Ribble Pilot - Issue 49

The Ribble Pilot

The Journal of The Ribble Steam Railway Edition 49.

Do NOT PRINT See “Cover” attachment

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37291 and an unidentified sister loco have just arrived at the old exchange sidings, the two Sentinel loco's are still in red livery. (Steven Brindley)

Do NOT PRINT See “Cover� attachment

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Ribble Pilot 49 - (Winter 2017)

We start the Winter of 2017 with the sad news of Alstom’s pending closure in Preston.

Alstom has announced it will close its site in Strand Road, Ashton-on-Ribble. Up to 200 jobs could be at risk as the firm relocates to a new facility at Widnes.

Alston, who make train parts, opened a new rail academy in Widnes, Cheshire in early October.

A spokesman for the company said: “Alstom has recently opened its new Transport Technology Centre in Widnes in the Liverpool City Region.

This site is the natural home for Alstom’s increasingly digitally focussed business and as a result we plan to centralise our technologies and capabilities in this new world class facility – increasing our productivity and competitiveness.

This will mean leaving the Victorian Preston site

by July 2018. Consultation is ongoing with the Trades Union and staff.”

Alstom Transport occupies the site of Dick Kerr works in Preston. In their reception lobby is a photographic display of the history of the works.

(I wonder if it could be moved to a permanent story display in our museum - Ed)

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Still awaiting its bodyside name, Deltic stands in the yard at the company's Preston works before the start of trials on the Western Division of the LMR. Photo: c.GEC-Alstom

There is so much history connected to this building and the entire site at Preston, it is a fascinating story of engineering, tram and locomotive building and Preston’s connection with transport development. Let’s see how this story develops and fingers crossed sections can be saved. (Ed)

Ribble Pilot Back Issues Available from Membership Secretary Issues 28 (2) 29 (1) 30 (1) 31 (1) 32 (2) 33 (1) 34 (2) 35 (2) 39 (11) All above are at clearance price of £1 each Issues 40 (10) 42 (2) 44 (3) 45 (7) 46 (3) 47 (5) 48 (20) All available at £2 each

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Museum Report

Santa Appeal The Santa Specials season will soon be upon us.

We had a hugely successful year in 2016, with people from across all parts of the railway chipping in to help out.

There's a wide variety of jobs that need to be done each day; from elfing, serving mince pie and sherry, to helping book people in and directing them to the right place, and if anyone would like to help out for a day (or more!) drop me an email (karl.latham@ribblesteam.co.uk) or pop into the museum building to see me.

Christmas jumpers are encouraged!

As I write this the museum has been transformed into a spooky hall of spiders and ghouls ready for our spooky Halloween weekend. Enter if you dare!

As well as the transformation, several new displays, and information panels have popped up in various places since the last edition of the Pilot.

You can now learn about the role that Women have played in the history of the railways, how shunters worked at sites like Preston Docks as well as other places, and how the TPO and Red Star Parcels worked.

The Shark brake van, restored by a group of volunteers over in the workshop has been moved into the museum and opened up for our visitors to enjoy.

The TPO has moved across into the Furness building, ready for restoration and a repaint before moving into the museum ready for the start of the 2018 season.

A sterling effort by Andy Beswick, Maisy Davies, and Martin Clarke has seen the cafe repainted into brighter colours, ready for the upcoming Christmas season. The menu has also been expanded, why not pop in and give it a try?

Thanks to Jason, Keith and Phil over at Ribble Rail, the area outside of the museum building has been moved round, and the view from the platform is much more pleasing for our visitors.

Looking forward, the museum will once again be transformed, this time for the Santa Specials, we're hoping to build on last years success and try and make the museum hall look even more festive.

In early 2018 ready for the new season we're looking to have a big change round of the exhibits to make the museum look fresh for our regular visitors.

Karl Latham

Coming Soon, An illustrated history online.

Your contributions are invited, both articles and photographic material wanted.

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Join the Ribble Railway Children for "Hands on" Activities.

Family Events - Third Saturdays throughout the season.

Story Telling, Craft Workshops and lots more! *Free with normal entry* 19 May / 16 June / 21 July / 18 Aug / 15 Sept For more information see our Website and Facebook events.

WHAT’S ON 2018?

Fittingly 'horrible' weather for a frighteningly good day aboard the Spooky train...

Saturday 28th Oct 2017

March 24/25 Steam Gala * March 30/31 April 1/2 Easter (4 Days) April Sundays 8 / 22 / 29 Steam / Operating Days * April 14/15 Diesel Gala * May 5/6/7 Bank Holiday Friendly Engines May 12/13 19/20 Steam / Operating Days * May 26/27/28 Spring Bank Holiday Teddy Bears June 2/3 9/10 23/24 30 Steam / Operating Days *June 16/17 Beer, Cider & Classic Cars July 1 7/8 21/22 28/29 Steam / Operating Days *14/15 'On The Buses' *August 4/5 Model Trams Event August 11/12 18/19 Steam / Operating Days *August 25/26/27 Bank Holiday Mr Ribble's Friendly Engines Gala Party September 1/2 8/9 15/16 22/23 Steam / Operating Days *September 29/30 Steam Gala *October 6/7 Diesel Gala *October 27/28 Halloween Spooky Trains *December 1/2 8/9 15/16 22/23 Santa Steam Festive Specials Below: Chairman Dave spreading the word on a local frequency, somewhere!!!

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Not only can you travel back in time as you watch the wonderfully crafted models ‘click & clack’ past you on the layout but you may get to operate a small section of the line.

What a superb collection of Model Trams once again adorned a giant layout within our museum.

The third year of holding the event in its own entirety as it started life as an extra to coincide with the now defunct Riversway Festival.

The lighting within the museum aided the taking of great photographs. More to come in 2018 !

You sometimes have to be quick to ‘catch a tram’ as just when you’ve focused on one, it suddenly moves off to the next section of the line.

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Two great views at track level from Ken Philcox. The models are highly photogenic as is their setting within the museum. The 4th Annual Exhibition will be 4th/5th August 2018.

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The Secretary’s Office Our main running season ended on the weekend of the 30th September/1st October with the annual autumn diesel gala leaving just Halloween and Santa trains then to go. Things have generally run smoothly this year although we have had a couple of times of substituting a diesel locomotive for a steam engine due to being short of a steam loco driver being available and on one occasion failure of a steam loco. We expect the staff situation to ease a little in the coming months with two former steam drivers coming back on the roster and one new one on the way to being passed out. We do still however have a need in particular to get new volunteers to operate the control tower as one of our stalwarts Ken Mahaffey will be standing down from that at the end of the year. Any parties interested in working in that role should contact Ed Tatham. With the end of the weekend running season we have taken the opportunity to carry out some further training for both the paid staff and volunteers. This has included a train evacuation exercise and also employing a company to fully train some of our staff and volunteers in using fire extinguishers.

In terms of special events in September we held both the steam and diesel galas. The "guest" locomotive for the steam event was Andy Booth's newly restored 060 "2890" which for those who don't know is a converted austerity tank loco now fitted with a tender. It was a close run thing to have it running in time but in the end we had that and the other three residents in traffic on both days. At the diesel gala we had the good fortune of a having main line guest engine on most of the trains namely a class 37 provided by DRS. This time the guest loco was available on both days of the event which probably spread the visitors out over the whole weekend and seemed popular with them. On the Saturday evening after the main services had ended we held a "folk evening" with the last train at 8pm (and a change of crews!) which went well and may be repeated in 2018. The final passenger total for the diesel weekend was 1,008 which is the highest we have ever had for that particular end of season diesel gala and double the figure for it in 2016 although admittedly the number last year had been low compared to previous years.

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As I finish penning this on Halloween day itself we have just completed that weekend event and a very successful one it has been too with the number of visitors up to 773 compared to 545 in 2016 and over 1,000 passengers on the train carried over the two days. Takings were also up with our total income of admissions, shop, cafĂŠ and buffet car up by over ÂŁ2.6K compared to the same weekend last year. Thanks to our staff and volunteers who managed to cope with the rush but more are always welcome to spread the load if you can spare the time. Don't think we need people in every weekend. Every little helps if you can manage the odd day here and there.

With Santa now the only opening days left we have totalled up the end of year figures for the operations we ran. There will probably some minor changes later but we had 11,663 visitors and that equated to 18,077 passengers (plus 211 on a railtour) thus showing that a lot of our visitors continued to take more than one train ride during their visit. The visitor figure is an increase on that for 2016 and all the more positive because this year we ran on fewer days than in the recent past with no midweek railbus days. Those trains had carried 855 passengers in 2016 so the 2017 visitor and passenger totals are in reality starting from a lower base.

In terms of our marketing going forward there are amongst other things a new website which Chris Mills and others have in hand for next year. In addition we already have the 2018 main brochure in stock so if you distribute any of those to suitable locations speak to Karl Latham as every bit helps in getting our message across to encourage people to visit us. Some improvements to the museum and the area outside it will be taking place over the winter and by next season our visitors should be able to experience an extended display area inside and also better facilities for our younger visitors outside. Watch this space!

As usual in these pages a thank you to all those who assisted during the running season and also those helping behind the scenes. Santa is rapidly approaching which volunteer wise is our busiest time of the year. Karl Latham will be arranging the rostering and please if you can put your name forward to help as just with all our activities every bit of help spreads the load. Even if you can only manage perhaps one day out of the eight we will be doing it does make a difference if quite a few

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people can manage to do that over the course of the event. Visitor bookings are very healthy and the trains will be busy (again!).

Class 56 Duo on 6M32 / 6E32

Moving on we held the company Annual General Meeting on the 18th September and you can find the draft minutes of it elsewhere in the magazine. As you will know from the letter I sent out after the last issue of the Ribble Pilot was published it was necessary to put the date back slightly to comply with the legal notice period for the meeting but attendance was still good from our members. A thank you to Tim Owen for providing the post meeting entertainment and congratulations to those elected as directors at the meeting.

Security is something which fortunately we don't need to report very often as we are lucky to have the vast majority of our rail vehicles under cover and with a secure perimeter around the site. We do however have the odd glitch from time to time and can I ask that whoever is the last person to leave a building and setting the alarm makes positively sure that all the doors are properly closed. In one recently building the burglar alarm was set with a roller shutter door in the raised position as there wasn't a detector in the railway track in the floor. It is only a quick check when people are locking up the buildings but we do need to be vigilant.

In the heritage railways sector generally things seem from the media coverage to be relatively buoyant and steam trains remain popular even though in 2018 it will be 50 years since main line steam services ended on British Rail (although for the uninitiated they still carried on running in Northern Ireland for a while afterwards). The Heritage Railway Association our umbrella body continues to push getting young people becoming involved in the industry to ensure it's long term survival and their efforts have met with some success. There have been grants that have secured long term training in vital skills such as boiler work necessary to train a new generation.

There is also an effort we have been asked to support for a private members bill to update legislation on youngsters being able to help on heritage lines whilst keeping them safe. Thus notwithstanding the current political and economic uncertainties around us as we go into 2018 it's important to see things going forward for our industry in a positive light. Mike Bailey

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To much surprise and delight, Colas Class 56's 56096 & 56105 turned up on August 1st deputising for 60087

Colas locos 56105 and 56096 are unusual power for 6E32 as they pass the remains of Hatfield colliery on the 1st August 2017 (Geoff Griffiths)

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Jolly good fun was had by all who visited our Annual August Bank Holiday Family Event to meet Mr Ribbles Friendly Engines. Our Friendly Steam and ‘Grumpy’ diesel performed well with a 8 train 45 minute service.

Gina from Tiger Feet Entertainment supplied the paint to transform the children who wanted their faces transforming into Spiderman or an Angel.

On the train was a good selection of bottled real ales in the buffet car bar.

The Miniature Railway shuttled people of all ages to the end of the museum and back again, with the usual hoot.

The Cafe always seemed busy with a selection of hot drinks, snacks, pies and cakes.

This is one of three Family Events which have become fixed to our Bank Holidays and next year the dates are: 2018 May 5/6/7 Bank Holiday Friendly Engines May 26/27/28 Spring Bank Holiday Teddy Bears August 25/26/27 Bank Holiday Mr Ribbles Friendly Engines Gala Party. So make a note in your diaries.

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Furness Railway Trust News We are once again heading towards the end another year, but one that has again proven to be extremely busy for our working members.

The long running overhaul of RMB No. 1812 is just about finished, as I write these notes, with the various snagging jobs having taken up many hours of labour. Panelling around the doors, some of which was damaged during welding operations, has been replaced. New linoleum has been laid in vestibules and the server area, the upholstery has been repaired and cleaned and the electrics tested. The fittings have received a thorough clean and the metalwork polished. All this work has made a huge difference to the appearance of the interior and the coach is just about ready to be taken round to the running shed for commissioning back into service.

The RSR's Travelling Post Office Sorting Vehicle No. 80377 has now taken the place of the RMB in the heated section of the FRT shed with a view to it being painted prior to it going on show in the Museum. However, these jobs are never actually just 'a coat of paint' as the years of exposure to the elements whilst on display at the Kirklees Light railway have taken their toll. At the time of writing many hours have already been spent in cleaning and removing loose paint from the roof as well as removing the two lines of yellow lining tape from the sides. The roof will be treated to primer, where necessary, and then two coats of grey paint. We can then start to look seriously at what needs to be done down below.

There has been more steady progress on former GWR 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall where the tender frames have been shotblasted and painted and the replacement buffer beam temporarily mounted. New metal has been obtained to be stitched on to the leading section of frames where the effects of years of water and damp coal dust have caused irretrievable corrosion to the metal. Work has taken place on the engine's lubrication pipework and the studs for the valve and cylinder covers have been cleaned up and new nuts made. A second hand vacuum retaining valve has been obtained and generously funded through a donor and un-machined hydrostatic lubricator warming cocks have arrived.

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The progress made on cleaning and painting the frames of No. 4979 Wootton Hall can clearly be seen in the photo taken on 6th September.

The newly restored cab of D1687 made a brief appearance out of the paint shop 06/09/17

Andy Booth’s Hunslet No. 2890 pilots Courageous on its first passenger working after overhaul during the Autumn Steam Gala on Saturday 9th Sept.

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The repairs to the running plate of Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban have been completed and the repaired sand boxes lifted back into place. The reverser quadrant, lever and reach rod have also been reassembled. Needle gunning of the frames has been completed and paint applied pending them being lifted to release the axleboxes for examination. The cab is now outside and ready for attention from the shot blaster.

GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643 has been in regular service during the summer at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway until the end of August when the 14 months boiler certificate expired. Twenty new patch screws were fitted in the fire box by Andy Booth, which necessitated the removal of the brick arch. The blower ring also needed to be replaced. A new ring had been purchased earlier in the year, but could only be machined after the old ring had been brought to Preston. We are indebted to Steve Shearing for undertaking the machining, which was quite a lengthy job and had a demanding deadline as we had promised the locomotive to the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway for its Gala in October. However, with hard work from the usual 5643 gang, the locomotive was made ready in time and performed without fault over five operating days in Scotland.

Steve Shearing machines the new blower ring for 5643 in the workshop

'Austerity' 0-6-0ST Cumbria has been the main service engine at The Battlefield Line over the summer, the engineering work undertaken last winter proving to be successful and the locomotive operating smoothly after the repairs to the big ends.

Furness Railway No. 20 is currently undergoing its 14 months boiler examination having performed well over the summer at Locomotion, Shildon. It starred at the Autumn Steam Gala alongside Standard 'Class 2' 2-6-0 No. 78018 and LNER 'Class A3' Pacific No. 60103 Flying Scotsman, topping and tailing with the latter on the demonstration line passenger rides during the afternoons.

The FRT folk group Live Steam has some more gigs lined up this Autumn, music having taken a back seat during the busy months of railway operation, and will appear once again at the Ulverston Dickensian Festival at the end of November before buckling down to providing carols for the RSR's Santa Specials in December.

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Howard Fletcher removes yellow lining tape from TPO sorting vehicle No. 80377 on Wednesday, 11th October

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The new mess room has so far been cleaned and painted on one side and has been moved into place alongside the FRT shed. The electrics will need to be wired in and a drain dug for the new kitchen sink. However, the new facility will doubtless be very much appreciated by the working members.

The FRT shed was officially opened to the general public for the first time on the weekend of the 9th and 10th September as part of Heritage Open Days, which proved to be a great success and attracting around 300 visitors. It was an opportunity to show off the work of the FRT and to attract some new members. One of these, John Davis, has now become a regular member of the Wednesday and Friday working parties.

The Christmas dinner, around the corner at Baffitos, has been booked for 7 pm on the evening of Tuesday, 12th December so please let Alison Pinch know if you would like to attend.

Finally I conclude by once again thanking everyone at Preston for their assistance during 2017 and by wishing all a very happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Adrian Tomkinson reassembles the reversing gear on Caliban on Wednesday, 11th October

Tim Owen

5643 stands at Manual after arrival with a passenger train from Bo’ness on Saturday, 21st October.

Fred Jones cleans the roof of the TPO vehicle on Friday, 13th October

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Ribble’s Folk Night Held on Saturday 30th September

Included as an extra on the Diesel Gala Saturday evening or as a stand alone event option, RSR held its first Folk Night of entertainment.

The Pogues, The Undertones or maybe Foster and Allen... It was of course Tim & Alan from ‘Live Steam’

With Beer & Cider available from the train buffet and a selection of food from the cafe the musical entertainment was enjoyed by all. Hats off to the Fleetwood Folk Club

Roy hummed along to the music as he awaited the start of the Bingo (only joking!)

We have a BBQ lined up after next September’s Steam Gala plus other specials in the pipeline!

“Did somebody say there were cakes?”

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D1687

The History of our Class 47 Built ~ Brush Falcon Works Production Order ~ September 4th 1962 Works Number ~ 449 To traffic ~ November 16th 1963 Numbered D1687 ~ November 16th 1963 47 100 ~ March 1974 Unofficially named 'Merlin' at Tinsley. September 20th 1989 47100 at Preston

The cab end of D1687 was rescued from a collection of many cab ends in Mel Thorley's garden in Stockport, being purchased for the Museum. It is soon to become an interactive display for our visitors.

On the road - D1687 together with the front end of 20009.

47100 was Scrapped at Booths 1994.

The Cab was purchased by Mel Thorley and lived in his Stockport Garden for 20 years before being sold to Richard Benyon in May 2013 and then sold on to the Ribble Steam Railway.

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Allocations: The following liveries were 11/63 D1687 applied during the locos New to 2B lifetime, 01/66 to LMR D1687 04/66 to LMWL ~ BR: Dual Green 06/68 to D02 (Yellow warning panels) 12/69 to D05 ~ BR: Dual Green 07/71 to D02 (full yellow ends) 10/71 to 86A 47 100 05/73 to CF ~ BR: Monastral Blue 03/74 47 100 (Standard) 05/74 to IM ~ BR: Monastral Blue 10/74 to SF (Grey/silver roof) 02/78 to CD 02/82 to CF 10/82 to CD 09/85 to KD 11/86 to CD 10/87 to SF 05/89 to TI 12/90 to FDBT 04/91 to FDCT 07/91 to HQ 07/91 to MDZX 07/91 allocated to HQ and withdrawn 02/94 disposal by Booth Roe Rotherham Photographer Paul Jones has a full album on Flickr featuring Mel Thorley's Stockport garden and the collection which had to be moved - http://bit.ly/2iGIjYP Some of the other cabs went to The South Wales Loco Cab Preservation Group (SWLCPG) who are based in a secure yard in Bridgend. Read more http://www.traincabs.co.uk/

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Blasts From The Past

Hunslet 3855/1955 'Glasshoughton No.4' The locomotive was originally ordered for the Savile Colliery nr Leeds on February 1953, the order was changed that April to despatch the locomotive to Glasshoughton Colliery, where it duly arrived in November 1954.

A 'standard' Hunslet 16" locomotive (albeit the penultimate one of a very long line) GH4 saw typical NCB action during it's career at the colliery. It was returned to Hunslet in 1963 for minor repair work, and whilst there, it was fitted with a Hunslet Patent Underfeed stoker and gas producing equipment. It was returned to Glasshoughton in March 1964. Shortly afterwards, she was damaged in a collision with Glasshoughton No.1, a diesel, and spent her latter days out of use in the shed.

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In June 1973 GH4 was sold and moved to Lakeside Railway Estates Ltd, Carnforth. The loco was again put up for sale, and it was purchased and moved to Southport in December 1982.

Extensive repairs saw the loco re-enter traffic in the early 1990s, and then begin a number of tours around various railways, initially at the Battlefield line in 1994, and the onto Pontypool & Blaenevon in 1995 & 1996. The loco saw use at the Foxfield Railway in Staffordshire, where she was stripped in preparation for overhaul.

Whilst at Shackerstone she starred in an CITV episode of the rag dolls ‘Rosie & Jim’ entitled Steam Train. (Link to watch http://bit.ly/2vo7gOT) The loco was partially re-assembled, and a boiler-less GH4 returned to Riversway in Spring 2006.

Built by the Hunslet Engine Co in 1954, works No.3855 and owned by the National Coal Board (NE) and worked at Glasshoughton Colliery.

Originally preserved by Steamtown, Carnforth before moving to Steamport Southport.

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Down On The Docks Photos by Stephen Brindley

On a frosty but sunny morning an unidentified class 25 is preparing to depart with 17 empty tanks, (2 cement & 15 bitumen), from the old line.

The two cement tanks would have been picked up from a short spur line which was laid near the old exhange sidings in conjunction with all the construction work which was in progress on the docks at that time.

Here is a shot of the Hibberd diesel shunter spotting tanks in LTD's, (LanFina), see the markings on the tank at right. Note by the time this photo was taken the loco's paintwork was suffering and it had also lost a buffer.

Here is a shot of ‘Enterprise’, stiil in red livery, alongside LTD's Hibberd photographed near the bitumen line entrance. This was quite a rare shot to get these posed together as the Hibberd was generally used to spot tanks in the works and did not usually venture out too far from the works branch.

This shot shows how things have changed.

This is the new line shortly after it had been laid from the exchange sidings up to the swingbridge.

The line was not in use yet, as the swingbridge was still under construction.

Note the old buildings in the background & the ship "Manxman" at extreme left.

Also note no road was built and certainly none of the residential buildings, the view from here is now impossible with all the landscaping. *** Stephen Brindley’s collection of photographs taken in the mid-1980’s are a valuable archive of Preston Dock and its railways during a time of many changes. You can enjoy colour views on the magazine inside covers.

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This photo shows a class 25 about to cross Strand Road with empty tanks for Stanlow, note the unused but still standing semaphore signals.

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Archive Gems: Dick Kerr Works, Preston, 18th May 1956

A brand new English Electric 2000hp diesel electric locomotive, number 1222, emerges from the works for export to Rhodesia Railways. Numbers 1200-1222 of this DE2 class were manufactured here and numbers 1223-1234 by the sister works of Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows. The external appearance of these locomotives is very similar to the later British Railways class 40’s.

Indeed 9, including 1222, were re-engined in 1982 using reconditioned engines from withdraw British Railways Class 40 locos. source: https://oldrailwaystuff.com

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GALA GALLERY Four locomotives were rostered for the September Gala Bagnall 2680/1942 'Courageous' Grant Ritchie 272/1894 Hawthorn Leslie 3931/1938 'No.21’ and the first public steaming of the newly restored Hunslet 2890 0-6-0 tender locomotive.

Dave Billington moves 21 past the coaches in the platform to go into the siding as 2890 runs up behind ready for her first public turn. (CSM) Below: Hunslet 2890 & Bagnall 2680 'Courageous' double-heading over the swing bridge in torrential rain, 9th September (Alan Robson)

STEAM GALAS 2018 MARCH 24th & 25th SEPTEMBER 29th & 30th Issue 49

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Andy Booth on the footplate of his Hunslet 2890 bringing up the rear of the rather late running 15:35 from Riverside on 9th September (Alan Robson)

21 and 272 in Riverside Sidings (CSM) Lots more great photos on our Facebook Group page.

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Steam Loco Stock List Andrew Barclay 1147/1908 'John Howe' Andrew Barclay 1598/1918 'Efficient' Andrew Barclay 1833/1924 'Niddrie' Andrew Barclay 1865/1926 'Alexander' Andrew Barclay 1950/1928 'Heysham No.2' Andrew Barclay 1969/1929 'JN Derbyshire' Andrew Barclay 2343/1953 'British Gypsum No4' Andrew Barclay 880/1902 0-4-0CT 'Glenfield No1' Avonside 1568/1909 'Lucy' Avonside 1810/1918 'M.D.H.B. No. 26' Avonside 1883/1922 Bagnall 2680/1942 'Courageous' Borrows 48/1906 'The King' Borrows 53/1909 'Windle' BR Ivatt 46441/1950 *Furness Railway No.20 (FRT) Grant Ritchie 272/1894 *GWR 0-6-2T 5643 (FRT) GWR 4-6-0 4979 Wootton Hall (FRT) Hawthorn Leslie 3931/1938 No.21 'Linda' Hunslet 1954/1939 'Kinsley' *Hunslet 2890 0-6-0 (Tender Loco) Hunslet 3155/1944 'Walkden' Hunslet 3696/1950 'Respite' Hunslet 3793/1953 'Shropshire' Hunslet 3855/1955 'Glasshoughton No.4' *Hunslet WD194/1953 ‘Cumbria’ (FRT) *L&Y Aspinall 1300/12322-1896 L&Y Pug 1097/1910 ‘No.19' (L&Y Trust) LNWR Ramsbottom 1439/1865 (NRM) Peckett 737/1899 'Daphne' (Not Viewable) Peckett 1636/1924 'Fonmon' Peckett 1925/1937 'Caliban' (FRT) Peckett 1935/1937 'Hornet' Peckett 1999/1941 'North Western Gas Board' Peckett 2003/1941 'John Blenkinsop' (MRT) RSH 7485/1948 'Agecroft No.2' Sentinel 8024/1929 'Gasbag' Sentinel 9373/1947 'St Monans' USA 0-6-0T No.30072 / 1943 * Denotes currently offsite / on loan

SPRING STEAM GALA MARCH 24th & 25th 2018 ‘Four Locos In Steam’ (subject to availability) 10am to 5pm

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272 and 2680 at the Gala

21 and 272 getting ready for their turns

Tim Owen keeps an eye on 21 whilst awaiting her turn on the gala services.

All photos: Chris Mills / RSR

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Diesel Loco Stock List

Diesel, Electric & Battery locomotives.

BR Class 03 03189/1960 under restoration in the FRT workshop.

BR Class 03 03189/1960 BR Class 03 D2148/1960 BR Class 05 D2595/1959 BR Class 14 D9539/1965 Diesel Railbus - 79960/1958 English Electric EE2098/1955 '671' English Electric EE788/1930 English Electric VF2160/D350/1956 '663' Fowler 0-4-0DM 21999/1937 "Fluff" (FRT) Fowler 4160001/1952 'Persil' Greenwood Batley 2000/1945 'Greenbat' Howard 965/1930 'Hotto' Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0 DM D629 'Sparky' Hudswell Clarke 1031/1956 'Margaret' Hudswell Clarke D628/1943 'Mighty Atom' North British 27653/1957 BICC Sentinel 10226/1965 'Energy' ex MSC DH23 Sentinel 10282/1968 'Enterprise' Sentinel 10283/1968 'Progress' Thomas Hill 160V/1966 'Stanlow No. 4' Yorkshire 2677/1960 D2870 Permaquip Ballast Packer No.74030/BP036 Permaquip TRAMM 98404/1990/91 Taylor-Hubbard Diesel-Electric 7.5ton crane No.81201

SPRING DIESEL GALA APRIL 14th & 15th 2018 (subject to availability) 10am to 5pm

On the 20th August, Class 03 D2148 took charge of the days service trains owing to our lack of steam crews being available.

2018 will be an Anniversary for the Preston Dock Sentinels, which arrived on the dock 50 years ago. Seen here in the Ribble Rail shed.

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GALA GALLERY

Our Diesel Gala Weekend mixed our fleet of Industrial Shunters with a Mainline guest loco from DRS. 37424 in the guise of 37558 named in honour of the last flying Vulcan Bomber XH558.

03 D2148, 05 D2595, 11 663, 14 D9539, Railbus 79960 & Sentinel 10283 all took part.

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A Fokker to the Furkha to the Fart.

On route to the Blonay-Chamby Railway Museum No, this is not a salacious Sun newspaper headline, it describes the first few days of our recent railway holiday to Switzerland. We flew from Manchester to Zurich on a Helvetic Airways Fokker 100. We travelled from Zurich Airport to our hotel in Brig passing through the dramatic scenery of the Furkha Pass and we travelled on the Centovalli Railway, the Swiss end of which is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi (FART).

The road through the Furka is particularly spectacular as it winds up and down the mountains with 300 degree hairpins, passing other coaches on a road that does not look wide enough for two Minis to pass. The drop down the mountain must have been 1000 feet in places and we could see the railway line in the valley that we would travel along in the Glacier Express later in the week.

We knew the hotel in Brig was directly opposite the railway station so I e-mailed the Hotel a week before we arrived explaining that we were railway enthusiasts and please could we have a room overlooking the station. From the reply I received I thought they did not understand my e-mail but when we checked in and we gave him our names 'Ah - Mr Railwayman' he exclaimed.

'I give you best room overlooking the railway'.

And it was, even the Glacier Express passed right in front of our balcony in the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn station. The SBB mainline was unfortunately hidden behind a very substantial station building.

We went to Zermatt on our first day. Zermatt is a town which only allows battery and electric

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vehicles so the coach took us to Taesch for the metre gauge cog shuttle train up to Zermatt. We decided against going on the Gornergrat Bahn, CHF 75 (ÂŁ63) for the 33 minute journey seemed a bit steep so we went to photograph the Matterhorn from the River Matter Vispa. Then we saw a sign 'Sunnegga Funicular' so we explored.

The ticket office was at the front of a cliff face CHF24 (ÂŁ20), was much more reasonable. You then walk along a 150 metre tunnel to the lower station.

The Sunnegga was modernised in 2013 and now the two cars hurtle along a tunnel at 12 metres a second to complete the 1545 metres journey, with inclines of up to 63%, in three minutes. Daylight at the top station at Sunnegga reveals awe inspiring views of the Matterhorn.

Time for beer to take in the magnificent vista.

The following day was a long day going into Italy for a boat ride on Lake Maggiore and a scenic drive along the lake back into Switzerland at Locano. Here we boarded the metre gauge, 52 km (32 mile) Centovalli Railway, with the station staff proudly wearing their 'FART' uniforms.

'Is that an instruction?' mused one of our fellow travellers. The trains are Italian with four of the

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1993 EMUs modernised in 2011 into 'Panoramic' trains for which a small supplement is payable.

We travelled in one of these units. After 13 stations and a steady climb all the way we crossed into Italy between Camedo and Ribellasca. Now the train comes under the jurisdiction of the Societa Subalpina di Imprese Ferroviarie (SSIF) for the 19 stations to Domodossola.

The train climbs 600 metres until the steep descent into the terminus, all without cog assistance. We were the wrong side of the train for the spectacular views out of Locarno and the switchback descent into Domodossola was sadly hidden by lineside trees, as was much of the journey.

It is now Saturday - and for us hopefully the highlight of the holiday. Back in the 1980s I used to go to Montreux for the Broadcasting Convention. Having time off one afternoon I took the train up to Les Avents and at one station, which I now know as Chamby, there were some old rolling stock and signs for a museum. I remembered this so I googled 'Montreux Railway Museum' and up came the site for the Blonay-Chamby Heritage Railway. So could we get there?

When I spoke to Antonia, our Tour Manager, she knew nothing about this railway, neither did Didi our coach driver. We expected other rail enthusiasts to be on this holiday, but we were alone and seemingly no other holiday makers had tried to get to this heritage railway, which we found astounding.

I knew the times of the museum trains from Chamby and the time of the connecting train from Montreux. Most people on our coach got off at Chateaux Chillon, but Antonia and Didi made sure we arrived at Montreux station in good time to get our tickets and board our train. We were expecting a local train but the 11.44 was the MOB (Montreux Oberland Bernoise) Panoramic Express to Gstaad. However, we were assured it was our train but made aware that Chamby was a request stop.

We waited patiently on the museum platform and right on time electric railcar no 6 'Valais', built in 1909 for the Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champery Railway came into view pulling open coach no 21, of 1911 vintage for the Lugano-Cadro-Dino Railway.

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The MOB line from Montreux to Les Avents opened in 1901 followed by the CF Electriques Veveysans (CEV) line in 1902 up into the hills from Vevey to St Legier and Blonay to connect with the MOB line at Chamby. The CEV got into financial difficulties in 1966 and the Blonay-Chamby line closed.

It was prime for preservation, featuring a steep gradient of 130 metres over 3 kilometres, a 78 metre long 45 metre high five arch stone viaduct, a 45 metre tunnel - and all the overhead electrification still in place. Run exclusively by volunteers the museum line opened in 1968 and now features a large five track workshop, an extensive exhibition hall and a restaurant offering panoramic views of Lake Geneva.

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The metre gauge exhibits now exceed 80; including 8 steam locomotives (1 from Germany), 2 tramway steam locomotives, 1 steam snowplough, 4 electric locomotives, 8 electric railcars, 3 diesel locomotives and 5 trams.

We were made very welcome and when we explained them in our best English/French that we were volunteers at a steam preservation railway in England they immediately put a quantity of RSR leaflets in their literature rack!

We enjoyed a splendid lunch watching a steam train depart, followed by another look round before catching the electric train down to Blonay.

From there we took the connecting Montreux Vevey-Riviera (MVR), a very modern EMU down to the lake shores at Vevey. From Vevey it was a short journey on the SBB along the lake to Montreux. This was our only standard gauge train journey for the whole week.

Sunday was another highlight. A four hour journey on the Glacier Express from Brig to Chur. The Zermatt end is now operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn which was formed in 2003 by the amalgamation of the BVZ Zermatt Bahn and the Furkha Oberalp Bahn. It was a glorious day and the mountain views were spectacular. Just as spectacular were the gradients the electric loco pulling six coaches could achieve comfortably with the rack assist. As we climbed in and out of the Furkha Pass you constantly saw the track way above and below, it did not seem possible that it was our track.

Disentis is now the only loco change where a Rhatische Bahn electric loco took over for the run to Chur through the Rhine Gorge. This is achieved by adhesion without the need for rack.

Chur was interesting. We arrived in a middle of its Beer Fest - bands, beer, food everywhere.

We found a marquis where the Swiss Dixie Jazzers were performing so we a supped a beer until the coach was ready to depart to our next hotel in Klosters.

Monday was a free day so our Hotel gave us a Davos Klosters Card. This entitled us to a free train journey to Davos where we took the Schatzalp and Parsenn funiculars and the Jakobshorn cable cars up into the mountains. This card is certainly excellent value. We estimated the free rides would have cost us around CHF 130 (ÂŁ110).

Our final day was another four hour journey on the Bernina Express down to Tirano in Italy.

Again another spectacular train journey with 55 tunnels 196 viaducts. The train consist was a three coach EMU pulling six carriages, with the added bonus that you could ride in the 'cabriolet' open car at the back of the train.

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Needless to say the Germans jumped into the open car as soon as it was opened and froze their whatsits off in the mountains! I waited until we began the long descent down into Tirrano when the temperatures were in the high twenties. It was just like riding an open top Blackpool tram especially when we began the street running in Italy.

We missed the Landwasser Viaduct on both the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express but we did traverse the famous Brusio circular viaduct which goes through 360 degrees so the train leaves through one of the arches. In my photo you can just see the open car at the back of our train.

At Tirano there was one final surprise. Rhatische Bahn station is next to the Trenitalia Station. As we left our train to find lunch I noticed in a siding next to the main line station a sad looking Italian steam locomotive 851.057 in 'Barry' condition.

It has been there many years and is one of the 346 steam locos that remain in Italy.

A first in the history of Blonay-Chamby!

The MEGA STEAM FESTIVAL is 6 days 99% steam, 10 steam locomotives in steam with an exceptional program created by the volunteers of the Blonay-Chamby Railway Museum.

Wherever you are on the line, there will be steam at 360 °!

May 10, 12 to 13 (Ascension weekend) and May 19 to 21, 2018 (Whitsun weekend)

Visit their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BlonayChamby/ Chemin de fer-musĂŠe Blonay - Chamby @BlonayChamby

We chose Riviera Travel for our holiday but there are others that offer very similar tours of Switzerland and its railways. Including the FART! The web site for the museum is: www.blonay-chamby.ch

Ken and Olive Philcox

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Meals On Wheels The years after privatisation were not kind to the UK's restaurant cars. A 150-year tradition of fine dining on the move appeared to be confined to the history books.

When the railways were privatised in 1995 there were nearly 250 trains a day across the UK offering everything from artichoke and parsley soup to fillet steak, accompanied by on-board cellars stocking fine wines.

By 2012 that figure had shrunk to just four trains a day as rail companies chased profits and reduced costs. The large dining tables were scrapped in favour of tightly packed airline-style seating. A trolley selling sandwiches stood where once the onboard chef in pristine whites could be found creating mouth-watering dishes like flambĂŠed Bourbon shrimp or zesty brochette of Dijon lamb.

The rail industry's PR machine trumpeted the scrapping of such fripperies as "progress" but there were always some who regretted the decline. The romance of the restaurant car was clear - could the famous meeting between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest have been as compelling if it had taken place in the "onboard shop" over a microwaved burger?

Virgin Trains even went so far as to appropriate the scene, but moved it to standard class on one of their trains, with a plastic bottle of mineral water and a paper sandwich bag in view.

You can still get table service on some rail journeys - such as with Virgin Trains - but it's only for those in first class and it's not quite the classic dining car experience.

The only place where the experience has survived and is flourishing is on traditional dining

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trains from London to the West Country, and Swansea. They have survived and proved so popular that First Great Western added more.

They still have the modern airline type seats, and they are technically within first class, but standard class passengers can sit down for dinner. There's still some distinction in that first class customers can book a table, while standard customers have to walk in on-spec.

The menu is from his Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth, voted the best seafood eatery in the UK. It's not cheap, of course - at ÂŁ65 for a three-course meal including wine. But the "Pullman dining" trains retain a loyal following. And they don't appear to be a massive money-maker.

Dining cars go against the general trend on British railways. Since privatisation, train operating companies have largely tried to cut costs, raise fares and transport as many people as possible.

Despite privatisation not all companies followed the "pile-em high" model. The now-defunct GNER which operated the London to Edinburgh route from 1996 to 2007 actually increased the number of restaurant cars during its tenure to around a hundred a day.

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GNER's exuberant and often outspoken managing director Christopher Garnett had his staff wearing waistcoats, and meals were served on bone china plates embossed with the company's own crest. He denies the popular notion that restaurant cars always lose money.

"Absolute nonsense, we made a huge amount of money out of them and they were hugely popular and I'm delighted that Great Western brought them back," he says.

But this "Pall Mall club on wheels" is not to everyone's tastes. The curator at the National Railway Museum believes that social attitudes have changed dramatically and that the restaurant car is a bastion of social divide and elitism that belongs firmly in the 1920s.

"Many people feel belittled by sitting in a restaurant worrying about whether they are holding the knife and fork correctly,"

A Rail industry consultant believes many rail companies are missing a trick. To live in the south of England and regularly travel to the north of England you might never use the direct train because of its terrible catering. Rail aficionados will be keenly watching to see whether other firms follow First Great Western's lead down the "haute cuisine" route. Many will hope they do.

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* Railway Pudding *

Railway Pudding is so called because it used to be served in the dining car of the London to Manchester express. —Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 30/40 minutes Ingredients: 1 pint milk 8 ozs white bread crumbs 6 ozs butter 4 ozs sugar 3 eggs Juice of 1 lemon Apricot jam (other jams/jellies are just as good) Method: Bring milk to the boil, stirring in bread crumbs.

Take off stove. Add sugar and butter cut into small pieces, and stir until melted. Beat in eggs and lemon juice. Butter a pie dish, put in a layer of jam, spoon in mixture and bake 30/40 minutes in a hot oven.

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Now hands up folks if you thought that Furness Railway 0-6-0 ‘Cumbria’ was to be found at the Battlefield Line.

That’s only true for the Standard Gauge loco but for the 7 1/4" version it is a lot nearer to home, being found near Carnforth.

Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway is a fantastic little railway that runs round the picnic site at Cinderbarrow, Tarn Lane, near Yealand Redmayne, Lancashire. It is open to the public for rides Sundays April to September & Bank Holidays, weather permitting!

It all began in November 1979 when a gentleman called Karl Latimer put up posters around the local area inviting like-minded people, interested in model engineering, to attend a meeting in Poulton. Approximately 20 people turned up and decided to form Lancaster & Morecambe Model Engineering Society For three years the founder members met monthly and had exhibitions of their models.

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In 1982, the Society was offered the use of a field at Steamtown in Carnforth. Where they built a ground level miniature railway using mostly scrap metal scavenged from around the site. The Society was then able to erect a wooden clubhouse, which was made from the dismantled pre-fabricated office that the owner of Steamtown (Bill McAlpine) had previously used. The track opened in 1985 on which the Society members could operate their own locomotives and rolling stock, allowing visitors of Steamtown the opportunity to enjoy this added attraction.

In 1995, Steamtown closed to the public when the ownership was changed and the Society was forced to abandon their site. After many months of searching for a suitable alternative location they moved to the present location at Cinderbarrow alongside the picnic site in 1996. The site used to be a quarry and was used by the local Council for tipping; tarmac, broken paving stones, kerbstones, stone, road chippings and so on.

To get the site to the condition it is now took ingenuity and great effort from about 20 of the members. They set to with picks and shovels in all kinds of weather to prepare the ground ready to lay the track. One member lent the Society a dumper truck, an ancient and temperamental tractor with a bucket on the front was purchased to move materials and manoeuvre two second hand storage containers for tools and equipment.

Water and electricity had to brought to the site,

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laying several hundred yards of underground pipes. For many months during the site’s development the clubhouse was a converted chicken hut – basic but cosy.

The track took 4,000 sleepers and 10,000 feet of rail to complete it. This involved an excessive amount of cutting, slotting and welding.

Members also constructed; stone walls, a station area, signal box & signalling system, fences, passenger trucks and the carriage shed, to name but a few. The clubhouse shell is the only part of the site that has not been engineered by Society members!

7 1/4" loco ‘Blue Bottle’

The ground-level 'ride-on' track can accommodate models in 3 1/2", 5" and 7 1/4" gauges.

The landscaped circuit at the picnic area and our substantial clubhouse have all been constructed with our own resources and with the help of the donations of the many people who have enjoyed a ride on the trains.

Society members interests cover all aspects of engineering in miniature from quarter size steam traction engines to clocks, military vehicles to civilian boats, motor vehicles to barn engines, among others. The major focus being the Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway.

After three years, in 1999, Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway was ready and opened to the public on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, from Easter to the end of September. Providing in excess of 12,000 trains rides over the first six months.

Visiting 5” gauge Class 40 locomotive

7 1/4" loco ‘’Glasgow Highlander

The society has emerged stronger than ever with more than eighty members interested in building all manner of models and the Lancaster and Morecambe Model Engineering Society Ltd is a reflection of dedication shown by members past and present.

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Website www.lmmes.co.uk/

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‘Fuel For Thought’ The once extensive network of fuel oil deliveries is now reduced to a few as required workings, these services having peaked in the early 1970s.

Fuel oil, one of the heavier and less volatile of the petroleum fractions obtained during the cracking of crude oil, was primarily used for heating and power generation – and, in the early 1970s, it was a major source of rail traffic, with British Rail handling almost 10 million tons per year.

This source of traffic would decline in the years following the 1973 oil crisis, as companies switched to cheaper sources of fuel, but it remained a significant part of the railfreight business until almost the end of the century.

In the 1970s, workings from the Shell refineries at Stanlow, Shell Haven, Heysham and Teesport, together with those from the British Petroleum refineries at Grain, Grangemouth and Llandarcy, accounted for over half this traffic. Other railborne flows of fuel oil originated at Mobil’s Coryton Refinery and from Lindsey Refinery at Immingham, which was then jointly owned by Petrofina and Total.

From their opening in 1968, fuel oil was also an important rail traffic from Amoco’s Robeston and Gulf’s Waterston refineries, both situated near Milford Haven, while regular trainload traffic also ran from Cardiff Docks on behalf of Texaco to a terminal at Soho Pool. In addition, there were fuel oil workings from Esso’s coastal terminals at Bowling, Percy Main and Liverpool Brunswick Dock, as well from the Esso refineries at Fawley and Herbrandston – although these would fall sharply with the closure of Herbrandston in 1983.

Indeed the only one of Britain’s rail connected refineries not to despatch fuel oil was Conoco’s Humber Refinery at Immingham which, when it

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opened in 1969, was designed to convert the heavier oil fractions into petroleum coke.

Rail-served destinations comprised both dedicated oil terminals and industrial customers’ own private sidings with, in the majority of instances, the oil company-owned terminals being supplied from their own refineries.

In contrast, independently-operated terminals were often supplied by several companies.

The Lancashire Tar Distillers-owned oil depot at Weaste received trainloads of fuel oil from Lindsey, Stanlow and Waterston, while the British Tar Products’ depot at Glazebrook was supplied with fuel oil from Coryton, Lindsey and Waterston.

Given the price volatility of fuel oil, it was also quite common for some of the larger industrial customers to alternate their suppliers – with the ICI chemical works at Northwich and Runcorn, for example, not only being served from the nearby Stanlow refinery but also from Lindsey.

Other chemical companies to regularly receive fuel oil by rail included British Cellophane at Bridgwater, Courtaulds at Holywell Junction, and BNFL’s Salwick Works outside Preston. Fuel oil traffic to the paper mills at Aylesford, Darwen, Sudbrook and Thatcham also used rail, albeit at often no more than one or two trainloads a month well into the 1980s.

Other occasional or seasonal customers included

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the Midland Electricity Board’s industrial heating plant at Hereford, the British Sugar works at South Lynn, the Leyland/DAF truck factory at Leyland, and the Department of Trade & Industry buffer storage depots at Goostrey and Misterton.

Further customers included British Steel and the Central Electricity Generating Board, the CEGB requiring fuel oil not only at their oil-fired power stations but also as a starter fuel at their coal-fired plants. Some of the heavier fractions were also used as bunkering fuel, with traffic for Sealink ferries being railed to Dover, Fishguard, Stranraer and Weymouth – where there was an unloading siding behind one of the platforms at Weymouth Quay station.

More than 90% of fuel oil traffic was conveyed in block trains, with most private sidings able to accommodate rakes of ten bogie or 20 two-axle tank wagons. A handful of smaller flows, including those to the British Aluminium smelter at Fort William and to Roche Pharmaceuticals at Dalry, were forwarded via the wagonload network.

Some fuel oil was also conveyed in mixed petroleum workings, such as those from Stanlow to Jarrow, Lindsey to Brownhills, and from Coryton to Nuneaton.

Tanks of fuel oil for the Cleveland Potash mine at Boulby were included in a company train from Stanlow that also conveyed fuel oil for the Teestore depot at Middlesbrough Dock Hill, completing their journey to Boulby attached to

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the back of an empty rock salt train returning to the mine from Middlesbrough Goods.

By the late 1980s, however, oil traffic from most of the coastal terminals had ended. With the ongoing run down of rail facilities at some oil refineries, coupled with a decline in demand, by the late 1990s only Coryton, Lindsey and Stanlow, along with the Minimet terminal at Cardiff Docks, were still despatching fuel oil by rail.

Minimet (previously Curran Oil) continued to supply the power station at Abethaw and Pilkington Glass at St Helens, while Lindsey served the Aire Valley power stations, and Coryton supplied Rugeley power station.

The Brunner Mond (ex-ICI) works in Northwich continued to be served from Stanlow until all rail traffic from the Shell refinery ended in 1998.

Subsequently the only flows have been the very occasional spot working of imported fuel oil from Port Clarence, and the trains from Lindsey that continue to supply the power stations at Aberthaw, Eggborough and West Burton as required.

The 1980s and 1990s saw Traction Maintenance Depots continue to receive fuel deliveries and, to a lesser extent, other fluids by rail.

However, as privatisation took hold, such traffic went into terminal decline as road transport became more cost effective. (adapted & edited from source: Rail Express)

DIESEL GALAS 2018 APRIL 14th & 15th & OCTOBER 6th & 7th (subject to availability) 10am to 5pm

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Ribble Motor Services

The name of Preston’s river was chosen in 1919 as the title of a bus company whose territory eventually covered much of old Lancashire as well as parts of the fondly remembered counties of Westmorland and Cumberland.

It developed from a small business started by Mr J Hodson of Gregson Lane when in 1910 he started running a service to and from Preston using open topped double deck buses. Ribble Motor Services grew rapidly and such was its confidence that a new head office was opened in 1937 at Frenchwood Avenue, Preston, and the original building is still there.

Ribble Bus Station, Preston c.1968

Many of the services operated by its red buses were centred on Tithebarn Street Bus Station which was built in 1928 and ceased to be used in 1969 with the opening of Preston’s current bus station, of such fame and importance that it is now a listed building noted by architects around the world for its Brutalist style.

Blackpool was a popular destination, and in the 1930s Ribble’s routes linked the cotton towns of Burnley, Blackburn, Chorley and Bolton with the

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seaside by providing direct bus services while those travelling from other Lancashire mill towns had to change buses in Preston. In the early 1950s, the company’s charismatic general manager, Horace Bottomley, changed all of this when he created through services by linking routes between the Fylde coast and Preston with separate services to Burnley, Blackburn, Rochdale, Chorley, Leyland and Wigan.

Before the Second World War, Ribble competed fiercely between Preston and Blackpool with a much smaller Preston concern, Scout Motor Services, which had its origins in a business set up

by James Watkinson in 1919. Scout’s ivory, mauve and black liveried buses ran from a small bus station in Starchhouse Square. The square was also used by other local bus operators, Bamber Bridge Motor Services (BBMS) and Viking Motors.

International conflict prompted an end to local hostilities, and a wartime agreement survived into peacetime with Ribble and Scout working together in providing a coordinated timetable linking the two towns.

A return ticket purchased on a Ribble bus could be used on a Scout bus on the journey back. Ribble needed Scout’s cooperation in delivering Horace Bottomley’s vision, and thus, the two companies shared several cross-Preston services meaning that Scout buses could be seen well away from the

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company’s traditional Fylde coast territory in Blackburn, Burnley and Rochdale, while they appeared for the first in Lytham. Sadly, the Scout company lost its independence in 1961 when it sold out to its larger neighbour. Ribble had already taken over Viking in 1952 and BBMS followed suit in 1967.

Ribble Motor Services HQ - Frenchwood Avenue - now Virgin Mobile

The dream ended in 1965 when most of the links were broken. Reliability was a real problem and it was difficult for passengers in Rochdale to accept that their buses were delayed because of summertime traffic congestion problems at Ashton-on-Ribble.

Conversely, on a cold, dry yet sunny winter’s day, passengers were unimpressed at the news that snow on the moors near Rochdale meant that there were no buses for residents of Weeton. Another dimension was time.

The linked services had frequent stops, and meandering around Kirkham, Wrea Green and Weeton added to the time taken for a journey.

Ribble also developed an extensive network of direct local express services and these provided much quicker and more reliable trips to the coast from south and east Lancashire.

Ribble became part of the State owned National Bus Company in 1969 and its distinctive livery was replaced by what was described as poppy red.

In preparation for privatisation and deregulation in 1986 Ribble was stripped of its northern and Merseyside territories and was therefore a shadow of its former self during its glory days.

Ribble subsequently became part of the Stagecoach Group which, ironically, has reunited much of Ribble’s old territory by taking over bus services in Cumbria and setting up a new operation in Merseyside.

Jim Hulme / LEP

Join us for ‘On The Buses’ July 14/15 2018

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Days of long distance lorry drivers.

There’s a phrase we hardly hear anymore, ‘long distance lorry driver’. Next time you use the motorway glance at the registrations of the huge trucks, it’s nothing today to see convoys from all over Europe.

Back some 50 or 60 years ago Lancashire to London or to Glasgow was no walk in the park.

I wouldn’t mind betting the latest generation of drivers would rather drive a modern air conditioned, wired for stereo, sleeping cab truck to Poland than a 1950s wagon to Glasgow over the old A6. Those days are long gone, but, for the best part of 100 years, Preston-built Atkinson commercial vehicles were, as their company described them, the ‘kings of the road’.

Back in the 1950s, when Atkinson ruled the highway, the drivers who worked the long distance regular trunk routes were trunkers, or night trunkers, as opposed to the trampers or roamers who took loads anywhere and did not

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have a regular route. This long before health and safety kicked in and a kid could get a ride with his dad in one of what were then among the biggest wagons on the road. Atkinson's Vehicles, knights of the road The roads in the north, and moreover heading north from Lancashire, were hard and unforgiving. It took a certain breed of men to get those early wagons up and over the Pennines and places like the infamous Shap Fell. Many drivers simply refused to attempt that road in the dead of night, but Alf Sutton’s men did in their reliable Atkinson lorries.

Edward Atkinson and his brother Henry founded Atkinson and Co. before the First World War. From their factories in Preston the brothers pioneered steam wagons and their company saw a major surge in production when it shifted to diesel engine vehicles in the 1930s. Their specifications were excellent, the cabs, however, like all commercial vehicles of the time, offered none of

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the luxuries of modern trucks. Drivers needed overcoats in the winter as there was only a thin skin of metal on a wooden frame between them and the elements. The more modern fibre-glass cabs were not introduced until around 1958 when flat windscreens of the early models were replaced with a much larger wrap-around style.

By modern standards the old Atkinsons would be considered appallingly slow. But then so were the speed restrictions until 1957, when it was raised to 30mph, the speed limit for goods vehicles was only 20mph. You can see now why the 200-mile run to London took all night.

run by less reputable haulage firms.

Mechanically brakes were nothing like those on a modern truck, drivers had to not only know their road, but really know how to use the gearbox, especially on steep descents. There are plenty of stories of brake failures and engines disastrously shattering through over-revving. Despite the relatively slow speed, accidents were frequent and driving for a living was considered quite a dangerous occupation.

Atkinson Silver Knight wagon on Preston Docks

There were so few night trunkers they had time to switch on their cab lights as they passed so as to recognise each other, an illustration of the genuine camaraderie between those early night drivers. After the Second World War many men were leaving the army with heavy vehicle driving skills and even those with aspirations in other areas could often only find similar employment in Civvy Street.

A night trunker would be hauling loads of all kinds of materials from the industrial north down to London, or later in the 1950s up to Glasgow. Typical loads were glass, newsprint, paint, and timber, and Sutton’s men and their trusty Atkinsons had an enviable reputation for never missing an overnight delivery.

One driver carried in his wallet an irreverent version of Psalm 23, which went something along these lines “The Bedford is my wagon, I

shall not want, it maketh me lie down in damp places and anointeth my face with oil ...”

The Lancashire night trunkers would leave their depots in the early evening and not arrive in London or Glasgow until dawn, where-on the wagons were taken into the city or docks by drivers known as ‘shunters’. Atkinsons rightly had a good reputation for engineering and reliability, other wagons not so, especially those

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Lorries could be snowed in on Shap Fell for almost three days. Men stranded on the open road in such appalling conditions had to use a degree of ingenuity, they burned scraps of flysheets and ropes in buckets of diesel to keep warm and opening whatever loads contained food or drink. Those early wagons had to crawl up the fell, which is almost 1,400ft to the summit. Of course you can’t mention Shap without saying a word about the Jungle Cafe which played a vital role in providing drivers a refuge and sustenance right through the war years and until the M6 was built. Shap is, by the way, the only place in the UK that has a memorial plaque to that generation of hard working men.

T. Johnson

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Ribble Pilot

Peckett 'Dolly' Disappears !

One hundred and fifty feet below an empty field between Abram and Platt Bridge lies a monument to the victim of the Wigan Coalfields strangest mining disaster. A railway engine nicknamed Dolly (Dorothy) with 13 loaded wagons and the driver, Ludovic Berry, disappeared when an enormous chasm suddenly opened under the railway line. An eye witness said: “It looked as if the earth had yawned.”

It happened on the quiet afternoon of Monday, April 30, 1945, when Ludovic, aged 67, of May Street, Abram, was shunting wagons at Bickershaw Lane sidings, Abram. His engine Dolly was a familiar sight working the line between Maypole Junction and Main Pits. As it chugged past his daughter Martha’s house, Ludovic blew the engine whistle and waved. Martha, who was taking her 11-month-old son for a walk, waved back and paused to watch the string of loaded coal wagons.

She little knew that it was the last time she would see her father alive. As Dolly pushed her trucks into No 8 siding, brakeman John Ward walked alongside. Then to his horror he saw a gaping hole had opened under the rail.

Amazingly, some wagons had already gone over the growing chasm. He frantically signalled Ludovic to stop the train but even as the brakes were being applied, the weight of the loaded wagons buckled the unsupported lines and the trucks plunged into darkness.

John Ward ran along the side of the engine screaming at Ludovic to jump clear. Another brakeman, Joe Hindley, who thought there had been a derailment, also called to Ludovic. But Ludovic, still at his controls, tried to save his train. Then inevitably the first wagons to topple began to drag the remainder faster and faster

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towards the crater. Within seconds it was all over.

Dolly and her courageous driver disappeared. As Joe and John approached the edge of the hole, the last rumble subsided and a cloud of steam rose and hung over the open tomb. Volunteers from surrounding pits immediately volunteered to mount rescue operations but pit bosses and police said there was no hope of Ludovic being alive. A few days later, when the dust cleared, the front of Dolly could be made out 100 feet below pointing towards the sky.

The twisted wreckage and the body of the driver remained as they were and the shaft was covered over, sealing forever one of the greatest mysteries in local mining history.

As the inquest at Abram Council Offices, experts concluded that the hole had formerly been the shaft of the New Zealand Pit, officially known as No 7 Brookside Colliery. It had been opened in 1885 and saw its last tub of coal in 1919. For a time the shaft was used for ventilation, then in 1932, 8,000 tons of debris were poured down to plug it, supposedly forever.

Mining agent Oswald Onions said he had examined the shaft only the day before and nothing appeared to be wrong. But he said the number of old workings in the area – combined with the recent heavy rain had to be taken into account. He also said Ludovic loved the old engine and Onions believed he had sacrificed his life trying to save it.

There was no doubts in the minds of John Ward and Joe Hindley that their workmate had stayed in his cab, holding on the brakes until it was too late to save himself.

Geoffrey Shryhane – Window on Wigan

Articles & Photographs welcomed for Ribble Pilot Edition 50.

Deadline March 31 2018.

Please submit material to Chris Mills, Editor via ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com

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Ribble Pilot

Garstang and Knott End Railway On the tracks of one of Lancashire’s smallest railway lines, The Pilling Pig or, to give it its correct name, the Garstang and Knott End Railway, had a very chequered history indeed.

Built to take the agricultural produce of Over Wyre to the local markets at Garstang and Preston, much of the money to fund the line was provided by local farmers and landowners.

During construction, the first contractor went bankrupt and the job was taken over by the company secretary and two of the directors.

However, funds ran out quite early on and these gentlemen dipped into their pockets and paid for much of the construction themselves. Eventually it was decided to save money by building the line only as far as Pilling. The line was heavily in debt even before it was opened and had no money to buy an engine, carriages or wagons. So two groups of farmers and local businessmen clubbed together to purchase these and lease them to the railway company. When the line opened in 1870, a single locomotive provided the entire service until in finally it broke down. The money to repair the engine could not be scraped together and the line was closed. However, some sources say the engine was seized because the railway had not kept up with the hire payments. Eventually another engine was provided by the shareholders and the line was able to reopen for traffic.

Pilling on the Garstang and Knott end railway

Although the route was run to a timetable, passenger trains usually had several goods wagons attached and services were frequently delayed while the engine shunted these at the stations. To save time wagons would often be tacked on to the front of the train and pushed to their destination. Although there were stations at Garstang, Nateby and Pilling it is said that if you

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wished to be picked up anywhere along the line you need only stick out your hand and the train would stop for you. The line ran mostly across the flat countryside of Over Wyre which is sometimes subject to gales blowing in from the Irish Sea. On stormy nights it was not unknown for wagons to be blown out of the sidings at Pilling station and along the line towards Garstang. On a couple of occasions these careered along the line, gathering speed and demolishing several sets of level crossing gates before being brought to a standstill.

Pilling is famous for its potatoes and in the early days the line was at its busiest during the potato harvest. There was usually a shortage of wagons and it was an unwritten rule that if you could jump on to a wagon as it was being shunted into the goods yard it was yours to load with your own produce.

At the turn of the century the line came under the influence of wealthy business interests from the Blackpool area. They wanted to complete the line out to Knott End and to use it to take holidaymakers from the Fylde coast out into the countryside of Over Wyre. At one point it was even proposed to electrify it as an extension of the Blackpool to Fleetwood tramway system. However, in 1908 the last section of the line to Knott End was finally opened, 43 years after construction first started. The older part of the line was modernised and new locomotives and American style carriages brought in. During the holiday season, and especially at bank holidays, the line was very busy with day trippers coming over from Fleetwood on the ferry. At one time, there was a salt mine at Preesall and rock salt was carried over the line to be taken to chemical works in Widnes and St Helens.

But why was it called the Pilling Pig? It seems one of the early engines had a particularly piercing whistle which reminded locals of the sound made by a pig when it was being slaughtered!

Dave Richardson / LEP

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Ribble Pilot

By Popular Demand !

“A NIGHT IN THE MUSEUM”

with apologies to the Rev. Awdry

It had been a long weekend of Teddy Bears Specials as everyone had gone home....

"Well medicate me quick!" said Ivatt as the museum lights went out....

"What's up?" enquired Pugsly "Flippin' smelly bears, that's what's up" snorted Ivatt and then sneezed a big sooty sneeze across the shed "Full of dust those bears, and fleas and god knows what us engines may have caught" "How d'ya mean?" asked Ramsby.

"Well some of those thread bare bears haven't been out of their houses for years, harbouring every child's cough, sneeze, bit of vomit, regurgitated spit and probably wee - uurg yuch!" said Ivatt in a repulsive tone.

"Do you think we might have caught something then?" enquired Pugsly "Well look at Ramsby, his paint is starting to peel" "It could be swine fever?" butted in Pugsly "Don't be flippin’ stupid" snarled Ivatt "that's from pigs, this is from bears and is bound to be more grizzly and unbearable!"

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"We might have to go into the workshops for disinfecting" said Ramsby dejectedly "Well I know it affected lots of those little kids, did you see some of their faces, they'd gone green and red and I even saw a blue one, highly strange if you ask me" snarled Ivatt.

"I think that's why that nice man was giving them free chocolate eggs" said Pugsly "as a consolation for contracting some virus and trying to calm them down"

"They'd had their faces painted by a professional you silly old engines" shouted Fishant from down the shed "Faces painted!!!" cried Ivatt "for whatever reason would someone want that?" he asked "you know like their favourite comic characters, it washes off after" Fishant replied "So we're not likely to have a fever then?" asked Pugsly "It would appear NOT" Ivatt said in a stern voice "I don't know" he continued "I suppose some silly individual will get the idea that us engines ought to have our faces painted next!"

All the engines started to giggle at Ivatt's absolutely ridiculous idea and fell silently asleep still amused by the thought of it...... (created by Chris Mills)

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Ribble Pilot

High Visibility

Since arriving in Britain over five decades ago, high-visibility jackets have become inescapable.

Is this a blessing or a curse? It is impossible to ignore - and that's the very point.

Bright, synthetic and, above all, cheap, the ubiquity of high-visibility clothing means that it surely symbolises the Britain of 2010s in the same way that miniskirts summed up the 1960s.

In the past, "high-vis" was associated with hazardous occupations - the emergency services as well as road and rail maintenance workers.

Now it is just as likely to adorn security guards, cyclists, car park attendants and joggers - an all-purpose symbol of both authority and safety-first caution.

Some local councils promote "walking buses" in which children make their way to school together on foot clad in high-visibility gear. UK Workwear say sales of its high-visibility gear rise around 20% per year.

To critics, it symbolises everything that is wrong about mollycoddled, risk-averse, health-andsafety-obsessed modern Britain.

But enthusiasts point to its success in reducing traffic accidents and making the jobs of thousands of workers much safer.

What is perhaps most significant, however, is the manner in which this mass-produced garment, available from pound shops the length and breadth of the country, has come to lend its wearers the mantle of officialdom, licensed to give orders by virtue of their outerwear.

Nonetheless, the UK's attachment to the fabric is mild compared to that of France and Italy, where motorists are compelled to carry high-visibility clothing in their vehicles in case of a breakdown.

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It was invented by an American, Bob Switzer, whose ambitions of becoming a doctor ended when he was injured in an industrial accident during the 1930s. While recuperating, he developed a fluorescent paint before fashioning the first item of high-visibility clothing from his wife's wedding dress.

High-vis first came to the UK in 1964 when it was trialled by railway maintenance workers in Glasgow. The 1974 Health and Safety At Work Act and 1992's Personal Protective Equipment At Work regulations - both of which required bosses to guard against potential industrial hazards ensured its proliferation.

It was not only in the workplace that high-vis took off. An influential 1981 US study found that two-thirds of crashes between motorcycles and cars took place when the car driver failed to see the approaching bike, and safety campaigners have long urged pedestrians, cyclists and all other road users to don clothing that is as bright as possible.

No-one, however, has ever argued that the look is chic. In 2008, the designer Karl Lagerfeld appeared in a French public information campaign attired in a fluorescent waistcoat above the slogan: "It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but it could save your life".

Julian Bennett, fashion expert and former presenter of the UK version of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, concedes that fluorescent overcoats are hardly likely to ever dominate the catwalk.

But he says its effectiveness at keeping its wearers safe means it will always be popular.

"It's just not fashionable," he says. "It's a stay-safe colour.

"But in terms of reducing the accidents, we know it works. Drivers don't always look. If you ride a motorbike or a bike, you want to be seen. If you're a parent, you know it's dark in the winter at 4:30 in the evening when your kids are walking home."

Some may hate it. But for others, high-vis will always induce a warm glow.

(BBC History)

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Ribble Pilot

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE 43rd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF RIBBLE STEAM RAILWAY LTD AT ASHTON ON RIBBLE BOWLING CLUB IN PRESTON 19th September 2017.

Present : Mr D. Watkins (Chairman) and 38 members. The meeting commenced at 8.08 pm.

1. Including those who had submitted proxy votes for the meeting there were apologies for absence from Martin Allot, Alleyn Austin, Maisy Davies, John Eccles, Les Guise, Philip Grosse, Roger Haynes, Tony Kuivala, Eunice Mahaffey, Ken Mahaffey, Richard Mawdsley, John McClenaghan, Alan Middleton, Andy Morton, Andy Murphy, Elizabeth Murphy, Sarah Murphy, W. Pendlebury, Ian Pogson, Luke Ryan, John Stokes, Andrew Sutcliffe, and Russell Walker.

2. The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on the 13th September 2016 were proposed to be accepted by Mr W. Helliwell and seconded by Mr M. MacArthur. The minutes were adopted by the meeting.

3. Directors report. Copies of this were provided to members in the accounts supplied with the AGM notices. The report was proposed to be accepted by Mr M. Clarke and seconded by Mr S. Gibbs. The report was adopted by the meeting.

4. The annual accounts. These had been circulated with the AGM notice for the meeting. There were no questions from the floor. The accounts were proposed by Mrs J. Helliwell and seconded by Mr G. Jackson. In the absence of any questions or comments from the floor the accounts were adopted by the meeting.

5. Re-appointment of Satterthwaite Brooks & Pomfret as auditors. This was proposed by Mr S. Shearing and seconded

by Mr D. Manley and adopted by the meeting.

6. Election of directors. There were four vacancies for directors there having been three who had retired without seeking re-election since the previous Annual General Meeting and Mr M. Burke was retiring by rotation and was seeking re-election. Nominations had Been received for Mr S. Hearty, Mr T. Owen, Ms A. Pinch and Mr D. Starkie.

There being five nominations for four positions an election was required and Mr M. Bailey issued ballot papers to the members for this to be completed. Mr D. Billington and Mr M. Darbyshire acted as the tellers. Eleven members who could not attend the meeting had submitted proxy voting papers. Following a break in the meeting for the vote counting process to be completed the signed results sheet was provided to the chairman Mr Watkins who read the result to the meeting as follows: * * * * *

Mr M. Burke 48 votes Mr S. Hearty 7 votes Mr T. Owen 46 votes Ms A. Pinch 46 votes Mr D. Starkie 44 votes

Mr Watkins therefore declared messrs, Burke, Owen, Pinch and Starkie elected to serve.

7. AOB. (i) One member raised that he had recently been spoken to be a member of the public about the railway who had complained about the absence of anywhere to securely leave pedal cycles during a visit. Mr Watkins said that that had not been provided for in the original planning permission but was worth looking at. It might be possible to provide something suitable in the corner of the car park by the entrance. (ii) Mr G. Jackson complained that the platform bins were unsightly as the bin bags we use don't fit them. It was agreed we should look at that to improve the appearance but it might involve purchasing new bins. (iii) Mr Helliwell raised provision of electric sockets in the museum area to be used by exhibitors such as model railways. Mr K. Latham said that a contractor had inspected the premises to provide a quote for installing 18 double sockets and this would be going ahead with either them or another supplier. (iv) Mr C. Mills raised the problems with providing steam loco drivers which had resulted in some services being diesel powered in the 2017 season. Mr M. MacArthur said this had been fewer than in 2016. Mr Watkins said a new driver David Soper had been passed this year and another Stuart Waugh who is already a driver on another railway is going through the process. Mr Bailey said that Mr Joe Booth was likely to be returning to the driving roster and that Mr A. Tomlinson had now been re-certificated as well. In answer to a question there are generally 8-10 passed loco drivers at any one time. Mr Watkins said that although we have some experienced firemen not all of them wanted to be promoted to loco driver. (v) Mr A. Bull asked if we would run more demonstration freight trains at special events as these seemed popular attractions. Mr Watkins said that we probably would although they needed to be balanced with the needs of the passenger train services.

8. There being no further business the meeting was formally closed at 8.31 pm to be followed by a buffet and a presentation by Mr T. Owen about the activities of the Furness Railway Trust.

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Ribble Pilot

2018 Membership RIBBLE STEAM RAILWAY LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee) Registered Address 3 Lincoln Drive, Liverpool, L10 3LJ

2018 RSR Membership is valid until December 2018 - Membership rates have remained the same for the sixth year running.

Company Number-1112880 / Charity Number-507266 Vat Number-703965428

Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope in all communications.

Chairman - David Watkins Company Secretary - Michael Bailey

(Applicable to December 31st 2018)

Directors:Michael Bailey, Matthew Burke, Wilfred Helliwell, Dave Manley, Christopher Mills, Tim Owen, Alison Pinch, Dave Starkie, Edward Tatham, Alan Vernon, Russell Walker, David Watkins

Membership rates for 2018 Adults £15 (3 year offer £40)

Family £30 (Children under 16 must be accompanied by parent / guardian at all times)

Company Officers including those of Ribble Rail Ltd:-

Adult Life £150 Senior Life £90

Chairman & Finance Director - David Watkins Company Secretary - Michael Bailey Membership Secretary / Magazine editor - Chris Mills Operating - Russell Walker, David Billington Diesel locomotives - Matthew Burke Steam locomotives - Russell Walker Carriage & Wagon - Alan Vernon *Train guards (HOPS) - Matthew Darbyshire* Permanent Way - Edward Tatham Health & Safety - Michael Bailey Staff health & safety representative - Jason Finerty Marketing, Publicity & Advertising Chris Mills, Ken Philcox Front Of House Departments - Karl Latham Buffet Car - Karl Latham / CSM Website / Social Media - Chris Mills

2018 Quick & Easy Membership Send your completed form * together with your cheque and a stamped self addressed envelope to: RSR Membership Secretary, 34 Tag Croft, Ingol, Preston, PR2 7AQ Cheques should be made payable to ‘Ribble Steam Railway’ Your new 2018 card will be sent by return within 7 days (or as soon as humanly possible !)

All volunteers need to be fully paid up RSR Members.

If you're simply wanting to visit the site and enjoy a train ride, your membership also entitles you to half price admission on most operating days, on production of your membership card. On some special events this facility may be restricted.

Life members enjoy free admission at all times, except Santa Special Weekends (this latter restriction applies to all classes of membership).

General Enquiries Email: ribblesteamrailway@gmail.com Phone: (01772) 728800 (Answer phone out of hours)

Members also receive 3 issues of 'The Ribble Pilot Magazine' per year.

The views and comments expressed within this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Board of Directors or any Company Officers.

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Membership Form is on page 46: P.T.O.

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Ribble Pilot

2018 Renewal / Application Form *Annual Membership runs 1st January to 31st December

Full Name: MR / MRS ....................................................................................................

Address: ........................................................................................................................

Town/City: .................................................. Postcode: ...............................................

Email: ............................................................................................................................

Tel: ...................................................... Mobile: ............................................................

Date of Birth **/**/****

............................

Membership Type: (please circle or underline) Adult (Annual) - £15 / Adult (3 Years) - £40 Family (2 + 2) - £30 Adult (Life) - £150 / Adult (Senior) - £90 Cheques are payable to "Ribble Steam Railway"

Send your completed form together with your cheque and a stamped self addressed envelope to: RSR Membership Secretary, 34 Tag Croft, Ingol, Preston, PR2 7AQ

(Cash/Card transactions can be made via the Museum Shop) Notes: ............................................................................... ..........................................................................................

Gift Aid : The Ribble Steam Railway can use Gift Aid as a tax relief on monies donated. If you are a UK tax payer and are willing for us to use your membership subscription as a gift aid donation, please x here .............

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Ribble Pilot

See “Cover� attachment

Ribble Pilot

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Issue 49

The new line in operation less than a year since it was opened for use. "Energy" with loads and "Progress" banking. Note the old warehouse in the background still to be demolished. (Steven Brindley)

Do NOT PRINT

Do NOT PRINT

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Ribble Pilot

RSR Publications © RSR 2017

See “Cover” attachment