan, a four-wheeled box van, was destroyed, the exterior of the main building was scorched and the outdoor PA speaker ruined.

£30,000 worth of damage

The heat from the fire was so intense that a plastic bin on the Moor Road station platform at Middleton Railway melted, despite being more than 10 yards from the fence with Jewson.

Horrified railway officials were told of the fire in the early hours.

Vice president Ian Smith said: “We understand there were at least three separate fires set and that this was deliberate. The absolute devastation in there is unbelievable.

“All the tools, including a generator, in our tool van are useless. There’s probably £1213,000 worth of damage just in the tools that have gone, but we are probably talking £25-30,000 easily (in replacement costs).”

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire Service said that the cause was under investigation.

The gutted Palvan with most of the contents destroyed. MR

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HEADLINE NEWS

Diesel power replaces steam as heatwave hits heritage railways and main line tours

By Robin Jones THE heatwave in late June and early July has hit the heritage sector on both the national network and preserved lines with diesel traction replacing steam because of ‘tinderbox’ conditions on the lineside.

On all routes affected by the dry weather, a Network Rail protocol has come into force whereby a steam locomotive must have a diesel positioned behind the tender and, in effect, doing all the work, ironically echoing the end of BR steam in 1968.

One exception has been West Coast Railway’s ‘Scarborough Spa Express’, where the diesel was allowed to go at the back of the train.

The protocol, it is understood, has prevented A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, which has been undergoing repairs since its April 14 failure on the 90mph ‘The Ebor Flyer’ trip, from being driven off the Nene Valley Railway for an essential main line test run.

Network Rail’s London North Western network has gone one stage further than the fire risk protocol by banning steam altogether on certain routes like the West Coast Main Line.

Accordingly, trains like Statesman Rail’s July 10 ‘The Fellsman’ were diesel-hauled between Lancaster and Hellifield on the outward and return journeys, with Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45690 Leander backed by a diesel coming on at Hellifield.

Steam was temporarily banned on Severn Valley Railway services following a spate of lineside fires.

Fire crews from Kidderminster and Bewdley were called out to embankment fires at Eardington station, Chelmarsh, Kinlet and Cankhorn on Sunday, July 8.

Footplate rides

Trains were placed on proceed with caution and slowed down while the fire crews were working near the running line. The railway subsequently issued a notice saying that all trains would be diesel-hauled, at least until July 18.

Locomotives used included WR Class 42 D821 Greyhound, Class 50 No. 50035 and Class 14 D9551.

General manager Nick Ralls said: “Despite the best efforts from our volunteers and staff on the railway to work appropriately for the dry conditions, the fire service was called out to a number of fire incidents along the line.

“We must consider the added pressure on an already stretched fire service during this extended dry spell, as well as the disruption to our neighbours and this

8 Heritagerailway.co.uk

In a year in which we are commemorating the 50th anniversary of diesel and electric traction replacing steam on the main line, diesels are taking over from steam on both the national network and heritage lines because of the fire risk. Due to the steam ban in place on the East Lancashire Railway, there has been the rare sight of diesel-hauled dining trains. Class 40 No. 40106 Atlantic Conveyor is seen passing through Irwell Vale with the ‘Lancastrian Lunch’ diner on July 1.

EMMA SEDDON is why these measures have been taken.

This really is an exceptional occurrence.”

To avoid disappointing visitors who had travelled in search of steam, GWR 2-8-0 No. 2857 was giving footplate rides at Bewdley station on July 14/15, while Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43106 was doing the same at Bridgnorth station.

Around 150 Vale of Rheidol Railway passengers were rescued by coach after a large grass fire brought services to a halt.

Smoke from the fire near Devil’s Bridge on June 26 was visible as far away as Aberystwyth. All trains were stopped and passengers returned to Aberystwyth by road.

The railway remained closed until July 11 after fires swept through one-and-a-half miles of valley above the line due to the heatwave. A section of track was damaged in the fire.

A railway spokesman said: “We have worked hard to repair the track. It has been a difficult few weeks for us, but we are looking forward to welcoming visitors and locals on the railway once again.”

Around 4.20pm on June 23, a fire on the embankment around the Two Hedges Road bridge in Woodmancote stopped services on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway too.

Among the services stopped were several headed by Thomas the Tank Engine.

The heatwave also halted Snowdon Mountain Railway steam trains until further notice after they “sparked several fires” on the mountain in later June and early July.

However, diesel services continued to run. The railway deployed more staff to extinguish fires as quickly as possible.

Because of ‘tinderbox’ conditions in Snowdonia, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways also took additional precautions.

General manager Paul Lewin said: “F&WHR locomotives are fitted with the highest specification ‘Master Mechanics of North America’ spark arresting equipment. We also have sealed ash pans and ash drench systems.

“We have a fire risk monitoring programme and modify the loadings and speeds of trains according to risk.

Additionally, we have water tankers available on the railway to support the fire service should moorland fires occur.”

Diesel substitution

The East Lancashire Railway slapped a ban on steam from Sunday, July 1, due to the dry conditions. However, following heavy rainfall overnight and the fitting of ashpan guards to some locomotives, steam services were reinstated for July 14-15, some being hauled by WR 4-6-0 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall visiting from the Great Central Railway and others by GWR/Port Talbot Railway 0-6-0STNo. 813 from the Severn Valley Railway.

In early July, the Middleton Railway stopped running steam trains until the heatwave cools or rain comes.

Railway chairman Charles Milner said: “The railway recognises that it is part of the community and that to run steam

locomotives in this hot weather could possibly cause grass fires, which would not only require the attendance of the emergency services, but would also ruin the local parkland for some time to come.”

Due to fire risk, the Great Central Railway operated its regular steam services the same day behind Class 37 No. 37714.

On July 14, Isle of Wight Steam Railway crews, who are trained to deal with trackside blazes, dealt with two small fires.

The Nene Valley, Chinnor & Princes Risborough, Telford Steam, and the Downpatrick & County Down were also among many other lines that quickly substituted diesels for steam engines on several services in early July.

Services were delayed by an hour following a trackside fire at the halfway point of Santon on the Isle of Man Railway on July 1, and days later there was a similar blaze at Colby.

Staff have been equipped with backpacks and the permanent way team operates a fire train that is now based at Santon to speed up response times.

Teams have been tasked to ‘shadow’ any particularly heavy trains with a correspondingly higher potential risk of fire.

An Isle of Man Railways spokesman said: “These additional measures and the close working relationship with the fire service help to reduce the incidence of lineside fires and to minimise the impact on customers, staff and the general public.”

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The weekend of July 14/15 saw the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre in West Sussex hold 100th birthday celebrations for Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2067 of 1918 Peter, which has been carrying visitors around the site since 1994. Peter was originally commissioned by the War Office for forestry operations in Cumbria, and was purchased by the Cliffe Hill Quarry, Leicestershire in 1922, where it is believed that it was named after the owner’s son. In 1954, Peter was acquired by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society and eventually joined the Brockham collection in 1965. It moved to Amberley in 1982 and after a lengthy restoration project led by Doug Bentley and members of the Amberley rail group, Peter became operational 24 years ago. Peter now needs a new boiler and a full service, and a fundraising campaign has been launched to meet the estimated £40,000 cost. NICK GILLIAM

NYMR booked for second TV series

By Robin Jones A SECOND series of the highly-acclaimed fly-on-the-wall TV documentary on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway has been commissioned.

Darlow Smithson Productions Ltd is to return to the Moorsline to film series two in the form of six episodes for Channel 5, which will air in 2019. Filming began on Friday, July 13.

Last March the programme reached over 3.5 million viewers over three episodes, with 1.5m viewers tuning in to episode one and again over a million in episode two – amounting to around £20m worth of free national advertising, according to informed estimates. Again, the series will include the railway’s favourite characters, major events and everyday running.

NYMR general manager Chris Price said: “The NYMR is currently having an exceptionally busy season and we are pleased to announce that we are 13% up compared with last year. The increase in passengers travelling along the line has been a combination of the television programme and the recent great weather.

“The railway is a not-for-profit charity and every passenger that travels along the line is helping to preserve the railway for future generations to enjoy.”

B1 No.1264 leaves Grosmont with a Whitby-Pickering train. MATTHEW DITCH June’s figure was up 16%, equating to around 9000 extra passengers, with the biggest growth area being in internet bookings.

It is hoped that the new series will further boost the line’s Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey appeal, which aims to raise £2.5m to help maintain the railway’s infrastructure and rolling stock.

Unlike some heritage railways, the NYMR has continued to run steam locomotives in the heatwave whenever it can, but has been using Class 25

D7628 and Class 26 No. 26038 Tom Clift to provide assistance. The small number of usable diesels in the NYMR fleet is being partially addressed by efforts to return Class 37 No. 37264 to traffic.

The diesel has been lifted in New Bridge Yard to allow two traction motors to be replaced by two examples removed from a spare bogie and refurbished at Grosmont.

The NYMR has also hired an extra pair of Class 20s, Nos. 20142 and 20189, to provide extra cover.

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

A BLUE plaque has been unveiled in the booking hall of Tonbridge station to honour light railway empire builder Colonel Holman F Stephens.

At a ceremony on July 10, supported

by Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council, speeches were made by David Wornham, passenger services director of Southeastern Railway; Ian Legg, chairman of the Kent & East Sussex Railway and former Colonel Stephens Society chairman Les Derbyshire.

After their speeches they unveiled the plaque. A society spokesman said: “Colonel Holman F Stephens now has recognition for his work in the town where he established his headquarters.” CSS

It’s 1948 again at GCR gala THE Great Central Railway will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Locomotive Exchange Trials at its October 4-7 autumn steam gala.

The B1 Locomotive Trust has agreed to send LNER B1 4-6-0 No.1264 from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for the event.

No. 1264 will run in the guise of long-scrapped sister No. 1251 Oliver Bury, which took part in the trial alongside 1948-built GCR resident WR 4-6-0 No.6990 Witherslack Hall.

East Lancashire Railway-based Bulleid West Country light Pacific No.34092 City of Wells will also star in the gala, making its first-ever visit to the GCR.

West Coast helps Wensleydale NER J27 0-6-0 No. 65894 is to spend the summer on the Wensleydale Railway, along with another main line registered locomotive from West Coast Railways, its identity unannounced as we closed for press. The railway is also adding a Mk.1 SK coach to strengthen its vacuum-braked set. The vehicle was made famous as part of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 9

NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL

Undoubtedly the star of the show was the War Office Locomotive Trust’s newly restored Hunslet 4-6-0 No. 303. The charming-looking tank locomotive has been fitted with air and vacuum brakes, opening up the possibility of visits to other 2ft gauge lines.

Tracks to the Trenches!

By Gareth Evans

IN A YEAR in which the centenary of the Armistice is being marked, it’s easy to forget the pivotal role transport played in the conflict – particularly railways.

“Most people have a vision of mud, horses and men – the missing aspect is railways. The problem was the last 20 miles from the storage depots to the front line, as Sir Eric Gedes discovered

when he investigated the reasons for the shortages at the front,” explained Phil Robinson, chairman of the Moseley Railway Trust.

The MRT organised the third Tracks to the Trenches event over the weekend on July 13-15 at the Apedale Valley Light Railway near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

A sight to behold was the presence of three of the key British military

locomotives of the First World War all in operation – the Greensand Museum Trust’s Leighton Buzzard Railway-based Baldwin 4-6-0 No. 778, Apedale resident Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No. 104 and the War Office Locomotive Trust’s Hunslet 4-6-0 No. 303. The latter, an iconic locomotive, was launched the previous weekend at the Statfold Barn Railway for those who had supported its restoration following its repatriation from Australia

The youngest locomotive present was Edgar, recently built new by North Bay Engineering. The Decauville Type 1 replica, which will now be based at Apedale, attracted much attention over the weekend. Also pictured is Motor Rail LR2573.

10 Heritagerailway.co.uk

in 2005.

Two years in the making, and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the event provided for the first time – and probably not to be repeated again for a considerable period – the sight and sounds of authentic steam locomotives from the conflict all in action against a back drop of a sea of living history groups and displays that included a cavalry, field guns, diminutive internal combustion locomotives and more authentic First World War rolling stock than can normally be found at any one place in the British Isles.

Road transport present included a van, a traction engine and the London Transport Museum's B-type bus No. B2737, restored to troop carrier condition. A model railway exhibition was also held in one of the sheds.

Other heritage lines supported the event too – such as the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway, which loaned its historic wagons and a 20hp ‘Bent-Frame’ Motor Rail Tractor – and the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, which lent a 10hp ‘McEwan-Pratt’ Baguley tractor and a 20hp ‘Bent-Frame’ Motor Rail Tractor.

The event was sponsored by Heritage Railway and its sister title, The Railway Magazine. Phil Robinson concluded: “The event was attended by thousands of people. I was on the gate in the afternoons and I was delighted to receive so many positive comments as people were leaving. I would also like to thank Heritage Railway and The Railway Magazine for generously supporting us.”

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Hauling a freight train on the running line, Baldwin 4-6-0T No. 778 passes Kerr Stuart Joffre class 0-6-0T No. 3014 and Henschel Brigadelok 0-8-0T No. 1091, built in 1918 for the German army. ALL PHOTOS: GARETH EVANS

An interesting unveiling at the event was this recreation of a WW1 gun transport wagon for the WDLR. The vehicle was demonstrated carrying an 18 pounder over the weekend on the field railway.

LR2478, a 20hp ‘Bent-Frame’ Motor Rail Tractor (No. 1757 of 1918) demonstrated the movement of supplies close to the front line. It is seen here with a drinking water wagon on the field railway.

Visiting from across the Channel, this Fairbanks-Morse ‘speeder’ was built for the US Army Light Railways.

Apedale Valley Light Railway-based Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT (No. 1238 of 1916) looks the part on the front of the passenger train.

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 11

NEWS

Boiler is GW County’s next major target

By Gareth Evans

Alf Ludlam with one of his many books about Lincolnshire railways. LWR

Tributes to Lincolnshire Wolds pioneer and author THE LincolnshireWolds Railway has been in mourning for pioneer and prolific author Alf Ludlam, who has died at the age of 77 after losing a short battle with cancer.

Described as a an extremely gifted artist, musician, author and public speaker, Alf passed away in St Andrew’s Hospice in his home town of Grimsby on June 6.

Alf had a passion for railway heritage and was involved with the local GrimsbyLouth Railway Preservation Society from its inception.

He strongly believed Lincolnshire had been sadly neglected by railway publishers, and this inspired him to write a series of books about the county’s railways for Oakwood Press.

He also went on to become a regular contributor to historical railway magazines.

Benefitting the railway

LWR colleague Phil Eldridge said: “Over the years, Alf had built up a huge collection of historical photographs of railway scenes from all over Lincolnshire.

His plan was two-fold.The first was to produce another series of books, using these photographs, about the history of the county’s railways, for which the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway would receive all the proceeds. So far 12 books have been published and there is another in the pipeline.

“Alf was also an excellent public speaker and he had a unique ability to engage and entertain his audience, whoever they may be.Therefore, the second part of his plan was to put together a series of illustrated talks, which were based on these books.

“The idea soon took off, and Alf and I have travelled all over Lincolnshire and even as far as Sheffield, doing six or more talks a year. Again, the fees and book sales from all these talks have gone to the LWR.” One of the regular venues was Louth Library, where manageress KarenWaring said:“Alf always drew a crowd, who loved to hear his knowledge and enthusiasm of local railways.

“He took you on a fascinating journey with supporting slides and anecdotes.”

12 Heritagerailway.co.uk

AROUND £300,000 is needed to complete new-build GWR 4-6-0 No. 1014 County of Glamorgan, according to the GW County Project, part of the Didcot Railway Centre-based Great Western Society.

The society has launched a major drive to fund the boiler, together with a host of components, through sponsorship.

The project is one of the beneficiaries of the so-called‘Barry 10’group of unrestored locomotives yielding parts to benefit other engines.Thus, the County uses the frames of Modified Hall No. 7927 Willington Hall and a Stanier 8F boiler, from which the County boiler was derived, from No. 48518.

“The fundamental issue with this project is finance,” said David Bradshaw, press officer for the GW County Project.“We’re trying to remedy that, including promoting the sponsorship of items, something that has not been pushed so far with the project.

“We’ve launched the 1014 Boiler Club. We are seeking 100 people to contribute £1000 each either as a one-off donation or monthly over one, two or three years, which with gift aid will provide the £125,000 required to complete the boiler for County of Glamorgan.

“LNWR Crewe converted the 8F firebox to a County profile. Work on it stopped for the same reasons as those for the Patriot (News, page 20).

“Thanks to a generous donation, we acquired the boiler barrels from Barnshaws Engineering in Dudley.

The firebox and barrels will shortly be moved to Heritage Boiler Steam Services at Butterley “The Boiler Club income will be used to unite the newly converted firebox to the two newly manufactured tapered boiler sections, fit the tubes and superheater header, and steam test it before it is moved to Didcot, where it will be installed in the frames of No. 1014. Subject to us raising sufficient cash, work will begin as soon as the boiler for The Unknown Warrior is completed in early 2019.

“The Boiler Club appeal has been well received and to date we have signed up 12 members, leaving 88 to go.”

David added:“The smokebox door has been ordered and design work on the door ring and saddle has now been

completed, with the order for these, the front tubeplate, smokebox and rear ring due to be issued in the next couple of weeks.

“Hopefully by the end of 2018, this will permit us to re-create the‘face of the engine’as we have a genuine County double chimney originally mounted on No. 1006 County of Cornwall, which was cut up at Sharpness docks.

“The idea is to get the front of the engine completed, something which will demonstrate what powerful-looking engines these were in their rebuilt form.

It will also encourage others to join our campaign to‘complete the set’.”

A welcome development is that research indicates the boiler will not need to be lowered into the frames to

The chimney for the new GWR County 4-6-0. GWS meet the Network Rail height limit of 13ft 1in. However, a reduction in the height of the cab roof (already catered for) and safety valve casing will be required. For the latter, it will suffice to fit the revised safety valve as fitted to Nos. 6023 and 6024 Regarding main line running, David said:“Unfortunately, although the height will be within Network Rail’s height limits, the width over cylinders at 8ft 11in is seen to be a limiting factor for main line running. This issue can only be resolved by casting new, narrower cylinders – something which, though not overly expensive at around £25,000 per set, is considered one step too far at this stage, with No. 4079 Pendennis Castle currently being prepared for main line running and No. 6023 King Edward II being slated for main line running in around three years’time following a full boiler overhaul.”

At Didcot, the chassis has been

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rewheeled, the necessary clearances having been made. The springs will be fitted next.

With that in mind, volunteer Dicky Boast has started work on a set of lubricator pots, produced from 65mm steel tube – which being part of the locomotive’s lubrication system, can be formed and fitted once the springs are fitted.

Motion

Attention is now being turned to the motion. While the project possesses the slide bars, eccentric sheaves and straps, all are in need of refurbishment.

The two crossheads obtained by the project are of the wrong pattern and replacements to the correct design will be ordered shortly.

The ones already acquired for No. 1014 will likely be sold on for use on 2-8-0 No. 4709 or Churchward County 4-4-0 No. 3840 County of Montgomery.

Furthermore, there will be a need to raise about £45,000 to machine the connecting and coupling rods, the forged roughs being safely stored in the Midlands.

David added:“Following the appeal for sponsors, sufficient cash has been donated to cover the cost of machining either the two connecting rods or the front coupling rods. This still leaves a substantial amount to be raised to complete the machining of the new motion.

Tender

“The tender chassis is virtually finished,” said David.“Completion awaits fitting of the pull rods, acquired recently, a seal for the vacuum cylinder, and a small amount of fettling work.

“Thanks to a recent donation, the way is clear for the tender platework – which has already been purchased and cut to size and is presently in store – to be cut and shaped in readiness for welding in-house to complete the only 8ft 6inwide Hawksworth tender in existence.

“Only the County was fitted with an 8ft 6in cab (an LMS dimension), with the result a tank of matching width had to be designed to match.

“All other Hawksworth welded tenders were only 8ft wide.” ➜ More information can be found at www.gwcountyproject.org.uk or from Richard Croucher, County Project, Great Western Society, Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot OX11 7NJ.

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£20

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IN BRIEF Broadway’s first diesel gala

WR diesel hydraulics Class 42 Warship D832 Onslaught and Class 35 Hymek D7017 will guest at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s July 27-29 Back to Broadway Diesel Spectacular gala, which will feature 10 locomotives plus a DMU.

Thanks to some wet weather in the West Highlands, West Coast Railways’ ‘Jacobite’ service has escaped the restrictions on main line steam running. Here, ‘Black Five’ No. 45407, running as No. 45157 The Glasgow Highlander, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Glasgow Highlanders, passes Beoraidbeg on July 9. BARRY MARTIN

Going all potty over SVR’s Arley station MASTER stonemason Philip Chatfield has again been contributing his skills at the SevernValley Railway, in a volunteer capacity at Arley station.

He carefully researched the history and construction of an unusual floral chimney pot dating from 1904, so an exact replica could be produced.

The original pot was unfortunately broken some years ago. Philip explained the challenges of getting things right: “This chimney pot was highly unusual, and really was clearly not standard issue for a station at the time.

“However, the stationmaster in 1904 was a man called George Batchelor, an award-winning gardener, and I have the feeling he made sure the newly built extension to his station building received a chimney pot that was a cut above.

Perhaps he even paid for it himself!

Prettiest GWR station

“By consulting books and many old photographs of the station building, I produced full-scale drawings so that a replacement pot could be fired.

“The infrastructure manager Chris

Philip reinstating Arley’s new replica chimney pot.

LENNIE WARRINGTON

Bond found a potter in Hampshire, Mick Pinner, who had the skills to create the new pot out of clay.

“When I was recently fitting the new pot in place, I thought of George Batchelor as I was up on the scaffolding.”

Philip added:“I know from my research that he’d wanted his station to be the prettiest on the GWR system, and I hope George’s spirit is smiling from above, not only at the new floral pot, but also the exemplary efforts of the volunteers at Arley today, who keep the gardens and station in such great shape.”

George Batchelor, Arley’s stationmaster, with his children in 1904.

Lynton comes to Snowdonia: gala debut in September THE Lynton & Barnstaple’s replica Baldwin 2-4-2 Lyn will appear in the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways September 14-16 Super Power gala.

Lyn will be based on the northern section of the line at Dinas during

its first loan visit to another line, and will haul special trains running between there and Caernarfon.

Lyn will not be double-heading with fellow replica locomotive and F&WHR resident 2-6-2T Lyd during the event. However, Manning

Wardle-style Lyd will accompany Lyn back to North Devon after the gala, and the inaugural double-heading of the two locomotives will take place in at the L&B's September 29-30 Autumn Gala, hauling appropriate L&B carriages.

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➜ A SPECIAL photographic display on the last days of BR main line steam and the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ will be held by Boscastle Locomotive Limited in the general waiting room at Loughborough Central over the first two weekends in August.

Tim Mills’ photographs of steam in the North West in summer 1967, 1T57 itself, and the BR train guards’ book record of the journey, which James Tawse compiled from his notes made at the time, will be among the displays. ➜ THE board of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has decided to discontinue the issuing of lineside passes, following an audit of safety processes, a ruling that has not been taken lightly. All passes issued in 2018 will continue to be valid until their expiry date of January 31, 2019. ➜ THE working replica of Richard Trevithick’s 1802 steam locomotive – the world’s first railway engine – will be running on August 18-19 at the Blists Hill Victorian Town, near Ironbridge, ‘in steam’ weekend, alongside many examples of vintage road and stationary steam engines. ➜ THE Middleton Railway’s newly built running shed was due to be officially opened by Coun Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, on Saturday, July 21, when she was to flag off a steam and diesel train out of the new building. The Middleton Railway Trust is a finalist in the 2018 White Rose Awards’ Small Attraction of the Year category. The awards ceremony will be held on November 12 in the Harrogate Conference Centre. ➜ CUMBRIA’S Eden Valley Railway at Warcop has doubled the length of its driver experience running line. With the replacement of sleepers under a double slip in Warcop Top Yard, Fowler 0-4-0DH No. 4220045 of 1967 No. 21 is able to go eastwards to Flitholme to give ‘Driver for a Fiver’ runs a quarter mile in each direction. While these ‘turn-upand-go’ sessions are advertised for Bank Holiday Sundays and Mondays, subject to availability, they also run on other Sundays.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 13

NEWS

Vintage Trains still owns Stratford site despite claim in council report

By Robin Jones

VINTAGE Trains has denied a Stratfordon-Avon District Council report that said land it owns at the town’s station has been sold.

A report to the council’s July 2 cabinet meeting discussing a new link road for the town said: “SDC is aware that Vintage Trains has sold the site for development and is focussing efforts at Tyseley. It is understood a facility and turntable are no longer needed with trains turning at Bearley Triangle.”

The reference to the triangle is an error, as it closed in the 1960s, and VT chairman Michael Whitehouse denied that the site of the former locomotive depot, bought several years ago to develop a steam centre at the southern end of its ‘Shakespeare Express’ route, has left its ownership.

He said: “We still own our land at Stratford. However, we have told the council that we do not intend to develop a steam centre on the former loco depot site and we have discussed with them what the next steps might be. That is probably why their minutes say what they do. As and when we actually agree something, we will say.

“We have agreed to develop Tyseley instead, which makes much more sense, as everything (Tyseley Locomotive Works and our Train Operating Company) will then all be on one site.

“However, the Shakespeare Line from Birmingham to Stratford is central to our future and we are actively discussing how this can be developed with West Midlands Rail Executive. The future will be exciting, but let’s walk before we run.

“West Midlands Rail Executive is very interested to have regular timetabled

express steam trains on its patch and wishes to facilitate it. Indeed, we have two sets of meetings in the next couple of months to begin to work on the detail.

“The plan is for regular timetabled slots within the overall WMR franchise plan, which will allow the SE to run both ways over the Shakespeare Line, where there will be sufficient capacity available due to the service frequency and colour light signalling.

“We currently run 45mph tender first (and have done so for 20 years) over that route and no issues are expected with continuing to do so. Consequently, there is no need for a turntable at Stratford for the ‘Shakespeare Express’ and no economic case to spend some £500,000 installing a turnout, altering signalling and putting in a turntable.

“Indeed, turning the locomotive at each end of the ‘Shakespeare Express’

run would bring too many operational difficulties, especially at the Birmingham end, where the locomotive would need to go to Tyseley to turn round, causing all sorts of logistical issues with carriages, our lunch service and the timetable. It makes much more sense to spend what capital we have developing our Tyseley site.

“That is good news for the ‘Shakespeare Express’, but it does mean that we do not propose to develop our land at Stratford. We have started discussions about station adoption on the line and potentially ‘doing something’ at Stratford station itself.

“We are currently considering our options regarding our Stratford land and have started various discussions, which are currently commercially confidential, but our charity still owns the land.”

July 5 saw Britain’s last railway nursery celebrate its 30th birthday, having been opened in 1988 by BBC TV’s Gardener’s World presenter Geoffrey Smith. The 2ft gauge system Poppleton Community Railway Nursery dates back to 1988 when it was introduced to transport materials and produce around the nursery at Poppleton, near York. Pictured is 1942-built Lister Rail Truck No. 1 Loweco (owned by Bob Brook, named after its restorer and formerly based at the now-closed Abbey Light Railway in Leeds) backing down the engine shed road, and a special Lister-style birthday cake to mark the occasion. No. 1 was supplied new to the Kexby Sand and Gravel Co in Lincolnshire and later worked at the Hoe Hill Tile works in Barton-on-Humber. ANDREW RAPACZ

Spirit of Sandringham: next stage a rolling chassis THE builders of LNER B17/6 No. 61673 Spirit of Sandringham have appealed for manufacturers in East Anglia, the former stomping ground of the class, to build parts for it.

All the cast and fabricated frame stays have been delivered to Llangollen Railway Engineering Services and are being assembled.

Design work is now underway on the sub-assemblies and components needed to progress the static chassis to a rolling chassis.

The B17 Steam Locomotive Trust has also contracted with a new rail industry-approved independent assessor, Ricardo Rail of Derby. Ricardo Rail has carried out an initial audit at Llangollen Railway Engineering Services of both the B17 engineering

14 Heritagerailway.co.uk

management and design processes, along with the Llangollen Railway Engineering Services’ manufacturing processes and competencies. The audit was agreed as being successful.

Detail design is currently being created for the manufacture of the wheels, roller bearings and axles, including the necessary 21st-century improvements for reliability and maintainability over the working life and duty cycles that will be required.

A Defining Specification for the boiler has been created and discussions are being held with potential manufacturers to create a detail design and to estimate costs.

To more align the project with its East Anglian heartland, members of the trust’s management team are

now exploring the possibility of using manufacturers based in East Anglia for more general engineering design and manufacture requirements.

The trust has appealed to anyone who knows of any East Anglia-based engineering establishments that may have the necessary experience and capability for casting, forging, machining and fabrication/welding techniques for detail parts, such as the chimney casting and the machining of the whistle, or restoration of existing large fabricated rail vehicles, to contact the trust by email at b17slt@ googlegroups.com or telephone 07527 670436. Alternatively, write to: B17 SLT, c/o 171 Clifton Road, Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5AG. Go to www. b17steamloco.com for more details.

The B17 chassis at Llangollen with the brake stay, firebox stay and dragbox fitted. B17SLT

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IN BRIEF ➜ A SPECIAL photographic display on the last days of BR main line steam and the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ will be held by Boscastle Locomotive Limited in the general waiting room at Loughborough Central over the first two weekends in August. Tim Mills’ photographs of steam in the north west in summer 1967, 1T57 itself and the BR train guards’ book record of the journey that James Tawse compiled from his contemporaneous notes will be among the displays. ➜ THE board of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has decided to discontinue the issuing of lineside passes following an audit of safety processes. However, all passes issued in 2018 will continue to be valid until their expiry date of January 31, 2019. ➜ PLANS to demolish the Isle of Man’s Strathallan crumbling 1902-built horse tram depot and replace it with a near replica have been given the go-ahead by planners. The £1.5 million project will include space for 13 horse trams and temporary storage of Manx Electric Railway tramcars in Douglas.

Severn Valley Railway-based GWR/Port Talbot Railway 0-6-0ST No. 813 is visiting the East Lancashire Railway this summer.

The popular GWR 813 Preservation Fund-owned locomotive is seen passing Burrs Country Park with the ‘Lancastrian Lunch’ dining train on Sunday, July 15, after the line’s fire risk ban (Headline News, pages 8-9) had been relaxed. BRIAN DOBBS

Poppy Line buys its first Thompson coach

By Roger Melton THE Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society has purchased a further LNER carriage to add to its collection on the North Norfolk Railway.

Unique Thompson brake corridor third No. 1866 was originally preserved

by Geoffrey Drury from Departmental service to serve as a support coach for A2 Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter.

When it became obvious that it would not be allowed on the main line in this capacity, because of its timber-framed body, it was sold to Peter Lund at the Llangollen Railway, who has restored it to early BR livery, with an open passenger saloon in place of its four original

third class compartments that had been removed in BR days when it was converted for Departmental use.

The coach requires some work, including the provision of at least one Pullman gangway before it can be placed into service. It is understood that, for the time being at least, it is not intended to replace the missing compartments – the plan is to have the carriage as part of a ‘Festival of Britain’ exhibition coach, keeping the armchairs as they are.

No. 1866 will form part of an eventual six-coach teak, with the restored LNER Gresley buffet, a Gresley open third, corridor third and full brake, plus a Great Eastern corridor third.

It has been a busy early summer for

the M&GNJRS, which also announced the acquisition of its sixth locomotive, Class 08 shunter D3935. The locomotive was already based on the NNR and is to become the Sheringham pilot locomotive.

D3935 was built at Horwich in April 1961 and for the following six years it was allocated to 61A Kitty Brewster. Then in August 1967, it became a 61B Aberdeen Ferry Hill allocation. Late in 1971 it was transferred to the Eastern Region at 51L Thornaby for six months before moving South to 30A Stratford. Within a month it was re-allocated to its final shed at 30E Colchester. In 1974 it was renumbered to 08767 under the recently introduced TOPS system and remained at Colchester

for the next 22 years until its withdrawal at the end of January 1994.

After its withdrawal, D3935 (or 08767 as it was now known) was sold along with two other Class 08s to Birds the scrap merchant. For some time the three locomotives were stored at the closed 32B Ipswich depot.

Sadly, nos. 08627 and 08748 were scrapped on site but the North Norfolk Railway purchased D3935 as it needed a diesel shunting locomotive. It was then used up until 2004, but unfortunately during its use it suffered a moved crank on one of the axles. It has subsequently been restored to full working order and painted in BR green livery prior to being purchased by the society.

Poole Park Railway engine and carriages ‘for sale’ FOLLOWING the cancellation of its contract to run Poole Park’s 10¼in gauge miniature railway, the charity that had been operating it on a not-for-profit basis has offered its entire stock fleet for sale.

The Borough of Poole cancelled the contract with the Friends of Poole Park following derailments and a mass walkout of staff and volunteers.

The Friends group has now advertised its steam outline locomotive, Princess Swee’Pea, for £18,000 and six carriages for £16,000 on its Facebook page.

Originally built in 1990 by Alan Keef,

and rebuilt in 2012 by RVM engineering, Princess Swee’Pea is a diesel hydraulic tender engine.

However, the council’s cabinet portfolio holder for environment and open spaces, Coun John Rampton, said that any sale of these assets must comply with the rules of the Charity Commission.

Chris Bullen, who previously ran the railway for 12 years before the council refused to renew his contract last year, has now said he would be interested in working with the local authority to get the line running again.

The Friends of Poole Park’s diesel hydraulic steam outline locomotive Princess Swee’Pea. FPP Coun Rampton said: “Poole Park Miniature Railway is treasured by so many people, both users and volunteers. It is important the council

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carefully considers all the options and fully understands what is required to deliver a safe, reliable and sustainable miniature railway attraction.”

Heritagerailway.co.uk 15

NEWS

Council tourism chief slams Rother heritage rail project

By Geoff Courtney

A COUNCIL tourism chief has mounted a fierce attack on plans to link two heritage railways, despite the project being given approval by the council of which she is a member and an independent report saying that the plan would boost the local economy annually by more than £4 million and create up to 75 jobs.

The scheme would link the Rother Valley and Kent & East Sussex railways, and so create a 14-mile heritage line that supporters and many local residents believe would be a major tourism and employment boost to the two towns at each end of the line – Tenterden and Robertsbridge – and to local villages, due in part to it having a direct

connection to the national rail network.

However, Rother District Council cabinet member for tourism and culture Sally-Ann Hart claims in an article in the Conservativehome daily blog website under the headline “Restoring steam trains is a threat to the Rother Valley” that the project was not a major tourism attraction that would materially benefit the district. It was, she said, “merely a hobby project for a group of privatelyfunded railway enthusiasts”and that local people were being“bulldozed by big hitters”.

Using wording that is in part similar to that in a survey by local Conservative MP Amber Rudd, whose opposition to the planned link was revealed in last month’s Heritage Railway, Coun Hart hits out at a

proposed level crossing across the A21 Robertsbridge bypass that would be part of the project.

She claimed that the crossing would have a negative impact on the economic growth of Rother district and on Hastings, despite this seaside town being 11 miles from the proposed location of the crossing, while she accused those behind the plans of not thinking about the “far reaching consequences of their quest for a giant model railway (sic) cutting across our beautiful countryside”.

She said the crossing was “a nonsense” and “a tragedy”for Hastings and Rother towns and villages and their visitor attractions, and would kill any hope of continuing to build tourism and economic growth.

She also made the same factually incorrect claim as Amber Rudd that local farmers who were currently refusing to sell land that would enable the link to be built had been served compulsory purchase orders, and alleged that the Rother Valley Railway’s claim that linking the two lines would boost local tourism was disingenuous. “Hastings and Rother has some of the worst pockets of deprivation in the country. We need investment in infrastructure that will encourage economic growth, not kill it,” she wrote.

Coun Hart, who has been a Conservative councillor for three years and is a local magistrate, concluded her article with a further attack on the A21 level crossing plans. “This is an example of the plight of regular folk against the might of more powerful or wealthy individuals,”she claimed. “How can such folk defend their towns, villages, farms and livelihoods? Fight. Fight with voices, fight with written word and look to their elected representatives to lead.”

‘I stand by my view’

Following a series of questions put to her by Heritage Railway about the article, Coun Hart said in a statement: “I do not propose to take each of your questions in turn, as I believe the article (on www. conservativehome.com) clearly sets out my views, but I absolutely stand by my Missing link: With the Austen’s Bridge extremity of the Kent & East Sussex Railway at one end and the Rother Valley Railway at the other, the two-mile gap between the two railways, which follows the route of the line that was closed by BR in January 1954, is marked in red. The RVR hopes to bridge the gap and create a 14-mile heritage line between Robertsbridge and Tenterden, but farmers who own the land are opposing the plans. Salehurst Halt was one of the stations that closed with the line in 1954. TREVOR STREETER

Birmingham’s Lorna Doone back in steam for Amerton Railway gala

By Gareth Evans A 2ft steam locomotive that was displayed at the Birmingham Museum of Science & Industry prior to the museum’s relocation and relaunch as Thinktank, has returned to steam at the Amerton Railway.

Lorna Doone, Kerr Stuart Wren 0-4-0ST No. 4250 of 1922 moved from the museum’s former Newhall Street home in February 2003 on long-term

16 Heritagerailway.co.uk

loan to the Staffordshire line. With permission for restoration to working order obtained in 2009, the work began in early 2010.

The locomotive hauled its first passenger trains in preservation over the weekend of June 30 and July 1 during the railway’s summer steam gala.

Having spent more than three decades in the ownership of Devon County Council, the locomotive’s

last operator, Lorna Doone has been restored to the appropriate lined green livery. The lining and lettering has been applied using traditional techniques by Martyn King of Vimart Signwriting.

Other performers at the gala included Kerr Stuart 0-4-0T Diana and, visiting from the Statfold Barn Railway, Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Sybil Mary and Hudswell Clarke GP39 (formerly Bronllwyd). Bagnall 0-4-0ST

Isabel and Hunslet (No. 3095 of 2008) Wren class Jennie were unavailable, as both are stripped down for major boiler examinations and re-tubing.

Kerr Stuart Wren Lorna Doone hauled its first passenger trains in preservation at Amerton’s recent gala weekend and is now back in action after an absence of around 60 years.

KIERAN HARDY

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ORIENT EXPRESS REPLICA

A Field of dreams: Salehurst Halt, seen here in 1953, the year before it closed with the rest of the Robertsbridge to Tenterden line, was located between Robertsbridge and Bodiam, among the fields that are owned by two farming families who are currently fighting plans to reopen the line. The halt was basic in the extreme even in BR days, the only passenger ‘facility’ being an old wooden bench, although there was also, at some time, a short goods siding.

The halt was opened in 1903 at the behest of the local vicar, who wanted a station for the use of his organist, Bodiam resident Miss Elsam. NEVILLE STEAD/ THE TRANSPORT LIBRARY view that the economic benefits of the proposed RVR scheme are limited, and outweighed by the negative impact of slowing down traffic on the A21, for the reasons set out in the article, as well as in my letter of objection to the Secretary of State for Transport.

“There is plenty of documentation available regarding the importance of infrastructure on economic growth.

With regards to my comments about economic growth and activity, and pockets of deprivation in Hastings and Rother, I would refer you in particular to the East Sussex County Council website.”

She said the information given to her about the compulsory purchase orders was “taken in good faith”but claimed that this matter was not central to her opposition to the scheme, which was why the article focussed on the economic impact of the proposed A21 level crossing.

Although asked to do so, Coun Hart did not substantiate her claim that local people were being “bulldozed by big hitters”nor did she confirm whether her article and Amber Rudd’s survey were written by the same person.

Neither did she explain who, or what, were the “regular folk”of whom she wrote and whether she regarded herself as one of them, whether on reflection she felt her advice to these people to “fight with voices, fight with written word, and look to their elected representatives to lead”might be over

the top, and whether she genuinely believed the A21 level crossing would be “a tragedy for Hastings”11 miles away.

Malcolm Johnston, executive director of Rother District Council, said: “The council has given its support to the extension of the railway, as it is recognised that it would bring tourism benefit and economic advantage to the area. We also appreciate that it may interfere with transport infrastructure on the A21, which could harm the economy.

“As with many decisions the council has to take, they can be finely balanced, and members do, at times, have differing views. This crossing was approved by the planning committee two years ago, and it is now for the landowners, railway authority and highways authorities to take a balanced view on how to bring this forward in a way that does not detract from the economy of the area.”

The current gap between the western extremity of the KESR at Austen’s Bridge and the eastern end of the RVR at Northbridge Street is two miles across the fields of the two farming families who are opposing the scheme. The privately funded project to bridge the gap includes the transformation, which is already well under way, of the RVR’s base beside Robertsbridge main line station into a heritage steam centre comprising a new station with a five-coach platform and sheds.

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NEWS

Cleethorpes unveils extension plan at 70th birthday bash

By Gareth Evans

THE Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway celebrated its 70th birthday by announcing a £250,000 plan to build a southern extension to boost its appeal to the tourist market The 15in gauge line is to extend by about two thirds of a mile to the Thorpe Park caravan site, crossing Buck Beck, while building a new station at the entrance to The Fitties, it was announced.

The aim is to take the railway further into the public transport sector, linking up at its northern end with the Cleethorpes road train, which operates along the prom.

John said: “People can put their bikes or prams on the train and use the line as a way of getting around with a difference.”

His business partner Peter Bryant, said: “It will be a game-changer for us and it will provide the town with a significant economic boost.”

The cost of the extension will be

largely met by John and Peter, but external funding will also be sought.

The extension plan was formally announced on July 14 in the presence of Coun Hazel Chase, mayor of North East Lincolnshire, who cut a cake in the shape of one of the line’s engines.

The event was boosted by the presence of three visiting steam locomotives – including the popular 2-4-2 pair Sian and Katie from the Kirklees Light Railway and Smokey Joe from the Sherwood Forest Railway.

“It’s the first time in our ownership that the CCLR has welcomed three visiting locomotives,” Peter added. “Sian and Katie are well-suited to our railway – and they look great double-heading. Both locomotives ran at Fairbourne, a line that is not too dissimilar to the CCLR. The pair look at home at the coast.

“Although small, Smokey Joe holds a special place in the hearts of staff, volunteers and supporters alike. It was the first steam locomotive to run on the CCLR after the line was converted to 15in gauge, so it is a key part of

One-time Fairbourne Railway stalwarts Katie (left) and Sian visited the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway for its 70th birthday celebrations over the weekend of July 14-15. RYAN MIDDLETON/CCLR our history. We ran a five-locomotive cavalcade too.

“We’re looking at holding a similar gala event in future.”

The Grimsby and Cleethorpes Model Engineering Society also had a display of rolling stock and ran a 7¼in gauge railway at the event.

Fundraising for new-build A Yorkshire celebration of P2 project well in motion Exmoor locomotives THE project to build £5 million Gresley P2 2-8-2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales has announced that its fundraising venture The Motion Club, launched in April to raise £210,000, has passed its 175-member target by more than a third.

The quick uptake by 60 members has led to a £181,000 order placed with Stephenson Engineering Ltd of Atherton, Manchester, including the forging, machining and heat treatment of the nine heavy motion rods, the inside connecting rod assembly and the combined piston and rod. The motion is

expected to be delivered in batches over a year from December.

Mark Allatt, P2 project director and trustee, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, said: “Given the level of support The Motion Club has received in just three months, we are confident we can raise the additional £135,000 needed to pay for the heavy motion and remain on-track for completion of Prince of Wales in 2021.” ➜ To be a member of The Motion Club, email enquiries@p2steam.com, call 01325 460163 or visit www.p2steam. com for more information.

NRM redesign team search ends THE Science Museum Group has scrapped its search for a design team for the proposed £12 million overhaul of the National Railway Museum in York in the wake of the Heritage Lottery Fund rejecting its grant application.

The winner of the £600,000 tender issued in March would have drawn up plans for a ‘reinterpretation’ of the museum’s 8300 square metre

Great Hall. A total of 155 companies expressed an interest in the project and a shortlist had been drawn up.

A Science Museum Group spokesman said: “The museum’s masterplan and the project to regenerate the Great Hall will still go ahead, but we are reviewing the phasing and timescales. Another tender with a revised brief will be issued at a later date.”

The Brighter Steam News Magazine www.heritagerailway.co.uk

18 Heritagerailway.co.uk

THE Kirklees Light Railway’s September 8-9 13th annual steam and diesel gala will celebrate locomotives that have been built by the Exmoor Steam Railway.

Since 1990, the Exmoor Steam Railway at Bratton Fleming has built more than 30 locomotives for use on lines at homes and overseas. One of them even had the honour of conveying the Queen on the footplate at Exbury Gardens.

Kirklees general manager Stuart Ross said: “This event is really about modern history. The family behind the Exmoor Steam Railway have been and remain

key players in revitalising the miniature railway scene over the last 30 years.

Without them, the miniature railway world would certainly be less vibrant.”

Visiting locomotives for the ‘Moor Steam’ event include Spirit of Adventure and Anne (pictured on pages 30-31) from the Perrygrove Railway and Monty and St Egwin from the Evesham Vale Light Railway. They will operate alongside the home fleet of Badger, Hawk, Owl, Katie, Siân, Jay and Tram No.7. The weekend will culminate on Sunday with the traditional 5pm ‘Shelley or Bust’ departure featuring as many locomotives as possible.

Trawsfynydd branch revivalist dies THE revivalist behind the scheme to reopen the mothballed Trawsfynydd branch has died.

Colin Dale, 70, from Colchester, lost his battle against cancer in an Essex hospital in July.

He had twice attempted to revive the seven-mile branch line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd, which came off the rails last autumn when Network Rail withdrew an access agreement.

It was alleged that there had been unauthorised use of heavy equipment.

His first scheme to reopen the line coincided with his plans to create visitor attractions at Llyn Trawsfynydd, taking

out a lease on the former nuclear power station social club and opening a cafe.

However, his plans to launch cruises on the lake failed to materialise and the cafe closed, leaving him facing bankruptcy.

However, in September 2016 he established the Trawsfynydd Railway Company to operate the line and vegetation clearance work began in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Colin’s funeral will be at Colchester crematorium on August 1 at 2pm.

The Blaenau Ffestiniog & Trawsfynydd Railway Society has this year been talking to Network Rail about regaining track access.

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IN BRIEF

The Rhyl Miniature Railway is to hold a gala on August 18-19 to mark the return to traffic of Barnes Atlantic No. 102 Railway Queen following a five-year overhaul that included a new boiler. Railway Queen (green), Michael (red), Prince Edward of Wales (blue) will also be in steam. JUSTIN BELL

AC Cars railbus moved to Nemesis Rail A CROWDFUNDING appeal to buy and restore a severely-decayed AC Cars four-wheeled railbus has been closed down because the vehicle has been sold to another party.

For several years No. W79976 has been stored at the back of

Loughborough shed on the Great Central Railway. The GCR had begun scrapping the skeletal remains to make way for the next phase of the Bridging the Gap project, until a prospective buyer came along at the last minute with a plan to move it to

the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, as reported last month.

However, another buyer, as yet unnamed, has stepped in to acquire the vehicle and has moved it to Nemesis Rail’s base at Burton-on-Trent for storage in the first instance.

➜ THE Kent & East Sussex Railway has been overwhelmed by the public response to vandalism of 1926-built Pullman Car Theodora when thieves broke into it at Tenterden station on June 30.

The thieves destroyed one door and badly damaged another in order to steal a few bottles of alcohol and a float containing spare change from within.

The railway has since seen £1000 in donations. A Kent firm has offered to carry out carpentry and reglaze an original door from an unrestored Pullman car free of charge. An appeal for £5000 to cover the cost of repairs to Theodora has been set up at www. preservation.kesr.org.uk/theodora ➜ CONTRACTORS have completed the project to replace Middleton Road footbridge, which crosses the Cambrian Heritage Railway’s line south of Oswestry station. In partnership with Shropshire Council, the task required the deployment of road-rail machinery. ➜ CLASS 55 Deltic No.55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, WR Warship D832 Onslaught and a GB Railfreight Class 66 will be the guests at Great Central Railway‘s September 7-9 autumn diesel gala.

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NEWS Could No. 45551 haul this SECR van on the main line in a re-creation of the repatriation of the serviceman who became known as The Unknown Warrior? In 1919, it was used to return the body of nurse Edith Cavell from Belgium where she had helped 200 prisoners of war escape from the Germans before she was caught and murdered. The following year, the same wagon transported the body of The Unknown Warrior prior to a funeral at Westminster Abbey, representing the many soldiers who died without being identified. The van, based on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, in recent weeks has been loaned to the Severn Valley Railway, and took part in this year’s Step Back to the 1940s weekend. On May 25, GWR 0-4-2T No. 1450 is seen taking the Cavell Van to Arley, crossing Tenbury Wall, north of Bewdley. KENNY FELSTEAD

Patriot progresses to rolling chassis The rolling chassis for new-build LMS Patriot The Unknown Warrior is progressing well. It is seen here on June 25 inside Llangollen shed. GARETH EVANS

By Gareth Evans A ROLLING chassis for LMS Patriot No. 45551 TheUnknownWarrioris on course for completion by late August, according toThe LMS Patriot Project, the organisation behind the new-build steam locomotive.

TheUnknownWarrior is expected to leave Llangollen in October for the trial fitting of the boiler – the target being to steam test it by February 2019, with completion of the locomotive planned for September 2019.

Chairman David Bradshaw stressed: “The nature of moving it is nothing to do with our relationship with the Llangollen Railway – it’s absolutely essential that the firebox, barrel and front tubeplate, which is bolted to the frames, are correctly aligned prior to riveting the whole lot together.”

By the end of August, a rolling chassis has been promised by Llangollen Engineering.This includes the brake gear, reversing gear and the motion.The latter has all now been acquired and is currently being prepared for fitting.

David added:“Some of the motion has come second-hand from Jubilee No. 45697 Achilles, including some outside motion and the inside connecting rod acquired from the Bahamas team, who obtained it many years ago.

“Cleaning off the grime on the coupling rods revealed half was from Patriot

No. 5546 Fleetwood and the remainder from Jubilee No. 5699 Galatea. Evidently at one point in the works, there had been a‘cut and shut’job done.

“All the major parts will be complete in the coming weeks.The reversing shaft – a big machining job – is due imminently.

The reverser pedestal, which sits in the cab is almost complete, but we’re waiting for the thread to be cut for the reverser.”

Boiler being built

Construction of the boiler is underway

by Heritage Boiler Steam Services, set up by Robert Adamson and Andrew Wilcock – a pair of former LNWR Heritage chargehand boilersmiths, currently based at the Midland Railway-Butterley.

“We’re their first customer,”explained David.“The backhead has been riveted in place and the foundation ring and throat plate have already been trial fitted.

Soon the copper inner firebox will be trial

fitted with the outer wrapper, ensuring all dimensions are correct and aligned.The boiler barrel then needs to be trial fitted – at which point it’s all about carefully aligning the three items – firebox, barrel and smokebox.

“We’ve been working on the boiler in parallel with the chassis.The projected completion date for this is February.The revised target follows problems after a decision by LNWR Heritage to cease all contract work.”

Tender being widened

THE tender’s running gear is to hand.The wheels have been overhauled, along with the springs.

New tender frames have been constructed and now await riveting.They currently reside behind the locomotive inside Llangollen shed.

David added:“The tank has been modified to increase its water capacity

from 3500 to 4000 gallons by widening – similar to that carried out on SevernValley Railway-based Stanier Mogul No. 42968.

“The next stage is to put the assembly out to competitive tender, which will involve taking delivery of the riveted tender frames and tank components.”

The project has already received one quotation for the new tank and is currently looking at another supplier.

Restaging the Cavell van run

Fundraising continues to do well, said David:“We’ve raised £2.5 million so far, though still more is needed if we are to meet our steaming target of September 2019.

“Costs will continue once the locomotive is complete – including meeting the requirements for operating on the national network.

“We are currently in early discussions with Network Rail with a view to recreating the repatriation of the body ofThe UnknownWarrior using the CavellVan currently based at Bodiam on the Kent & East Sussex Railway between Dover and LondonVictoria in November 2020.”

David concluded:“We are now looking to put the final stage of the build out to competitive tender so that when the trial assembly of the boiler is completed in October it will move to the site of the successful bidder.” ➜ For details of how you can help the project, visit www.lms-patriot.org.uk

Buy the book – help the Patriot project A NEW definitive volume about Patriot class members has just been published with the aim of raising funds for The Unknown Warrior.

The Patriots, A Pictorial Record Volume One, 45500-45525 by Peter Sikes, has just been published by the LMS-Patriot Project.

20 Heritagerailway.co.uk

The 124-page softback volume is a biography of the first half of the 52-strong class. Each class member is illustrated in full by a mouth-watering series of monochromatic and, in some cases, colour views, accompanied by brief biographical details.

There is a foreword by project chairman David Bradshaw.

The volume, ISBN 978-1-9995818-0-0, is available price £18.95 plus £3 postage and packing from the LMS-Patriot Company Ltd, The Hub, 17 Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2LZ.

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NEWS

Eric Treacy and Q6 ‘back in August’ HAVING successfully returned NELPG’s J27 0-6-0 No. 65894 to traffic for lighter trains between Grosmont and Pickering, where it has been performing reliably, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s motive power department staff have subsequently turned their attention to finishing off LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 5428 Eric Treacy and NELPG’s class Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395, with the aim of having them in traffic for the August peak season.

No. 5428 has now been reassembled and steamed for its insurance company exam, which it passed with flying colours.

A snagging list is being dealt with before the locomotive proceeds to running-in trials. No. 63395 is further behind, but has now had its small tubes and superheater flue tubes fitted ready for expansion.

Wensleydale visit

As expected, it has been announced that No. 65894 is to visit the Wensleydale Railway in August, following the conclusion of its successful spell running low season trains on the NYMR. No. 65894 will run at the WR on Tuesdays to Saturdays from July 31 to August 27, when it will be accompanied by an on-loan carriage that was used for Harry Potter filming, courtesy of West Coast Railways.

A fourth loco being worked on is Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T No. 29, which is receiving a new inside cylinder block.

The new, fully machined block was delivered to Grosmont recently and has been successfully trial fitted. Some of the mounting holes in the frames were worn and will have to be welded up and redrilled, and a template has been made to allow this to be completed accurately. No date has been set for the engine’s return to service but “sometime in 2018” is hoped for. When it does return to service it will have a new 10-year certificate, following boiler work and a recent successful hydraulic test.

Hengist moved to Sheffield THE project to build a new Clan Pacific has moved from the Great Central Railway to Sheffield.

The smokebox and cab of No. 72010 Hengist has arrived at the premises of engineering firm CTL Seal in Butterthwaite Lane.

The firm was contracted to start the assembly of the locomotive’s frames in November, and the arrival of the cab and smokebox completes the moving of all of the components needed for assembly. The new-build locomotive will be assembled at the firm’s premises.

22 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Final push underway to complete Princes Risborough new track

By Phil Marsh THE Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway is working round the clock to have its new northern terminus operational in time for its palled official opening on August 15.

The running line used for heritage services for the last two years into Princes Risborough was severed adjacent to Princes Risborough North Box on June 25. As a result, the works train and two locomotives have been isolated in Princes Risborough South sidings and the new track in Platform 4.

Public trains will not be able to serve Princes Risborough until August 15, with trains in the meantime running to Thame Junction, as they have done for the last 25 years or so.

The line’s severance marked the start of the final but crucial phase of linking the new platform at Princes Risborough to the former Thame branch and Chinnor station four miles away.

This phase coincided with extreme heat and has seen volunteers working on the major track alterations seven days a week.

Around 110 yards of the existing running line has been lifted and stored between Princes Risborough North signalbox and the north end of the new platform.

The new track will be laid on a laser-measured and surveyed completely renewed formation with the installation of a set of points, heavily

New trackwork installation underway at Princes Risborough in readiness for the August 15 official opening. PHIL MARSH refurbished after purchase from the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. These points will connect the existing line to the new Platform 4 track and the new headshunt at the north end of the run-round loop.

The headshunt buffer stop and associated track panels were relocated 430 yards from the South Sidings in March during the overnight track lift and recovery operation.

Once the work is complete, the existing track will be known as Princes Risborough No. 5 line. It has a dualpurpose – it is the access line to the south sidings and it also forms the new run-round loop.

The former Quainton Road points were to be used to connect the

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre to the main line at Quainton 25 years ago, but that project did not come to fruition.

Assuming all goes to the minutely detailed plan, August 15 will see the opening of the nearest national rail/ heritage railway interchange to London, Banbury and Oxford and become Buckinghamshire’s only standard gauge steam railway.

The CPRR is unsure of the impact on passenger numbers and is now heavily into planning the 2019 services to connect in with Chiltern Railways’ services. It is likely, for example, that real ale and gin trains will offer commuters an hour’s leisurely round trip after work by changing at Princes Risborough before they go home.

Fairbourne’s L&B locomotive is 40 FAIRBOURNE Railway locomotive Yeo is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.

Built in 1978 as works number 1078 by David Curwen and a half-scale replica of a Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2T, it first ran in France on the short-lived Réseau Guerlédan line in Brittany.

FR publicity officer Graham Billington handed over a commemorative headboard to general manager Murray Dods in July. The wording Yeo Ruby Jubilee is a reference also to Yeo’s original name, Jubilee, which the locomotive again carried during the 2012 season to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Meanwhile, in addition to paying its visit to the Littlehampton Miniature Railway as part of that line’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the opportunity was also taken for Sherpa, the FR’s 0-4-0ST+T, to call in at the other south coast 12¼in gauge line at Exbury Gardens. There it spent two days working in a variety of combinations with the home fleet, but could not work trains by itself due to a lack of air brakes.

In a reciprocal move, the EGR’s 0-6-2T+T will visit the FR on July 28-29 for the annual gala, the first visiting 12¼in gauge steam

Graham Billington and Murray Dods with Yeo and its birthday plaque. FR locomotive for many years. It will be joined on the 15in gauge dual-gauge track by Evesham Vale Light Railway-based 0-4-0T+T Saint Egwin and former FR 0-6-0 diesel Rachel.

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Grant for Donegal railcar repairs DONEGAL’S Fintown Railway has been given a grant of €5756 to make urgent repairs to County Donegal Railways railcar No. 18.

The grant has been made by Ireland’s Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and sanctioned by Minister for the Irish language, Gaeltacht and the Islands Joe McHugh.

He said: “This €5756 grant will give some financial security for the project in the coming months and help guarantee workers’ jobs and their invaluable knowledge of railway heritage and the work that they do to support the revival of the Irish language.

“It will ensure that an important piece of railway heritage is preserved."

Tim Illingworth, (left) great grandson of William Illingworth, after whom the locomotive was named, is seen unveiling the Illingworth nameplate as owner Stephen Middleton and driver Charles Adams look on. Tim was presented with a framed print/photographs of the engine. The locomotive then performed two return trips to Bow Bridge with the recently-restored Queen Victoria’s LSWR royal saloon No.17 and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway No.1 directors’ saloon. ANDREW RAPACZ

Illingworth’s nameplate unveiled by great grandson at Embsay station STEPHEN Middleton’s Nidd Valley Railway sole survivor Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No. 1208 of 1916 Illingworth/ Mitchell has officially completed its 22-year restoration with a naming ceremony.

Based on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, the locomotive’s name honours the former Lord Mayor of Bradford and local architect William Illingworth, who designed the city’s Odeon cinema and worked on the 1936

Scar House Dam project – the largest in the world at the time The July 6 ceremony at Embsay station featured a royal ride in Queen Victoria’s LSWR saloon No. 17, pulled by Illingworth. The carriage also featured in Channel 4’s Great Rail Restorations (see separate story on page 27).

Tim Illingworth, great grandson of William Illingworth and director of Leeds-based integrated creative agency Pure, said: “Over the years,

we have been inspired by my great grandfather’s achievements.

“The train was originally named after him during the construction of Scar House Reservoir and the original nameplates were presented to him when the train was decommissioned.

“The plates have been passed down through the generations and now sit proudly on the outside of my house. It’s fantastic to see the train that was left for scrap up and running once again.”

Network Rail staff help at Moorsline ELEVEN Network Rail workers spent a day volunteering at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s Levisham station.

On July 6, the volunteers helped with several tasks that needed doing around the site, including erecting a large marquee in readiness for a 1960s weekend, painting a wagon, moving sleepers and other materials.

NYMR general manager Chris Price said: “As the NYMR is the only heritage railway to run timetabled trains over Network Rail’s tracks (to Whitby) it further underlines the close and fruitful working relationship we have with them.”

Workers from Network Rail have volunteered on the Moorsline for the past six years.

Musician Jools Holland names new Beer Heights locomotive Jools ON Thursday, June 28, entertainer Jools Holland visited Pecorama in Beer to perform the honour of naming the 7¼in gauge Beer Heights Light Railway’s newest arrival.

Jools lunched with Peco representatives in the Orion Pullman car after which he was given a whistle-stop tour of the model railway factory in the company of managing director Ben Arnold and Railway Modeller editor Steve Flint, before heading to the Beer Heights main station Much Natter to name newcomer No. 12, an 0-4-2T and a ride on the train.

The musician and presenter of the long-running BBC TV series Later… with Jools Holland, made no secret of his love for railways of all kinds.

The new locomotive was built in the BHLR’s own workshops under the guidance of John Macdougall. It was turned out in the Bluebell Railway’s version of SECR lined blue livery and after a short speech, Jools revealed

the hand-painted name – Jools – all to the accompaniment of music by the Woodroffe School band from Lyme Regis and a huge crowd of onlookers.

BHLR No.12 Jools will be hauling passenger trains at Pecorama throughout the summer and until the end of October. It will also take a starring role in Pecorama’s annual Loco Week and Bank Holiday Railway Gala, which this year takes place from August 20-27.

All the resident steam locomotives, together with guest engines from all over the country, will combine to operate an intensive train service on the extensive system. Most passenger trains will be double-headed with both a resident and guest locomotive. There will also be demonstration goods trains and ‘ double-runs’ throughout the day.

Train rides are included as part of the admission to Pecorama, which also entitles visitors to explore the model railway exhibition and gardens.

Jools Holland unveils his new namesake at the Beer Heights Light Railway. CRAIG TILEY/RAILWAY MODELLER MAGAZINE

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French partisans work out how to ambush the train loaded with stolen art.

NEWS

A bomb explodes on the track in a bid to derail the train.

Battle is Highley successful!

Words and pictures by John Titlow

MANY railways have 1940s weekends, but how many re-enact a full blown battle along the lineside?

The Severn Valley Railway held its popular 1940s event over the weekends of June 30-July 1 and July 7-8.

One of the highlights was a battle that took place around 1.30pm on the four days where Highley was transformed into deepest war-torn France.

The event was set around June 6 in France immediately after the D-Day landings, where a fortified military train loaded with stolen art and valuables was on its way to Nazi Germany. Spies had

Missiles explode near the German armoured military train.

24 Heritagerailway.co.uk

discovered the train’s route and a plan was forged to ambush it.

After the 1.08pm service train departed for Bridgnorth, events started with detonators being placed on the line.

Hand-to-hand fighting

Two German soldiers patrolling the line were quickly dealt with, then the camouflaged train left the siding heading towards Kidderminster.

After a large explosion, a cloud of black smoke followed, then the two detonators went off, the train stopped and the full battle started.

Using the element of surprise, the train was attacked by camouflaged British,

Canadian and Free French soldiers who had been hiding in the undergrowth.

Many further explosions took place in between real hand-to-hand fighting with pistols, rifles and machine guns, while a mortar was seen firing from the train.

Both sides had casualties, but eventually the Germans surrendered and the train with its contents was liberated. The explosions were heard more than half a mile away and the Engine House provided a good viewing platform.

The story was loosely based on the 1964 black and white film The Train which starred Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield. Several steam locomotives

were destroyed in the film’s production including one amazing crash where a light engine ploughs into a derailed train. Filming took place at several French locations, including Rive-Reine.

Attractive numbers

June 30 saw 2727 ticket sales, 398 up on the first Saturday of the 2017 event.

While fantastic weather boosted visitor numbers, it must have been difficult for re-enactors to keep cool in their uniforms with temperatures in the upper 20s. On July 7, there was serious competition with the England v Sweden World Cup quarter final, but looking at the trains it appeared not to reduce numbers.

Sandbags guard the strategic Kidderminster Town station.

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DARTMOUTH STEAM RAILWAY

BOILERSMITH/FITTER VACANCY Come and join one of the most progressive, efficient and arguably one of the most successful heritage railways in the country. In South Devon we have fantastic scenery, beautiful beaches, Dartmoor National Park, the South West Coastal Path and much more. We have great schools, house prices generally lag behind the bigger cities, the air is clean, the climate is warm* and it’s people friendly!

We are looking for two boilersmiths and/or fitters to join our workshop at Churston to enable us to deliver a significant overhaul programme.

Please send your CV to jobs@dsrrb.co.uk *On average the southwest is warmer and sees more sunshine than the rest of the UK.

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NEWS

GIRL POWER! Ladies first at Bluebell and Llangollen

By Robin Jones THE appointment of a new general manager at the Bluebell Railway and a new chairman at the Llangollen Railway further dispel the historic assumption that the preservation sector is exclusively a male domain.

Julie Jones, who qualified as a steam driver in 2010, is the new general manager at Sheffield Park. The post, which was initially created over two years ago, is a key part of the company’s organisational structure, leading the management team and supporting the Bluebell’s ever-expanding heritage activities.

Dedication

Born, educated and living in the south of England, Julie holds a 1st Class BA(Hons) degree in business administration from the University of Surrey. In recent years she has followed a career in the Civil Service, working within the Ministry of Defence, the Environment Agency, the Office for National Statistics and Department for Transport, where her role included working with main line Train Operating Companies.

Julie has been actively involved in the heritage railway sector for 17 years, both as an employee and volunteer. She started as a station porter in 2001 and

qualified as a guard before transferring to footplate duties.

Bluebell Railway Plc chairman Dick Fearn said: “Julie will bring strong team leadership and project management skills to the role, as well as first-hand knowledge of the workings of the heritage railway sector.”

Liz McGuinness has been appointed as chairman of Llangollen Railway Plc and the Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd. She replaces Peter Lund, who stood down at the recent annual general meeting after three years in office. He remains a director of the trust.

Liz has been at the railway as an active volunteer for seven years and has been on the board as commercial director. She was appointed as the railway’s general manager in September 2017 and in April she took on the revised role of business manager.

Liz said: “I anticipate the challenge of leading the Llangollen Railway onward as we prepare to open our new terminus at Corwen. I am proud and excited to be part of the Llangollen Railway. The volunteers and staff are a great bunch of people and they have achieved some fabulous things so far.

“I want to work with everyone to continue to drive the railway forward to enhance the facilities and earn more revenue. This is vital for the prosperity of

the Llangollen Railway as a major tourist attraction in the Dee Valley.

“The railway is a significant part of the local economy and I will work with local businesses, Denbighshire Tourism and the Countryside Services to further enhance our visitor experience.

“The opening of Corwen station will be a major achievement and will give visitors to North Wales greater access to Llangollen and the Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty via the trains.”

Julie Jones with Bluebell Railway Plc chairman Dick Fearn. BR

Passion for the line

Peter said: “I have known Liz since she started as a volunteer on the line. She has a definite passion for the Llangollen Railway. I am looking forward to working with Liz in her new role. Her past work experience in the commercial world will be of value in achieving the aims she has set herself.”

The appointments of Julie and Liz follow hot on the heels of those of Dr Sarah Price, Head of Engagement and Learning at Durham University, as head of the Locomotion museum in Shildon, and also Laura Wright, the chief executive of Tate Enterprises (part of the Tate network of art galleries) in an identical position at Mail Rail, London’s unique underground visitor ride on the former Post Office railway.

Liz McGuinness now chairs the Llangollen Railway as the line bids to complete its extension into Corwen Central. LR Earlier this year, Judith McNicol was confirmed as head of the National Railway Museum, and former Talyllyn Railway general manager Tracey Parkinson now holds a similar position at the East Lancashire Railway. Donna Maskery became the new museum manager at the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre in Donegal Town too.

New KESR appointment is a ‘real coup’ says chairman Welcome aboard: Former Kent & East Sussex volunteer Robin Wright, who has joined the railway’s board of trustees. A London barrister specialising in employment and discrimination matters, she is a life member of the Tenterden-based line and is also a member of the Institution of Railway Operators.

By Geoff Courtney FORMER Kent & East Sussex Railway volunteer Robin Moira Wright has become a director on the railway’s board of trustees, an appointment hailed by the heritage line’s chairman Ian Legg as a “real coup”.

In the 1980s Robin lived in Tenterden, where the KESR is based, and volunteered at that time as a guard and signalman. Her early professional career also involved railways, as she trained as an operations manager with BR and held appointments in Kent, Sussex and the West Country, prior to joining the legal profession.

She is now a barrister in London specialising in employment and discrimination matters, but has retained her interest in the KESR as a life member, and recently volunteered on the line’s ‘Wealden Pullman’ dining train. In addition, she provides legal advice across the heritage railway sector, and maintains her connection with the national network as an active member of the Institution of Railway Operators.

“It was an honour to be asked to join the board of Britain’s original light railway,” she said. “I have known it for

26 Heritagerailway.co.uk

nearly 40 years, and it is such an exciting time in its history with the reconnection to the main line at Robertsbridge in prospect.”

Pivotal moment

KESR chairman Ian Legg commented: “Robin joining our board is a real coup.

She brings a fantastic range of relevant skills, knowledge and connections, and will strengthen the board’s efforts to support our staff and volunteers.”

Robin joins the railway at a pivotal

moment in its history, with the reconnection to the main line having reached a critical phase.

As reported in last month’s issue of Heritage Railway, a £4½ million project to link the KESR with its neighbour the Rother Valley Railway is well under way, but negotiations with two farmers across whose land the two-mile gap would be bridged have so far been unsuccessful.

If an agreement were reached with the farmers, the line would become a

14-mile railway between Tenterden and the RVR’s base at Robertsbridge, where a connection to the Charing Cross-Hastings main line has already been constructed as a part of the project.

Currently, the KESR runs for 10½ miles between Tenterden and Bodiam, although track is laid for a further mile, while the RVR runs half a mile from its base to Northbridge Street.

West Somerset & Swanage

The privately-funded work at Robertsbridge, which is transforming the site into a steam heritage centre, includes a new station with five-coach platform, engine and carriage sheds, and other facilities.

If the link between the two railways comes to fruition, trains will be operated by the KESR. Robin is a signalman at all five ’boxes on the West Somerset Railway, where she is also a guard and volunteers there in a wide number of other capacities.

She was elected as a trustee of the West Somerset Railway Association on July 7.

Robin also volunteers at all three signalboxes on the Swanage Railway.

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Hauled by BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80072, the assembled Channel 4 Time Train approaches Glyndyfrdwy on November 2. MARTIN GILL

Channel 4 Time Train signs off in style at Llangollen CHANNEL 4 screened the fifth and final episode of its acclaimed Great Rail Restorations series on Saturday, July 7, as an alternative to the World Cup coverage elsewhere.

While England were beating Sweden 2-0 in the quarter-final, the fifth and last episode of the vintage coach restoration and rebuilding series, outlined in issue 243, saw the action shifted to operating the assembled ‘Time Train’ on the Llangollen Railway.

The programme showed how three of the carriages, a four-wheeler, a royal saloon and a Pullman car, spanning a century of railway operations, were brought by low loader from their bases at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and Tyseley Locomotive Works to join the GNR Gresley coach at Llangollen.

The coaches were LSWR Open First No. 17 of 1885, which two years later was converted with a clerestory for Queen Victoria in her Golden Jubilee year, 1864-built Isle of Wight Railway four-wheeled composite coach No. 10, 1960-built Metropolitan Cammell Kitchen First Pullman car No. 311 Eagle and Llangollen-based GNR Gresley Brake Composite Corridor teak No. 229

Gargantuan task

In late October last year, the Llangollen Railway made its facilities and the railway available to the Channel 4 production team for three days to film the assembled Time Train in action.

This unique formation of four carriages was filmed operating on the Dee Valley line between Llangollen and Carrog, with members of each

restoration team on board to sample and compare the results of all their hard work. They had lunch in the Pullman coach as a celebration of a remarkable effort to meet the challenge set by the TV producers.

GNR coach owner Peter Lund said: “The restoration of this 1912 teak-bodied coach was a gargantuan task. At every stage more work than had been anticipated was revealed to rebuild the interior.

“It is only thanks to the strenuous efforts of all the team from the Llangollen Railway’s carriage & wagon works that the challenge to restore it was met in time for the filming schedule.”

The train was taken down the line by the BR Standard 2-6-4T No. 80072 with presenter Peter Snow in the driver’s seat, as he lived the dream of a lifetime

The Tanfield Railway has welcomed back Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns WD Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 7098 of 1943 – later NCB No. 49 – after a seven-year absence.

Following an overhaul at Marley Hill, no. 49 worked its comeback passenger train on Sunday, July 8.

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by driving a steam engine. All the time he was under the careful supervision of Llangollen driver Paul Reynolds, from Chester, and fireman Graham Hoyland, from Abergele.

Promotional opportunity

Railway chairman Liz McGuinness said: “Llangollen Railway members are brimming with pride after the final part of the Great Rail Restorations project.

The stunning views of the River Dee at Llangollen and the Dee Valley are amazing and a great promotional opportunity for the region.”

Berwyn resident Martin Gill, who saw the train go past during the filming, said: “It was amazing to see four generations of railway carriages in one train. I suppose you would describe it as living history.”

Foxcote for Ropley gala THE first guest locomotive to be booked for the Mid-Hants Railway’s October 19-21 autumn steam gala is 1950-built WR 4-6-0 No. 7822 Foxcote Manor.

Owned by the Foxcote Manor Society and for long based at Llangollen, the locomotive is currently on loan to the West Somerset Railway. However, it spent its whole working life in Shropshire, Cheshire and north and mid-Wales. Further guests are set to be announced.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 27

NEWS

Stephenson’s Killingworth Billy ‘older than we thought’

By Robin Jones

WHILE George Stephenson’s Rocket is based in its home town for the Great Exhibition of the North, one of his earlier locomotives has stolen some of the limelight.

Stephenson’s 0-4-0 Killingworth Billy – thought to have been built in 1826 three years before Rocket – is a decade older than thought, a new study has revealed.

Latest research indicated that the locomotive, housed in Newcastle’s Stephenson Locomotion Museum, is the third oldest surviving steam locomotive in the world.

Only the 5ft gauge Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly are older, and then just by two years.

Early railways expert Dr Michael Bailey and his colleague Peter Davidson carried out a study of the locomotive, and found that an arrangement of components such as cylinders, valves and wheel axles

indicated a build date of 1816. That would also make it the oldest surviving Stephenson locomotive and the oldest standard gauge engine.

A development of Stephenson’s earlier ‘Killingworth Travelling Engine’, some consider it to be the first commerciallysuccessful form of locomotive. It was designed to haul coal wagons from Killingworth Colliery where George Stephenson worked as an engineer to the staithes on the River Tyne.

Last steamed in 1881

It left industrial service in 1879 and last ran under its own power in 1881 when it was donated to the City of Newcastle to mark the centenary of George Stephenson’s birth, by which time it was all but ‘stone age’ technology having long been superseded by a plethora of magnificent machines Dr Bailey, president of the Stephenson Locomotive Society and a past president

The boiler of the National Railway Museum’s working replica of Rocket lowered back into the frames inside the York venue’s workshop on July 6. NRM

of the Newcomen Society for the History of Engineering & Technology, has written several books and papers on early railways and locomotives, including Loco Motion – The World’s Oldest Steam Locomotives, published in 2014.

He said: “The archaeological investigation was to see what the alterations were and the sequence in which they were made.

“Billy, as we now see it, has been rebuilt on several occasions. Particular dimensions such as the wheelbase indicate very strongly it was built in 1816.”

Robin Gibson, railway operations and engineering manager at the North Shields museum, said: “It was Stephenson’s first standard gauge locomotive that we know of, and is the predecessor of all the other standard gauge locomotives in the world.”

Killingworth Billy is now featuring in

the project A History of the North in 100 Objects, part of the Great Exhibition of the North.

As reported in issue 243, Rocket was moved from London’s Science Museum, its home since 1862, to Newcastle’s Discovery Museum, where it will be displayed until September 9, next to Charles Parsons’ Turbinia, the first steam turbine-powered steamship, which dates from 1894.

Exhibition

The exhibition, designed to tell the story of the north of England through its innovators, artists, designers and businesses, and hosted by Newcastle and Gateshead, was launched on June 22 with a spectacular opening ceremony, when a giant fountain, mirroring to The Angel of the North, rose over the River Tyne. Further details of the exhibition and its many events are available at getnorth2018.com

Stephenson’s Rocket on display at the discovery Museum in Newcastle-uponTyne. COLIN DAVISON/DISCOVERY MUSEUM

Mid-Norfolk wins £3m contract to store new trains for Abellio Greater Anglia

By Robin Jones THE Mid-Norfolk Railway has won a three-year contract worth more than £3 million to store Abellio Greater Anglia’s new fleet of Stadler Flirt trains when they arrive in the UK this year.

The money will see part of the GER Wells-next-the-Sea branch between Dereham and Wymondham double tracked, and pay for additional sidings to store the new trains prior to them entering service.

Rail infrastructure company Sonic Rail Services has been engaged to

28 Heritagerailway.co.uk

carry out the work of designing, planning and installing the new infrastructure, including the miles of extra siding space.

Double track

The work will include reinstating the double track between Hardingham and Kimberley Park stations, removed

by BR in the 1960s, the installation of four sidings north of Kimberley Park and the provision of a connection into the yard at Hardingham.

The work is not expected to disrupt any services on the MNR.

Once the Stadler Flirt units have entered service, the sidings will be used to store Greater Anglia’s older sets as they are taken out of traffic.

With its connection to the national network at Wymondham on the main Norwich to Ely line and close proximity to Norwich Crown Point depot, where the new trains will be based, the heritage line is ideally situated to store the trains and overcome the major problem of finding convenient storage space elsewhere on the network.

The heritage line’s general manager

George Saville described the deal, announced at the Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust’s annual general meeting as a major boost for the line which, as reported in issue 242, has just extended its running line to Worthing level crossing north of Hoe.

Lasting infrastructure

George said: “Greater Anglia needs the storage space and it all helps the MNR to develop. After the storage contract is finished it will leave us with long-lasting infrastructure.”

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Invicta on display in Canterbury Heritage Museum in 2010. ROBIN JONES

Invicta given new Whitstable home

Killingworth Billy: now believed to be a decade older than previously thought and therefore of greater historical important. NORTH TYNESIDE MUSEUM After the exhibition ends, Rocket is to return to Manchester for the first time in more than 180 years. It will be on display at the Museum of Science and Industry from September 22 until April 21. After that, it will have a period on display at the NRM in York.

By coincidence, the NRM is completing the 10-year overhaul of its working replica of Rocket.

Built in 1979 by engineer Mike Satow and his Locomotion Enterprises for the Rocket 150 anniversary celebrations at Rainhill, it was fitted with a chimney shorter than the original in order to the clear the bridge at Rainhill, as there is now less headroom than when the line was built in the 1820s.

In the heritage sector, the replica

is unique amongst standard gauge new-build locomotives in that it has been built new twice. In 2009 it was completely rebuilt by Victorian locomotive restoration experts at chartered surveyor and globetrotting steam aficionado Bill Parker’s Flour Mill Colliery workshops at Bream in the Forest of Dean. There, it was equipped not only with a new boiler, but also new frames, the component which gives a locomotive its identity. It returned to steam in February 2010.

The current overhaul has been underway in the NRM’s own workshop at York, the boiler being put into position on July 6. Museum staff hope to have the locomotive running for next summer.

INVICTA, the Robert Stephenson & Co locomotive that came off the production line immediately after Rocket, has been found a new home.

The 1829-built locomotive was supplied to the Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, hauling its inaugural train on May 3, 1830. Retired in 1836 as the railway made a retro-technological switch to cable haulage by stationary engines, it became the world’s first preserved locomotive.

In 1906, Invicta was presented to the city of Canterbury by David Lionel Goldsmid-Stern-Salomons, a director of the SECR, and for 70 years, it was on static display in the Dane John Gardens, Canterbury, painted bright red.

In 1977, a full cosmetic restoration of the locomotive was undertaken with help from the National Railway Museum.

During November 2008, it was announced that a £41,000 Heritage Lottery Fund planning grant had been made to Canterbury City Council to develop a new museum at Whitstable to house Invicta. However, in recent years Invicta, which is owned by the Transport Trust, has been displayed in Canterbury Heritage Museum in Stour Street, which closed in 2017 and has since been converted into a cultural and performing arts centre.

City councillors have now voted unanimously to move it to the Whitstable Community Museum in Oxford Street, rather than to a new purpose-built facility at Whitstable Harbour called The Shed.

The decision was taken despite the fact that the community museum attracted just 9144 visitors in 2017/18, while the harbour regularly draws more than 150,000 visitors per annum.

Coun Neil Baker said that for a long time, Whitstable councillors have wanted to draw visitors to other parts of the town, and Invicta could help in this.

A public consultation found that 79.5% of voters were in support of it going to the museum, where it will initially be kept in the main exhibition hall. It is planned to move it into its own courtyard at a later date.

Museum chairman Brian Hitcham commented: “Invicta is proudly displayed in the museum, with the winding engine flywheel, but also at some stage in the future, with the whole Clowes Wood stationary engine built by Robert Stephenson & Co and completed in 1828.

“It’s the world’s oldest surviving railway winding engine and one of the earliest surviving pressure engines for any application.”

Steaming on towards Louth

The Furness Railway Trust’s 1863-built Sharp Stewart Furness Railway 0-4-0 No. 20 has been withdrawn from service for overhaul, and worked its last runs on the Ribble Steam Railway over the weekend of July 7/8. It is seen on the way to the Strand Road terminus on July 7. BRIAN DOBBS

THE Lincolnshire Wolds Railway is pressing ahead with work on extending its running line another three-quartersof-a-mile southwards towards Louth.

The section between the line’s Ludborough station headquarters and Pear Tree Lane has now been cleared of undergrowth and contractors have been laying drainage pipes along the course. The trackbed will then be graded so that it is ready for tracklaying to begin.

The heritage line owns five miles of track bed as far as Louth’s industrial estate at Louth, where a site has been set aside for a new station.

LWR spokesman Tom Jones said:

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“We’ve made enormous progress over the past few months. We now need to raise more funds to buy materials such as ballast, rails and sleepers to push the project along”.

“Our long-term goal is to get the railway back to Louth but building a new line is a very expensive business, so our plan is to do the work in stages as funds permit. The overall cost of the Pear Tree Lane extension alone is expected to be in the region of £180,000”. ➜ If you would like to support the line’s Making tracks for Louth appeal, you can donate online at www. lincolnshirewoldsrailway.co.uk or telephone 01507 363881.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 29

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6Credit/debit issues FOR £15.99 card » 13 issues FOR £29.99 Credit/debit card » Exmoor Steam Railway-built 0-6-2T Anne is pictured working a demonstration freight at its home line, the 15in-gauge Perrygrove Railway, in the Forest of Dean. Anne was built in 2004, and first worked on the miniature railway at Longleat House and Safari Park, where it was called John Hayton. It was acquired for the Perrygrove Railway in 2015 and was refurbished by the skilled engineers there, and renamed Anne after its owner’s mother. It will be one of the guests at the Kirklees Light Railway’s 13th annual steam and diesel gala to be held over September 8-9.

This year the gala is titled Moor Steam because it will feature locomotives that have been built by the Exmoor Steam Railway at Bratton Fleming in North Devon. MEGAN CHARMAN /KLR

or PHONE 01507 529529 QUOTE REF: HRDPS LINES OPEN 8.30am-7pm (Mon-Fri) 8.30am-12.30pm (Sat)

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NEWS

In a scene completed by the locomotive’s temporary renaming, Dunlop No.6 looks at home in the bagged loading area.

MARTIN CREESE

Cementing steam!

By Gareth Evans

SPENDING a weekend at a cement works probably isn’t at the top of most people’s priority lists – but it is for us enthusiasts. Ketton Cement Works, which lies three miles west of Stamford in the county of Rutland, opened its doors to the public on Saturday, June 30 as part of a celebration of the facility’s 90th anniversary.

I was literally a pig in muck – or rather dust. Being fascinated by all things heritage and‘practical’, the rare opportunity to look round a well known industrial plant was too good to miss. What’s more, a steam locomotive

was on site – and on a personal level, my late maternal grandfather worked at Aberthaw and Rhoose cement works in the Vale of Glamorgan, adding to my fascination.

Family attractions

There was plenty to interest all ages – including displays of vintage tractors, motorbikes, trucks, cars, fire engines and a steam roller. Operator Hanson Cement also kindly allowed access to the cabs of some of its trucks, aided by specially-made wooden steps.

Access around the large expanse of site was aided by a network of shuttle buses operated by Lawson’s of Corby

Class 08 No. 08375 (right) operated ‘driver for a fiver’ from under the silo towards the coal unloading area. No. 08870 can be seen on the left. GARETH EVANS

32 Heritagerailway.co.uk

using a selection of Mercedes-Benz minibuses and a solitary immaculate Alexander PS-bodied Volvo B10M. A popular attraction was the quarry machinery demonstration, involving dumper trucks, excavators, shovellers, a bulldozer and a water sprayer to keep the dust down.

Providing a reminder of the owner’s environmental awareness, displays near the quarry face included fossils and photos of the rich variety of wildlife that inhabits the site.

Rail re-creations

Rail operations ran over two days. Public rides were offered on the Saturday, with the Sunday being a photographic charter for a small group of invited individuals and an‘all-lines’exploratory trip for Branch Line Society members.

Garath Earnshaw, one of the event’s organisers, who is a Hanson employee and a volunteer at both the Chasewater Railway and Rocks by Rail, explained:“We brought Bagnall 0-4-0ST Dunlop No.6 (No. 2648 of 1940) from Chasewater. Visitors were carried in two brake vans – a Shark and an LMS 20T normally used on passenger trains at RBR. Other rolling stock kindly supplied

by RBR comprised three original Ketton limestone tipplers.”

From a temporary platform constructed just south of the silos, rides ran down the gradient to the bridge over the River Chater, the location of the signal that controls access to the exchange sidings.The curvaceous and steeply-graded nature of the line was reminiscent of theWelshpool & Llanfair Light Railway. Indeed, just before road bridge, it is said the line is around 1-in-17.

Of particular interest to diesel fans was the opportunity to take the controls of RMS Locotec-owned

Class 08 No. 08375, which was engaged in‘driver for a fiver’from the silo northwards towards the coal discharge area.

Displayed in the shadow of the packing dock silos was another Class 08, No. 08580, sporting RSS livery, which has arrived for tests at the site.

Not to be forgotten is that a temporary miniature railway was on site, providing a means of transport from the site of the original kiln to the railway platform. The stock, including locomotive Sara, was privately-owned.

Garath added:“It’s not an annual event – the last one was held in 2015, when Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST (No. 2088 of 1940) Sir Thomas Royden visited from RBR. “The line has been here since 1925.

Although it is the 90th anniversary of the cement works, the rail connection was used in the construction phase.

One locomotive survives from the past – Ketton No. 1, a Fowler 0-4-0 diesel (No. 4220007 of 1960), preserved at RBR. Also awaiting restoration at RBR is a Ketton clay wagon.

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Industrial steam in its natural environment: Chasewater Railway-based Bagnall 0-4-0ST Dunlop No.6 hauls three surviving original Ketton limestone tipplers, having passed beneath the silos. MARTIN CREESE

“The rail network was originally more extensive, linking the quarries, silos and loading areas. Today, it serves the coal unloading area and the silos.”

An estimated 1700 people were carried on the steam train on the Saturday and over 40 return trips were undertaken on the‘driver for a fiver’ experience. Donations for the rides, the diesel driving and the private Sunday events raised in excess of £8000 for three local charities.

Garath said:“It took a lot of organising, but we all enjoyed ourselves. We would like to thank crews from Tanfield, Chasewater, RBR and the Branch Line Society.”

Martin Creese of 30742 Charters said: “We are most grateful to Hanson for the opportunity to photograph steam in a proper industrial environment again.”

Having overheard a host of positive comments from the public, including railway enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike, staff and volunteers undoubtedly did the railway preservation movement, Hanson and the wider rail industry proud.

One of the weekend’s attractions was the ability to re-create sights reminiscent of the past, such as this one – 1968 or 2018? One of the Branch Line Society trains which ran on the Sunday is seen near the River Chater bridge. ALISTAIR GRIEVE

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 33

NEWS

Wendy reports for second spell of duty in capital

By Geoff Courtney A FORMER slate quarry locomotive that changed hands for just £30 in the 1960s has stepped into the breach at a west London steam railway after its resident engine was withdrawn for boiler repairs.

With its regular 0-4-0ST Darent out of action until early next year, the Hampton & KemptonWaterworks Railway has arranged the loan of another 0-4-0ST, the Hampshire Narrow Gauge RailwayTrust’s Wendy, and ensured steam haulage will remain a popular feature on its passenger trains during the summer months.

Wendy was ordered by the Ministry of Munitions fromWG Bagnall during the FirstWorldWar, but not completed by the end of the conflict, and was sold in 1919 to theVotty & Bowydd slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog, northWales.

By 1930 it had been transferred to the Dorothea quarry at Nantlle, where it was named Wendy, but about 15 years later it was withdrawn and left to its fate in the quarry.That fate, however, was not to be the cutter’s torch, but instead preservation in the early 1960s by the then embryonic HNGRT. Ironically, that price of £30 may have been regarded as a bargain even then, but it transpired that a fully-operational sister locomotive had been sold at

Rail in focus at Scottish National Portrait Gallery VINTAGE transport takes the limelight at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh in a new photographic exhibition entitled Planes,Trains and Automobiles, which runs until January.

Some of the earliest pictures of a Scottish railway, taken by trail-blazing photographers Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, at Linlithgow on the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway in 1845 three years after it opened, are just some of 70 pictures, not normally shown in public, selected for the exhibition.

The old Glasgow subway also features in two shots, dubbedTicket Office Glasgow Metro and Man on the Metro, taken by Iain Mackenzie before the system closed for modernisation in 1976.

The photographs catch perfectly the mood of theVictorian stations and trains then in everyday service in a much more modern era than the one in which they were built.

Entry to the transport exhibition, the first to be held by the gallery, and part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2018, is free. Conveniently, EdinburghWaverley station is within walking distance and city trams pass the door.

34 Heritagerailway.co.uk

the same time for a similar amount.

Nonetheless, the trust, now based at Bursledon Brickworks Industrial Museum, near Southampton, set about restoring the engine, a project that was completed in 1979.

Since then the engine’s varied career has seen it running at a private site in Hampshire, a holiday centre on Hayling Island, Kew Bridge Steam Museum – coincidentally not far from its temporary new home – and Amberley Museum inWest Sussex, before undergoing its second major overhaul in preservation in 2012.

Extension plans

The 2ft-gauge Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway currently comprises a 300-yard loop close to Kempton Steam Museum, but earlier this year a trackbed lease was signed that will lead to the restoration of nearly 1¾ miles of a former 3½-mile steam railway that ran from a wharf on theThames to two waterworks at Hampton and Kempton Park.

The railway was opened by the MetropolitanWater Board in 1916 with a fleet of three identical 0-4-2Ts named Hampton, Kempton and Sunbury. Prior to the opening, the 760 tonnes of coal required each week to operate the

Welcome back to London: The Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Trust’s 0-4-0ST Wendy settles in to its summer home on the Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway on June 24. It will be the 2ft-gauge locomotive’s second spell in the capital, having previously operated on the nearby Kew Bridge Steam Museum railway. COLIN CLODE waterworks’pumping engines were delivered to the two sites by horse and cart, but modernisation of the works, which continue to operate today – albeit not in the original buildings – led to the line’s closure in 1946.

In 2003 preservationists formed the

MetropolitanWater Board Railway Society with the long-term aim of restoring half the original line on the former trackbed that is now owned by ThamesWater – an aim that moved a step forward in March with the signing of the lease.

Cashelnagor station restored 71 years after last train

By Hugh Dougherty COUNTY Donegal’s Cashelnagor station, regarded as the remotest stop on the former Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Railway, has been restored to its former glory, 71 years after the last train passed through its lonely, single platform in the shadow of Errigal mountain.

Situated 56 miles from Derry, the terminus of the 3ft gauge Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway, which operated the 1903-built extension on behalf of the Board of Trade, Cashelnagor lies between Falcarragh and Gweedore stations.

Film fame

Built to a standard design for smaller stations and gate lodges on the line, it became derelict after closure, but found fame in 1992 when movie stars Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland filmed at the cosmetically-restored station when shooting The Railway Station Man. Cashelnagor then lay derelict.

Several schemes to restore it were abandoned until the property

The restored Cashelnagore station. HUGH DOUGHERTY was bought in 2017 by the current owners, Gavin and Josephine Kelly, who have now restored the ticket office and station house for holiday lets via the Airbnb website.

The station platform has been restored and period Lough Swilly Railway notices are on display, with an exact replica of the station name board in place.

A signal, formerly at Inver on the County Donegal Railways, is also being erected, and there are longer term plans to lay a short

length of 3ft-gauge track alongside the platform.

Open event

An open weekend on May 26-27 raised €760 for Donegal Hospice with visitors contributing memories and oral history of the station in its heyday. Cashelnagor joins the former County Donegal Railways crossing keeper’s cottage at Drimark, outside DonegalTown on the Killybegs line, as the only railway buildings in the county available for holiday lets.

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Talyllyn plan for new engineering works in Tywyn THE Talyllyn Railway has announced its intention to build a major new engineering facility next to the railway.

RecentmeetingsoftheTalyllynRailway CompanyboardandtheTalyllynRailway PreservationSocietyCouncilhave endorsedareportfromaworkinggroup setuptoinvestigatethefutureprovisionof engineeringfacilitiesfortherailway.

Thereportrecommendedthatthe opportunityshouldbetakentotryto acquirelandadjacenttothelineon theTywynPendreEnterpriseParkfor thepurpose.

Thisfacilitywouldbetheengineering baseforallmajorlocomotiveandrolling stockwork,includingapaintshop,along withfacilitiesforpermanentwayandother work.Itwouldalsoactasthemainaccess pointtotherailwayfordeliveriesand exchangesoflocomotivesandrollingstock.

Thelocomotiverunningshedwould remainontheexistingTywynPendresite, wheretheexistingfacilitiesonthenorth sideoftheline,builtinthe1950sand 1960s,wouldberedevelopedtoprovide additionalcarriagestorage,alongwith modernmessfacilitiesandofficespace.

Thereportalsoproposedthattheoriginal 19thcenturyworkshopandlocomotive shedbuildingatPendre,togetherwiththe southcarriageshed,wouldberestored andrefurbished.Alimitedengineering facilitywouldstillbeprovidedonsite todealwithrunningrepairs,butthe opportunitywouldalsobetakentoprovide aheritageengineeringdisplaywithaccess forpassengers.

Above: The original Blue Star trip on the Silksworth branch in September 1967, with J27 No. 65894 at its head.

Right: BR J27 0-6-0 No. 65894, complete with blue star, makes its comeback trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on June 21.

BOTH: MAURICE BURNS

Facilities for the future

The J27 Blue Star is back!

THURSDAY, June 21 was a special day for members of the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group as it marked the official return to traffic of 1923 North Eastern Railway-designed P3 (BR J27) 0-6-0 No. 65894.

A special train for members and patrons who had helped financially or helped with the overhaul at the Hopetown workshops filled the five-coach Gresley set for a journey from Grosmont to Pickering on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

When bought from BR in December 1967 the engine cost £1400 – a huge sum at the time – but the recent 10-year overhaul cost is more than £450,000, much of it for the complete renewal of the inside cylinder block, a new tender tank and boiler work at Crewe.

After a speech by chairman Chris Lawson, in which he thanked all the members, patrons and hardworking volunteers, the J27, carrying the famous Blue Star just as it did on its last working for BR in September 1967 when the well-known Newcastle Brown Ale was a popular drink for enthusiasts, departed Grosmont.The day proved to be a huge success.

Lucky survivor

On September 9, 1967, No. 65894 worked the last diagrammed steam turn from Sunderland shed. Withdrawal, along with the four other survivors, swiftly followed and No. 65894 was sent toTyne Dock for disposal.

However, the P3 was bought directly from BR by NELPG on December 1,

1967, before it was restored to working order, initially atTyne Dock and then at the still-functioning National Coal Board workshops at Philadelphia Colliery in County Durham.

It was atThornaby Depot where the restoration was completed.The final restoration, including the fitting of a vacuum brake and steam-heating apparatus for working passenger trains, was fitting by the group’s volunteers at ICI Billingham.

Fully restored, NER class P3 No. 2392 was delivered to the embryonic North Yorkshire Moors Railway in October 1971.

The locomotive provided the mainstay of services in the period leading up to the full reopening of the line, when it piloted Lambton 0-6-2T No. 29 on the Royal Reopening Special of May 1, 1973.

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TR general manager Stuart Williams said:“This report is the culmination of several years of discussions about the provision of new engineering facilities.

We are conscious of the historic nature of the current site, but its limitations mean that we cannot develop it in the way we would like.The acquisition of a new site would give us the opportunity to develop new facilities that will last us well into the future.

“Itisimportanttostressthatthisisvery muchstillattheconceptstageatthistime andtherearemanyhurdlestoovercome beforewecanproducedefinitiveplans.”

PreservationsocietychairmanIan Drummondsaid:“Foranyonewhovisits ourcurrentworksatTywynPendre,the limitationsofthesitearealltooclearand sotheneedtoprovideanewfirst-class facilityhasbeenobviousforsometime.This proposalwouldhavefarreachingbenefits, notonlyintermsofanewengineering facility,butalsoitcouldfree-upspace elsewhereontherailwaytoallowother planstobedeveloped.Therewillbemany challenges,notleasttheraisingofthe necessaryfunds,butthishasthepotential tobeaonce-in-a-generationopportunity toprovidethefacilitiesweneed.”

Furtherdetailsoftheproposalwillbe unveiledatthepreservationsociety’s annualgeneralmeetinginSeptember.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 35

NEWS

Above: De Winton 0-4-0VBT Chaloner hauled its first public passenger train at Leighton Buzzard on June 29, 1968. LBR Left: Chaloner restages its first-ever passenger train on the Leighton Buzzard Railway 50 years on, on July 1.

MARK LEWIS

Buzzrail: where steam also restarted on June 29, 1968

By Robin Jones

THE diminutive vertical-boilered locomotive which hauled the first public steam train on the Leighton Buzzard Railway has restaged the feat 50 years on.

June 29, 1968, is perhaps best known as the day when public services began on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, as described in our special feature on pages 82-86.

However, on the same day, the first official public heritage era trains ran on a 2ft gauge Bedfordshire sand-carrying line.

The Leighton Buzzard Light Railway opened on November 20, 1919, linking local sand quarries with the LNWR Dunstable to Leighton Buzzard line at

Grovebury sidings, south of the town.

By the mid-1960s, only one sand quarry, Arnold’s, still used the light railway.

Re-enactment

In 1967, an enthusiast group received permission from the owners to run passenger trains over the railway’s ‘main line’, starting with a series of dieselhauled ‘fan trip’ specials, on March 3, 1968. The group formed themselves as the Iron Horse Preservation Society, seeking to recreate an American image, but soon changed to become the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway Society.

The first regular steam services were hauled by vertical-boilered de Winton locomotive Chaloner, which had been

bought for £21 by enthusiast Alf Fisher.

Built in 1877 in Caernarfon, it is believed to have been supplied new to the Peny-Bryn slate quarry, Nantlle, moving to nearby Pen-yr-Orsedd in 1888.

Despite its poor condition, it hauled LBR trains there for several years until replaced by more powerful engines needed for longer trains.

It later received a new boiler fitted at the Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge Works, but apart from that is composed of entirely original material, making it unique among mid-Victorian locomotives.

On July 1, Chaloner re-enacted its first LBR train, departing from Page’s Park at 1.30pm, proudly watched by Alf, now the line’s vice president. It was the first time it had hauled a passenger train over the

line by itself in more than 30 years.

Alf said that Chaloner “was originally in such worn-out condition that it could only just pull itself along with one coach and sometimes you wondered it would ever get back (and a couple of times it didn’t). Now its performance is totally unrecognisable”.

Good spirits

Another special event on the line, on June 17 for Father’s Day, saw more than 400 people turn up for what was billed as Bedfordshire’s first-ever whisky festival. More than 70 whiskies and spirits were available to taste.

The event raised just under £1500 for the current Double Arches Extension appeal, and organiser Rocky Lancer said that It would be repeated next year.

Narrow gauge on tap at Twyford ONE of Britain’s lesser-known heritage railway venues, Twyford Waterworks near Winchester, held a narrow gauge gala on June 3.

Volunteers at the Edwardian clean water pumping station have recently returned one of their three Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers to steam to power the 1914 Hathorn Davey triple expansion steam pumping engine.

The waterworks had a small narrow gauge railway system that was used to transport quarried chalk to kilns for Motor Rail No. 7374 20/28HP design of 1939 Ayala worked for Leighton Buzzard Sand Quarries where all the locomotives were named after Grand National winners. JAMES HAMILTON

36 Heritagerailway.co.uk

conversion to quicklime which was used in the water softening process, via an incline railway on which the wagons were hauled by hydraulic winch.

Coal was also transported by wagon to the boiler house, the wagons being manually moved.

In 1985, the Twyford Waterworks Trust was formed and volunteers extended the 2ft gauge railway system so that their collection of diesel, petrol and electric locomotives could be demonstrated on the public open days.

On the left of the above picture can be seen Lister SR2 No. 42494 of 1956, which worked up until 1983 for Eclipse Peat Co. Ltd, Somerset. On the right is Lister No. 3916 single cylinder JAP 6HP petrol engine, purchased by Tarmac Ltd, Wolverhampton before going to Dorothea Slate Quarry in the Nantlle Valley, Snowdonia. The structure behind is the lime kilns and hydraulic engine shed for the incline railway, which volunteers are looking at restoring. JAMES HAMILTON Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

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Take a steam hauled journey from Crewe to Anglesey and back to Chester. The remainder of the journey is diesel hauled.

We have three off-train options: ~ Explore Holyhead ~ Take a guided road coach tour of Anglesey* or ~ Visit the Hidden Gardens of Plas Cadnant*. *Supplementary fare payable ^Premier dining not available from Crewe

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Standard Class: Tables for 4 aligned with picture windows; First Class Comfy seats at tables for 2* or 4 aligned with picture windows *£30 pp supplement; First Class Plus: As First Class with light refreshments through the day; Premier Dining: As First Class with silver service full English Breakfast, Elevenses, four course evening dinner, 1/4 bottle of wine, followed by chocolates and tea or coffee.

We are proud to have been organising rail excursions since 1973

Call 01453 834477/835414 www.pathfindertours.co.uk

All bookings subject to terms and conditions. Licensed buffet open all day. Booking Office open Mon to Fri 09:15-16:45

NEWS

Big shunt readies SVR for last day of steam ’68 event

By Robin Jones THE Severn Valley Railway has completed one of the biggest Engine House Visitor Centre locomotive reshuffles in preparation for its Last Days of Steam event on Saturday, August 4.

A week before the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ ran, marking the last steamhauled main line passenger train run by BR, the final ‘normal’ steam services were run in north west England.

On that day, two Severn Valley locomotives were in operation – LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 and Stanier 8F No. 48773.

To mark 50 years since that ‘last’ day, on August 4 the pair will be on display at Kidderminster in Platform 2, making a rare appearance outside the Engine House at Highley. Visiors will be able to visit the cabs of both engines.

On June 20, an 11-strong team of SVR staff and volunteers including drivers, firemen, signalmen and other operational staff, completed the largescale relocation of engines to and from the Engine House. This major logistical operation included closing The Engine House – home to the SVR’s reserve collection of locomotives – for the day.

Two diesels moved the steam engines in

and out of the building, and transported them along the line.

The main aim of the operation was to move No. 48773 out of its usual home and into the sunshine for the first time in 10 years before taking it to Kidderminster.

Crews then worked to re-shuffle other Engine House locomotives to make room for two temporary residents in GWR small prairie No.4566 and pannier No. 5764 moved from their former home in Kidderminster Carriage Shed.

Finally, Engine House resident No. 45110 was then placed near the venue’s doors, ahead of its journey to join No. 48773 at Kidderminster next month.

Half a century ago, No. 45110 went on to earn its place in history by hauling the first and last legs of the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’.

Also planned for the August 4 event are re-creations of the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ (in the evening) and ‘Belfast Boat Express,’ plus the launch and signing of the book Transition by celebrated period railway photographer Colin T Gifford from 10am-4pm.

Members of the Master Neverers Association, a group of mostly Midlands-based photographers who

LMS ‘Jinty’ No. 47383 and ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ participant ‘Black Five’ No. 45110 at Highley during the great shunt of Engine House Visitor centre exhibits. LEWIS MADDOX illicitly sneaked into sheds to clean the locomotives which they would later capture on film, will be re-enacting the cleaning of No. 45110 and No. 48773 from 12.30pm.

There will also be a gathering of footplate crews from August 4, 1968, from Lostock Hall and Rose Grove sheds who were involved in the final days of steam, including the man who dropped

the fire of No. 45110 after it had worked that last train on August 11.

A photo exhibition of images from the last days of steam will take place in Kidderminster Railway Museum and 1960s-built locomotives will be in operation on the Coalyard Miniature Railway outside. An extra attraction will be a display of vintage vehicles on Kidderminster station forecourt.

Car wrecked in Welsh Highland crossing crash A WELSH Highland Railway NGG16 articulated Garratt sustained only cosmetic damage when it was involved in a collision with a car on a level crossing at Beddgelert. Yet the car was a write-off, and the driver was said to have been lucky to avoid serious injury.

However, two carriages immediately behind the locomotive sustained damage which will cost several thousand pounds to rectify and the car, a red Ford Puma, was written off.

With more than 100 people on board, No. 138 was heading the 3.40pm service from Porthmadog to Caernarfon on July 5 when it was in collision with the car. There were no injuries.

Recovery completed

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch briefly took control of the site and police also attended.

However, the site was quickly released back to Welsh Highland Railway staff once the circumstances where understood and the recovery operation completed.

A statement from the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway said: “The driver was very lucky indeed to have got off so lightly.”

Arrangements were made for the

38 Heritagerailway.co.uk

If you ignore level crossing signs and collide with an articulated Garratt, you are always guaranteed to come off worst. F&WHR

The derailed Garratt near Clogwyn-yGwin South crossing after coaches had been removed. F&WHR

passengers to complete their journey by road transport.

General manager Paul Lewin praised the railway staff for working quickly and efficiently in the demanding hot weather conditions to look after the passengers, resolve the problems and recover the trains.

The railway immediately issued a reminder to all road users to use level crossings properly.

Welsh Highland Railway operations resumed the following day.

The incident followed a derailment on another crossing on the line on June 10.

Garratt No. 143 was heading a train with 74 passengers and seven members of staff on board when it left the track at

Clogwyn-y-Gwin South foot crossing.

Nobody was injured.

Paul said that the incident involved one of 10 sets of wheels on the front carriage. Alternative arrangements were made for passengers and the locomotive was rerailed in the evening.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch examined the scene. A RAIB spokesman said: “At around 12.30pm on June 10, the leading wheelset of Garratt locomotive No.143, hauling nine coaches carrying 74 passengers and seven members of staff, derailed following a suspension failure.

“There were no injuries but minor damage to the locomotive and infrastructure. We have undertaken

a preliminary examination into the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

Paul added: “Investigations supported

by RAIB identified an incorrectly fitted suspension component as the cause of the problem. All other similar suspension components on our locos were checked before service the next day and all found to be okay.

Passengers shaken

“A new marking system for these components was devised to ensure that they are always correctly fitted in future.”

Meanwhile, a Snowdon Mountain Railway train derailed halfway on the way up to Summit station on June 19.

Passengers said that the 10am service began to vibrate and jump violently, leaving those onboard shocked and shaken.

The driver contacted the base station for a retrieval train to return passengers to Llanberis, where they were offered refunds.

A railway spokesman said: “We can confirm that there was an incident involving the 10am train travelling to the summit. No one was injured and services were suspended for a short time.”

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NEWS

‘Tender first’ for Bala Lake!

By Gareth Evans THE Bala Lake Railway operated its first passenger trains to be hauled by a tender locomotive in the route’s narrow gauge era when 1863-built George England 0-4-0STT Palmerston visited for a week on June 18.

A tender locomotive has not worked a passenger turn along the shore ofWales’ largest natural lake since Manors and Standard 4MT 4-6-0s graced the GWR Ruabon to Barmouth route before BR closed it in 1965.

BLR manager David Jones said:“The Hunslet 100 gala of 1993 remains a memorable event in the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway’s history. F&WHR general manager Paul Lewin called me and explained that plans were afoot to

go one better in 2018 with the Hunslet 125 gala (feature, page 50).

“He enquired about borrowing locos from us.When I asked which ones, he requested all of them.That would have left us with no steam locomotives to operate our service, so it was agreed that Palmerston would visit the BLR. “I’m delighted to say the locomotive proved to be a popular attraction in itself.”

Gala co-operation

In the spirit of co-operation between the two Snowdonian lines, the BLR moved its annual steam gala from its traditional August bank holiday slot to the weekend of June 16-18, allowing two visiting locomotives to attend its event prior to moving on to Hunslet 125.

Reuniting former slate quarry veterans,

the home fleet was supplemented by three visitors for the BLR’s gala – Bressingham’s Quarry Hunslet Gwynedd (No. 316 of 1883), the F&WHR-based Quarry Hunslet Hugh Napier (No. 855 of 1904) and the Statfold Barn Railway’s Avonside Marchlyn (No. 2067 of 1933).

“It was the first time Gwynedd and our Winifred had been together since they left Penrhyn Quarry and the first time they’ve worked a passenger train together. It’s also probably the first time they’ve ever worked together, as it was practice not to double-head,” said David.

“Among the highlights was a triple-header comprising HughNapier, Winifred and Gwynedd. Significantly, we had two out of the three Port class locomotives together – the other being Lilian at Launceston.

“We outdid our friends at the Talyllyn Railway by having an eight-locomotive cavalcade – theTR having run seven locomotives (see issue 243) the previous day. Ours comprised four Dinorwic Quarry and four Penrhyn Quarry locomotives.

“On the Monday, the final day of the gala, we ran a service with all Penrhyn locomotives – the‘all blacks’, if you like!”

Economic benefits

David said he saw for himself the benefits of three railways holding events around a similar time:“I know that when I was guarding on the F&WHR on Friday, June 22 during Hunslet 125, I saw people who had been to the BLR’s gala weekend.They had stayed on to attend both events.The economic benefit to

Former Leamington‘pub regular’ nameplate to star in auction debut

By Geoff Courtney A STEAM locomotive nameplate that delighted regulars at a pub in Leamington Spa is to go under the hammer for the first time at an auction in Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on September 1. It is Knight of the Thistle, which was carried

by Star class No. 4012 for more than four decades and is an example of the largest nameplates ever fitted to GWR locomotives.

The 4-6-0 was built at Swindon works in March 1908 and withdrawn

by BR from Newton Abbot (83A) in October 1949.The details of which pub the plate was located in appear to be lost in the mists of time, however.

Mike Soden, director and auctioneer of Great Central Railwayana, who

will be selling the nameplate, said: “Neither this plate nor the one from the other side has been at auction before.The plate we are selling has been put into the auction by the family of the collector who bought it direct from BR, while the other plate is understood to be in a private collection and has never come onto market.”

GWR’s largest plates

Mike, one of the country’s most respected railwayana auctioneers and an avid GWR enthusiast, said the plates from the 10 Star class locos named after knights were the largest ever fitted to GWR engines. He said the plate coming up for auction on September 1 had been on display for a time at a pub in Leamington Spa. The name comes from the Order of theThistle, the greatest order of chivalry in Scotland founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland.

It recognises men and women who have made a major contribution to Scottish life, and is the personal gift of the Queen.

The 73-strong Star class was built at Swindon between 1906-23, with the batch of 10 named after knights (Swindon Lot No. 173) emerging to traffic in 1908.The class’final Name change: LNER Pacific No. 60065 Knight of Thistle is the centre of attention as it passes under the work’s footbridge at Doncaster with a rake of Gresley teak carriages on an Up express in May 1953. The A3 was named Knight of the Thistle – an identical name to GWR Star class No. 4012 – from new until 1932, when the word ‘the’ was dropped. BKB GREEN  NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE

40 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway-based 0-4-0STT Palmerston looked at home at Llanuwchlyn when it visited the Bala Lake Railway for a week in late June. It became the first tender locomotive to work a passenger turn on the line since BR days. While 2ft-gauge 2015-built 0-4-0VBT Fernilee visited the BLR in 2017, it did not haul passenger trains. GARETH EVANS the area cannot be underestimated.

The TR’s one-day gala event also saw people visit both Tywyn and Bala, benefitting both railways and their respective localities.”

Asked how the Bala gala performed, David replied: “Trains were well loaded but not at capacity – although

commercial takings were certainly well up. Plenty of people used the café at Llanuwchllyn.

“So far, we’re having a good season – we’re 5% up year-on-year in passenger numbers. Last year was our best ever year. In fact, over the past three years, passenger numbers have increased 40%.”

Knight rider: GWR Star class No. 4012 Knight of the Thistle is coaled up and ready for duty on an unknown date at Cardiff Canton shed.

A nameplate from the 1908-built 4-6-0 will be going under the hammer at a Great Central Railwayana sale on September 1, the first time either of the locomotive’s two plates has come up for auction. Inset: The nameplate coming up for auction on September 1. NORMAN PREEDY ARCHIVE/ GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAYANA

production run of 12 was built in 1922 and 1923, numbered 4061-72 and named after abbeys.

Of these, 10 were rebuilt as Castle class engines in 1937 and renumbered 5083-92 but retaining their original names.

Namesake

While No. 4012 was plying its trade on a variety of expresses west of London, another Knight of the Thistle was doing likewise on the other side of the country. It was LNER Class A1 (rebuilt as an A3 in March 1947) No. 2564, which carried the same name as the Star from new in August 1924 until December 1932, when the word ‘the’ was dropped.

The reason for this name change has intrigued enthusiasts and historians over the years. One report said the ‘the’ was dropped while the Pacific was in Doncaster works for repair at the end of 1932 to avoid

offence to the Order of the Thistle, but this was never substantiated.

Indeed, the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society subsequently reported that the original name Knight of the Thistle was correct in terms of both the racehorse after which the locomotive was named – the winner of the 1897 Royal Hunt Cup – and the Order, and that the office of the Order’s king of arms said the new name “made no sense.”

This LNER Pacific, one of 20 in the class built by North British Locomotive Co in Glasgow, was withdrawn from New England, Peterborough (34E) as No. 60065 in June 1964, giving it a main line career of 40 years, almost exactly matching that of its similarly-named GWR brother. ➜ See Geoff Courtney’s railwayana column on pages 44-45 for a full preview of the auction at Stoneleigh Park on September 1.

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 41

NEWS

A two-car DMU passes Greenrigg with the 12.40pm Alnmouth-Alnwick services on January 27, 1968, the last day of BR passenger trains on the Alnwich branch.

The site cleared for the new halt at Greenrigg. BOTH: AVR

Aln Valley bags £146k grant for new halt and run-round

By Robin Jones

THE Aln Valley Railway (AVR) has scooped £146,000 to build a new halt and run-round loop.

The railway has been successful in its bid to get a Rural Development Programme for England grant to support local rural tourism infrastructure.

The grant, together with 20% match funding from cyclepath organisation Sustrans, amounts to £146,600.

The project involves constructing a platform halt and run-round loop at Greenrigg, about halfway towards the line’s ultimate goal of reaching

Alnmouth station. Some of the money will be used to buy a support coach – BG No. 31407 – which will be converted to provide a waiting room, toilet and cafe facilities for the new Greenrigg Halt.

The halt will provide a destination for passengers who may wish to alight for a picnic by the river, continue their journey on foot to experience the local wildlife, or visit local attractions such as the Cawledge viaduct and the River Aln, which can be crossed near this location using stepping stones.

The AVR would provide toilet facilities not only for railway passengers but also for walkers, horse riders and cyclists in the area and drinking water for dogs

and horses. The small cafe may operate on running days.

The platform, trackwork and points for the loop will be laid by AVR volunteers.

The Greenrigg road overbridge will provide a vantage point for photographers.

The surrounding area will also be cleared and landscaped.

When complete, the project will enable the heritage line to offer a 1 ½- mile ride to a specific destination, rather than the current half-mile journey from Lionhearts station.

Northumberland County Council is currently awaiting a reply from the Rural Payment Agency regarding its own

grant application for a cycleway and fencing to separate it from the railway.

The original line between Alnwick and Alnmouth was constructed in 1850 and provided a link between the town and coast for 118 years.

The line was closed in 1968 when it was decided the cost of providing a bridge over the planned A1 Alnwick bypass was unjustified.

It is intended that a revived Alnwick branch will allow passengers to arrive via Alnmouth station on the East Coast Main Line.

The original Alnwick station in Wagon Way Road is now the home of Barter Books.

Help to resteam Cherwell

AN APPEAL has been launched to fund Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2654 of 1942 Cherwell for use at the Rushden Transport Museum & Railway.

Cherwell was one of six engines of its kind used to transport ironstone from Charwelton to Byfield, in Northamptonshire, until production of ironstone in the district stopped in 1965. From 1942 until 1945, it worked at Charwelton and from 1945 until 1965 worked at Byfield quarry.

In August 1966 it was moved to Daventry, where it was popular with children, who used it as a climbing frame, but in 1999 it fell short of European safety regulations and Daventry District Council decided to place it into the care of the Rushden

Historic Transport Society.

Cherwell is the largest steam locomotive in the RHTS fleet as well as the most powerful.

At Rushden, minimal work has been carried out to the locomotive, including removal of asbestos and cleaning of the tank, and an inspection and assessment were carried out, but another one is due.

Cherwell is also the only locomotive from Byfield that has never operated in preservation, with its sisters Avonside 0-6-0ST No.1919 of 1924 Cranford and Manning Wardle No. 1210 of 1891 Sir Berkeley, both running in preservation.

Anyone who would like to help return Cherwell to steam is invited to visit www.gofundme.com/the-cherwellproject or www.rhts.co.uk

Smoking bank holiday at Didcot MOST of the locomotives at Didcot Railway Centre will be brought out of the shed for all three days of the August 25-27 bank holiday weekend.

They will be positioned around the front of the shed area, to show

42 Heritagerailway.co.uk

the public how it would have been during steam days, offering plenty of photographic opportunities.

Additional atmosphere will be supplied via smoke machines to give the impression of many engines in steam.

THE Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Museum has acquired its first item of rolling stock in the form of 1930-built LMS 12-ton ventilated goods van No. 187085. It is the last LMS goods van of its type left in existence and is currently located at Swanage Railway. The owners are looking to move it after the summer period and are searching for a new temporary home for the goods van. A £1000 restoration appeal has been launched at https://tinyurl.com/ycfkk9zl

Running and open day at Cynheidre THE Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway will be open to the public on August Bank Holiday Monday from 2-5pm.

Sentinel 0-4-0DH No. 10222 will be in service providing brakevan rides along the currently operational section of running line at Cynheidre, and Nederlandse Spoorwegen Class 600 locomotive NS625 will be on static display for photographs.

The railway’s other rolling stock, including Class 122 DMU 55019, will also be available to view, and there will be access to the main and small stock sheds and heritage centre.

Train rides will be by advance ticket purchased only from www. llanellirailway.co.uk/events-booking The railway will also be looking to recruit new volunteers on this date.

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Heritagerailway.co.uk 43

RAILWAYANA

BY GEOFF COURTNEY

Stoneleigh set for three-way tussle for top honours THE FIGHT between three of the Big Four to be top dog will be a highlight of the Great Central Railwayana sale at Stoneleigh Park on September 1. In the brown corner is Knight of the Thistle, in the green corner 603 Squadron, and in the maroon corner The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers South Lancashire.

As reported on pages 40/41 of this issue, the knight comes from GWR Star 4-6-0 No. 4012, a 1908 Swindon product that was withdrawn by BR from Newton Abbot (83A) in 1949, while the greens’ representative, which comes with its squadron badge, is from SR designed, BR-built, Battle of Britain No. 34077.This Pacific emerged from Brighton works in July 1948 and ended its career at Eastleigh (70D) in March 1967 as main line express steam was taking its last breath.

Auction debut

The third contender for the podium was carried by LMS Royal Scot No. 46137, built by North British Loco in October 1927 and withdrawn from Carlisle Upperby (12B) in November 1962.

Two other NBL-built locomotives whose nameplates will also be going under Mike Soden’s hammer are Loch Arkaig, making is auction debut, and Dick Turpin.

The Loch comes from LNER K2 class

2-6-0 No. 61764, built in July 1918 and withdrawn from Glasgow Eastfield (65A) in September 1961, and Dick Turpin from another LNER engine, A3 Pacific No. 60080, built in November 1924 and retired in October 1964 when shedded at Gateshead (52A).

The GWR contingent is completed by Heveningham Hall, Charles J. Hambro and Princess Beatrice.The Hall class loco, No. 7909, was built by BR at Swindon in January 1950 and withdrawn from Oxford (81F) in November 1965, while Charles J. Hambro comes from Saint 4-6-0 No. 2978, which started life in April 1905 as Kirkland and was renamed in May 1935 after a GWR director who was to become chairman in 1940. It was withdrawn in August 1946.

Princess Beatrice was carried by Star No. 4052, a June 1914 Swindon product that survived well into BR days, being withdrawn from Shrewsbury (84G) in June 1953.The name was carried simultaneously for 18 years by two locomotives, No. 4052 and LMS Princess Royal No. 46209, the latter being built in August 1935.The princess, the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, died in 1944 aged 87.

From the Standard ranks comes Venus from Britannia Pacific No. 70023, built at Crewe in August 1951 and withdrawn from Carlisle Kingmoor (12A) in December 1967.The ‘Brit’was one of the batch of Western Region members of the class, and I saw it a number of times when trainspotting at Reading General – the first two occasions being at 2.32pm on August 29, 1958, on an Up Swansea express and the following day on the Down‘Red Dragon.’

Glorious thought

On that first sighting, the Pacific was one of four Up expresses passing through within the space of 11 minutes, the others being headed by Nos. 5054 Earl of Ducie, 4078 Pembroke Castle, and 7005 Sir Edward Elgar. In addition, Nos. 4088 Dartmouth Castle and 5050 Earl of St. Germans lit up the station on Down expresses during the same period. So, five Castles and a‘Brit’in 11 minutes – what a glorious thought.

Returning to the auction, from the pre-Grouping era comes Shamrock, carried by LNWR Precursor 4-4-0 No. 1309 (built at Crewe in August 1907 and withdrawn by the LMS as

No. 5302 in June 1937), and also worth a mention is Shanklin from Isle of Wight O2 class W20. This isn’t one of the original brass plates, but the name painted on metal that was bolted to the 0-4-4T after it lost its plate prior to the end of steam on the island in December 1966.

Smokebox numberplates include 34077 from 603 Squadron – being sold separately from the Pacific’s nameplate – and 30792 from SR King Arthur Sir Hervis de Revel, and in the cabside numberplate selection is 6979 from Helperly Hall and GWR 83 from a Rhymney Railway Class P 0-6-2T built

by Robert Stephenson & Co in 1909 and withdrawn by BR in May 1955.

There’s a steam era Royal Scot headboard, and among the totem station signs are Kensington Olympia, two‘Oxfords’– Oxford itself and Oxford Road, the latter from the station in Manchester – and North Eastern Region Steeton & Silsden. The sale, at Stoneleigh Park, starts at 10am.

Four weeks earlier, on August 4, Great Central is holding its bi-annual Bloxham railwayana auction at The Warriner School. There will be about 1000 lots, no telephone or commission bids, no reserves, and no break in proceedings, with duties being shared by auctioneers Mike Soden and Martin Quartermain, who will be aiming to put up to 150 lots per hour under the hammer.

Cabside numberplates and totem station signs are expected to become a regular feature of this auction in addition to the general railwayana for which the sale has become increasingly popular. Viewing is held the previous evening in addition to the day itself and proceedings start at 9.30am.

Model makes Stirling effort at Thornaby as Big Boy flexes its muscles A CLUTCH of four-figure realisations at aVectis model train sale at Thornaby on June 15 was led by the £4400 achieved by a limited edition gauge one live steam model of preserved Great Northern Railway Stirling single 4-2-2 No. 1, made by Aster of Japan.

44 Heritagerailway.co.uk

This was followed at £3800 by another gauge one example, of Union Pacific articulated Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4005, this electric model being more than 4ft long and one of four produced by Samhongsa of South Korea for the American retailer Row & Co.The Big Boy locos were made at

the Alco works in NewYork state in the early-1940s, weighed 558 tons, and had a tractive effort of 135,375lb ft, nearly four times that of an A4 Pacific.

In third and fourth places were a gauge one Swiss Federal Railways’ Ram 502TEE diesel train made by Lemaco of Switzerland (£3200),

and a 2½in gauge gas-fired No. 70000 Britannia by Silver Crest of Northants (£2100), while another gauge one model, of Netherlands main line operator NS 4-8-4T No. 6322 produced by Philotrain, sold for £1700. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 25% (incVAT).

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BY GEOFF COURTNEY

RAILWAYANA

Interpreter’s poster translates into top sale

A 1904 poster issued jointly by the South Eastern & Chatham Railway and the travel firmThomas Cook was a top seller at aTransport Auctions of London sale in Croydon on July 1, going under the hammer for £1300.

The poster featured a uniformed interpreter who provided services and assistance free of charge to travellers on principal trains and steamers at Dover and Folkestone.

Two other £1300 realisations were achieved by a Harry Beck first edition London Underground diagrammatic pocket map issued in 1933 and an East London Railway and Underground direction sign.

The sign incorporated a pointing finger and is believed to have been located at Whitechapel station, possibly from 1884 when the District Railway

station opened there. The auction house’s Michael Wickham said the sign, which was obtained by the vendor’s grandfather who worked for the East London Railway, was the oldest Underground sign he had ever seen at auction.

Another four-figure success was a 1947 London Underground poster map by Harry Beck that went for £1000, while a selection of about 100 LU diagrammatic pocket maps dating from 1946-66 sold for £700.

A railway poster issued by the LMS circa 1924 promoting the Scottish Highlands that fetched £550 was painted by Sir David Young Cameron (1865-1945), and depicted the sort of dramatic mountain weather so frequently encountered in this region of Scotland.

Leicestershire railway enthusiast to swap eight wheels for four MODEL train collector Brian Green is swapping eight gauge one wheels for four wheels to help fund the purchase of a classic vehicle. Brian, ofWhitwick, Leicestershire, is selling at auction a 105-year-old model of a South Eastern & Chatham Railway 4-4-0 and putting the proceeds, which are estimated at £2000 or more, into the purchase of a Morris Minor van.

Brian, who is 82, explains:“I have loved trains since I was knee-high, and have been collecting models for 30 years. However, I have bought an Austin J40 pedal car and want to buy a Morris Minor van to take it to classic car shows, so am selling the model to put towards the cost of the van.”

The model, dating back to 1913, was made by Bing of Germany for Bassett-Lowke. It emerged recently when spotted at a valuation day by Victoria Sheppard, of Derbyshire auction house Hansons, and was subsequently valued by David Wilson-Turner, Hansons’toy valuer. It will be going under the hammer on

August 22 in a railwayana and model trains sale at Hansons’saleroom in Etwall, near Derby.

Pedal classic

The J40 pedal cars were made by Austin Motor Co between 1950-71 at a Government-funded factory in Bargoed, South Wales, that employed disabled miners, and were based on the 1948 A40 Devon and Dorset models. They were 5ft 3in long and sold for £33, and when production ceased in 1971 more than 32,000 had been made.

Apart from private leisure, their uses included teaching road safety and being fitted to fair roundabouts.

The car’s profile has been raised considerably in recent years due to the introduction in 2012 of a youngsters-only J40 race at the Goodwood Revival Meeting each September. Under-10s race along the pit straight pedalling furiously while their parents shout even more furiously, and such is the event’s popularity that original J40s can now fetch up to £5000.

Talisman auction is cancelled ROGER and Sandra Phipps have cancelled their Talisman Railwayana auction at Newark Showground on August 11, due to Roger spending a few days in hospital.

Roger was admitted towards the end of June, but Sandra tells us he is now back home and recovering.

“The decision to cancel was not taken lightly, but we had no choice as Roger was very poorly and we faced the probability that we would miss

certain deadlines, not least that for the catalogue.”

She said there were no fears for his future health, and indeed expected him to be fully recovered well in time for their next sale at Newark on November 24.

“The vendors for our August auction have been very understanding, and as the auction was full, we have a good start for the November sale, including two Jubilee nameplates.”

Glasgow-born Sir David, who was knighted in 1924 and the son of a church minister, was an official World War One artist for the Canadian Government, and a trustee of both the Tate Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 16%.

Michael said:“Despite the disrupted train services, hot weather and competing World Cup, it was a successful sale with strong internet demand. In addition to the 1904 poster and the enamel sign from the 1880s, standouts included the Beck LU poster map and the LMS poster.”

Polly model steams away from Thirsk mart auction for £3100 A 5in gauge live steam 0-6-0T fetched £3100 at a railwayana sale at Thirsk Farmers’Auction Mart in North Yorkshire on June 9. A product of Polly Model Engineering of Long Eaton, near Nottingham, the little engine was sold with a three-passenger truck, driving truck, and transport trailer. It came from a private collection and had made appearances at such locations as garden centres.

Railwayana that went under the hammer included two LNER shedplates from Annesley (£500) and Neasden (£480). The Nottinghamshire depot of Annesley

➜ Nearly 300 glass plate negatives of mainly LSWR, SECR and LBSCR subjects taken between 1898 and 1912 at various locations sold for £1050 in a postal auction run in conjunction with the Great Central Railwayana main auction at Stoneleigh on June 2.

Also in the lot were GCR, GER, GNR,

was coded 38B, 16D and finally 16B in the BR era, and Neasden, in northwest London, 34E and later 14D. The former closed in January 1966, while Neasden had closed three-and-ahalf years earlier, in June 1962.

Another piece of LNER locomotive history was a worksplate from D20 class No. 62387 that went under the hammer for £450.

This 4-4-0 was built at Gateshead in April 1907 and withdrawn from Tweedmouth (52D) in September 1957, just over half a century after entering service.

Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 10% (+ VAT).

NER, MR, LNWR, NBR, CR, HR, royal train, and North American steam locos, and research papers. Described by Great Central’s Dave Jones as a“remarkable collection,” it is believed they were discovered in an antiques shop in the 1950s.The price excludes buyer’s premium of 15% (+ VAT).

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! FROM ONLY £20

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

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Heritagerailway.co.uk 45

THE GREATEST MISSING LINK OF ALL?

46 Heritagerailway.co.uk

AUTOCAR THE FIRST MODERN TRACTION

A ‘missing link’ between the steam age and modern traction – and as historically important as Trevithick’s locomotives or Stephenson’s Rocket – will debut in the coming weeks as the culmination of a groundbreaking 15-year project.

Words and photographs by Andrew Rapacz.

I

n the coming weeks, a long-lost but key vehicle in the history of railways worldwide will enter service for the first time in the heritage era – the North Eastern Railway Autocar.

Introduction

A view from November of last year, when glazing for the driver’s compartment had yet to be fitted.

The Edwardian period came to be regarded as an age of significant changes in technology.

December 1902 saw the first radio signal transmitted from North America to Great Britain. The following year heralded the Ford Model A, the first car to be produced by Ford, in Detroit, and Orville Wright flew an aircraft with a petrol engine in the first documented and successful powered flight.

The petrol engine also featured in another significant, but less well known event. The NER introduced the world’s first electric railcar, powered by its own on board petrol engine. This fact was acknowledged earlier this year by Guinness World Records.

Known as an ‘autocar’, a term which has not survived the passage of time, the survivor was one of two built in 1903 by the NER. It took the contemporary steam railmotor concept – in which a steam bogie was fitted inside a carriage body – one stage further, by using an internal combustion engine rather than steam. The same year, the GWR introduced the first of 99 steam railmotors, four years after the LSWR had introduced them on its network.

The autocar is priceless in terms of the story of the evolution of railway rolling stock. It paved the way for diesel railcars and then DMUs, which today comprise a sizeable proportion of passenger trains worldwide.

The rebuilt NER autocar will enter heritage railway service towards autumn of this year, but in a compromise to current standards, it will be powered by a modern diesel engine as opposed to a reproduction of the petrol engine it was originally built with.

Oh, and 1903 was also the year Typhoo, that well known brand of tea, was launched.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 47

Above: A close-up of one of the passenger entry doors showing original paintwork which has been used as a match for the bodyside paint.

Left: A droplight on a passenger entry door and the diesel engine housing. The relief NER moulding looks to be very convincingly from the Edwardian period.

Right: Stephen Middleton shows the jig used to create the seating, with the prototype seat.

History

The two autocars introduced by the NER in 1903 were numbered 3170 and 3171. Their initial service was between West Hartlepool and Hartlepool stations, and was followed by their use between Scarborough and Filey and later on the Selby to Cawood branch line.

No. 3170 received a more powerful engine in 1923 and was able to pull a trailer car. It operated in the Harrogate area for a period before returning to the Cawood branch.

The autocars were withdrawn in 1930 (No. 3170) and 1931 (No. 3171). While No. 3171 was broken up, the body of No. 3170 was sold and converted to a holiday home at Keldholme, near Kirbymoorside in North Yorkshire.

There it remained until purchased in 2003 by acclaimed vintage carriage restorer, Stephen Middleton (one of whose royal coaches featured in the recent Channel 4 series Great Rail Restorations – see News section).

The NER Autocar Trust was formed to progress its restoration with Stephen as its chairman. The autocar is based on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, where its rebuilding is well into its final stages.

Deadline

The restoration of the autocar has been achieved through the creation of the NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust. This has been awarded funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, PRISM (Preservation and Restoration of Industrial and Scientific Materials), the Ken Hoole Trust and significant donations from a number of members of the trust.

The funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been subject to two deadlines in the past for which extensions have been granted. The current and final deadline is September – and members of the team working on the autocar feel it can meet this.

Outstanding works

Completion of the autocar now consists of a small number of tasks. The roof is virtually complete with only gutters to fit. The autocar is currently on jacks receiving attention to its non-powered bogie. Following testing of the control desks and painting, the autocar will be ready for test running.

48 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Livery

There were three livery schemes for the autocar during its working life. It was initially finished in NER coach maroon. This was later changed to the attractive red and cream livery which was also utilised on the Tyneside electric units introduced in 1904. Following absorption of the NER into the LNER at the grouping, the autocar was painted brown, a colour used for non-teak coaches.

As well as being the most attractive of the three liveries, the red and cream scheme is the only livery which was adorned with railway crests of any sort. The matchboard sides will be filled and prepared where four of the superbly reproduced NER crests will be attached.

The vehicle will also carry the lettering ‘North Eastern Railway Electric Autocar’ and the number 3170. The red and cream paint has been matched from existing samples of this livery found on the original doors. The are no plans for any future change of livery.

Modern refinements

The autocar is being restored with some necessary and some pragmatic changes: ■ GLASS: Modern advances in laminated and safety glass were not available when the autocar was built and closely following its design, the amount of glazing on the Tyneside electrics at the cab ends was reduced, with a small porthole window for the driver. Presumably this was seen to be a safer option for the driver.

The autocar is now fitted with laminated glass for the cab end glazing to provide protection for the driver and passenger windows are made from toughened safety glass. However, the beautifully patterned clerestory windows, original to the car, will remain.

■ DRIVER’S POSITION: Originally the driver would have stood while driving the autocar, but a decision was made to provide seating in the form of a relatively modern diesel driver’s seat.

■ WHISTLES: Readers may be pleased to know that the autocar never carried a horn but utilised a whistle. This will be perpetuated but original pattern NER whistles will be replaced by two from former London Underground (Metropolitan Line) A60 tube stock which were recently withdrawn in 2012.

■ UNDERFRAME: When discovered, the body of the autocar was devoid of any underframe. It now utilises the same type of underframe and non-powered bogie. The donor from this was a GNR bogie milk van.

The powered bogie is from 1960s British Railways-built third rail electric unit.

■ ENGINE: The first engine used in the autocar was a Napier 98hp but this could hardly propel the autocar along and within weeks this was replaced to a Wolsley 120hp.

This was retained until the LNER took over and installed an engine from a First World War tank at 225hp which then made the autocar powerful enough to pull a trailer car.

During the restoration of the autocar, a huge debate centred on whether to reinstate a petrol engine back into the autocar. Probably the most crucial argument against this would have been the difficulty in getting the railway inspectorate to pass the vehicle for passenger use with a petrol engine within a wooden bodied vehicle. Additionally, most heritage railways store diesel as fuel but not petrol.

In the 1930s, the LNER proposed replacing the petrol engine in the autocar with a diesel one but this option was not progressed. Now a modern, emissions compliant Cummins QSL9 diesel engine, generating 340hp, will power the autocar.

The engine is housed in a soundproof enclosure. This has been created with convincingly period moulded NER lettering and leaf scroll. This has no historical precedent, as the original engine was not enclosed, a situation which would be unacceptable for passenger use today.

Salvation – a close shave

When originally purchased by Stephen, the grounded body of the autocar was screened by a number of large trees which required removal so that the autocar body could be craned out of its location.

Prior to its removal, the body was broken into, but fortunately was removed before any further damage or potential arson could be performed.

A connection with the past

It is believed that some of the components originally produced for the autocar were manufactured by Brush in Loughborough which specialised in tramcar manufacture.

“The autocar is priceless in terms of the story of the evolution of railway rolling stock.”

Above: The driver’s control panel at the nonpowered end of the autocar. The dead man’s pedal is visible in the space below the control panel.

Above inset: A reproduction sign, warning passengers not to lean out of the windows.

Right: A relatively modern diesel driver’s seat, yet to be fitted in place.

Left: Stephen Middleton holds up one of the four splendid NER crests supplied by Fox which will adorn the autocar when completed.

A link to the past is further continued with the restoration of the autocar. The design and engineering associated with combining the existing autocar body to its adapted chassis and new powerplant have been provided by David Moore, an engineer who originally worked at Brush and who was responsible for the design of the BR Class 60 diesels.

Trailer Car

In addition to restoration of the autocar, the trust is also restoring NER auto coach No. 3453.

Photographs exist of the autocar hauling an NER autocoach during its operation in LNER ownership, but it was never configured as a driving trailer.

An NER autocoach was donated to the project by the North Eastern Railway Carriage Association, based at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

This clerestory coach has been restored to NER condition and fitted with controls to enable operation from either end of the train – eliminating the need to run around when operating. It will allow up to 100 passengers to be carried on the autocar plus autocoach configuration, as opposed to just 46 on the autocar alone. This makes the autocar as a passenger carrying train more viable.

An interesting coincidence

The restoration of the autocar has taken place alongside the restoration of Nidd Valley Light Railway Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Mitchell/ Illingworth (No. 1208 of 1916), which is owned

by Stephen.

According to Stephen, it is entirely possible that the two traction items met (or at least were within whistling distance) during their working lives.

Mitchell/Illingworth was a mixed traffic

locomotive and regularly hauled passenger trains on the Nidd Valley Light Railway. The autocar was used on the adjacent Pateley Bridge branch which made an end-on connection to the Nidd Valley Light Railway’s separate station at Pateley Bridge.

An exciting prospect to look forward to

When completed, the autocar will primarily operate on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey, but will also visit other heritage railways.

A fine prospect will be the sight of the Edwardian autocar alongside the recentlyrestored Mitchell/Illingworth hauling a train of Victorian vintage carriages on the E&BASR. This might re-create what may have happened only 10 miles distant at Pateley Bridge. Gentlemen, don’t forget your straw boater hat, and ladies, your most glamorous day wear!

Heritagerailway.co.uk 49

GALA SPECIAL

HUNSLET 125

HIGHLIGHTS The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway celebrated the 125th birthday of two of its popular steam locomotive fleet in style with a special three-day gala event, which brought together a large gathering of Hunslets, engaging them on a host of duties in what is a narrow gauge paradise. Gareth Evans reports.

A

quarter of a century may have passed, but some of us can still remember it like yesterday. The Hunslet Hundred gala of 1993 has since served as a benchmark for all Ffestiniog Railway galas.

Hunslet 125, which took place over three days from June 22 this year, promised to go one better, with a fine line-up of charming Quarry Hunslets blended with the manufacturer’s products built for service in other parts of the globe.

At the event’s heart was a celebration of two popular locomotives affectionately known as the ‘Penrhyn Ladies’ – 2-4-0STTs Linda and Blanche, stalwarts of the Ffestiniog fleet

since they arrived from Penrhyn Quarry in the 1960s. Among the diagrams operated by the pair was a special train on June 23 called ‘Ladies Day Out’, involving a double-headed run from Porthmadog to Caernarfon in the morning and then to Blaenau Ffestiniog in the afternoon – the full 40-mile railway.

It was no mean feat to assemble such an impressive array of visiting locomotives – including Alice (Bala Lake Railway); Chaka’s Kraal No.6 (North Gloucestershire Railway, Toddington); Cloister (Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society); George B (Bala); Gwynedd (Bala); Holy War (Bala); Irish Mail (West Lancashire Railway); Jerry M

The ‘birthday girls’: Linda leads sister 1893-built Hunslet 2-4-0STT Blanche on June 23 at Pont Cae’r Gors through the heart of the beautiful scenery that can be found on the Welsh Highland Railway. OWEN CHAPMAN

(Hollycombe); Maid Marian (Bala); Margaret (Vale of Rheidol); Statfold and Trangkil No.4 (Statfold Barn Railway); Winifred (Bala); and Velinheli (Launceston Steam Railway).

Not to be forgotten was the presence of the Fairbourne Railway’s Beddgelert on a 2ft gauge wagon, helping to raise a healthy sum towards its overhaul.

The home fleet included Britomart, David Lloyd George, Hugh Napier, Lilla, Lyd, Myrddin Emrys and Prince.

Diesel traction was represented by popular Boston Lodge Works Hunslet shunter Harold, which took part in shunt-athon. First World War former petrol tractor Moelwyn and

Triple-header on the slate: Quarry Hunslets George B, Alice and Cloister head along the Mineral Line into Minffordd Station with a rake of slate wagons, making their way to Gwyndy Bank on June 23. ROGER DIMMICK

Some locomotives were paired ‘back-to-back’ – such as Quarry Hunslets Irish Mail and Maid Marian, which are seen here at Porthmadog Harbour station in the company of Trangkil No.4 and Lyd. GARETH EVANS

A popular attraction in Minffordd Yard was ‘Driver for a fiver’ which Statfold was engaged in on the morning of June 23, as Holy War paused between duties. Also of interest in this scene are some of the F&WHR’s finely restored historic wagons.

GARETH EVANS

Jerry M powers up the steeply-graded line out of Minffordd Yard, which boasts the sharpest curve on the F&WHR. GARETH EVANS

Margaret is seen at Minffordd with train of skips and a solitary ex RAF Fauld wagon. GARETH EVAN Heritagerailway.co.uk 51

FROM THE FOOTPLATE

A VISITING CREW MEMBER’S PERSPECTIVE

By Josh Raper

IWAS fortunate to accompany Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society-owned Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST (No.542 of 1891) Cloister to Hunslet 125.

I’ve been a heritage railway volunteer since the age of 11 at Hayling Seaside Railway and in addition to the HNGRS, I’m a fireman at the Statfold Barn Railway.

I had an email from Les Munkton, HNGRS chairman asking for volunteers to go to the F&WHR’s Hunslet 125. I knew a couple of mates from Statfold were already going and the chance to accompany Cloister was too good to miss.

I arrived in NorthWales on theThursday lunchtime.

All locomotives were undergoing a fitness to run exam at Boston Lodge.

IrishMail then pushed four locomotives – Cloister, Lilla, Alice and Statfold dead to Minffordd, where they were to be stabled.

Friday

The 8am book-on was civilised – we had to be ready by 10.15am. After spending the morning doing the passenger shuttle between Minffordd station and yard, we moved on to what was being dubbed the ‘shunt-athon’with the skip trucks and slate wagons.

I had not previously realised how steep the line is down to the yard – it’s more challenging than it looks.

I enjoyed firing and driving – the variety was welcome. I was also fortunate to drive the Beer Heights Light Railway 7¼in gauge locomotives.

In the evening, I enjoyed a ride on what was dubbed ‘Cannonball Run 2’, which involved Britomart and Statfold working a train between Porthmadog and Tanybwlch. Crickey it sounded good!

Saturday

Cloister’s first duty was to haul the slate wagons up Gwyndy Bank, where they were dropped off for a gravity run.

Originally the train was due to be hauled by Cloister, but because of a coupling height differences, it became

Josh Rapper (centre) takes a break with his friends Keith Edwards and Joey Evans between turns shunting rakes of wagons around Minffordd Yard during the ‘shunt-athon’ on June 23.

ROGER DIMMICK a triple-header with GeorgeB, Alice and Cloister.

I fired it – that was the highlight of the weekend. A great little trip!

Cloister then worked the station – yard shuttle with Britomart.

In the afternoon, Cloister was part of the Dinorwic line-up. Great fun and another memorable experience.

On the Saturday evening, we enjoyed the lovely hog roast in Minffordd goods shed, accompanied by Linda and Blanche.We then enjoyed drinks at Spooners in Porthmadog Harbour Station, which you can never go wrong with.

Conclusion

I drove home to Portsmouth on the Sunday, ready to be back in work the following day.

A lot of preparation was required beforehand – such as ensuring we had sufficient oil cans with us. It’s all little things we normally take for granted, which can be easily overlooked.

I would certainly recommend the experience to others – go for it if you get the chance to visit the F&WHR with your railway/ group’s locomotive.

All communication from the F&WHR was excellent – we were presented with duty cards, for example.

I would like to thank all who helped to make it such a memorable event, especially the yard shunters, who were great to deal with and were most accommodating for getting water for the loco and crew alike.

“Great fun and another memorable experience.”

Penrhyn Quarry duo: 1894-built Margaret leads 1904-built Hugh Napier out of Minffordd station on the morning of June 23 with a train of slate wagons up Gwyndy Bank, where the truck would return by gravity.

GARETH EVANS

52 Heritagerailway.co.uk

the chassis of under restoration Kerr Stuart No. 4415 were on display.

Helped by the warm, sunny weather, crowds were attracted to the gala, which was centred on Minffordd Yard, where attractions included ‘Driver for a fiver’ on a variety of locomotives throughout the three days.

Within the yard, Hunslet locomotives were variously engaged in shunting wagons around the complicated trackwork of what is a steeply-graded, narrow gauge paradise.

Demonstration freights ran on the southern end of the Welsh Highland Railway, hauled by visiting locomotives too large to fit the FR’s loading gauge – namely Trangkill No.4 and Chaka’s Kraal No.6.

An attraction in itself, which also helped relieve some of the pressure on the passenger trains at the lower reaches of the FR, was the frequent vintage bus service. Operated

by Shrewsbury-based Regional Transport’s Routemaster, RMC1490, it followed a circular route linking Harbour Station, Minffordd Station and the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. All in all, a cracking event.

In a scene dubbed ‘The Dinorwic Hunslet six-pack’ by the photographer, Velinheli, Alice, George B, Cloister, Jerry M and Holy War make an impressive sight in the line-up that was arranged for the afternoon of June 24 in front of the Maenofferen shed in Minffordd Yard. ROGER DIMMICK

Bala Lake Railway-based Winifred, which returned to Wales in 2012 after almost 40 years in exile across the Atlantic, looks at home on the Minffordd Yard shuttle. GARETH EVANS Hollycombe’s Jerry M passes the Bala Lake Railwaybased George B in Minffordd Yard on the morning of June 23. GARETH EVANS Heritagerailway.co.uk 53

Operating at the Dartmouth Steam Railway this summer is GWR 4-6-0 No.6023 King Edward II. The Didcot-based Great Western Society’s BR blue-liveried King, due to stay until the end of September, is seen passing Waterside on June 29 while working the 5pm service from Kingswear to Paignton. No. 6023 had been requested by a member of the permanent way gang, who was getting married on that day and wanted the bridal party to experience a run to Kingswear behind a King – hence the J4A reporting number (Jay and Anita Fedrick being their names). MARK WILKINS

MAIN LINE NEWS

Steam Dreams acquired by Mayflower owner David Buck

By Cedric Johns FOLLOWING a keynote statement released on July 9, the railway fraternity especially steam Train Operating Companies, railtour promoters and enthusiasts, were astonished to learn that Marcus Robertson had sold his Steam Dreams operation to David Buck, owner of B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower.

David said that he was delighted at becoming the new owner of Steam Dreams: “I have grown to know the Steam Dreams’ operation both through my ownership of Mayflower – and its use working ‘Cathedral Express’ trains from 2015 – and as an a occasional passenger.

“That gave me an insight into how well organised the business was and since taking over as chairman last October, that conviction hardened. When Marcus and his wife Marianne asked if I wanted to take the business on, I was delighted to do so.”

He said having been involved in non-related railway business for years, he was surprised and pleased that he is now able to add his passion for steam into the business mix.

He added: “It’s the best of both worlds.”

The announcement of the change of ownership was made within weeks of Mayflower making a return to the main line following its extended overhaul, much of the work, including the finishing touches, being carried out by West Coast Railways at Carnforth.

When back in traffic, it is planned that the engine will become the mainstay of the ‘Cathedral Express’ programme sharing work with Ian Riley’s ‘Black Fives’ and, at least until the end of this year, John Cameron’s A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa.

David said: “I am pleased that Marcus has left me the legacy of working regularly with Ian Riley’s 4-6-0s, as well as No. 61306, as there is little doubt that that when loads dictate, we would rather double-head with steam than have a diesel assisting. I can see that becoming more and more a feature of our tours “We will be working with larger engines such as Flying Scotsman, ‘No. 9’

who have helped Steam Dreams to and others as they come on stream.” evolve, thrive and grow over a 20-year David said that he already has ideas period. Twenty years is a long time to run where the business should be going. any sort of business and I believed it was “Watching the main line scene is always time for fresh inspirational leadership interesting and there is no doubt that that David will bring. with the encouragement of people “It has not always been plain sailing, like Sir Peter Hendy, Network Rail and but mostly I have enjoyed being involved West Coast will be likely to want us all to in the sharp end of main line steam and, offer simpler, more repetitive working to be honest, the bigger the challenges, timetable-based itineraries. the more satisfying and enjoyable it is “In the early days of the ‘Cathedral when you surmount them!

Express’ trips to Canterbury and “Nothing can beat, for example, taking Salisbury, the trains were built into the Flying Scotsman working timetable. across the Forth That was good, Bridge for the producing fast, first time in many robust schedules. years just hours If that approach after Network is repeated in the Rail had said future it will cut it couldn’t be out delays, slow done. For sheer line working, emotion, the pathing loops Brian Dudleyand other time Ward memorial consuming hazards. trip to Bristol with “Loyal passengers Ropley’s Standard will be pleased to 5MT No. 73096, know that they when his ashes will notice no difference as we Marcus Robertson (left), who founded were committed carry on our existing Steam Dreams two decades ago, with on the footplate by his wife and Steam Dreams the firm’s new owner David Buck. son on Upton programme, CLAIR NEWTON/STEAM DREAMS Scudamore in addition to bank – his favourite engine, his developing new ideas for the future. favourite climb.

“They will also see the same staff on “It still makes the hairs on the back of trains and talk to the same people in the neck stand up to think about it. our office when enquiring or making “In the end it is the day in, day out bookings. It is a great business and pleasure that you see on passengers’ Marcus has put together a great team faces that makes it all worthwhile.” that I look forward to working even Marcus added: “The last six years closer with.” have been a particularly important The Robertsons are pleased that the period for the company as we rebuilt business will be in the right hands. after problems caused by DB’s “David is the perfect man to take over industrial action. as I believe he brings dynamism, fresh While it is not a reflection on the many ideas, a great business brain and the good friends in DB, it was a very difficult wherewithal to enjoy owning his own time when 11 trains of out of 12 were business including, of course, his own cancelled at 48 hours’ notice. engine,” said Marcus.

“That we were able to rebuild was only “He has been very complimentary possible because of the agreement by about the whole team and I have been David Smith of West Coast Railways to very lucky to have had such a group of take us back on, and in those early days people, both paid staff and volunteers,

of our renewed relationship, it was his support and generosity that got us back on our feet.

“It would be remiss of me if I did not thank him publicly for that. As a result of that and the great job done by the Steam Dreams team, David Buck has acquired a business that is in great shape. He will undoubtedly grow it further over the coming years.”

Having sold the business, Marcus will retain his interest in Steam Dreams by acting as an on-train ambassador and a special projects consultant.

David has a unique position in railway heritage in that he has a garden railway that is bigger than the ‘real one.’ In the grounds of his home near Windsor, he laid a standard gauge railway, and then, in 2007, he bought a 5ft gauge Finnish 4-6-2 – one that is both taller and wider than British Pacifics, including Flying Scotsman and Mallard.

The locomotive was acquired from British businessman Nigel Sill, who runs heritage steam excursions in Finland.

In the Eighties, Nigel imported several Finnish steam locomotives to Britain for a Wild West theme park in Cornwall but plans to build a railway never took off, and the locomotives were left to be stored in Essex and North London.

The one David bought, Hr1 class No. 1016, was displayed at Enfield for several years. It was one of a class of 22 that were the biggest passenger locomotives built or used in Finland and remained the main locomotives used on express trains until 1963. David laid a 300-yard running line on which the locomotive, now named Lady Patricia, moves up and down.

During the Mallard 75 celebrations, when the two exiled A4 Pacifics Dwight D Eisenhower and Dominion of Canada were temporarily repatriated to take part in the celebrations to mark the anniversary of No. 4468 Mallard’s 126mph run on Stoke Bank, he unsuccessfully made a cash bid to buy one of them from its museum owner and keep it over here permanently so it could be restored to run on the main line again.

RPSI offers steam train rides at Whitehead – plus regular main line runs NOW that summer is in full swing, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) has thrown open the gates of its award-winning and vastly-improved visitor centre at Whitehead, which now offers visitors guided tours of the museum, light refreshments and local train rides.

On Saturday, August 4, Whitehead

56 Heritagerailway.co.uk

will stage a‘Rockin’Food Festival’in addition to its normal activities, which features Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST Guinness 3BG making passenger shuttle runs in the locomotive works yard. The visitor centre is open weekends right through August.

The following Monday, August 6, steam comes to the fore with a main

line day trip from Dublin along the south east coast to Enniscorthy and Rosslare and return.

Northern Counties 2-6-4T No. 4 is a likely candidate to work this train.

One of the Society’s popular‘Steam & Jazz’trips departs Belfast on August 24, probably with 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin at its head, taking the train on yet another

mystery tour. So well supported are these trains that this departure has already sold out.

Running south, a‘Steam Enterprise’ trip leaves Belfast for Dublin on Sunday, September 23.

Tickets should be purchased in advance for this and all main line trains, the RPSI advises.

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Photo charter organiser 30742 Charters held an evening session before Tyseley Locomotive Works’ June 30-July 1 summer open weekend. Pictured outside the shed are No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, No. 7029 Clun Castle and pannier No. 9600. Tyseley will be holding another open weekend on September 29-30 to mark the 50th anniversary of their first one, in 1968. MARTIN CREESE

Tyseley ‘stops’ Earl of Mount Edgcumbe for repairs

By Cedric Johns REPORTS that the Railway Touring Company had secured the use of Tyseley-based GWR 4-6-0 No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe to head the first of this season’s ‘Royal Duchy’ excursions appear to have been over-optimistic.

RTC’s Nigel Dobbing was hoping to take advantage of the fact that the Castle was standing without work, pending Vintage Trains’ application for a railway operating licence.

On the face of it, hiring out the 4-6-0 would have produced some useful income for the West Midlands operation, but in reality the whole idea floundered on the economics involved.

Out of traffic since December, when West Coast withdrew the use of its

footplate crews for Vintage Trains’ operations, No. 5043 was in need of an examination before returning to main line duties, never mind working ‘Royal Duchy’ trains over the south Devon banks and beyond.

Almost out of ticket

As Tyseley’s chief engineer Bob Meanley pointed out, all things to do with engines require periodic maintenance, some based on time between servicing, others because of high mileage and fair wear and tear.

No. 5043 was ‘stopped’ for a planned examination, which in the event revealed that the work required to put the engine back on the top line would be uneconomic relative to income received from Railway Touring

Company’s comparably small number of tours involved, plus the fact that the engine is coming close to the end of its 10-year boiler ticket.

“In the scheme of things with our normal (Vintage Trains) summer operations, this would not have been so. We are rather sad that it all came to naught, as we would have enjoyed taking the Earl over the bridge into Cornwall for the first time in its preservation career and close to its namesake Mount Edgcumbe.

“With regard to the overhaul of No. 5043, we shall have to see what progress is made with the operating company. We need to get going in order to complete the testing of No. 7029 Clun Castle and get the engine into traffic.

“The time required to do that will hold back work on No. 5043, as No. 5043 did

when No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall was stopped for its first 10-yearly in 2008.

“The Hall had to wait until June 2009 before work commenced, but then we were able to turn the engine around in just 10 weeks!”

Repairs

“Whether we can fast-track the Earl remains to be seen. The engine needs some time-consuming repairs, in particular complete retyring, so I do not expect that the overhaul is going to be done in 10 weeks, whenever it starts.

“All in all, it depends on the flow of funding into the operating company, but we may launch an appeal to assist the Castle’s overhaul since it seems that No. 5043 has grown quite a band of admirers during the past 10 years.”

Hastings DEMU heads for Dorset coast on ‘The Weymouth Warrior’ FOLLOWING its sold-out 530-mile round trip west to Torbay, Teignmouth and Paignton via Dawlish on Saturday, June 16, Hastings Diesels’ unique six-car DEMU unit is on the move again, this time travelling across country from Sussex to the Dorset coast via Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire on Saturday, August 4.

Unaffected by the risk of steam-generated lineside fires, the popular unit departs Hastings at 6.42am and St Leonards Warrior Square four minutes later.

Operated by GBRf, ‘The Weymouth Warrior’ picks up at all the usual stations between Battle and

Tonbridge, where the unit turns off the London main line, making stops at Redhill and Guildford.

Cross-country

Heading on via Wokingham, the ‘Warrior’ runs non-stop through Reading General, turning left for the West station and Basingstoke.

From Basingstoke, the unit travels on via Worting Junction, Winchester and Eastleigh to make its first set down at Southampton.

Moving on and heading south west, the DEMU takes the Dorset coast line, running through parts of the New Forest including the heavily-used Lymington

to Lyndhurst Road crossing at Brockenhurst, entering Dorset at Hinton Admiral and passing Christchurch, before immediately tackling the curving foot of the 1-in-80 Pokesdown bank minutes from the train’s next stop at Bournemouth. The timed arrival is 11.20am, returning at 5.40pm.

From there, it is a 15-minute ride to the cross channel port of Poole for a third passenger set-down, allowing a break of over six hours.

Now deep into Hardy country, the unit makes its penultimate stop at Wareham, with plenty of time to change for the new Saturdays-only South Western Trains’ shuttle service

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

running onto the Swanage Railway at Worgret Junction for Corfe Castle, which offers connections to Swanage (as outlined in issue 243).

400 miles

And so to Weymouth, the ‘Warrior’ is timed to arrive in among third rail electrics at 12.20pm and a passenger break of well over five hours. The unit returns to pick up at Wareham, Poole, Portsmouth and Southampton, then heads east via Basingstoke, Reading and Guildford.

To conclude, this is set to be another interesting tour, amounting to approximately 400 miles on the national network.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 57

MAIN LINE NEWS

Flying Scotsman to head Pegler special

By Cedric Johns COINCIDING with the change of ownership, Steam Dreams has announced an Alan Pegler commemorative special train to honour the man who saved Flying Scotsman from the scrapyard in 1963.

The special, which will run from Kings Cross toYork on Sunday, October 13 behind the A3, will fulfil Pegler’s wishes that his ashes be scattered in the 4-6-2’s firebox on the ascent up Stoke Bank in Lincolnshire.

It was there in 1934 that the A3 became the first steam locomotive to officially top 100mph.

Organised by Steam Dreams and his daughter Penny, supported by many drawn from Alan’s wide circle of friends, tickets are also being made

available to enthusiasts and members of the public.

Planned in association with the National Railway Museum, Network Rail, West Coast Railways and Riley Engineering, Steam Dreams’new owner David Buck said that he is grateful for the help he has received in planning what will be a unique trip.

Whistle blasts

“I have been simply amazed by the sheer well of affection for Alan, who is clearly the man the nation thinks about when talking about Flying Scotsman and its post-BR career,” said David.

“From top to bottom throughout the railway industry, everyone has come together to make the trip possible, a trip that should be a truly wonderful and emotional tribute to a great man.”

Those who knew Alan always commented on his engaging personality and wonderful zest for life, Steam Dreams founder Marcus Robertson said.

“We hope very much to announce the committal of Alan’s ashes by a long blast on Scotsman’s whistle while ascending Stoke Bank.

“After a moment of reflection, a second whistle will signal the occasion by passengers raising a glass of champagne in a toast to celebrate his marvellous achievements.”

Tickets

Tickets are on sale with immediate effect from Steam Dreams on 01483 209888.

A souvenir brochure illustrating the life and times of the man and his

Alan Pegler, the Ffestiniog Railway saviour who bought Flying Scotsman straight out of BR service in 1963, alongside the locomotive at the National Railway Museum’s Railfest 2004 event, after a public appeal raised money to buy it for the National Collection. ROBIN JONES engine, both in the UK and overseas, will accompany each ticket.

Retired from service in 1963 after running 2,076,000 miles, the A3 gained considerable fame under the ownership of Alan, William McAlpine, DrTony Marchington and, latterly, the National Railway Museum.

As well as working enthusiasts’ specials in this country, the 4-6-2 toured extensively in the US, Canada and Australia.

A3 Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman ambling across the Yorkshire Wolds after a very early start with the ‘Scarborough Flyer’ on June 23. STUART BROWN.

Flying Scotsman set for Cornwall in October FOLLOWING Merchant Navy 4-6-2 No. 35028 Clan Line’s recent venture over the south Devon banks and on into Cornwall (see page 59), came the announcement that Flying Scotsman is booked to make a similar trip in October.

The A3 will also feature in a separate double-header with B1 No. 61306 Mayflower running along the sea wall through Dawlish.

Details have yet to be finalised, but what looks like a three-day trip to the West Country with Steam Dreams will take the 4-6-2 beyondTaunton for the first time since the engine was returned to traffic after overhaul two years ago.

The trip starts onThursday, October 4, with a morning run fromTheale down the Berks & Hants line through Newbury & Castle Cary toTaunton.The return will be diesel-hauled.

On Saturday, October 6, Flying

58 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Scotsman is booked to cross Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge over theTamar into Cornwall for a two-hour stop in Penzance.

The return will again be diesel-hauled.

The two engines are set to join forces on Monday, October 8, when the A3 and B1 work its train back over Devon, via Plymouth and Exeter.The promotion has been described as a“wonderful autumn celebration of British (LNER) engineering.”

The full itinerary and tickets are expected to be on sale by the time this issue is available. Details will be available on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway Meanwhile, Flying Scotsman has joined the Locomotion museum’s Steam Season.

It will be on both indoor and outdoor display at the Shildon venue until August 1, and on selected dates, visitors will be able to enjoy a steam ride along the museum’s line (charges apply).

Tornado ‘may return on August 27’ – but won’t be rushed CURRENTLY stabled on the Nene Valley Railway, in mid-July the A1Trust’s 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado was still receiving attention and repairs to resolve the issues caused when the A1 was attempting its first scheduled 90mph run with the‘Ebor Flyer’on April 14.

In a recent update, Graeme BunkerJames, the 4-6-2’s operations director, said:“We are now entering the period when we bring the locomotive back into service working with DB Cargo, main line testing and certification bodies.This isn’t something we will rush.”

The trust needs to replace one of the outside union links due to the trust identifying a tiny flaw on its surface, and a new component that has been ordered from Robert Stephenson of Stephenson Engineering Ltd of Atherton, will be ready in early August and take up to three days to fit. It does not affect the A1 running at 25mph on

heritage lines, nor was it responsible for the failure. Another problem was a steam ban both on the NVR and the main line, delaying any test run.

Several railtours booked for Tornado have been affected.The Lincoln-London RAF100 special for the commemorative flypast over Buckingham Palace on July 10 was worked instead by A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa.

It is hoped that Tornado will return to the network on August 27 heading‘The CanterburyTale’from Peterborough to Canterbury and return.

In the meantime, the Darlington Circulars on July 29 were cancelled,‘The Mad Hatter’on August 1 was postponed until the spring, while the‘Settle and Carlisle Golden Express 1’on August 11, the‘Settle and Carlisle Golden Express 2’on August 15 and‘The Bard of Avon’ on August 18 were to be hauled by other locomotives.

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Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line working ‘The Cornishman’ from Bristol Temple Meads to Par through Dawlish on a rainy June 17. THOMAS MILLS

Clan Line record cracker on trip across the Tamar

By Cedric Johns HAVING opened the ‘Torbay Express’ season for Riviera Trains on Sunday, June 3, Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No. 35028 Clan Line became the first-ever Bulleid heavyweight to cross the Tamar and enter Cornwall.

Originally planned to work the first two ‘Torbays’, the plans were changed, with the ‘Torbay Express’ booked for June 17 giving way to a newly-created one-off – ‘The Cornishman’, which was route extended via Exeter, Newton Abbot, the south Devon banks and Plymouth, the destination being Par. According to reports received, including details from Paul Blowfield, the communications and marketing officer of the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society, Clan Line provided a cracking performance, which included a claim that its running time between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth North

Road – 62min 21sec – was a “record for any steam locomotive with any load, never mind 10 on.”

He added: “We ran the return journey in what may be the second fastest in 60min 45sec.”

The day did not begin exactly as planned, as a signal failure outside Temple Meads resulted in ‘The Cornishman’ departing almost half an hour late.

However, after Weston-super-Mare, the Merchant, heading 10 for 385 tonnes, picked up its heels by covering the 22 miles to Cogload Junction in 21min 40 sec, its speed being held steady around the 75/77mph mark.

Checked by signals approaching Taunton, the slight delay cost 31/2min against the booked time through the station, overall the train picking up five minutes of its late Bristol departure.

Kicking on, the 4-6-2 tackled Wellington bank and had pulled another three

minutes back leaving Whiteball. By Exeter St Davids, No. 35028 had clawed back virtually half of the overall deficit, rolling to a stop 16min adrift of its schedule.

After clearing Newton Abbot and Aller Junction, the Merchant’s DBCargo crew really put their backs into their work, hitting Dainton at 61mph, topping the climb at 36mph – 34mph at the tunnel entrance – then went on to record a minimum of 32mph on Rattery Bank, accelerating to 40mph into Marley Tunnel.

Obviously in good nick, both engine and crew kept momentum and enthusiasm at a high level, bringing the train into Plymouth North Road just eight minutes down on booked time.

Bearing in mind ‘The Cornishman’ made set-down stops at Liskeard and Bodmin Parkway before its destination of Par, the train’s ultimate arrival at 1.08pm, 13min late, was testament to a fine performance by the footplate and

support crews, train guard, kitchen staff, stewards and all those playing a part at the rear of house.

What turned out to be a highly enjoyable day is best summed up by National Preservation moderator and lifelong railtour regular Alan Rawlings, who said: “‘The Cornishman’ on Sunday was the most remarkable trip I have ever had behind Clan Line. That includes the 96mph dash between Basingstoke and Woking back in 1967.

“It was an amazing tour de force by all the DBC crews and the MNLPS support team, who scurried around making it all seem straightforward when I knew that it wasn’t.

“The acceleration, hill climbing and, at times, shear pace of what was produced really did stun me and in the process the locomotive rewrote the record books west of Exeter.

“There were actual running times better than HSTs are timetabled for!”

Bahamas group offers ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ membership rate THE Bahamas Locomotive Society is offering new members the chance to join for just £15.75 – or 15 guineas in old money.

That, of course, was the then very steep price of a seat on the legendary ‘Fifteen Guinea’ special, the final steam train run by BR over the national network on Sunday, August 11, 1968 – a week after ‘normal’ BR standard gauge steam had finished.

The society’s special offer is to celebrate the imminent return to steam of its Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596

Bahamas, which has not steamed for 21 years.

It is also intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the locomotive’s first steaming in preservation, in March 1968 – and 50 years since it broke the then ‘steam ban’ by steaming to its new home at Dinting Railway Centre in November that year, not forgetting, of course, the end of BR main line steam haulage.

For a limited time, new members can join for just £15.75. This represents a saving of £14.25 and

will cover full membership until December 31, 2019.

Applications should be made on line at www.bahamas45596.co.uk The application form must be marked 1T57 and sent to arrive by October 31.

Meanwhile, the overhaul of Keighley & Worth Valley Railway-based Bahamas at Tyseley Locomotive Works, supported by Heritage Railway publisher Mortons Ltd, is nearing its final stages.

On June 8, the boiler, smokebox

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

and ashpan assembly was lowered into the frames at Tyseley for the first time. Work is also progressing at the society’s Ingrow base, where its ground-breaking learning coach was launched on June 23 by Shadow Rail Minister Rachael Maskell MP, Keighley MP John Grogan and Keighley Town Council member Chris Herd.

Ms Maskell said: “The learning coach is a vital local educational resource and provides a fun and unique way to introduce heritage and local history to young people.”

Heritagerailway.co.uk 59

MAIN LINE NEWS

Vintage Trains on the verge

By Cedric Johns

AFTER months of preparations including the internal reorganisation of operations and external negotiations, Vintage Trains, the Birmingham-based railtour promoter, appears to be on the verge of obtaining its Train Operating Company licence.

Chaired by Adrian Shooter, Vintage Trains’ negotiating team has reached the point where the Office of Rail & Road has issued a statement saying: “The Office of Rail & Road gives notice that in accordance with regulation 6(9) of the Regulations and section 8(4) of the Act it proposes to grant the applicant a European passenger licence and a

non-passenger licence. The European passenger licence will authorise the applicant to provide train services for the purposes of the carriage of passengers within the European economic area subject to all legal requirements being fulfilled by the applicant.”

Granted

“The non-passenger licence will authorise the applicant to be the operator of trains being used on the network otherwise than for the purpose of carrying passengers by railway in Great Britain subject to all legal requirements being fulfilled by the applicant.

“The non-passenger licence will enable Vintage Trains to operate light and loaded locomotive test runs, move its rolling stock to prearranged destinations and to make light engine positioning runs.”

The ORR ended the notice by saying: “We propose to grant licences on the grounds that the applicant has shown itself to be a fit and proper person.”

As we closed for press, the ORR advised that the application was being circulated for statutory consultation with all interested parties, inviting comments

by July 27.

When asked when the licence might be ratified, Lisa O’Brien, the head of media at

the ORR replied: “The answer is soon after – the exact time dependent on whether the applicant has their insurance in place, their complaints handling procedure in place and likewise any disabled people’s protection policies.

“Normally, this ranges from a few days though to a couple of weeks.”

Hopes for August

However, the signs are good enough to fulfil Vintage Trains’ marketing director Ben Mason’s hopes to run a ‘Shakespeare Express’ to Stratfordupon-Avon on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27, featuring WR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle.

Washout plugs: railwayana?

RAILWAYANA with a difference – the chance to buy a unique washout plug from a unique engine forms one of the latest offers made by the trustees of 8P 4-6-2 No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester, currently being overhauled at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

Part of the work on the engine includes the replacement of all 50 washout plugs.

Rather than bin them, it was decided that enthusiasts might like to add one to their personal collection of railwayana or souvenirs, bearing in mind that the plugs were part and parcel of the Duke when it was tearing up records climbing Shap, Whiteball, Hemerdon and the like.

Apparently, besides being unique, the plugs make attractive desktop weights.

How much? The price is £25 each, but as the chairman of the 8P’s trustees, Trevor Tuckley remarked, numbers are limited because several were sold during Tyseley’s recent open weekend.

Proceeds will go towards the cost of an overhaul of the Duke’s support coach, BR Mk2 BFK No. W17041, which it is planned will be rebuilt internally to provide workshop, stores and mess facilities, costing an estimated £40,000.

In this context, a second offer is on the table for enthusiasts to consider.

At 64ft long, one-foot lengths of the coach are being made available for individuals to ‘buy’ or sponsor the work at £500 per foot.

Payments can be made in full or spread over 10 months.

In acknowledging donations to this particular appeal, individuals will have their names inscribed on a roll of honour mounted inside the coach. In addition, the names will be entered into a draw for a trip in the support coach during a main line run with the Duke. Six trips are available, each on a different tour.

Enthusiasts interested in taking up the fundraising offers are invited to visit www.theduke.uk.com/product/donateto-the-duke or write to The Duke, Aurora House, Deltic Avenue, Rooksley, Milton Keynes MK13 8LW.

60 Heritagerailway.co.uk

LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45212, with Class 47 No. 47746 on the rear, approaches Paignton station with the 1Z40 6.35am Woking to Kingswear ‘The Dartmouth Express’ on June 9. COLIN WALLACE

More SRPS steam tours to the Borders ON Sunday, August 5, the Scottish Railway Preservation Society will be running steam-hauled trips around the Fife Circle and over the Forth Bridge to Tweedbank via Edinburgh and the Borders line.

They will utilise the same well-proven itinerary as last year’s four Sundays-only trains that were virtually sold out. They carried more than 1500 passengers as the public turned out in force to experience riding and enjoying a day out on Scotland’s newly-regenerated scenic line.

The itinerary begins with a departure from Linlithgow. ‘The Forth Bridge & Scottish Borders’ calls at Dunfermline Town, Kirkcaldy, Dalgety Bay, Edinburgh Waverley and then runs

along the Borders line to Galashiels and Tweedbank.

The anticipated motive power will be a ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 – possibly No. 44871 – with diesel assistance on the first part of the return journey short of Waverley.

Tornado power

The running dates are Sundays, August 5, 12, 19 and 26. This year a new innovation – afternoon teas complete with scones, jam and cream – will be served on each of the trains.

Additional optional coach tours to Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford House, the historic Melrose and Seasons Restaurant, Gattonside will be available on request, said SPRS train manager Jim Paterson,

who within hours of talking about these trains, set off south for Doncaster to serve on the RAF 100 Special with A4 No. 60009 Union of South Africa working the next day from Lincoln to London with passengers travelling to witness the 100-aircraft flypast over Buckingham Palace.

Future SPRS fixtures include Sunday, October 14: two trains, one morning, one afternoon running around the Forth Circle and Sunday, November 3: an excursion from Linlithgow via Edinburgh to York, via the Settle & Carlisle line.

On both occasions steam traction is to be provided by Tornado, the A1 being in residence at Bo’ness for approximately two weeks between trips.

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LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45690 Leander crosses Ribblehead viaduct with Statesman Rail’s ‘Fellsman’ on June 12. MAURICE BURNS

Kettering Vintage Rally & Steam Fayre Cranford NR KETTERING, NORTHANTS NN14 4AW OFF A14-J11 & A510

22nd & 23rd September 2018 Open 10am - 5pm Free Parking A GREAT WEEKEND OF FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT Adults £10, Senior £7 and Children (6-16) £7.

Family (2+3) £21

Steam, Model Steam, Vintage Cars & Motorbikes, Classic Cars, Historic Commercials, Military & 999 Vehicles, Buses, Vintage Cycles, Stationary Engines, Models & Crafts Tent, Autojumble & Market Stalls, Awning & Working Displays, Arena Events, Fair Rides, Birds of Prey.

Refreshments Available. Real Ales Festival.

All enquiries phone: 01536 500164. Mobile 07840 065335 Email: cranfordrally@ntlworld.com www.ketteringvintagerally.co.uk SUPPORTING THE WARWICKSHIRE & NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AIR AMBULANCE (Registered Charity No. 1098874) Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 61

MAIN LINE ITINERARY

Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45699 Galatea passes Mallerstang with the returning ‘Fellsman’ on May 29. DAVID PRICE

August SAT 4: ‘The Cumbrian Mountain Express’ Crewe, Manchester Victoria, Carlisle, Settle, Blackburn, Manchester and Crewe.

Steam-hauled: Manchester, Manchester.

Loco: No. 60103 Flying Scotsman. RTC SAT 4: ‘The William Shakespeare’ Bangor, Stratford-upon-Avon and return.

Steam-hauled: Crewe, Stratford & return.

Loco: No. 46100 Royal Scot, No. 34052 Lord Dowding or No. 70000 Britannia. ST SUN 5: ‘The Waverley’ York, Leeds, Settle, Carlisle and return Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: No. 45690 Leander, No. 45596 Bahamas or No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. RTC SUN 5: ‘The Forth Bridge & Borders Steam Special’ Linlithgow, Tweedbank and return.

Steam-hauled throughout.

Tour Promoters BEL

Belmond Pullman 0845 077 2222

PT

Pathfinder Tours 01453 835414

RTC

Railway Touring Company 01553 661500

SD

Steam Dreams 01483 209888 Saphos Trains 0800 038 5320

ST

62 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Loco: No. 35018 British India Line, No. 45690 Leander or No. 45699 Galatea. SRPS THUR 9: ‘The Dorset Coast Express’ London Victoria, Weymouth and return.

Steam-hauled: Willesden, Poole and Southampton, Willesden.

Loco: No. 45305 or No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC FRI 10: ‘Belmond British Pullman’ Victoria, Staines, Guildford, Shalford, Redhill and Victoria.

Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: No. 35028 Clan Line. BEL SAT 11: ‘Settle & Carlisle Golden Express I’ Bristol, Carlisle and return.

Steam-hauled: Preston, Shap, Carlisle, Settle, Crewe. Loco: TBA. PT SAT 11: ‘The Cumbrian Mountain Express’ London Euston, Carlisle & return.

Steam-hauled: Carnforth, Carlisle, Hellifield, Farington Jn. Loco: No. 45690 Leander, or No. 45699 Galatea. RTC

SMT

Statesman Trains 0845 3102458 SRPS Scottish Railway Preservation Society 0131 202 1033 TEL Torbay Express Ltd 01453 834477 UKRT UK Railtours 01438 715050 WCR West Coast Railways 01524 737751

SUN 12: ‘The Forth Bridge & Borders Steam Special’ Linlithgow, Tweedbank and return.

Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: TBA. SRPS THUR 14: ‘Cathedrals Express’ Victoria, Weymouth and return.

Steam-hauled: Victoria, Weymouth, and Southampton, Victoria.

Loco: TBA. SD SAT 11: ‘Settle & Carlisle Golden Express II’ Didcot, Carlisle and return.

Steam-hauled: Crews, Settle, Carlisle, Crewe.

Loco: TBA. PT SAT 18: ‘West Somerset Steam Express’ London Paddington, Minehead and return.

Steam-hauled: Paddington, Bishops Lydeard.

Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC TUE 21: ‘The Cathedrals Express’ London Victoria, Staines, Bishops Lydeard and return.

Steam-hauled: London Victoria, Bishops Lydeard.

Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. SD THUR 23: ‘Dorset Coast Express’ London Victoria, Weymouth Paddington, Minehead and return.

Steam-hauled: Victoria, Staines, Southampton, Weymouth and Southampton, Andover, Waterloo.

Loco: No. 45305 or No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC SAT 25: ‘Cotswold Venturer’ London Paddington, Worcester & return.

Steam-hauled throughout Loco: No. 60009 Union of South Africa. RTC

SUN 26: ‘The Waverley’ York, Carlisle Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: No. 45690 Leander or No. 45596 Bahamas or No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland.

RTC

Regular Steam DAILY: ‘Jacobite’ Fort William, Mallaig and return.

Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: No. 44871, 62005 or No. 45407. WCR AUG 14: ‘Dalesman’ York, Hellifield, Carlisle and return.

Steam-hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle and return.

Loco: No. 35018 British India Line, No. 45690 Leander, No. 48151 or No. 45699 Galatea. WCR TUES AUG 7, 21: ‘Fellsman’ Lancaster, Hellifield, Carlisle and return.

Steam-hauled throughout.

Loco: No. 45690 Leander or No. 45699 Galatea. SMT THURS TO SEP 13: ‘Scarborough Spa Express’ Carnforth, York, Scarborough and return.

Steam-hauled: York, Scarborough and return.

Loco: No. 35018 British India Line or No. 48151. WCR The information in this list was correct at the time of going to press.

We strongly advise you confirm details of a particular trip with the promoter concerned.

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STEAM IN SCOTLAND

Britain’s longest established operator of scenic railway excursions

Steam Specials featuring a Stanier Black Five steam locomotive SUNDAYS 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th AUGUST to the From Linlithgow, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Dalgety Bay & Edinburgh Steam-hauled over the Forth Bridge and round the Fife Circle, then through Edinburgh and along the new Borders Railway to Galashiels and Tweedbank.

Fares from Linlithgow or Fife £82 (Child £52) Fares from Edinburgh Waverley £62 (Child £42)

First Class £124 First Class £93

Fares include seat reservations

Additional coach tours to Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford House, the historic Borders town of Melrose or Seasons Restaurant at Gattonside may be booked.

The SRPS buffets are open throughout the tour.

Morning coffee & afternoon tea (£16) may be booked and are served at your seat.

For further details or to book please visit our website or phone

! 0131 202 1033 |

www.srpsrailtours.com

www.ribblesteam.co.uk

August 25 / 26 / 27 Ribble Steam Railway

Model Rail Festival

Don’t forget our Steam Gala on 28th & 29th September

Heritagerailway.co.uk 63

1T57 ‘FIFTEEN GUINEA SPECIAL’

THE FABLED FINAL CURTAIN!

There are few more seminal dates etched into the consciousness of UK railway enthusiasts and historians than Sunday, August 11, 1968, when the legendary ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ – immortalised by the headcode 1T57 – marked the end of British Rail steam haulage on the national network. In the first of two special 50th anniversary features on this landmark tour by linesiders who were there, Trevor Gregg continues his story about the demise of main line steam.

I

’m sure many steam enthusiasts like myself considered it was Saturday, August 3, 1968, when BR steam operations came to an end.

Yes, there were the five farewell to steam tours the following day, but normal steam operations ended on that Saturday evening when LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45318 departed Preston with the 9.25pm to Liverpool Exchange.

64 Heritagerailway.co.uk

I had been very surprised when BR announced it would be running a farewell to steam special a week later on Sunday, August 11, particularly when one of those five farewell tours had been a BR organised one.

What was even more surprising was the price of a ticket for this farewell special, an astronomical 15 guineas – equivalent to around £250 today.

The price led to 50 tickets remaining unsold. Guinea prices, in this case £15 15s 0d in 1968 pre-decimal currency were normally used only for luxury items or professional fees, and ticket prices had been inflated because of the high demand to travel on the last BR steam-hauled train over the network.

This price was far in excess of the average weekly wage, and it

appeared BR intended to make some money out of its last use of steam traction.

This farewell to steam special, headcode 1T57, the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’, started at Liverpool and unlike the other farewell tours was not restricted to the Lancashire area.

It instead offered a return journey to Carlisle via the picturesque Settle to Carlisle

BR Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell at London Road Junction Carlisle with 1T57 the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ at 3.30pm on Sunday, August 11, 1968. TREVOR GREGG Right: ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 44871 and 44781 at London Road Junction, Carlisle, about to turn on the Upperby triangle at 2.10pm on August 11, 1968.

TREVOR GREGG Below opposite: The original train reporting board carried by No. 44871 as it ran between Carlisle and Manchester Victoria on August 11, 1968, is now owned by West Coast Railways’ commercial manager James Shuttleworth, who bought it in 2007.

JASMES SHUTTLEWORTH

route. Irrespective of the motives behind BR running this tour, I was certainly not going to miss seeing it. I was still restricted to rail travel, therefore my photographic locations had to be near railway stations, so I decided Carlisle would be my destination.

Early on the morning of August 11, I set off from my home in Blyth to Newcastle where I joined a train for the journey

along the Tyne Valley to Carlisle.

It was late morning when I arrived at Carlisle. This was the first time I had been back to Carlisle since Kingmoor shed had closed to steam at the end of December the previous year.

It seemed strange not to be setting off for Kingmoor, or in earlier years it would be Upperby as well, to see numerous rows of steam locomotives; sadly that was now all in the past.

1T57 was not due until 3pm so for something completely different I decided to visit the remains of Carlisle Canal sheds.

The sheds had closed in June 1963 just before my first visit to Carlisle, so I never had the

opportunity to see them in operation. Five years later, I now found a derelict site – the coaling stage was still standing but all the shed buildings had gone.

I could only stand and imagine what it must have been like all those years ago with Gresley Pacifics being serviced, before making their return journeys back to Edinburgh via the Waverley route.

For my photographs of 1T57 I decided that London Road Junction, just south of Carlisle Citadel Station, and near Upperby, would be a reasonable location.

I arrived just after 2pm as the two ‘Black Fives’ – Nos. 44871

and 44781 – arrived running tender first past London Road, before moving forward along the curve into Upperby. Based upon their movements, I thought at the time they must have worked up from Carnforth via Shap, although I’ve subsequently read it was via Settle.

Just over an hour later I saw them reversing back from Upperby towards Citadel station.

I was standing on an overbridge, when at 3.30pm, now some 30 minutes late, there was the sound of a Britannia whistle and No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell came into view, slowly bringing the IT57 in past London Road Junction.

LMS duo Nos. 44871 and 44781 with the returning 1T57 at London Road Junction, Carlisle, at 3.50pm on August 11, 1968. TREVOR GREGG

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I then moved from the road bridge to a location beside London Road signalbox in preparation for the two ‘Black Fives’ bringing the tour back out of Carlisle on its return journey.

The stop at Carlisle was booked for 30 minutes so I was surprised when after only 15 minutes, the signals were raised and I could see black smoke coming from the direction of the station.

I then heard the sound of the two ‘Black Fives’ starting out of the station and then they came into view with No. 44871 piloting No. 44781 hauling 1T57 on its return journey. The stop had been cut down in an attempt to make up some of the lost time.

Then 15 minutes later, BR Standard Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell came into sight rounding the curve from Upperby and joining the Settle and Carlisle line to take its long journey south to Bressingham Gardens Museum and a life in preservation.

It was very sad to see No. 70013 disappearing into the distance and realising this was the end of my main line steam photography.

The following day, BR introduced a ban on the movement and operation of steam locomotives. There was, however, one locomotive which continued to break the ban – LNER A3 Pacific No. 4472 Flying Scotsman.

Some years earlier Alan Pegler, who had bought the world’s most famous steam locomotive out of service in 1963, had negotiated a contract with BR which allowed him to continue to run it on the main line until 1970, under the banner of Flying Scotsman Enterprises. It was only a matter of weeks before I was out taking

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Preservation bound, future assured: BR Britannia 4-6-2 No. 70013 on the Upperby triangle at 4.15pm on August 11, 1968, on its way onto the Settle & Carlisle line and its journey south to Bressingham Steam Museum, where founder Alan Bloom had offered it a welcome safe bolthole.

photographs of No. 4472 – and quite close to home. This was on September 7 with the joint Stephenson Locomotive Society and the Manchester Locomotive Society ‘Durham Coast Rail Tour’.

This tour started from Huddersfield and travelled up the coast to Sunderland and then on to Newcastle. After crossing over

the two Tyne bridges, the tour headed on to Hebburn and then arrived at its destination of Tyne Dock.

I was now more mobile, having passed my driving test, and could borrow my father’s car – indeed, it was a pity this had only happened after the end of main line steam. After taking a

Above: Steam refuses to die: LNER A3 Pacific No. 4472 climbing at Greenholme with the 1Z36 tour of June 1, 1969.

TREVOR GREGG Right: Dai Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry on September 6, 1969. TREVOR GREGG

photograph of the tour nearing Tyne Dock, I headed for the coast at Marsden, just south of South Shields. Passengers on the tour were treated to a journey on the NCB colliery system. Sitting in low-sided wooden coal trucks, they were taken down the coast to Whitburn and back, hauled by a colliery diesel locomotive. This

was followed by a trip to Harton Colliery on the overhead electric system.

I then went to Tyne Dock Sheds, where large crowds had gathered to see 4472 being serviced. Inside the sheds I found Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395, which was being worked on by a group of North Eastern Locomotive Preservation

Group members.

My final photograph of the day was of the special tearing south past Tyne Yard on its journey back to Huddersfield.

A few weeks later, it was ‘The Moorlander Special’, which I photographed near Keighley.

I included a visit to York sheds, the first time I had returned

there since early 1967, just before the sheds closed to steam. In the roundhouse I found A2 Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter and A4 No. 60019 Bittern. It was a positive start to 1969, with more tours booked for 4472 and I was out photographing them whenever I could. There were tours over Shap and tours running both up and down the East Coast Main Line.

It was all going quite nicely for my photography until the disastrous news Alan Pegler would not be seeing out the contract he had negotiated with BR. He was instead taking Flying Scotsman to the USA as part of a trade mission.

The final trip was to be the ‘Flying Scotsman Summer Tour’, which was from London to York, Sunderland and Newcastle.

I photographed No. 4472 climbing out of Monkwearmouth, near Sunderland – the loco had now been fitted with a large bell and whistle in preparation for its trip to America.

No. 4472 was shipped to the USA the following month, but I never thought it would be five years before I would see it again.

While No. 4472 was being shipped across the Atlantic, I made the pilgrimage, as did many steam enthusiasts, to Barry scrapyard in South Wales. It was an opportunity to see some classes of locomotives I had never seen before! I fully expected they would all be cut up and never thought for a moment they would survive. ➜ Turn to page 70 to read Maurice Burns’ account of the legendary 1T57.

Not all over yet! The ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ was certainly the last main line passenger train run by BR using its own locomotives – but the late Alan Pegler, the Ffestiniog Railway saviour, who had bought Flying Scotsman straight from service five years before, had agreed a special dispensation for it to be allowed to continue heading railtours on the national network. Crowds gathered at Newcastle’s Tyne Dock sheds on September 7, 1968, as Alan supervised the loading of coal. TREVOR GREGG

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THE JOURNEY OF THAT FABLED TRAIN

By Robin Jones

THE ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ set off at 9.11am from Lime Street station. No. 45110, crewed

by Edge Hill driver Jack Hart and fireman Brian Bradley, hauled the train to Manchester Victoria, arriving 8mins late at 10.42am.

Also on board the ‘Black Five’ was the London Midland Region Chief Inspector John Hughes, who supervised the tour from the footplates throughout the day.

Special stops for photographers were made during the first stage; initially at Rainhill, where the original ‘locomotive trials’ were held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829, and at nearby Parkside, where MP William Huskisson was killed in an accident with Stephenson’s Rocket following the opening ceremony on September 15, 1830, becoming the world’s first widely reported railway casualty. Large crowds lined the tracksides at both locations.

No. 45110 arrived 6mins down at Manchester Victoria and was replaced with No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell – which had the distinction of being the last steam locomotive to be overhauled by BR. The train departed on time at 11.06am for Carlisle via Bolton, Blackburn, Hellifield and the Settle and Carlisle line. The driver working the stage to Blackburn was Preston man Harold Bolton, with fireman Tommy Gorman and guard John Weal.

As 1T57 passed the sidings at Agecroft power station, one of the CEGB’s Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns industrial 0-4-0STs was waiting to whistle its own farewell to main line steam.

Problems were encountered at Blackburn where it was found that the watering facilities were not, as station staff had said the previous week, in full working order, so No. 70013 was taken off the train so it could be refilled by a much faster running supply elsewhere. The net result was a huge delay, Settle Junction being passed 36mins down.

The Blackburn crew of driver Bob Grogan and fireman Ray Watton were now in control, and to compensate for lost time, omitted the

water stop scheduled for the Down loop at Blea Moor.

To say the linesides, including station platforms and overbridges all along the route, were packed to heaving was an understatement, with every inch of space on roadside verges taken by parked cars.

There was a planned photographic stop for passengers alongside the isolated signalbox at Ais Gill summit, 1169ft above sea level and the highest point on any main line in England.

Word had spread along the enthusiast grapevine and hordes of photographers arrived by car, swarming on foot across the tracks. Once they had been cleared away, No. 70013 was allowed to continue on its journey, but the narrow B6259 alongside remained blocked by traffic, many cars having become bogged down on the soft verges.

The train arrived at Carlisle, 33mins late at 3.29pm, prompting a rapid turnaround.

Nos. 44781 and 44871 coupled on to the other end, with driver Norman Ashton, fireman Tony Helm and chief inspector Hughes on No. 44871, and driver Ray Grimshaw, fireman David Greenhalgh, and footplate inspector Bert Moore on its sister locomotive, both being Preston crews .

Nos. 44781 and 44871 double-headed the train, departing Carlisle 14mins late at 3.44pm, before retracing its route back to Manchester Victoria.

The train arrived in Manchester at 7pm, 12 minutes down.

For the Blackburn-Bolton-Manchester Victoria section, No. 44871 had ‘Belfast Boat Express’ driver Ted Fothergill in charge.

He was accompanied by fireman Malcolm Thistlethwaite from Carnforth shed.

Malcolm’s brother Ian acted as fireman on No. 44871, with Jack Simpson driving and Bert Moore as locomotive inspector.

Rejoining the train at Manchester Victoria, No. 45110, crewed by Lostock Hall driver Ken Mason and fireman Dick Owen, set off 5mins behind schedule, working the remainder of the journey back to Lime Street, arriving only 9mins late at 7.59pm, just as the sun was setting, not only on Merseyside but on British Rail steam.

No. 70013 made its way back from Carlisle light engine around 15mins behind 1T57, still crewed by driver Grogan

The press release announcing the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ and its route.

and fireman Watton, and assisted by acting footplate inspector Frank Watson, who also took turns on the shovel, heading to Lostock

The official planned timings for the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special.’

A covering letter of the press release sent out by London Midland Region relating to 1T57 and staff discounts.

68 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Hall for coal and water.

With a Healey Mills crew in charge, Oliver Cromwell ran from Lostock Hall to Doncaster shed via Blackburn, Copy Pit and Wakefield.

The Thistlewaite brother’s last duty with Nos. 44781 and 44871 was to return both ‘Black Fives’ light engine to Carnforth depot.

No. 44871 had already been bought by Morecambe GP and mega-enthusiast Dr Peter Beet and his friend John Parkin.

Back at Carnforth, the pair were requested not to drop the fires, because both locomotives were needed for filming

by BBC News the next morning. The filming was completed in time for the news bulletin that evening.

So these ‘Black Fives’ ended up being the last locomotives in steam in service on British Rail’s standard gauge, with the brothers as the final BR firemen on the network.

‘FIFTEEN GUINEA SPECIAL’

1T57

IN SEARCH OF THAT LAST STEAM PHOTO

Maurice Burns remembers in words and pictures the day when he visited the Settle and Carlisle line to record the end of an era which had transformed societies across the world, and also looks at subsequent anniversary runs leading up to this August’s Great Central Railway End of Steam gala featuring 1T57 veteran Oliver Cromwell.

T

Above: With just hours to go before its final working for BR, Britannia Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell simmers on Carnforth shed on the evening of August 10, 1968, before travelling light engine to Manchester to pick up the last train.

he days leading up to the end of steam operation on British Railways 50 years ago on August 11, 1968 will always live in the memory for those who witnessed it.

The week before had seen the final regular steam passenger working. Remarkably, steam was used right to the end to transport ordinary passengers six days a week from Preston to Liverpool and Blackpool.

I was one of the ‘Master Neverers Association’ (MNA) gang who endeavoured to clean the last operational engines to make sure they would finish their days with some pride. The MNA was well-known for its cleaning exploits between 1965-68, when hundreds of locomotives received attention from these very unofficial cleaners. Indeed, one of the many engines cleaned was ‘Black Five’ No. 45318, scheduled to haul the last train – the 9.25pm Preston-Liverpool Exchange on Sunday, August 3.

Its headboard, made by enthusiasts, was simple. It said: ‘The End’.

For more than 140 years steam locomotives had been used to haul scheduled passengers trains, but now it was over.

Approaching Selside with 2278ft Pen-y-ghent as a backdrop Britannia No 70013 Oliver Cromwell heads north to Carlisle with the 1T57 last steam train on August 11, 1968.

ALL IMAGES MAURICE BURNS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.

The day before the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’, I went to Carnforth to see Britannia No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell and check that it was cleaned and take some last pictures, my favourite being after dark, viewed from the roof of Carnforth shed. The engine later that night moved to Lostock Hall shed at Preston, then on to Manchester to pick up the special-diagrammed IT57.

On the Sunday, I opted to see this train on the Settle and Carlisle line, at photographic locations that were my favourites. I wanted to enjoy the day, and as the special did not pass Blea Moor until 1.24pm there was time to meet old friends in the Station Inn, Ribblehead, for a pint to commemorate the end of BR steam.

These were special friends who had gone to great lengths to clean many engines in their final hours and take superb pictures. We posed for the last pictures together, to mark the historic occasion, and as the photograph indicates, everyone was in fine spirits for such a sad occasion.

This group of hardy MNA souls decided they would meet at the Ribblehead pub every

With the last train not due until after 1pm, there was an opportunity for old friends to meet for a drink at the Station Inn, Ribblehead, to commemorate the end of the steam era on British Railways. Here, a crowd of Master Neverers Association members, who used to clean engines on BR, pose to the camera with the author in the white shirt on the far right. JOHN HUNT

year on August 11 and they have achieved that goal ever since for 50 years.

It was during the group picture, talking and drinking ale, we heard a distant whistle then the two ‘Black Fives’ – Nos. 44871 and 44781 – appeared travelling light engine to Carlisle prior to working the train from Carlisle over the Settle and Carlisle later in the day. This caught us by surprise, and I managed a picture of the engines crossing Ribblehead viaduct, but it focused the mind, time was passing and the special itself was on its way.

I drove down the valley beyond Selside and had difficulty in finding a parking place as there were so many people about, both enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, wanting to witness the historic occasion. I found my spot where the line passes the magnificent 2278ft Pen-y-ghent, but the scheduled time came and went – it was running late. The weather was good, with patchy cloud and clear sky.

Would I be lucky and have sunshine on the

Above: Total gridlock on the road to Ais Gill summit where Oliver Cromwell and its train made a brief photo stop.

Inset: The BR ticket for the last steam passenger train run by British Railways.

last day? Running 34mins late, No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell came into view and it looked fine, and the sun was out too!

Back at the car, it was nose to tail traffic, as the convoy headed north. Everyone knew the special was very surprisingly scheduled to stop at Ais Gill Summit. Whether this was for press purposes, or for passengers to get out, use steps, and take pictures, no one knew, but everyone was heading for the same place – the summit.

After joining the long line of cars beyond the Moorcock Inn, we all knew we would not make it in time. Eventually the whole road became gridlocked. There was only one decision to make. Lock the car and run to the summit, and that is what everyone did.

When I reached the bridge and looked down, there was Oliver Cromwell surrounded by enthusiasts at every vantage point.

Ais Gill signalbox, where I had spent many a happy day in the past, in the peace and

quiet, was now a mass of people with no apparent police presence. The train stopped at the summit for 13mins, from 2.20pm to 2.33pm and left for Carlisle. After its departure, all the car drivers returned to their abandoned cars and it was some time before the traffic could move.

After the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ reached Carlisle, a quick detaching of the Britannia and coupling up of the two Class 5s at the other end, saw the stay at Carlisle reduced to 14mins. On time, the special departed Carlisle hauled by Nos. 44871 and 44781.

They, like Oliver Cromwell, carried no headboard or wreath to mark the occasion, but the simple train reporting number on a board – 1T57 – mounted on the smokebox.

That number would become legendary.

After refreshments with friends at the Temperance Hotel in Kirkby Stephen and another group picture, I headed for Ais Gill and the viaduct just down from the summit.

A view from the overbridge at Dent station sees large crowds gather to see the last northbound steam train hauled by No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. RODNEY WILDSMITH Heritagerailway.co.uk 71

The incredible scene at Ais Gill summit as the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ made a brief stop, with enthusiasts being allowed to go where they pleased, all within sight of the signalman.

There was quite a crowd, with cameras at the ready. We listened on a beautiful sunny evening for the sound of steam exhausts.

I had stood at the location many times, but perhaps this was historically, the most important. Round the corner of Mallerstang came the special, the two Class 5s in full command of the task and running on time.

In an all too quick moment, the train had gone and some enthusiasts returned to their cars.

I decided to stay with several others as we

had heard Oliver Cromwell was travelling light engine, immediately from Carlisle to Diss, for a new life as a preserved engine. As it came into view – a solitary engine – it hit home, this would be the last image I would take of a BR steam engine in action.

I returned to my car, packed away the cameras and drove down Wensleydale.

During the journey home to Stockton-onTees, I reflected on the passage of time for the previous eight years – every Saturday I had been out with my camera. Now, BR steam was

The ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ hauled by ‘Black Fives’ Nos. 44871 and 44781 captured in perfect evening light as they climb through Mallerstang and cross Ais Gill viaduct.

no more and life would never be the same.

I had visited the Settle and Carlisle line so many times from when I cycled 100 miles for a trip to see Kirkby Stephen West, when I was just 14 years old, but now eight years later, after the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special,’ I thought I would never see steam over the line again.

Re-creating the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special

The 30th anniversary of 1T57 in August 1998 brought an interesting double-headed combination together.

Here, Class 5 No. 44871 pilots Jubilee No. 45598 Bahamas as the special train approaches Birkett tunnel.

“After the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’, I thought I would never see steam over the line again.”

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History has a strange way of evolving. The return of main line steam in 1971 and the re-introduction of steam on the Settle and Carlisle line on March 25, 1978 were major landmarks. Preserved locomotives have now operated over the route for 40 years and in that time there have been many commemorative re-runs of the last train of August 11, 1968.

The 30th anniversary 1T57 special in 1998 was hauled by ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 piloting Jubilee No. 45596 Bahamas. The 40th anniversary in 2008 saw the northbound run worked by Oliver Cromwell as it did 40 years earlier. The return working was undertaken by ‘Black Fives’ No. 45407 piloting 45231.

In 2013, for the 45th anniversary of 1T57, there were two trains to mark the anniversary. The ‘Fellsman’ on August 7 was adapted to be 1T57, with doubled-headed Class 5s Nos. 44932 and 45231 working the train, and in great weather was able to re-enact my picture of August 11, 1968 on Ais Gill viaduct.

The second train, two days later on August 9, 2013, was in dreadful weather. Again Oliver Cromwell worked northbound but in torrential rain, and on the return two

Class 5s had the honour, with Nos. 45231 piloting 44932.

Marking the 50th anniversary

For the half centenary, the expiration of boiler tickets and steam power shortages will not see a exact recreation of 50 years ago but nevertheless there is, subject to the fire risk ban been lifted, lots on offer with three railtours in operation on Saturday August 11 for those who want to travel or photograph at Ribblehead or Ais Gill and relive the memories of 50 years ago.

The Railway Touring Company has two trains – ‘The 50th Anniversary Cumbrian Mountain Express’ outward via Shap and return over the Settle and Carlisle line behind Nos. 45690 Leander or 45699 Galatea. ‘The Waverley’ from York to Carlisle travels over the Settle and Carlisle route both ways with Jubilee haulage or Duchess No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland.

Finally Pathfinder Tours will be operating the ‘Settle and Carlisle Golden Express’ outward via Shap and return via the Settle and Carlisle route. A1 Tornado was due to haul the trips but due to ongoing repairs will be substituted. A repeat is planned four days later.

Oliver Cromwell will take centre stage in the Great Central Railway’s August 4-5 and 11-12 End of BR Steam gala spectacular.

The showpiece event will feature a major recreation of events during the final two weekends of BR steam, and the GCR will be the only place to travel behind Oliver Cromwell to mark the anniversary. There will be a ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ on August 11-12,

After a lengthy period in preservation at Diss, the National Collection Britannia pacific No 70013 Oliver Cromwell was returned to mainline working order. Here, on the 40th anniversary of 1T57, Oliver Cromwell is seen climbing through Stainforth with the northbound special train in August 2008.

and for added authenticity, there will be a diesel in authentic BR green livery in service.

So the 50th anniversary promises to be a feast of steam and rightly so. It not only commemorates a moment in steam locomotive history but we should also be celebrating the success of the modern-day locomotive owners and operators who keep steam operating but never forgetting those in the past who have got us here.

For some older readers of this magazine they can relive the day of 50 years ago but for younger readers they can absorb the atmosphere of a time long past.

A lasting memento to the end of BR steam and the past 50 years

For me, August 11, 2018 is more than a one day event but a time for reflection. I was fortunate

Heritagerailway.co.uk 73

Maurice Burns (left) and fellow cyclist Stephen Brown, both aged 17, on one of their many longdistance cycling adventures in search of steam.

to see the last years of BR steam, cycling more than 100 miles from home to see the Royal Scots on the ‘Thames Clyde Express,’ then later the decline of steam on BR, and in particular the Settle and Carlisle line. After August 11, 1968, I became deeply involved, like many others, in the steam preservation movement, and watched the rebirth of main line steam, especially over my favourite line, the Settle to Carlisle route.

All these memories of cycling adventures and photographs, spanning near 60 years, have been gathered together in the new book A Passion for Steam over the Settle and Carlisle Line, to be published to coincide with the 50th anniversary. It is my own journey through time spent on the Settle and Carlisle railway, including helping the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group to restore Peppercorn Pacific No. 60532 Blue Peter and the K1 2-6-0 No. 62005 for the main line.

With a foreword by David Ward, vicepresident of the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle line, the book is being published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the end of main line steam. It is a limited edition, with all orders to be placed by August 17, and costs £34, post free. All royalties are being donated to the steam preservation movement. Order forms are available from the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle shops at Settle, Ribblehead and Appleby stations as well as the North Yorkshire Moors, Severn Valley, Keighley &

The second 45th anniversary train saw No. 45231 piloting No. 44932 as they approach Birkett tunnel in August 2013.

The southbound train was double headed by two Class 5s as in 1968. Here, No. 45407 pilots No. 45231 as they speed through Culgaith crossing in August 2008.

The 45th anniversary saw two trains operating. Here, the Fellsman, carrying the 1T57 reporting number on August 7, 2013, sees No. 44932 piloting No. 45231 over Ais Gill viaduct, enabling an almost repeat picture taken 45 years earlier.

Worth Valley, Great Central, East Lancashire and Wensleydale railways stations.

An order form can also be obtained from www.nostalgiacollection.com and then clicking on Limited Editions in the top navigation bar. , by calling 01536 330588 or by post from The Trundle, Ringstead Road, Great Addington, Kettering, Northants NN14 4BW. All purchasers may have their names in the 50th anniversary book, in a list of subscribers, a fine memento of such an historic event.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 75

MAIN LINE NEWS

WITH FULL REGULATOR LOCOMOTIVE PERFORMANCE THEN AND NOW Great Western to BristolTemple Meads on Saturday, June 9, where the‘Black Five’was booked to take over from a Class 47 diesel, No. 47746 and take the train on to Kingswear.

Having watched the Class 47 detach from the train, and as booked, leave light engine forTaunton in order to take over the train on its return there, I walked down the train to get the load, which was 10 coaches for 369½ tons tare. However, I noted with dismay that No. 47760 was still attached at the rear – the two diesel locos having been needed for the reversals at Guildford andWestbury.

By Don Benn THE theme this time is heavy loads at home and in Europe, though I start with a series of climbs from Taunton to Whiteball. I have been following the exploits of LMS‘Black Five’4-6-0 No. 45212 which has been producing some fine running with 10 coaches unassisted on a number of charters. I wanted to sample one of these and thought thatThe Railway Touring Company’s‘Dartmouth Express’would be a good choice and so made my way by means of First

TABLE ONE: TAUNTON TO WHITEBALL Date Loco Load Recorder Location Taunton Silk Mill LC Norton Fitzwarren Victory LC MP 167 Bradford & Tone LC MP 169 Wellington MP 171 Beam Bridge MP 172½ Whiteball Tunnel

June 9, 2018 45212 10+ 47.746 DB MC 163 12 164 35 165 08 166 05 167 00 167 55 169 00 170 19 171 00 172 02 172 40 173 13

Gradient 322/L 724 369 203/338 222/490 174/170 L 90 86 80 80

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mins 00 03 04 06 07 08 09 11 12 13 14 15

secs 00 41 33 02 21 12 56 26 29 49 30 26

speed 36 41 42½ 44 47½ 45½/47 46 49 43½ 43½/41½ 42½

June 29, 2014 45407 8 1020 Shireman

July 6, 2014 45407 8 1020 Shireman

mins 00 03 04 06 07 07 09 10 11 13

secs 00 55 38 12 07 59 28 55 46 03

speed

14

47

38

mins 00 03 03 05 06 06 08 09 10 11 12 13

41 45 49 50/52 51/52 51 53/54 50 44

secs 00 18 57 06 11 55 22 44 33 48 27 25

September 21, 2014 5029 10 1020 Shireman speed 45 50 55/54 55 56 54 56/57 53 46 43 40

mins 00 03 04 05 06 07 08 10 11 12 13 14

secs speed 00 41 46 20 50 30 53 37 53 27 53 53 51 18 55 09 50 28 41 13 38 19 34

In addition, the recommended load limit for a class 5 on Whiteball westbound is eight coaches, plus of course No. 45212 would face the steep climb to Churston on theTorbay and Dartmouth Railway. I was particularly annoyed as this class 5 had been proving to be in the class 6 category and also the train manager had found me a milepost side seat in the front passenger coach, which was now to be spoilt slightly by the likelihood of diesel assistance.

The class 5 had been in position west of the station since our arrival, but continued to sit there – a victim of the new‘improved’shunting arrangements which have already delayed the charters on June 3 and 17.

Eventually our loco appeared at around departure time of 10.23am and we were ready to go a few minutes later.

But no, the signallers saw fit to let the 10.26am stopper toWeston go in front, also late.Therefore of course, we followed that toWorle and got looped atYatton as well.

I could detect no help from the Class 47 and we ran steadily to theTaunton stop, reached 37 minutes late.

Taunton was better organised than Bristol and after being held for a couple of service trains we left 49 late for the climb toWhiteball, the main reason for being on the train. Spike Hodges was driving and young Mathew Earnshaw on the shovel.With 10 coaches for 395 tons full plus the Class 47, we made a very good noisy start.

Without knowing exactly what was going on in the cab of No. 47760, it is difficult to be absolutely sure about how much assistance was given and where, but from lineside clips posted onYouTube it appears that the diesel loco did little or nothing untilWellington; maybe just notch one. No. 45212 was being worked very hard indeed throughout the whole climb and asTable One shows, it looked as though it was taking the full 395 Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

TABLE TWO: SALISBURY TO BASINGSTOKE Date Train Engine

Crew Weather Recorder

Saturday, November 21, 2009 The Merchant Venturer Rebuilt Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No. 35028 Clan Line 13 coaches plus Class 67 DL, 550 tons tare 580 tons gross Wayne Thompson and Brian Butcher Windy and wet Alan Rawlings

Salisbury Tunnel Jct Laverstock N ct Porton MP 73¼ Grateley Red Post Jct Andover MP 62½ Hurstbourne Whitchurch Overton Oakley Worting Jct Basingstoke

miles 0.00 1.10 1.31 5.51 10.28 10.93 16.00 17.30 21.04 22.55 24.46 28.08 31.24 33.37 35.88

Load

Fireman Mathew Earnshaw looks out of the cab of ‘Black Five’ No. 45212 as it departs Exeter St Davids with the Dartmouth Express on June 9, 2018. DON BENN Left: SR Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line passes Newington on the Belmond Pullman on March 30, 2018. BRYAN BENN

“ ‘Black Five’ No. 45212 was being worked very hard indeed throughout the whole climb and as Table One shows, it looked as though it was taking the full 395 ton load until hitting the 1-in-90/80 from milepost 171. From here to the tunnel the Class 47 clearly cut in, but that didn’t detract from a wonderful steam experience.” ton load until hitting the 1-in-90/80 from milepost 171.

From here to the tunnel the Class 47 clearly cut in, but that didn’t detract from a wonderful steam experience.

The Table shows comparisons with No. 45407 on eight coaches, driven by Ray Churchill and with single chimney class 7 Castle class 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney Castle, driven by Fred Lewis. I am very grateful to ‘1020 Shireman’ for providing the details for this table. There is no doubt at all that No. 45212 would easily have made it to the top of Whiteball unaided. It was a fine sunny day and the crew knew exactly what they were doing.

Moving on now to the unassisted heavy load runs, Table Two shows a fine effort behind No. 35028 Clan Line on the return ‘Merchant Venturer’ on November 21, 2009 in very difficult conditions. Alan Rawlings describes the run: “The ‘Merchant Venturer’ ran with a diesel in the complement because of complicated shunt moves at Bristol so Clan Line carried 580 tons with her all day. The return took place in the dark in driving rain and wind on a slippery rail. Wayne Thompson was in charge of the train from Bath and he said at the time that it just wasn’t possible to tiptoe along in the poor conditions because with that load we simply wouldn’t have got anywhere and would also have lost time. So it was a determined crew who took a noisy Clan Line past Dilton Marsh at 21mph on the climb to Upton Scudamore and with only one slip crested the top at a commendable 15.

“The log covers the run from Salisbury to Basingstoke where the railhead conditions were reported as even worse. Given the load, the 1 in 170 steepening to 1 in 140 past Porton only saw speed increase by 4mph. It was just a case of setting Clan Line to the hill and letting her find her way in the wet. Speed picked up as the climb eased and then full advantage was taken of the falling

grades through Andover to take Enham Bank on the run. Thereafter, a good average was maintained until the train was switched at Worting for the Basingstoke stop.”

Going through my records, I found a run on January 2, 1967 with a BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No. 76066 on the 6.35pm Salisbury to Waterloo with an unusually heavy load for this train of eight coaches and two vans for 345 tons gross. J J Smith of Nine Elms MPD did well to gain time on the 28 minute booking for the 23.46 miles from Basingstoke to Woking, keeping the train moving at around the 60mph mark, touching 65½mph down the 1-in-314 after Brookwood. This train was Nine Elms Duty 113 and booked for a BR Standard Class 5 4-6-0 but almost anything could be used as it started the day on the 4.40am from Waterloo and spent most of the day at Salisbury.

Western performance

In 1968, while others were chasing down the last main line steam in the UK, I had developed an interest in ‘modern’ motive power and in particular the Western Region; no doubt due to my first posting to ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’ to work in the traffic costing section at Paddington. Recently married, we favoured Devon for our annual summer holidays and on one such trip returned from Plymouth on June 23, 1968 on the 10.30am to Paddington. It was a damp, muggy day with drizzle and at the head of our 15-coach train weighing 523 tons tare and 565 tons full was Western Class 52 diesel-hydraulic No. 1007 Western Talisman. I have long since lost my Western Region loading book, but I am quite sure that such a load would have been above the limit. Table Four shows detail of the run as far as Newton Abbot and it can be seen that the long stretch

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

sched 0.00 4.00

25.00

48.00 52.00

mins 00 04 05 11 18 19 24 25 28 29 31 35 38 40 46

secs 00 43 06 40 48 38 06 10 32 54 34 05 21 49 00

speed 32 34 38 43 54/72 71 75 63 68 64 60/57 61 43*

* brakes or speed restriction

TABLE THREE: BASINGSTOKE TO WOKING Date Train Engine Load Driver Weather Recorder

January 2, 1967 635 pm Salisbury to Waterloo BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No. 76066 8 coaches and 2 vans, 327 tons tare, 345 tons gross J J Smith Nine Elms MPD Cold and dark DB

Basingstoke MP 46 Newnham Siding Hook MP 41 Winchfield MP 38 Fleet MP 35 Farnborough Sturt Lane Jct MP 31 Pirbright Jct Brookwood MP 27 Woking Jct Woking

miles 0.00 1.75 4.10 5.59 6.75 7.92 9.75 11.27 12.75 14.55 15.60 16.75 18.26 19.76 20.75 23.00 23.46

sched 0.00

28.00

mins 00 03 06 07 09 10 12 13 15 16 18 19 21 22 23 25 26

secs 00 36 14 50 06 22 10 36 6 57 11 31 00 33 30 56 50

speed 49 56½/55 57½ 56 58 64½ 62 60 54 55½ 54 60 64/65½ 63 51

of 1-in-41/47/42 of Hemerden bank brought speed down to 12½mph. In fact, I thought we weren’t going to make it as the loco was slipping towards the top of the climb. Despite this and a signal stop at Rattery, we only lost just over half a minute to the Totnes stop. Dainton then brought speed down to 16mph before we gained Newton Abbot nearly four minutes inside schedule.

The train had left Plymouth 10 minutes late, but due to having to pull up at stops we were 18 late off Newton Abbot and the same from Exeter St Davids. The 30.75 miles to Taunton were run in a very commendable 34 minutes 44 seconds just inside the schedule, including a temporary speed restriction to 22mph at Cowley Bridge Junction. Speeds were 71 at Cullumpton, 64 at Tiverton Junction, 71 again at Sampford Peverell and 56mph over Whiteball followed by 80mph at Beam Bridge and a signal check to 12mph at Wellington.

Further checks ensued meaning a 24 late departure from Westbury but some fast running put us 18 late Heritagerailway.co.uk 77

TABLE FOUR: PLYMOUTH TO NEWTON ABBOT Date Train Engine Load Weather Recorder

June 22, 1968 10.30am Plymouth to Paddington Western Co-Co Diesel Hydraulic No. D1007 Western Talisman 15 coaches, 523 tons tare 565 tons gross damp with drizzle DB

Plymouth Lipson Jct Laira Jct Tavistock Jct Plympton Hemerden SB Cornwood Ivybridge Bittaford Wrangaton Brent

miles 0.00 1.50 1.95 2.85 4.05 6.70 8.35 10.80 13.00 14.10 16.30

Rattery SB

18.60

Tigley SB Totnes

20.45 23.15 0.00

MP 220 Dainton SB Stonecombe SB Aller Jct Newton Abbot

4.80 5.90 7.60 8.70

sched

39.00 0.00

mins secs 00 00 04 03 04 43 06 02 07 16 13 55 16 30 19 17 22 01 23 08 25 52 sigs stop 29 57 30 27 34 37 39 37 00 00

18.00

08 10 12 15

12 21 21 19

* brakes or speed restriction

speed 44 41* 50½ 53 12½ 44 51½ 53 54½/51* 53½ 0* 45/* 44 16 47/50 48* D1021 is seen on the 10.10am Paddington to Paignton approaching Dawlish on September 5, 1970. DON BENN

On July 28, 1973, 141R No. 1298 is seen climbing out of Cebere with the 10.20am relief to Paris. DON BENN

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“After the usual fitful night’s sleep, we awoke at Aachen to find that our train was waiting for coaches from Innsbruck running about two-and-a-half hours late and this is what made the train up to my heaviest recorded load of 19 coaches for 824 tonnes tare or about 875 tons full.” from Reading, whence we had a very rare and excellent unchecked run to Paddington, 35.85 miles in 31 minutes 24 seconds. Speed was up to 70mph by Twyford and 84 by Maidenhead, and then held above 80mph until Old Oak Common, with a maximum of 86½mph. The train was just under 10 minutes late into Paddington, overall a fine performance by one of my favourite diesel locomotive classes. In my view, there is nothing wrong with non-steam traction provided it keeps away from steam worked trains. In fact, my next book for Pen & Sword doesn’t have any steam in it at all.

Continental heavyweights

When searching for my heaviest run ever anywhere with any form of traction I found one in France behind electric loco 2D2. No. 9114 on the 5.57pm Monaco to Paris on September 17, 1969 with 19 on, including sleeping and couchette coaches, but I don’t have full details of either load or performance other than we were 73 late into the French capital. Presumably the 2D2 had worked from Marseilles. Also in Europe, though I have full details of a run with another 19 coach train – this time on the 8.35pm Wien to Ostende Express in March 1972. I used this train in the 1970s when returning from visits with friends to Austria for steam and in particular it was very useful after visiting the Vordenberg rack line as it provided a connection from the cross country train from Selzthal to Linz, allowing time there to visit the excellent restaurant above the station. On the occasion of the run shown in Table Five, we had enjoyed a breathtakingly beautiful ride through a snow covered landscape in brilliant moonlight and adjourned to the restaurant to order and consume a meal and drinks in just half an hour.

The mixed grill never tasted better. After the usual fitful night’s sleep, we awoke at Aachen to find that our train was waiting for coaches from Innsbruck running about two-and-a-half hours late and this is what made the train up to my heaviest recorded load of 19 coaches for 824 tonnes tare or about 875 tons full.

Up front was Belgian (SNCB) Bo-Bo EL No. 2221 rated at a quite modest 2366-2557 horsepower, low for this mammoth train. We had been on time but now left Aachen 13 late, banked by a German Railways (DB) class 218 DL, similar to a Western Region ‘Hymek’. I have tabulated the section from Liege to Brussels where the little EL produced a fine run inside even time, despite a number of checks and with quite long stretches of speed exceeding the 130kph (81mph) limit. The train was banked out of Liege by two SNCB electric locos, but these dropped off at KM post 98 after two-anda-half minutes.

To finish this time, I revert to steam and a very fine run in the south of France behind 141R No. 1298 on the 7.55pm relief train from Paris to Spain on July 28, 1973.

This was right at the end of steam working in France and followed unsuccessful attempts in the same area the year before. More than 1300 141Rs were built from 1945 mainly by the three loco works in the USA as replacements for steam traction lost during the Second World War and were very fine oil fired mixed traffic engines with driving wheel diameter of 5ft 5in, limited in speed to 100kph (62.3mph). No. 1298 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works and was one of the last to enter service.

Table Six shows the run from Narbonne where 141R No. 1298 took over from SNCF electric loco 2D2.

No. 5510 to the border at Cebere on a beautiful sunny early morning. My abiding memory is of the loco being thrashed into speed after each check and station stop, the continuous roar with its big train and of the superb

Mediterranean seascape never being far away.

In later years we would get to know this area of France very well and still visit it 45 years on. As can be seen from the table, the line is far from flat especially after Argelessur-Mer and the 141R had to be flogged up the 1-in-71 from Banuyls. I don’t have details of sectional times, but we were 10 late away from Narbonne. It was quite clear that something was amiss with the positioning of the km posts from Port-la-Novelle to Leucate, where each km was about 100m short. I have corrected this in the table where all distances are my calculations and differ from the official ones in some cases. I am grateful to Alan Varley of the Railway Performance Society for his help in trying to reconcile the differences which ultimately was not possible. After many hours’ work I decided to use the distances I recorded at the time as these are shown in great detail in my log book including the exact positioning of km posts at stations.

Next time it will be back to Blighty and more steam.

141R No.1298 is seen leaving Perpignan with the 7.55pm Paris to Port Bou on July 28, 1973. DON BENN

TABLE FIVE: LIEGE TO BRUSSELS

TABLE SIX: NARBONNE TO CEBERE

Date Train Loco

Date Train Loco Load Position Weather Recorder

Load Weather Recorder

Sunday, March 26, 1972 8.35pm (Saturday) Wien Westbahnhof to Ostende SNCB Bo-Bo Electric Loco No. 2221 3,000 volts DC.Rated 2366-2557 HP 19 coaches, 824 tonnes tare 875 tons gross Fine and dry DB

Liege Guillemins Liege Haut Pre Leige Montesnee Ans Bierset Voroux-Goreux Fexhe Remicourt Bleret Waremme Corswarem Jeuk Roseux Ginglelom Landen Neerwinden Ezemaal Tienen Kumtich Roosbeek Vertrijk Lovenjoel Korbeek Leuven Herent Veltem Erps Korternberg Nossegem Zaventom Diegem Haren Schaerbeek Brussels Nord

kms 0.00 1.30 4.60 5.92 9.80 11.65 13.99 19.62 21.64 24.97 27.80 30.30 35.40 38.80 42.49 45.66 52.00 55.09 57.50 59.49 63.30 65.30 70.50 75.47 78.33 81.76 84.72 87.47 90.00 92.06 93.78 97.10 99.80

miles 0.00 0.81 2.86 3.68 6.09 7.23 8.69 12.18 13.44 15.51 17.26 18.82 21.98 24.09 26.39 28.35 32.29 34.21 35.70 36.94 39.31 40.55 43.78 46.87 48.64 50.77 52.61 54.32 55.85 57.17 58.25 60.30 61.98

Sched mins secs 0.00 00 00 03 16 05 15 06 27 08 39 09 48 10 56 13 40 14 47 16 04 17 22 18 37 20 54 22 25 24 04 25 24 28 30 30 47 33 04 34 35 36 44 37 48 40 10 43 19 45 06 46 55 48 31 50 06 51 27 52 46 53 40 56 59 64.00 60 59

kms

speed 47/40 43 50 66 73 78 80 82 83 81/80 82/84 82/83 82 84/86 85 75 29* sigs 43 60 72 78/82 80 54* sigs 67 70 66 70 67 70/74 22* sigs 30/42

net time 55 minutes average speed Remicourt to Ezemaal : 82.70 mph * brakes or speed restriction

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Saturday, July 28, 1973 7.55pm (Friday) Paris Austerlitz to Port Bou Oil Fired 2-8-2 No. 141R1298 14 coaches, 552 tonnes tare 575 tons gross 3rd coach of 14 Belle temps. Dry warm and sunny. Calm DB

Narbonne KP 406 KP 410 KP 412 Gruissan KP 418 Port-la-Nouvelle KP 433 Laucate Fitou KP 444 Salses KP 453 KP 457 Rivesaltes

0.00 2.62 6.62 8.62 9.77 14.62 21.02 28.62 31.82 36.29 40.49 46.59 49.49 53.49 55.93 0.00 KP 461 2.56 KP 465 6.56 Perpignan 8.20 0.00 KP 470 3.36 KP 474 7.36 Elne 13.65 KP 484 17.36 KP 487 20.36 Argeles-sur-Mer 21.95 KP 492 25.36 Collioure 27.15 Port Vendres 29.75 KP 499 32.36 Banuyls 34.62 0.00 KP 504 1.74 KP 504.5 2.24 KP 506 3.74 Cebere 6.68

miles

mins secs speed

0.00 1.63 4.11 5.35 6.06 9.08 13.05 17.77 19.76 22.54 25.14 28.93 30.73 33.22 34.73 0.00 1.59 4.07 5.09 0.00 2.09 4.57 8.50 10.78 12.64 13.66 15.75 16.86 18.47 20.10 21.50 0.00 1.08 1.39 2.32 4.15

00 04 07 08 09 12 16 21 23 26 29 33 35 38 41 00 03 06 09 00 04 07 11 13 15 16 18 19 22 25 29 00 03 04 06 12

00 53 33 43 24 39 33 13 34 56 49 21 39 02 14 00 24 26 01 00 40 14 09 24 11 09 19 30 14 02 58 00 50 50 39 17

est gradient

47 55½ 64 60 54* 64 57½ 32* sigs 55½/60 56½/61½ 56* 63 60

300F L L L L L L L 300R 300R 250R 250R 250R

37½ 55½

300R 300R

56 64 60 62½/61 65½ 60*/58½ 61 54 16* sigs 40/* sigs

300R 200F 250R 300F 250F L 250R 125R 300F 150R/125F

18 21 50/*

71R 71R 91F

* brakes or speed restriction

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Golden Triangle with Shimla

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Discover the enchanting delights of British colonial history on this magical tour across Northern India.

In the Days of the British Raj a hill town in the Indian Himalayas become the summer capital of government officials, military attaches, viceroys and attendant servants and families. They went to Shimla to escape the heat and even ruled from there. Now you can ride the same narrow-gauge railways they used (and built) as you travel the Kalka-Shimla line into Britain’s colonial past. With broad-gauge steam (with foot plate ride) behind the world’s oldest locomotive (The Fairy Queen), vintage Rail Bus travel over a myriad of aqueducts and bridges on the Kalka-Shimla line and a steam-hauled adventure on the same line to enjoy, your tour gets off to a flying start! Yours to discover on this once-in-a-lifetime trip to the enigmatic East.

Discover the enchanting region of Alsace by steam train on this rich tour of autumn splendour in eastern France.

Based in the magnificent city of Colmar you’ll explore the region on privately chartered standard gauge steam trains on all of the preserved railways in Alsace and a forest railway in nearby Lorraine. There are also excursions into nearby southern Germany to enjoy and a visit to an impressive steam railway in the Black Forest. One of many tour highlights is a scenic lunch cruise aboard a classic motor vessel on the River Rhine in Basel, Switzerland.

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Andes of Colombia and Ecuador

Steam in Central and Southern Italy

This tour visits two of the less well known countries of South America that are dominated by the Andes Mountains. Several high plateaux host major cities such as Bogotá in Colombia and Quito in Ecuador where we spend time. Both countries were once Spanish colonies and their cultural and architectural heritage figures prominently in our interesting itinerary. The greatly varied climate with an amazingly diverse range of flora and fauna will be fascinating to experience. Incredibly difficult terrain in the Andes Mountains made railway construction almost impossible but we travel by train to and through these areas. Our journey from the Pacific Ocean into the Andes of Ecuador features climbing the world-famous ‘Devils Nose’. There will be many opportunities for filming and photographing spectacular scenery, historic heritage, and unusual highlights.

The central Italian region of Abruzzo is the focus of this steam packed tour, where the rugged mountain scenery provides the breath taking backdrop for our privately chartered main line steam trains. You will travel steam-hauled through the Apennine mountains on the recently re-opened Italian Trans-Siberian Railway. You’ll stay two nights in Rome at the start of your tour, before the pace picks up and you travel on privately chartered main line steam trains north to the Apennines, then on through the Tiber Valley to Terni, before heading southwards to sultry Sulmona, classic Cassino and historic Naples. You’ll see the regional capital L’Aquila, National Park of Majella and the ski resort of Campo di Giove. With exquisite cuisine to savour and elegant accommodation always at your disposal, this is the ideal steam break for intrepid enthusiasts and interested newcomer alike.

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ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

50 YEARS SINCE THE

RETURN OF STEAM!

While steam was fast disappearing from its last foothold on the main line in the north west of England in early summer 1968, at the same time it was returning with a vengeance to one of the region’s branch lines. The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway held a stunning eight-day gala from June 24 to July 1 to celebrate half a century since it was opened by locals using volunteer labour, report Robin Jones and Gareth Evans.

H

AD I bought a 1949-built Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T and painted it in a bright maroon livery that even a pre-Grouping company might have found somewhat over the top, I not only would be laughed to scorn, but our Platform pages would be overflowing with letters from angry purists for the foreseeable future.

Yet one such locomotive in its totally outrageous (for its class and era) crimson lake livery not only made transport history, but is now well and truly part of it.

It was on June 29, 1968 that, due to a rail strike, the only part of the national network in operation was a redundant branch line in West Yorkshire, and in an act of seeming defiance to the trend of the time, steam ruled the roost on the day – six weeks before BR ran its last main steam train of all.

Ivatt No. 41241, which was built by BR and of course would never have carried crimson lake livery, had been bought to run on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, the third standard gauge heritage line to open in Britain.

The Worth Valley branch was in the process of being acquired from BR, but to all extent and purposes it was by 1968 a private owner

operation that was not much different to a pre-Grouping concern, and the Ivatt’s colourful livery reflected that, with ‘KWVR’ and the company’s badge in large letters on the tank sides.

The Ivatt headed the opening train, double heading with Southern Railway USA 0-6-0T No. 72, painted in an equally unseemly and non-authentic (but also attractive) ochre livery, with ‘Worth Valley’ in bold letters on each side.

“The sale of the Worth Valley branch was the first Privatisation of any part of British Railways...”

Sadly, No. 72 was not available for the 50th anniversary ‘replay’ of the official opening train on June 29, as it is still under overhaul at the Ribble Steam Railway, but No. 41241, one of four of its type to survive, certainly was. Its overhaul completed, it was repainted into that crimson lake livery – and very smart it looks too. In the case of this particular locomotive,

it is no longer condemned outright as inappropriate, but admired for the modern-day history that No. 41241 now represents.

The first standard gauge heritage lines to open in the UK were the Middleton and Bluebell railways, and to this day both debate which was the first. However, the KWVR took the concept several stages further and set out a blueprint for others to follow at what was a crucial stage of the embryonic preservation movement, when many were mourning the loss of the sight of regular steam trains from the nation’s railways.

Before, during and after the Beeching closures, there were many local communities who, despairing at the loss of their local rail services, tried to save their branch line. One succeeded – the KWVR. The sale of the Worth Valley branch was the first privatisation of any part of British Railways and the six-year legal battle to transfer ownership broke much fresh ground and paved the way for other revival schemes to succeed. Indeed, if you look hard at subsequent standard gauge heritage lines, you may well find KWVR in their DNA! The six-year closure of the branch led to the

Back in crimson lake, not black and well proud of it: Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41241 departs Keighley with the Reopening Special on June 29. FRED KERR

Sunday, July 1, was the gala’s diesel day, reflecting the role that modern traction has played on the line in its 50 years. DRS-owned Class 37 No. 37401 Mary Queen of Scots leads KWVR-based Class 25 No. 25059 out of Keighley. FRED KERR

82 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Coupled to the line’s Metropolitan Railway carriages, LNWR Coal Tank No. 1054 makes a fine sight as it passes Top Field on June 30 – the footbridge and fields helping to create a scene reminiscent of the EMI blockbuster The Railway Children. KENNY FELSTEAD

Making a welcome appearance at the KWVR was a stalwart from the past – Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34092 City of Wells, once a long-term resident of the line.

Although based on the KWVR since being rescued from Barry scrapyard in October 1971, City of Wells was never a suitable locomotive for a short, steep 4¾-mile branch.

Having had a stint on the main line in the late 1980s/early 90s, the locomotive became very popular and affectionately known as ‘The Volcano’ because of the effects its modified chimney gave. It left the KWVR several years ago to visit other heritage railways, but due to a highway bridge problem in Keighley, the locomotive was barred from coming back and took up residency at the East Lancashire Railway. The private owners of the locomotive, all senior KWVR members, drivers and friends, made the decision to sell it to that line, and an appeal for funds to purchase it is underway. However, arrangements were made for No. 34092 to visit its spiritual home for one last time in the original owners’ care and thank them for their service to the railway. ROBERT FALCONER

Left: LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 Royal Scot is seen top and tailing with Ivatt 2-6-2T No. 41241 crossing River Worth viaduct with the Pullman train on June 26.

RODNEY TOWERS Right: GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7714 joined the line-up courtesy of the Severn Valley Railway and its owners, the SVR Pannier Tank Fund. For part of the event, the locomotive masqueraded as out-of-ticket KWVR-based Pannier No. 5775, one of the stars of the big-screen version of The Railway Children.

The locomotive Left: The steam fleet is seen working a undergoes preparation demonstration at Haworth shed on freight train at the morning of June Mytholmes on June 27. FRED KERR 30. ALAN WEAVER Below: The first locomotive to be saved from Woodham’s Barry scrapyard, Midland 4F 0-6-0 No. 43924, is now a regular performer on the KWVR. It is seen here with the Ivatt 2MT No. 41241 at Howarth on June 30. ALAN WEAVER

line’s freight and 150,000 local passengers having to switch to other forms of transport.

However, once reopened, a weekend morning diesel ‘shopper’ service proved viable, together with a steam train service from mid-morning, with daily heritage services throughout the summer and public holiday weeks.

Local residents can now apply for a special pass that gives them greatly reduced fares and provides an alternative to the bus. Indeed, the KWVR has continued a tradition of service to the communities along the valley and those who use the line to visit the stunningly beautiful surrounding countryside, operating services on more than 200 days per year.

The KWVR also notched up several preservation ‘firsts’. It was the first to operate a Santa special, the first to run an enthusiast weekend – something which later blossomed into steam galas and, in 1988, it was the first to hold a modern traction event.

Another big plus was that the revivalists did not have to raise the thousands of pounds ‘up front’ to buy the line from BR. It was bought on ‘hire purchase’ in instalments over the following 25 years, with no interest. The final instalment was paid in 1992.

84 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Also, the KWVR is a very rare example of a heritage line that owns the entire length of its original route, from the main line connection at Keighley to the buffer stops at Oxenhope.

And to think all this started with tank engines outshopped in garish non-authentic liveries.

That’s what made No. 41241 so special.

The 50th anniversary of the end of BR main line steam is a major focal point this year, with the date of the fabled ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’, August 11, 1968, indelibly etched into the mind of every enthusiast, just as every schoolboy knows the date of the Norman conquest of England.

However, the half centenary of the KWVR, celebrated with a magnificent eight-day gala from June 24 to July 1, reflecting all aspects of the branch’s heritage era history, sounds an infinitely more regenerative note, and we have much to thank that maroon Ivatt for.

Before the gala, the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Keighley councillor Zafar Ali, visited the railway on Thursday, June 21, and took a trip by steam to Oxenhope and back. He said: “The KWVR is a wonderful asset to our district and has been a brilliant attraction over the last 50 years.”

The gala began on Sunday, June 24, which doubled up as a members’ day, the highlight being the return to operation of the Ivatt following a five-year restoration programme by volunteers.

The unveiling ceremony included speeches

by KWVR chairman Dr Matt Stroh and the line’s president Ann Cryer, the widow of the late Bob Cryer, the local Labour MP who was such an integral figure in the revival of the branch.

KWVR operations manager Noel Hartley said: “The whole aim was to get the locomotive ready specifically for this gala week.

“There was significant mechanical work involved – including the installation of a new firebox, which is no small task in itself.

“To see Ivatt back in service is tremendous recognition for the volunteers who have worked so hard to achieve this.”

June 25-27 were designated as Royal Scot days, with the iconic LMS 4-6-0 No. 46100 making several trips on the line each day, showing just how far the KWVR had come in the 50 years.

On August 11, 1966, sister No. 46115 Scots Guardsman, which was bought from

Left: A reminder that the KWVR is run by volunteers, who kindly donate their time and lavish their enthusiasm on the popular West Yorkshire branch. KWVR Below: Resplendent in its distinctive but non-authentic red livery, No. 41241 wrote itself into Worth Valley folklore on the 1968 reopening special. This side-on view shows the livery to good effect on June 27.

ALAN WEAVER

BR for preservation by the late Mr RA Bill, arrived at Haworth, making it one of the first locomotives on the KWVR prior to its reopening.

However, No. 46115 was never steamed at Haworth. Its axle weight of 21 tonnes would have precluded any regular use and its sheer size resulted in it being placed well down the list of restoration priorities.

In 1969, Scots Guardsman left the KWVR, but No. 46100 was able to show gala guests what might have been.

Thursday, June 28, saw vintage trains take centre stage, with visitors given the chance to ride in the Old Gentleman’s Saloon, one of the stars of EMI’s big-screen version of The Railway Children, which came out in 1970 and gave an unprecedented boost both to the KWVR and the nascent preservation movement in general.

Anniversary day

June 29 saw more than 80 volunteers from the earliest years of the line return to see No. 41241 in its re-enactment of the opening special, hauled this time by itself.

Many of them had been on the train that left Keighley station 50 years before.

At the same time, 2.35pm, the railway’s vice-president Bill Black blew exactly the same whistle he had done 50 years before.

The special train included several of the same carriages from the opening train in 1968 and it was complete with the original 1968 headboard and flags.

To further mark the occasion, more than 40 guests who had volunteered for all 50 years of the line’s operation were honoured with awards.

Dr Stroh said: “It was truly humbling to meet en masse many of the people that had

the foresight, commitment and dogged determination to reopen the railway, and it was great to be able to recognise their achievement.

Sadly, not all the founding members are still with us, but they too were remembered in the speeches.

“We still have many more volunteers to recognise this year, as dozens reach the milestones of 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of volunteering.”

The day included a naming ceremony of visiting GB Railfreight Class 66 No.66784 at Keighley. It was named Keighley & Worth Valley Railway 50th Anniversary 1968 – 2018.

On Saturday, June 30, Shadow Rail Minister Rachel Maskell visited Ingrow to officially open the Bahamas Locomotive Society’s Rail Story Learning Coach, as was highlighted in issue 233.

The event also saw the launch of a new book

Heritagerailway.co.uk 85

The Reopening Special rounds the curve at Mytholmes Viaduct with Ivatt 2MT No. 41241 in charge on June 29.

KENNY FELSTEAD

Old and new: GBRF Class 66 No. 66784 Keighley & Worth Valley Railway 50th Anniversary 1968 – 2018 and Class 25 No. 25059 depart as Ivatt 2MT No. 41241 arrives at Keighley. FRED KERR

by Pete Skellon, on the history of Ingrow and the railway.

For the gala, the KWVR teamed up with Bridgehouse Brewery to produce a special celebration ale, a pale blonde beer named Worth Valley Gold, which was on sale throughout the eight days. The gala was hailed as a resounding success. The total of 6557 passengers carried was nearly double the amount from the same days last year.

We will never forget the sight of that red Ivatt, nor the phenomenal contribution that the little branch running through the heart of Bronte country has made to Britain’s proud transport heritage.

A close-up of the nameplate applied to GBRF Class 66 No. 66784. KWVR

86 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Right: Another old stalwart making a welcome appearance back on the line was ‘Black Five’ No. 45212, one of the first locomotives to arrive on the railway. It is pictured arriving at Oakworth on June 30.

ALAN WEAVER

NEWS FOCUS

SURREY’S STEAMY

WONDERLAND WONDERLAN WONDERLA MAIN LINE IS 50!

Just five weeks after steam haulage ended on Britain’s national network, classic locomotive types from the country’s illustrious railway past began to entertain eager crowds again. However, this time it was on a much smaller scale and courtesy of the world’s most famous railway publisher, who set up his own miniature line, the Great Cockcrow Railway, on a greenfield site in Surrey 50 years ago, writes Robin Jones.

S

how me a Fifties’ or early Sixties’ short-trousered schoolboy who claims he never read, yet alone owned, an Ian Allan locospotters’ book – and I’ll show you a liar.

Back in 1942, a young Ian, who worked at Waterloo station in the Southern Railway’s PR department, had a brainwave of a business idea. He received so many requests from enthusiasts wanting lists of the company’s rolling stock that he decided to publish them in a book, the ABC of Southern Locomotives.

It was an overnight success and it led to similar titles covering other railway companies and, in short, not only was a major transport publishing venture formed, but it evolved into a business empire covering

88 Heritagerailway.co.uk

a host of other and often disparate interests.

That is a story for another day, but suffice to say that Ian did not stop at publishing books about railway rolling stock – he built his own railway.

Origin

While this year several events and special trains will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of BR steam, two other occasions mark its resurgence. The first, as we have just seen, is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, which quickly became a major influence on, and inspiration for, the embryonic heritage sector.

The second is the half centenary of the railway that Ian founded – the 7¼in gauge Great Cockcrow

Railway, set up on a patch of land owned by the Allan family near Chertsey, and which opened on September 14, 1968. This year, on Sunday, September 9, it will hold a public open day to mark its 50th anniversary too.

However, the story did not begin with Ian, but with enthusiast Sir John Samuel, who started building a 7¼in gauge railway in the garden of his house Greywood on the Burwood Park estate at Walton-on-Thames.

His first engine was Eureka, a freelance Pacific built by Louis Shaw in 1927. Sir John named it thus because in it he believed that he had found the ideal engine for his railway.

With the help of volunteers, his Greywood Central Railway developed into one of the best

of its kind in the country and by 1962 a run of 3/4 of a mile was possible.

The name

From the outset the railway was properly signalled and eventually worked to a timetable. Sir John died in October 1962, casting a dark cloud over the line’s future, but Ian snapped it up and, with the aid of its volunteers, moved it to its present site in Hardwick Lane. The move is described in Jeremy Clarke’s excellent guide to the line, which is available from the booking office. Ian had previously bought the Hastings Miniature Railway, in 1948.

It was named the Great Cockcrow Railway, taken from Cockcrow Hill on the south side of its site, but also because Ian,

Watched by railway founder Ian Allan, driver Philip Simpson tends the fire in K5 2-6-0 No. 206 heading the inaugural public train on the Great Cockcrow Railway, as the chairman of Chertsey Urban District Council cuts the tape at the official opening on September 14, 1968. This locomotive was the first to steam on the new railway. GCR Left: NER R1 4-4-0 No.1239, built by FW Baldwin Brothers in 1913 and the oldest locomotive on the line, heads a full train out of Hardwick Central on Saturday, July 7. ROBIN JONES Below: David Allan gives his speech marking the line’s 50th anniversary.

Half a century on, and Lord Peter Snape performs the anniversary ceremony, as No. 206 waits to pull away.

KIM RICHARDSON

“The ride is enthralling and captivating – one minute you are passing through a woodland glade, the next hurling through a wayside station or a tunnel where the headroom is nowhere near as tight as it looks and at several points you pass another train filled with visitors.”

LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45440, which dates from 2004, arrives back at Hardwick Central. To the left is the station building, which represents the biggest investment made to the line since it was established. ROBIN JONES

an astute businessman, saw the benefit in retaining the initials GCR and not having to repaint all the locomotives and stock.

Since then, stage by stage, the railway has grown both in length and complexity. Eventually, a ride of around five miles was offered over two routes. In 2014, a new showpiece station building was completed, replacing a ramshackle collection of sheds and huts at Hardwick Central and containing the booking office, staff accommodation, a tearoom and toilets. It was years in the planning stage, but in an instant it upgraded the line to compete on a level playing field with other top modern attractions.

The words ‘miniature railway’ immediately conjure up images of the typical seafront or park

pleasure line that takes families round a circuit in a few minutes and delights generations of youngsters who can ride behind a ‘bite-sized’ locomotive.

Main line microcosm

Great Cockcrow Railway might be miniature, but it is different.

The locomotives might be scaled-down versions of their main line counterparts, but in every other aspect their design is basically the same.

The extensive system that takes visitors through a belt of woodland, and which includes several stations, a tunnel and a loop, has, in terms of operation, far more in common with the national network, with its three signalboxes and relay rooms.

It is no less than a microcosm

of the main line, so much so that Network Rail, South West Trains and the Institute of Railway Operators have, in the past, booked Great Cockcrow for training sessions, because it mirrors the ‘real thing’ so closely.

For the ordinary visitor, who is not versed with such finer points, it is fair to say that at every twist and turn there is something new – a real treasure trove box of delights. The ride is enthralling and captivating – one minute you are passing through a woodland glade, the next hurtling through a wayside station or a tunnel where the headroom is nowhere near as tight as it looks and at several points you pass another train filled with visitors.

In short, the Great Cockcrow is for miniature railways what the

Eureka was the first locomotive to run on Sir John Samuel’s Greywood Central Railway. His son, also John, was present to watch it re-enter traffic on July 7. KIM RICHARDSON

Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland is for narrow gauge and the likes of the North Yorkshire Moors, Severn Valley and Great Central railways are for standard gauge.

Fifty locomotives

A special 50th anniversary year gala was also held over the weekend of July 7-8, with the railway’s entire fleet of nearly 50 locomotives either running or out on display. Crowds attended as local temperatures hit the 30°C mark, despite England’s World Cup quarter-final against Sweden televised on the Saturday afternoon and an accident at Junction 19 bringing the M25 to a standstill.

Whereas the line was officially opened by the chairman of Chertsey Urban District Council

Heritagerailway.co.uk 89

The engine shed at Hardwick Central, the beginning of the journey. ROBIN JONES

50 years ago, special guest Lord Snape of Wednesbury, the former Labour MP for West Bromwich East, who became a baron when he stood down in 2001, performed the honours this time. Eureka, the first locomotive on the Greywood line, was also formally relaunched into traffic following a rebuild, having last steamed in 2014. The overhaul began last autumn and Eureka now has a new boiler, six new driving wheels, fully-refurbished cylinders, a new tender body, completely rebuilt bogies and all-new plumbing.

Sadly, Ian passed away in 2015.

The railway is now in the capable hands of his son David, who gave a speech at the anniversary gala

on Saturday, July 7. He said: “Both my brother and I are immensely proud of the Great Cockcrow Railway, not least because it provides a means for local and national charities to raise money – we are part of the borough community – but it is also a place where professional railwaymen come to hone their skills and test new systems and equipment.

“It is a highly developed and efficient railway system built by members of the railway, all of whom are and always have been, volunteers.”

Pioneers

“There are many very talented and dedicated people who have masterminded and built the

railway up to what you see today.

Obviously, Sir John Samuel provided a lot of the raw material, which my father took on and developed in the early Sixties.

“Of Sir John’s original team from Burwood Park, Chris Bishop and Roger Sills are still with us, a testament to their dedication and the railway’s ability to provide a source of enjoyment, satisfaction and involvement which the railway has brought.

“Many of the pioneers of the railway have parts of the railway named after them, including Alastair McCloud, popularly known as Uncle Mac and Philip Simpson, who had so much to do with the original railway signal

system, as well as the surveying and earthworks of the railway. In the early days, he was helped by a young Kim Richardson. Both Philip and Kim have also been distinguished general managers of the railway.”

Dedicated team

“Our current president, Chris Bishop, continues to this day to obtain the consumables of the railway, something he has done for more than 50 years. John Butt, who sadly passed away last year, created a workshop from what was ostensibly an old barn and Roger Sills laid the foundation of our permanent way.

“There are many others, including Richard Stokes,

Standard gauge on 7¼in: the Everglades Junction signalbox has the frame from Croydon South. ROBIN JONES Left: Driver Eleanor Hill, proud owner of NER R1 4-4-0 No.1239.

Right: As the rest of the Home Counties and London sweltered in the early July heatwave, what better place to cool down than the woods through which the railway runs? BOTH: ROBIN JONES

90 Heritagerailway.co.uk

This scaled-down version of Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46245 City of London was once owned by The Who legend Roger Daltrey. ROBIN JONES

GNR C1 4-4-2 No. 1442, built in 1988. ROBIN JONES

Alan Williams, Tony Howker, Stephen Clark, John Alexander, Jeremy Clark, Paul Trotter, Mike Underwood and the inimitable John Park.

“Jamie Lester has been a tower of strength for many years, not only for his work on the structures, his legacy being many of the buildings around the railway, including our terminus station here at Hardwick Lane, but he has also been involved in so many other aspects of the railway, as well as his brother Michael for the original electrical installation and much else.

“Howard Guess and Jim Snowdon continue the work on the permanent way. Last but not least, Steve Cheeseman,

In September 1968, BR steam was no more on the main line, but its finest examples, such as LMS 4-6-0 No. 6100 Royal Scot, could be found in miniature at the Great Cockcrow Railway.

ROBIN JONES

The railway operated a park-and-ride from nearby Lyne to the July 7-8 anniversary gala using vintage buses. ROBIN JONES

who took over a rather Heath Robinson catering arrangement, now provides a first-class buffet service. I would be remiss not to mention Richard Mallett, our current general manager who, having retired from the police service, thought he could have an easier life.”

Future extension

David also announced that the railway is to be extended, with two parcels of land next to the M25 acquired for an extension of the running line.

Whatever happens, the Great Cockcrow Railway 50 years on remains another testament to the vision and achievements of the late Ian Allan and it has a future

ahead of it as glowing as the coals in the fireboxes of its very extensive steam fleet.

Indeed, it is nothing short of a national treasure and deserves to be promoted as such – English Tourist Board professionals take note! ➜ The Great Cockrow Railway is open to the public on Sundays from the beginning of May to the end of October between 1.30pm and 5pm, as well as on Wednesdays in August.

The last Saturday in October, Halloween, is celebrated with night-time operation, but a rarity among heritage lines, there are no Santa specials, as the winter months are given over to essential maintenance.

LNER V2 2-8-2 No. 60809 The Snapper awaits its next duty. ROBIN JONES Heritagerailway.co.uk 91

PLATFORM

READERS’ LETTERS AT THE HEART OF THE HERITAGE RAILWAY SCENE

TRACK TALK

➜ The evolution of language cannot be stopped

WHILST I, like Ian McKenzie, find the phrase‘train station’irritating, we do have to accept the English language constantly evolves.

I recently purchased a newly released book where the now archaic‘shewn’instead of the currently accepted‘shown’was consistently used.

It rather spoilt, for me, the enjoyment of what was an otherwise extremely good read but no doubt if I had been around 100 plus years ago I would have been objecting to the use of‘shown’.

It’s just what we get used to (but don’t get me started on‘consist’!)

Iain Harris, email

➜ MP’s interference in KESRRVR link “appalling”

I AM APPALLED by the interference of Amber Rudd in the Robertsbridge negotiations (issue 243). She has already shown herself to be a meddlesome, mendacious martinet in her involvement in the Windrush affair leading to her enforced resignation.

Now we see the same aspects of her shallow nature being brought to bear on the heritage movement. Not only has she misled her audience by informing them that compulsory purchase orders have been issued, but also given a grossly exaggerated view of the proposals by comparing the officially approved road crossing with those closed on high-speed lines by Network Rail.

This is typical of the underhand chicanery we have come to expect from those we pay (supposedly) to look after our best interests.To cap it all, having been“rumbled”in this devious ploy, she then refuses to respond to any and all reasonable inquiries – has she no shame?

Evidently not – the proposals are not even in her constituency.

Even if her views had any relevance, they are one-sided, vexatious and made public without any consultation with the wellmeaning parties involved. If she hopes to make a name for herself, any success will prove to be an unwelcome surprise.

Martyn McGinty, Frome, Somerset

READ THESE AND HUNDREDS MORE EDITIONS IN THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

classicmagazines.co.uk/rmarchive

92 Heritagerailway.co.uk

STAR LETTER

A different train of thought

AS PRESIDENT of the Halstead & District Local History Society, I would like to respond to Ian McKenzie’s strong criticism in last month’s issue of the wording‘train station’– rather than ‘railway station’– used by Lidl with its superb tile mosaic on the outside wall of the supermarket group’s new store in the town.

As Geoff Courtney said in his article in issue 236, the mosaic, which is a photograph of an early 1900s scene at the town’s station, has attracted considerable interest and favourable comments, with an overwhelmingly positive feedback from residents.

residents, to achieve an extremely pleasing vision of Halstead’s past.

Visitors to the town comment that they would love something similar where they live.

How sad it is if railway enthusiasts cannot get pleasure from the overall picture, but instead find fault with the wording‘train station’.

I heard train station mentioned in a conversation on television a few days ago and thought nothing of it.

I have had a lifelong interest in trains – or should I say railways – and am a professional railway artist, but I do find it understandable why we sometimes get saddled with the anorak image.

When an international company such as Lidl puts so much work into our passion, let’s just sit back, be grateful, and let our imagination take over.

Malcolm Root, Halstead, Essex

“Let’s just sit back, be grateful, and let our imagination take over” What would Mr McKenzie rather have? A plain brick wall, or a large photographic mural proudly displaying our heritage? I know on which side of the wall I stand, along with, I believe, the rest of the population of our town.This mosaic was a great and unnecessary expense

by Lidl, which worked closely with the local council, the history society, and

Enjoy the view: The tile mosaic on the wall of the new Lidl store in Halstead (nearest camera), with another mosaic, far left, of the town centre. Railway artist Malcolm Root has hit back at criticism of Lidl’s use of the wording ‘train station’ rather than ‘railway station’, saying that enthusiasts should get pleasure from the mosaic rather than criticise. MALCOLM ROOT

When a limousine was sent for a BR fireman

I FOUND a copy of your book British Railways:The End of Steam in our local branch of Morrisons and was surprised as I had not previously been aware of it. It is a lovely book that brought back many memories of my teenage years locospotting around the BR network.

The chapter,The Ban Breakers, included the story of No. 1466 and its use in the filming ofTheYoung Winston was particularly pleasing to see as it played a significant part in my family history – although probably because the mists of time obscured some details, I was disappointed to not find any reference to my father-in-law in the article.

Recollections

My father-in-law was Alan Phelps. He had started as an engine cleaner for the GWR in Swansea’s Eastern Depot before moving to Gloucester during the war years where he initially drove 14XXs on the auto trains before moving to larger engines. He often told me that his preferred locos were the GWR Moguls and spoke of hauling an ammunition

train which, contrary to normal practice with such trains, was stopped by adverse signals in Cheltenham Spa station, much to the stationmaster’s concern.

Other tales of working ambulance trains to Southampton to collect wounded troops and of making temporary on-the-spot repairs to keep his train moving had us enthralled – especially overcoming a leaking brake valve on a wagon by inserting an old penny into the pipe and blocking it off.

I digress – Alan returned to Swansea in the 1950s and worked at Danygraig and Eastern Depot. It was at this time that notices were displayed seeking volunteers to work the 14XX loco that was to be used in the filming. Although the loco was in the ownership of the Great Western Society, it was to be manned by a British Railways crew. Stan French, a locomotive inspector, and driver Alan Phelps acting as his fireman.

Although Alan was a driver, he had experience of working this class of engine and was subsequently rostered as fireman for the duration of filming. He talks with some pride of this experience

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as each day, like the actors in the film, he would be picked up by limousine from his home and taken to Coelbren where he would check the loco and with Stan French, a locomotive inspector and volunteer, they would drive and fire the loco to the instructions of the film’s director.

Shared hospitality

The British Railways crew enjoyed the same catering and food as the actors and Alan often reminisced about this aspect and how well he had eaten in such a location. Due to the requirements of filming, when he left home each morning he would never know at what time he would return and a midnight return was often followed by a 7.30am start to get the loco ready.

David Beynon, son-in-law of Alan Phelps, fireman of 1466 during filming of The Young Winston,

➜ British Railways: The End of Steam: Rail’s Seismic Summer of 1968 – see page 64.

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Heritagerailway.co.uk 93

Peak Rail held a ‘Behind the Scenes’ event on July 1.

NCB Austerity No.72 is seen leaving Rowsley station from a vantage point in the sidings not normally available to the public. Numbered 16122, the carriage immediately behind the locomotive is a 1925-built third open on loan to the LMS Carriage Association from the National Railway Museum. MICHAEL ANDERSON

UP & RUNNING

GARETH EVANS’ FULL LISTING OF OPERATIONAL LINES AND MUSEUM VENUES SOUTH EAST Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre

2ft gauge, ¼ mile.

Arundel, West Sussex.

Tel: 01798 831370.

Running: Wed-Sun.

Bluebell Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800.

Running: Daily.

Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway

2ft gauge, ½ mile.

Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent.

Tel: 01622 884254.

Running: Aug 5.

Bursledon Light Railway

2ft gauge, ¼ mile.

Bursledon Brickworks Museum Swanwick Lane, Swanwick, Hants.

SO31 7HB. Running: Aug 19.

East Kent Railway

Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover.

Tel: 01304 832042.

Running: W/Es.

Eastleigh Lakeside Railway 10¼in & 7¼in gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience.

Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Hastings Miniature Railway

10¼in gauge, 600 yards, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex.

Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Hayling Seaside Railway

2ft gauge, one mile.

Hayling Island, Hants.

Running: W/Es, Weds + sch hols

Hollycombe Steam in the Country

2ft gauge, ¼ mile.

Iron Hill, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7LP. Tel: 01428 724900.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

94 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Isle of Wight Steam Railway

Standard gauge, five miles.

Havenstreet, Isle of Wight.

Tel: 01983 882204.

Running: Daily.

Kempton Steam Railway 2ft gauge, ½ mile, Hanworth.

Tel: 01932 765328.

Running: Suns.

Kent & East Sussex Railway

Standard gauge, 10½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Tenterden, Kent. Tel: 01580 765155.

Running: Daily.

Lavender Line

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

Running: Sundays.

Mid Hants Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. Tel: 01962 733810.

Running: Daily.

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway

1ft 3in gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience. New Romney, Kent.

Tel: 01797 362353.

Running: Daily.

Royal Victoria Railway

10¼in gauge, one mile.

Netley, Southampton.

Tel: 02380 456246.

Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Sittingbourne & Kemsley Railway

2ft 6in gauge, 1¾ miles.

Sittingbourne, Kent.

Tel: 01795 424899.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

Spa Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience. Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Tel: 01892 537715.

Running: W/Es + Tues - Thurs.

SOUTH WEST Avon Valley Railway

Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Bitton, Bristol.

Tel: 0117 932 7296.

Running: W/Es + Tues-Thurs.

Beer Heights Light Railway

7¼in gauge. Off A3052, Beer, Devon.

Tel: 01297 21542 Running: Daily.

Bodmin & Wenford Railway Standard gauge, 6½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Bodmin, Cornwall.

Tel: 01208 73666.

Running: Daily.

Dartmoor Railway

Standard gauge, seven miles.

Okehampton, Devon.

Tel: 01837 55164.

Running: W/Es.

Dartmouth Steam Railway Standard gauge, seven miles, wine and dine. Paignton, Devon.

Tel: 01803 555872.

Running: Daily.

Devon Railway Centre

2ft gauge, ½ mile. Bickleigh, Devon.

Tel: 01884 855671.

Running: Daily.

Helston Railway Standard gauge. Helston, Cornwall.

Tel: 07875 481380.

Running: Suns, Weds, Thurs.

Launceston Steam Railway 2ft gauge, 2 miles. Launceston, Cornwall.

Tel: 01566 775665.

Running: Sun-Fri.

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway 2ft gauge, one mile. Woody Bay, north Devon. Tel: 01598 763487.

Running: Daily.

Moors Valley Railway 7¼in gauge, one mile.

Ringwood, Hants.

Tel: 01425 471415.

Running: Daily.

Plym Valley Railway Standard gauge, 1½ miles.

Marsh Mills, Plymouth.

Running: Suns + Aug 20-26.

Seaton Tramway

3ft gauge, three miles. Harbour Road, Seaton, Devon. Tel: 01297 20375.

Running: Daily.

Somerset & Dorset Railway Standard gauge, ½mile, Midsomer Norton station, Silver Street BA3 2EY. Tel: 01761 411221 Open Sun, Mon. Running: August 12.

South Devon Railway

Standard gauge, two miles. Cranmore, Somerset. Tel: 01749 880417.

Running: W/Es + Weds, Thurs.

Standard gauge, seven miles, footplate experience, wine and dine. Buckfastleigh, Devon. Tel: 01364 644370.

Running: Daily.

2ft gauge, ½mile. Common Lane, Yenston, Templecombe, Somerset BA8 0NB. Tel. 01963 370752 Running: Jul 29, Aug 27.

Standard gauge, six miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Swanage, Dorset. Tel: 01929 425800.

Running: Daily.

East Somerset Railway

Gartell Light Railway

Swanage 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.

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EVENTS

1950s WEEK EN D

255th, 26th & 277thh August 2018

DON’T MIS

S ‘THE ROCKET REIM AGINED’ VIRTUAL EXPERI ENCE

Robert Stephenson’s iconic steam locomotive Rocket returns to Tyneside, as part of the Great Exhibition of the North, 22 June - 9 September.

Last Steam to Duffield of 2018

IT’S

ROCKET SCIENCE 

Tickets are free, but advance booking is essential via discoverymuseum.org.uk/rocket



Donations Welcome (FREE ENTRY) OPEN Mon - Sun, 10am - 6pm

Part of the Get North Innovation Trail: GetNorth2018.com

Steam and heritage diesel trains between Wirksworth and Duffield Steam trains between Wirksworth and Ravenstor



Live band at Wirksworth



Discount for costume dress



Items & displays from the period



www..e--v-r.com 01629 823076

Themed Murder Mystery Saturday evening (pre-book only)

Wirksworth Station, Coldwell Street, Wirksworth, DE4 4FB Heritagerailway.co.uk 95

UP & RUNNING Swindon & Cricklade Railway Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience.

Blunsdon, Wiltshire.

Tel: 01793 771615.

Running: W/Es.

West Somerset Railway

Standard gauge, 20 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BG. Tel: 01643 704996.

Running: Daily.

EAST ANGLIA Bressingham Steam Museum

Narrow gauge, one mile. Diss, Norfolk.

Tel: 01379 686900.

Running: Daily.

Bure Valley Railway

1ft 3in gauge, nine miles, footplate experience.

Aylsham, Norfolk. Tel: 01263 733858.

Running: Daily.

Colne Valley Railway

1933-built 10¼in gauge No. 1002 The Empress is see at the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway on June 23. The line is also home to sister No. 1001 Th e Monarch. DON BENN Running: Suns + Weds.

Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Castle Hedingham, Essex.

Tel: 01787 461174.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds.

Standard gauge, 3½ miles.

Chinnor, Oxon.

Tel: 01844 353535.

Running: Suns.

Standard gauge, ¼ mile. Wakes Colne, Essex. Tel: 01206 242524.

Open: Daily.

Standard gauge, 2½ miles.

Wallingford, Oxon.

Tel: 01491 835067.

Running: Aug 25-27.

East Anglian Railway Museum

Mangapps Railway

Standard gauge, one mile. near Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.

Tel: 01621 784898.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27.

Mid-Norfolk Railway

Standard gauge, 11½ miles, footplate experience. Dereham, Norfolk.

Tel: 01362 690633.

Running: W/Es, Weds, Thurs.

Mid-Suffolk Light Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile.

Brockford, Suffolk. Tel: 01449 766899.

Running: Suns.

Nene Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience. Wansford, Peterborough, Cambs.

Tel: 01780 784444.

Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs.

North Norfolk Railway

Cholsey & Wallingford Railway

Didcot Railway Centre

Standard gauge, footplate experience.

Didcot, Oxon.

Tel: 01235 817200.

Open: Daily.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 27.

Epping Ongar Railway

Standard gauge, five miles.

Ongar, Essex.

Tel: 01277 365200.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 27.

Leighton Buzzard Railway

2ft gauge, 2¾ miles.

Leighton Buzzard, Beds.

Tel: 01525 373888.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds + Aug 27.

MIDLANDS

Standard gauge, 5½ miles, footplate experience.

Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8RA. Tel: 01263 820800.

Running: Daily.

Amerton Railway

7¼in gauge, four miles.

Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk.

Tel: 01328 711630. Running: Daily.

2ft gauge, ½ mile.

Apedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.

Tel: 0845 094 1953.

Running: W/Es.

Wells & Walsingham Railway

Whitwell & Reepham Railway

Standard gauge, ¼ mile.

Reepham, Norfolk. Tel: 01603 871694.

Running: W/Es, steam first Sun + August 26.

HOME COUNTIES Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Standard gauge, ¼ mile, footplate experience.

Quainton Road, Bucks.

Tel: 01296 655720 Open: Sun-Wed.

96 Heritagerailway.co.uk

2ft gauge, one mile.

Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffs.

Tel: 01785 850965.

Running: W/Es + sch hols.

Apedale Valley Railway

Barrow Hill Roundhouse

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

Open: W/Es.

Battlefield Line Railway

Standard gauge, five miles.

Shackerstone, Leics.

Tel: 01827 880754.

Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs.

Cambrian Heritage Railways

Standard gauge, ¾ mile, footplate experience, Llynclys station & Oswestry station (museum open Tues-Sun).

Tel: 01691 728131.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27 (Llynclys & Oswestry)

Chasewater Railway

Standard gauge, two miles. Walsall, West Midlands. Tel: 01543 452623.

Running: W/Es + Jul 26.

Churnet Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 5¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Cheddleton, Staffs.

Tel: 01538 750755.

Running: W/Es + Aug 1, 6, 8, 13, 15, 22, 27.

Dean Forest Railway

Standard gauge, 4¼ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Norchard, Lydney, Glos.

Tel: 01594 845840.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 17, 27.

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Standard gauge, eight miles.

Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Tel: 01629 823076.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Thurs, Fri.

Evesham Vale Railway 1ft 3in gauge, 1¼ miles.

A46 north of Evesham, Worcs.

Tel: 01386 422282.

Running: Daily.

Foxfield Railway

Standard gauge, 5½ miles.

Blythe Bridge, Staffs.

Running: Suns, Weds + Aug 11, 25.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

Standard gauge, 15 miles, footplate experience. Toddington, Glos.

Tel: 01242 621405.

Running: W/Es + Tues-Fri.

Great Central Railway

Standard gauge, eight miles.

Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW. Tel: 01509 632323.

Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs + Aug 17, 27.

Great Central Railway Nottingham Standard gauge, four miles.

Ruddington, Notts.

Tel: 0115 940 570.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27.

Midland Railway – Butterley Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Ripley, Derbyshire.

Tel: 01773 570140.

Running: W/Es, Tues-Fri.

Northampton & Lamport Railway

Standard gauge, two miles.

Pitsford, Northants.

Tel: 01604 820327.

Running: Suns.

Peak Rail

Standard gauge, four miles.

Matlock, Derbyshire.

Tel: 01629 580381.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds.

Perrygrove Railway

1ft 3in gauge. B4228, Coleford, Gloucestershire.

Tel: 01594 834991.

Running: Daily.

Rocks by Rail

Standard gauge, ¼ mile.

Cottesmore, Rutland.

Open: Sun, Tues, Thurs.

Running: Aug 12, 26.

Rudyard Lake Railway

10¼in gauge, 1½ miles. Leek, Staffs.

Tel: 01995 672280.

Running: Wed-Sun.

Rushden Transport Museum

Standard gauge, ¼ mile.

Open: W/Es.

Severn Valley Railway

Standard gauge, 16 miles, footplate experience.

Kidderminster, Worcs DY10 1QR. Tel: 01562 757900.

Running: Daily.

Sherwood Forest Railway 1ft 3in gauge, ¼ mile.

Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire.

Running: Daily.

Steeple Grange Light Railway 1ft 6in gauge, ½ mile, footplate experience.

Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Running: W/Es + August 27.

Telford Steam Railway

Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience. Telford, Shropshire.

Email: sec@telfordsteamrailway.co.uk Tel: 01952 503880.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

NORTH WEST East Lancashire Railway

Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience. Bury, Lancs.

Tel: 01617 647790.

Running: Wed-Sun.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

EVENTS

WEST SOMERSET

RAILWAY

Ian le Suere

Fearsome Ravenstor Ravensto Incline =Special Timetable =On Board Bar =Saturday Evening Special =

e Heritag y a Railw

nd in Engla

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 September This weekend celebrates the end of the summer holidays. Throughout this event we run a more intensive timetable using a variety of steam and heritage diesel locomotives.

Don Bishop

Wirksworth Station, Coldwell Street, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4FB

Late Summer Weekend

The frequency of these services provide our passengers with the opportunity to make the most of their rover ticket. and explore.

Discover more and book online for advance discounts at: www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk or telephone 01643 704996

MID-SUFFOLK LIGHT RAILWAY Open Summer Sundays & Bank Holidays 27th May - 27th August 11.00 - 17.00

Suffolk’s only standard gauge and award winning heritage railway - Recreating the atmosphere of a rural railway as it was 100 years ago.

5th August - Hornby Collectors Day and Vintage Tractor display August 26th & 27th - Middy Projects Progress & Music Plus 9th & 10th September - Country Railway Gala & Beer Festival

For full details visit www.mslr.org.uk or call: 01449 766899

Brockford Station, Wetheringsett, Suffolk IP14 5PW Heritagerailway.co.uk 97

UP & RUNNING

Visitors to the Kent & East Sussex Railway can enjoy the opportunity to travel in some of the line’s vintage carriages, as well the distinctive ‘bark’ of a Terrier locomotive. No. 32678 is seen here arriving at Tenterden Town station on August 20, 2017. GARETH EVANS

Eden Valley Railway

Standard gauge, two miles.

Warcop, off A66, Cumbria CA16 6PR 01768 342309. www.evr-cumbria.org.uk Running: Suns, Tues, Weds + Aug 20-29.

Heaton Park Tramway

Standard gauge, ½ mile. Manchester.

Running: Suns pm.

Isle of Man Steam Railway 3ft 6in gauge, 15½ miles.

Douglas, Isle of Man. Tel: 01624 662525.

Running: Daily.

Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway

Standard gauge, 3½ miles. near Ulverston, Cumbria.

Tel: 01539 531594.

Running: Daily.

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway

1ft 3in gauge, seven miles.

Ravenglass, Cumbria.

Tel: 01229 717171.

Running: Daily.

Ribble Steam Railway

NORTH EAST Aln Valley Railway

Standard gauge, ½ mile.

Lionheart station, Alnwick, Northumberland.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Thurs + Aug 27.

Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society

Standard gauge, 15 miles.

British Steel Steelworks, Scunthorpe.

Tel: 01652 657053.

Running: Jul 28, Aug 4, 11, 25.

Bowes Railway

Standard gauge, one mile.

Springwell, Tyne & Wear.

Tel: 01914 161847.

Open: Thur-Sat.

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

1ft 3in gauge, two miles.

Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire.

Tel: 01472 604657.

Running: Daily.

Derwent Valley Railway

Standard gauge, one mile.

Preston, Lancs. Tel: 01772 728800.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27.

Standard gauge, ½ mile. Murton Park, Layerthorpe, York.

Tel: 01904 489966.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

Standard gauge, ½ mile.

Kirkby Stephen East Station, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4LA. Open: W/Es. Running: Suns + Aug 7, 9.

Standard gauge, one mile.

Footplate experience.

Elsecar, South Yorks.

Tel: 01226 746746. Open: Daily.

Running: Weds, Suns.

Stainmore Railway

West Lancashire Light Railway

2ft gauge. Hesketh Bank, Lancs.

Tel: 01772 815881.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

98 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Elsecar Railway

Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway

Standard gauge, five miles.

Embsay, North Yorks.

Running: Daily.

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214.

Running: Daily.

Kirklees Light Railway

1ft 3in gauge, four miles. Huddersfield, West Yorks.

Tel: 01484 865727.

Running: W/Es.

Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway

2ft gauge, ½ mile.

Water Leisure Park, Walls Lane, Skegness, Lincolnshire.

Running: Weds, Sats + Aug 26.

Lincolnshire Wolds Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles.

Ludborough, Lincolnshire.

Tel: 01507 363881.

Running: Suns, Weds + Aug 27.

Middleton Railway

Standard gauge, 1½ miles.

Hunslet, Leeds.

Tel: 0113 271 0320.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 27.

North Tyneside Railway

Standard gauge, two miles.

North Shields. Tel: 0191 200 7106 Running: Suns, Thurs + Aug 27.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Standard gauge, 18 miles, wine and dine.

Grosmont, North Yorks. Tel: 01751 472508.

Running: Daily.

South Tynedale Railway

2ft gauge, 5 miles. Alston, Cumbria.

Tel: 01434 382828/381696.

Running: Daily.

Tanfield Railway

Standard gauge, three miles. near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

Tel: 01913 887545.

Running: W/Es, Thurs + Aug 27.

Weardale Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles.

Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.

Tel: 01388 526203.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 27.

Wensleydale Railway

Standard gauge, 22 miles.

Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire.

Tel: 0845 450 5474.

Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds.

Yorkshire Wolds Railway Standard gauge, 300ft.

Fimber, East Yorkshire, YO25 3HG. Tel: 01377 338053.

Running: Suns + Aug 27.

WALES Bala Lake Railway

2ft gauge, 4½ miles.

Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd.

Tel: 01678 540666. Running: Daily.

Barry Tourist Railway

Standard gauge, two miles. Barry Island, Glamorgan. Tel: 01446 748816.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27.

Brecon Mountain Railway

2ft gauge, 3½ miles.

Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan.

Tel: 01685 722988.

Running: Daily.

Corris Railway

2ft 3in gauge, ¾ mile.

Corris, Machynlleth.

Tel: 01654 761303.

Running: W/Es + Mons, Tues.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

EVENTS STEAM GALA WEEKEND

Three days of action!

&

THE WELSHPOOL LLANFAIR

LRIGHT

AILWAY

EPPING ONGAR RAILWAY

Vintage Vehicle Rally 11 & 12 August

A great selection of steam and other vehicles – large and small – will be on display in addition to our regular steam and diesel services.

01938 810 441 Welshpool SY21 7LT Llanfair SY21 0SF

TICKETS AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE

eorailway.co.uk 01277 365200

Heritagerailway.co.uk 99

UP & RUNNING Fairbourne Railway

12¼in gauge, two miles. Fairbourne, Gwynedd. Tel: 01341 250362.

Running: Daily.

Ffestiniog Railway

2ft gauge, 13½ miles, Porthmadog, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000.

Running: Daily.

Gwili Railway

Standard gauge, 4 miles.

Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire.

Tel: 01267 238213.

Running: Sats, Mons-Wed.

Llanberis Lake Railway

2ft gauge, three miles. Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870549.

Running: Daily.

Llangollen Railway

Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine and dine.

Llangollen, Denbighshire.

Tel: 01978 860979.

Running: Daily.

Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway Standard gauge, two miles.

Blaenavon, Torfaen.

Tel: 01495 792263.

Running: W/Es, Weds + Aug 27.

Rhyl Miniature Railway

1ft 3in gauge.

Rhyl, North Wales.

Running: Daily.

Snowdon Mountain Railway 800mm gauge, 4½ miles.

Llanberis, Gwynedd.

Tel: 01286 870223.

Running: Daily.

Talyllyn Railway

2ft 3in gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience. Tywyn, Gwynedd.

Tel: 01654 710472.

Running: Daily.

Teifi Valley Railway

Visitors to the Nene Valley over the August Bank Holiday weekend will have the rare opportunity to travel along the Fletton branch as part of NVR’s Branch Line Weekend.

The mile-long line is not used by regular timetabled passenger services. Traction will be Swedish railbus No. 1212 Helga, which is seen near the boundary gate with Network Rail’s East Coast mainline on May 29.

DAVE MILBURN SHELL Tel: 01766 513402.

Running: Daily.

Welsh Highland Railway

2ft gauge, 26 miles.

Caernarfon, Gwynedd.

Tel: 01766 516000.

Running: Daily.

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway

2ft 6in gauge, eight miles.

Llanfair Caereinion, Mid-Wales.

Tel: 01938 810441.

Running: Daily.

SCOTLAND Almond Valley Railway

2ft 6in gauge, ¼ mile. Livingston, West Lothian.

Tel: 01506 414957.

Running: Daily.

Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway

Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway Standard gauge, ¼ mile. Invergarry station, South Laggan PH34 4EA.

Keith & Dufftown Railway

Standard gauge, 11 miles.

Dufftown, Banffshire.

Running: Fri-Sun.

Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway

2ft gauge, one mile.

Leadhills, South Lanarkshire.

Tel: 0141 556 1061.

Running: W/Es.

Royal Deeside Railway

Standard gauge, one mile.

Milton of Crathes, Kincardineshire.

Running: W/Es + Aug 1, 8, 15.

Standard gauge, four miles.

Downpatrick, County Down.

Running: W/Es + Aug 27.

Giant’s Causeway & Bushmills Railway

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

Running: Daily.

Stradbally Woodland Railway

Strathspey Railway

2ft gauge, 11¾ miles.

Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.

Tel: 01970 625819.

Running: Daily.

Standard gauge, four miles.

Brechin, Angus.

Tel: 01356 622992.

Running: Jul 28, 29 + Aug 4, 5, 11, 12.

Standard gauge, 10 miles. Aviemore, Inverness-shire.

Tel: 01479 810725.

Running: Daily.

2ft gauge, one mile.

Porthmadog, Gwynedd.

Downpatrick & County Down Railway

Narrow gauge, two miles.

Kilmeadan, County Waterford.

Running: Daily.

Standard gauge, ½mile.

Dunaskin, Dalmellington Road (A713), Waterside, Ayrshire.

Running: Suns.

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway

Narrow gauge, ½ mile. Dromod, County Leitrim. Tel: 00353 71 9638599.

Open: Sat-Mon.

Narrow gauge, ½mile.

Stradbally, County Laois.

Running: Aug 5, 6.

Standard gauge, five miles.

Bo’ness, West Lothian.

Tel: 01506 822298.

Running: Daily.

Caledonian Railway

Cavan & Leitrim Railway

Scottish Industrial Railway Centre

2ft gauge, ½ mile. Henllan, Ceredigion SA44 5TD. Tel: 01559 371077. Suns, Weds.

Vale of Rheidol Railway

IRELAND

Waterford & Suir Valley Railway

West Clare Railway

Narrow gauge. Moyasta Junction, Co Clare.

Open: Daily.

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.

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

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

Conwy Valley Railway Museum Betws-y-Coed, Conwy. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01690 710568.

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

Head of Steam North Road Station, Darlington.

Open: Tues-Sun. Tel: 01325 460532.

100 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Museum Of Scottish Railways

Bo’ness. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01506 825855.

Manchester Museum of Science & Industry

Irchester Narrow Gauge Railway Museum

Castlefield, Manchester.

Open: Daily.

Tel: 0161 832 2244.

Kidderminster Railway Museum

Leeman Road, York. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01904 621261.

Near Wellingborough, Northants.

Open: Suns. Tel: 01604 675368.

National Railway Museum

Penrhyn Castle Industrial Railway Museum

Locomotion: The National Railway Museum, Shildon

Rail Story

Bangor, Gwynedd. Open: Daily.

Co Durham. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01388 777999.

Ingrow, West Yorks. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01535 680425.

London Transport Museum

Shillingstone Station Shillingstone, Dorset.

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

Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends.

Tel: 01984 640869.

STEAM – Museum of the GWR

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

Covent Garden Piazza.

Open: Daily.

Tel: 0207 379 6344.

Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust

Swindon, Wilts. Open: Daily.

Tel: 01793 466646.

St Albans South Signalbox & Museum

St Albans City station. Tel: 01727 863131.

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

West Cumberland Railway Museum

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

Yeovil Railway Centre Yeovil Junction, Somerset.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

SUPER-POWER 2018 'NOW WE ARE TWENTY-ONE'

till

from

14th

September

16th

September

Join us for a very special weekend celebrating the 21st anniversary of the re-opening of the WHR featuring an intensive timetable with many types of train on the mainline, displays of large-scale model articulated locomotives, model layouts and more at Dinas, plus our star guest -

• L&BR Baldwin 2-4-2T LYN • (More details will be added to our website as plans are finalised.)

RHEILFFORDD ERYRI • WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY www.festrail.co.uk 01766 516024 facebook.com/festrail

WEB WATCH

REPTA 2018 Membership open to: all rail and transport industry staff, active or retired, including immediate family. All TfL staff & families are eligible to join.

SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS Tel: 01623 646789 • www.repta.co.uk QUOTE HR

Heritagerailway.co.uk 101

STAY A WHILE Coastal Camping Coach Company

Blue Anchor Station Sidings, Blue Anchor, Somerset, TA24 6LB THE OPENING of the Coastal Camping Coach Company’s carriage at Blue Anchor has renewed a tradition that stretches back to 1935 at the station.

In that year the Great Western Railway copied the LMS in setting up ‘camping coaches’ at beautiful locations offering the opportunity of family holidays at comparatively modest cost. Blue Anchor was one of the GWR’s first four locations.

For a truly authentic railway holiday experience come to Blue Anchor. The West Somerset Railway station is adjacent, and as WSR general manager Paul Conibeare says: “With the railway running right past your holiday home, what a wonderful way to explore our beautiful coast and countryside.”

The beach is two minutes from the front door and the village has a small shop

info@britishrailholiday.com CORNWALL

and a truly great seaside café with a wide variety of meals. Dunster Castle is just over a couple of miles away and Minehead a little further.

The carriage itself has a long history being a 1914 GWR Toplight coach. It was withdrawn from service in 1957 and converted to a camping coach. Inside the accommodation consists of two twin bedrooms and one bunk bed room

07718 896390

sleeping six in all. There’s a well equipped kitchen, a bathroom with shower and a substantially sized sitting/dining room with TV and DVD. Unlike during the 1930s when there was no running water, the carriage is equipped with all modern conveniences including dishwasher, microwave, and WiFi. Rover tickets for the WSR can be obtained from the station booking office.

www.britishrailholidays.co.uk

FFESTINIOG/WHR

ISLE OF MAN

HEREFORDSHIRE

Rowden Mill Station, a wonderful self-catering experience

CUMBRIA

The Station building sleeps 4 and the Parcel Office sleeps 2 (6 people in total) Rowden Mill Station is near Bromyard, in Herefordshire’s countryside

Views over the Wall Hills • Open all year • Full weeks • Long weekends • Mid-week breaks

For rates and availability, call 01885 482101 or visit:

www.rowdenmillstation.uk

NORTH NORFOLK

102 Heritagerailway.co.uk

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 the West Somerset Railway between Stogumber and Williton stations in the heart of West 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.uk or call Kate on 01984 656622 / 0781 3821475.

NORTH YORK MOORS

To advertise on our Stay a While page or for information on our special deals to also advertise in our sister publication The Railway Magazine please call Andrew Bruce on 01507 529310 or Craig Amess on 01507 529537 or email abruce@mortons.co.uk or camess@mortons.co.uk WORTH VALLEY

WEST SOMERSET

KENT & EAST SUSSEX

SHROPSHIRE

WEST SOMERSET

Heritagerailway.co.uk 103

CLASSIFIED ACCOMMODATION

EXPRESS GOODS

Contact Andrew Bruce on 01507 529310 • abruce@mortons.co.uk

BOOKS

DVD

BOOKS

EVENTS Celebrating 48 years of

4th & 5th AUGUST 2018 HIGH ACRES FARM, DEWEY LANE, BRACKENFIELD, DERBYSHIRE (A615)

ENQUIRIES K.F. Bowmer: 01629 534487 A. Ryder: 01246 498898 Craft Tent: 07866 790106 Trade Stalls: 01773 834270 Weekend Caravan & Camping: 07523 019523 www.cromfordsteamrally.co.uk

BOOKS

BUILDINGS FOR SALE

104 Heritagerailway.co.uk

FOR SALE

ENGINEERING

RAILWAYANA

SERVICES

WANTED

WANTED MODELS

RAILWAY BENCHES

RAILWAYANA

THE MOST UP-TO-DATE COVERAGE OF STEAM ERA PRESERVATION …EVERY ISSUE

SUBSCRIBE or RENEW…

✆ 01507 529529 8 classicmagazines.co.uk

...TURN TO PAGE 30 Heritagerailway.co.uk 105

THE MONTH AHEAD

The Snowdon Mountain Railway can offer spectacular views: 1896-built No. 2 Enid is seen approaching the summit on June 24 hauling one of the line’s two ‘heritage’ carriages, named Snowdon Lilly, offering additional legroom. MIKE HUCKFIELD

Complementary end-of-steam galas

By Gareth Evans TWO ‘must-attend’ galas stand out among August’s line-up, organised by two ‘premier league’ heritage lines commemorating the 50th anniversary events of British Railways running its last timetabled mainline steam service. Both events would appear to complement rather than compete with each other however, with different experiences.

SPECIAL EVENTS July

27-29: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Back to Broadway Diesel Spectacular Gala ■

August

3-5: Spa Valley Railway: Summer Diesel Gala ■ 4: Foxfield Railway: Knotty Heritage Train Day ■

The Great Central is offering the only place to travel behind No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell over the weekends of August 4-5 and 11-12, with a re-creation of the famous ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ on the latter. On the same weekend, it’s offering guided tours of Loughborough shed.

SVR's people focus

People would appear to be at the heart of the Severn Valley Railway’s August 4 Staffordshire Railway between 1870 and 1890, these carriages have been lovingly restored by the Knotty Coach Trust.

4: Severn Valley Railway: End of BR Steam ■

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the final days of steam on British Railways.

4, 5: Great Central Railway: 50th Anniversary of End of BR Steam 4, 5: Llangollen Railway: 1960s Weekend

Finally, if industrial diesels are your ‘thing’, visit Cambrian Heritage Railways on August 27. The locomotive I own with my parents, Ruston 0-4-0 165DE Alun Evans, should be in operation at Llynclys.

Heritage Railway will be covering these and other events in our next issue.

11, 12: Great Central Railway: 50th Anniversary of End of BR Steam

20-27: Beer Heights Railway: Peco Locos week

11-12: Devon Railway Centre: Steam Gala 11, 12: Swindon & Cricklade Railway: Vintage & Sensational 60s Weekend

24-27: East Lancashire Railway: Flying Scotsman

11, 12: West Lancashire Light Railway: Summer Gala 17-19: Dean Forest Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■

4, 5: Peak Rail: 1940s Weekend

18, 19: Caledonian Railway: Diesel Weekend ■

4, 5: Rhiw Valley Railway: August Open Weekend

18, 19: Kirklees Light Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■

4-12: Mid Hants Railway: Days Out with Thomas ■

18-19: Rhyl Miniature Railway: Royal Return Gala

11: Eastleigh Lakeside Railway: Visiting Big Locos

18, 19: Royal Deeside Railway: Steam & Vintage Rally

Issue 245 is out on August 24, 2018.

11, 12: Bluebell Railway: Steam Through the Ages

19: Amberley Museum: Petrol Locos Day

Catch up with the latest news, views and great features every four weeks.

11, 12: Crich Tramway Village: Home Front 1940s

18: Richmond Light Railway: Steam Fair

11, 12: Epping Ongar Railway: Vintage Steam Rally

27: Cambrian Heritage Railways: Diesel Day. ■ ■

Travel back in time in the Victorian carriages of the line’s ‘Knotty’ train. Built for the local North

106 Heritagerailway.co.uk

KEY ■ Major or featured galas

There will also be the rare chance to ‘cab’ the Black 5 and 8F at Kidderminster.

event. Members of the Master Neverers' Association will be re-enacting the cleaning of Nos. 45110 and 48773 from 12.30pm.

There is a gathering of footplate crews from August 4, 1968 who worked at Lostock Hall and Rose Grove sheds, and who were actively involved in the final days of steam, including the man who dropped the fire of No. 45110 after it had worked the very last train on August 11.

■ Diesel and/or electric galas

Diesel haulage

24-27: Isle of Wight Steam Railway: Island Steam Show 24-27: Mid-Norfolk Railway: Steam Weekend 25-27: Midland Railway – Butterley: Victorian Train Weekend 25-27: Stapleford Miniature Railway: Open Weekend 25-27: Telford Steam Railway: 1940s Weekend 25-27: Nene Valley Railway: August Bank Holiday Branch Line Weekend 27: Rhyl Miniature Railway: Double Header Day

RAILWAYANA August

4: Great Central Auctions, Bloxham

■ Thomas or family event

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500 LOTS INCLUDING NAMEPLATES (STEAM): 603 Squadron, Chale, Dick Turpin, Heveningham Hall, Knight of the Thistle, Loch Arkaig, Madoqua, Orion (GWR), Princess Beatrice, Shamrock (LNWR), Shanklin (Replacement), The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers, South Lancashire, Venus (Brit), Wootton Hall. (DIESEL): Cadeirlan Bangor Cathedral, Carmania (Cl 40), Clothes Show Live, Inst of Mech Engineers 150th Anniv 1847-1997, Lanarkshire Voyager, PRIDE IN (UDDERSlELD 3IR John de Graeme, Stewarts Lane 1860-1985, Tyne and Wear Metropolitan County, West Yorkshire Metropolitan County + Badge, Yorkshire Cricket Academy + Badge. CABSIDES: GWR 83, 1665, 2854, 3219, 3601, 3830, 4147, 4280, 4574, 4979, 5221, 5684, 6139, 6324, 6620, 6724, 6979, 7228, 8752, 9018, 9416, 9788, D1049 (Cl 52), E3040 (Electric), SNCF 141R 654. SAR: 1717, 2123, 2828, 2903, 3509, 3814. SMOKEBOXES: 3824, 5380, 5752 (L 91), 6427, 9788, 30792, 31848, 34077, 40656, 42662, 45232, 48374, 61259, 65862, 76075, 90095, 92231. WORKSPLATES (STEAM): Avonside GWR 1103, Bagnall (6710), (8447), Beyer Peacock, Brighton 1950 (42076), Brighton Works 1879 (Terrier), Dubs, Fowler, GCR Gorton 1911, GNR Dundalk 29 1905 + Cabside, Hudswell Clarke (GWR 2162), Hunslet (9491), Kerr Stuart, LMS 1886 St Rollox (57312), LMS Crewe (40656), LMS Horwich (42813), LMS St Rollox (57238), LNER (62468), (63774), LNER Cowlairs (69164), LNER Darlington (65068), LNER Doncaster (64203), LNER Sharp Stewart (68467), LNER Stratford (62551), Midland Railway 1902, NBL (44061), (61120), (90154), NCB Philadelphia, Neilson (30568), Neilson Reid (64308), Peckett, Sharp Stewart (31716), Vulcan (41168), (41199), (90565). (DIESEL): Andrew Barclay (D2435), Brush Sulzer (47541), Class 50 Lease Plate, English Electric (37046, (50043), Hudswell Clarke (D2519), NBL/GEC (D61XX). TOTEMS: Aylesford, Oldham Mumps, Oxford, Oxford Road, Polegate, Reading General, Redcar Central, Bakewell, Banchory, Barrow, Bishopstone, Ripon, Shepherds Well, Silecroft, South Brentford Central, Brettel Lane, Brimsdown, Bromborough, Brundall, Builth Merton, Steeton & Silsden, Todmorden, Wells, Cannock, Carshalton, Church & Walton-on-Thames, Whitecraigs. Wilmslow.

Oswaldtwistle, Corby, Crowbrough & Jarvis TARGETS: Bond Street (LT), Brockholes (LMS), Eltham Park, Farncombe, Gilwern Brook, Diggle, Dorchester West, Dundee Tay Bridge,East Malling Halt, Fishergate Halt (LMS), Hampton Court, Hamworthy Junction, Parkstone, Penge West, Halt, Fulbourne, Furness Vale, Giffnock, Gowerton North, Halifax, Kensel Green, Southampton Central,Tisbury, Torrington, Kensington Olympia, Keswick, Kinross Virginia Water. STATION SIGNS: Carron, *UNCTION ,INGlELD -AGDELEN 2OAD

Coast Stations, Dorchester, Dunsland Maidstone Barracks, Maidstone East, Melton Cross, BR(S), Great Harwood, Kentish Town Mowbray, Merthyr, Minehead, Motherwell, WeST .ETHERlELD & Colwick, Nottingham

(ex Victoria), Powerstock, Rodwell, Tynmouth, Whitley Bay. SHEDPLATES: 1F, 2A, 2B, 5E, 6H 10D, 10F, 12B, 16D, 21B, 33B, 34A, 34B, 41D, 52A, 56A, 56B, 60C, 62A, 62C, 64G, 65B, 65J, 65K, 68C, 70B, 74A, 75E, 81A, 81D, 81F, 83A, 84H, 84K, 86A, 86E, 87B, 87C. TOKENS: Arrochar-Glen Douglas, Bewdley-Cleobury Mortimer, Caersws-Carno, Holt-Patney & Chirton, Hookagate-Westbury, Kings Nympton-Umberleigh, Llandovery-Llangadog, Muir of Ord-Clacknaharry, Penmaenpool-Dolgelly, Penwithers Jct-Penryn, Rannoch-Tulloch, Taynuilt-Oban, TullochFort William Jc, Tulloch-Spean Bridge, Upper Tyndrum-Rannoch, Whitstone-Bude. TABLETS: Annasgaul-Dingle, Barnstaple Town-Pottington, Bellarena-Limervady Junct, Bolsover-Glapwell, Camelford-Delabole, Forres-Dunphail, Limavady-Limavady Junct, Newburgh-Bridge of Earn, Whitchurch-Fenns Bank. STAFFS: Armagh South-Tynan, Bramley-Cranleigh, Crossbarry-Ballinhassig, East Grinstead-Forest Row, Oldcastle-Virginia Road, StreamstownCastletown. SIGNAL LEVER PLATES: From Dorstone (MR), From Swindon (MR), NER Stockton Darlington, Pilning Branch, Relief to Badminton (GWR). SEAT BACK PLATES: Crail, East Newport, Leuchars Junction, Maidstone West, Staveley Works (LNER). SIGNAL BOX DIAGRAMS: Kingennie LMS, Ruabon North Box (GWR), Tower Hill BR(S). HANDLAMPS: GER Harling Road, GER Norwich Victoria, GNR Colwick North Junc, LNER Pinchbeck, LNWR Banbury Goods, NBR Kingskettle, NBR Newburgh. PULLMAN: Car Lamp Aquila & Medusa, Car Window, Marquetry. GWR: 1713 1906 Tenderplate, Cambrian Porter Armband, GWR & LMS, To Railway Station Enamel, Weston Clevedon & Portishead Railway Coach Plate, Yard Lamp. LMS: Dundee & Arbroath Jt Trespass, Royal Scot Headboard. LNER: Edinburgh & Northern Ladder Bar, GER 12� & GNR 8� Clock, GNER Crest, NER Scarborough Cash Bag, Wetwang N.E.R Platform Lamp. SR: Platform Ticket Machine (LBSCR), S&DJR Holcroft Finial. GENERAL: Crumlin GNR(I) Lamp Tablet, Isle of Man TeAPOT 0OST "OX 0OST /FlCE $IRECTION 3IGN

WE WELCOME SIMILAR ITEMS FOR ENTRY IN OUR NEXT SALE. CATALOGUES ARE AVAILABLE A FORTNIGHT BEFORE EACH SALE, SEND OR PHONE FOR YOUR FREE COMPLIMENTARY CATALOGUE NOW!

A chance to see a surviving, working steam railway in all its glory. This popular, annual pilgrimage to the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen allows you to indulge in a weekend of special steam hauled trains with the beautiful Harz Mountains and charming medieval towns as the backdrop.       

Enjoy 2 days of steam travel at the Harz Autumn Gala Includes plenty of run pasts and other photographic opportunities Enjoy a guided tour of the workshops in Westerntor Stay in medieval town of Wernigerode with free time to explore Visit Cologne outbound and Essen on return A chance to ride the famous Wuppertal suspension railway Transport city card covering the Rhine-Ruhr area

Combine some festive fun with steam train travel in Germany! Savour some traditional Saxon Yuletide treats at Dresden’s colourful Christmas Markets with the added bonus of exploring several surviving steam railways in the Dresden area - something for everyone!    

Unlimited mainline rail travel within Germany for duration of stay Unlimited travel on public transport systems of Dresden for duration of stay Christmas Market in Dresden Cranzahl and Oberwiesenthal, Zittau, Freital-Hainsberg and Radeburg narrow gauge steam railways (at an additional cost)  Overnight stays in Aachen and Cologne on the outbound and return journeys

Another opportunity to join our successful annual tour to India and ride the three magnificent railways that served the former British Hill Stations. New to this tour is a visit to the wonderful Mudamalai Wildlife Reserve to see its famous elephants.         

Private Heritage carriage on Kalka Shimla Railway Private steam charter - Shimla to Shoghi Taj Mahal & Red Fort 2 Private steam charters on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) Journey on the ‘Joy Train’ Delhi Railway Museum & DHR Museum Workshop visits on Kalka Shimla & DHR Sightseeing in Amritsar, Shimla, Delhi, Darjeeling & Ooty Atari-Wagah Frontier, Golden Temple, India Gate, & Mudamalai Wildlife Sanctuary

This comprehensive tour offers an amazing opportunity to enjoy sights not normally seen by the average rail passenger. A chance to “access all areas” at many of the heritage railway gems of North Wales from miniature to standard gauge. Ride on footplates and learn about the history of these fascinating railways.  Visits to National Rail signal boxes in Machynlleth and Shrewsbury  Guided tours and insights from railway staff and volunteers  Steam hauled private charter trains on Ffestiniog, Vale of Rheidol, Corris and Talyllyn  Scenic rail journey along the Cambrian Coast  Tours of remnants of former railways around Porthmadog and North Wales coast  Unique behind the scenes access

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Ffestiniog Travel is owned by a charitable trust and profits go to support the world famous Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways ~ every booking helps preserve the railways ~