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ENGINE SHED CALAMITIES – THE HAND OF MAN

April 2022 | £4.95

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YORKSHIRE COAST STEAM CINOLFOUULLR

APRIL 2022 £4.95

PLUS THE WONDERS OF WOOD GREEN

OXLEY SHED’S BR ‘BRITANNIA’ PACIFICS

LEEK & MANIFOLD VALLEY LIGHT RAILWAY

No 392

Cover: Malton-based Worsdell ‘G5’ 0-4-4T No 67332 – new in June 1901 as North Eastern Railway ‘O’ class No 468 – prepares to depart Whitby in April 1954 with a stopping train for Pickering. Although at a seaside terminus, this train will travel inland, beneath the Scarborough-Whitby-Middlesbrough route and along the Esk Valley to reach Grosmont and then diverge south over what we know today as the North Yorkshire Moors route.

J Jarvis/Kidderminster Railway Museum

EDITORIAL & DESIGN Rex Kennedy, Andrew Kennedy, Andrew Wilson, Roger Smith and Ian Kennedy 64 Littledown Drive, Bournemouth BH7 7AH 01202 304849 red.gauntlett@gmail.com

April 2022

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Trains of thought

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The wonders of Wood Green Where the King’s Cross main line meets the south end of the Hertford Loop, Andrew Britton recalls how in 1961 this suburban station was a meeting point for friends wishing to enjoy top link steam at work.

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Lineside cameraman Barry Mounsey For many years a regular contributor to ‘Steam Days’, Andrew Wilson takes a moment to highlight some of Barry’s black and white photography.

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Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway A unique railway in many respects, Bruce Laws offers an overview of the picturesque 2ft 6in gauge line inherited by the LMS in Staffordshire.

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On the last day of services between here at Loftus and Whitby on Saturday 3 May 1958, BR Standard class 4MT 2-6-4T No 80116 arrives as Thompson L1 2-6-4T No 67754 waits to head south. The truncated passenger service at Loftus eventually ceased from 12 August 1963. K H Cockerill/ARPT

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STEAM DAYS in Colour 208: Yorkshire Coast steam: north from Scarborough Cherished railways to many enthusiasts, we cover the former North Eastern Railway routes that linked Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby and onwards to Loftus and towards the Tees.

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Oxley’s ‘Britannia’ Pacifics Steve Bartlett looks at the story behind the three newly-allocated ‘Britannia’ Pacifics at this ex-GWR depot for the summer 1965 timetable period.

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Engine shed calamities: the hand of man Roger Griffiths and Jim Lindsay track some of the occasions when engine sheds have fallen foul of numerous involvements, including equipment failure.

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TRAINS of thought

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Next month...

The Swindon-built Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0s Glasgow cross-rail London shed bash – Sunday, 21 April 1963 Leslie Freeman’s tour of the West Country – May 1960 (Waterloo-Plymouth-TruroFalmouth-Penzance-Helston-St ErthSt Ives-Truro) Steam serving Oxfordshire industry – in full colour On sale Thursday, 21 April 2022

n this issue of Steam Days, Steve Bartlett takes a look at the summer-dated holiday expresses from Wolverhampton that were performed by three BR ‘Britannia’ Pacifics - Nos 70045, 70047 and 70053 - during the summer of 1965 which had in the previous summer been worked by ‘Castles’, as described by Steve in his detailed article on the Oxley ‘Castles’ that featured in the April 2015 issue of this magazine. As with his earlier contributions, the story goes way beyond just the core summer Saturday duties.

Prior to the closure to steam of Wolverhampton’s Stafford Road shed in 1963, Oxley was predominantly a freight shed with, over the years, allocations of ‘Granges’, ‘Halls’, ‘2800’ class, WD ‘Austerity’ and ‘ROD’ 2-8-0s, Churchward Moguls,’7200’ class 2-8-2Ts, ‘5600’ class 0-6-2Ts and Great Western pannier tanks, with Oxley then becoming the only ex-Great Western locomotive depot in Wolverhampton.

I recall quite a few visits to Oxley shed in the days of steam over the years, mainly cycling there from my home in Worcester - a distance of around 30 miles each way - also taking in Stafford Road shed with its amazing allocation of ‘Castles’, ‘Halls’ and ‘Kings’ in the late 1950s, and in the early 1950s the ‘Stars’ and 4-6-0 ‘Counties’. Sadly I never managed to get around the locomotive works at Wolverhampton that was nearby, but in the early 1950s, during my visits to Oxley shed, the shed’s locomotive allocation totalled around 70 engines, with a similar amount allocated to Stafford Road shed.

The engine shed at Oxley comprised two large roundhouses just ¼ mile from Stafford Road shed, each roundhouse entered by a single line, from the north and south ends, with the roundhouse at the south end also entered by lines coming in at the side of the shed on both sides. I will never forget my visits to the two Wolverhampton sheds, and standing on the turntables in the centre of the two Oxley sheds with the sight and sound of steam all around me.

How I now wish that I had had a camera in those days to capture that wonderful scene on film.

Yes, Wolverhampton and its engine sheds was a wonderful place to visit for any trainspotter in those halcyon days of steam. With Stafford Road shed closing to steam in 1963, Oxley became a London Midland Region shed in September of that year, its shed code changing from 84B to 2B. I recall the walk down Jones Road that left the Stafford Road not far from Stafford Road shed, and crossing a canal bridge, with Jones Road ending at a railway viaduct. We walked alongside the canal and under the viaduct where a cinder track led up to the shed. The last time I took that walk was when coming home to Worcester during a Worcester Locomotive Society (WLS) trip on Sunday, 10 December 1967 that covered the sheds in the Liverpool area.

On shed at Oxley that day were just six diesel locomotives, Nos D1944, D3757, D301, D288, D8136 and D7565. My penultimate visit to Oxley shed was also when on a WLS trip, on 19 March 1967, just six days after Oxley shed closed to steam, when, on shed, were 11 ‘Black Fives’, five Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0s, and the only other steam on shed at Oxley that day being Nos 46428 and 76087. Diesel locomotives on shed on that occasion were six shunters (two of these being of the small 204hp type), three Brush type ‘4s’, and English Electric type ‘1’ No D8044. Oh how we longed for those days of steam from the past. Enjoy your read and your own memories.

Steam Days Magazine An exterior view of Oxley shed on 22 January 1967, less than two months before it closed to steam and while in London Midland Region hands. In shot is ex-LMS Stanier ‘8F’ class 2-8-0 No 48035, on the left, with another of the class, No 48752, in company with Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 44876. A N H Glover/Kidderminster Railway Museum

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The wonders of Wood Green

Where the King’s Cross main line meets the southern end of the Hertford Loop, Andrew Britton recalls how in 1961 this north London suburban station proved a convenient meeting point for friends wishing to observe top link Eastern Region steam motive power.

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n 1961 three childhood friends from Southampton met up at Wood Green station to indulge in their secret passion of trainspotting. All three had spent countless hours together at the lineside at Northam, Southampton (Central) and Swathling, along with frequent clandestine visits to Eastleigh shed and works. Each of the friends had the steam bug for Bulleid Pacifics, Maunsell’s ‘Lord Nelson’ and ‘King Arthur’ 4-6-0s and were totally familiar with all the Southern Railway classes of engines. Now, having moved on from their school days, each of the friends had pursued different careers. The friends were golfer and broadcaster Peter Allis, member of parliament for Wednesbury and postmaster general John Stonehouse, and my father, a schoolmaster and lay preacher, John Britton.

Whenever there was a convenient time and suitable location the three friends would meet up somewhere lineside – in 1961 they agreed to rendezvous at Wood Green station.

Why Wood Green? For John Stonehouse, it was just north of the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. For Peter Allis, it was a ‘time

Recorded from the south end of the westernmost of Wood Green station’s three island platforms (Nos 5 and 6) on Wednesday, 19 April 1961 is Thompson ‘A2/3’ Pacific No 60514 Chamossaire. It is heading a class ‘3’ down train, most likely an empty coaching stock duty. This locomotive was new to King’s Cross Top Shed on 28 September 1946 as LNER No 514 but in British Railways days found a long term home at Peterborough’s New England shed. The down through lines here (from west to east) are the down goods, No 2 slow, No 1 slow, and down sast, with the down goods and No 2 slow passing between platform Nos 5 and 4, so they are to the left of this view. On the right is a youthful Matisa ‘Neptune’ track recording machine at the dock. Built from 1957, their top speed of 40mph (or 20mph when recording) ultimately encouraged their dismissal in favour of a dedicated coach and then a ‘Sprinter’ multiple unit converted (circa 1987/88) to do the same job at greater speeds. R Amos/Kidderminster Railway Museum

window’ and an ideal location in between a meeting with the BBC at Shepherd’s Bush in London and his British PGA Championship.

For my father, it was a day off from the rigours of marking books and preparing lessons. For each of these avid steam enthusiasts Wood Green presented the perfect location to watch Eastern Region express passenger Pacifics beginning to get into their paces away from London (King’s Cross), and with the bonus of frequent empty coaching stock workings and parcel traffic. John Stonehouse was a fervent follower of the streamlined Gresley ‘A4’ Pacifics, Peter Allis adored the ‘V2’ 2-6-2s, and my father was a great admirer of the Peppercorn ‘A1’ Pacifics, but all three remained devoted to their Southern Bulleid Pacifics.

The station ‘Wood Green - Alexandra Park’, which was the full name painted on the

This Wood Green Alexandra Park running in board is at the north end of the easternmost platform (Nos 1 and 2), houses on Buckingham Road providing a backdrop. Seen from the middle island platform (Nos 3 and 4) across just one running line, the near platform was on the up slow line, and up branch services used the far side, these being off the Hertford Loop, which began life as the Enfield branch.

I H B Lewis/Britton Collection

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running-in board in BR (Eastern Region) steam days, was opened by the Great Northern Railway on 1 May 1859. It was what is known as a ‘developer’s station’ and was partly funded by the London landowning Rhodes family, who discovered that they could make a fortune in money from bricks and mortar on their fields. The development of Alexandra Park, immediately on its west side, provided a further source of revenue to the station’s fortunes post-1863, Wood Green station being re-named Wood Green (Alexandra Park) from the following year. The Great Northern foresaw that there was a potential for the then small two-track main line station to be ‘swamped’ with visitors to the park and later its Alexandra Palace, briefly in 1873 and then from 1875, and plans were therefore drawn up to enlarge the station and facilities with re-structuring of the lines. The

Sweeping through Wood Green with the up ‘Elizabethan’ in August 1954 is Gresley ‘A4’ Pacific No 60009 Union of South Africa, a Haymarketallocated engine. The ‘Elizabethan’ was the rebranded and sped up ‘Capitals Limited’ from 1953 to mark the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II. The time was cut by 15 minutes to 6 hours 30 minutes for the non-stop run from Edinburgh (Waverley) to London (King’s Cross), virtually a mile a minute and the longest non-stop journey in the world at the time. Needless to say, the train is on the up fast, which ran beside platform No 4, while the down fast is the middle one of the three tracks, and No 1 slow line is that beside the photographer. John Davies/Britton Collection

major change came with the opening of the Enfield Branch from 1 April 1871, which was ultimately extended through to Stevenage – Cuffley was reached in 1910, and then the loop was completed upon reaching Stevenage on 4 March 1918, albeit passenger opening was not until 2 June 1924.

Wood Green remained a distinctive outersuburban station as the decades passed, with the Great Northern becoming part of the LNER during the Grouping in 1923, and postwar, at nationalisation, the station became part of British Railways (Eastern Region). It is exactly five miles north of King’s Cross station, as the milepost behind the down platform confirms. The station was equipped with up and down side booking offices and boasted three island platforms – fitted with canopies and boasting waiting rooms – alongside which passed quadruple lines: the down fast, down slow, up fast, and up slow.

The interlocking of the station was brought together with a passenger footbridge.

After the Victorian rebuilding programme at Wood Green, this wonderful vantage point to watch passing East Coast main line steam remained largely unaltered until well after the end of Eastern Region steam hereabouts in 1964. For a good panoramic view overlooking the station in steam days, possibly the best vantage point was the overbridge on Bridge Road, linking Buckingham Road on the east side of the station with Bedford Road on the west. From here one could peer down on to the station, to the south, or in the opposite direction gaze across the activity in Bounds Green carriage sidings and see the incoming Hertford Loop, as well as have sight of the up and down Bowes Park goods lines, the Enfield flyover section crossing over the East Coast main line just north of Wood Green station.

Beyond lay the triple bore 705 yard-long Wood Green tunnel.

For the spectator, Wood Green offered a variety of exciting Eastern Region main line action, with express trains, interlaced with

stopping trains and freights (fitted and loose), and regular empty coaching stock movements to/from the neighbouring sidings, added to which were shunting movements in the local sand sidings (later Amey Roadstone Construction sidings). After walking across the footbridge and slowly descending the wooden steps on to the platform, the pulse would begin to race in anticipation of what would be passing through next. If it was cold, one could always retreat to one of the ornate and cosy waiting rooms. These had the words Wood Green set into the panes of glass, painted in black on a white background. Within the waiting rooms were wooden benches, some labelled GNR, and at the end of the room was a glowing coal fire. During the summer months it was better to sit outside and enjoy the open air, resting on one of the basic bar back-style wooden benches, although the favourite place on the station to watch passing trains was undoubtedly at the end of the up fast platform, next to No 4 signal box.

With all down lines on the west side of Wood Green station, the need to cross to the Enfield Branch/Hertford Loop led to the provision of the single-track Enfield viaduct immediately to its north. This evening view from 14 September 1957 records Gresley ‘N2/4’ class 0-6-2T No 69593 using this to cross the main line with empty coaching stock from King’s Cross or Moorgate. It is perhaps heading to the carriage sidings seen beyond the viaduct’s piers - this is the Bounds Green site at the end of the Hertford Loop, as is Wood Green Up Box No 2, which is in view where the up branch meets the main line just north of Bridge Road overbridge. The photographer is standing just south of Wood Green Tunnel signal box, the line on the far right (in shadow) being the down goods, whereas the down Enfield is crossing the viaduct (this is reached via the down goods, No 2 slow, and No 1 slow lines within the domain of Down Box No 3). Immediately to the right of the photographer is down siding No 1, which joins the down goods to soon join the down slow, while the next lines under the viaduct are, from right to left, down slow, down fast, and up fast. B K B Green

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Wood Green Tunnel box is seen on the right of this south-facing view from the top of Wood Green tunnels, a double bore for the fast lines and single bores either side for the slow lines. A Gresley ‘V2’ class 2-6-2 has just passed the 20-lever Tunnel box with a down express passenger duty on 1 May 1958. Note the up sidings occupied by mineral wagons, the allotment land to their left, and the embankment carrying the down Enfield line towards Bowes Park station. There were other carriage stabling options on the Hertford Loop, but our elevated position reinforces the importance of the Bounds Green site immediately north of Wood Green station. John Davies/Britton Collection

Perhaps a slightly misleading pair of shots as they rather ‘foreshorten’ the 705 yard Wood Green tunnels, but this is in effect the continuation north for a down express beyond the darkness, in this case with British Railways Standard ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 73158 on a down Cambridge train, again on 1 May 1958. New to Neasden shed in December 1956, No 73158 was on the books at Top Shed, King’s Cross between November 1957 and November 1958, hence its allocation to this train – it will leave the main line at Hitchin to travel via Royston. The train will soon pass New Southgate gasworks, the gradient of its headshunt quite an eye-opener, and just beyond is New Southgate station, the driver of the Standard ‘5MT’ pressing on confidently thanks to the distant signal indicating that the next home signal is already ‘off’. John Davies/Britton Collection

A June 1954 view records the up entrance to Wood Green station on Buckingham Road.

Note the Royal Mail postbox beside the lefthand arch, the advert for ‘Parcels by Rail’, the circular brick surround to the exterior lamp, and the human presence, including a baby being comforted. Incredibly, the rebuild of the station that started in late 1974 and concluded in 1982 would leave this particular building standing, but much of the rest of the station would be swept away as it morphed into the modern Alexandra Palace station of today.

G Biddle Collection/Kidderminster Railway Museum

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Extraordinarily, we can now benefit from the foresight of a series of photographs that record the everyday infrastructure of Wood Green station. The booking office is at the higher, road level, from which a footbridge stretched across all tracks, linking to the three island platforms – Nos 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 (east to west) – as it continued through to the down-side station entrance on Bedford Road, the building there not surviving the lengthy and radical station rebuild. Note the wooden gates at the bottom of the stairway in this view, and the waiting room. The gates suggest a desire to close this platform at times, and as the up slow was served by both platform Nos 2 and 3 the view is most likely the middle island, platform Nos 3 and 4. If so, the up slow is to the east side and up fast to the west; there would generally be no need to stop trains here that were using the up fast. Britton Collection

The booking office window of the Buckingham Road entrance. L H B Lewis/Britton Collection Signage for incoming passengers on trains extended to the station name was emblazoned on some of the waiting room windows, although on the other side of the building it seems that a totem sign has also been provided. L H B Lewis/Britton Collection

This is the most easterly of the three island platforms, with the footbridge behind the photographer.

The line on the left is the up slow and, as can be appreciated, a train stopping here had access from both the middle island’s platform No 3 and the eastern island’s No 2. The distant sign locates the gentlemen’s lavatory, and beyond that we can just see the 50-lever No 2 Up box at the end of the Hertford Loop. The eastern island was used by London-bound trains off that line, as well as some slower up main line services. A walk through the gap between the waiting rooms on the right would take us onto platform No 1, with a through up goods road beyond that. Britton Collection The waiting rooms of Wood Green station’s platform Nos 1 and 2 were quite slim. This is primarily the up branch platform, which lost a lot of business from 19 September 1932 when the Piccadilly tube line’s Cockfosters extension opened from Finsbury Park, which included a new Underground station called Wood Green that was just a short walk east from the BR station. The nearer Palace Gates branch of Great Eastern Railway origin lost out completely, closing to passengers in 1963. In regard to the GNR stations, the first on the Hertford Loop, Bowes Park, particularly suffered after opening of the Bounds Green tube station, but has survived. We find this up side waiting room empty, and with no fire lit, while a framed British Railways poster adorns the chimney breast. Fast forward a few years and such an everyday scene would be swept away by demolition.

This platform survived but not its buildings. L H B Lewis Britton Collection This former Great Northern Railway seat looks not to encourage a long and comfortable stop, thanks to its bar back design. L H B Lewis/Britton Collection

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Looking south from platform Nos 1 and 2, a through goods line is on the left, the up branch nearer, and to the right is the up slow. The signals in view are at a lower height, presumably for sighting in regard to the canopy and two footbridges, all unseen behind the photographer.

The corporate signage looks perhaps to be beyond the steam era, but the infrastructure remains. The signal box to the near right is Wood Green Up Box No 4, which dates from 1883 and had 57 levers, while a signal alongside the up main partly obscures our view of Down Box No 1. The 1880s resignalling through Wood Green had boxes Nos 1, 3 and Tunnel for down trains, and 2 and 4 for up, with 242 levers between them. The 1960s box closures came about in part thanks to a panel being installed in No 4 box, so it thereafter controlled both up and down trains, but ultimately this was just a stepping stone on the road towards the King’s Cross power box resignalling, and No 4 box, by then simply known as Wood Green, closed on 8 August 1976. Britton Collection

There were actually five signal boxes within the locality of Wood Green station: Nos 1-4 and Tunnel box. In the latter years of steam working, with declining goods traffic in the 1960s, two of the signal boxes were abolished. Wood Green Tunnel box closed in 1965 when the down goods line was cut-back, and this was followed by No 3 box closing in 1967, after a landslip in the cutting wall blocked the down goods line. Re-signalling and train control from a panel in King’s Cross power box followed in the 1970s, resulting in closure of all the Wood Green signal boxes.

This was linked to modernisation and electrification of the main line from King’s Cross, most of the Wood Green station buildings and canopies being bulldozed and

swept away – an almost criminal act! The survivor is the up side station entrance. The electrification came in April 1977, initially only for suburban trains via Hertford and Welwyn Garden City through to Royston, beyond Hitchin, but ultimately 1989-91 saw

the best main line services finally follow suit, through to Leeds and then Edinburgh. The station was known simply as Wood Green from 1971, and then at a formal post-rebuild re-opening on 17 May 1982 it became known as Alexandra Palace.

Once again we have a part view of Up Box No 4, but this time on 24 May 1963 as Copley Hill-allocated Peppercorn ‘A1’ Pacific No 60120 Kittiwake storms north on the Down Fast, presumably with a Leeds-bound express. By this time the writing was on the wall for steam on the Great Northern main line south of Peterborough, with timetabled steam-hauled passenger operations booked to cease with the implementation of the summer timetable in June. Such was the spread of dieselisation that the East Coast Pacifics were soon starting to live on borrowed time, the pictured ‘A1’ being withdrawn on 20 January 1964, by then as a York engine. Britton Collection

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Viewed from the north end of the same island platform (Nos 5 and 6), Grantham-allocated Gresley ‘A3’ Pacific No 60056 Centenary speeds through on the up main en route to King’s Cross on 25 July 1959. On the left is Wood Green Down Box No 3, which contained a 40-lever frame, the signal gantry just in view to its left helping us locate the down goods and No 2 slow lines. These and the No 1 slow, immediately beside the photographer, all offered access to the Enfield flyover – see the turnout just beyond the platform – the so-called Hertford Loop allowing down trains (for example) to bypass Welwyn viaduct, about 16 miles north of Wood Green, and a double-track bottleneck, re-emerging at the main line 4½ miles to its north. No 3 box would close in 1967 and then see some use by permanent way gangs – it was extant towards the end of 1975 but demolition was then in hand across the site and, while its platform survives, ultimately the sweeping changes included the decommissioning of the middle island platform too. Britton Collection

Thinking back and reflecting to our visit to Wood Green in the early 1960s, I can recall the variety of steam classes we observed. There were WD 2-8-0s, ‘J6’ 0-6-0s and ‘V2’ 2-6-2s hauling mixed wooden-sided mineral wagons bound to/from King’s Cross yard, but the highlight of freight activities was the ‘Scotch Goods’ bound for Niddrie yard in Edinburgh.

The motive power somewhat surprised MP John Stonehouse as it was hauled by one of his favourite streamlined Gresley ‘A4’ Pacifics, ‘I thought they were reserved to only haul the crack expresses!’ he exclaimed. The local trainspotting fraternity however, were quick to point out that this fast fitted express freight was regularly in the hands of the ‘A4’ class.

At the time of our visit, the local stopping trains were the domain of ‘N7’ 0-6-2 and ‘L1’ 2-6-4 tanks, as well as ‘B1’ 4-6-0s. More ‘V2’ and ‘B1s’, along with ‘B17’ 4-6-0 ‘Footballers’, appeared to have the monopoly on semi-fast duties, but the real excitement for Peter Allis, John Stonehouse and my father centred on the crack expresses hauled by ‘A4’, ‘A3’, ‘A1’, ‘A2’ and British Railways ‘Britannia’ Pacifics.

Forget a ‘hole in one’ for Peter Allis, a winning political point in a Parliamentary debate for John Stonehouse, or a top quality classroom lesson for my father, the excitement that was generated when ‘The Tees-Tyne Pullman’, ‘Elizabethan’ express or ‘Flying Scotsman’ passed was something to behold.

Perhaps the only thing that didn’t sit well with the locals were Peter Allis’ controversial audible comparisons with his beloved Southern Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ express steam engines. Peter’s parting memorable comical quib in his distinctive and unforgettable Hampshire voice, was made with a cheeky wink to his old school friends, ‘Our ‘Merchant Navies’ would leave these Gresley Pacifics for dust!’

John Stonehouse grinned, adding in a deep Parliamentary tone, ‘Hear, hear, to that!’

My father stepped in with a stern school masterly voice, ‘Now, now gentlemen, we mustn’t upset the locals. We had better be off now’.

Our final views are all taken from the westernmost island platform, this scene recording double-chimney Gresley ‘V2’ class 2-6-2 No 60862 heading north on the down goods line. Note that the train includes sheeted over mineral wagons, and a horsebox (No E2437E) provides additional interest at the down dock. The passing train will most likely weave behind the rising grade of the down Enfield line to pass Tunnel box, although that route would in time be lost to a landslip. Based at King’s Cross ‘Top Shed’, the pictured locomotive was new to Gorton shed on 13 June 1939, but it was a King’s Cross asset from mid-March 1950 and almost through to the expulsion of steam on this route in June 1963, New England shed receiving it in the April. Britton Collection

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Another ‘V2’ heads north, this time No 60880 on an evening class ‘3’ parcels duty on the down main, the date being 24 May 1963. Note the loading platform on the up side – it is immediately to the north end of a small goods yard. Allocated to New England shed at this time, the pictured ‘V2’ would be reallocated to Doncaster shed on 16 June 1963, but not find long term work there, being withdrawn just over three months later. Britton Collection

Viewed from the same spot, but looking north, Peppercorn ‘A1’ Pacific No 60149 Amadis heads into the capital on the up main with another class ‘3’ parcels working. Of interest are the two footbridges in view, the nearest one being a public bridge linking Bedford Road (to the left) and Buckingham Road, while the distant one is that serving the station. The name Amadis was given to this engine some 40 years after its namesake won the 1909 Doncaster Cup, although there was at least some synergy in that this ‘racehorse’ did enjoy a lengthy allocation to that Yorkshire town, from late September 1958 through to its withdrawal on 7 June 1964. Britton Collection Another view from 24 May 1963 at Wood Green, this time with Gresley ‘A3’ Pacific No 60044 Melton powering through with a down express. A Top Shed locomotive from April 1957, Melton received a double-chimney in June 1959, and smoke deflectors as late as August 1961, BR still looking to better certain engines despite their likely short-term remaining. In the case of No 60044, it would not survive the June 1963 line in the sand in regard to no steam use on the main line south of Peterborough, instead being withdrawn from King’s Cross shed on 16 June 1963. Britton Collection

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