WIN NEW BLUEBELL GRESLEY P2: BUILDING STARTS NEXT SUMMER

RAILWAY ALBUM

Issue September 26 –
181 October 23, 2013

WEST COAST RAILWAYS IN

‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ COUP

PICTURE SPECIAL

TORNADO
STORMS INTO
£4.10

BLUEBELL
■ SWANAGE, BLAENAVON AND NORTH NORFOLK GALA ACTION
No. 181

FOUR A4s FOR BARROW HILL FEBRUARY GALA

WorldMags.net

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LNER K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess heads
across Whalley viaduct on August 28 with the last
Statesman Rail ‘Fellsman’. ROBERT FALCONER
Editor Robin Jones
rjones@mortons.co.uk
01507 529305
Deputy editor Brian Sharpe
bsharpe@mortons.co.uk
Publisher Dan Savage
Senior contributing writers
Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns
Contributors
Fred Kerr, Roger Melton
Designer Tim Pipes
Reprographics
Jonathan Schofield
Group production editor
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tglover-brown@mortons.co.uk
Advertising representative
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camess@mortons.co.uk
01507 529310
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Paul Deacon
Marketing manager
Charlotte Park
Production manager
Craig Lamb
Circulation manager
Steve O’Hara
Publishing director
Dan Savage
Commercial director
Nigel Hole
Managing director Brian Hill
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01895 433600
W e are living in an age of celebrities,
and in the heritage railway sector,
we have one in our midst. Mallard.
For years it has stood proudly in the
National Railway Museum at York, a draw in
In the wake of the success of Mallard 75, a
third of the way through the programme, it
seems a logical step to build on it.
Mallard last steamed in 1988, the half
centenary of its record run. Even though it
Subscription agents its own right, but only one of many splendid ran only a handful of tours, there seemed to
Australia: Greg McNiece
3-58241734
exhibits in the hall. be no mechanical issues.
New Zealand: White Bus Family Thanks to the phenomenal success of the It is likely that if the museum offered the
Productions first Great Gathering reunion of No. 4468 chance for a sponsorship of a restoration of
064 03 327 6585
with its five surviving sisters, it is now a major No. 4468 to steam, there could well be a
Printed William Gibbons & Sons, crowd puller wherever it goes. At the Story of queue of takers. Such a move could be backed
Wolverhampton Speed weekend festival in Grantham in early by a public appeal.
Published date September, more than 15,000 turned out to Mallard would not have to be run into the
Four-weekly on a Thursday
Advert deadlines
see it, many queuing up to board its footplate ground. As before, it could be used for a select
October 10, 2013 and inspect the cab controls which were used number of high profile railtours, and
Next issue 75 years ago when the engine took the world ambassadorial visits to heritage lines too.
October 24, 2013
steam speed record from Germany on nearby Any steam operator will be only too ready to
©Mortons Media Group Ltd.
Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights
Stoke Bank. tell of the difficulties in balancing books and
reserved. No part of this publication In its 75th anniversary year, Mallard has making a profit. However, in view of the
may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic
turned the general public back on to steam groundswell of public interest in this single
or mechanical, including railways big time. Bumper crowds are again engine, it may well be that £10 notes are being
photocopying, recording, or any
information storage retrieval system expected at the Autumn Great Gathering at left lying on the table.
without prior permission in writing
from the publisher.
the end of October and the Great Farewell in If there is ever an occasion to restore
ISSN No 1466-3560 Shildon in February. Mallard to working order, that time is now.
Contributions to this magazine The question that everyone is asking at Mallard 75 does not have to end when the
should be clearly typed and, ideally,
accompanied by a copy on computer these events is – why don’t they steam Mallard two expatriates return to their North
disc, in either ASCII or Mac format. again? American homes, possibly in April. There is
Photographs (prints and
transparencies) should be clearly We in the movement know the stock answer. far more mileage, if only…
marked with the contributor’s name
and address, and are submitted at
There are already three A4s in steam on the Railway heritage is not just about big steam
the owner’s risk. Mortons Media main line, and it is questionable as to whether engines from the past, but small modern ones
Group Ltd cannot be held responsible
for loss or damage, however caused.
a market exists for a fourth. too. This summer I visited the Purbeck
All submissions must include an More than that, the NRM is still smarting Mineral & Mining Museum at Norden station
appropriate SAE for the return of from the debacle of the Flying Scotsman on the Swanage Railway, where a short length
all material.
Opinions expressed in this magazine
overhaul overspend and the question as to of the 2ft gauge Fayle’s Tramway has been
are not necessarily those of the whether the A3 will steam again is still recreated. It came to life in September with
Editor or his staff. waiting to be satisfactorily resolved. It visiting freelance 0-4-0T Emmet in steam.
does not see itself in a position to take on The museum, based around Purbeck’s ball
another major main line overhaul in such clay industry, is a perfect example of the
Independent publishers since 1885 circumstances marvels that the movement has achieved on a
However, such is the public appetite for the limited budget, and is far more worthwhile as
big blue machine that there is every a venture than many overpriced tourist
indication that a market does indeed exist for attractions I have seen over many years.
Member of the
Professional a main line comeback by the world’s fastest I would heartily recommend a visit next
steam locomotive, over and above that which time you visit Dorset – it is not only Mallard
Publishers' Association
Having trouble finding a
copy of this magazine? already exists for railtours. that can weave magic!
Only a few years ago, when Tornado
appeared on the national network, crowds Robin Jones
gathered at every station where it stopped. Editor
WorldMags.net
Heritage Railway 3
 WorldMags.net
Features
64 Steaming on the Southern
50 LonDon ViCtoria to with Tangmere
SheffieLD ParK DireCt for Restored Barry scrapyard Bulleid Battle of
the firSt time in 10 YearS! Britain Pacific Tangmere has been one of the
Tornado arrived at Sheffield Park with a train big main line stars of recent years. Don Benn
from Victoria on September 10. Cedric Johns has followed the exploits of his favourite
reports on a landmark moment in steam Southern engine since it returned to the
preservation. national network in 2003 and presents his
COVER finest photographs of it in action.
STORY
70 maLLard the reCorD
BreaKer – Yet again!
Hot on the heels of the Great Gathering
line-up of all six A4s at the National
Railway Museum in York,
No. 4468 Mallard undertook its own
mini-tour to mark the 75th anniversary
of its 126mph world record-breaking
run. First stop was Grantham, a few
miles from Little Bytham where the
legendary speed was recorded on
July 3, 1938, and then Doncaster, where
50
the Gresley masterpiece had been built.
Robin Jones reports.
WorldMags.net
4 heritage railway
74 dunrobin – a LoComotiVe
for the riCh anD famouS…
In May 2011, the former Duke of
Sutherland’s private train consisting of
Sharp Stewart No. 4085 Dunrobin and
Highland Railway built brake-saloon
No. 58A were reunited with British soil
following a 46-year exile in Canada. Well
cared for during their life across the Atlantic,
the pair are now subject to an extensive
restoration programme to enable their use at
Beamish Museum in County Durham.
Beamish’s transport curator Paul Jarman
outlines something of their unique history,
and explains the process of their repatriation
and the start of their new lives in England.
86 SePtemBer enDeD through
worKing on the SomerSet
& DorSet raiLwaY
Cedric Johns recalls the day that holiday
expresses to the south coast ceased to use the
legendary route across the Mendips to run
very briefly via today’s more familiar route
via Oxford.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado accelerates
Steam Dreams’ heavy ‘Cathedrals Express’
from Waterloo to Cardiff past Worting Junction
on the LSWR main line on September 7.
A week later, Tornado made history by being
Contents
Issue 181 September 26 – October 23, 2013
the first steam locomotive since 1966 to pass
through Birmingham New Street station
northbound. DON BENN.
News Cover
6 HEaDLINE NEws The two great rival
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Pacifics; LNER A4
launches £500k bridge appeal for Broadway No. 60009 Union of
push; might Severn Valley sell ‘Black Five’? South Africa and LMS
Tornado in £200k appeal to buy its own Princess Coronation
tender; Betton Grange bogie completed, and No. 46233 Duchess of
Sir Lamiel back in action for Great Central Sutherland at Carlisle
Railway autumn steam gala. Citadel on Saturday,
September 7. The A4
is on RTC’s ‘Cumbrian
Mountain Express’
duties and the
Duchess on PMR
Tours’ 75th anniversary special returning from
Perth to Crewe. DAVID TROUT

70
10 NEws
Frames for new Gresley P2 to be cut in May;
Criccieth Castle reborn for West Somerset
‘Cambrian’ gala; two ‘Terriers’ back for Isle
of Wight steam gala; first work imminent on

Loughborough link project; Welshpool town
section recreated by murals; Bodmin’s
‘executive jet’ returned to original splendour;
pannier reigns supreme on the Met; Forth
Bridge to become visitor centre; double-
headed Manors at Llangollen; steam returns
to Purbeck’s other heritage line aer 60
years; another key piece of Lynton &
Barnstaple trackbed obtained; boiler for new
L&B Baldwin complete; Severn Valley
22
Bulleid rededicated to Battle of Britain
legend; British-built Pacific offered free to
good home; world’s oldest standard gauge
line to be moved to Stephenson Railway
Museum, and Hayling Island branch closure
recalled at Kent & East Sussex gala.

Regulars
COMPETITION 48 raILwayaNa Mayflower debut delayed; Steam Dreams
■ Bluebell Railway Geoff Courtney’s guide to the latest auctions moves to West Coast; Tornado trapped on
Revisited is the first and prices. Mid-Hants; Sherwood Forester goes south and
hardback to feature K1 returns to Carnforth for firebox repairs.
pictures of the return to 54 CENTrE
East Grinstead and costs £14.99.
But you could get one for free as
e historic run by No. 60163 from Victoria 62 MaIN LINE ITINErary
to the Bluebell Railway by Nick Farrant takes Brian Sharpe’s definitive guide to steam and

40
we have five to give away in our
centre stage. heritage modern traction railtours in the
star prize competition this issue.
coming month.
56 MaIN LINE NEws
Bittern 90mph runs postponed again; 80 PLaTfOrM

56
Where your views matter the most.
sUBsCrIBE TO 90 sCaLE HErITagE raILway
HERITAGE RAILWAY! New Bachmann OO gauge Brighton
Take out a 13-issue subscription to Atlantic, a Farish LNER J39 and Hornby’s
Heritage Railway – the preservation scumbled teak effect suburban coaches.
magazine written entirely by
people who remember 92 UP & rUNNINg
first-hand the British Brian Sharpe’s complete listing of museums
Railways steam and operational heritage lines.
era – and be first
with the news 106 THE MONTH aHEaD
that matters. Our new at-a-glance guide to the big events

32
coming up in the next four weeks, with
Heritage Railway, as usual, bringing
unrivalled coverage.

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage railway 5
HeadlineNews
WorldMags.net
G/WR’s £500K share offer to
rebuild five bridges to Broadway
By Robin Jones
THE Gloucestershire Warwickshire
Railway is to launch a £500,000
share offer to cover the cost of
renewing five bridges on the two
mile formation between its current
Laverton railhead and the tourist
honeypot of Broadway.
The ‘Bridges to Broadway’ offer
comes a year after the railway
recovered from its double landslip
disaster for which £1 million was
raised through an appeal launched
by president Pete Waterman,
earning the line the Heritage
Railway Association’s Peter
Manisty Award for an outstanding
contribution to railway heritage.
The new appeal will be formally
launched on September 30.
While the railway was being
run in two sections as the
landslips at Gotherington and
Chicken Curve were being
rectified, volunteers continued
the work on restoring Broadway
station. The platforms are now
largely complete and a planning
application has been submitted
for recreation of the station
buildings in the style of the
demolished originals, but larger.
The platforms are for full 10
coach trains rather than the six
of the original.
The five bridges, which need
extensive repair work before they
can carry trains again, are Station
Road, Broadway (estimated cost
£215,000), Childswickham Road,
Broadway (£86,000), Pry Lane
(£18,000), Peasebrook Farm
(£46,000) and Little Buckland
Bridge (£192,000).
Steam Dreams
returns to
West Coast
A SEISMIC shift in the main
line tour sector will see
Guildford-based ‘Cathedrals
Express’ operator Steam
Dreams return to West
Coast Railways after a three
year absence.
Carnforth-based West
Coast will take over as
Steam Dreams’ train
operating company from
DB Schenker as from early
October.
➲ Full story – see Main Line
News, page 57.
6 Heritage Railway
The worst of the five bridges which need renewal before trains can run into Broadway
are Station Road bridge, which has had a number of bashes from vehicles over the
years, and Little Buckland (Broadway Lane) bridge (pictured) which is in an extremely
poor state. IAN CROWDER
The total estimated cost is
£557,000, with the balance coming
from existing company reserves.
The bridge in the worst state, that
over Station Road, is the second-
longest bridge on the railway at 43ft.
Its low 14ft 3in headroom has
resulted in it suffering many major
vehicle impacts, over many years,
which have badly torn parts of the
main steel beams. Major steel
repairs are essential before it can
carry any loads from trains.
In addition, partial failure of the
waterproofing of the steel deck has
allowed water to penetrate and this
has caused localised but severe
corrosion of both the deck plating
Sir Lamiel back for Great Central gala
STRICKEN SR King Arthur 4-6-0
No. 777 Sir Lamiel has been added
to the roster for the Great Central
Railway’s big October 3-6 autumn
steam gala.
The Loughborough-based
locomotive missed the recent
North Norfolk and Severn Valley
steam galas after being withdrawn
to have a flue tube replaced.
It will now line up alongside
gala guests Battle of Britain
4-6-2 No. 34070 Manston from
the Swanage Railway and BR
Standard Caprotti 5MT 4-6-0
No. 73129 from the Midland
Railway-Butterley.
Five locomotives from the home
fleet will make up a total of eight
in steam.
WorldMags.net
and some of the structural
members below.
The GWR standard lattice steel
parapet railings are badly corroded
and will need total replacement.
Vibrations from vehicle impacts
and failure of end of deck drainage
have led to considerable
deterioration of the upper parts of
both brick abutments. Remedial
work will need the steelwork to be
propped while it is undertaken.
Childswickham Road bridge has
also suffered from impacts and
deck waterproofing failure. The
small brick arch bridge at Pry Lane
is in good condition, but mainly
needs the deck to be
BR Standard Caprotti 5MT
No. 73129 makes its debut on
the Great Central Railway on
September 15. LOUIS HURST
Back by popular demand,
the Saturday twilight show will
see an intense period of activity
in and around Quorn &
rewaterproofed and new back-of-
abutment drainage to be installed.
The Peasebrook Farm bridge is a
small concrete-filled steel trough
structure on brick abutments which
needs major repairs to all four wing
walls supporting the embankment
slopes and to the stone pads
supporting the deck ends.
Little Buckland bridge has
suffered from localised deck
waterproofing failure causing
corrosion of parts of the deck plates
and some of the structural steel
beams supporting them, which all
have to be repaired. Expansion and
contraction of the material forming
the embankments has caused
considerable movement of the four
wing walls and the two at the
Broadway end have been pushed
away from the abutment by up to
8in. The solution may involve
partial demolition and
some rebuilding.
Around 700 tons of brick from
the Mythe embankment bridges at
Tewkesbury which are being
removed as part of a flood
alleviation scheme have just been
recovered for use in rebuilding
Broadway station.
The minimum investment in the
£1 offer shares is £100, thereafter in
multiples of £25. The offer will be
open until October 31, 2014, or will
close earlier if fully subscribed.
Shareholders will receive
complimentary standard or first
class tickets valid for ordinary
services, depending on the number
of shares held.
➲ Further details about the share
offer will be available at
www.gwsr.com
Woodhouse including freight
trains and the Travelling Post
Office train – all under cover
of darkness.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net

The line-up of East Coast Main Line raw steam power at Barrow Hill on April 14, 2012, during the Fab Four gala: left to right are A4 No. 4464 Bittern, A1 No. 60163 Tornado, A4 No. 4468
Mallard, A2 No. 60532 Blue Peter and V2 No. 4771 Green Arrow. The setting is now set to be used for a unique line-up of four A4s including the North American expats. ROBIN JONES

Four A4 Pacifics to line up at Barrow Hill roundhouse

ORGANISERS of an LNER gala at Barrow
Hill roundhouse on February 8-9 have
booked both repatriated A4s – and hope
that they will be joined by two of their
operational sisters.
No. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower from the
US National Railroad Museum in Green Bay,
Wisconsin, will stand alongside No. 4489
Dominion of Canada from the Exporail
museum in Montreal at the event.
As we closed for press, talks were already
well under way with the owners of other A4s
in a bid to stage a line-up of four in the yard.
No. 4468 Mallard which, as reported on
pages 70-73, will be attending the Barrow Hill
Live! event on September 28-29, does not
figure in the plans for the February gala, said
a source.
The gala is not aiming to compete with the
National Railway Museum’s Mallard 75 Great
Gatherings, in which all six surviving A4s line
up. However, it will allow the four to be
showcased in a ‘period’ setting, with steam era
infrastructure and against the background of
the brickwork chimneys, as opposed to a
modern museum setting.
A source said that it had not yet been
confirmed which of the three operational
A4s will attend the Barrow Hill gala, which
takes place a week before the start of The
Great Goodbye at the Locomotion Museum
in Shildon.
The event, which runs from February 15-23,
will be the last time all six A4s are lined up
before the repatriated pair are returned to
North America.

Severn Valley to sell 1T57 icon?
THE Severn Valley Railway may have
to sell one of its key assets in order to
raise much-needed funds and defray
mounting bank charges on money it
has been forced to borrow to pay for
essential maintenance.
Stanier ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45110
was one of the first locomotives to
arrive on the SVR, although initially
preserved at Ashford, having played
its part in the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’
on August 11, 1968 and therefore
holds considerable affection among
long standing members of the SVR
who would be loath to see it leave the
railway.
Since the expiry of its boiler ticket
on August 15, 2008, it hasn’t steamed
or seen any restoration work, having
only been cosmetically spruced up
for display at Barrow Hill
roundhouse in 2009.
It is planned to move the 1935-built
mixed traffic locomotive back to the
SVR for display in the engine house
once GWR 4-6-0 No. 4930 Hagley
Hall makes way when it is released
for overhaul to begin at Bridgnorth
locomotive works this October.
However, with No. 45110 having
little prospect of taking its place in
the overhaul queue for many years to
come, the SVR is eyeing the
possibility of realising some much-
needed capital from an asset that is
otherwise gathering dust and will
cost at least £500,000 to restore,
outside the railway’s current budget.
With current commitments to
capital projects and existing bank
borrowings, the railway needs to
raise something in the order of £10
million and selling its ‘Black Five’
could form a substantial proportion
of this.
No. 45110 is one of three company
owned locomotives in the SVR’s large
main line fleet, the rest being
privately owned by individuals or
groups based on the line. The other
two are No. 4930 Hagley Hall and
former Longmoor Military Railway
WD 2-10-0 No. 600 Gordon.
There have been repeated calls
among the SVR membership to form
a ‘Friends of 45110’ group to help
fund the locomotive’s overhaul, but
so far nothing has come of these.
A similar group was formed on the
railway to support No. 4930 and this
has helped raise the funds to enable it
to take its place in the overhaul
queue after 27 years out of service,
having last steamed in October 1986.
The balance of the funding will be
covered by the railway’s current share
offer, which also includes
development of the Bridgnorth
station site, itself the subject of much
controversy.
Bo’ness hits the big screen
with The Railway Man
THE Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway has achieved Hollywood
stardom in the new highly-acclaimed movie The Railway Man.
Scenes for the film – starring Academy Award winners
Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth – premiered at the Toronto
Film Festival on September 6, having been shot on the line in
May 2012.
The film opens with Edinburgh-born Army officer Eric
Lomax (Colin Firth) and Patricia Wallace’s (Nicole Kidman)
chance meeting in a train, and tells the story of how they
gradually fall in love and get married thereafter.
The focus from the love story then shifts to Lomax’s
traumatic past. After being captured by the Japanese during
the Second World War, he and thousands of other prisoners
are forced to work for the construction of the Thai/Burma
railway.
Lomax later finds that his principal Japanese tormentor is
still alive and working for a museum, and decides to confront
him.
The Railway Man, a true story, is based on the autobiography
by Eric Lomax himself. Eric died last October aged 93.
The Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway’s business development
director Amanda Kilburn said: “It was great to see stars Colin
Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine and Stellan Skarsgård
swap the glamour of Hollywood for our heritage railway in
central Scotland.
“Some of our volunteers travelled to Perth with the cast and
crew and one had a small part as a 1980s train guard enjoying
an on-screen conversation with Colin Firth.”
The railway has played host to various films in the last few
years including Cloud Atlas and The Angels’ Share. “Producers
like our site as they can be allowed the kind of control of
platforms and lines that filmmakers dream of,” said Amanda.
The Railway Man premiers in Britain on January 3.

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 7
HeadlineNews
WorldMags.net
Tornado £200K bid to buy its tender
By Robin Jones
TORNADO builder The A1 Steam Locomotive
Trust has launched a £200,000 bid to buy the
locomotive’s tender.
Outside the company, it is a little-known fact
that it does not own the tender, which is
currently on a 15 year lease from principal
sponsor William Cook Cast Products Ltd
which expires in 2021.
At the trust’s annual convention on Saturday,
September 21, supporters were asked to a
contribute to a fund to buy the tender – and
make No. 60163 debt free.
In 2006 Andrew Cook, chairman of William
Cook, offered to pay for the construction of the
tender to enable the funds being raised to be
spent on other parts of the locomotive.
The tender is a development of those built for
the original Peppercorn A1s, mainly due to the
different operating environment on the modern
national network. Due to the lack of surviving
steam infrastructure, water capacity is at a
premium and so Tornado carries 6200 gallons,
as opposed to 5000 gallons, and 7½ tons of
coal, rather than nine tons in the original A1s.
The tender is also the home for many of
Tornado’s other unique features including an
alternator, Timken cartridge roller bearings
(pre-greased sealed self-contained units which
do not have to be fitted in enclosed axleboxes),
Train Protection & Warning system, National
radio Network radio, Global system for Mobile
Communications – Railway radio, the GPS
tracker and a mobile telephone charger.
Trust chairman Mark Allatt said: “Since
Tornado’s first moves in 2008, an enormous
effort has been made to repay the debt incurred
during the locomotive’s construction as well as
funding the overhaul and conversion of support
coach No. e21249.
“The first debts to be repaid by the trust were
the bridging and personal loans that financed
the final dash to completion. In July 2013 we
were able to announce the early repayment of
the £500,000 Bearer Bond at the end of 2013.
“As the plaques attached to Tornado state, ‘this
locomotive was built and paid for by people
who shared a vision and were determined to
turn it into reality. With a final push, we will
soon be able to make this amazing story 100%
debt free.”
To raise the money, a new 163 Pacifics club
has been launched, named after what would
have been the locomotive’s pre-nationalisation
LNeR number.
If 163 people donate £10 per month over the
eight years until the trust needs to purchase the
tender, or alternatively make a one-off donation
of £960, with the addition of Gift Aid this
would raise £195,600.
Incentives for donors include a numbered
certificate and their names inscribed on the
official Roll of honour in Darlington
Locomotive Works.
➲ For details on how to join the 163 Club,
visit www.a1steam.com where a donation
form is available.
The trust also needs to raise a final £6850 to
cover the cost of the support coach.
➲ Tornado in Bluebell Railway first:
see pages 50-55.

New-build GWR Betton Grange gets its front bogie

The fully-overhauled bogie from
Barry wreck GWR 4-6-0 No. 5952
Cogan Hall, was due to arrive at the
Llangollen Railway’s workshops in
mid-September ready for
installation under the frames of
new-build No. 6880 Betton Grange.
having placed No. 6880 on to its
driving wheels in April this year, it
was planned to have the bogie on
display ready for the Betton Grange
Society’s members’ day on
September 28.
No. 5952 was acquired from Ken
Ryder a number of years ago. The
locomotive is being used as a source
of parts in the construction of No.
6880, although it is intended to
replace these components and
eventually restore Cogan Hall in its
own right once Betton Grange is up
and running.
The bogie was stripped down at
Williton works on the West
Somerset Railway by society
members. Its frames have now been
realigned, horn faces have been
resurfaced and machined, springs
refurbished and the overhauled
wheelsets reunited. Tyseley
Locomotive Works produced new
bogie underkeeps, which are
expensive bronze castings, to
replace those acquisition cutting and forming the hanging
removed while it from another bar stiffener plates and support
stood at Barry GWR loco angles, which support the
scrapyard. group, needs footplating at the front end, and
The bogie will the balance of have also removed the vacuum
not be able to go payment to be brake cylinder from No. 5952,
straight made by next which meant first removing the
under the March, cylinder bottom cover and piston.
locomotive on which, having These are now being assessed for
arrival at funded the refurbishment ready for use on
Llangollen as the deposit, leaves No. 6880.
shed road will a further Also at Willton works, another
need to be cleared The refurbished bogie from No. 5952 £13,000 ‘new’ locomotive is soon to
first to gain access Cogan Hall at Williton works prior to needing to be resurface, in the form of the West
to No. 6880’s reassembly and transport to the raised. Somerset Railway Association’s
frames, but Llangollen Railway. GEOFF GRIFFITHS Society GWR prairie No. 4561. During
although it is chairman its overhaul, cracks in the original
planned to get it Quentin frames – the single component
in place as soon as possible, it McGuinness told Heritage Railway: which traditionally gives a
cannot be properly installed until “Although it is great to have the rods locomotive its identity – and so
the cylinder blocks have been fitted, in our possession, we haven’t paid replacement frame plates have to
which is likely to be some way off for them yet, and if we then have to be cut. They will be displayed
just yet, although it is hoped to give them back it will cost a whole at Williton during the West
place the order for pattern making – lot more to have new ones forged Somerset’s big October 3-6
likely to be of the polystyrene type and machined”. steam gala.
as pioneered by the LMS-Patriot Anyone able to help is asked to The cutting of new prairie frames
Project – by the end of contact Richard Cadge, 14 follows the discovery of problems
the year. Newborough Road, Shirley, with those cut for new-build Clan
The society is currently seeking a Solihull, West Midlands B90 2hA No. 72010 Hengist. A donation from
sponsor for, or donations towards, or visit the society’s website at a member of builder the Standard
the purchase price of a set of www.6880.co.uk Steam Locomotive Company will
coupling rods, which although Meanwhile, society volunteers pay for a replacement set to be cut
already in its possession following have been keeping themselves busy and machined in October.

Relieving the pressure New locomotives for Talyllyn

The Bluebell railway’s £400,000 Keeping the Pressure Up
appeal to speed up the overhauls of bigger and more powerful
locomotives to work the extension to east Grinstead had
neared the £70,000 mark as we closed for press.
The railway needs to reach £100,000 to pay for boiler
improvements to Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34059
Sir Archibald Sinclair, plus another £50,000 for the SeCR O1
No. 65 and for BR Standard 4M 2-6-4T No. 80151.
The Talyllyn Railway has taken delivery
of the latest addition to its locomotive fleet
in the form of Baguley-Drewry 99bhp
four-wheel diesel shunter No.3449 of 1983,
which has been regauged from 2ft 6in to
2ft 3in at Alan Keef Ltd’s works.
It was one of a class of seven diesels used
on the 2ft 6in gauge railway at the Royal
Navy depot at Trecwn in South Wales.
When it closed, three were bought by
Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society
members in 2008, and brought to Tywyn.
Ownership has now passed to the TR.
When No. 3449 arrived back from Keef ’s
on September 4, No. 3764 was sent to be
regauged. The third will be used as spares.

WorldMags.net
8 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
See the six A4s
in a different light
THE second Great Gathering event
at the National Railway Museum
featuring a line-up of all six
surviving LNER Pacifics to mark
the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s
world steam speed record run has
added a human touch.
Following the museum’s appeal in
May for former A4 drivers to get in
touch, a free but all-ticket event,
Tales from the Tracks, has been
arranged for October 26, at the start
of the Autumn Great
Gathering at
York.
Among the speakers are former
fireman/driver Ron Birch, who
attended the opening day of the
hugely-successful first Great
Gathering on July 3, and Alf Smith
who featured on the BBC coverage
of the event, which itself broke
records by attracting more than
138,000 visitors over 15 days.
Visitors will be able to ask
questions and find out what it was
really like to work on board the
footplate of an A4 on
the East Coast
BR Standard 9F No. 92220 Evening Star as portrayed in a previous year’s lighting
competition. NRM
Main Line during the steam era.
Tickets can be booked at
www.nrm.org.uk or by telephone at
08448 153139
As previously reported, all six
A4s, No. 4464 Bittern, No. 4468
Mallard, No. 4489 Dominion of
Canada, No. 60007 Sir Nigel
Gresley, No. 60008 Dwight D.
Eisenhower and No. 60009 Union of
South Africa, will now appear
throughout the Autumn Great
Gathering, which runs until
November 8. As with the first
event, and all museum open days,
admission is free, but an optional
donation is requested.
Tied in with the Autumn Great
Gathering is a series of exclusive
access mornings for
photographers at £15 a time,
tickets being limited to 50 people
each. Inquiries about availability
can be made on 0844 815 3139.
The Autumn Great Gathering
will also encompass the annual
Locos in a Different Light event
which runs from October 30 to
November 2 as part of the
Illuminating York festival. Mallard
and its sister locomotives will be
Left: This fisheye view of the Great
Gathering on July 3 was taken
by Derek Hayes who travelled all the way
from Vancouver for the event. NRM
bathed in spectacular lighting by
teams of performing arts students
experimenting with lighting effects
in a competition.
The initial competition takes
place on October 29 and the entries
are judged by industry professionals
during a private event. They will be
marked according to a number of
categories including; safety and
conservation, energy and efficiency,
object communication and
innovation and aesthetics.
For the next four nights, members
of the public are given the
opportunity to not only see the
installations for themselves but also
have their say on which entry most
captures their imagination. Last
year students from the Rose
Bruford College of Theatre and
Performance in Kent were selected
as the official winners by a panel of
judges including independent
lighting designer, Richard Boaste
for their innovative lighting of
Furness Railway 0-4-0 Coppernob.
This year’s lighting competition,
designed to bring the iconic A4s to
life before the repatriated pair
return to North America, will see
the museum open for longer.
Locos in a Different Light opens
to the public from 6.30pm-10pm
and both parking and admission to
the event are free.

Second World War visitor for NYMR gala

THE number of locomotives at this
year’s September 27-29 North
Yorkshire Moors Railway autumn
steam gala is somewhat down on
previous years, with resident B1
No. 61264 away visiting Barrow
Hill for that weekend.
However, the event, billed as
another 40th anniversary gala, will
feature Greg Wilson’s S160 2-8-0 as
a visiting engine and an example of
a type believed to have worked
tank-transporting trains into
Pickering in the Second World War.
BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92214
will be hauling its first trains since
overhaul, sporting its new BR mixed
traffic livery, and Lambton, Hetton
& Joicey Colliery 0-6-2T No. 29 will
be making its first gala appearance
for several years. BR Standard 4MT
No. 75029 and ‘Black Five’ No.
45428 will handle services to and
from Whitby, supported by A4
Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley
on Battersby runs.
The weekend should also see a
return to service of the LNERCA’s
accident-damaged brake third open
No. 43567, and two further almost
complete LNER coaches .
The LNER Weekend, a week later,
will see the gala line-up
supplemented by visiting A1 Pacific
No. 60163 Tornado, making its first
appearance on the NYMR in BR
blue and making an interesting
comparison to No. 60007, the first
time two BR-liveried blue Pacifics
will have been seen side by side in
the preservation era.
The B1, No. 61264 should also be
back on the NYMR to bolster the Visiting from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Lambton 0-6-2T No. 29 departs from
fleet still further. Consall on the Churnet Valley Railway. ALAN WEAVER

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 9
News
WorldMags.net
New Gresley P2: building’s
due to begin next summer
By Robin Jones
THE A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
has officially decided to go ahead
in following up the success of No.
60163 Tornado with the building
of a new Gresley P2 Mikado 2-8-2
– with construction set to get
underway next summer.
A pre-launch announcement
about the project to create
No. 2007 was made to trust
members and covenantors at the
annual general meeting at Barrow
Hill on September 21.
The aim is to build an ‘improved’
Mikado, No. 2007, as an example
of one of the most powerful
express passenger steam
locomotives to operate in the UK,
filling one of the most significant
gaps in the heritage steam fleet for
use both on the main line and
preserved railways.
Officials said the project has the
advantage of significant
commonality of components
between No. 60163 and No. 2007,
and by the end of this year the
trust will be free of its Tornado debt.
The final design will be
aesthetically similar to P2 No. 2001
Cock o’ The North, but will make
maximum use of systems, fittings
and processes in use on Tornado,
and must meet current and
foreseeable regulatory standards to
allow the locomotive to operate as
intended. Any changes to Gresley’s
design will be either for
operational, ease/cost of
Gresley P2 No. 2001 Cock o’ the North – building work will start next year on No. 2007
if sufficient funds can be raised. A1SLT
manufacturing or certification
reasons. For instance, it is planned
to use British Caprotti valve gear
design as developed for No. 71000
Duke of Gloucester. The diagram
118A Tornado boiler, 17in shorter
than the P2 boiler, with detailed
modifications will be used, and
to compensate, the smokebox will
be extended within cladding. It
will be interchangeable with
Tornado’s boiler.
As the first major fundraising
initiative for the P2, The Founders
Club was launched on September
21. As the pre-launch phase will
require funding of around
£100,000 – taking the project to
the point where the frames are cut
– at least 100 people each donating
£1000 in up to four payments of
£250 are being sought.
The chosen name for No. 2007
will be announced when the P2
Project is formally launched next
February, while the cutting and
profiling of the frames has been
scheduled for May and June, with
construction of the P2 beginning
at Darlington Locomotive Works
in July.
Tornado-style covenantors’
schemes will be launched next
year. All the fundraising schemes
will have a range of benefits to
members and subscribers.
The trust estimates that it will
take between seven and 10 years to
build No. 2007.
All of the P2s, which could easily
haul 600 ton trains, were rebuilt as
Pacifics in 1944 and scrapped by
1961.
More details are available at
www.p2steam.com
Trust chairman Mark Allatt said:
“The key now is to get as many
people joining the Founders Club
as possible so we can get the
frames cut next year. We want to
get off to a racing start between
now and next May.
Meanwhile, such progress has
been made on the building of new
BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T
No. 82045 at Bridgnorth that the
82045 Locomotive Trust is to bring
forward the launch of its appeal for
the boiler.

Main line shuttles to Chinnor over three weekends

SHUTTLES are to run between Aylesbury,
Princes Risborough and Chinnor on the first
three Saturdays of October, using Chiltern
Railways ‘bubblecars’, as part of a three-
weekend diesel gala coinciding with the 17th
anniversary of Wolverton Works.
The Chinnor & Princes Risborough
Railway’s connection with Network Rail was
reinstated on September 8 during a possession
of both lines, enabling the groundbreaking
shuttles to be run.
The shuttle on October 5 will use Chiltern
Railways Class 165 No. 165001 while the
following two Saturdays, October 12 and 19,
a different ‘bubblecar’ will be used each
weekend starting with No. 55034 and then
No. 55020.
The first train of the day will leave Aylesbury
at around 9.30am, Princes Risborough half an
hour later, and arriving at Chinnor at 10.25am.
Then the main line train will shuttle between
Chinnor and Princes Risborough.
Wolverton Works Class 08 shunters Nos.
08629 and 08649 will be at Chinnor, one at a
time thanks to new owners Knorr-Bremse,
and they will be hauling passenger trains over
each weekend. Plans were being finalised to
bring a Class 20, probably No. 20227 thanks to
the Class 20 Group based at Ruislip to
Chinnor using the reinstated connection.
Combined with the resident Chinnor diesel
fleet of Class 17 No. D8568 and Class 37 No.
37116, there will be three weekend long
vintage diesel galas.
The former Lymington branch 3CEP unit
No. 1198, recently arrived at Chinnor, will be
used on trains requiring air braked stock and
will be used by No. 08649 which has never,
it is thought, previously been used on
passenger services.
The event, supported by Heritage Railway
publisher Mortons Media Ltd, originated as
the 60th birthday celebration for former
Wolverton Works Class 08 Shunter D3018
Haversham, which will be reunited with other
Wolverton area traction.
The three shunters with a Wolverton
connection will be named, one at each
weekend while the official Wolverton Works
175th anniversary book, The Full Works, will
be on sale accompanied by the author and a
Wolverton art and photographic display.
Three ‘bubblecars’ and four Class 08s will be
working over the heritage railway during the
six-day event, the most ambitious ever staged
by the 100% volunteer-run line.
GWR pannier No. 1369 will be in service each
weekend and to help overcrowding, a vintage
bus service will also be operating between
Chinnor and Princes Risborough stations.
Bookings can be made by calling 01844
354117 on weekdays between 6pm and 9pm or
online at www.chinnorrailway.co.uk Tickets
are £30 adult, £22.50 for seniors/juniors,
which also include entry to the associated
events for the day booked.

WorldMags.net
10 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
City of Birmingham: council
will ‘explore all options’
By Robin Jones
ENTRENCHED LMS Princess
Coronation Pacific No. 46235 City
of Birmingham could be sold off to
help pay the city council’s debts, it
has been revealed.
While again reiterating the long-
held stance that the locomotive will
not be released from its place in the
city’s Thinktank museum at
Millennium Point under current
council policy, the local authority
has been asked if – in view of
austerity measures when budgets
for services are being cut – it would
consider selling, leasing or hiring
the locomotive.
A written reply, which Janet
Priestley, Birmingham City
Council’s head of press, PR and
communications said we could
attribute either to the Labour city
council leader Sir Albert Bore or
“to a spokesperson”, stated: “The
pressures that we face in
Birmingham are of such a
magnitude that all options are
being explored at the moment.
“We are currently in the middle
of a public discussion about what
how we do things differently in
the future.”
The question about the future of
No. 46235 was raised with its city
council owners after Heritage
Railway postulated in issue 179 if
the phenomenally-successful line-
up of all six A4s at the National
Railway Museum, which attracted
more than 138,000 visitors to York
in 15 days and has been widely
hailed as having made a major
contribution to the city’s tourist
The first doubleheaded train at the Apedale Valley Railway was at a David Tillotson
photographic charter on August 30 with Kerr Stuart 0-4-2ST Stanhope, works
number 2395 of 1917, and Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Sybil Mary, works number 921 of
1906. DAVID TILLOTSON
Only £2.92 an issue when you subscribe
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
economy, should be followed up by
a line-up of all five surviving LMS
Pacifics, including No. 46235. By
comparison with the borrowing of
Dwight D. Eisenhower and
Dominion of Canada from North
America, taking No. 46235 out of
Thinktank for a few weeks, and
replacing it with an equivalent
locomotive attraction in the
meantime, surely would be a
trifling affair, we asked?
Manchester alderman Keith
Whitmore, a director of that city’s
Royal Exchange Theatre, the
People’s History Museum and the
Bahamas Locomotive Society, and
chairman of the Heaton Park
Tramway Trust, raised the issue of
No. 46235 with Coun Bore when
the pair met at the last Tyseley
Works open day in June. Keith
argued that the locomotive could be
restored to running order and used
as a flagship to promote the city of
Birmingham as the ideal option. He
said that if it is to remain a static
exhibit, it could also be loaned out
for a LMS Pacific line-up if such a
request was ever made.
Keith followed up the meeting
with a letter to Coun Bore, but
several weeks later he told Heritage
Railway that he was “very
disappointed” not to have received
a reply.
We also tried to contact Coun
Bore, firstly through the council
press office, and then by personal
email, only to be told by Janet
Priestley: “I appreciate your wish to
speak directly to the leader but as
I’m sure you will appreciate he is
not able to accommodate every
WorldMags.net
A snapshot taken by Heritage Railway reader Roy Lawrance of City of Birmingham
being moved into the former Science Museum in Newhall Street in the mid-Sixties.
request due to the sheer volume.”
Keith said that he now plans to
talk to Birmingham’s Conservative
and Liberal Democrat party leaders
with a view to having the issue
publicly raised in a full council
meeting, and also the NRM staging
a line-up with No. 46233 Duchess of
Sutherland and No. 6229 Duchess of
Hamilton.
Since it was donated to the
popular former Birmingham
Science Museum in Newhall Street
in the city centre after its
withdrawal by British Railways,
curatorial officers have maintained
that No. 46235 should be kept
intact as an example of a
locomotive as it was serviced at a
BR works – even though that was
done purely cosmetic for display
purposes.
The latest statement from the
council, sent via the press office,
said: “Returning the locomotive to
working order is not an issue that
BCC (Birmingham City Council) is
currently considering.
“BCC has not changed its policy
to preserve the engine in the
condition that it left service. The
NYMR trio well on the way back
THE new cylinder for the North
Yorkshire Moors Railway’s BR
Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76079 is
expected to be delivered to
Grosmont before the end of
September, raising hopes that it will
be back in service in the near future.
Once the cylinder is to hand,
reassembly is likely to be rapid.
It is expected to see extensive
service in 2014, bolstering the
NYMR’s fleet of Whitby-capable
engines in time for the
commencement of more intensive
services to the resort. Meanwhile, a
contract for the construction of a
new copper firebox for the line’s BR
Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80135 is
due to be placed in the near future
with the appeal having been
see page 32 or
www.classicmagazines.co.uk
locomotive is viewed and enjoyed
by the 200,000 people in its present
location, and remains a popular
exhibit with all visitors to
Thinktank.
“The locomotive remains a
popular exhibit and is being well
cared for. It will survive in its
present environment for
generations and it may be that
those future generations take a
decision to restore the locomotive
or perhaps they will be grateful that
it has been preserved in its ‘as used’
condition and will act as a rich
research resource for scholars and
enthusiasts in the future.”
Another problem, according to
Tyseley Works supremo Bob
Meanley, is that No. 46235 has an
extensive blue asbestos content.
Under current legislation, it is likely
that one day the asbestos will have
to be removed, potentially leaving
the cash-pressed council with a
substantial bill, unless a sponsor
was found. Such work would, in
theory, eradicate the engine’s
perceived status as being in the
exact condition in which it left
British Railways.
boosted by a very substantial
donation from a supporter.
A new steel outer wrapper is also
needed, but is planned to be
fabricated in-house. Detailed
examination of the boiler has shown
that the barrel can be used for at
least one more 10-year ticket before
it needs replacing.
Although it had been hoped that
the boiler from the North Eastern
Locomotive Preservation Group’s
Q6 0-8-0 No. 63395 would be
repaired in time for it to return to
service on the NYMR this summer,
that has not proved to be the case.
If the repairs at Crewe are
completed in time, NELPG has
agreed to take the Q6 to the East
Lancashire Railway in January.
Heritage Railway 11
News
WorldMags.net
Historic US ‘Welsh’ switcher
faces scrap after no offers
By Robin Jones
AN SOS appeal to save a historic
US switcher locomotive which
broke new ground when it was
imported for use in South Wales
at the dawn of dieselisation has
been launched.
The Alco 660hp diesel, which
was imported for use in South
Wales in 1949, is currently based
at the Railworld museum in
Peterborough, next to the Nene
Valley Railway terminus.
Museum officers have decided
that the Alco, No. 804, no longer
fits into its collection, and also
they have no funds to restore it.
If a buyer cannot be found, it
could be cut up by the end of
the year.
Despite it being a US import,
it has ‘acquired’ a British pedigree
in terms of service and its place
in industrial railway history.
Six years before the British
Rail Modernisation Plan led to
widespread dieselisation, the
Steel Company of Wales
imported five of the type from
the American Locomotive
Company in New York, to
replace 15 steam engines.
Alco had previously built
several of the USATC S160 2-8-0s
which saw service in Britain
during the Second World War.
However, they were the first and
Passenger has heart attack
after falling on to line
THE family of an 81-year-old lady
who fell between a Kent & East
Sussex Railway platform and a
waiting train and later suffered a
heart attack have thanked the line
for staff efforts to save her.
The woman was among a
party of visitors from the
Gravesend Active Retired
Association who were waiting for
a departure from Tenterden Town
station around 5.15pm on
Saturday, September 14.
KESR general manager Graham
Baldwin said that for some
inexplicable reason the lady fell
between the very narrow gap
separating the coach from the
platform edge. She lay on the
ballast below, but did not lose
consciousness.
12 Heritage Railway
Alco switcher No. 804 seen after its repaint in to Union Pacific livery by Norman Pannell
in 1995. BRIAN PEARCE
only diesel switchers (shunters)
exported from the US.
The five, Nos. 801-805, operated
in service at Port Talbot steelworks
until the early 1980s when the last
of the fleet were withdrawn in 1983.
First manufactured in 1940, the
five were the first postwar Bo-Bos
to run in Britain, and the first
diesels owned by any steelworks in
the UK. They were also the first
continental Berne gauge
locomotives to run in Britain.
They were produced at the same
time as prototype main line diesel
locomotives Nos. 10000, 10001
and 10100 and are the most
powerful non-turbocharged
Emergency services were called,
and two fire crews assisted
paramedics in reaching the lady
and placing her on a spinal
longboard, which was moved out
underneath the carriage.
On her way to William Harvey
Hospital in Ashford, the lady
suffered a mild heart attack.
However, she was in a stable
condition the following day, and
was expected to be discharged
after we closed for press.
Graham said that the lady’s
daughter has since written to the
railway thanking staff for their
efforts in rescuing her.
Because of the emergency, the
last train of the day was terminated
at Rolvenden and passengers taken
by bus back to Tenterden.
WorldMags.net
locomotives in Britain.
In 1986, No. 804 was sold to
Railworld for display, No. 802 was
scrapped and the other three were
stored. No. 805 was later scrapped,
while Nos. 801 and 803 entered
preservation in 1993.
No. 801 has had five owners since
1993, one of them being scrap
dealer EMR Kingsbury from where
it was rescued in 2008 by its current
owners. No. 803 has always had the
same owners, at various locations.
No. 804 was initially stored in
Wansford shed on the NVR and
then moved to Railworld in
Peterborough Nene Valley
station yard.
Sponsorship boost for
Shillingstone project
THE Shillingstone Railway
Project, which is restoring part
of the Somerset & Dorset Joint
Railway main line, has secured
major sponsorship investment
from Meyts Structural
Consulting on the 150th
anniversary of the opening
of the line.
The company was set up by
Mark Meyts in February 2010
to provide consulting services
in structural feasibility and
design for energy projects
around the world.
It now provides structural
consultancy on the
infrastructure of the North
Dorset Railway Trust’s running
line and sponsors the purchase
of track components.
The locomotive has been started
on a few occasions over the years,
but has never hauled a train. The
last start-up was for the NVR
diesel gala in October 2012.
It was offered for sale two
months ago, but so far there have
been no offers.
Although none of the three
surviving locomotives have ever
operated a passenger train, and all
have been on isolated sections of
track for the past 20 years, it is
hoped that No. 801 will haul its
first train in preservation during
2014 on the Nene Valley, where it
will be on static display during the
line’s October 4-6 diesel gala, with
Railworld open for visitors to see
No. 804.
Visiting locomotives for the gala
will include No. 20001 from the
Class 20 Locomotive Society,
No. 33108 from the Class 33/1
Preservation Company Ltd,
No. 45133 from the Class 45/1
Preservation Group, No. 47401
from the 47401 Project, No. 50026
from Paul Spracklen, No. 56038
from MDW Rail Freight Limited
and a Class 56 from DCR.
➲ If there is anyone out there
who would like to save No. 804,
then contact either Railworld,
the Industrial Railway
Preservation Society at
www.irps-wl.org.uk or
pearce_brian_t@ntlworld.com
The support from Meyts
Structural Consulting has
allowed the trust to purchase a
road-railer for preparing
ground and relaying track.
New sleepers have already
been placed into position to
extend the current trackwork
into the cattle dock area and
prepare tramway type track
through the car park area.
The station cafe and shop
underwent a major
refurbishment last winter and,
with the opening of the Dorset
Trailway that passes through
Shillingstone and the good
weather, the cafe and shop
have been able to report major
increases in business during
the summer months.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net

The first steam on the Aln Valley Railway: steam was raised in Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro for the first time at Alnwick (Lionheart) on the morning of Tuesday, September 10.
The locomotive moved off under its own steam soon after midday. This steaming was not advertised in advance to the railway’s committee, members, the press or to the public,
but was done simply to check that there were no major faults on the locomotive requiring attention. It was the first time that a locomotive has moved under its own steam at
Alnwick since 1966. It is seen hauling the line’s replica NER brakevan in the headshunt en route from the shed area to the future Platform 2. AVR/PAT MURPHY

Pioneer demoted from main line to fairground attraction

By Cedric Johns
THE sight of one time main line
pioneer BR 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73096
– popularly known as the ‘Green
Five’ in its heyday – reduced to a
silent fairground attraction at the
August 27-31 Great Dorset Steam
Fair brought back memories of the
days when the engine gained an
enviable reputation for its record-
breaking exploits.
Many will remember No. 73096
an being an integral part of the
Mid-Hants’ ‘Green Train’ when the
4-6-0 created a piece of modern
railway history by heading the
train’s debut run from Alton to
Salisbury via Wokingham, Reading
West and Basingstoke, Sunday,
February 15, 1998.
Making a servicing stop at
Salisbury, the ‘Green Five’ grabbed
the headlines when after travelling
on to Westbury, it tackled the 24
miles of adverse gradients up the
Berks & Hants Line to Savernake.
Approaching the summit, EWS
traction inspector Dennis
Donovan pushed the 4-6-0’s
regulator into the roof to such
effect that it not only brought
about an immediate explosion of
exhaust from the front end but
accelerated the train and 420
passengers over the top at 69mph.
When reported in the railway
press it brought about a storm
of protests from old-hand
BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73096 at the Dorset steam fair. COLIN TYSON
Western men used to working
Kings and Castles on trains to
Paddington over the same route at
nothing more than 60-61mph
approaching Savernake.
One man, the late Gerry
Parkinson, a Westbury fireman
said that he had contacted many
retired footplate colleagues all of
whom shared his disbelief. He was
quoted saying: “Either the engine
was slipping badly or that speedo
needed recalibrating”.
On Saturday, March 20, 2000, the
4-6-0 and train created more
railway history becoming the first
train ever to work over the
national network from one
heritage line to another.
Carrying a ‘Quantock Flyer’
headboard, the ‘Five’ departed
Alton for Bishops Lydeard and the
West Somerset Railway, the ‘Green
Train’ running via Reading, the
Berks & Hants line, Westbury
and Taunton.
Needing to be turned, the 4-6-0
and support coach ran 55 miles
to Westbury for servicing and
turning on the Heywood
Road triangle.
When the ‘Green Train’ visited
Exeter in the previous October,
the 4-6-0 ran light back 40 odd
miles to Yeovil Junction for
turning and servicing in the
Yeovil Railway Centre’s yard. Later
that afternoon, the ‘Green Train’
caught up, returning to Yeovil
behind a Deltic.
Later that year, in December,
the 4-6-0 worked a test train
from Waterloo to Salisbury with
‘Green Train’ stock. Arriving at
Woking six minutes down,
No. 73096 ran into Salisbury’s
platform 4 ahead of time.
This trip was the precursor to the
establishment of the ‘Cathedrals
Express’ operation.
Of all the trips with No. 73096
which I readily recall was the
morning when the ‘Green Train’
departed Alton for Gloucester.
Routed through Reading,
Swindon Kemble (water) and the
Golden Valley, the train was
greeted by an enthusiastic large
crowd on its arrival.
It was the return journey which
I remember the most. Tackling
the stiff climb up through
Sapperton in fine style, we were
held outside Swindon for an
HST to pass. Following
cautiously – because of
engineering work – as far as
Highworth Junction, the
4-6-0 was given its head,
accelerating vigorously until it was
‘hitting them up’ and pushing the
line speed limit hard as we roared
down the Vale of the White Horse
towards Didcot. It was exhilarating
stuff. I know – I was standing at
the window in the support coach.
So there it is – a few memories of
a splendid engine now sadly
reduced to a fairground side
show attraction. I wonder how
many of those walking past the
low loader at the Dorset Steam
Fair remember those days when
No. 73096 was a main line engine
to be reckoned with…

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 13
News
WorldMags.net
LNER B12 4-6-0 No. 8572 heads towards Weybourne with a goods train. BRIAN SHARPE
Shortage of star guests fails
to spoil North Norfolk gala
By Brian Sharpe
It may be out on a limb
geographically but that does not
deter the North Norfolk Railway
from obtaining some illustrious
visitors for its gala weekends. the
march event was expected to see
two Britannias lining up for the
first time on a heritage line but
No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell was
unavailable and the class leader
No. 70000 played little part in
proceedings after a rough shunt in
Weybourne station.
So the railway tried again for its
September gala and invited not
only both Britannias again but
threw in blue-liveried a1 Pacific
No. 60163 Tornado for good
measure as well. Before Britannia
accepted the invitation though, it
became clear that repairs arising
from the accident in march would
GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744 heads the M&GN Society’s Gresley quad-art coaches. BRIAN SHARPE
14 Heritage Railway
not be completed in time as a large
number of defective firebox stays
were having to be replaced.
However, the National Railway
museum’s SR King arthur 4-6-0
No. 777 Sir Lamiel had arrived on
the line in early summer and would
be made available by its custodian,
the 5305 Locomotive association,
which also operates Oliver
Cromwell. the ‘arthur’ had failed
almost immediately with boiler
problems but these should have
been completed in time for the gala.
a few days before the event
though, the 4-6-0 failed its boiler
test after completion of repairs and
worse still came the news that
Tornado was trapped on the mid-
Hants Railway by overrunning
Network Rail engineering work east
of alton. It was too late to secure
much in the way of substitute
motive power but the Gresley
WorldMags.net
Society’s GNR N2 0-6-2t No. 1744
was made available at short notice
for a return visit and always makes
a fine sight matched with the
Gresley quad-art coaches.
So with the two available visitors,
No. 70013 and 1744, plus the
workable resident fleet of LNER
B12 4-6-0 No. 8572, GWR 0-6-2t
No. 5619, recently overhauled BR
Standard 4mt 2-6-0 No. 76084 and
recently returned LmS ‘Black Five’
4-6-0 No. 45337, the railway was
able to offer the intensive timetable
originally envisaged. Despite the
lack of two of the star Pacifics, it put
on an excellent show.
the GWR tank failed with
collapsed firebars on the Saturday
afternoon and had to be rescued by
the B12, its place being taken by
Class 37 diesel D6732 on the
Sunday, but otherwise there were
no operational problems.
GWR 0-6-2T No. 5619 climbs towards Kelling
Heath on August 31. BRIAN SHARPE
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net

Hauling regular services on the line for the first time

since making its historic trip over the reinstated
Network Rail crossing in 2011 is BR Standard Britannia
Pacific No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. ROBERT FALCONER

Returned to service in the summer after a lengthy restoration, BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No. 76084 departs from
Sheringham. BRIAN SHARPE

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 15
News
WorldMags.net
Criccieth Castle
reborn for West
Somerset gala
A GWR Castle scrapped 48 years
ago is to be reborn for the West
Somerset Railway’s big October 3-6
Cambrian-themed gala.
Visiting 4-6-0 No. 5029 Nunney
Castle will temporarily assume the
identity of long-vanished sister
No. 5026 Criccieth Castle.
Outshopped from Swindon on
April 30, 1934, and named after the
13th century castle seen from the
Cambrian Coast Line, No. 5026 was
withdrawn from 84B Oxley shed on
November 30, 1964 (11 months
after No. 5029), and scrapped by
Cashmore Ltd at nearby Great
Bridge on February 28, 1965.
The necessary nameplates
plus the cabside and smokebox
numberplates for the identity
change have already been
manufactured.
A total of eight locomotives –
all GWR – will star in the gala,
which will see station names
changed to those on the former
Cambrian Railways.
The roster is No. 5029, No. 7812
Erlestoke Manor, No. 7822 Foxcote
Manor, No. 7827 Lydham Manor,
No. 7828 Odney Manor/Norton
Manor, No. 6960 Raveningham Hall,
large prairie No. 4160 and WSR
small boiler mogul No. 9351
Two ‘Terriers’ back together
for Wight steam gala
THE Isle of Wight Steam
Railway’s October 5-6 steam
gala will see the return to steam
of former island LBSCR ‘Terrier’
0-6-0T No. 11 Newport.
It will run alongside sister
No. 8 Freshwater for the first
time in many years.
The weekend will also see the
return to traffic of LBSCR bogie
coach No. 2403 and LBSCR ‘car
truck’ No. 60579.
It will feature other
available locomotives too,
including LSWR O2 0-4-4T
No. 24 Calbourne.
Newport and Calbourne,
resplendent in early BR lined
black livery, will head a train of
former London Brighton &
South Coast Railway (LBSCR)
bogie coaches, recreating a
typical Island railway scene
from half a century ago.
16 Heritage Railway
(converted from GWR 5101 class
large Prairie No. 5193 and
appearing at its last major steam
event before withdrawal for
overhaul next year).
In addition, the Talyllyn Railway’s
ex-Corris Railway Hughes 0-4-2ST
No. 3 Sir Haydn – once on the GWR
books as Corris Railway
No. 3 – will be present. It may be
displayed to be on a Weltrol wagon
in the heritage freight train on the
Thursday and Friday, then on the
Saturday displayed at Williton
(‘Oswestry’) representing a GWR
narrow gauge locomotive sent
from ‘Machynlleth’ (Washford)
for repairs.
Sunday will see it either remain at
‘Oswestry’ or possibly moved to
Minehead (‘Pwllheli’).
The full list of Cambrian locations
for the gala is: Shrewsbury (Bishop’s
Lydeard), Talerddig (Crowcombe
Heathfield), Aberangell
(Stogumber), Oswestry (Williton),
Penhelig (Doniford Halt),
Aberdovey (Watchet), Machynlleth
(Washford), Barmouth (Blue
Anchor), Criccieth (Dunster) and
Pwllheli (Minehead).
Other attractions to look out for
are ladies wearing traditional Welsh
costumes serving Welsh cakes at
There will be guided
workshop tours, a chance to
see inside the new Changing
Trains building, and a unique
opportunity to see the frames
of the former Ryde Pier
tram before its restoration
project begins.
It was intended that the gala
would also feature the return to
steam of Ivatt MT 2-6-2T
No. 41298, last steamed under
BR in 1967 and representative
of a class planned for the
island in the 1960s. However,
its restoration will not be
completed in time, but it will
be on static display with access
to the footplate.
Subject to timetabling,
there will also be a special
working of the unique Ventnor
West push-pull set
with Freshwater.
WorldMags.net
WR 4-6-0 No. 7827 Lydham Manor is seen approaching Woodville with the 1.30pm
parcels train from Buckfastleigh to Totnes (Littlehempston) on September 14 during the
South Devon Railway’s heritage transport gala. Lydham Manor had arrived by road
earlier in the week from the Dartmouth Steam Railway. COLIN WALLACE
Talerddig (Crowcombe).
The Somerset and Dorset Railway
Trust’s Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1788
Kilmersdon and 1886-built former
S&D first class coach No. 4 – both
in S&D blue livery – will be at
‘Machynlleth’.
On the Saturday, October 5, the
overhaul of Kilmersdon and
restoration of the coach, which
spent many years as a pavilion at
Templecombe Cricket club, will
be marked by special celebrations
Somerset & Dorset to go
on tour of former route
THE Washford-based Somerset
& Dorset Railway Trust is
planning to set up a mobile
museum to tour locations
alongside the route of the line
which closed in 1966.
The travelling exhibition will
visit sites throughout the
Somerset and Dorset area
during 2016 to mark the 50th
anniversary of its closure.
Interactive displays in the
mobile museum will explore the
impact of the railway on local
communities from its
development, through its
working life, and also highlight
issues on the future use of the
trackbed for public access,
sustainable transport, railway
restoration and local heritage.
Artefacts for the displays will
be selected from the extensive
collection in the trust’s
at the trust’s Washford Museum.
Kilmersdon will be rededicated
between 11am and 12pm and
between 1.30pm and 2pm it will
be lined up with Somerset and
Dorset 7F 2-8-0 No. 88 for
photographers. After 2.30pm,
the pair will be involved in
shunting demonstrations, and
there will be narrow gauge live
steam rides. The trust’s Somerset
peat works locomotive will be
demonstrated.
permanent museum at Washford
on the West Somerset Railway.
They will include lineside
signs and notices, station
nameboards, lamps, tickets,
uniforms, tools and
signalling equipment.
To stage the touring
exhibition, the trust is seeking
support for the project from
local councils, heritage groups
and societies, both in cash and
kind, and will be submitting
applications for grant aid.
The 50th anniversary of the
formation of the Somerset &
Dorset Railway Circle, which
developed into the present S&D
Railway Trust, will also be
celebrated in 2006. The society
is planning a variety of events to
mark a half century since the
end of one era and the
beginning of another.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
EXCLUSIVE
PRINT

Sir Nigel Gresley Dwight D. Eisenhower Union of South Africa Bittern Mallard Dominion of Canada

THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s two original Beyer The first of Oswestry artist Anna Roberts’ two murals depicting
Sir Nigel Gresley Dwight D. Eisenhower Union of South Africa Bittern Mallard Dominion of Canada

The Great Gathering

The Great Gathering
July 3-17, 2013

Peacock 0-6-0Ts together: on the left is No. 823 Countess, while the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s lost town section and July 3-17, 2013

No. 822 The Earl has arrived with a recreation of the last train
run over the line in BR days in 1956. WLLR
Welshpool town section recreated in 2D
THE Welshpool & Llanfair Light
Railway’s legendary but long-lost
town section is being recreated by a
series of murals along the site.
Shropshire artist Anna Roberts
has produced a pair of designs
depicting the line which passed
through Welshpool town centre
until the early years of preservation.
The revivalists had to truncate the
line at Raven Square because the
town council wanted the trackbed
to make road improvements and for
redevelopment in the Seven Stars
area. However, the planned
developments never took place,
and in more recent times, local
councillors have mooted the return
of the railway to attract visitors into
the town. Such a project would be
beyond the reach of the heritage
line’s budget, as it would involve a
major crossing of the A458 at
Raven Square.
Welshpool resident and local
historian Alan Crowe has raised
funds himself for the mural project.
He recruited Anna for the project
after seeing a mural of the
Cambrian Railways which she had
which will form part of a new heritage trail along the route.
ALAN CROWE
created in Oswestry two years ago.
She has already completed work
on the first mural on the end wall of
Derek’s Plaice in Church Street.
Paint for the murals is being
supplied by Welshpool firm Boys
and Boden.
The murals are part of the overall
scheme by Alan Crowe to create
a trail along the town section.
It will include also a number of
information panels and other
features to advise and educate both
locals and enthusiasts on how the
2ft 6in gauge line passed through
several housing estates, along
narrow passages, and crossing
main roads as it made its way
through the town.
Alan is now looking for
photographs of the town section.
Anyone with any pictures can
contact him on 07782 166342.
Meanwhile, the railway’s golden
anniversary celebrations climaxed
in style on August 31-September 1
with a highly successful steam gala,
the focal point being the recreation
of the day the line closed in 1956.
Concluding a season of
THE
GREAT
celebrations marking 50 years since
the line was reopened as a heritage GATHERING
railway in 1963, the last train run
under British Railways ownership, July 3, 2013
on November 3 1956, was restaged,
That train was a special for To mark the
respected railway enthusiasts’ group
the Stephenson Locomotive Society, anniversary of
with enthusiasts sitting on benches Mallard’s record
borrowed from Welshpool’s main breaking steam run
line station and placed in the
Llanfair line’s goods wagons. The back in 1938, The
line had not offered a passenger National Railway
service since the 1920s and its
passenger carriages had been Museum achieved
withdrawn in 1931 and scrapped. the unachievable –
On Saturday afternoon the train reuniting all six
was re-run, with the same
locomotive, 1902-built 0-6-0T remaining A4 locos in
No. 822 The Earl wearing replicas of York in July this year.
the headboards it sported on that
day in 1956, the same wagons with To help preserve this
suitably-dressed volunteers and staff moment of history,
riding in them. we are offering you
Just after the ‘Last Train’ arrived at
a crowded Llanfair station, No. 823 the opportunity to
Countess, pulled in with all three buy this unique print.
replica carriagess demonstrating
just how far the WLLR has come in
the last half century. Printed on high
quality, glossy paper,

GCR bridge project: first work imminent

THE first work on relinking the two
Great Central heritage railways by
building a new bridge over the
Midland Main Line at
Loughborough is set to start.
As the Great Central Railway’s
Bridge to the Future appeal closes in
on a quarter of its £1 million target,
in less four months since it was
launched, a detailed study of the
bridge carrying the formation over
the Grand Union Canal in the town
is set to start.
This original bridge, which lies
immediately north of the
Loughborough locomotive shed,
needs repair work before it can
carry trains again.
The survey is expected to take
place before Christmas. By mid
September the total raised had
reached £225,000, with donations
still arriving on a daily basis.
The plan is for Network Rail to
build the bridge in 2015, as the
central link in the reunification
project which has been estimated to
cost up to £7 million more. The
figure will include the building of
new approach embankments and
the canal bridge refurbishment.
GCR managing director Bill Ford
said: “It’s clear people are inspired
by Network Rail’s offer to build the
bridge across the Midland line.
“As the Network Rail design teams
get into their detailed work, we’ll
have more news soon about how
the fundraising momentum will
translate into reality on the ground.
“To have raised this much is
fantastic and with continued
support I hope we’ll soon be able
to post a total of a quarter of a
million pounds.
The GCR has also launched a new
this A3 print
(420x297mm)
way to support the appeal. The line’s
makes the perfect
inaugural Swithland gala took place addition to any
in April. railway enthusiast’s
On the Saturday, scenes of
passing trains were recorded by a collection.
multi camera outside broadcast
team. An hour long highlights
ONLY
package has been put together
and released on DVD.
£9.99
The DVD runs for more than 90
minutes and costs £25.
It can be ordered by emailing ORDER TODAY:
tom.ingall@gcrailway.co.uk
All proceeds go to the Bridge ● Call:
to the Future appeal.
➲ To support the bridge appeal, 01507 529529 or
visit www.gcrailway.co.uk to
download a donation form and
● visit:
end it with a cheque made payable www.
to the David Clarke Railway Trust classicmagazines
to ‘Bridge appeal’, Lovatt House, 3 .co.uk
Wharncliffe Road, Loughborough,
Leics, LE11 1RW

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 17
News
WorldMags.net
Bodmin’s ‘executive jet’
returned to original splendour
By Robin Jones
THE Bodmin & Wenford Railway is
set to launch the jewel in its carriage
fleet into traffic after a painstaking
restoration lasting several years.
The vehicle is unique GWR First
Class Family Saloon No. 248, which
was built at Swindon in 1881, and
although not part of the Royal
Train, it was used privately by
Queen Victoria’s eldest son, the
Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.
Now owned by Bodmin &
Wenford Railway Trust chairman
Alan Moore, the clerestory coach
was preserved in 1964 and was
originally based at the Dowty
Railway Preservation Society’s base
at Ashchurch.
It moved to Toddington of the
Gloucestershire Warwickshire
Railway in 1983, and was acquired
by Bill Parker who moved it firstly
to his original restoration base at
Swindon Works and then to his
flour mill workshops at Bream in
the Forest of Dean in 1999. In 1990,
while it was exhibited at Swindon
during the National Railway
Museum on tour event, Bill showed
the young princes William and
Harry inside it.
It was relocated to Bodmin six
years ago pending restoration.
The plush wooden-panelled
interior had been dismantled
following a mishap at Ashchurch.
Recent major cleaning uncovered a
quality wooden floor in
chequerboard pattern.
The coach, built to diagram G2
and later numbered 9044 and
80973, has been restored internally
and externally by the Bodmin &
Wenford’s small team of skilled
craftsmen has been to a very
high standard.
Diesel gala jinxed
FOR the second year in a row the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s
diesel gala was affected by closure
of the Esk Valley line.
Last year it was due to a gas leak,
and this year it was down to a
bridge strike at Egton, that allowed
running between Grosmont and
Whitby, but not between Grosmont
and Battersby on the Saturday of
the September 13-15 event,
although services were restored to
normal on the Sunday.
Visitors to the line were however
rewarded by some rousing
performances by D821 Greyhound,
a former NYMR resident.
18 Heritage Railway
Fit again for a king: GWR First Class Family Saloon No. 248 in the Bodmin workshops.
BILL PARKER
Believed to be the oldest surviving
GWR bogie carriage, it was also
used by Victorian opera singer
Adelina Patti who hired it to go to
her castle in Wales.
The saloon will be
recommissioned the day before the
railway’s October 12-13 Victorian
gala, at 12.45pm. Invited guests will
board the Special Saloon for a
1.40pm departure to Bodmin
Parkway, returning to Bodmin
General at 2.40pm. Invited guests
will include the Lord Lieutenant
of Cornwall, local politicians, and
the craftsmen who have worked
on the restoration.
The interior panelling of No. 248 has
been meticulously returned to its original
splendour. BILL PARKER
WorldMags.net
Railway spokesman Jimmy James
said: “It was the executive jet of
its day. It will form a very useful
addition to our collection of
vintage rolling stock and
steam locomotives.”
The star guest at the gala will be
Metropolitan Railway E class 0-4-4T
No. 1, the star of this year’s highly-
acclaimed Met 150 celebrations on
London Underground. Its visit
replays the loan in February 2012
of LSWR Beattie well tank
No. 30587 for test running in the
Underground tunnels prior to the
return of public steam-hauled trips
in January this year.
Good as new: North Staffordshire Railway four-wheeled brake No. 127 back on the
Foxfield Railway. DAVE SCRAGG
Elsewhere, the Foxfield Railway-
based North Staffordshire Rolling
Stock Restoration Trust, otherwise
known as the Knotty Trust, has
achieved a significant mile stone
towards its aim of creating a rake of
heritage passenger stock.
North Staffordshire Railway four-
wheeled brake No. 127, which dates
from 1889, is now back on the
railway following its restoration by
Stanegate Restorations & Replicas
Ltd at Haltwhistle to its original
condition. Following extensive
research, the trust has been able to
recreate the Victorian brown livery,
last seen 120 years ago.
Withdrawn in 1906, the body was
used as a waiting room on the Leek
& Manifold Valley Railway before
serving as a store at Ecton until it
was preserved in the mid 1970s.
Five years ago the Knotty Trust
was formed, and No. 127 and a
second NSR coach, No. 61, which
was built in 1876, were donated to it
by the Foxfield Railway.
Restoration of the coach body has
been funded by a £30,000 grant
from the Staffordshire
Environmental Fund and a further
£20,000 from its own fundraising
efforts. All brass fittings have been
made by the trust, which has also
carried out the frame conversion.
It is now mounted on a modified
wagon underframe, adapted to give
the appearance of a wooden one.
No. 127’s place at Stanegate has been
taken by four-wheeled four-
compartment third No. 61, the
restoration of which has been made
possible by the recent award of a
PRISM grant for £18,000. Both
coaches will enter service at Foxfield
early in the new season next
year – to be hauled by the railway’s
collection of Victorian locomotives.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Donation enables major
NYMR trackwork programme
THE North Yorkshire Moors
Railway’s permanent way
department has a very busy
programme planned for this winter
that is complicated by the need to
keep the railway open for key
periods of the season such as
Christmas. The ambitious
programme has been made
possible by a large donation from
a NYMR supporter.
The first job, planned to start on
Monday, November 4, will be the
work required at the north end of
Grosmont to install the signalling
required for the Whitby project.
This involves retimbering two
sets of points, some resleepering
and rerailing, installing a number
of insulated block joints and
the extension of one of the
carriage sidings.
To enable this work to be done
as quickly as possible the plan is
to undertake some of the work
during October while midweek
trains are still running and will
mainly consist of resleepering and
the fitting of insulated block joints
where this doesn’t affect the
existing track circuits.
The work will be undertaken
seven days a week until
completion. During this period it is
also planned to commission the
new tamper with operator training
taking place out on the running line
so that tamping can take place
throughout the winter period,
whenever weather and staff
availability permits.
The first three weeks in
December sees the railway open
completely at weekends, while
During the week the plan is to rerail
11 lengths of track at milepost 14¾
and also some rerailing at Summit,
if time permits.
Also during this time, delivery
and laying out of all the materials
required for main post-Christmas
project, the relaying of Levisham
straight, will be carried out. This
will also continue from December
23-26 if not completed before as
it is absolutely vital that all
materials are on site for this
M&GN Society restores horse dray
THE restoration on an original
Midland & Great Northern Joint
Railway horse dray, originally from
Norwich City station and thought
to be least 80 years old, has begun.
The dray was donated to the
M&GN Joint Railway Society by the
Norfolk Museums Service after an
evaluation of its collection.
For many years it has been kept
out in the open at the Gressenhall
Farm and Workhouse museum near
Dereham, where the condition of
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
job before the Christmas/New Year
running starts.
December 27 to January 5 will see
the railway open throughout for
normal running.
Monday, January 6 will see the
start of the Levisham straight relay,
over a mile of track that has been
the subject of a 20mph speed
restriction for some years and is
therefore in urgent need of
replacement. In all, 95 lengths or
one mile 140yds are targeted to be
relaid, with completion is planned
for 8am on Friday, February 14,
ready for February half term
services to run.
This means that the workforce
has just 39 days to complete the 95
length relay, including initial
ballasting and tamping. The target
is to relay at least five lengths a day
over a 19-day period, allowing 20
days to remove the existing track,
level the formation, drop ballast,
and do an initial tamp. Every other
joint is to be welded up. In practice,
it is expected that a rate of up to
eight lengths a day can be achieved,
allowing some margin for the
inevitable bad weather at this time
of year.
Once the Levisham straight work
is complete, attention will then
switch to other jobs at locations
north and south of Goathland, so
the permanent way team, many of
who are retirees, will not be resting
on their laurels.
➲ Work on a new flood
prevention barrier at Hunting
Gate near New Bridge has again
been delayed. Originally
scheduled for work to start this
summer, the scheme was delayed
because of NYMR objections to
heavy plant crossing the line and
the potential disruption to train
services in the peak season.
It has now been delayed again
while a source of the correct type
of clay is sourced, the original
planned source having proved to
be unsuitable. It is still hoped that
work will be completed in the
winter if a suitable clay can be
found.
the woodwork has deteriorated.
Now in the society’s collection, the
dray has been taken to a workshop
near Aylsham where restoration is
already underway.
The restoration is being undertaken
by a traditional wheelwright, using
the same time honoured methods
that would have been used to repair
the dray throughout its working life.
When restored, the dray will be on
display at Holt as part of the ever-
expanding goods yard complex.
WorldMags.net
Heritage Railway 19
News
WorldMags.net
Pannier again reigns supreme on Met
By Robin Jones

FOR around 15 years, GWR

pannier tanks were given a second
lease of life on London
Underground, hauling freight,
works and permanent way trains.
A total of 13 were bought
second-hand from Western Region
from 1956 onwards. The last
London Underground steam
ran on June 6, 1971, behind
No. L94 (7752). It along with
five other LU panniers survived
into preservation.
The widely acclaimed Steam Back
on the Met series of steam public
passenger trains held this year to
celebrate the 150th anniversary of
the Metropolitan Railway and
London Underground did not
feature a 57XX, but one of the two
surviving examples of its successor
class, the Hawksworth 94XX.
Dennis Howells’ No. 9466 starred No. 1 gleaming in the morning sunshine at Harrow-on-the-Hill. ANDY BARR
alongside Metropolitan Railway
E class 0-4-4-T No. 1 and Bill Wembley Park and Amersham, up by LT-liveried Class 20s demanding regime that has been
Parker’s GWR prairie No. 5521 (in and all three reprised their role for No. 20189 and 20127 and imposed on the running of Met
London Transport red livery as a second weekend of runs on vintage Met Bo-Bo electric trips after an absence of many
No. LU150) in the Spring Bank September 7-8. No. 12 Sarah Siddons. years that no chances were taken
Hoiliday weekend series of runs All went as planned on the However, on the Sunday, only the when faults were detected with the
between Harrowon-the-Hill/ Saturday, with the trio ably backed 94XX appeared. Such is the other two locomotives.

GWR small prairie L150 No. 5521 hauls the 4TC set with a Class 20 on either end at speed through Moor Park on September 7. JOHN TITLOW

WorldMags.net
20 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Right on time, WR 0-6-0PT No. 9466 brings the first train of the day, from Wembley Park
via Harrow-on-the-Hill, into Amersham at 10.59 on Sunday, September 8. ROBIN JONES
No. 1 was found to have a tiny
steam leak from its tube plate, and
so failed its fitness-to-run
examination at Ruislip Depot on
the morning. However, a team
from the Flour Mill workshop at
Bream, who had overhauled the
locomotive, arrived and had the
problem fixed inside five minutes.
Sadly, it was too late as by then
the roster had been readjusted.
Woe befell the Flour Mill’s red
prairie when it too failed, in this
instance with boiler tube leaks,
following its summer in service on
the Bluebell Railway and its
extension to East Grinstead.
No. 9466 performed in style
throughout the rest of
proceedings, emphasising its
power with the final train of
the day, when it completed a
storming run up the grade from
Harrow without any diesel
assistance whatsoever.
The weekend held what were by
no means the final steam runs on
the Underground this year.
On December 8, there will be a
series of Mince Pie Specials
running over the 14 miles between
Harrow and Uxbridge. There are
likely to be at least four trips on
the day, each round trip taking
40 minutes.
Building on the phenomenal
success of the open weekend at
London Transport Museum’s
Acton depot earlier in the year,
there will be a subsequent three-
day event on November 1-3.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Metropolitan Railway E class No. 1 and its train at Amersham on September 8. ANDY BARR
The event will feature creative
workshops and activities for
families and for adults, miniature
tram rides, miniature railway rides
(Saturday and Sunday), talks and
film screenings, heritage bus rides,
artist Ross Ashmore’s live painting
of No.1 and Jubilee carriage
No. 353, curator-led tours of the
small object collection, costumed
interpreters including a Victorian
steam train traveller, an 1880
tunnel miner and a 1930s The end of a hard day’s work: the smokebox of No. 9466 liberally filled with clinker.
suburban housewife and signalling ANDY BARR
frame demonstrations.
There will also be more behind-
the-scenes visits at the depot on
October 28-30, with creative
workshops, family tours and the
chance to take the driver’s seat of a
steam train, a tube train and a
more recent A-stock Metropolitan
Line train.
On Sunday, September 29, the
museum’s 1930 art deco will be
running on the Piccadilly Line.
Passengers will be able to travel
from Acton Town to Heathrow,
going round the Heathrow loop by
visiting Terminals 4, 1, 2, 3 and 5,
reversing in the sidings and
returning back to Acton Town.
By popular demand, London
Transport Museum’s exhibition
Poster Art 150 – London
Underground’s Greatest Designs,
sponsored by Siemens, has
been extended until January 5.
The exhibition showcases 150 of
the greatest Underground posters Hero of the hour: on September 8, a pannier tank again comprised the only steam on
ever produced. the Underground. ANDY BARR
WorldMags.net
Heritage Railway 21
News
WorldMags.net
A ‘U Boat’ back at Swanage!
By Robin Jones
THE first appearance of a
Maunsell U class 2-6-0 for half a
century proved to be the highlight
of the Swanage Railway’s hugely-
successful September 6-8 steam
gala and vintage transport rally.
No. 31806, visiting from the
Mid-Hants Railway for 10 days,
proved particularly popular with
both crews and visitors, and
looked ‘just right’ on the line, said
general manager Richard Jones.
All five members of the home
steam fleet (Nos. 30053, 34028,
34070, 80104, 6695), were in
action on a three train timetable
which worked very well with
excellent timekeeping, he added.
All of the locomotive completed
their diagrams.
Around 4200 passengers
travelled over the three days and
takings were up on the same event
last year. Attendance at the gala
was up 12%, while overall
passenger numbers in August were
15% higher than in the same
period in 2012.
A veteran of the Swanage branch,
No. 31806 hauled summer holiday
specials and day tripper excursion
22 Heritage Railway
Recently-reliveried M7 0-4-4-T No. 30053 pilots Bulleid West Country light Pacific No. 34028 Eddystone at Corfe Castle. ANDREW PM WRIGHT
train from Salisbury, Basingstoke
and Bournemouth to Swanage
during the Forties and Fifties.
The vintage transport rally at
Harmans Cross attracted around
500 exhibits.
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One minor mishap was a small
fire in the static buffet car at
Swanage station at around 8.45am
on the Sunday. Fire crews were
called and quickly brought the
blaze under control restricting the
mainly smoke damage to part of
the food preparation area.
The small fire was thought to
have been started by a fault in a
toaster. It had no impact on the
gala and the majority of passengers
on the Sunday were completely
unaware anything untoward
had happened.
The kitchen area of the coach
was subsequently professionally
cleaned and has since reopened
for business.
Carrying five tons of coal and
4000 gallons of water, the 50 two-
cylinder U class locomotives were
nicknamed ‘U-boats’ after the
First World War because of their
go-anywhere route availability
across the Southern Railway.
After being outshopped from
Brighton Works in June 1928,
No. 31806 entered service on both
passenger and freight trains.
Withdrawn from traffic in January,
1964, and stored at Fratton depot,
No. 31806 was sent to Dai
Woodham’s scrapyard that June.
However, it survived long enough
to be bought by Mid-Hants
volunteers in October, 1976.
During its visit to Swanage,
No. 31806 was also used on
footplate experience courses.
Left: Yesterday and today: U class 2-6-0
No. 31806 seen leaving Corfe Castle
station in September 1955 and again in
September 2013. Nothing seems to have
changed – except that in the Seventies,
the track was ripped up and the
formation subsequently nearly came
to be used as a bypass for the village
before the rails were relaid at the start
of the Nineties.
JOHN H ASTON/ANDREW PM WRIGHT
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 WorldMags.net

Above: No. 31806 departs from Corfe Castle during a Matt Allen / Warwick
Falconer photo charter. PETER ZABEK

Visiting U class 2-6-0 No. 31806 heads west to Norden station from Corfe Castle. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34070 Manston, one of the star guests at the Great Central Railway’s
Maunsell U No. 31806 about to depart Swanage station. ANDREW PM WRIGHT October 3-6 gala, passes Corfe Castle. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 23
News
WorldMags.net
Sadness of Bressingham widow as
Royal Scot restoration enters 10th year
EXCLUSIVE
By Geoff Courtney
THE widow of a former
Bressingham Steam Museum
chairman has spoken of her
“sadness and disappointment” at
the delay in carrying out one of
her late husband’s dying wishes.
Bevan Braithwaite was chairman
of the Norfolk museum’s trustees
from 2004 until April 2008, when
he lost a long fight against cancer
at the age of 68. Throughout his
time at the Bressingham helm he
had dreamed of a main line ride
on the footplate on No. 6100 Royal
Scot, one of his favourite
locomotives which was then
owned by Bressingham.
A major restoration of the LMS
4-6-0 had started in September
2004 and was expected to be
completed by 2007, a timetable
that would have enabled Bevan to
fulfil his dream, but delays to the
work at Southall, where it was
initially carried out, meant that
this did not materialise.
However, in his final days Bevan
believed the restoration was close
to completion, and it was then he
told his wife Vanda he wanted his
ashes to be placed in the firebox of
No. 6100 on its first excursion
after its return to the main line.
At one stage it was believed this
would be a Steam Dreams’ King’s
Cross-Norwich train on February
22, 2009, and plans were made
that, with Vanda on board, Bevan’s
ashes would be placed in the
firebox as the locomotive passed
Helston residents
oppose station plans
RESIDENTS objecting to the
award-winning Helston Railway’s
development proposals have called
for the new station being planned
for the line to be relocated to the
town’s industrial estate.
Many Sithney villagers voiced
their concerns over plans for a new
station platform and access road at
Prospidnick, during a public
meeting at Nancegollan Village Hall
chaired by Cornwall councillor John
Keeling and attended by around 100
people. Many of them said they
preferred the trackbed to be used
instead for a cyclepath.
Adrian Curtis, whose garden
backs on to the revived GWR
branch, said residents feared the
new facilities would lead to more
traffic and disrupt their privacy.
24 Heritage Railway
Bevan remembered: Bevan Braithwaite’s widow Vanda at Bressingham Steam Museum
on September 3, 2010, at the official naming of 0-4-0 Bevan. The 2ft gauge engine,
named in honour of the museum’s former chairman, was designed and part-built by
Bevan for use on Bressingham’s 1½ mile nursery line. Its build was completed at the
museum by a team led by chief engineer Philip Gray. GEOFF COURTNEY
close to his final home at Great
Shelford near Cambridge.
This run was called off as the
restoration hadn’t been completed,
and two months later, in April
2009, the engine was sold by
Bressingham to the Royal Scot
Locomotive & General Trust, whose
chairman is steam enthusiast
Jeremy Hosking.
The 4-6-0 is now at the LNWR
workshops at Crewe, but with no
indication of its return to the main
Call for historic subway car to stay
A 115-YEAR-OLD Glasgow
Subway trailer coach threatened
by modernisation of the system’s
Buchanan Street station, could
be saved if supporters for its
retention push for it to stay in
place, writes Hugh Dougherty.
Subway operator Strathclyde
Partnership for Transport plans
to remove the coach, No. 41T, an
1898 built cable train trailer.
It was restored to its original
condition and cut in half
lengthways, and placed on
display in the station’s booking
hall in 1979 at the reopening of
the refurbished 4ft gauge railway
as a link with the line’s heritage
as the world’s third oldest
underground, city railway.
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line or news on the locomotive’s
progress, linesiders are dubbing it
the ‘forgotten restoration’.
Vanda told Heritage Railway: “It
was five years in April that Bevan
passed away, and I am sad and
disappointed we have so far been
unable to carry out his wish. It was
so close to completion when he
died, and I had a vision that we
would be on the train soon after.”
She revealed that Bevan had
been looking forward to the
Now SPTA says that work will
start on refurbishing Buchanan
Street station in a new, corporate
style, in 2014 and that the
current plans would mean
removal of the historic coach,
built in Motherwell by Hurst
Nelson & Co, in response to
expanding traffic on the subway.
The all-system, cosmetic
makeover is being undertaken to
coincide with Glasgow’s hosting
of the Commonwealth Games in
August 2014.
However, campaigners have
already succeeded in forcing
SPTA to change its mind about
rigidly applying its new look
station style, without regard
for heritage, when a combination
restoration being completed,
adding: “It was that which kept
him in focus and fired up during
his illness, but in the last couple of
days, when he realised it was not
going to completed in time, he
said: ‘Up the chimney I go.’ How
close it was to his dream of a
footplate ride being fulfilled.”
She said that she was now out of
the circle that would keep her
informed of the progress of the
restoration. “I wrote to Jeremy
Hosking, and he replied that
Bevan’s wish would be
remembered, but I always thought
it would have happened by now.”
When asked for an update on
the restoration of Royal Scot in the
light of Vanda’s comments,
Richard Corser, Jeremy Hosking’s
locomotive general manager,
declined to comment.
Built in 1927 and withdrawn by
BR in 1962, No. 6100 last ran in
the early 1980s giving footplate
rides at Bressingham. When the
current restoration was started in
2004 it was estimated the project
would cost £306,000 but, although
costs have not been confirmed, it
is believed this figure has risen to
in excess of £1 million, of which
£429,000 has been met by the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
Towards the end of 2008, when
she believed the restoration would
be completed in time for Royal
Scot to haul the Steam Dreams’
train the following February 22,
Vanda said: “It will be a very
emotional day, but Bevan was
always so positive and would not
want me to feel sad, so the event
will be happy and a celebration.”
of resident power and local
and national political pressure,
forced the transport authority
to reverse a decision to
remove Rennie Mackintosh-
themed arches outside
Cessnock station.
SPTA bowed to the pressure at
the end of August and agreed to
reinstate one of the arches which
it had already removed while
retaining the other.
Now jubilant Cessnock
campaigners have flagged up the
removal of the trailer car at
Buchanan Street as another
threat to the railway’s heritage,
and are calling for its
preservation by encouraging
bodies and individuals
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 WorldMags.net
The proposed new visitor centre at North Queensferry. NETWORK RAIL
Forth Bridge to become visitor centre
THE landmark Forth Bridge will
become publicly accessible for the
first time by 2015 under plans
revealed by Network Rail.
A feasibility study has identified
two concepts to provide access to
the bridge – a visitor centre and
viewing platform linked by a lift in
North Queensferry, and a smaller
base to coordinate guided walks to
the top of the south tower in
South Queensferry.
The North Queensferry proposals
would see a discreet building
created under the northern Fife
Tower offering education and
exhibition facilities alongside
catering and shopping. The centre
would be connected by a step-free
ramp to two lifts on the eastern side
of the bridge. The lifts would offer
access to a viewing platform at the
top of the bridge, which is 330ft
above sea level.
On the south side, a pod-style
building is proposed to coordinate
guided walks on the structure for
groups of up to 15 people. The
building would be developed on
supporting its retention to make
their views known to SPTA.
SPTA says that it bowed to
local pressure because it
recognised the heritage worth of
the Cessnock station arches and
local attachment to their
heritage significance. But the
authority warned that it intends
to carry on with its plans to
upgrade all stations in a
corporate style.
An SPTA spokeswoman said:
“This does not mean we will
forget our heritage. Many
elements of the 1970s design –
brought in during the last
modernisation of the system –
will be preserved and we are
endeavouring to capture as
much of that as possible during
the upgrade.” She said that pieces
of significance were being kept
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Network Rail-owned land
underneath the southern approach
span, just a short walk from
Dalmeny station. The walk would
see access permitted along the south
approach span on a pre-existing
walkway underneath the track,
followed by a climb to the top of the
southern Queensferry Tower using
a walkway within the top cantilever.
The two concepts would cost an
estimated £12-15 million to deliver.
David Simpson, route managing
director of Network Rail Scotland,
said: “After 10 years spent restoring
the bridge to its full glory, and in
advance of the application for world
heritage listing, these plans will offer
the public the chance to visit the
bridge and see it close up for the
first time.
“We are hugely excited by these
proposals and believe that they have
the potential to be developed into
an important new visitor attraction
for Scotland.
“Any profits from the two facilities
would be reinvested into the upkeep
of the bridge.”
Trailer car No. 41T on display at Buchanan Street station. HUGH DOUGHERTY
safely in storage. “We are in
discussion with the Riverside
Museum and others about how
people might enjoy these in the
future,” she said.
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Transport Minister Keith Brown
said: “Network Rail is an active
partner in efforts to promote the
Forth bridges and the surrounding
area as a globally unique attraction
for visitors. This announcement is
the first stage of that aspiration.”
Building of the Forth Bridge
began in 1883. It was the first major
structure in Britain to be
constructed of steel, and is still
regarded as an engineering marvel.
It took seven years to complete,
cost the lives of 98 men and used 10
times as much metal as the Eiffel
Tower. Around 4600 workers were
employed in its construction at the
peak of the project.
The bridge was opened on March
4, 1890, by the Prince of Wales, later
King Edward VII, who drove home
the last rivet, which was gold
plated and inscribed.
Until 1917, when the Quebec
Bridge was completed, the Forth
Bridge had the longest single
cantilever bridge span in the world.
It still has the world’s second-longest
single span.
Heritage Railway readers with
views on the future of the trailer
coach at Buchanan Street should
make them known to SPTA at
enquiry@spt.co.uk
Heritage Railway 25
News
WorldMags.net
Steam returns to Purbeck’s other
heritage railway after 60 years
By Robin Jones
A NARROW gauge sister line to
the Swanage Railway has come of
age after visitors were entertained
by steam for a gala weekend.
Steam ran over a restored section
of the Pike Brothers Fayle &
Company’s 2ft gauge industrial
railway system for the first time
since 1953.
The locomotive in operation was
freelance 0-4-0T Emmet, which
was built by Jim Haylock at the
Moors Valley Railway and in 2004
ran the first steam-hauled
passenger services on the reborn
Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
It was that year that volunteers
began work on restoring part of
the Pike Brothers ball clay mine
next to the Swanage Railway’s
Norden park and ride station.
Although Emmet is a new
heritage era build, it was a
homecoming to the Fayle
Tramway by the back door – as Jim
built it on the chassis of a 1930
Orenstein & Koppel industrial
diesel locomotive that hauled
trains at the same ball clay mine
from the late Forties to 1970.
From small acorns, the site has
now been developed into the
Purbeck Mineral and Mining
Museum. A narrow gauge system
complete with running line,
points, sidings and wagon
turntables runs around the
restored mine complex, which
allows visitors to walk through the
underground passages.
At present, entrance to the mine
is by donation, as it has been
afforded only low-key publicity to
date. However, I toured the
museum during a recent visit to
the Swanage Railway, and in short,
came to the conclusion that it is
One of only two steam locomotives built in Birmingham, Purbeck mineral railways
veteran Secundus can be viewed in the Corfe Castle station museum. ROBIN JONES
26 Heritage Railway
Emmet and its crew on part of the restored Fayle’s Tramway. ANDREW PM WRIGHT
one of the big hidden gems of the
heritage railway sector, and as an
attraction it has far more to offer
the visitors than many paid-for
tourist venues.
Decade of progress
Museum chairman Peter Sills said:
“This is the culmination of 10
years – and more than 30,000
hours – hard work by the Purbeck
Mineral and Mining Museum
volunteers who have built the
Norden clay mine from scratch on
the site of the old Victorian ball
clay works that was demolished
during the 1970s.
“The running of the first steam-
hauled narrow gauge ball clay
trains in the Isle of Purbeck since
1953 – the year of our Queen’s
Coronation – is an incredible
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moment that I honestly thought I
would never see. It’s really
tremendous and very historic.
“What makes the occasion even
more special and historic is that
Emmet is returning home to the
Isle of Purbeck because its chassis
came from a German narrow
gauge diesel shunter that hauled
ball clay trains around the Norden
clay mines for more than 20 years.”
On static display at the museum
during the weekend was Quarry
Hunslet No. 542 Cloister, built by
Hunslet in 1891 for the Dinorwic
slate quarry in Snowdonia. The
0-4-0ST was named after the Grand
National winner of 1893 as the
quarry owner was a horse racing
enthusiast. It was retired in 1962
and now belongs to the Hampshire
Narrow Gauge Railway Trust.
Cloister at home in a mineral setting. ANDREW PM WRIGHT
Emmet, by contrast, was named
after a cat who lived on the Moors
Valley Railway.
The locomotive worked at the
Kiel Docks before being shipped to
England after the Second World
War for a new working life hauling
ball clay trains at the Norden
clay mines.
The Purbeck Mineral and
Mining Museum Group was
formed to consider establishing a
permanent mining museum at
Norden to exhibit artefacts
primarily connected to the mining
of ball clay in Dorset and other
significant minerals extracted in
Purbeck, part of the Jurassic Coast.
The 95 mile Jurassic Coast was
designated as such for its
geological and mineral richness.
One of the few places that ball clay
can be found is on the Isle of
Purbeck, far better known for its
building stone.
Typical ball clay mine
The aim was to recreate a working
environment typical of the drift
ball clay mining industry,
including a short operational
demonstration line around the
Norden site, on which an
industrial diesel locomotive
usually runs. Planning permission
for the museum was granted by
Purbeck District Council on
January 29, 2004, since when,
progress has been sure and steady.
Norden No.7 mine transhipment
building was donated by Imerys
and moved to the park-and-ride
site to form a museum building.
Over the years, many former
workers have visited the museum
and given their advice and
photographs and donated personal
equipment. We are extremely
grateful to them.
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 WorldMags.net

Emmet in action at the Norden clay mine museum’s line. ANDREW PM WRIGHT

A future Fayle’s tramway?
Steam may have returned, but the
group has many more ambitions
yet to realise on the site.
Having taken the unique Purbeck
mining tramways veteran Bellis &
Seekings 2ft 8in gauge 0-6-0WT of
1874 Secundus on long term loan
from Birmingham Museums, one
aim is to build a shed at Norden in
which to house it.
At present, the former
Furzebrook Railway locomotive is
on view in the excellent small
exhibits museum in the restored
Purbeck stone goods shed at Corfe
Castle station. The museum group
needs to secure another £300,000
required to build premises with a
controlled atmosphere building
for Secundus and other valuable
and unique artefacts including
century-old ball clay wagon,
together with study room and
compressor house.
The Swanage Railway Trust
owns two flooded clay pits at
Norden and it is planned to
develop them to show the remains
of the alternative ball clay
extraction to mining – quarrying.
Towards the end of 2010, a
structural survey and load
assessment was undertaken of the
Swanage Railway’s Bridge 15, also
known as Skew Bridge, which
carried the tramway across the
LSWR branch at this interchange
point, and was built only as a
temporary structure in 1885.
The group hopes to soon relay
track over the bridge and create a
unique setting by which Swanage
Railway passengers will see
narrow gauge trains running
above their heads.
The lattice steelwork, corbels and
beam landings of the overbridge
need some remedial work before
they can carry trains again.
However, the main foundations,
abutments and wing wall are in
good condition.
Very much long term aims
include the possibility of relaying
part of Fayle’s Tramway, maybe to
take visitors over the
environmentally-sensitive and
ecologically rich Purbeck heaths,
allowing them to appreciate them
from a slow-moving train rather
than trampling over them.
The museum is now open on
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays
and Sundays, from 11am to 5pm.
■ For more details, call 01929
481461 or go online and visit
www.pmmmg.org

Visitors can walk down a ramp into this Wagon turnout in the Norden museum’s
ball clay mine tunnel. ROBIN JONES yard. ROBIN JONES

A surviving rail from the Middlebere Plateway, another of the mineral lines that once
Three ball clay tub wagons in display inside the museum. ROBIN JONES crisscrossed Purbeck’s heaths. ROBIN JONES

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 27
News
WorldMags.net

Emerging from the early morning mist not long after sunrise, visiting Manor No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor leads resident No. 7822 Foxcote Manor past Garth-y-dwr on the Llangollen
Railway on September 3. KARL HEATH

Manors’ sunrise and sunset

By Phil Jones and Karl Heath

Visiting the Llangollen Railway for

its gala weekend was severn Valley-
based gWR 4-6-0 no. 7812 Erlestoke
Manor. the opportunity was taken by
Richard newton and the 3P20 Parcels
group to stage a photo charter with
Manors no. 7812 and resident
no. 7822 Foxcote Manor recreating
the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ which
once used the route through the Dee
Valley. this was a very early
morning/late evening session to fit in
around the service trains.
the forecast for the morning gave
little hope, but the few that did turn
up were rewarded by a single shaft of
light illuminating the pair as they
burst out of the fog. this was well-
deserved as some had spent the
previous week with bow saws,
strimmers and loppers clearing the
lineside in the hope something like
this might just happen.
Afterwards though, the clouds soon
piled in and this was the only shot
from the morning. the participants
then spent the rest of the day at
Carrog, again clearing the lineside
just in case the forecast, which was
now predicting clear skies came true,
which as the photograph shows, was
exactly what happened. Just before sunset, Manors Nos. 7812 and 7822 make a spectacular sight as they approach Carrog. PHIL JONES

WorldMags.net
28 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
WorldMags.net

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News
WorldMags.net
INBRIEF
➲ THE annual Avon Valley Railway
winter gala on October 19-20 will
have Llangollen Railway flagship WR
4-6-0 No. 7822 Foxcote Manor as its
star guest. A small number of the
Manor class traversed the
Mangotsfield to Bath Midland line
in the last days of steam. Foxcote
Manor will also be the largest GWR
locomotive to have travelled
through Bitton since the rebirth of
the line.
➲ FOUR class 37/7 locomotives
recently removed from Dollands
Moor after being returned from
Spain are being overhauled for use
as ‘super shunters’ at Direct Rail
Services-operated locations
including Daventry. Overhauling the
locomotives on behalf of DRS are
the Harry Needle Railroad Company The last Lynton & Barnstaple Railway train crossing the newly purchased section on September 29, 1935. RL KNIGHT
at Barrow Hill (No. 37703/714) and

A key piece for L&B

RVEL at Derby (No. 37716/718).
➲ TWO GB Railfreight Class 73/2s
that were dedicated to Network Rail
services, including the bearing of

Trust revival jigsaw

Network Rail livery, have now been
repainted into GBRf livery and
named after female staff; 73212
becoming Fiona and 73213
becoming Rhodalyn.
➲ UNESCO has also offered to
provide $600,000 to restore the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
service truncated by landslides in
2010. However, India’s Railway
Ministry has been sent a letter from
UNESCO suggesting that it has not
done enough to maintain its World
Heritage Site status.
➲ THE East Japan Railway Company
is bringing C58 2-6-2 No. 239 out of
retirement after 41 years to help
support recovery efforts in areas
devastated by the March 2011
earthquake. Up to now, the 1940-
built engine was displayed in a park.
➲ THE official opening of the new
King’s Cross Square, marking the
completion of the redevelopment of
the GNR terminus, will take place on
Thursday, September 26. The
25,000sq ft area in front of the
station comprises London’s newest
public space.
➲ THE Swindon & Cricklade Railway
had added a wheelchair accessible
carriage to its fleet this weekend
after getting £27,000 in grant aid
from Hills Group and £5000 from
Zurich through the Landfill
Communities Fund.
➲ THE Downpatrick & County Down
Railway was used as a backdrop for
part of a new BBC2 First World War
period drama, The Wipers Times,
screened on September 11.
➲ THE 18th London Model
Engineering exhibition will be held
from January 17-19 at Alexandra
Palace in London.
By Robin Jones
ANOTHER key section of original
trackbed has been acquired for the
Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
The Lynton & Barnstaple
Railway Trust has acquired a short
section of trackbed just north of
the proposed interim western
terminus of Blackmoor Gate.
The purchase has also included
the land that will be needed to
provide access from the main line
to the restored railway’s workshop
and carriage and loco sheds that
will be built there when the line is
extended to Blackmoor.
The site was bought with a
sizeable legacy left to the trust by
a life member.
The trustees are now negotiating
with other landowners along the
Isaac undergoing a test run on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in June.
MICHAEL CHAPMAN
route that will give the railway
another two miles of trackbed
altogether between Blackmoor and
Parracombe and towards Lynton,
for which funding will shortly have
to be sought.
The talks involve a mile of
trackbed west of Parracombe and
another mile to the east of Woody
Bay. A national appeal may be
launched to fund the purchases.
Over the weekend of September
28-29, the L&B will be holding its
autumn gala at Woody Bay.
The event will see the official
launch into service of Bagnall
0-4-2T No. 3023 of 1953 Isaac,
which was supplied new to South
African platinum mines.
It was bought by a member of the
trust to run on the L&B and has
been restored for him by the
Ffestiniog Railway at Boston
Lodge Works.
Isaac will be arriving at Woody
Bay just before the gala when
all the last-minute fine-tuning
is complete.
Four engines will be in steam at
the event: in addition to Isaac, the
L&BR Trust’s own engine Kerr
Stuart 0-6-0T Axe, Maffei 0-4-0T
Sid which may be appearing in
North Devon for the last time if it
is sold, and Emmet, which is
returning for the occasion after
being the star of the show 10 years
ago when Woody Bay station
reopened to the public in 2003, a
year before the first passenger
trains ran in the preservation era.
As reported on pages 26-27,
Emmet has just brought narrow
gauge steam back to the Isle
of Purbeck.
Axe has been repainted in the
holly green that L&B locomotives
carried in the line’s independent
days, which will go well with the
rebuilt original carriages when the
engine has been fitted with the
requisite Jones Calthrop couplings.
The next rebuilt heritage
carriage, all-third brake No. 16,
will also be in operation at
the gala.
As well as giving additional
capacity it will provide an
alternative brake vehicle when
coach No. 17 needs to be serviced.
Together with 1897-built No. 7, it
will create a train of three original
L&B carriages for the first time
since 1935.

WorldMags.net
30 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Severn Valley locomotive is rededicated
to a Battle of Britain wartime legend
HUNDREDS of people turned out
to witness the rededication of
Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific
No. 34053 to Second World War
hero Sir Keith Park at a ceremony
on the Severn Valley Railway.
The nameplate was unveiled by
guest of honour, Sir Lockwood
Smith, New Zealand High
Commissioner, at Kidderminster
station on August 31, 66 years after
the original naming ceremony at
Brighton on September 19, 1947.
Then, the nameplate was unveiled
by Sir Keith himself.
Among the invitees on Saturday Nick Thompson, director of Southern Locomotives Ltd, Sir Lockwood Smith and Geoff
was Severn Valley life member and Thompson, chairman of Southern Locomotives, alongside No. 34053 Sir Keith Park after
shareholder Gerald Storer from the rededication. SVR
Wolverhampton, who attended the
original naming ceremony in were then taken on a trip along the deploying Britain’s squadrons of
September 1947 when he was 14. line behind No. 34053 Sir Keith Hurricane and Spitfire fighters to
Gerald, now aged 80, remembers Park. At Bridgnorth they watched combat the invading Luftwaffe as
attending the ceremony during his a flypast by a Hurricane and a they crossed the South Coast in
lunch break from school with Spitfire from the Battle of Britain the summer of 1940.
several friends. Memorial Flight. ➲ LMS Princess Coronation
The ceremony also included talks Nick said: “It was a very special Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of
from SVR’s general manager Nick day for us at the railway to formally Sutherland stepped into the
Ralls, Geoff Thompson, chairman welcome the popular and iconic breach to make up the guest list at
of the locomotive’s owning group engine Sir Keith Park to the loco the Severn Valley Railway’s
and restorer Southern Locomotives fleet. The event was also testament September 20-22 autumn steam
Ltd, Squadron Leader Jim Beirne on to our strong, ongoing relationship gala after SR King Arthur 4-6-0
behalf of the RAF and Terrence with Southern Locomotives. No. 777 Sir Lamiel failed its steam
Prior-Stevens, great-nephew of Sir “The loco serves to remind us of test and also missed the North
Keith. A guard of honour was the vital role that Sir Keith Park Norfolk Railway’s August 30-
mounted by 156 (Kidderminster) played in the Battle of Britain and September 1 gala. Lord Nelson’s
Squadron ATC. the debt that we owe him.” place at the SVR gala was taken
Following the ceremony at Sir Keith Park is renowned by by Schools class 4-4-0 No. 925
Kidderminster, around 200 guests historians for his strategic skill in Cheltenham.

Boiler for new L&B Baldwin complete

THE newly constructed boiler
for the Lynton & Barnstaple
Railway’s Baldwin 2-42 No. 762
Lyn has passed its hydraulic test
at Somerset boilermakers
Bennett’s Boilers.
The technically advanced and all
welded boiler has been designed
to operate at 250psi and unlike the
original 1898 boiler will be
superheated to generate at least
25% more steam generating
capacity than the original.
Designed by Ian Gaylor and
modelled in SolidWorks by Mike
Nelson, the 21st-century boiler will
have a larger grate area and many
of the latest techniques in boiler
design incorporated into it.
Manufactured by boilermaker The boiler for the new No. 762 Lyn now completed. 762 CLUB
Andy Bennett, it was successfully
pressure tested in early August, The finished boiler will be urgently required to finish the job.
under the watchful eye of the displayed at Woody Bay station If Lyn is to steam in 2015, a
Royal Sun Alliance regional boiler during the railway’s autumn gala further 150 new members, each
manager Bob Garnett. on September 28-29. paying £762, which can be paid in
The hydraulic test took place Now this major phase is 30 monthly instalments of £25.40,
with two times working pressure, complete, attention will turn to are needed.
making it 500psi, and with this building the rest of the locomotive. If you would like to be involved
test now out of the way quickly the Additional funds will be needed please visit www.762club.com for
smokebox has been added. soon and new members are more details.

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 31
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British-built Pacific being
offered free to good home
By Geoff Courtney

A 91-year-old British-built
Pacific which lay buried in an
embankment for nearly half a
century after being derailed is
being offered free to a good home.
The offer has both downsides and
upsides. Among the former are the
fact that the 4-6-2 currently resides
11,500 miles from the UK, in New
Zealand, and is essentially a kit of
parts. But on the positive side, a
leading British preservation group
skilled in repatriating steam
locomotives has offered logistical
support and fundraising advice to
any individual or organisation
wanting to bring the engine
back home.
No. 745 was a 3ft 6in gauge
locomotive built in 1922 for New Near The eNd of The liNe: ab Class Pacific No. 745 at aramoho, Wanganui, on october 22, 1955, just a week before the end of
Zealand Government Railways by passenger steam on the line and nine months before plunging into a gully on a wet July night. JOHN M CREBER/TARANAKI FLYER SOCIETY
the North British Locomotive Co at
its Queens Park works in Glasgow. falling passenger numbers and the On the Pacific’s footplate were later outside the cab, heard his
A member of the 141-strong Ab service ran for the last time in driver Fred Price and fireman driver Fred crying out for help as
class – the most numerous class of February 1959, by which time No. David Marshall, who, due to the he lay trapped by a steam pipe in
steam locomotives ever to run in 745 and others in the class were darkness and torrential rain, failed the cab. David, who was 21 at the
New Zealand, with 85 being built operating freight trains. to see the approaching danger. time, pulled his mate free just
by NBL – No. 745 worked the It was on one such train that Fortunately they were travelling at before mud pouring into the cab
Wanganui-New Plymouth route disaster struck No. 745 when, not a careful 20mph, as an earlier driver engulfed him and, with help from
in North Island. long after midnight on the morning had reported that the track was the train guard and other railway
The steam-hauled passenger of July 16, 1956, the Pacific plunged bumpy at that point. No. 745 workers carried him to an
trains on this 100-mile line were 50ft into a gully at Hawera, about toppled on to its side and slid down ambulance. David suffered only
nicknamed ‘The Taranaki Flyer’ – halfway along the line, as it hauled the gully upside-down, eventually cuts and bruises but Fred was
after the local region – although to seven wagons of frozen meat from being stopped by a row of big pine seriously burned and never
some this may have seemed a Wanganui to the port at trees. “It all happened too quick to drove again.
misnomer as on introduction in New Plymouth. think about it,” said fireman David New Zealand Railways decided
1926 the journey took 4½ hours, an It had been raining in the area later. “All I remember is the loco that No. 745 wasn’t worth rescuing
average of 22mph. non-stop for four days, leading to starting to rock.” – a decision doubtless influenced
Railcars replaced steam in late an underground spring bursting He was knocked unconscious by the fact that the Glasgow-built
1955, but this did not boost the and washing away 100ft of track. and, coming round 10 minutes Pacific was nearing the end of its
useful life – and so entombed it
within the embankment by
covering it over, where it remained
undisturbed for 45 years.

Not forgotten
Undisturbed maybe, but not
forgotten. In 1984, some 28 years
after its entombment, NZR
employee Tony Batchelor bought
the loco for $1, working on the
theory that it would eventually be
salvaged. And indeed it was when,
in 2001, he was project manager of
a team of volunteers who dug it out
of its earthly grave.
A trust was formed to restore the
Pacific but was wound up after
losing all its funds in an investment
scam, and ownership eventually
passed to local railway enthusiast
and accomplished railway modeller
Muddy grave: No. 745 lies on its side after falling 50ft into a gully on July 16, 1956. The glasgow-built Pacific remained there for Keith Hancock, for who Tony has
45 years, and is now being offered free to a good home. unstinting praise.

WorldMags.net
34 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 “Without his vision and
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top accolade
dedication, Ab745 would have
been scrapped back in 2003 after
the trust had been financially
cleaned out,” Tony told Heritage
for railway
Railway. “Keith stepped in and
took on the huge task of
continuing with the locomotive
artists
when everyone else had given up.
He is a hero in this strange story.”
Keith, an active member of
Waitara Railway Preservation
Society which runs a 4½-mile
heritage branch line near New
Plymouth, donated No. 745 to the
Taranaki Flyer Society after its
formation in 2007, and the
engine was moved to the society’s
base in an old railway goods shed
at Stratford, south of New
Plymouth, where work has been
carried out on the boiler.
However, in this tale of twist
and turns, the story doesn’t end
there. Stratford District Council,
the society’s landlord, has decided
to sell the goods shed, and the
society has to move out by
Christmas. As a result of this, and
with falling society membership
and a lack of funds, No. 745 is
looking for both a new owner
and a new home.
Neil Shotter, the society’s acting
project leader, told his local
newspaper that the Pacific was
being offered free to a good home
in the hope it would be restored.
It would be terrible, he said, if it
had to be given away for parts,
but even worse if it ended up as
scrap. “It is a shame it has had to
come to this,” he said.
Ken Livermore, secretary of
Britain’s NBL Preservation
Group, offered help to any
preservationists who felt this
Glasgow-built Pacific was worth
rescuing and returning to the UK.
“We have successfully
repatriated two 3ft 6in gauge
steam locos from South Africa
and played a significant part in
saving a third, and our members
have individually saved several
engines themselves,” he said.
“As No. 745 is currently
dismantled, we believe it could
be containerised and shipped
to the UK relatively cheaply
for restoration and display.
“Monetary aspects aside – our
finances are currently committed
to saving a Hendrie 4-8-0 in
South Africa – we would be
happy to co-ordinate a
fundraising effort and arrange
shipping and transport.”
He described the Ab class as
the most famous and successful
North British export to New
Zealand. “They were popular
with their crews and regarded
as some of the most stylish and
elegant steam locomotives ever
to operate in New Zealand,”
Ken added.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
By Geoff Courtney
AS SOMe the country’s leading
railway artists display their talent
at Railart 2013 at Locomotion in
Shildon, two of their number have
been granted full membership of
the prestigious Guild of Railway exPReSS at ReSt: Gresley a4 Pacific no. 60025 Falcon makes an unscheduled water
Artists, which is mounting the six- stop at doncaster with ‘the norseman’ King’s Cross-newcastle tyne Commission Quay
week exhibition. express, undoubtedly much to the delight of the group of trainspotters on the
They are Mike Flanders and rain-soaked platform. the dave noble painting, which is currently on display at
Dave Noble, whose contributions Shildon, includes another Gresley locomotive, a V2 2-6-2, in the platform, while the
to the exhibition have been so well eight spotters have all turned their back on the Class 37 diesel sulking on the far side
received that the guild has of the station.
upgraded their membership from
associate to full, an honour
coveted by railway artists Snow and Steam:
throughout the land. Princess Coronation
Mike is 49 and lives near Bristol. no. 46251 City of
He is self-taught, and uses oils, Nottingham roars past
charcoals, watercolours, pen and level crossing and
inks, with inspiration coming from signalbox, the warm
both natural surroundings and glow from its firebox
mechanical objects, particularly contrasting with the
old craftsmanship in trains snow outside. the
and cars. painting, by mike
Although an artist for just a few Flanders, is currently
years, he has exhibited in London on display at Shildon
and Bath, and, currently a master in the Railart 2013
tiler, has set his sights on exhibition.
becoming a fully professional
artist. Among his four paintings celebration of 150 years become full members, and we look
on display at Shildon are GWR of railways. forward to seeing their work in
and LMS subjects and Dai The subject matter for his mainly future exhibitions.”
Woodham’s yard. oil or watercolour work is wide- Railart 2013 runs until October
Dave, a 67-year-old retired ranging, but centres on industry 6. It is the fourth exhibition staged
teacher whose father was a and the people who work in it. He by the guild at Shildon, and
railwayman for 40 years, is a lives in Goldthorpe, South comprises 65 paintings by 21
semi-professional artist who Yorkshire, and has three paintings members. “It has interest not only
has exhibited frequently, on show at Shildon. for those who enjoy the railway
particularly on the continent, Frank Hodges, the guild’s chief scene past and present, but also
including one exhibition in executive officer, said: “We are people with interest in fine art,”
Holland as part of the country’s delighted that Mike and Dave have said Frank.
‘World’s oldest’ standard gauge rail line
destined for Stephenson Railway Museum
THe newly-discovered section of a wooden A section of the track will be stored in
waggonway believed to be the world’s oldest environmentally-controlled conditions at the
standard gauge railway is to be moved to the museum, which is now applying for grant aid to
Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside treat the timber so the track can be placed on
for preservation. public display.
As reported in Heritage Railway last month, a John Clayson, keeper of science and industry at
superbly-preserved 82ft stretch of the waggonway, TWAM, said: “This amazing find was an
believed to date from the 1790s, was unearthed unrepeatable opportunity to preserve the early
by archaeologists Alan Williams and Richard remains of what became one of Tyneside’s most
Carlton at the site of the former Neptune significant contributions to trade and
shipyard in Walker, Newcastle, while they were communication worldwide – the standard
hunting for Roman remains. A covering of gauge railway.”
coal waste had preserved the track for By taking the track apart, lifting it and
two centuries. reassembling it at the museum, vital information on
Tyne Wear Archives and Museums has been the methods used in its construction will be
awarded an emergency £9000 grant from the Prism rediscovered. So far, it has been found that the
fund of Arts Council england to lift the track, sleepers were made from recycled ships’ planking,
which carried horse-drawn coal wagons from local most likely from colliers. The shipyard is being
mines to the River Tyne staithes. redeveloped by Shepherd Offshore.
WorldMags.net
Heritage Railway 35
News
WorldMags.net
British steam preservationists get
set to fight apathy and red tape
By Geoff Courtney
LEADING British railway
enthusiasts who are fighting red
tape, apathy and a lack of funds in a
bid to restore a former steam line in
central Romania, have been
preparing to fight their corner at a
high-level conference which they
are determined will significantly
move the project forward.
The 760mm (2ft 6in) gauge line
opened in 1910 between the city of
Sibiu and Sighisoara operating both
passenger and freight trains and
survived intact until 1965, when a
30-mile section was closed, leaving
a 38-mile stretch in operation
between Sibiu and the town
of Agnita.
Steam locomotives, including
0-8-0T engines, were replaced by
diesels on regular services in the
1970s, although steam continued
hauling tourist trains into the late-
1990s, but in 2001 the line was
closed. The track, however, wasn’t
lifted and much of it remains today.
Under the banner Friends of the
Mocanita, local volunteers have
restored just over a mile of the line
out of Agnita station, and in March
2011 a group of British enthusiasts
formed the Sibiu to Agnita Railway
UK Supporters’ Group (SARUK)
aimed at restoring the whole line,
with David Allan its chairman and
Bill Parker, of the Flour Mill
workshop in the Forest of Dean,
among its members. The British-
based New Europe Railway
Heritage Trust has also thrown its
weight behind the preservationists.
Sadly, progress has been slow,
despite the expertise of the Brits
and their regular visits to Agnita
to advise, encourage, and
financially support the Romanian
enthusiasts who are central to the
restoration plans.
Follow my leader: a flock of sheep crosses the Sibui-agnita line in a photograph
that shows how, despite closure in 2001, much of the 2ft 6in gauge track remains in
comparatively good condition. local and UK preservationists are fighting to restore the
railway, although it is bureaucracy, apathy and a lack of funds, rather than sheep, that
stand in their way. MIHAI BLOTOR
36 Heritage Railway
Happier dayS: No. 764-106 and its crew await departure from Sibiu in central romania with a train for agnita on december 9, 1979.
The 0-8-0T was built in 1952 and withdrawn in 1998, three years before the 38-mile 2ft 6in gauge line was closed. JOHN ALEXANDER
Problem
Part of the problem is that the
authorities in the area remain
largely unconvinced about the
enormous tourist – and thus
financial – benefits of having an
operational heritage line in their
midst, while the preservationists
were dealt another blow two years
ago when officials removed without
consultation three 0-8-0 and 0-8-0T
steam locomotives, a diesel and
rolling stock that had been stored in
Sibui shed awaiting the restoration
of the line.
Earlier this year came yet further
problems, as explained by David,
who is also chairman of the Welsh
Highland Railway Heritage Group.
“The mayor of Agnita, who has
supported the plans, was defeated
in local elections, and a consortium
comprising representatives of
some of the larger villages along
the line and of which the mayor
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was chairman dissolved into
a shambles.
“Eventually a new chairman was
elected, but he doesn’t appreciate
or understand the economic
benefits of reopening the line,
Sibiu County Council is blowing
hot and cold, and to crown it all the
Tourist Railway Authority, which
owns the line on behalf of the
government, has demanded a
monthly rent of £18,000.”
The current rent, paid by the
consortium, is approximately £170.
David said that representatives of
the local preservationists and the
consortium subsequently met John
Cindrea, chairman of Sibui County
Council, to press their case, but this
ended with the representatives
“being more or less
unceremoniously ejected” from the
meeting. “This unsatisfactory state
of affairs could not continue, and
following pressure, Sibiu County
Council called a general meeting of
interested parties,” said David.
This meeting resulted in
promised action which gives
SARUK and the friends, led by
Mihai Blotor, hope for the future.
John Cindrea told those present he
would pressurise the Ministry of
Transport for the low rent to
continue while the county council
agreed to join the consortium when
funds were available, and the
meeting agreed that the line was
worth saving.
Other chinks of light include a
Bucharest-based tourism
organisation recognising the value
of restoring the line; Martin Harris,
British Ambassador to Romania,
meeting Sibiu County Council to
discuss promoting the city to UK
tourists; and a pledge from three
EU representatives who recently
visited the area to lobby the
Romanian government and
Brussels for the project.
High profile
Against this background of ups and
downs, a high-profile conference
was due to take place at Cornatel,
near Sibui, on September 19, with
those invited including MEP
Daciana Sarbu – the wife of Victor
Ponta, prime minister of Romania –
Sibiu officials and dignitaries, the
secretary of state in the Ministry
of Transport, representatives of
the Friends, SARUK and other
action groups and both local and
national media.
The agenda was due to include
ways of transferring ownership of
the line from the government to
either Sibiu County Council or the
consortium to safeguard its future
and provide security of tenure to
help EU funding applications.
Before flying out for the
conference with a number of other
supporters of the project, David
expressed his hopes for the meeting.
“I would expect minds to be focused
on the economic benefits of adding a
further tourist attraction to the area,
and that agreement can be reached
so that local politicians can persuade
the Romanian government to lend
its weight to the scheme and reduce
the rent to a token amount.”
He said that unless this happened,
the line – a designated Romanian
national monument – would
gradually disappear, while the
opportunity to provide direct
employment and other associated
work would be lost.
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 WorldMags.net
Replica castings add finishing touches to station canopy
REPLICA Belfast & Northern
Counties Railway castings have
been fitted to the canopy on the
Railway Preservation of Ireland’s
new-build, traditional Irish station
at Whitehead as finishing touches,
following the handover of the
building to the society by the
contractor in June.
The castings, copied from still-
extant originals at the former
Waterside station in Derry, were
cast in-house at the society’s
foundry at Whitehead and were
fixed in place by volunteers on
July 5 before being painted. The
interior of the new station is to be
fitted out with display space, a
cafe and offices.
Meanwhile, RPSI locomotive
engineers have lifted the boiler
of former Great Northern Railway
of Ireland 4-4-0 No. 171 Slieve
Gullion from its frames, as part
of the project to return it to steam
by 2014 to mark the society’s
50th anniversary.
An appeal has been launched by
the society for funds to allow the No. 171 Slieve Gullion’s frames following
1913, Beyer Peacock-built Donegal Railways’ 2-6-4T No. 5 including paint detailing, to return the boiler lift at Whitehead. HUGH
locomotive, which was rebuilt by Drumboe, which is awaiting GNR (I) 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin is also DOUGHERTY
the GNR at Dundalk in 1938, to funding to progress further repairs under way at Whitehead.
be overhauled. Lottery funding is and restoration. S class Slieve Society stalwart Charles Friel BE
been sought along with a Gullion has been in store at said: “There is a great deal going on
contribution from the Northern Whitehead since 2002. at Whitehead and we are very
Ireland Tourist Board. Alongside the 4-4-0, the boiler of proud of the new station building
The blue 4-4-0’s cab is stored LMS NCC 2-6-4T No. 4 is off the which looks authentic in every way
outdoors on a flat wagon which it ‘Jeep’s’ frames to allow repairs to while the castings provide an
shares with the boiler from County take place; and final work, excellent finishing touch. But we
are especially keen for readers to
support our appeal to return Slieve
Gullion to steam.
“This locomotive has played a key
role in keeping steam alive in
Ireland and it has been with us
throughout the life of the society, so
we hope to have it fully restored in
time for 2014. Having the right
funding in place is crucial and
without the finance, we may have to
reshuffle our repairs schedule and
concentrate on other locomotives
rather than No. 171 which would
be a great pity as everyone is keen
to see it back at the head of our
trains in our 50th anniversary year.” The replica Belfast & Northern Counties
Full details of the Railway casting, copied from an original
Slieve Gullion appeal are at at Derry, and cast at Whitehead, in place
The new station at Whitehead, showing the canopy. HUGH DOUGHERTY www.steamtrainsireland.com on the canopy. HUGH DOUGHERTY

Ardingly vows support for next Bluebell Railway push

LOCAL parish councillors have expressed
their support for the Bluebell Railway’s second
main line connection plans.
After taking a breathing space from the
completion of the northern extension to East
Grinstead, the railway is to begin planning the
rebuilding of its section of the Ardingly
branch, of which it owns most of the
vacant trackbed.
Ardingly Parish Council’s support of the rail
revival features in its new draft
Neighbourhood Plan, released in late August.
In the document, the parish council commits
to protecting the parish’s Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty, key views, bio-diversity
and wildlife.
The plan also supports the reinstatement of
the one-time electrified branch from Horsted
Keynes, through Ardingly and towards
Haywards Heath.
It states: “The Neighbourhood Plan supports
the safeguarding of the route of the former
Ardingly branch line between Horsted Keynes
and Haywards Heath within Ardingly Parish
including Lywood tunnel for the future
reinstatement of the railway link. Proposals for
the reinstatement of Ardingly station will be
supported subject to consideration of traffic
access and car parking.
“Demolition of the station building will
be resisted.”
The western stub of the branch has remained
as part of the national network in freight use.

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 37
News
WorldMags.net
We are Hayling – exactly 50 years on
By Geoff Courtney
MEMORIES of the much loved
Hayling Island branch line are to be
revived exactly 50 years to the day
after its closure by BR.
The Kent & East Sussex Railway
will be running two-coach trains
from 10am to sunset on Saturday,
November 2, operated by two A1X
‘Terriers’, a class of locomotives
which became synonymous with
the 4½ mile line.
Opened by the LBSCR to freight
in January 1865 and passengers in
July 1867, it ran from Havant, on
the London Waterloo-Portsmouth
Harbour main line, to Hayling
Island via two small stations,
Langston and North Hayling.
Ironically, even on closure in 1963
it was profitable, but BR decided to
bring the curtain down rather than
spend £400,000 on replacing the
timber Langston swing bridge that
linked the island to the mainland.
On November 2, 1963, one of the
locomotives operating the last
timetabled trains was veteran A1X
No. 32670 – and half a century later,
this very same locomotive will be
the centre of attention as it works
trains between Tenterden and
The National Railway Museum’s Class 55 No. 55002 King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
returned HST Prototype power car No. 41001, which is being restored to operational
order as Project Miller, to the York museum on September 6. It will move to a new
home at the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) to be fully recommissioned.
The pair are seen at Bolton Percy en route from Neville Hill depot. DAVID TILLOTSON
New chairman for West Somerset
PROFESSOR John Irven has taken
over as chairman of the West
Somerset Railway in succession to
Humphrey Davies who has stepped
aside after four years in the post.
Humphrey announced his
intention to stand down for family
reasons at the annual general
meeting in June. However, he will
not be ending his 24 year
association with the line as he will
remain as a director and driver.
John’s appointment officially starts
on January 1.
38 Heritage Railway
The end: A1X ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 32670, its normal two coaches swollen to three,
crosses Langston swing bridge with the 3.05pm Havant-Hayling Island train on
November 2, 1963, the last day of timetabled passenger services on the line. The same
locomotive will be in action on November 2, exactly 50 years later, recreating the
branch line’s trains on the Kent & East Sussex Railway. BRIAN STEPHENSON
Bodiam, sharing duties with
another ‘Terrier’, No. 32678.
The pair of diminutive 0-6-0Ts,
now both preserved on the KESR,
will haul two-coach trains which
were typical of the Hayling Island
service, with the first of the day
double headed and the last top-and-
tailed from Northiam to Tenterden.
Passengers will also be able to
A board member since 2011, he is
also an elected member of Watchet
Town Council, and he also chairs
various other voluntary groups in
Watchet where he now lives.
A statement from the company
said: “This is a planned
development which is part of a
wider process of enabling the West
Somerset Railway to grow as an
organisation and respond to the
heritage, commercial and tourism
opportunities and challenges that lie
ahead.”
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inspect the railway’s Cavell van,
which will be open throughout the
day at Bodiam station. This vehicle
was built by the South Eastern &
Chatham Railway at Ashford in
1919 as a luggage van, and became
an evocative part of railway history
when it carried the coffins of three
First World War heroes from Dover
to London after the Great War.
For sale: house with a
steam railway network
AN 81-year-old enthusiast who has
built a mile long miniature railway
in the back garden of his home is
now offering the property for sale.
Bob Smith has spent three decades
turning the nine acre garden of his
three bedroom Station House in
Comrie, Perthshire, into a railway,
complete with six steam
locomotives and a diesel, two level
crossings and a tunnel.
Now he wants to downsize – but
insists that his house is sold to a
fellow enthusiast.
He is to advertise the property,
railway and the rolling stock as one
lot on the 7¼ Inch Gauge Society’s
http://sevenandaquarter.org website.
Bob moved to the property in
1983 from Kirknewton, near
Remembering Frank Pick
A TALK by London Transport
Museum’s research fellow Oliver
Green on Frank Pick’s London will
be held in the Covent Garden
Plaza venue’s cubic theatre at
6.30pm on November 4.
Described by architectural
historian Nikolaus Pevsner as “the
The first was Nurse Edith Cavell
in May 1919, the second Captain
Charles Fryatt two months later,
and the third the Unknown Warrior
in November 1920. The van,
which has been restored by the
KESR in a £35,000 project part-
funded by the Heritage Lottery
Fund, contains an altar, drapes, and
a replica of the Unknown Warrior’s
coffin on a catafalque covered by
the Union Flag.
Although November 2, 1963, was
the day the Hayling Island line
officially closed, a single train did
run the following day, a special
worked by No. 32670 and fellow
A1X No. 32636. The latter is also a
survivor, on the Bluebell Railway
where it is currently out of use.
*To mark the anniversary, the 2ft
gauge Hayling Seaside Railway on
the seafront at Hayling Island will
be running ‘Hayling Billy Lament’
specials on November 2-3 and 16-
17, hauled by visiting Bagnall
0-4-0ST Wendy.
The line’s own model railway
show at the Hayling Community
Centre in West Town will be held
on November 16-17. Plans to
bring a ‘Terrier’’ back to the island
proved unsuccessful.
Edinburgh, and as well as the
railway, built a new house on the
site. That was completed in 2005.
He built his first steam engine
when he was at school. “I was
always interested in making things,”
he said. “I didn’t ever particularly
want to be an engine driver but I
suppose that’s how it turned out.”
Bob opens his line to raise cash
for charity during Comrie gala
fortnight each year, and holds
an event for enthusiasts
every September.
He declined to reveal the asking
price, which will be available on
application. “I hope I find someone
like me to buy it, but younger,” he
said. “I would like to see the line
running for a long time yet.”
greatest patron of the arts whom
this century has produced in
England”, Pick was managing
director of the Underground in the
1920s and the first chief executive
of London Transport from 1933-
40. Book at www.ltmuseum.co.uk
or telephone 0207 565 7298.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
L&Y 0-6-0 No. 52322 emerges from Duffield tunnel on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway with a Neil Cave photo charter. PHIL WATERFIELD
Cameraman ‘looking through his lens’
before being killed by steam train
A LINESIDE photographer who
died after being struck by a steam
locomotive as he stood on the
track may have misjudged how far
it was away – because he was
looking through his camera lens.
Meat freezer worker Gregory
John Duncraft, 50, was tossed into
the air and sustained head and leg
injuries after being hit by New
Zealand Railways 4-8-4 KA
No. 942 as it passed at Kokiri
near Greymouth, New Zealand,
at 28mph with a special train
from Christchurch.
Witnesses said that he had
ignored two long whistle blasts as
he stood on tracks to take his
picture on Saturday, September 7.
He was airlifted to nearby Grey
KA 942 at the North Island Main Trunk centenary in 2008.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Base Hospital by a rescue
helicopter but died later.
Most of the 200 passengers on
board were said to have been
unaware of the tragedy, while
those who saw it were offered
counselling. The accident was
witnessed by several other
photographers as the train passed
close to Arnold Valley Road.
Greymouth photographer
Stewart Nimmo, who was also
on the lineside and knew
Mr Duncraft well, said:
“Sometimes things do look further
away than they actually are.”
He suspected that his view
through the camera may have
given Mr Duncroft the perception
that the train was further up the
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line, and said he had appeared to
be looking at the screen on his
camera at the time.
He said that his friend may also
have been confused by the double
set of tracks at Kokiri, and could
have been expecting the train to be
on the other line when it appeared
around the bend.
It was said to have been the first
steam train fatality in New
Zealand since the 1990s. Mr
Duncraft’s wife Sharon died from
cancer in January 2012.
Michael Tollich, operations
manager at the Mainland Steam
Heritage Trust, said that Mr
Duncraft had trespassed on
railway property by crossing a set
of railway lines to get in position
for his photo. He said: “People
need to understand that tracks are
for trains. They are not for people
to walk on.”
The train was delayed for two
hours. Police and the New Zealand
Transport Agency were continuing
their investigations.
The KAs were a class of mixed
traffic locomotives built during the
Second World War. KA No. 942
was preserved by Ian Welch in
1972, after having been laid up at
Hutt Workshops as a possible
addition to three K class
locomotives being used as a
stationary boiler supply. In 1989 it
was moved to the Glenbrook
Vintage Railway where it was
restored to working order, and
main line certified, first running in
1990, with its distinctive original
streamlined casing. Following a 10
year overhaul, it returned to
service in 2008.
Heritage Railway 39
News
WorldMags.net
Whitby second platform work set to begin
TENDERS have been issued for the take around three months. In
construction of the second platform contrast to earlier plans, which were
and run-round loop for North for volunteers to do the track work
Yorkshire Moors Railway services under Network Rail supervision, all
into Whitby. work will now be done by approved
It is intended to find a contractor contractors. because the project is
in time to allow building to start in now for a Network Rail facility
the New Year, with the project set to rather than a NYMR private siding.

FIVE COPIES OF THE The Epping Ongar Railway’s resident Thumper unit made its service debut on
BLUEBELL RAILWAY REVISITED September 14 in the line’s first diesel gala. No. 205205 is seen just past Coopersale
bridge, wearing Network SouthEast colours. OWEN HAYWARD
The year 2013 will be remembered East Grinstead. That can only get
for a long time for its major better with the arrival of more
heritage landmarks.
There has been the
Metropolitan Railway 150
incoming charter trains, such as
the visit by Tornado as reported
in our special feature on pages
Birley to restore
classic wagon hoard
celebrations, with steam-hauled 50-55.
passenger trains in the London Following the opening of the
Underground tunnels. There have northern extension, Matt Allen’s
been the Great Gatherings of all album on the many superb
six surviving A4s – attracting more landscapes along the line has been By Robin Jones
than 138,000 visitors to the updated.
National Railway Museum in York Bluebell Railway Revisited, PRESERVATION powerhouse
first time round. And there has published by Halsgrove, is the first Julian Birley has taken charge of a
also been the completion of the hardback to feature pictures of collection of 70 Welsh narrow
Bluebell Railway’s extension to the return to East Grinstead. gauge wagons.
East Grinstead. The 144 page book shows that Julian, who masterminded the
The reconnection of one of the Bluebell is so much more than North Norfolk Railway’s main line
Britain’s pioneering heritage lines any other railway line, with classic connection before switching his
to the national network has not scenes of steam in action in all ambitions to the 2ft gauge Bala Lake
only seen passenger numbers soar seasons. Railway, has acquired the collection
but has been a major boom to the Every page has an inspirational of enthusiast Frances Stapleton.
economy of picture to fire both the The collection, built up over
imagination and the shutter of several decades, includes vehicles
many a lineside photographer which range from 2ft gauge trucks The Padarn Railway brake van nearing
who will no doubt seek to built by the GWR to carry slate completion on the Bala Lake Railway.
emulate Matt’s footsteps. on the Ffestiniog Railway to rare JULIAN BIRLEY
The all-colour book is now out, 3ft gauge wagons for the
priced £14.99. However, you could Nantlle Tramway. acquainted with Frances after he
get one for free as we have five to Spread around preservation sites offered to help him restore a rake of
give away in our star prize in Wales, they are in varying Penrhyn slate wagons to run behind
competition this issue. degrees of repair – but Julian hopes his operational Quarry Hunslet,
to restore as many of them to Alice, on the Bala Lake Railway. “He
running order as he can. said that if I kept the collection
Just answer the following question: He has appealed for anyone who together, I could take on the whole
Q. Name any steam locomotive that has used the might like to take on an individual lot. There are some very unique
Bluebell Railway’s new main line connection. wagon restoration project to get vehicles here.
in touch. “Wagons are a side of railway
n To enter, fill in the form below, including your answer to: HR181 Competition, On the Bala Lake Railway, the preservation that is understandably
Heritage Railway Magazine, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ. Heritage Railway Association’s neglected because there is little
n You can also enter online on our live news website at www.heritagerailway.co.uk and Annual Award (Small Groups) commercial gain in restoring them.”
visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/HeritageRailway winner last year, the restoration of Since his ‘gauge conversion’, Julian
former Penrhyn Quarry Hunslet has restored 17 Dinorwic wagons,
0-4-0ST Winifred, repatriated from including 10 to run behind Alice,
Name: ............................................................................................................................
Indianapolis by Julian in 2012, is and five he gave to the Llanberis
progressing – and it is hoped that Lake Railway.
Address: ......................................................................................................................... several of the wagons in the A project by the Bala Lake
collection can be restored to run Railway to rebuild one of the only
........................................................................................................................................ behind it. four Padarn Railway brake vans to
Winifred’s frames are slowly being have been built is approaching
Postcode: ................................................. Tel: ............................................................ reconditioned and a new frame completion. The brake vans were
stretcher for the rear coupling has lifted from the Dinrowic Quarry’s
Answer: .......................................................................................................................... now been cut by water jet from one- internal 2ft gauge system on to the
n only tick this box if you do not wish to receive information from Mortons Media Group regarding or inch steel plate, the original having 4ft gauge Padarn’s ‘host’ wagons.
relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) via been damaged beyond repair by Starting with a pile of mostly rotten
email/post/phone.
n on occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may permit 3rd parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact
years of clumsy shunting. wood and a folder facetiously
you by email/post/phone/fax regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which Among his collection of Penrhyn entitled ‘Heritage Firewood’, which
we believe may be of interest to our readers. if you wish to receive such offers please tick this box.
vehicles is a gunpowder wagon. contained drawings, sketches and
Julian hopes to equip it with empty photos of the similar example at
n THE cLosiNG dATE FoR ENTRiEs is ocToBER 31. explosive boxes. From the same Tywyn, a team of volunteers set
For full terms and conditions please visit www.heritagerailway.co.uk quarry, there is also a rare two-ton about the daunting task of
The winners will be the first correct answers drawn at random. The editor’s decision is final. coal wagon. restoration, using as much of the
Julian said that he became original wood as possible.

WorldMags.net
40 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
WorldMags.net

WorldMags.net
News
WorldMags.net
Can we print your
society’s magazine,
leaflets and flyers?
HERE at Heritage Railway, we know
that many of our readers are active
members of clubs and societies,
perhaps even playing a role in the
organisational side.
We know too, because many of
us have been there ourselves, that
getting a club journal, magazine,
leaflet or poster produced and
printed can be both costly and
time-consuming.
That is why we would like to
introduce you to our parent
company’s in-house print and
mailing services, and to tell you that
by working with us here at Mortons
Media Group we think our contract
print and mailing team can save
you money.
Whether it’s a leaflet advertising
an event you have planned, a
calendar, a newsletter or a glossy
brochure, our digital press and
experienced staff can take on jobs
of all kinds, big or small, and help
you to both produce and deliver
your printed communications.
And they won’t charge you the
earth to do it, either.
At Heritage Railway, we are
heavily invested in promoting and
maintaining interest in the railways
sector and we know just how vital it
is to support the clubs, societies and
groups which do such fantastic
work to encourage our unique
passion at grass roots level.
We have printed the Bluebell
Railway’s quarterly Bluebell News
magazine for more than a decade.
To find out what our enthusiastic
and friendly staff can do for you,
contact print and mailing manager
Lorraine Noble-Thompson at lnoble-
thompson@mortons.co.uk or call
her direct line on 01507 529256.
River Esk out
for a year
DAVY Paxman 2-8-2 River Esk is
set to be out of action for another
year following a fire which burned
a Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
workshop in March.
The 1923-built locomotive in the
middle of a major overhaul when
the fire ravaged the building.
Ten fire crews spent four hours
extinguishing the blaze, but used
sea water – which has a corrosive
effect on metal.
Other components were
damaged due to the intense heat,
which also twisted steel joints in
the workshop.
Other damage was caused by
the workshop roof collapsing on to
the engine.
42 Heritage Railway
Ilford car sheds – from
anonymity to A4 host
By Geoff Courtney
WITH namers such as ‘Footballers’
and Britannias strutting their
stuff on the former Great Eastern
line out of Liverpool Street in the
1950s, Ilford car sheds was hardly
a magnet for us east London
trainspotters, despite the presence
of a quirky and venerable
former North Eastern Railway
electric locomotive.
But how times have changed.
In recent years the sheds – more
grandly named Ilford electric train
depot on opening in 1949 – has
welcomed a variety of majestic
steam power through its doors,
with perhaps the apex being
reached this summer when Gresley
A4 No. 60009 Union of South
Africa spent four days there having
its tyres turned.
Indeed, such is the change in the
depot’s image that local railway
enthusiast and author Dave
Brennand describes it as a “gem”
for enthusiasts.
Dave, a career railwayman
who started at Stratford in 1973
as an engine cleaner, said: “It is a
largely unknown gem when it
comes to visiting steam
locomotives for the wheel lathe
situated at the London end.
“We’ve had Tornado, Britannia, a
Merchant Navy, ‘Black Five’, prairie
tank and many others visit for
wheelturning over the years. The
nose of Union of South Africa was
visible to passing trains for nearly a
week in August, and it was quite a
privilege having it here.”
John Cameron, the owner of
No. 60009, told Heritage Railway:
“There are not many places that
can work on an A4 due to the size
of the driving wheels. We had not
used Ilford before but we heard
Smart operator: Bo-Bo electric No. 26510 is ready for duty at Ilford car sheds in
February 1954, looking resplendent in a new coat of paint.
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New identity: Former NER Shildon-Newport line No. 26510 soon after arrival at Ilford
car sheds in 1949. The Bo-Bo electric still carries LNER branding despite having been
given its BR number, while the locomotive’s previous number, 6498, can be made out
under its new identification.
that Tornado had been there and
they moved heaven and earth to fit
us in.
“The side rods were removed at
Crewe and No. 9 was away for four
days, with the wheels being re-
profiled on August 14-15.”
First-class job
John, a Scottish farmer who
bought No. 60009 from BR in July
1966, a month after it had been
withdrawn from Aberdeen
Ferryhill (61B), added: “They did
a first-class job over a very short
period and we would certainly use
them again.”
He said that although it was the
first time Ilford had worked on
No. 9, he himself had previously
visited the depot. “I was a member
of the BR board from 1987-96,
and during that time made a point
of going round all the depots.”
The depot, east of Ilford station,
was opened by BR in 1949 as an
integral part of the Liverpool
Street-Shenfield 1500v DC
electrification scheme. Its role
included maintenance, repair and
cleaning of the new rolling stock,
with the more extensive four-yearly
overhauls being carried out at
Stratford. On opening, 92 three-
coach trains (later Class 306) were
based there.
The electrification project, which
included the construction of a
flyover at Ilford, had been started
in 1937, when its cost was
estimated at £3½ million, but after
being delayed by the war the total
bill was more than £8 million.
Official opening
It was officially opened by Alfred
Barnes, the minister of transport,
on September 26, 1949 – the last
of the work having been completed
only the day before – with a
partial electric service running
to steam timings.
A full electric service, to
accelerated timings, started on
November 7.
Among the depot’s shining new
facilities greeting this modern
world of electrification was an
idiosyncratic old-timer, which had
been brought down from up north
to act as shunter.
It was a class EB1 (electric
banking 1) Bo-Bo built by the
North Eastern Railway at
Darlington in December 1914 and
originally numbered 11.
Ideal for banking duties
ONE of 10 electric locomotives
designed by NER chief mechanical
engineer Sir Vincent Raven for the
18-mile 1500v DC Shildon-
Newport mineral traffic line,
No. 11 became redundant for this
work when electric traction ceased
on the line in 1935.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Trainer suffers broken legs
after horse tram mishap
A WOMAN sustained two broken She was freed by fire crews and
legs after becoming trapped underwent emergency surgery at
beneath a horse tram on the Leeds General Infirmary.
Middleton Railway. Middleton Railway Trust
The 46-year-old animal trainer chairman Andrew Gill said: “It
was guiding horses as they hauled was one of those terrible accidents
Leeds horse car No. 107 around that happens that you can’t foresee
3pm on August 26 during the line’s with animals.”
Festival of Transport. The Office of Rail Regulation
The three-ton horse tram, which and the Rail Accident Investigation
had not run for 112 years, was Branch immediately began
being relaunched into traffic an inquiry.
following a £45,000 eight-year The tram was afterwards taken
restoration by around 10 to Crich Tramway Village where it
A4 farewell: No. 60009 Union of South Africa shortly before being towed away from volunteers from the Leeds will be permanently displayed.
Ilford car sheds by Class 37 diesel No. 37516 after having its tyres turned in mid- Transport Historical Society. Taken out of service in the same
August. SYED HUSSAIN The trainer, who works for year that Queen Victoria died, the
Hanson Carriage Hire, was tram was converted into a
The LNER decided that the class It last ran on November 4, 1960, dragged under the tram by her legs summerhouse at East End Park in
would be ideal for banking duties and was stored at nearby when a carthorse she had been Leeds. It was salvaged by the
on the planned Manchester- Goodmayes yard for more than guiding bolted. society in 1977.
Sheffield-Wath electrified route, three years before being officially
and No. 11 was chosen to be withdrawn in April 1964, some 14
modified for this role with more
powerful motors and the
years after its fellow class
members, and despatched to Romney level crossing red
light jumper fined in court
replacement of the twin Doncaster for cutting up.
pantographs with a single
central one. Well equipped
This work was completed at BR published a leaflet soon after A CAR driver has been fined due care and attention by
Doncaster in October 1944, by completion of the Ilford depot after ignoring a red light at a Canterbury magistrates.
which time the LNER had decided detailing its various facilities, even level crossing on the Romney He was fined £178 with five
against using these locomotives including a section on welfare in Hythe & Dymchurch Railway. penalty points imposed.
on the line, which mention is The driver of a train was PC Simon Hayward said:
and No. 11, made of a “well- forced to brake hard after Elliot “There have been deaths on this
renumbered 6498 equipped modern Jepps, 20, failed to stop at the railway when drivers have
in 1946, remained canteen” and a first red signal at Taylor Road jumped the red signal and
the only member aid room in Lydd. collided with the train and these
of the class to be “equipped to a Jepps, from Littlestone, was incidents are well known to
modified. After standard for this found guilty of driving without local people.”
being stored with class of depot”.
its stablemates for Another leaflet,
several years, it
was transferred to
Ilford in August
published circa
1951, tells of the
history and
Didcot night shoots are back
1949 as BR engineering of the THE popular Didcot Railway steam, which should include GWR
No. 26510 for a Liverpool Street- Centre autumn night shoots are 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II, and
new lease of life. Shenfield being revived after an absence of scenes will be posed featuring the
A year later the Pride of place: BR was so proud of electrification several years. The centre in front of engine shed, turntable,
other nine its new depot at Ilford that it project, and partnership with Neil Cave branch line and coal stage.
locomotives in the published this leaflet soon after concludes: “Since (TimeLine Events) is reintroducing All tickets must be booked in
class were its opening in 1949 detailing the its inauguration, the event on November 23. advance at a cost of £25 and
withdrawn, but facilities and including a map of the service of The event will run from 4.30pm to numbers are limited to 100.
No. 26510 was to the site. GEOFF COURTNEY electric trains 9.30pm and the tickets include Book online at Ticketweb UK
remain at Ilford between Liverpool access to Didcot Railway Centre Ltd, 48 Leicester Square, London
for a decade, a regular sight to Street and Shenfield has proved from the normal opening time. WC2H 7LR or by telephone 08444
passengers and trainspotters as it extremely popular, and the There will be two engines in 77 1000 (booking fees apply).
shuffled around the yard on number of passengers and receipts
shunting duties. has increased steadily.

One on its own

An idiosyncracy it may have been,
but despite that – or perhaps
because of it – it gained a following extremely difficult conditions, this
and even a nickname, ‘Denis’ after
Denis Dodridge, a technical
assistant at the depot who looked
after it.
In 1959 it was renumbered
departmental stock No. 100, but
the following year the end was in
sight due to the conversion of the
Shenfield line to 25kV AC.
“As the first great engineering
feat of its kind to be brought to
fruition in Great Britain during the
immediate postwar period, under
is a fitting reward for the energy
and resource which went into
its completion.”
The Ilford depot is now run by
Bombardier, where Greater
Anglia’s Class 315 EMUs, which
now operate the Liverpool Street-
Shenfield suburban services,
are maintained.
Appeal for coach to become arts venue
THE owners of Erwood station in
Powys have appealed for £5000 to
turn a derelict wooden-bodied
carriage into an arts venue.
Two vintage carriages have
already been restored for use as a
craft centre, and now the plan is to
convert an 1890-built six-
compartment coach into an indoor
workshop and exhibition space.
Erwood was on Mid Wales
Railway (MWR) between
Llanidloes and Brecon. Erwood
station closed in 1962 and was
bought in 1984 by Alan and Erika
Cunningham who opened a craft
centre on the site.
Now claiming to support
more than 100 Wales-based artists
and crafts people, the centre is
run by their son, Michael, who
is also chairman of Friends of
Erwood Station.
It is hoped to place the carriage
on a short length of track to give the
impression it is still on a railway.

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 43
 WorldMags.net Exclusive to

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 45
News
WorldMags.net
LNWR Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054 heads the first train from Blaenavon High Level towards Furnace Sidings on September 14. BRIAN SHARPE
Valleys see return of the
London & North Western
By Brian Sharpe
TO CELEBRATE the London &
North Western Railway heritage of
its line and 30 years of operation,
the Pontypool and Blaenavon
Railway was able to secure two
iconic locomotives for its
September 14-15 gala weekend.
The National Railway Museum
provided LNWR ‘Super D’ 0-8-0
No. 49395 and the Bahamas
Locomotive Society loaned LNWR
Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054. Both
these types of engines could once
be found on the former LNWR
lines in South Wales but none
have been seen in the area since
the 1950s.
Super Ds often visited Blaenavon
on freight trains and the Coal
Tanks were familiar working the
passenger services in the early
years of the line, some being based
at Blaenavon shed at one stage.
No. 58926 was the last of the
class working and spent its final
years working out of Abergavenny
shed across the difficult Heads of
the Valleys line to Merthyr Tydfil
via Brynmawr. On January 5, 1958,
it had a starring role in the famous
last train over the Heads of the
46 Heritage Railway
Valley, working with a Super D No. 63, now numbered No. 3 and
PHOTO: MALCOLM RANIERI
No. 49121, identical to No. 49395. newly-restored GWR engineers
During the gala weekend the saloon No. 6479.
railway recreated this last train The two LNWR visitors certainly
with the Coal Tank and Super D brought out the crowds and with
doubleheading. an intensive service of passenger
On its way to the railway, the and goods trains operating on
Coal Tank travelled by road via both lines there was plenty to
Abergavenny and Brynmawr entertain the visitors.
visiting its old haunts. Alex
Hinshelwood, the PBR’s traffic
manager, said: “We are extremely
grateful to both the NRM and the
Bahamas Locomotive Society for
allowing us the use of these two
iconic locomotives for the
weekend. The Super D has been
one of the most requested
locomotives by our membership so
it is great news that we can finally
bring it to the railway. Having
LNWR locomotives running on
LNWR rails is something we never
thought we’d see.”
The weekend saw the official
opening of the station building at
Blaenavon High Level. Also in
operation during the weekend
were Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 71515
and the newly-restored Austerity
No. 72.
Trains on the Big Pit branch Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 71515 (7169 of 1945) on the Big
consisted of GER director’s saloon Pit branch. BRIAN SHARPE
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www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net

LNWR Coal Tank 0-6-2T No. 1054 and ‘Super D’ 0-8-0 No. 49395 join forces in an Alistair Grieve photo charter on September 13 in a recreation of the last train on the Heads of the
Valleys route of January 5, 1958. MALCOLM RANIERI.

LNWR ‘Super D’ 0-8-0 No. 49395 approaches Furnace Sidings with a goods train. BRIAN SHARPE

WorldMags.net
www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 47
Railwayana by Geoff Courtney
WorldMags.net
Duchess will be lording it at Stoneleigh
A Duchess will be lording it over Great
central’s October 12 auction at stoneleigh,
with Duchess of Rutland from LMs Princess
coronation No. 46228 leading the charge of
the nameplates, although she will doubtless be
pushed hard by Crewkerne, with badge and
scroll, (sR West country class No. 34040),
a fine set being sold as a single lot.
Further LMs representatives are Bradshaw
(Patriot No. 45518), and Jubilee pair Bombay
and Amethyst (Nos. 45576 and 45700), while
an interesting GWR offering is Saint Martin
from the prototype hall No. 4900 that
started life in 1907 as saint class
No. 2925 before being converted at
swindon in 1924.
Kenilworth Castle (GWR
No. 4097) will also be going under
Mike soden’s hammer, coupled
with its cabside numberplate, and
so too a combined name and
numberplate from Bulldog
No. 3341 Blasius, built at swindon
in 1900 and withdrawn by BR in
November 1949.
Another from the southern
Railway is Hurstpierpoint (schools
class No. 30918), and from the LNeR
come Saint Johnstoun (A1 Pacific
No. 60162 built at Doncaster in December
➲ LMs Jubilee nameplate Tobago
(No. 45635), headlines the solent auction at
Wickham on October 26, while diesel
aficionados may like Strathclyde, carried
briefly by 1965-built Brush class 47 D1917
(47818). There is also an LMs tenderplate
from sDJR 2-8-0 No. 53806, a member of a
class of locomotives that, like the line on
which they ran, has a loyal following. start
time, at Wickham community centre,
is 10am.
➲ The LNeR and LMs occupied the top two
podium places in the Lacy scott & Knight
collectors’ models and railwayana sale at Bury
st edmunds on August 17, each with 5in
gauge live steam models. Gold at £3400 went
to an unnumbered B1 class 4-6-0 built by
A hammond of Wymondham that has been
shown at Norwich Model society exhibitions,
and silver at £2400 to class 2F 0-6-0T
No. 7106. Both prices exclude buyer’s
premium of 17½% (plus VAT).
➲ Leading realisation at a Vectis railwayana
and model train sale at Thornaby on August
23 was £320 for a Z-gauge model by Marklin
of Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-6-0
No. 136 with coaches. The price excludes
buyer’s premium of 20% (plus VAT).
➲ An early cast iron Portobello sign from the
station east of edinburgh Waverley sold for
£950 at a railwayana and railway models
auction held by Thomson Roddick & Medcalf
in carlisle on August 16. The original
Portobello station was opened in 1832 by the
edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway on a 4ft 6in
gauge horse-drawn line – the scottish capital’s
first railway – and replaced by a North British
Railway main line station in 1846 which was
closed by BR in 1964. The price excludes
buyer’s premium of 16% (plus VAT).
48 Heritage Railway
1949 so okay, technically a BR engine), and
Nottinghamshire (D49 No. 62723). Finally
there is Linette, from No. 73087, one of the
southern Region standard 5MT 4-6-0s that
adopted the names of withdrawn King
Arthurs, in this case No. 30752.
smokebox number plates from three of the
above – Nos. 4900, 62723 and 73087 – are
being sold separately from their nameplates,
and the same category includes 34062
(sR Battle of Britain 17 Squadron), 62684
(LNeR D11 Wizard of the Moor), and
65236 (LNeR J36 Horne). A smokebox
from a non-namer is 61503, an early
class B12 withdrawal, being taken
out of service from Keith (61c) in
May 1951.
Also on offer will be a
worksplate from No. 62723 –
so providing a collector the
opportunity of piecing
together at the auction a
nameplate, smokebox number
plate and worksplate set from
the Nigel Gresley-designed
4-4-0 – and 1937 Doncaster
works No. 1862 from A4 Pacific
No. 60031 Golden Plover.
Rarities include a trio of passes,
comprising a cambrian Railways’ gold
Military might at debut auction
MiLiTARy memories will be revived at
Great Northern’s debut auction on October
19, with five of the eight main line steam
and diesel nameplates on offer having
connections with the armed forces.
There is Lockheed Hudson from GWR
castle class No. 5081, named after a
us-built second World War light bomber,
Swiftsure (LMs Jubilee No. 45716, a name
first used by the navy on a galleon in 1573
and subsequently given to nine further
craft), The South Staffordshire
Regiment (LMs Royal scot
No. 46143), Lord Roberts
(BR standard Britannia
No. 70042, named after
a British soldier
regarded as one of the
most successful
commanders of the 19th
century), and finally
Cambrian, from Warship
diesel-hydraulic D806 and another
Royal Navy favourite name, given to five
ships from 1797 onwards.
completing the uK main line steam
nameplates are Crosby Hall (GWR
No. 4992), and LNeR Pacifics Papyrus (A3
No. 60096) and Mons Meg (A2 No. 60504,
originally a Gresley class P2 2-8-2 built in
1936 but rebuilt by edward Thompson
in 1944).
indeed, the last name continues
the military theme, as Mons Meg is
a bombard gun which survives in display at
edinburgh castle.
This 15ft long monster, which weighs nearly
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example in the name of
Viscount churchill,
GWR chairman from
1908-34 after whom
castle class No. 111
(formerly The Great
Bear, the company’s
only Pacific locomotive)
was named, another
from the cornwall
Railway, and the third
from the Midland &
south Western Junction
Railway.
Totem station signs
include eastern Region’s
Bartlow, Broxbourne, and
Millhouses & ecclesall,
there is a late 1930s LNeR
‘The coronation’ poster
by Frank Mason which is
bound to catch the eye of
the growing number of
poster enthusiasts, and for
horologists comes a 19th
century highland Railway
longcase clock from Kyle of Lochalsh station
and entered into the auction by a former Kyle
stationmaster. Mike will launch proceedings
at 10am.
seven tons – almost as much as a London
Routemaster double decker bus – was
presented to King James ii of scotland by the
Duke of Burgundy in 1457.
The selection of worksplates includes
examples from LNeR A4 No. 60004 William
Whitelaw (Doncaster works No. 1864) and
A3 Nos. 60039 Sandwich and 60047
Donovan, an 1898 Dubs from LMs ‘Ben’
4-4-0 No. 54397 Ben-y-Gloe, and a BR
Gorton from eM1 electric No. 26057
Ulysses. smokebox numberplates
come from Britannia
No. 70014 Iron Duke and
sR schools No. 30930
Radley, cabside
numberplates include
4055 from GWR star
Princess Sophia, and
there is the double
chimney from LMs
Princess coronation No. 46256
Sir William A. Stanier, F.R.S. and the
single version from Princess Royal
No. 46201 Princess Elizabeth.
headboards include ‘Royal scot’, ‘Thames-
clyde express’, ‘The Night scotsman’ and
‘The Palatine’, and a 162-year-old antique is
a three-dial ‘regulator’ longcase clock which
started its long life in the Vale of Neath
Railway’s swansea hQ in 1851 and was
subsequently transferred to Paddington
when the company was absorbed into the
GWR in 1865.
Auctioneer ian Wright will start
proceedings, at Poynton civic centre near
stockport, at 11am.
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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 49
London Victoria
WorldMags.net
to Sheffield Park
direct for the first time in 50 years
Tornado arrived at Sheffield Park with a train from Victoria on September 10, Cedric Johns reports on
another major 2013 milestone for the Bluebell Railway and a landmark moment in steam preservation.
W hen on October 27, 1963, two
London Brighton & South Coast
Railway tank engines, A1X
‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No. 55 Stepney and E4 0-6-2T
No. 473 Birch Grove worked the ‘Brighton
Belle’ excursion from the Sussex coast to East
Grinstead via Haywards Heath, Copyhold
Junction and Ardingly, it marked the last
passenger service to run on to the Bluebell
Line – or most people thought.
Fast forward 50 years – give or take the odd
day – and normal service was resumed when
the A1 Trust’s high profile 4-6-2 No. 60163
Tornado rolled to a standstill at East
Grinstead to take on a pilot before the train,
a Steam Dreams ‘Cathedrals Express’ ran
on over the length of the heritage line
to Sheffield Park via Kingscote and
Horsted Keynes.
The first railtour on to the Bluebell line
since its reconnection with Network Rail was
UK Railtours’ diesel-hauled ‘Blue Belle’ on
March 28, but this one was steam.
Considering that this was an historic
moment, the train’s arrival was comparatively
low key. There were no brass bands, no
bunting, no obvious outward celebrations
apart that was, from the sight of Roy Watts,
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one of the Bluebell’s leading personalities,
flagging the train over the crossing point with
Network Rail’s main line connection.
The local media attended as did BBC TV
South, all eager to find a story of the day’s
events. As might be expected the BBC team
worked quickly, news of the train’s arrival
being screened that evening.
Locally, the East Grinstead Courier and
Observer managed a picture and a couple of
lines covering the train’s arrival including the
fact that when the 4-6-2 came to a stop at East
Grinstead, the Southern Rail Electrostar EMU
standing adjacent was older than the A1. ➲
 WorldMags.net No. 60163 Tornado on arrival at
Sheffield Park. PETER HOLLANDS

LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado heads Steam

Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ through Clapham
Junction on September 10. RICHARD SALMON
No. 60163 Tornado is seen tailing the return working on departure from Sheffield Park. ANDREW STRONGITHARM

WorldMags.net
Heritage Railway 51
 WorldMags.net
GNR J52 0-6-0ST No. 1247 on arrival at Horsted Keynes with the ‘Blue Belle’ which it had hauled from London Bridge on April 1, 1962. COLOUR RAIL.COM K102395
The Bluebell’s commercial director Tim
Baker, who was present when the ‘Express’
arrived, said that there were large crowds of
local people at stations wanting to join in the
event. Tornado carried the original ‘Blue Belle’
headboard, carried by previous railtours
which visited the line in the early 1960s,
kindly loaned to by its present owner
from Yorkshire.
On arrival at Sheffield Park, the A1 went on
shed for servicing, the set of coaches moving
to Horsted Keynes.
Operating a one engine in steam timetable,
the Bluebell put on an extra service consisting
of SECR H class 0-4-4T No. 263 and a set of
Bulleid coaches to meet the demands of
visiting passengers. “The trains were packed
all day,” said Tim.
52 Heritage Railway
Summing up the day, Steam Dreams
chairman, Marcus Robertson, said: “It was a
truly wonderful feeling and a great privilege
for a ‘Cathedrals Express’ to mark such an
historic occasion.
“The fun really began on the steep climb
from South Croydon to the Surrey Downs.
Tornado handled its load of 12 coaches and a
dead diesel magnificently.
“It was clearly an emotional moment for
many Bluebell members travelling on our
train when we arrived – spot on time – at
East Grinstead.
“All the credit for the fun we had was entirely
due to the Bluebell’s members and directors –
past and present – for realising a wonderful
dream.”
Later in the day the ‘Express’ returned to
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London, a DBS class 66 hauling the train back
to South Croydon from where Tornado
worked the train home by running back
around the Surrey Hills route in the reverse
direction via Redhill and Guildford.
One observer was heard to comment:
“A very special day but at the same time
running a steam special on to the Bluebell line
seemed both very normal and natural – long
may it remain so.”
Following the opening of the extension to
East Grinstead, the Bluebell Railway
Preservation Society’s membership total
reached a record 11,005 by the end of August.
Five months to the day since the extension
opened, East Grinstead booking clerks Roger
Bell and Ron Cheeseman sold the 10,000th
adult return ticket.
Above: The Bluebell Railway’s LBSCR E4 0-6-2T No. 473
Birch Grove at Brighton shed on October 27, 1963, on
the occasion of the last passenger train from Haywards
Heath to Horsted Keynes. COLOUR RAIL.COM 111226
Left: Caledonian 4-2-2 No. 123 and LSWR T9 4-4-0
No. 120 pass Star Lane with the ‘Scottish Belle’ from
Victoria on September 15, 1963. COLOUR RAIL.COM 102393
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Previous through specials
to the Bluebell Railway
By Brian Sharpe

THE Bluebell Railway Preservation Society’s

‘Bluebell Special’ departed from Brighton at
1pm on April 22, 1961, headed by LBSCR E6
0-6-2T No. 32418 and E4 06-2T No. 32503
running via Steyning and Horsham to Three
Bridges from where E4s Nos. 32564 and 32503
ran via East Grinstead High Level to Oxted,
then to Edenbridge Town, Eridge and
Heathfield to Polegate.
From here, No. 32564 and another E4
No. 32479 headed for Lewes, and Haywards
Heath before diverging at Copyhold Junction
to reach Horsted Keynes from where it
LSWR Adams Radial 4-4-2T No. 488 carries the ‘Blue Belle’ headboard at Sheffield Park. COLOUR RAIL.COM 105416 / returned to Brighton via Haywards Heath.
DAVID A LAWRENCE A more ambitious trip featuring preserved
steam, ‘The Blue Belle’ ran on April 1, 1962,
departing from London Bridge with Captain
Smith’s GNR J52 0-6-0ST No. 1247 at the head
of six coaches, running via Three Bridges to
Haywards Heath where the 0-6-0ST ran round
to run via Ardingly to Horsted Keynes. From
here, the Bluebell’s LBSCR A1X ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T
No. 55 Stepney hauled the train over Bluebell
metals to Sheffield Park with No. 1247 on the
rear. The return journey over the same route
being hauled from Sheffield Park to Horsted
Keynes by LSWR Adams Radial 4-4-2T No. 488,
again with No. 1247 on the rear.
At first the Bluebell’s engines confined their
London Brighton & activities to the Bluebell’s metals but this
South Coast Railway changed on October 21, 1962, when the BRPS
ran the ‘Victory Blue Belle’, this time from
routes in West Sussex Victoria to Haywards Heath, and headed by
preserved LSWR ‘Greyhound’ 4-4-0 No. 120.
This time Stepney and the Adams tank took
charge over the once-electrified route from
Haywards Heath via Ardingly to Horsted
Keynes, and reversing to reach Sheffield Park.
The following year saw preserved and BR
steam joining forces for ‘The Spring Belle’
with the Bluebell’s E4 0-6-2T No. 473 Birch
Grove and BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80084
heading the train from Victoria to Haywards
Heath from where the E4 was joined by No.
488 for the run to Horsted Keynes, where it
reversed to continue to Sheffield Park.
The most ambitious of the tours, officially
named ‘The Scottish Belle’ but again carrying
‘The Blue Belle’ headboard set off from
Victoria on September 15, 1963, in the charge
of T9 No. 120 piloted by none other than the
Caledonian Single No. 123 which had been
brought all the way down from Glasgow for
the occasion. This time though, the train was
routed via East Croydon, Stoats Nest Junction
Star Lane and Earlswood to Haywards Heath.
Nos. 488 and 473 took the train from there to
Horsted Keynes where SECR P class 0-6-0T
No. 27 joined the proceedings for the run to
Sheffield Park with Stepney doing the
honours back to Horsted Keynes.
On October 27, 1963, the ‘Brighton Blue
Belle’ saw Stepney and Birch Grove running
throughout from Brighton to Horsted Keynes
via Haywards Heath, Copyhold Junction and
Ardingly. This train marked the closure of the
line from Copyhold Junction to East Grinstead
via Horsted Keynes to passenger services and
was to be the last through passenger working
to the Bluebell Railway until reinstatement of
the line between East Grinstead and Horsted
LSWR T9 4-4-0 No. 120 at Haywards Heath with the ‘Victory Blue Belle’ of October 21, 1962. COLOUR RAIL.COM Keynes was completed in 2013.
111228

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 53
 WorldMags.net
LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado arrives at Horsted
Keynes with Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’
from Victoria on September 10. NICK FARRANT

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WorldMags.net

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Mainline News Compiled by Cedric Johns
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New ban hits high speed
‘Streaks’ for second time
WITHIN less than a week of stating
that restrictions on the use of steam
locomotives “for show purposes
only” on the main line had been
lifted on August 23, it was
announced that Network Rail had
re-introduced its steam traction
ban on the East Coast Main Line
in particular.
The decision was taken in the light
of two lineside fires which occurred
on Tuesday, August 27, when
Carnforth’s ‘Scot’ 4-6-0 No. 46115
Scots Guardsman worked the
‘Scarborough Spa Express’ in the
Malton area.
Network Rail’s Kate Snowden said
that this was a test case “which
showed that the prevailing ground
conditions were still not suitable for
the running of normal steam
operations and posed a fire risk”.
Of all trains, the new ban
immediately hit the two 90mph
‘Streaks’ booked behind A4 4-6-2
No. 4464 Bittern at the end
of August.
Originally redated – after an
earlier ban – to run from York to LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of South Africa emerges from Blea Moor tunnel with the Railway Touring Company’s ’Cumbrian
Newcastle on August 30 and from Mountain Express’ on August 31. JOHN LEWIS
York to King’s Cross the following
day, both trains were awaiting new According to Peter, a handful of Devon banks while at the same time In the south, RTC’s ‘Dorset Coast
dates after the lifting of the second passengers thought their telephone reducing the risk of lineside fires. Express’ continued to run down the
restriction is confirmed. calls were a hoax and turned up at It didn’t turn out that way. South West Main Line unaffected
Updates will be posted at the appointed stations where they Informed sources told Main Line by Network Rail’s restrictions.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk and at were informed of the disappointing News that the engine set fire to half On Wednesday, August 28,
facebook.com/heritagerailway facts by Pathfinder representatives. of Somerset and Devon en route The Sherwood Forester worked
‘Streaks’ ticketing agent, On Sunday, September 1, another to Cornwall the ‘Express’ solo from London to
Pathfinder Tour’s Peter Watts, said Carnforth engine, LMS ‘Black Five’ As a result the diesel was given the Weymouth, and the following
that his office did not receive notice No. 44932, set the telephones job of working the train back to week, Wednesday, September 4,
of the postponements until the buzzing as it worked RTC’s ‘Royal Bristol but ran low on fuel and was BR 4-6-2 No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell
Thursday before Pathfinder’s ‘Tyne- Duchy’ from Bristol to Par. taken off the train at Newton Abbot was given a clear road to the
Tees Streak’ was booked to depart Originally to be paired with ‘Black leaving the ‘Black Five’ in sole Dorset coast.
Bristol on the Saturday and Five’ No. 45231 The Sherwood charge for the remaining miles to Yes, both trains ran with a diesel
Locomotive Services ‘Capital Streak’ Forester, David Smith’s engine had Temple Meads.. attached to the rear, but as explained
the day after. to go it alone when Forester’s Bert On the same Sunday, West in last month’s column, they were
With the two trains carrying a Hitchen was unable to find a Country 4-6-2 No. 34046 Braunton required to haul the trains back to
total of 700 plus passengers, support crew at such short notice. took the ‘Torbay Express’ out of the Southampton area where steam
Pathfinder’s backroom staff were As it happened, train operator Temple Meads to Kingswear and took over the homeward run via
hard pressed to alert ticket holders West Coast provided a diesel to return without a diesel or troubling Romsey, Laverstock, Andover
with news. assist the 4-6-0 over the South local firefighting services. and Basingstoke.

B1 Mayflower North Wales main line debut delayed

THE much-anticipated main line debut of B1
4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower has been delayed
because the engine was declared unavailable to
head the Railway Touring Company’s ‘North
Wales Express’ due to depart from Crewe on
Saturday, September 8.
Beset with routing changes – it was originally
planned to start from Liverpool’s Lime Street
then Manchester – the train was eventually
cancelled. Discussing the reasons for the B1’s
temporary withdrawal, owner Neil Boden told
Main Line News that a front end lubrication
problem had been detected while the engine
was running light back to Birmingham from
the Mid-Norfolk Railway on August 27.
Light repairs were under way at Mayflower’s
Washwood Heath base in mid-September when
Neil said that his B1 would be ready in time to
make its revised passenger hauling debut on
October 5.
This trip, another RTC train, the ‘Wandering
1500 Tour’, is scheduled to depart London
Liverpool Street for Norwich and East Anglian
branch lines.
For years a Nene Valley Railway engine, the
B1 was moved to Carnforth on May 1 – treated
as a light proving run – and gained its main line
certification after completing a Carnforth-
Hellifield-Blackburn-Carnforth loaded test trip
the following day.
The 4-6-0 subsequently moved to the North
Yorkshire Moors Railway, returning to the
Midlands from Grosmont on May 13.
More trips with RTC trains are, we
understand, planned for future dates yet to
be confirmed.

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56 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
Steam Dreams moves to West Coast Tornado
STEAM Dreams is to drop DB
Schenker, its current train operating
company, in favour of West Coast
Railways, with effect from October
3. West Coast’s responsibilities begin
immediately that morning as the
new agreement comes into force by
operating a ‘Cathedrals Express’
from Alton to Canterbury.
Apart from Steam Dreams’
November 23 – provisionally
booked for Tornado – departing
from Waterloo to Ludlow and
Shrewsbury via Woking, Salisbury
and Bath, it has been agreed that
100% of ‘Cathedrals Express’
operations will be operated by
West Coast until December 2016
at the earliest.
It has been well known for some
time that DB Schenker has
experienced difficulties in providing
drivers, firemen and guards for
charter trains and more so in coping
with the intensive nature of Steam
Dreams’ annual programme.
The move away from DB
Schenker and the return to West
Coast has, says Steam Dreams, been
agreed amicably between the two
operating companies. The railtour
promoter is particularly happy with
the new arrangement that West
Coast has taken on at short notice.
Steam Dreams chairman Marcus
Robertson said: “DBS tendered for
our work at the end of 2011 and we
originally agreed to work together
for three years.
“Initially everything went
smoothly but last summer’s
industrial dispute has seemingly
made the operation of charters a
much harder business, doubly so for
the operation of steam.
“At times DBS has probably been
as disappointed as we have at the
inability for us to satisfy our
passengers’ legitimate expectations
but I am grateful for the manner in
which DBS’s management has co-
operated in the changeover.
“It was a tough decision to move
from West Coast when we did and
it was done with much soul
searching by our board at the time.
It is well documented that West
Coast did not have Tornado on its
books and that is probably what
swayed our decision at the time.
“Moving back to West Coast has
been one of the easiest decisions we
have ever had to make. It is one of
the great strengths of West Coast
that it is a relatively small business
able to make decisions quickly and
our whole discussion took little
more than a few hours and in a
time-honoured English fashion was
sealed with a handshake.
“It is great credit to David Smith,
West Coast’s chairman, that once
such a handshake has taken place he
feels honour bound to try as hard as
possible to deliver what he
promised and has done so many
times in the past.
“I believe that this move heralds a
new era for Steam Dreams and the
‘Cathedrals Express’ operation and
we look forward to working with
the West Coast team with renewed
confidence and optimism.”
In addition to its change of train
operating company, Steam Dreams
has made changes to its
management structure.
Graeme Bunker, the company’s
chief executive officer, is to become
operations consultant.
Explaining that Graeme’s position
was in effect a part-time
responsibility which he combined
with other work in the rail industry
through his own consultancy,
Jersey Rail, Marcus said an
increasing number of clients had
prompted Graeme to decide to
return to the mainstream rail
industry while retaining his
shareholding in Steam Dreams.
In 2012 Steam Dreams appointed
Julie Martin as managing director of
the ‘Cathedrals Express’ operation;
and following the sale of his own
marketing business, Marcus has
gradually increased his time within
the company. With Graeme
Bunker reducing his involvement,
Marcus becomes full-time
executive chairman.
Marcus said: “Graeme’s great
strengths are his encyclopaedic
knowledge of both railways and
steam movements allied to his
creativity and his boundless energy.
“Over the last year or so, Graeme’s
commitments away from Steam
Dreams have increased, both myself
and Julie taking on some of his
responsibilities. This will continue
over the next few months but
nevertheless Graeme will still be
a regular face on our trains and
will continue to help develop and
guide our products during the next
few years.
“Steve Newell, an engineering
graduate who joined us from
university in 2011, has been
working closely with Graeme with
precisely the new situation in mind
and he has now been promoted to
the role of operations manager.
“As well as being monitored by
Graeme he will be supported by
Stephen Cornish, former Head of
Special Trains, Network Rail.
Stephen, a non-executive director,
Steam Dreams, will add his wealth
of experience to the operational side
of the Steam Dreams business.”
An example of DBS’s difficulty in
handling charter business was the
SRPS ‘Fife Circle’ tours with
Tornado in May when the well-filled
morning train, contrary to what
we reported last month, was
cancelled through DBS’s inability
to provide a crew.
locked in at
Mid-Hants
THE A1 Steam Locomotive
Trust’s 4-6-2 No. 60163
Tornado’s visit to the Mid-
Hants Railway to use the line’s
Ropley’s wheeldrop had
unexpected consequences
when overrunning engineering
work closed the line between
Alton and Farnham.
Instead of departing the
railway on Thursday, August
29, en route to Sheringham and
the North Norfolk Railway’s
gala as planned, the A1 was
locked in until Network Rail
reopened the section allowing
the 4-6-2 to rejoin the main
line on Tuesday, September 3.
The delay meant that Tornado
missed its appearance on the
North Norfolk Railway and as a
result departed Alton for
Southall where, standing in for
A4 No. 4464 Bittern which was
stabled at York because of
Network Rail’s latest steam ban
in the York area, the A1 was
prepped for a ‘Cathedrals
Express’ excursion to Lincoln,
Thursday, September 5.
Diesel hauled from Shalford,
picking up at Woking,
Wimbledon and Kensington
Olympia, the ‘Express’ was
steam hauled from Wembley
but with a diesel leading the
way, travelling up the East
Coast Main Line as far as
Peterborough before
continuing on via Spalding
and Sleaford.
This trip produced a number
of emails from lineside
photographers – aimed at
Steam Dreams’ offices and
staff – complaining that their
photo opportunities had been

Clan Line for annual inspection spoiled by the diesel’s presence.

WHEN Stewarts Lane-based rebuilt Bulleid 4-6-2
No. 35028 Clan Line returned from ‘British Pullman’
duties having worked from London Victoria to Bath
via Woking, Basingstoke and Salisbury, Wednesday,
September 11, the engine was to be withdrawn from
service for its annual summer ‘outage’.
As is normal practice the 4-6-2 is ‘stopped’ around
late August to early September each year for a full
inspection to take place, its engineering team making
adjustments and repairs as required.
Basically the ‘Merchant’ is fine, reported
spokesman Alan French in conversation with Main
Line News before the 4-6-2’s run to Bath; but as he
said, the annual inspection is always carried out to
ensure that the engine is on the top line.
In view of present fire risk conditions, special
attention will be given to the engine’s spark arrestor
which already is fitted with two screens.
As a rough estimate he thought the inspection and
Two days later the A1 was
booked to head another
‘Cathedrals Express’, on this
ensuing repairs – if any – would continue until the occasion the train started from
end of October but as the 4-6-2 is not booked for its Waterloo destined for Bath and
next trip until November 1 the work schedule has Cardiff, routed down the South
plenty of latitude. West Main Line to Basingstoke,
Talking of the trip to Bath – providing Network Salisbury and Westbury.
Rail’s latest restriction on steam haulage does not Despite rumours that gauging
affect No. 35028 as it did on July 10 and 20 – Alan issues en route might provide
dispelled a commonly held assumption that the problems for Tornado making
Pullman train – as do most other excursions – its historic journey to the
carries passengers to Bath and or Bristol. Bluebell Railway on Tuesday,
All passengers alight at Bath he said and then the September 10, with a
train becomes an empty stock working to Bristol’s ‘Cathedrals Express’ it seems
East Yard where the engine is serviced while the that Network Rail’s gauging
coaches are tidied and prepared for the return run engineers had been working
back to London. with out of date details of
No dates have yet been posted towards the end of bridge, station and track
the year but Alan anticipates that the 4-6-2 will be clearances located on the Oxted
required to work three Christmas luncheon Pullman line deep in the heart of the
trains in December. Sussex countryside.

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 57
Mainline News
WorldMags.net
The Sherwood Forester
works on the Southern
WORKING a ‘Fellsman’ trip over
the Settle & Carlisle line one week
then heading a ‘Dorset Coast
Express’ through Hardy country the
next sums up the go-anywhere
versatility of Stanier’s ‘Black Fives’.
In this instance, the 4-6-0
concerned with raising the echoes
on two distinctly different parts of
the national network is No. 45231
The Sherwood Forester.
That said, having to cope with
working with whatever our modern
high-speed railway throws up in the
way of unexpected operational
problems for steam hauled railtours,
both runs were anything but
straightforward.
On Wednesday, August 21, the
LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 44932 passes Coryton Cove with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Royal Duchy’ on September 1. MARK WILKINS
Compiled by Cedric Johns
4-6-0 worked a sell-out ‘Fellsman’
from Lancaster to Carlisle but after
taking water at Hellifield ran into
trouble when a DMU in front was
damaged when it collided with a
large round bale of hay which had
run down an embankment on to the
track near to Kirkby Stephen.
The ‘Fellsman’ was brought to a
lengthy halt while the DMU was
split into two parts and worked on
to Carlisle wrong line.
Booked to take water at Appleby,
where some passengers were due to
alight, the decision was taken to top
Forester’s tank at Kirkby Stephen.
That accomplished, the train was
reversed to a nearby crossover and
given permission to run wrong line
to Carlisle in the wake of the DMU.
Because of the delay, the train ran
through Appleby without stopping,
arriving at Carlisle two hours late.
The ‘Black Five’s owner, Bert
Hitchen, said that the support crew
buckled down and turned the
engine around in three quarters of
an a hour ready for the return
journey to Lancaster.
Departing an hour late, the 4-6-0
was dogged by ‘yellows’ as far as
Kirkby Stephen but then enjoyed a
good run down to Hellifield – and
quick top-up – the train running
into Lancaster 45 minutes down.
Despite the delays, Bert described
the overall trip as a “good day out”.
The following Tuesday, August 27,
Statesman Rail’s ‘Fellsman’ headed by
LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 45231 passes
the stricken Class 158 unit south of
Kirkby Stephen. PETER FITTON
Forester and support coach travelled
south from Carnforth to Southall,
West London, where the 4-6-0 was
prepared for a trip to the Dorset
Coast the following morning.
Departing Victoria, the ‘Dorset
Coast Express’ was placed on the
back road via Staines, joining the
South West Main Line at
Addlestone Junction and judging
by the train’s progress was given
a good road down through
Basingstoke, Southampton and
Bournemouth arriving Weymouth
at the right time under blue skies
and bright sunshine.
Because of a lack of second engine
booked to work the train back to
London, a West Coast Class 47
hauled the train back with the
‘Black Five’ running tender first at
the rear as far as Southampton.
Now facing the right way,
No. 45231 took charge for the
journey home to Waterloo.
Since then The Sherwood Forester
has remained at Southall and minor
repairs carried out prior to its next
trip, which involves the 4-6-0 in
shared two engine working on
September 28 when No. 45231 and
BR 4-6-2 No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell
are booked to head the Railway
Touring Company’s ‘Royal Wessex’
from Three Bridges to Weymouth
via Haywards Heath, Hove,
Chichester, Havant, Southampton
and Bournemouth.
The pairing replaces the
original combination of Braunton
and Tangmere.
As we closed for press, it was
unclear which of the two engines
will work the westbound train or
return but whichever, one will
provide banking assistance out
of Weymouth.

Royal Scot and Britannia progress at L&NW Crewe

LITTLE has been heard about LMS 6P No. 6100
Royal Scot since the engine was moved from
Southall to LNWR Crewe.
However, work on the three-cylinder Stanier
rebuilt 4-6-0 is making steady progress towards
the engine’s planned return to steam.
A brief conversation with a source close to the
‘Scot’ revealed that the scheduled work
programme is ‘going well’ with a view to
returning the 4-6-0 to active service late
next year.
Equally, little news of another engine, BR 7P
4-6-2 No. 70000 Britannia, has been forthcoming
since it was moved to LNWR via Riley
Engineering after sustaining front-end damage as
a result of the well-documented collision during
a North Norfolk Railway gala back in March.
It seems that the issue relating to the non-
conforming stay (material) specification is
still ongoing.
It is understood that the plan to replace existing
stays with new ones will not begin until
agreement, primarily with the engine’s boiler
insurers, has been reached.
It seems unlikely that Britannia will be
returned to main line traffic before the end of
this year.

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58 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
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K1 hauled back to Carnforth Bournemouth line steam bonus
THE North Eastern Locomotive
Preservation Group’s flagship, K1
2-6-0 No. 62005, has been
returned-by road to Carnforth
after being failed at Fort William
with what has been described as a
bulging firebox.
Fortunately the problem was
discovered before it developed
into something much more
serious, the engine being
‘stopped’ and withdrawn from
its ‘Jacobite’ commitments.
On arrival at West Coast
Railway’s workshops at Carnforth,
the K1’s cab and part cladding
were removed to provide access
to the firebox.
Reports indicate that a cluster of
around 50 broken stays had
resulted in the 2-6-0’s copper
firebox becoming distorted.
Repair work entailing stay
replacements and straightening the
copper plates was well under way
in late August and surprisingly
expected to be completed in time
Class 52 diesel-hydraulic D1015 Western Champion departs from Weymouth with 1Z53
‘The Wessex Westernman’ to Leicester on September 7. DWV HUNT
SEE CLASSIC TRACTION ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK
RECENT interest in heritage
traction has been the negative
aspect arising from the current ban
on steam operation and the
insistence by Network Rail that
diesel traction be pilot to many of
the steam-operated services.
While there have been appeals
about allowing the steam
locomotive to be at the head of the
train with the diesel locomotive
immediately behind, the
involvement of a diesel in any part
of the trip has been anathema to
many but it appears to upset the
observers at the lineside more than
the passengers who, it appears, are
less concerned about what traction
is at the head of the train than the
fact that the train runs at all.
In terms of traction this policy
has seen Vintage Trains use its
Class 47, No. 47773, on affected
trains while those operated by
West Coast (especially the Jacobite
from Fort William to Mallaig and
the ‘Scarborough Spa Express’
from York to Scarborough) have
seen classes 33, 37 and 47 brought
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
for the engine to return to Fort
William by the end of September.
The fact that the 2-6-0’s boiler
did not need to be lifted will have
played an important factor in the
speed of the repairs.
Moved south by road without its
tender, it is thought that the engine
is to be taken back north by the
same means and replumbed to its
tender on arrival before re-
entering service for the remainder
of the ‘Jacobite’ season, which ends
on Friday, October 25, and this
year is being shared with Ian
Riley’s ‘Black Fives’ No. 44871
and No. 45407.
Following a major overhaul
including the fitting of new front
and back plates last winter, the K1
travelled to Fort William in the
company of No. 44871 on May 10
in readiness for the new Highland
line season which began on
Monday, May 27, the ‘Black Five’
working trains during the first two
weeks of the programme.
into use. The ‘Scarborough Spa
Express’, in particular, has been
influenced by the strictness of the
Eastern Region whose sensitivity
to lineside fires has been greatest
with some services operating
without a steam locomotive in the
consist on some days. That
sensitivity has also affected some
main line tours with the 90mph
runs of No. 4464 Bittern on the
ECML having been postponed
again (see separate report).
Meanwhile, two operators of
heritage traction have recently
announced new locomotive orders
that will have an (uncertain) effect
on their locomotive fleets.
Direct Rail Services is currently
awaiting the arrival of its first of 15
Class 68 locomotives that are
expected to replace the Class 47
locomotives on the increasing
passenger and charter work. The
company has also ordered 10
electric locomotives from Vossloh
following the hire of three Class 92
locomotives from DB Schenker.
No. 92015 was at Carlisle for driver
WorldMags.net
SOUTHERN steam enthusiasts
used to seeing summer-only
excursion traffic on the
Southampton-Bournemouth-Poole-
Weymouth main line are in for
bonus this year thanks to new
initiatives by the Railway
Touring Company.
Usually, when the ‘Dorset Coast
Express’ makes its final seasonal trip
to the Dorset coast – this year it was
on September 11 – it signifies the
end of steam-driven activities on
the line…but not so this autumn
and winter.
Steam continues on Saturday,
September 28, when the ‘Royal
Wessex’ stepped up to the mark
with an excursion from Three
Bridges to Bournemouth
and Weymouth.
Calling at Haywards Heath,
Preston Park, Hove and Worthing,
the train was routed along part of
the Portsmouth Direct Line to
Southampton.
Optimistically perhaps, motive
power was billed as being in the
hands of Bulleid 4-6-2 Tangmere.
The second train, the ‘Dartmouth
Express’, does not quite fit the bill in
the first part. Booked to depart
Poole on Saturday, October 19, the
train is diesel hauled via
Southampton, Eastleigh and
Salisbury to Westbury, where
BR 7P 4-6-2 No. 70013 Oliver
Cromwell takes over for the train’s
reversal on to the West of England
Main Line via Fairwood and Clink
Road junctions.
and artisan training and Nos.
9200/92024 were being prepared
at Crewe to join it. The use of
Class 92 traction will immediately
release Class 66 locomotives but
whether these will replace other
heritage traction in the fleet or be
used to expand the intermodal
services provided to Tesco
through Stobart Rail or taken off
lease and returned to the ROSCO
is yet to be seen.
In the short term, however, the
company continues to operate
Class 20, 37, 47 and 57 traction on
its flask duties which operate
throughout the country and,
looking to repeat the recent
provision of top-and-tail Class 37s
working a four-coach trainset on
Crewe-Derby services during the
bank holiday weekend, provide
more short-term contract hire
similar to the current ‘thunderbird’
provision of top ’n tailed
locomotive operation as a DMU
replacement in the Norwich area
on local services.
The main work of its Class 37
With build-up to Christmas in
mind, RTC is running a ‘Capital
Christmas Express’ from
Weymouth to London Saturday,
November 23.
Calling at Poole, Bournemouth,
Southampton and Eastleigh, the
‘Express’ is routed via Winchester
and Basingstoke to Waterloo.
Finally, on Saturday, November
28, the ‘Bath & Bristol Markets’ trip
is timed to depart Poole at a very
civilised 9.30am picking up at
Branksome, Bournemouth,
Christchurch, Southampton,
Eastleigh and Salisbury en route.
Apart from Oliver Cromwell, the
other three trains are earmarked for
haulage by Bulleid 4-6-2 No. 34067
Tangmere but it remains to be seen
if the engine, yet to be returned
from Carnforth in good health,
becomes available.
The 4-6-2 absence is one reason
why RTC’s plans to work its ‘Dorset
Coast Express’ with two engines,
one working down from London to
Weymouth where a second engine
would take over for the homeward
run, banked albeit tender first by
the engine which arrived with
‘Down’ train, did not work out.
This summer the ‘Express’ was
hauled separately by ‘Black Fives’
No. 44932 and No. 45231, West
Country No. 34046 Braunton and
7P 4-6-2 No. 70013 Oliver
Cromwell. All trains ran with a
diesel attached at the rear for the
purpose of hauling the return
workings back to Southampton.
fleet, however, remains the flask
duties with the Class 37/4 and 37/6
fleet providing regular traction for
the plethora of Network Rail
inspection trains that operate
throughout the network.
The second operator is Colas
Rail, which has recently taken on
the use of Turkish-built Class 70
‘demonstrator’ No. 70099 at
Cardiff while continuing to restore
Class 56 locomotives to active
service. With Nos. 56087/
094/105/302 now at work,
No. 56113 awaiting a test run and
No. 56078 reported to be nearly
ready for a test run, the company
has invested heavily in the class to
gain new work including the
recent gains of infrastructure work
from DB Schenker. Despite this
commitment to Class 56
locomotives, the company is
reported to have ordered 10 Class
70 locomotives with No. 70099
being the first of that order; either
to gain further new work or to
replace the ageing Class 47s
Nos. 47727/39/49.
Heritage Railway 59
Mainline News Compiled by Cedric Johns
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Late autumn
tour changes
LATE changes have been made to
several forthcoming departures in
the current railtour programme.
The Railway Touring Company’s
‘Golden Arrow’ departing from
London Victoria to Dover via
Ashford, Minster, Sandwich and
Deal – day one of a three day tour
to Paris – has been redated from
Friday, September 27, to Friday,
October 11.
In keeping with the change, the
return journey, Dover-Victoria
departs on October 13 returning
by the direct Folkestone, Ashford,
Tonbridge, Sevenoaks route.
Motive power for both trains is
booked for BR 7P 4-6-2 No. 70013
Oliver Cromwell.
Another RTC train, the ‘Bluebell
Explorer’ originally booked to
depart from Worcester behind LNER K4 2-6-0 No. 61994 The Great Marquess heads towards Birkett tunnel on August 28 with the last Statesman Rail ‘Fellsman’ of
Oliver Cromwell on Saturday, the year. PHIL METCALFE
September 28, now starts from

DBS crewing problems continue

the Severn Valley’s Bridgnorth
station routed to East Grinstead
via Kidderminster, Birmingham
International and East Croydon
on Sunday, November 2.
The ‘Lincoln Imp’, a third RTC
excursion, running from King’s Cross
dated for Sunday, November 2, has
been cancelled due to lack of
motive power.
A4s Sir Nigel Gresley and/or
Union of South Africa were booked
for this train but neither engine
is available.
Finally, a ‘Cathedrals Express’
running from King’s Cross to York
on Thursday, November 28, has
been redated to depart on
Thursday, December 19.
This train was booked for
haulage by Tornado but with
Steam Dreams switching the train
operating company from DB
Schenker to West Coast Railways,
revised motive power had yet
to be decided as we closed
for press.
DESPITE reassuring
acknowledgement of its problems
in providing footplate crews
and guards to man main line
railtours following last autumn’s
internal dispute with drivers,
Train Operating Company
DB Schenker has yet to resolve
its manning problems.
This long-running situation
has been highlighted by Steam
Dreams’ decision to take its
business away from DBS in
favour of West Coast Railways
(see separate story). That said,
it seems that communications
are another problem.
When Network Rail reintroduced
its steam ban it immediately
affected the two high speed 90mph
runs featuring A4 No. 4464 Bittern
on August 30/31 yet ticketing agent
Pathfinder Tours was not advised
that the trains had been cancelled
until the Thursday afternoon,
roughly 30 hours before the first
train, Pathfinder’s ‘Tyne-Tees
Streak’ was due to leave Bristol en
route to York on the Saturday and
48 hours before the ‘Capital Streak’
was booked to depart York for
King’s Cross.
DBS was informed by Network
Rail the previous Tuesday that the
trains would not be allowed to run,
but the train operating company
continued to negotiate for
approval without advising
Pathfinder’s staff of the position.
When they heard on the
Thursday, it was a question of all
hands to the proverbial pump to
advise some 700 passengers –
split between the two trains –
of the situation.
Earlier, on August 16, Pathfinder
suffered even more severely when
DBS called on the Friday
afternoon to say that it could not
man a diesel-hauled tour taking in
the Lake District and Carlisle the
following day.
Back in June, the Scottish
Railway Preservation Society’s
plans to run two ‘Fife Circle’ trips
with Tornado were disrupted
when DBS said it could not man
the morning departure, resulting
in the train being cancelled.
A lack of footplate crews also
caused the cancellation of a
‘Cathedrals Express’ advertised to
run from Ipswich and Colchester
to Canterbury on September 12.
When Main Line News spoke
to DBS commercial manager
(charter trains) Paul Phillips
about the loss of the Steam
Dreams business, he replied by
saying that he had seen and was
happy with the press release issued
by the tour promoter.

Diesel unit tours to Swanage and Bluebell railways

UK Railtours has come up with yet more
imaginative low fare trips utilising South West
Trains’ Class 159 DMUs to reach attractive
destinations where passengers can enjoy the
local scenery or indulge themselves in more
than a whiff of steam.
On Saturday, October 26, ‘The Dorset
Dominator’ repeats an earlier Class 159 sold
out tour, departing Waterloo for Swanage, on
the last day of British summertime.
Routed via the South West Main Line to
Wareham via Southampton and
Bournemouth, the train joins the Swanage
Railway link at Worgret Junction stopping at
Corfe Castle en route to the railway’s seaside
terminus. A Bulleid 4-6-2 in steam has been
requested on the day and tickets for a ride on
the Swanage Railway will be available at
reduced prices.
It is little wonder that the first train sold
out, with Standard class return for this day
out just £39.50.
Prior to that, UK Railtours’ trip to
Canterbury on Saturday, October 19, offers
passengers a choice of alighting at Canterbury
West or transferring to coaches for the short
run to Hythe. On arrival a specially chartered
15in gauge train Romney, Hythe &
Dymchurch Railway is booked for a return
trip to Dymchurch, making a 45 minute
photographic stop at New Romney and its
engine shed on the way back to Hythe.
A Standard class ticket is priced at £69.50
and includes coach transfers and rail fare on
the RHDR.
On Thursday, December 12, UK Railtours
visits the Bluebell Railway with a diesel hauled
trip from Victoria utilising the ‘Royal Scot’
set of coaches.
Following a break of an hour at Horsted
Keynes passengers join a Bluebell train
composed of Metropolitan stock for a return
journey to East Grinstead.
Inclusive price for this excursion is £64.50
Standard class.

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Main LineItinerary
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SEPTEMBER ■ FRI 11: ‘GOLDEN ARROW’
Victoria, Ashford, Deal, Dover, Calais, Paris.
■ SAT 28: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ Steam hauled: Victoria, Dover, and Calais, Paris.
Southend, York and return. Locos: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell, 231K8. RTC
Steam hauled: Peterborough, York and return. ■ SAT 12: ‘THAMES-CLYDE’
Loco: 4464 Bittern.. SD Lincoln, Hellifield, Carlisle and return.
■ SAT 28: ‘WELSH MARCHES’ Steam hauled: Hellifield, Carlisle and return..
Tyseley, Chepstow, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Tyseley. Loco: No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. PMRT
Steam hauled throughout. ■ SAT 12: ‘COTSWOLD EXPLORER’
Loco: No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. VT Tyseley, Cheltenham, Swindon, Oxford, Worcester, Tyseley.
■ SAT 28: ‘ROYAL WESSEX’ Steam hauled throughout.
Three Bridges, Havant, Weymouth and return. Loco: No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. VT
Steam hauled throughout. ■ SUN 13: ‘GOLDEN ARROW’
Locos: No. 34046 Braunton and No. 70013 Oliver Paris, Calais, Dover, Tonbridge, Victoria.
Cromwell . RTC Steam hauled: Paris, Calais and Dover, Victoria.
■ SAT 28: ‘LUNE RIVERS TRUST’ Locos: , 231K8, No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. RTC
Carnforth, Hellifield, Chester and return. ■ WED 16: ‘CUMBRIAN MOUNTAIN
Steam hauled throughout. EXPRESS’
Loco: No. 46115 Scots Guardsman. WCR Euston, Preston, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle.
■ SUN 29: ‘ROYAL DUCHY’ Steam hauled: Preston, Carlisle and return.
Bristol, Par and return. Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 45699 Galatea. RTC
Loco: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. RTC ■ SAT 19: ‘CHESHIREMAN’
Cleethorpes, Doncaster, Sheffield, Altrincham, Chester and
OCTOBER return.
Steam hauled: Cleethorpes, Chester, Doncaster.
LNER B1 4-6-0 No. 61306 Mayflower passes
Nuneaton, on the Leicester - Birmingham line,
working from the Mid-Norfolk Railway at
Wymondham to its home base at Washwood Heath
on August 27. GRAHAM NUTTALL
■ TUES 22: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’
King’s Cross, Scarborough and return.
Steam hauled throughout.
Loco: No. TBA. SD
■ WED 23: ‘CUMBRIAN MOUNTAIN
EXPRESS’
Euston, Preston, Shap, Carlisle and return via Settle.
Steam hauled: Preston, Carlisle and return.
Loco: No. 45699 Galatea. RTC
■ TBA: ‘TYNE-TEES STREAK’
Bristol, York, Newcastle and return.
Steam hauled: York, Newcastle and return. (incl 90mph)
Loco: No. 4464 Bittern. PATH
 The information in this list was correct at the time of
going to press. We strongly advise that you confirm details
of a particular trip with the promoter concerned.

■ THUR 3: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS’ Loco: No. 61306 Mayflower. RTC

■ SAT 19: ‘DARTMOUTH EXPRESS’
Alton, Woking, Canterbury and return.
Steam hauled throughout. Poole, Westbury, Kingswear and return.
TOUR PROMOTERS
Loco: No. 70000 Britannia. SD Steam hauled throughout. LSL Locomotive Services Ltd (bookings via
■ SAT 5: ‘WANDERING 1500’ Loco: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell. RTC Pathfinder or Steam Dreams)
Liverpool Street, Cambridge, Norwich, Cromer, Holt and ■ SAT 19: ‘ROBYN HODE SALAS’
return via Ipswich. Tyseley, Burton, Toton, Shireoks, Sheffield, Derby, Tyseley. PATH PathfinderTours 01453 835414
Steam hauled throughout. Steam hauled throughout.
Locos: No. 61306 Mayflower and No. 9466. RTC Loco: No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall. VT PMRT Princess Margaret Rose Tours 01773 743986
■ SAT 5: ‘WELSH BORDERS’ RTC Railway Touring Company
01553 661500
Cleethorpes, Chester, Shrewsbury, Crewe and return.
Steam hauled: Chester, Shrewsbury, Crewe.
REGULAR SD Steam Dreams 01483 209888 0845 310458
Loco: No. 44932. RTC ■ MON-FRI TO OCT 25
■ SUN 6: ‘CATHEDRALS EXPRESS ‘THE JACOBITE’ VT Vintage Trains 0121 708 4960
LUNCHEON’ Fort William, Mallaig and return. VSOE Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
Paddington, Stratford-upon-Avon and return. Steam hauled throughout. 0845 077 2222
Steam hauled throughout. Loco: No. 62005, No. 45407 or No. 44871. WCR WCR West Coast Railways 01524 732100
Loco: No. 4464 Bittern. SD

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 63
Steaming on the Southern WorldMags.net

Tangmere
with

Restored Barry scrapyard Bulleid Battle of Britain PacificTangmere has been one of the big main line
stars of recent years. Don Benn has followed the exploits of his favourite Southern engine since it
returned to the national network in 2003 and presents his finest photographs of it in action.

I have limited the selection of shots mainly

to those taken on home territory as that is
where most of my photography is done.
Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacific No. 34067
Tangmere entered traffic in March 1947 and
initially was allocated to Ramsgate shed. I first
photographed Tangmere in 1961 when it was a
Stewarts Lane engine and regular performer
on the boat trains from Victoria to Folkestone
and Dover, and later when it was allocated to
Salisbury working semi-fasts to Waterloo until
it was withdrawn on November 16, 1963. It is
great performances, including in recent times
the sort of speeds which have only officially
been allowed on the GN main line.
Currently it is back at Carnforth with firebox
problems but hopefully it will return soon to
a reliable main line performer and in the help out in this troubled year of main line
hands of the right drivers has put up some steam running. ■

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Above: No. 34067 at Kimbridge, near

Dunbridge, with the 7.52am Three
Bridges to Bristol on December 10, 2011.

Left: No. 34067 running three minutes

early passes the River Itchen at Bevois
Park with the 4.35pm Weymouth to
Waterloo ‘Dorset Coast Express’ on July
19, 2013.

Below: No. 34067 Tangmere at rest at

Canterbury West on June 4, 2008.

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No. 34067 passing Lockerley Church, near Dunbridge,

with the 8.30am Poole to Bristol on November 26, 2009.

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Above: No. 34067 approaches

Clapham Junction with the
12.28pm from Victoria VSOE
‘Surrey Hills Luncheon’ train
on September 8, 2006.

Above left: No. 34067 near

Pirbright with the 8.46am
Salisbury to Waterloo on June
11, 1962.

Right: In the last week of

steam on the Kent Coast
lines, No. 34067 passes
Bromley South with an up
boat train in June 1961.

Left: No. 34067 at Bristol

Temple Meads with the 10.12
special from Waterloo on
April 17, 2008.

Below right: No. 34067

in Folkestone Warren with
the 9.05 Victoria to
Folkestone Harbour on
January 27, 2007.

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No. 34067 storms past Newington with the 9.23am Victoria to Faversham ‘Neame Steam’ special on August 30, 2008.

No. 34067 gets the 6.08am Nottingham to Canterbury West on the move past Hanwell just after taking over the train on June 17, 2013.

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No. 34067 at Victoria after working the 11.55am circular special via Hastings, April 25, 2007.

No. 34067 climbs away from Folkestone Harbour with

the 1.30pm to Taunton on April 12, 2008.

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Mallard
the record
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breaker – again! The plaque affixed to Mallard in recognition of

its world record. ROBIN JONES

hot on the heels of the great

gathering line-up of all six a4s
at the national railway Museum
in York, no. 4468 Mallard
undertook its own mini-tour to
mark the 75th anniversary of its
126mph world record-breaking
run. First stop was grantham, a
few miles from Little bytham
where the legendary speed was
recorded on July 3, 1938, and
then doncaster, where the
gresley masterpiece had been
built a few months before.
Robin Jones reports.

T he name Mallard will forever be

associated with the stretch of the East
Coast Main Line between Grantham
and Peterborough, the legendary incline of
Stoke Bank down which many speed records
were both set and broken.
A4 No. 4468 has not been through the
Lincolnshire town for more than half a century
before a weekend festival, sponsored by
Mortons of Horncastle Ltd, publisher of
Heritage Railway and our sister title The
Railway Magazine, was held in its honour on
September 7-8.
Another record had already been set in 2013,
as more than 138,000 people attended the Great
Gathering at York in July when, thanks to the
temporary repatriation of sister locomotives
No. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower and No. 4489
Dominion of Canada, all six surviving A4s were
lined up for the first time in the heritage era.
The Mallard Grantham Partnership was left
stunned by the response to the festival, the
centrepiece of which was a siding relaid by
Carillion on the east side of Grantham station On Thursday, September 12 in front of a select audience of people who had paid £100 for a celebratory meal at
on which Mallard and one of its ECML the Mansion House in Doncaster, No. 4468 Mallard emerges from the erecting shop at Doncaster works where it
successors, Class 52 Deltic No. 55019 Royal was built in 1938. BRIAN SHARPE
Highland Fusilier, plus the Devon & Cornwall
Railways Class 56 which towed them there with up to the last minute, lengthy queues of the relaying of the siding cleared an eyesore site
from York, were displayed. families forming to board Mallard’s footplate. at the station which forms part of the “gateway”
Entrance to the two-day festival, which also From start to finish, people were jostling to to the town.
incorporated a host of ancillary events around have their picture taken in the sunshine with He added: “There is real potential to capture
the town, was free. The attendance, however, the celebrity engine as a backdrop. some of the momentum generated for the
vastly exceeded all expectations, with more Event spokesman Henry Cleary said: “A great future and we should learn from all aspects of
than 15,000 people turning up over the two many people from Grantham and Lincolnshire this first time event and how it might be
days – a figure of which any operational railway as well as York, and other LNER centres – even sustained and improved.”
gala would have been proud. Berlin – contributed to our success.” The following weekend, Mallard was
The event was packed from opening time on He said that the festival generated a very high displayed at the Freightliner Ltd Railport in
the Saturday to closing time on the Sunday, profile for Grantham in media interest, while Doncaster, with admission again free.

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Resplendent in the sunshine on September 8, Mallard stands on the newly-laid siding in the front of Grantham station, a few miles north of the place where it set an all-time
world steam railway speed record of 126mph on July 3, 1938. ROBIN JONES
Also on display and drawing the crowds at the
Grantham event was Class 55 Deltic No. 55019
Royal Highland Fusilier.
Our Mallard 75 special publication (see page 73) sold out
at the Grantham event, prompting an immediate reprint!
ANDREW SAVAGE
On the Thursday before, it was taken back to
the Doncaster Works erecting shop, possibly for
the last time, and broke a banner as it was
pushed back out into the sunshine in front of
100 ticketed guests and VIPs.
That symbolic relaunch on September 11
preceded a gala dinner in Doncaster’s historic
Georgian Mansion House attended by
dignitaries including Tim Godfrey, grandson of
Sir Nigel Gresley.
Its Freightliner appearance was timed to
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Mallard stands outside the erecting shop at The Plant possibly for the last time. BRIAN SHARPE
coincide with Doncaster’s St Leger Festival
Week, echoing the words of Joe Duddington,
the driver on that record-breaking run. “She
couldn’t have done better in the St Leger,” he
said afterwards.
Former jockey-turned TV presenter Clare
Balding presented Channel 4 coverage of the
classic horse racing festival live from Mallard’s
footplate on the Saturday morning.
Around 2500 members of the public attended
the weekend event at Railport, considerably less
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than the number who turned up at Grantham.
Organisers said that this may have been due to
the fact that Railport is not immediately
accessible from the town centre.
FirstGroup laid on shuttle buses for the event
to ferry visitors from the station to the
Freightliner depot every 10 to 15 minutes, their
headboards reading “4468 Mallard.” On the
Sunday morning, two of the buses with the
special destination boards were lined up
alongside the A4. ➲
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En route from the National Railway Museum at York to Grantham, No. 4468 is towed through Saxilby station by
Devon & Cornwall Railways Class 56 No. 56311 on September 4. BRIAN SHARPE
The Hotel Reservation Service has commissioned a series
of vintage-style railway posters to mark Mallard 75,
150 years of the London Underground and the
100th anniversary of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway
Guide 1913. Bob Gwynne, associate curator of rail
vehicles at the National Railway Museum in York, said:
“This has been a significant year for great British
transport anniversaries. 2013 has seen us celebrating
the 75th anniversary of Mallard breaking the world
speed steam record – a record which still stands today –
and the 150th anniversary of the London Underground
is another transport milestone that has attracted
national and international attention.” Mark Douglas,
sales director for corporate sales UK at HRS, added:
“Train travel has helped make Britain what it is today,
and we think these posters celebrate the passion and
nostalgia that many people have for the railways on
these important anniversaries.” HRS
The destination boards on this pair of FirstGroup buses which ran shuttle services from Doncaster station to the Freightliner Yard indicate the purpose of their journey. PETER MAIR
72 Heritage Railway
In addition, a special exhibition, Mallard – a
Doncaster Thoroughbred – is being held at
Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery November 2.
The display includes nameplates from other
famous A4s such as Seagull, Kingfisher, Silver
King as well as Gresley’s P2 Cock o’ the North.
Sir Nigel’s boardroom table, on which the
original designs and other papers would have
been displayed, are exhibited alongside rare
artefacts from the Doncaster Grammar School
Railway Collection never before seen in public, After its appearance at Doncaster, Mallard
including the original Royal Coat of Arms of was taken to Chesterfield for the Barrow Hill
Canada, borrowed by the National Railway Live 2013! event at the former Staveley Midland
Museum for the restoration of Dominion of roundhouse on September 28-29.
Canada. The model-oriented event, sponsored by both
There are also letters written by Gresley Bachmann and Hornby, has been designed to
himself. In one of them, written celebrate 160 years of Doncaster
from Paris, he announces he has “During Mallard’s Works by bringing together a
scrapped ideas for glass-topped big anniversary range of steam and diesel
tables on his proposed
streamlined trains, and will place
year we wanted to locomotives
The Plant.
that all have links with
small pads on them to prevent give the people of It will be the last opportunity to
glasses and bottles from sliding. Doncaster the see the Mallard outside the NRM
Also on display is a model of A4 chance to see the before it returns to the venue for
Golden Eagle built in Doncaster
Works by apprentices as well as world’s fastest the autumn version of the Great
Gathering – again alongside the
Terence Cuneo’s original steam locomotive.” other five surviving A4s.
masterpiece Giants Refreshed Also appearing at Barrow Hill
which was used for the famous LNER poster of Live 2013! is Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163
the same name. The museum is open from Tornado, celebrating its fifth birthday, B1 4-6-0
10.30am until 4.15pm, Monday to Saturday. No. 61264, returning to the roundhouse for the
Anthony Coulls, the NRM’s senior curator of first time since the completion of its overhaul,
railway vehicles, said: “During Mallard’s big much of which took place at Barrow Hill,
anniversary year we wanted to give the people A2 No. 60532 Blue Peter and GNR Atlantic
of Doncaster the chance to see the world’s No. 251.
fastest steam locomotive in the town where it Diesels with a Doncaster link (either built,
was built.” repaired or serviced in the South Yorkshire
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 WorldMags.net

town) will include examples of classes 03, 20, Above: Approaching Grantham on September 4, Mallard passes the
37, 40, 50, 55, 56 and 58. Other diesels on landmark of the town’s St Wulfram’s church for the first time since
display will include classes 08, 10, 26, 33, 45 1962. BRIAN SHARPE
and 47.
Electrics with a Doncaster link will include
classes 71, 85, 86 and 89. It will be one of the
first opportunities to see the newly painted
Class 85.
Other electrics on display will include classes
81, 82, 83 and 84.
In steam will be Vulcan, the 1918-built
0-4-0ST built at Vulcan Foundry as No. 3272 in
1918 and which became its works shunter. It
has been returned to running order after a
lengthy restoration. Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 2000
of 1941 will also be running.
Other steam locomotives on display will
include LMS ‘Black Five’ No. 45110, GCR
Director 4-4-0 No. 506 Butler-Henderson, GER
J17 0-6-0 No. 8217, Austerity 0-6-0ST
No. 68006, Midland Railway ‘half cab’ 0-6-0T
No. 41708, Yugoslavia-built ‘Yankee Tank’
No. 30075, Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST E.B
Wilson and Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST Henry.
East Midlands Trains for the third year will be
running a shuttle service from Chesterfield Admiring glances at Doncaster’s Freightliner depot for one of The
station. ■ Plant’s most famous products. SHAUN FLANNERY

Plans are afoot to install a stained glass window at Grantham station marking
Mallard’s world record feat. Artist Michael Brown and his son Tom have been given
the green light by Network Rail and East Coast following six months of
negotiations, and hope to complete the window by the end of 2014, but first need East Coast Main Line in miniature Deltic
to raise £800 through public donations. More details are available at action during the Grantham weekend
www.kickstarter.com MICHAEL BROWN festival. ROBIN JONES

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 WorldMags.net
Dunrobin
It is amazing how much information has been made available following Dunrobin’s arrival back in the UK. This particularly nice view was sent as part of a batch of images taken
by the late Ray Manning in June 1970. Photo: Ray Manning/BeaMish ColleCtion
A locomotive for
the rich and famous…
The former Duke of Sutherland’s
private train consisting of Sharp
Stewart 0-4-4T No. 4085 Dunrobin
and Highland Railway-built brake-
saloon No. 58A were reunited with
British soil in May 2011 following
a 46-year exile in Canada.
Well cared for during their life
across the Atlantic, the pair are now
subject to an extensive restoration
programme to enable their use at
Beamish Museum in County
Durham. Beamish’s transport
curator Paul Jarman outlines
something of their unique history
and explains the process of their
repatriation and the start of their
new lives in England.
74 Heritage Railway
T he 4th Duke of Sutherland, Cromartie
Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1851-1913),
was very typical of the heirs to the
powerful British nobility as the British Empire,
under Queen Victoria, reached its epoch. With
military service, a peerage and enormous wealth
and a host of ennoblements, including the post of
Mayor of Longton near Stoke-on-Trent (where
the family owned the magnificent Trentham
Gardens), the 4th Duke shared his father’s
interest in railways and rail travel. He had
The 4th Duke of Sutherland – a man synonymous with
our story here.
inherited a private train and the rights to operate
it over the Highland Railway, his father having locomotive to pull his private train. This was
been instrumental in the construction of the Far designed by David Jones of the Highland Railway
North (Sutherland Railway) route northwards
from Inverness.
and built by Sharp Stewart in Glasgow (by then
having relocated from Manchester and later to be
A locomotive was provided, the original assimilated into the mighty North British
Dunrobin, a Kitson & Co. 2-4-0T which was later
sold to the Highland Railway where it was rebuilt,
company). The engine was an 0-4-4T of fairly
conventional design, though it had one feature
renumbered 118 and given the name Gordon that made it unique in the annals of locomotive
Castle, its original nameplates being transferred design – a fully enclosable cab with a four-person
to a replacement locomotive, as we shall see. In wide upholstered seat high up above the
1899 Wolverton works built bogie saloon No.57A footplate. This was to enable guests, of which
for the 4th Duke, a coach so luxurious in its there were many and of very high status in
appointments that it set the standard for the Europe, to ride in the cab between Inverness and
Royal Train carriages that were subsequently
built in the LNWR works.
Dunrobin Castle, some 86 miles to the north (by
rail – the route was deliberately circuitous in
In 1895 the 4th Duke took delivery of a new order to open up the Sutherland Estate and in
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www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
some ways recompense for the earlier and
infamous Highland Clearances by the 1st Duke
of Sutherland).
In 1909 a new carriage, No.58A, was delivered.
Built by the Highland Railway at its Lochgorm
works in Inverness, the coach was described as a
brake-saloon and included a single passenger
saloon, water closet and brake compartment. End
windows were also fitted and the interior was
relatively plain in comparison to 57A. This
suggests that the saloon was largely used for the
conveyance of luggage and the guest’s entourage,
with the dignitary riding in style (and warmth!)
aboard Dunrobin.
Operationally, it would appear that 57A was
largely kept to running south of Inverness, with
transfer to the smaller carriage and locomotive
taking place for the final leg of the journey. A
carriage shed was built at Dunrobin station and
the locomotive kept at Golspie, to the north.
When the Duke required his train, the castle at
Dunrobin would inform the railway and the
regular driver, Mr Alex Rhind, a member of the Dunrobin and 58A on display at Ashford Works open day in August 1950 and demonstrating that at least one trip
staff at Dunrobin castle and the driver of both away from New Romney was made during the pair’s residence there. J. H. Aston/BeAmisH ColleCtion
Dunrobins from 1870 (the opening of the
railway) until 1917, would prepare the Invergordon, and again in 1940 it was loaned to When the London Midland & Scottish
locomotive and collect the coach from Dunrobin the Royal Navy where it was put to work as a Railway inherited the Highland Railway line at
station. If meeting the Duke or his guests at shunting locomotive once again at Invergordon Grouping in 1923, it found (much to its
Inverness then the train might proceed to before moving on to Rosyth and later the Defence annoyance) that it had to honour the access
Inverness the previous day and lay over at the and Naval Stores at Dalmuir, west of Glasgow. agreement for the Duke and his private train.
Highland Railway shed. Sometimes the collection Dunrobin was still in use here in 1946 before However, by even the 1920s it would seem that
would be made from Kyle of Lochalsh, meeting a being overhauled and returned to Golspie, the train was falling out of favour in preference
steam ship there. Operating notices (seemingly though it probably never steamed after this until to much quicker road alternatives to reach the
collected and retained by Mr Rhind) show that it was sold and moved south. Evidence of this castle and there is a distinct drop off in activity
Dunrobin and 58A would be used on maybe overhaul was discovered during the dismantling in the surviving notices for the period. Upon the
half a dozen occasions each year, for a period of of the engine in 2012, with the boiler barrel formation of British Railways in 1948 the era of
days in which they would act as taxi service apparently being of later date and featuring the private train was over and the ducal powers
meeting trains or steam ships from the south, some very unusual conical rivet heads. Such (by now held by the 5th Duke of Sutherland)
taking the party on shooting expeditions or practice was common in the Navy, and was also were no longer valid. Already the train had been
generally running around on ducal business. employed by Fodens on its steam lorries, but is offered for sale, with correspondence suggesting
They would then retire to their slumber pending uncommon in railway applications. It is thought that it had been offered to the London & North
the next call. In April 1920 a general repair was that the 1946 overhaul was carried out at St Eastern Railway. The final decision lay with
paid for by the Duke for Dunrobin, this taking Rollox. A photograph dating from the 1940s British Railways, and its answer was that there
place at Lochgorm. shows the engine in quite shabby condition and was no need for the engine or coaches within
Dunrobin did not just serve its master, the Duke. clearly demonstrating that its role at Dalmuir the capital stock.
In 1916 the locomotive was loaned to the was not one that gave consideration to its Quite what happens next is something that
Highland Railway for use shunting at aristocratic ownership. remains to be resolved. In practical terms, ➲

A rare view of Dunrobin and 58A’s first run in Canada on

June 27, 1966. Following overhaul at New Westminster the
pair were test run locally before a press debut and
embarkation on the tour to celebrate the centenary of
Another of the June 1970 views showing Dunrobin before air brakes were fitted though by this time running with Canada’s first railway being built. Lettering was shortly
the former Eastern Region BR Mk1 No. E3733. The impressive water tower is a sure giveaway of the location! added to 58A to acknowledge this, lettering carried until
RAy mAnning/BeAmisH ColleCtion 2013. DAviD DAvies/BeAmisH ColleCtion

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 WorldMags.net

My first glimpse of Dunrobin at Fort Steele February

2011. The air pump dominates the front end but the Touchdown! Dunrobin’s wheels make contact with UK rail for the first time since 1965 as the engine is unloaded at
clean Victorian lines are unmistakable. Paul Jarman Bridgnorth on May 20, 2011. Paul Jarman

Dunrobin and 58A were sold to one buyer, 57A to
another. This is sometimes quoted as being a
Lincolnshire coachbuilder (for 57A) and the
Lincolnshire Trailing Company for Dunrobin and
58A. However, it was Captain Howey (who is said
to have been at Eton with the 5th Duke) who
came north to collect Dunrobin and 58A and
move them south to Kent where they would be
displayed at his Romney Hythe & Dymchurch
15-inch gauge railway. Whether Howey
purchased them directly or via a third party is not
clear. 57A was stored at Wolverton and later went
on display at the BTC museum at Clapham
(1963-1975). It is recorded as having been sold in
1957 to the NRM, but this body did not exist at
the time so who sold it and to whom (presumably
the BTC?) remains to be clarified. It is now part
of the National Railway Museum collection and
is on loan to the Scottish Railway Preservation
Society which has placed it on display at Bo’ness.
The 1950 journey by Dunrobin and 58A from
Golspie/Dunrobin Station to New Romney is
well recorded, though not always entirely
accurately! The engine was inspected by a BR
boiler inspector and passed for travel under its
own steam. Much correspondence took place
regarding the route and the gauging of the train.
It seems that at this time 58A’s lower footboards
were cut off in order to ensure that it did not foul
any lineside equipment or platforms en route.
The engine and coach, accompanied by Howey
and RH&DR driver R J Hobbs, set off on their
journey to New Romney on Monday, March 20,
1950. This was made under steam as far as
Carlisle, calling and overnighting at Perth, 201
miles south, that evening. The following day
another 150 miles were covered, reaching
Carlisle, where the rods were removed and the
ensemble was moved to Leeds as a special train
(hauled by an LMS ‘Crab’ 2-6-0). From Leeds the
journey continued as part of scheduled goods
train movements, running via Toton,
Wellingborough and Cricklewood with a variety
of motive power including 4F, 8Fs, N1 and N15 at
the head of the trains. At Ashford, the rods were
replaced and Dunrobin steamed the final 22 miles
to New Romney, arriving to a welcoming
reception party on March 28, 1950. It was then

1. One of the distinctive cylinder a replica. Here is the pattern,

lubricators on the front of the
smokebox was removed in the
1970s to enable the air pump to
be fitted on the front footplate.
Despite extensive searching, the
lubricator had to be considered
‘lost’ and therefore regular
Beamish engineering volunteer,
David Young, set about making
complete with core box. Paul
Jarman
2. These are the raw castings,
straight from the foundry. Paul
Jarman
3. The finished, machined
lubricator, alongside the
original. Paul Jarman

2 3

Stripping of the locomotive was soon under way as this view at Bridgnorth reveals. Paul Jarman

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76 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
pair’s home for 15 years.
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shunted into a ‘Romney’ hut which was to be the
Occasional forays out of the shed were made
during the 1950s and 60s, including at least one
trip to Ashford to take part in a works open day
(though it is not known if the trip was made in
steam or not). By 1965 Howey had been dead for
two years and the RH&DR needed substantial
investment if it was to survive. By chance,
Canadian businessman Harold Foster was
looking for a locomotive and came across the
adverts in The Times and The Telegraph offering
Dunrobin and 58A for sale ‘for about £1000’. He
agreed to buy both engine and coach and in 1965
the pair were shipped to Victoria, British
Columbia, where they were moved into a small
museum that Mr Foster was creating. A
photograph of Dunrobin has come to light,
showing it being posted through a shop front,
adding further to its unorthodox life.
Harold Foster went bankrupt and in November
1965 Dunrobin and coach were sold to the British
Columbian Government for $15,000. They were
moved to the former tramcar depot at New
Westminster which was now home to the BC
Hydro repair shops. Here Dunrobin was treated
to an overhaul and a full repaint. 58A was
likewise repainted and the pair were outshopped
in August 1966 before being used as a touring
train to celebrate the centenary of railway
operations in Canada. Once the tour was
completed, the pair moved again, this time to
Fort Steele in the Rocky Mountains (arriving in
1967), where the former town was being
converted into an historic park complete with
4km long railway on which Dunrobin and 58A
would be based for the next four decades.
In 1970 a BR Mk1 was shipped out to Fort
Steele to supplement (though in practice largely
replace) 58A as the railway’s passenger coach.
This coach still operates there today, though with
indigenous motive power and in the company of
locally converted (from flat wagons) passenger
stock. Thus for 58A time pretty much stopped
again as it settled into a period of prolonged
hibernation. It was carefully stored under cover
and apart from being fitted with a US style
buckeye coupling at one end, it remained in
totally original condition.
58A was delivered directly to Beamish and is currently in receipt of mechanical attention. The very dry conditions in
Canada have preserved it beautifully and no more than a basic overhaul is required to the underframe. The body
requires more attention, with some areas having dried out in the low humidity. This work will be carried out in 2014,
as will a full repaint, interior deep clean and some other conservation work to the interior. Paul Jarman
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Dunrobin was in regular use supporting the
shoulder season operation at Fort Steele, hauling
the Mk1 coach around the demanding 4km
circuit. It was reported by those who operated it
to “require very little maintenance – all she seems
to need is oil, water and coal”. It was found
operationally prudent (no doubt for reasons of
familiarity) to fit air brakes to the locomotive, the
clean Victorian lines being rather marred by the
huge air pump mounted on the front of the
smokebox. In 1986, the engine attended the
Steam Expo in Vancouver (meeting the replica
Rocket there) and in 1991 the journey south to
Railfair 91 in Sacramento, California, was made
(meeting the replica of Locomotion No.1, a
Beamish engine, in the process). Dunrobin was A glance underneath reveals that Dunrobin is fitted
well used and much loved at Fort Steele and with a bell – the one Canadian feature that the
appeared widely in literature on Canadian locomotive will retain following its restoration. The
railways and tourism.The last boiler inspection bell is worked from a cord in the cab. Paul Jarman
was carried out in June 2005, some repairs having
been carried out following the 2003 inspection.
However, there was very little call for using
Dunrobin by then and it was almost certainly the
final year it was steamed in Canada.
In 2010, with railway operations once again
re-established at Beamish, the need for suitable
motive power resulted in a list being drawn up
of potential ‘targets’. On this list was Dunrobin
(something of a wild card) and also, further
down, the Manning Wardle Newcastle which
also later joined the Beamish collection. With
NER Y7 0-4-0T No. 985 on long-term hire and
operating the North Eastern Railway branch
line, information was offered by railway
journalist Tony Streeter that Dunrobin might be
available for sale. In 2010 a dialogue was opened This close-up of the boiler shows that the barrel has
up with the Friends of Fort Steele (by then the been replaced at some point in the engine’s life. Note
effective operators of the park) regarding the conical rivet heads and the way in which an
Dunrobin and it was soon established that they original section of the barrel, with dome on, has been
would be willing to sell the locomotive. The retained. Paul Jarman
correspondence received with the engine after
purchase reveals that there were several enquiries
from the UK, though none were backed up with
a credible offer.
Using new-found annual surplus, Beamish
made an offer for Dunrobin (and 58A – it hardly
seemed fair to separate the two now!) of $160,000
(£103,000). This was accepted but a frustrating
situation arose. The BC Government was ➲
This is the original cylinder block, removed to enable
its study, survey and replacement. Note the extensive
corrosion, visible patches and thin ribs. Paul Jarman
The firebox outer wrapper is receiving new platework
all around below the level of the expansion brackets.
The inverted firebox is seen here after new
throatplate and doorplate sections had been welded
into place. Paul Jarman
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Heritage Railway 77
 Footplate dignitaries WorldMags.net
The main body of the article has alluded
several times to Dunrobin’s passenger-
carrying cab and the dignitaries that have
been carried on the footplate. The list is an
impressive one, and well recorded, for
guests were invited to sign a bronze plaque
mounted inside the cab. Thus we know
that the following were once carried
aboard on their travels to and from
Dunrobin Castle, their status amply
illustrating the Duke of Sutherland’s
standing. There were four kings (though
some were princes at the time of travel):
George V, edward VIII, George VI and King
Alfonso of Spain. Kaiser Wilhelm II was a
passenger, as was Neville Chamberlain. In
Canada the list grew, Queen elizabeth II
and Princess Anne adding their names to
the roll. It can be imagined that this list is
by no means complete and that it will
continue to grow in time.
There is another locomotive named
Dunrobin, which can be found working in
Scotland and which represents another
element of the Dukes of Sutherland’s link
with railways. The Trentham Gardens
estate is today a popular attraction near
Stoke on Trent. Trentham hall was the
principal home of the Dukes of Sutherland
but in 1912, following the rejection of an
offer of the property to the people of
Stoke, the 4th Duke demolished the hall,
leaving the Italianate gardens and
parkland intact.
In 1934 a one mile long two-foot gauge
pleasure railway was opened in the
grounds and was eventually equipped by
three locomotives built by e e Baguley of
Burton, well known for its internal
combustion steam outline equipment. The
first supplied was 0-4-0PM 2083 Brora
followed by 2085 Golspie in 1935. A more
powerful 0-6-0PM, No.3014 Dunrobin, was
supplied in 1938. In 1986 Brora was moved
to Dunrobin Castle where it was restored
and is today displayed at the station there.
The railway at Trentham closed in 1988 and
the rolling stock was relocated to Alton
Towers in Staffordshire. Golspie had
become Trentham Express and Dunrobin
Trentham Flyer. The railway at Alton
Towers itself closed in 1996. Golspie, then
out of use, was moved to the Amerton
Railway in May 2000 and Dunrobin,
original name restored, today operates at
the east Links Country Park at Dunbar, east
Lothian, having arrived there in April 2000.
The author has drawn on several key
sources for the contents of this article,
including copies of original documents
obtained for a private collection from BR.
Of great use has been the definitive work
of Cormack & Stevenson, highland Railway
Locomotives, as well as numerous issues of
The highland Railway Journal (particularly
issues 50, 57 and 83) which is published by
the very active highland Railway Society.
Collections of research and writings by Mr
Neil Sinclair and Mr David Davies (who
documented Dunrobin’s life in Canada)
have also been of immense value. In due
course a comprehensive history on the
Duke of Sutherland’s private train,
including Dunrobin, is planned for
publication.
78 Heritage Railway
A photograph which sums up Dunrobin’s life in Canada – it is seen crossing Niagara Canyon while on the centennial
tour in 1966. Ken Cringan
technically the owner of Dunrobin, but it seemed
that no record of this existed. Fort Steele was the
recipient of what was essentially a loan, but from
an owner that could not establish ownership.
After several months, and just when it seemed
the deal may fall through, the Friends of Fort
Steele were able to secure title of the engine by
offering the BC Government the alternatives of
proving they owned Dunrobin or accepting that
the engine and coach had been abandoned and
were therefore, by default, the property of the
park. Within weeks the matter resolved itself, the
deal was secured and plans could be made to
repatriate the pair.
In February 2011 I travelled out to Fort Steele to
view what we were purchasing. Entering the
traditional wooden engine shed, layered in deep
snow and with the temperature at -22, I was
confronted by an engine that I never thought I
would set eyes on! For a week I was the guest of
Bob Whetham who was instrumental in the
Friends of Fort Steele selling Dunrobin to us, and
for a week the Fort Steele railway engineer, Ken
Moan, and myself stripped off the Canadian
additions (air pump, electric lighting, steam
generator, buckeye coupling and air brake fittings
– all added in the mid 1970s) and also removed
valuable items such as nameplates etc. in
readiness for shipping.
Moveright International undertook the role of
collecting Dunrobin and 58A, moving them by
road to Calgary then by rail (Canadian National)
to Halifax – an epic journey across the vastness of
Canada. At Halifax they were loaded on to the
Atlantic Companion and shipped to Liverpool,
arriving on May 19, 2011.
An enquiry from Duncan Ballard at the Severn
Valley Railway resulted in agreement to move
Dunrobin directly to Bridgnorth, where a
contract for the engine’s dismantling, professional
removal of the asbestos lagging on the boiler and
assessment of its condition was agreed. 58A
moved directly to Beamish for overhaul, though
the vacuum cylinder was removed and
despatched to Kidderminster carriage works for
overhaul. The aim of the initial stripdown was to
ensure that we could obtain realistic and accurate
costs for the restoration of the engine. This alone
cost over £25,000 but ensured that most of
Dunrobin’s secrets were unlocked and thus
enabled a detailed process of tendering to be
carried out.
The restoration of Dunrobin has been broken
down into four phases, with each having
WorldMags.net
sub-phases. This was to enable the management
of the project from both engineering and
financial points of view and thus far has proved
to be very effective.
Phase 1, the overhaul of the boiler, was to be
started first as this would take the longest, each
subsequent phase being timed to conclude at a
point most advantageous to maximising the
length of the boiler certificate. The SVR won the
contract for the contract restoration work,
though to save costs some phases were brought
back into Beamish’s management, including
procurement of a new cylinder block, the original
being in appalling condition and beyond effective
repair. David Elliott was appointed to manage
this aspect of the project, his experience with
Tornado and subsequently the replacement
cylinder block for the J27 and new block for the
G5 giving him a great deal of experience in this
area. The superstructure for Dunrobin will be
restored at Beamish before return to Bridgnorth
for assembly onto the overhauled rolling chassis
(this being Phase 3).
Work to date has centred around the boiler.
This has received a new barrel (in two sections,
per the original), new sections to all four sides of
the outer firebox wrapper beneath the expansion
brackets, repairs to the copper inner firebox and
new girder stays. It will require a new front
tubeplate and, of course, new tubes. The aim at
the start was to ensure that the work carried out
will see Dunrobin through the first 10 years of its
new working life and also well into the second
10-year period, with minimum work at the
interval. This was the reasoning behind the
decision to replace the cylinder block.
It is likely that once Dunrobin and 58A stand as
a working train at Beamish’s NER station they
will have cost Beamish around £480,000. For a
complete working train with a long life
expectancy this represents good value for the
museum and it is hoped that the opportunity
Dunrobin’s passenger-carrying cab gives can be
utilised. It is highly likely that it will visit other
heritage railways and I would very much like to
see it operate in Scotland once again as well as in
the south of England – two areas synonymous
with its past life. As for when it will be completed,
this remains to be seen and is dependent on
funding derived from Beamish’s own trading
activities. Late 2014 remains an ambition, so early
2015 would seem realistic at the current rate of
progress. To keep up to date with progress, visit
www.beamishtransportonline.co.uk ■
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
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Platform Readers’ letters at the heart of the heritage railway scene

WorldMags.net
TrackTalk
How to grow
your own railway!
In youR article ‘Is this the world’s
earliest standard gauge railway?’ in
Issue 180, national Railway Museum
curator Anthony Coulls, referring to
the discovery of a 200-year-old
wooden waggonway on Tyneside,
states: “Eighteenth century
waggonways don’t grow on trees and
we are very lucky to have the chance
to look at this one.”
I hate to disillusion you Anthony,
but wooden waggonways do grow
on trees.
Dave Masterson,
Ashford, Kent
Each locomotive has
a place in heritage
I wAs quite shocked to see, in issue
180, someone questioning whether
all Barry wrecks should be restored.
yes, they should. I think it is
unreasonable for people to say do we
really need these locomotives or that
locomotive. For example there are 11
Merchant navys and despite them
being a large locomotive, they were
saved for a reason – preservation. It
will take a while but will be done in
time. using sister locomotives as just
spare parts is not an option.
Stuart Mizen, email
What happened
to the equipment?
ThAnk you for a very interesting
article in the last issue regarding
signalling in the west Midlands.
Does the writer or any reader know
what happens to the equipment
removed from the boxes prior
to demolition?
It would be nice to think that the
items were donated to heritage lines,
many of which are constructing new
or resiting rescued signalboxes.
Thanks for a great magazine.
Martyn Gregory, email
How Tyseley helps the
Birmingham economy
I WAS pleased to see Geoff Aris’
comment in issue 180 that Tyseley
locomotive Works open days are
well attended but dismayed to
read that he thinks the recent
expansion of our workshop was
funded by local taxpayers.
While we are ever so grateful to
the City of Birmingham in
managing the process, we
competitively bid through their
agency to win a £100,000 grant
from the european Regional
Development Fund to increase
capacity, protect jobs and create
more jobs at our Tyseley
locomotive Works. We have also
provided £200,000 of our own
money as matched funds. The
return for that grant money is not
to hold more public open days but
specifically to create employment
and enhance economic
opportunities within Tyseley as
part of the important plans to
regenerate the area.
We have already taken on two
full time apprentices as part of
our commitment and a carriage
maintenance assistant. We are
looking to augment our
engineering staff further as and
when the right people with
appropriate qualifications can
be sourced. Tyseley flagship GWR 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle undergoing its overhaul in its new
each year we buy several workshop. ROBIN JONES
hundreds of thousands of pounds
worth of materials and goods, rather than the other way steam ‘the fleet’. To do this more
both for our engineering business round. We are delighted to do often might dilute the attraction
and also to operate our trains. so as part of our contribution to and would also require greater
These range from metal to wood, our city’s economy and the good resources. We think it is
office materials to food for our working relationship we have currently best to concentrate the
dining cars. We always buy locally with Birmingham. greater effort on operating a
wherever we can which As to more frequent open days, varied and reliable series of main
considerably helps Birmingham currently we feel that it is better to line steam express trains for our
businesses. So actually we concentrate our effort on two valued customers.
contribute to the local economy main events each year when we Michael Whitehouse,
and local taxpayers’ businesses try to put on a good show and chairman, Vintage Trains

Why we must have steam Did steam exist before BR?

bans in the summer months
I lIve in a village next to the
Great Central Railway and there
are many fields of cereals growing
and the area is tinder dry.
One spark and the whole lot
goes up, costing my farmer friends
thousands of pounds. Surely
anyone with half a brain can
understand why Network Rail is
banning steam excursions. Many
farmers are struggling to survive
and cannot afford to have a field of
tinder dry corn go up in flames.
I suppose many steam fans
will disagree but I have seen a
13-acre field catch fire and it
is frightening.
I love steam engines and I have
been on the footplate and driven
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0
No. 78019 for my 75th birthday.
This year’s summer is the best for
many years: let’s be sensible and
not cause these fires.
JE Hopkins,
Whitwick, Coalville, Leicestershire
TheRe are three articles in issue
179, all of which need some
explaining. On page 95, can
anyone explain why photographic
charters always need the loco to be
painted in BR black even though
it’s a GWR Collett machine? On
page 48, “Big Four in Norfolk”, not
one of the four carries the livery of
the lMS, lNeR, GWR or SR, they
all appear in the mundane BR
appearance even though the age of
the M7 it would look far better as
lSWR . The gala can hardly be
described as the Big Four.
On page 42, “Now let’s reunite all
the lMS Pacifics” Again the only
one that looks right is No. 6229 –
the rest again shown as BR
machines. The period of
construction and out of respect
for their designers they should
carry their original livery which
needs to be preserved and is just
as important historically as
the locomotive.
Derrick Martin,
Hornchurch, Essex.

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80 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 E-MAIL: mail@heritagerailway.com WRITE TO: Platform, Heritage Railway, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR
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Why was Pullman car in same yard as No. 60010?
FURTHER to Geoff Courtney’s
article in issue 178 about my
collection of paperwork detailing
the final journey in the UK of A4
No. 60010 Dominion of Canada
prior to its shipment across the
Atlantic in April 1967, I have now
found my notebook covering my
sighting of the locomotive on its
journey from Crewe to London’s
Royal Victoria Docks.
My entry for April 5, 1967, shows
that I travelled on the 6.08am
DMU from Angel Road to
Stratford in east London, and
noted No. 60010 – and withdrawn
Pullman car No. 63 – at Temple
Mills. At 6.33am I observed
Dominion of Canada being hauled
through Stratford Low Level by
D8408, a North British Class 16
Bo-Bo diesel locomotive. Wouldn’t
it be great if someone came up
with a photograph of that
working? The presence of the
Pullman car at Temple Mills is a
bit of a mystery and unfortunately
I cannot recall whether it was
coupled to the No. 60010
formation or standing in a separate
part of the yard.
I have also recently found in my
collection a special traffic notice
relating to the last known steam
workings on the Great Eastern line
in November 1966, four years
North American museums Locomotive restorers have the
right to do as they wish
did their best with A4s
I DoN’T want to embark on a
sterile argument with Stephen
Rhodes (Platform, issue 180),
but I wish to put him straight on
some matters of fact.
First, I am very familiar with
the condition of both
locomotives prior to their return
to the UK, having last visited
Green Bay in November 2008
and St. Constant in August 2012,
just a few days before Dominion
of Canada left for Britain.
The condition of Dwight D.
Eisenhower was similar to that of
non-operational locomotives in
major British museums, while
that of DoC was less good, but
no worse than that of many
historically significant engines
on British preservation sites.
This will be addressed by the
Canadian museum on the A4’s
return, as it will, in future, be
housed in their main hall, the
Angus Building, which compares
favourably with any railway
museum building here. This, in
itself, is a very positive outcome.
Secondly, it is insulting to our
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
after this form of traction
was eliminated on the Eastern
Region (GE section). They were
two specials from Southampton
Docks to Yarmouth South
Town and Norwich in connection
with British India Steam
Navigation’s SS Nevasa, and
were worked by Bulleid West
Country Pacifics Nos. 34013
Okehampton and 34023
Blackmore Vale from
Southampton to Stratford.
I have the timings from Upper
Holloway to Stratford via South
Tottenham, Tottenham South Jn,
Temple Mills East and Channelsea
Jn, and onwards diesel-hauled to
East Anglia. This caused quite a
stir in the Eastern Region
operating department, and I
remember seeing a very strongly
worded letter to the Southern
Region counterparts forbidding
any further repeats of through
steam workings due to a lack of
watering and servicing facilities on
the Eastern Region.
In August 1966, B1 No. 61194
ran light engine from Colwick
(Nottingham) via the Lea Valley
line to Stratford (Thornton Fields)
where it undertook carriage steam
heating duties for some months
afterwards. I believe No. 4472
Flying Scotsman had also traversed
friends across the Atlantic to
accuse them of failing to look
after the locomotives properly.
Here in the UK, we enjoy the
luxury of a National Railway
Museum which is funded by the
taxpayer, to the extent that it
does not even charge an
admission fee, a state of affairs
which Americans and Canadians
find incredible. They are forced
to rely on commercial income,
donations, bequests and
sponsorship and, so far as
facilities and restoration are
concerned, must cut their coat
according to their cloth. Given
these facts, they do their best.
Lastly, we ought to be grateful
to them for having accepted the
locos in the first place. Had they
not, they would have met the
same fate as Commonwealth
of Australia and Dominion of
New Zealand and now been
on their third or fourth round
of recycling.
John Jolly,
Mangapps Railway Museum,
Essex
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Right: The cover of the special traffic
notice in Richard Hadingham’s collection
detailing the two specials from
Southampton to East Anglia in November
1966 which were hauled by Bulleid
Pacifics as far as Stratford, four years
after steam had been eliminated on the
Eastern Region (GE section). They led
to a strong letter from the ER operating
department to the Southern Region
barring any future steam workings.
the section between Upper
Holloway and Stratford via
Tottenham South Jn and Temple
Mills in March of the same year.
Later, of course, No. 4472
regularly used the Channelsea
triangle for turning purposes,
but by then was fitted with two
tenders, thus obviating the
necessity for such frequent
water replenishment. In fact,
on Saturday, March 1,
1969, courtesy of head office
locomotive inspector Reg Stevens,
I rode with No. 4472 –
engine, double tenders and a brake
van – tender first on the slow line
from King’s Cross to Bounds
Green, cross the flyover, reverse to
Hornsey loco depot for servicing,
thence via Finsbury Park, Dalston
Jn, Lea Jn and Channelsea to
Temple Mills East.
We carried out a boiler blow down
HAVING been secretary of the
Barry Steam locomotive Action
Group as well as a member of
Barry Rescue and the Barry 21
Club, both set up by Robert Adley
to further saving the locomotives
from Dai Woodham’s yard, I wish
to make a few observations
regarding the recent letters in
your magazine.
1. If an individual, or a group of
people have purchased a
locomotive, what right does
anyone have to tell them what
they should do with
their purchase?
2. As Tony Nicholson so rightly
points out, to many, the
challenge and enjoyment and
heartache is in the restoration, as
in the days of BSLAG when the
challenge was to get the
locomotive saved after which
some move on to the next
challenge. Different people like
different aspects and that is why
so much is achieved. More
importantly, each of these
sections of society have the right
to pursue their own particular
interest. The big point is that as
over the inspection pit outside
Hornsey MPD, the first time I had
actually seen that operation done.
Reg used a special spanner to open
the blow down cock somewhere
underneath the boiler, and the
whole area was suddenly enveloped
in ash, clouds of steam and sludge.
It was like being caught up in the
middle of a volcano and almost
as deafening I would imagine.
Richard Hadingham
(BR 1965-85), Wragby, Lincolnshire
long as they survive they are ‘the
driving agent’ to restoration.
3. It is not a case of a locomotive’s
usefulness or whether there is
another of the class, but simply
that someone or some group
wants to purchase the locomotive
as it is to spend their time on.
4. The adaption of existing
locomotives into non-
authentic cosmetic lookalikes of
extinct classes achieves little and
often seeks yet more funding:
if an extinct class is to be seen
again then follow the example
of Tornado or the G5 to name
a couple.
5. If you are going to try to dictate
to owners what they should do,
the only thing I long to see is
locomotives dirty and grimy and
rusty as they were in the late
Forties and Fifties… but I am
sure the paying public would not
agree with me.
Finally if the writers of recent
letters wish to get rid of unrestored
locomotives there is only one way
they can justifiably do this … and
that is by buying them first.
Francis Blake, email
Heritage Railway 81
News
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Oxford swing bridge
- a laborious structure
A PLEASuRE to read, on p16 of
issue 180 of the consistently
interesting and informative
Heritage Railway, that the former
LNWR swing bridge in Oxford is
to be restored. The bridge featured
in my early railway career.
This double-track 73ft long
structure (reputed to be one of
the last two of the type in the uK)
was in the last mile of the
Bletchley-Oxford (Rewley Road)
line which by the 1960s had
been reduced to siding status and
stripped of all signalling.
Commercial water-borne traffic
had ceased. Rail traffic was down
to perhaps one local freight move a
day and the bridge was only
required to open on the rare
occasion that a small pleasure craft
wanted to pass between the Oxford
Canal and the River Thames.
Imagine a hot July Sunday
afternoon.
The Rewley Road swing bridge as pictured in November 1980. DEREK BILLINGS
More memories of Rewley
road swing bridge
I WAS pleased to read in issue
180 that Rowley Road swing
bridge in Oxford is to
be restored.
In 1980 I recorded the scene
when use of the bridge was about
to finish. The LNWR built the
swing bridge to carry their line
over the new cut connection
between the Thames and the
Oxford Canal.
Being at the throat of Rowley
Road yard and passenger station
it was kept closed to canal
traffic – only opened when the
railway servants saw fit.
In the early days it required
three persons present to carry out
82 Heritage Railway
The signalman in Oxford North
signalbox, which overlooked the
bridge,telephoned the Oxford
station inspector to advise that a
boat requires the bridge open.
Four ‘volunteers’ from the station’s
platform staff then trudged down
to the bridge to find spanners to
undo eight oil and rust-caked sets
of fishplates – be careful none fall
into the river.
The bridge is balanced on a
central turntable and staff had to
fit winding handles to a gear/cog
system and wind all 85 tons of the
bridge to an open position. After
passage of the boat the process had
to be repeated in reverse – and
hope that the rails had not
expanded in the heat.
A British Waterways Guide of
1966 described this as a “laborious
and time-consuming task”.
How true.
John Cooper, email
the operation. The LNWR engine
shed was north of the bridge
about half mile distant.
It is not true that the fishplates
needed to be removed. Originally,
signal wires had to be unhooked
each end of the bridge. Later
mechanical slotting made that
also unnecessary
The bridge was never operated
remotely as the winding was on
the bridge itself being released by
an annex key from the signal box.
The line from Bletchley to
Rowley Road was opened in 1852,
The terminus being designed by
Joseph Paxton.
Derek Billings, email
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We need a
new Mr Fixit
Heritage Railway Association
chairman David Morgan is
concerned at the retirement of
an MEP who has done much
to fight the corner for
preserved lines.
A
few years ago, I was
taking a group of
European railway
operators round the Ffestiniog
Railway, which included a visit
to the as yet unopened part of
the Welsh Highland.
“Of course” said one, no
doubt conscious that I was
chairman of the Heritage
Railway Association, “this is
not really a heritage railway;
it is a tourist railway”.
My response was that it was
really both, drawing attention to
the fact that the railway
operates historic stock
including Victorian locomotives
and often re-enacts the
operation of the historic
‘gravity trains’.
Does the distinction matter?
Probably not, but it does
highlight different aspects of
‘preserved railways’ and their
appeal to both passengers
and volunteers.
I would, in fact, argue that all
heritage lines are also tourist
railways, if only because we
need fare paying passengers to
fund our restoration and
maintenance. In any event,
who would want to run empty
passenger trains?
It is the very act of carrying
passengers which gives them
a raison d’etre. The fact that
they take the next train back
makes no difference, as the
reason for a passenger’s travel
is irrelevant, other than its
impact on marketing.
However, the different
aspects of our activities are
thrown into sharp relief during
FEDECRAIL’s lobbying of
the European Commission.
Its executive arm is divided
into different directorates.
In order to cover all the
policies that could affect our
activities emanating from
these directorates, the
responsibility of monitoring
their proposed legislation is
shared around FEDECRAIL’s
office holders, with particular
Morgan
emphasis on Transport,
Tourism and Culture, as well as
the European Rail Agency.
Fortunately for us, we have
benefited for 20 years from
having a champion in the
European Parliament in the
form of Brian Simpson MEP,
who has fought our corner.
Furthermore, for the last two
or three years, he has been
chairman of the Transport
and Tourism Committee of the
European Parliament. It was
partly for that reason we
appointed Brian to be one of
the HRA’s vice presidents.
During that time, Brian has
intervened on at least 15
occasions with beneficial
results. These have not merely
related to the three principal
areas of concern but also to
such matters as ‘distance selling’,
employment law and health and
safety issues.
A worry for me and my
colleagues is what will happen
when Brian retires from the
European Parliament in June
next year. Who will our
guardian be then?
It is true that we are now
recognised as official consultees
by a number of European
institutions but the job of
monitoring all the proposed
legislation is a
huge task. Many companies
employ large numbers of
specialists and lobbyists at
huge salaries to do this for
them, which is clearly outside
our reach.
This problem is further
exacerbated by the scaling
down – and dare I say, the
dumbing down – of our civil
service once regarded the best
in the world and envied by
the world.
Now our civil servants seem
to have little time and little
inclination to involve
themselves in European
matters. The case for nurturing
our MEPs has never
been stronger. ■
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 Driver Experience
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September ended through working on the
SomerSet & DorSet railway
Cedric Johns recalls the day
that holiday expresses to the
south coast ceased to use the
legendary Somerset & dorset
route across the mendips to run
very briefly over today’s more
familiar route via oxford.

F or those of us who remember, Saturday

September 8, 1962 signalled the end of
through working on the Somerset &
Dorset Railway, the line which historically
provided an important cross country link
between the North, Midlands and the South
Coast, avoiding the necessity of travelling to
London and changing trains.
Yes, 51 years ago this month, Saturday
September 8 was the day that the famous
‘Pines Express’, the train which symbolised
this fascinating and some might say
delightfully bucolic-railway, made its last
north and southbound runs between
Bournemouth West and Bath Green Park
stations. LMS 2P 4-4-0 No. 40652 and ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 No. 44814, a traditional pairing, at Evercreech Junction on the Down
Rumours that the future of the ‘Pines’ – and ‘Pines Express’ on September 4, 1959. COLOUR-RAIL / PETER GRAY
indeed the whole railway – were under threat
following the Beeching report were partly railwaymen, local passengers and residents individual needs be it for business, work or
realised in the spring of 1962 when it was living close to the line, was met with deeply pleasure.
officially announced that the ‘Pines’ would felt apprehension. All of them believed that as long as the
cease to run when the summer timetable After all, the railway had been and was ‘Pines Express’ made its daily, Sundays
expired. traditionally a good employer and a lifeline for excepted, journeys along ‘their’ line the future
This news which was half expected by country folk using the railway to satisfy their of the railway was safe.

BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 No. 92220

Evening Star taking water at
Evercreech Junction

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86 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net
BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75009 and a BR Standard 9F 2-10-0 approaching Masbury summit with an Up ‘Pines Express’.
‘Pines’ rerouted
That belief was finally shattered when it became
known that with effect of Monday, September 10
the ‘Pines’ was to be rerouted to and from
Bournemouth via Southampton, Basingstoke,
Reading West, Oxford and Birmingham.
The die was cast but inevitably normal
passenger services continued throughout the
summer months and although withdrawals of the
line’s long serving 2P 4-4-0s and ‘Black Fives’ had
taken place earlier, 1962’s motive power line up
still provided an interesting mix for enthusiasts
and lineside photographers none more so than
the late Ivo Peters whose camera covered virtually
every aspect of the railway’s day-to-day
operations.
Overnight trains
When the summer timetable came into force BR
9F 2-10-0s became number one choice to work
the ‘Pines’ in both directions assisted to and from
Evercreech by Standard class 4MT 2-6-0s and
4-6-0s over the Mendip’s stiffest gradients, while
other through trains were handled by whatever
was at hand including the Somerset & Dorset’s 4F
0-6-0s and 7F 2-8-0s, BR 5MT 4-6-0s
supplemented with Bulleid West Countries from
Bournemouth, the occasional LMS ‘Black Fives’
and 8F 2-8-0s ‘borrowed’ after working overnight
trains down from the Midlands to Bath…
Local stoppers were mostly in the charge of BR
3MT 2-6-2Ts while former GW 2251 class 0-6-0s
were drafted in to cover Highbridge-
Templecombe branch services running via
Evercreech Junction.
Of the West Countries, Bournemouth’s Combe
Martin was a regular visitor with Braunton,
Calstock and Dorchester appearing on the ‘Pines’
from time to time, all requiring bankers drawn
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
from Templecombe shed’s allocation of BR
Standards.
The year also saw the withdrawal of the last two
of the original 7Fs built in 1914 for the Joint
Railway, 2-8-0 No 53803 being steamed on shed
at Bath to haul sister engine No. 53804 to Crewe
for scrapping.
Later, the line’s sole remaining 3F 0-6-0
‘Bulldog’ No. 43216 built by Neilson Reid &
Company for the Joint Railway in 1902 was
condemned to the scrap heap.
Evening Star
Four 9Fs, Nos. 92201, 92210, 92233 and 92245,
arrived on shed at Bath for the 1962 summer
season. On August 8, No. 92210 was replaced by
No. 92220 Evening Star in preparation for the
‘Pines’ last run a month later on September 8.
The celebrated 2-10-0s first duty was to work
the morning ‘Pines Express’ from Bournemouth
West to Bath on August 11 but because the train
loaded above the 9F’s limit of 410 tons, 4MT
4-6-0 No 75009 assisted from Evercreech to
Green Park.
I should explain that when the 9Fs first arrived
on the line in 1960 enginemen from Bath and
Branksome sheds quickly showed that the
2-10-0s were capable of working trains over the
line’s 71 and a-half mile route, 1-in-50/60
gradients included without the need for an
assisting engine.
The ‘Nines’ they said would help reduce
operating costs and mitigate problems associated
with footplate crew shortages. It was their answer
to rumours that higher authority was considering
shutting part of the line which was not profitable
citing expensive double heading as a contributory
factor.
News that the 9Fs were capable of hauling
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heavy passenger trains without the need for
assistance produced grumbling protests among
footplate crews at Templecombe, some
complaining that they would lose their train
assisting turns and related pay.
In the event the protests were upheld and the
railway’s tradition of double heading or banking
over the Mendips was allowed to continue.
It was against this background that it was
decided that when Saturday, September 8 arrived,
the crews chosen for these duties would work the
‘Pines’ in both directions with a 9F-in this case,
Evening Star-without assistance whatever the load
in a last minute attempt to prove that the 2-10-0s
could and would contribute much towards saving
operating costs and the line’s future.
Midland men
Cometh the day and cometh the Midland men –
as they were known to their Southern
counterparts in the Bournemouth area.
The 9.45am northbound departure from the
West station was manned by driver Peter Smith “
with Aubrey Punter on the shovel. The afternoon
southbound train from Green Park was placed in
the charge of driver Peter Guy and fireman Ron
Hyde, all four men from Branksome shed.
That morning, Bournemouth West station’s six
platforms were crowded with well wishers
anxious to give the ‘Pines’ a rousing send off.
Departing right time the 2-10-0 tackled the
1-in-90 off the platform end in fine style taking
the train on its final journey through West
Hampshire, Dorset and Somerset to Bath.
As to actual trip I have drawn on a first hand
account of Evening Star’s outstanding
performance from Peter Smith’s book Somerset &
Dorset from the footplate
In it he recalled that, “About 9.30am we backed➲
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down on to our train at the West station and
found out from the guard that the load was 12 for
426 tons.
“For this final trip I was determined to pull off a
fast one but the 9.25am to Liverpool,
immediately ahead, checked us two or three
times cumulating in a dead stand at Cole station
for several minutes. This fouled my plans and in
fact we were eventually late on arrival at Bath.
“But one question which so far had gone
unanswered would be resolved on this trip.
“This was if a class ‘9’ locomotive hauling a full
load of 420 tons or more was stopped by signals
on a 1-in-50 grades of the Mendip Hills would
she be able to restart with this load?

Hammer and tongs

“We had got away from Evercreech Junction and
were going hammer and tongs at the start of the
seven and three quarter mile climb when I was
dismayed to see the Evercreech New distant ‘on’.
The 9.25am Liverpool – which frankly, I don’t
think was trying very hard – was bulking us
again.
“On the approach to Evercreech New station
the outer home signal came off slowly for us but
as we crept up to the starting signal it remained
obstinately at danger. It flashed through my mind
that we would soon know whether a ‘9’ could
restart 426 tons on this upgrade.
“The forward movement of the train was barely
perceptible and I was just about to apply the
vaccum brake to hold the train when the signal
was slowly lowered.
“With full regulator and 78% cut off Evening
Star heaved her heavy train away from the
platform and gradually accelerated to 10-15mph.
60% was the shortest she would accept up the
bank to Shepton Mallet. I tried her briefly at 55%
at one point but she started to slow so 60% it had
to be.
Gruelling task
“Aubrey Punter sweated buckets in his efforts to
keep the fire grate covered. He was down to coal
which was little more than dross and which was
virtually out of reach of his shovel in the tender
necessitating frequent trips into the tender to pull
coal (dust) forward. His was a gruelling task
indeed.
“Boiler pressure on this part of the climb
averaged 230lb but at expense of water in the
boiler. We topped the first part of the climb with
about half a glass of water showing on the glass.
“The train did not stop at Shepton Mallet on
summer Saturdays so as we eased on to the brief
downhill stretch leading to the viaducts over the
town to the start of the second half of the climb
to Masbury I was musing as to the best line of
action to take-shut off and recover as much steam
and water as possible but lose impetus for the
next climb – or keep her going. I had to make up
my mind in seconds. I kept her going hard using
full regulator and 45% cut off with speed
reaching a maximum in the dip of about 40mph.
“This setting took us up to the north end of
Winsor Hill Tunnel but with speed back in the
20s I lengthened the cut off to 50%.
“Aubrey Punter was visibly tired by now and I
entered the tender and pulled some coal forward
and did a round of firing while he watched the
road.
Triumphantly
“We approached Masbury Halt working on 55%
cut off and so well had Aubrey stuck to his task
we had no less than 240lb showing on the
pressure gauge. And in this style we triumphantly
breasted the summit although the sudden change
BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0s Nos. 73054 leads a Standard double header up the 1-in-53 towards Chilcompton Tunnel.
from 1-in-50 up to 1-in-73 down caused the
water level to fall sharply but the use of two
injectors just maintained it in sight in the glass.”
Peter Smith went on to say that despite being
brought to a virtual stand on a 1-in-50 gradient
with a load 16 tons in excess of a full load and a
tender full of poor coal, the ‘9’ and its crew had
excelled themselves and in the process had
created a new-unbeatable-record allied with the
satisfaction that right up to the bitter end, the
engine’s performance had shown the men in grey
suits just what might have been achieved through
out the preceding years which had the ‘Nines’
been fitted with steam heating.
Fate sealed
When the ‘Down Pines’ reached Bournemouth
West later that day in the hands of Peter Guy and
Ron Hyde its arrival and the end of the summer
timetable to all intent and purposes sealed the
fate of the line.
The following week the ‘Pines’ and other
through trains to and from the North, Midlands
and Bournemouth were diverted on to different
routes-largely via Oxford-reducing the Somerset
& Dorset to little more than a long country
branch.
Ironically, during the following (1963) summer
two 9Fs including Evening Star were reallocated
to Bath to cover three-four coach stopping train
diagrams. It was a waste of powerful engines,
coal, water and oil.
As it was, the very last 2-10-0 allocated to Bath
shed, No. 92214, worked the 9.55am semi fast to
Bournemouth returning with the 3.40pm ‘Up
Mail’ on June 20, 1964. A few days later the
engine was moved elsewhere. In the final year the
railway was closed, March 6, 1966, skeletal
passenger services were worked by BR Ivatt
2-6-2Ts, BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4Ts and Standard
4MT 2-6-0s provide by Bournemouth shed.
The day before closure, Saturday, March 5, the
Locomotive Club of Great Britain ran a ‘Farewell’
special over the line double headed by two
immaculately turned out Bulleid 4-6-2s,
No. 34006 Bude and No. 34057 Biggin Hill.
On the Up journey the two Bulleids came off at
Evercreech Junction, two Ivatt 2-6-2Ts No. 41307
and No. 41269 working the train down the
Highbridge branch and back, the 4-6-2s then
taking the special on to Bath Green Park.
That same day, the Great Western Society ran
another special between Bournemouth and Bath
behind LMS 8F 2-8-0 No. 48706.
The following day the last specials, one
organised by the Stephenson Locomotive Society
(Midlands Area) the second by the Railway
Correspondence & Travel Society, bade farewell
to the Somerset & Dorset Railway.
The SLS train was worked by LMS 8F 2-8-0
No. 48706 and BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T
No. 80043.
The RC&TS special was, if memory serves
me correctly, an S&D engine, 7F 2-8-0 No.
53808 which I saw pass though Poole on a
rainy Sunday morning. These were the last
passenger trains to run between
Bournemouth and Bath. Nowadays when I
motor west through the Dorset countryside
and pass through towns and villages-Corfe
Mullen, Spetisbury, Charlton Marshall,
Blandford Forum and Shillingstone I find it
difficult to believe that I once travelled this
way on many occasions sitting comfortably
in a former LMS carriage hauled not by a 9F
but one of Bath’s ‘Black Fives’ working at the
head of the ‘Pines’ en route to
Birmingham… ■

WorldMags.net
88 Heritage Railway www.heritagerailway.co.uk
 WorldMags.net

LMS 2P 4-4-0 No.40569 and SR West Country No. 34032 Dorchester regain double line working at Midford after tackling the 1-in-50 climb up to Devonshire and Combe Down
tunnels. Midford ‘box is seen in the background..

SR West Country Pacific No. 34041 Wilton passes Cole station just after crossing the Great Western main line en route to Bournemouth.

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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 89
ScaleHeritageRailway
WorldMags.net
Bluebell’s Brighton Atlantic
is to appear in OO gauge
THIS summer we have been
celebrating the main line
connection we all wanted to see –
the Bluebell Railway running into
East Grinstead.
Now Bachmann is to produce an
OO gauge version of the future
flagship locomotive that will be
running over it.
Bachmann, acclaimed for its
series of finescale resin models of
the Sheffield Park station
buildings, is to produce the first
ever ready-to-run LBSCR H2
Brighton Atlantic in OO gauge.
One of the first two examples
to be issued will be No. 32424
Beachy Head, a full-size new
build replica of which is an
advanced stage of completion
at Sheffield Park.
The H2s were introduced
between June 1911 and January
1912. They were designed to haul
express trains between London
and Brighton including the
prestigious Pullman trains before
completion of the electrification
scheme on January 1, 1933.
They were designed by DE
Marsh, who had been deputy to
H2 4-4-2 No. 2424 Beachy Head at Ramsgate shed in Southern Railway livery.
90 Heritage Railway
the chief mechanical engineer
of the Great Northern Railway,
HA Ivatt, for 10 years until he
was promoted to the top job at
Brighton in January 1905.
Such was the urgency for express
motive power on the Brighton line
that Marsh, with the full support
of his former chief, borrowed a set
of Doncaster drawings and made a
few amendments. The result was
five H1 Class locomotives which
were built by Kitson of Leeds
between December 1905 and
February 1906.
The second batch (Class H2)
although to Marsh design was
modified by his deputy L
Billinton, who became acting
chief mechanical engineer due to
Marsh being absent on extended
sick leave. In 1912 Billinton took
over permanently when Marsh
resigned, holding the position
until Grouping in 1923.
Six H2 class locomotives were
built at Brighton works and
remained on front line Brighton
work until the arrival of the King
Arthur 4-6-0s in 1925. They were
named after geographical features
WorldMags.net
on the South Coast.
The Brighton Atlantics then
continued to operate other
express trains and also boat trains
to the ferries at Newhaven (for
Dieppe, France) until the
outbreak of the Second World
War in 1939 brought the duties to
an early end.
The class continued to work
secondary services after the war
but there was less work for them
and some were put into store. The
first H2 Class withdrawal was
No. 32423 The Needles which took
place in May 1949. The last to
survive was No. 32424 Beachy
Head which was scrapped at
Eastleigh following withdrawal on
April 24, 1958 – a year before the
formation of the Bluebell Railway
in March 1959. This locomotive
had worked part of the
Locomotive Club of Great Britain
Southern Counties Limited
Railtour on February 24, 1957,
from Horsted Keynes to Brighton.
In 2000, the Bluebell Railway
Atlantic Group was formed to
build a replica of Beachy Head for
use on the extended Bluebell
Railway between Sheffield Park
and East Grinstead. Since then the
group has acquired many parts
including a GNR Atlantic boiler,
tender frames and wheelsets.
Other items are being
manufactured and the project has
now reached an advanced stage.
The Bachmann Branchline OO
scale model will be released in
2015. Two versions are planned
initially: No. 2426 St Alban’s Head
in Southern Railway olive green
livery and No. 32424 Beachy Head
in BR black livery with early
emblem. Prices are to be advised
in due course.
David Haarhaus, Bachmann’s
European sales and marketing
manager said: “We believe that the
H2 class locomotive will be
popular with modellers and the
emergence of the replica at
Sheffield Park over the coming
years will introduce the class to
new generations of railway
enthusiasts and modellers. We
are working closely with the
Bluebell Railway Atlantic Group
and thank them for assisting us
with this project”.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
Farish LNERWorldMags.net
J39 0-6-0 hauls the freight
A WELCOME workhorse for the
Farish N gauge stable is the BR
black-liveried LNER J39.
Gresley’s J39 0-6-0s appeared in
1926 as a larger-wheeled version of
the J38. With a total of 289 built
over 15 years, the J39 became the
new LNER Group Standard 0-6-0
goods locomotive and so will fit
easily on to many a layout. The
class was also the most numerous
of Gresley’s designs.
All of the J39s were built at
Darlington except for one batch of
28 built by Beyer Peacock.
They proved to be powerful and
versatile locomotives, and could
handle anything from general
freight to heavier oil and coal
trains. They also appeared on
some passenger trains, especially
summer excursions in the Thirties.
Also although they were not
designed for fast running, some of
these included express services.
One big flaw in the design was
FARISH 372-401 J39 0-6-0 No. 64960 BR black early emblem flat-sided tender
Scumbled teak effect LNER suburbans
WHAT Hornby did many years ago
with its widely-acclaimed LNER
Gresley teak coaches for express
trains is now being repeated again
with suburban carriages.
HORNBY R4572 LNER Thompson non-corridor suburban lavatory composite No. 88383 Scumbled teak livery
HORNBY R4573 LNER Thompson non-corridor suburban third No. 82657 Scumbled teak livery
HORNBY R4574 LNER Thompson non-corridor suburban brake third No. 87013 Scumbled teak livery
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
the
axleboxes
which had a habit of
running hot, leading to
higher maintenance costs.
The first J39s were withdrawn in
1959, and all had gone by
December 1962. No. 64747
survived at Woodford Halse shed
as a stationary boiler, until
October 1964. Sadly, the
preservation movement had not
matured sufficiently by then to
take it.
The Farish model features all
wheel pick up with phosphor
bronze pick up bushes, six-pin
tender drive and a magnificently-
Only all is not what it seems.
Gresley’s successor Edward
Thompson improved passenger
safety by introducing steel-bodied
coaches during the Second World
War. They gradually phased out
the teak coaches of which Gresley’s
designs were the best known.
By the 1940s, the crashworthiness
of teak coaching stock was no
longer considered adequate.
Thompson’s replacement all-steel
stock set the wheels in motion for
the later BR Mk.1 designs.
The problem, however, back in
the Forties was the LNER coaching
stock livery. The new coaches
would run in rakes with their older
WorldMags.net
detailed
body and
cab interior.
The model is that of J39/2
No. 64960, which was outshopped
from Darlington on June 3, 1938.
At the time of Nationalisation, it
was based at 39B Sheffield Darnall
shed. It was withdrawn from
40A Lincoln on February 1, 1960,
and scrapped at Doncaster four
weeks later.
£86.95
varnished teak counterparts, and
had to match. So ‘scumbling’ – the
process of producing an imitation
teak finish – was employed.
The finish of the Hornby
scumbled stock, as with the ‘real’
teak coaches, is magnificent. Every
imitation ‘grain’ of the original
appears to have been reflected in
the model.
Ideally, these carriages should be
hauled by the likes of the Hornby’s
B1, B17 or L1.
After nationalisation,
Thompson’s coaches were
eventually painted maroon, but
some retained their LNER livery
for several years.
£48.99
£48.99
£48.99
Heritage Railway 91
UpandRunning
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Believed to be the only railway able to run a train
of four ex-LBSCR coaches, LSWR O2 0-4-4T No. 24
Calbourne departs from Smallbrook Junction on
the Isle of Wight Steam Railway on August 8 with
Nos. 4168 brake third, 6349 composite, 2416 third
and 2403 third. IWSR / JOHN FAULKNER
Brian Sharpe’s full listing of operational lines and museum venues
SOuTh EAST
■ amBerley wOrKiNg mUSeUm
Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Arundel, West Sussex. Tel: 01798 831370.
www.amberleymuseum.co.uk
Running: Wed-Sun + sch hol.
■ BeNtley miNiatUre railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Bentley Wildfowl & Motor Museum,
East Sussex. www.bentleyrailway.co.uk Running: Suns.
■ BlUeBell railway
Standard gauge, 11 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Sheffield Park, East Sussex TN22 2QL. Tel: 01825 720800.
www.bluebell-railway.co.uk Engines: 263, 92212, 1638, 178, B473,
323, 592, L150. Running: Daily.
■ BreDgar & wOrmShill railway
Narrow gauge, ½ mile, near Sittingbourne, Kent. Running: Oct 6.
■ eaSt KeNt railway
Standard gauge, two miles, Shepherdswell, Dover.
Tel: 01304 832042. Running: Suns to Oct 13.
■ eaStleigh laKeSiDe railway
Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience.
Running: W/Es + school holidays.
■ exBUry garDeNS railway
Narrow gauge, 1¼ miles, footplate experience, New Forest,
Hampshire. Tel: 0238 089 1203. www.exbury.co.uk
Running: Daily.
■ haStiNgS miNiatUre railway
Narrow gauge, 600 yards, Rock a Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex
Running: W/Es + school holidays.
■ hayliNg SeaSiDe railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Hayling Island, Hants.
www.haylingseasiderailway.com Running: W/Es, Weds + sch hol.
■ hOllyCOmBe Steam COlleCtiON
Narrow gauge, one mile, Liphook, Hants. Tel: 01428 724900.
info@hollycombe.co.uk Running: Suns to Oct 13.
■ iSle Of wight Steam railway
Standard gauge, five miles, Havenstreet, Isle of Wight.
Tel: 01983 882204. www.iwsteamrailway.co.uk Engines: 8, 11, 24.
Running: W/Es, Weds, Thurs.
■ KeNt & eaSt SUSSex railway
Standard gauge, 10½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Tenterden, Kent. www.kesr.org.uk Tel: 01580 765155. Engines:
3, 6619, 32678, 1638. Running: W/Es.
■ laVeNDer liNe
Standard gauge, one mile, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Isfield, East Sussex. Tel: 01825 750515. www.lavender-line.co.uk
Running: Suns + Oct 5.
92 heritage railway
■ miD haNtS railway
Standard gauge, 10 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG. www.watercressline.co.uk
Tel: 01962 733810. Engines: 31806, 34007, 850, 925, 45379.
Running: W/Es.
■ rOmNey, hythe & DymChUrCh railway
Narrow gauge, 13½ miles, footplate experience, New Romney,
Tel: 01797 362353. www.rhdr.org.uk
Running: Daily.
■ rOyal ViCtOria railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Netley, Southampton.
Tel: 0238 045 6246. www.royalvictoriarailway.co.uk
Running: W/Es + school holidays.
■ SittiNgBOUrNe & KemSley railway
Narrow gauge, 1¾ miles, Sittingbourne, Kent.
Tel: 01795 424899. www.sklr.net/index.htm
Running: Sep 28, 29.
■ SPa Valley railway
Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, Tunbridge Wells,
Kent. Tel: 01892 537715. www.spavalleyrailway.co.uk
Running: W/Es + Oct 18.
SOuTh WEST
■ aVON Valley railway
Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Willsbridge, Glos. www.avonvalleyrailway.org Tel: 0117 932 7296.
Running: Suns + Sep 28, Oct 5, 19.
■ BODmiN & weNfOrD railway
Standard gauge, 6½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Bodmin, Cornwall. www.bodminrailway.co.uk
Tel: 01208 73666. Engines: 5552, 30120, 6435, 4247, 4612, Met 1.
Running: Daily to Oct 13, Sun, Tues, Wed.
■ DartmOUth Steam railway
Standard gauge, seven miles, wine & dine, Paignton, Devon.
Tel: 01803 555872. Engines: 7827, 5239, 4277.
www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk Running: Daily.
■ DeVON railway CeNtre
Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Bickleigh, Devon. Tel: 01884 855671.
www.devonrailwaycentre.co.uk Running: W/Es.
■ eaSt SOmerSet railway
Standard gauge, two miles, Cranmore, Somerset.
Tel: 01749 880417. info@eastsomersetrailway.com Engine: 5637
Running: W/Es.
WorldMags.net
■ gartell light railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Templecombe, Somerset. Tel: 01963
370752. glr-online.co.uk Running: Sep 29.
■ helStON railway
Trevarno Farm, Prospidnick, Helson, Cornwall
www.helstonrailway.co.uk/events Running: Suns, Thurs.
■ laUNCeStON Steam railway
Narrow gauge, two miles, Launceston. Tel: 01566 775665.
launcestonsr.co.uk Running: Oct 27-Nov 1.
■ lyNtON & BarNStaPle railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Woody Bay, north Devon.
01598 763487. www.lynton-rail.co.uk
Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs except Oct 1.
■ mOOrS Valley railway
Narrow gauge, one mile, Ringwood, Hants. Tel: 01425 471415.
www.moorsvalleyrailway.co.uk Running: W/Es + sch hols.
■ Plym Valley railway
Standard gauge, ½ mile, Marsh Mills, Plymouth, Devon.
www.plymrail.co.uk Running: Oct 27.
■ SeatON tramway
Narrow gauge, three miles, Harbour Rd, Seaton, Devon.
Tel: 01297 20375. www.tram.co.uk Running: Daily.
■ SOUth DeVON railway
Standard gauge, seven miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Buckfastleigh, Devon. Tel: 0843 357 1420.
www.southdevonrailway.co.uk L92, 3205.
Running: Daily.
■ SwaNage railway
Standard gauge, six miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Swanage, Dorset. www.swanagerailway.co.uk
Tel: 01929 425800. Engines: 80104, 30053, 34028, 34070, 6695.
Running: Daily.
■ SwiNDON & CriCKlaDe railway
Standard gauge, three miles, footplate experience, Blunsdon,
Wiltshire. Tel: 01793 771615.
www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org Running: W/Es.
■ weSt SOmerSet railway
Standard gauge, 20 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Minehead, Somerset TA24 5BG. Tel: 01643 704996.
www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk Engines: 88, 9351, 3850, 4160.
7828, 6960, 7812, 7822, 7827, 5029. Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs +
Oct 4.
■ Heritage Railway cannot be held responsible for any
inaccuracies or changes within material published in good faith. We
advise readers to telephone before travelling long distances.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
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www.heritagerailway.co.uk Heritage Railway 93
UpandRunning
EaST aNglia
■ BRESSINGHAm STEAm muSEum
WorldMags.net
Narrow gauge, one mile, Diss, Norfolk. Tel: 01379 686900.
Running: Daily.
■ BuRE VALLEY RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, nine miles, footplate experience, Aylsham, Norfolk.
Tel: 01263 733858. www.bvrw.co.uk
Running: Daily.
■ CoLNE VALLEY RAILWAY
Standard gauge one mile footplate experience, wine and dine,
Castle Hedingham, Essex. Tel: 01787 461174.
www.colnevalleyrailway.co.uk
Running: W/Es.
■ EAST ANGLIAN RAILWAY muSEum
Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Wakes Colne, Essex. Tel: 01206 242524.
www.earm.co.uk Open: Daily, Running: Oct 5, 6.
■ mANGAPPS RAILWAY
Standard gauge, one mile, near Burnham on Crouch, Essex.
Tel: 01621 784898. www.mangapps.co.uk
Running: W/Es .
■ mId-NoRfoLK RAILWAY
Standard gauge, 11½ miles, footplate experience, Dereham,
Norfolk. Tel: 01362 690633. www.mnr.org.uk On it’s penultimate day in service on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80002
Running: W/Es + Weds. approaches Haworth. JOHN TICKNER
■ mId-SuffoLK LIGHT RAILWAY
Standard gauge, 1⁄4 mile, Brockford, Suffolk. ■ dEAN foREST RAILWAY ■ SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY
www.mslr.org.uk Running: Sep 28, 29 (diesel). Standard gauge, 4¼ miles, footplate experience, Standard gauge, 16 miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
■ NENE VALLEY RAILWAY wine & dine, Norchard, Lydney, Glos. Bewdley, Worcs DY12 1BG. www.svr.co.uk Tel: 01299 403816.
Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Wansford, Tel: 01594 843423. www.deanforestrailway.co.uk Engines: 1501, 4566, 5164, 7812, 2857, 34053, 43106.
Peterborough, Cambs. Tel: 01780 784444. www.nvr.org.uk Engines: 1450, 9681. Running: Suns + Weds + Oct 12. Running: Daily.
Engine: 73050. ■ ECCLESBouRNE VALLEY RAILWAY ■ STEEPLE GRANGE LIGHT RAILWAY
Standard gauge, eight miles, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. Narrow gauge, ½ mile, footplate experience, Wirksworth,
Running: W/Es + Oct 4, 16.
Tel: 01629 823076. www.e-v-r.com Derbyshire. Tel: 01629 580917 www.steeplegrange.co.uk
■ NoRTH NoRfoLK RAILWAY
Running: W/Es. Running: Suns.
Standard gauge, 5½ miles, footplate experience, Sheringham,
■ EVESHAm VALE RAILWAY ■ TELfoRd STEAm RAILWAY
Norfolk NR26 8RA. Tel: 01263 820800. www.nnrailway.co.uk Narrow gauge, 1¼ mile, A46 north of Evesham, Worcs. Standard gauge, ¾ mile, Telford, Shropshire.
Engines: 8572, 5619, 76084, 45337, 44767. Tel: 01386 422282. Tel: 01952 503880. Running Sep 30.
Running: Daily. Running: W/Es.
■ WELLS & WALSINGHAm LIGHT RAILYWAY ■ foXfIELd RAILWAY NORTH WEST
Narrow gauge, four miles, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Standard gauge, 5½ miles, Blythe Bridge, Staffs. Engine: 47406. ■ EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY
Tel: 01328 711630. Running: Daily. Running: Suns + Oct 12. Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience,
■ WHITWELL & REEPHAm RAILWAY ■ GLouCESTERSHIRE WARWICKSHIRE RLY Bury, Lancs. Tel: 01617 647790. www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk
Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Reepham, Norfolk. Standard gauge, 12 miles, footplate experience, Engines: 80080,1744, 49395.
Tel: 01603 871694. www.whitwellstation.com Running: W/Es , wine & dine, Toddington, Glos. Tel: 01242 621405. Running: W/Es.
(steam: first Sunday). www.gwsr.com Engines: 7903, 2807, 8274, 5542.
Running: W/Es, Tues, Weds.
MiDlaNDS ■ GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY ■ GRoudLE GLEN RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, Isle of Man, Tel: 01624 622138 (eves).
■ AmERToN RAILWAY Standard gauge, eight miles, Loughborough, Leics LE11 1RW.
Narrow gauge, one mile, Stowe-by-Chartley, Staffs. Tel: 01509 230726. www.gcrailway.co.uk Engines: 48624, 47406, Running: Sep 29.
Tel: 01785 850965. www.amertonrailway.co.uk 46521, 78019, 777, 73129, 34070. Running: W/Es + Oct 3, 4, 23-25. ■ ISLE of mAN STEAm RAILWAY
Running: W/Es (steam Suns). ■ mIdLANd RAILWAY-BuTTERLEY Narrow gauge, 15½ miles, Douglas, Isle of Man.
■ APEdALE VALLEY RAILWAY Standard gauge, 3½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine, Tel: 01624 662525. www.iombusandrail.info
Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Apedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Ripley, Derbyshire. Tel: 01773 570140. Engines: 23, 73129. Running: Daily.
Running: Sats + Oct 13. Running: W/Es. ■ LAKESIdE & HAVERTHWAITE RAILWAY
■ BARRoW HILL RouNdHouSE ■ NoRTHAmPToN & LAmPoRT RAILWAY Standard gauge, 3½ miles, near Ulverston, Cumbria.
Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Standard gauge, two miles, Pitsford, Northants. Tel: 01539 531594. Engines: 42073, 42085.
Tel: 01246 472450. www.barrowhill.org.uk Engines: 61264, 60163. Tel: 01604 820327. nlr.org.uk Running: Suns + Sep 28. Running: Daily.
Open: W/Es, Running: Sep 28, 29. ■ NoRTH INGS fARm muSEum
■ mANCHESTER muSEum of SCIENCE
Narrow gauge, one mile, Dorrington, Lincs. Tel: 01526 833100.
■ BATTLEfIELd LINE RAILWAY & INduSTRY
Running: Oct 6.
Standard gauge, five miles, Shackerstone, Leics. Standard gauge, ½ mile, driver experience, Castlefield,
■ NoTTINGHAm TRANSPoRT HERITAGE CENTRE
Tel: 01827 880754. battlefield-line-railway.co.uk Engine: 3803. Manchester. Open: Daily. Tel: 0161 832 2244.
Standard gauge, four miles, Ruddington, Notts. Tel: 0115 940 570.
Running: W/Es. Open: Daily.
Running: W/Es.
■ CHASEWATER RAILWAY ■ RAVENGLASS & ESKdALE RAILWAY
■ PEAK RAIL
Standard gauge, two miles, Walsall, West Midlands. Tel: 01543
Standard gauge, four miles, Matlock, Derbyshire. Narrow gauge, seven miles, Ravenglass, Cumbria.
452623. www.chasewaterrailway.co.uk Tel: 01629 580381. Running: W/Es. Tel: 01229 717171. Running: Daily.
Running: W/Es except Oct 19. ■ PERRYGRoVE RAILWAY ■ RIBBLE STEAm RAILWAY
■ CHuRNET VALLEY RAILWAY Narrow gauge, B4228, Coleford, Glos. Tel: 01594 834991. Standard gauge, one mile, Preston, Lancs.
Standard gauge, 5¼ miles, footplate experience, Running: W/Es.
wine & dine, Cheddleton, Staffs. Tel: 01772 728800.
■ RoCKS BY RAIL Running: W/Es.
Tel: 01538 360522. Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Cottesmore, Rutland.
www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk ■ STAINmoRE RAILWAY
Open Sun, Tues, Thurs, Running: Third Sunday.
Engines: 69621, 6046. Standard gauge, half mile, Kirkby Stephen East Station, Kirkby
■ RudYARd LAKE RAILWAY
Running: Suns to Oct 6. Narrow gauge, 1½ miles, Leek, Staffs. Tel: 01995 672280. www.rlsr.org Stephen, Cumbria CA17 4LA. www.kirkbystepheneast.co.uk
■ CRICH TRAmWAY VILLAGE Running: W/Es + Oct 22-24. Open: W/Es.
Standard gauge, one mile, Crich, Derbyshire. ■ RuSHdEN TRANSPoRT muSEum ■ WEST LANCASHIRE LIGHT RAILWAY
Tel: 01773 852565. www.tramway.co.uk Standard gauge, ¼ mile, Rushden, Northants. Narrow gauge, Hesketh Bank, Lancs. Tel: 01772 815881.
Running: Daily. Running: Oct 19, 20 Running: Suns.

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GWR 0-4-2T No. 1450 at Parkend on the Dean Forest Railway during a Mike Tyack photo charter. KEN WOOLLEY
NORTH EaST
■ aPPleBy-FrodinGhaM rly Pres soCiety
Standard gauge, 15 miles, Tata Steelworks, Scunthorpe,
North Lincs. Tel: 01652 657053. www.afrps.co.uk
Running: Sep 14, 21.
■ Bowes railway
Standard gauge, one mile, Springwell, Tyne & Wear. Tel: 01914
161847. Open: W/Es.
■ CleethorPes Coast liGht railway
Narrow gauge, two miles, Cleethorpes, North East Lincs.
Tel: 01472 604657. Running: W/Es + Oct 21-25.
■ derwent valley railway
Standard gauge, ½ mile, Murton Park, Layerthorpe, York.
Engine: 69023. Tel: 01904 489966. Running: Sep 29
■ elseCar railway
Standard gauge, one mile, Elsecar, South Yorks. Footplate experience.
Tel: 01226 746746. www.elsecarrailway.co.uk
Open: Daily. Running: Suns.
■ eMBsay & Bolton aBBey steaM railway
Standard gauge, five miles, Embsay, Yorks. Engines: 65, 52322.
Running: W/Es + Tues.
■ KeiGhley & worth valley railway
Standard gauge, five miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Keighley, West Yorks BD22 8NJ. Tel: 01535 645214.
www.kwvr.co.uk Engines: 43924, 90733, 1054, 45305, 1501, 4160,
5029. Running: W/Es + Oct 11.
■ KirKlees liGht railway
Narrow gauge, four miles, Huddersfield, West Yorks.
Tel: 01484 865727. Running: W/Es.
■ linColnshire wolds railway
Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Ludborough, Lincs. Tel: 01507 363881.
lincolnshirewoldsrailway.co.uk Running: Sep 29, Oct 13, 23, 27.
■ Middleton railway
Standard gauge, 1½ miles, Hunslet, Leeds. Tel: 01132 710320.
www.middletonrailway.org.uk Engine: 1310.
Running: W/Es.
■ north tyneside railway
Standard gauge, two miles. North Shields. tel: 0191 2007146.
www.ntsra.org.uk Open: W/Es, Running: Suns.
■ north yorKshire Moors railway
Standard gauge, 18 miles, wine & dine, Grosmont, North Yorks.
Tel: 01751 472508. Engines: 45428, 75029, 61264, 60007, 6046,
60163. Running: Daily.
96 heritage railway
■ south tynedale railway
Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Alston, Cumbria. Tel: 01434
382828/381696. www.strps.org.uk
Running: W/Es.
■ tanField railway
Standard gauge, three miles, Gateshead, Co Durham.
Tel: 01913 887545. www.tanfield-railway.co.uk
Running: Suns.
■ wensleydale railway
Standard gauge, 12 miles, Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
Tel: 0845 450 5474. Running: Tues, Fri-Sun.
HOME COUNTIES
■ BuCKinGhaMshire railway Centre
Standard gauge, ¼ mile, footplate experience, Quainton Road,
Bucks. Tel: 01296 655720. www.bucksrailcentre.org
Engine: 30585. Open: Tues-Thurs. Running: Suns.
■ Chinnor & PrinCes risBorouGh railway
Standard gauge, 3½ miles, Chinnor, Oxon. Tel: 01844 353535.
www.chinnorrailway.co.uk Engine: 1369.
Running: W/Es.
■ Cholsey & wallinGFord railway
Standard gauge, 2½ miles, Wallingford, Oxon. Tel: 01491 835067.
www.cholsey-wallingford-railway.com
Running: Oct 26, 27.
■ didCot railway Centre
Standard gauge, footplate experience, Didcot, Oxon.
Tel: 01235 817200. www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
Engines: 93, 3650, 5322, 6023.
Open: W/Es. Running: Oct 5, 6.
■ ePPinG onGar railway
Standard gauge, five miles, Ongar, Essex. Tel: 01277 365200.
www.eorailway.co.uk Engine: 4141.
Running: W/Es.
■ leiGhton BuZZard railway
Narrow gauge, 2¾ miles, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.
Tel: 01525 373888. www.buzzrail.co.uk Running: Suns.
■ Heritage Railway cannot be held responsible for any
inaccuracies or changes within material published in good faith.
We advise readers to telephone before travelling long distances.
WorldMags.net
WalES
Bala laKe railway
Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd. Tel: 01678 540666.
www.bala-lake-railway.co.uk Running: Sep 28, 29, Oct 22-24.
■ BreCon Mountain railway
Narrow gauge, 3½ miles, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan.
Tel: 01685 722988. www.breconmountainrailway.co.uk
Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs.
■ CaMBrian heritaGe railways
Standard gauge, ½ mile, Llynclys Junction. Tel 01352 770413.
www.cambrianrailways.com Running: W/Es.
■ Corris railway
Narrow gauge, ¾ mile, Maespoeth, Machynlleth.
Tel: 01654 761303. www.corris.co.uk Running: Sep 29, Oct 19, 20,
27.
■ FairBourne railway
Narrow gauge, two miles, Fairbourne, Gwynedd.
Tel: 01341 250362. Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs.
■ FFestinioG railway
Narrow gauge, 15 miles, Porthmadog, Gwynedd LL49 9NF.
Tel: 01766 516000. www.festrail.co.uk
Running: Daily.
■ Gwili railway
Standard gauge, two miles, Bronwydd Arms, Carmarthenshire.
Tel: 01267 238213. Running: Sun, Wed, Thurs + Sep 28, Oct 12.
■ llanBeris laKe railway
Narrow gauge, three miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286
870549. Running: Sun-Thur.
■ llanGollen railway
Standard gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, wine & dine,
Llangollen, Denbighshire LL20 8SN. Tel: 01978 860979.
www.llangollen-railway.co.uk Engines: 3802, 44806, 6430, 7822,
80072. Running: W/Es + Sep 26-Oct 4, Oct 21-25.
■ PontyPool & Blaenavon railway
Standard gauge, two miles, Blaenavon, Torfaen.
Tel: 01495 792263. Running: Oct 30, 31.
■ rhyl Miniature railway
Narrow gauge, Rhyl, North Wales.
Running: W/Es.
■ snowdon Mountain railway
Narrow gauge, 4½ miles, Llanberis, Gwynedd. Tel: 01286 870223.
Running: Daily.
www.heritagerailway.co.uk
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UpandRunning
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The Dartmoor Railway Supporters Association has formed Granite Line Ltd whose first activity was to charter a train between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry on four Sundays in
August. SR DEMU No. 1132 is pictured on August 26 at Okehampton. DAVID HUNT

■ TALYLLYN RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, 7½ miles, footplate experience, Tywyn, Gwynedd.
Tel: 01654 710472. www.talyllyn.co.uk Running: Daily.
■ TEIFI VALLEY RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, two miles, Henllan, Carmarthenshire.
Tel: 01559 371077. Running: Sun-Thur.
■ VALE OF RHEIDOL RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, 11¾ miles, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. Tel: 01970
625819. www.rheidolrailway.co.uk Engines, 8, 9.
Running: Daily except Sep 13, 20, 23.
■ WELSH HIgHLAND HERITAgE RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, one mile, Porthmadog,
Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 513402. www.whr.co.uk Running: Daily.
■ WELSH HIgHLAND RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, 26 miles, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. Tel: 01766 516000.
Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs + Oct 21, 25.
■ WELSHPOOL & LLANFAIR LIgHT RLY
Narrow gauge, eight miles, Llanfair Caereinion, Mid Wales.
Tel: 01938 810441. www.wllr.org.uk Engines: 822, 823,
Running: W/Es, Tues-Thurs + Aug 30.
ScOTLAND
■ ALMOND VALLEY RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, ¼ mile, Livingston, West Lothian. Tel: 01506
414957. www.almondvalley.co.uk/Railway.html
■ BO’NESS & KINNEIL RAILWAY ■ Entries on these pages relate to heritage lines
Standard gauge, five miles, Bo’ness, West Lothian. operating public services during the current month.
Tel: 01506 822298. Locomotives listed are those of main line origin
www.bkrailway.co.uk Engine: 246, 1744. expected to be steamable on the railway at some stage
Running: W/Es + Oct 15-17. during the current month.
■ CALEDONIAN RAILWAY
Standard gauge, four miles, Brechin, Angus, Tel: 01356 622992,
www.caledonianrailway.com IRELAND
Running: December. ■ CAVAN & LEITRIM RAILWAY
■ KEITH & DUFFTOWN RAILWAY Narrow gauge, ½ mile, Dromod, Co Leitrim.
Standard gauge, 11 miles, Dufftown, Banffshire. Tel: 00353 7838 599. www.cavanandleitrim.com
Running: Sat-Mon.
www.keith-dufftown-railway.co.uk
■ DOWNPATRICK & COUNTY DOWN RLY
Running: Sep 27-29.
Standard gauge, four miles. www.downrail.co.uk
■ LEADHILLS & WANLOCKHEAD RAILWAY
■ FINTOWN RAILWAY
Narrow gauge, one mile, Leadhills, Strathclyde, Narrow gauge, two miles, Glenties, Co. Donegal, Tel: 07495 4627
Tel: 0141 556 1061. www.leadhillsrailway.co.uk ■ gIANTS CAUSEWAY & BUSHMILLS RAILWAY
Running: Sep 28, 29. Narrow gauge, two miles, Bushmills, Co. Antrim.
■ ROYAL DEESIDE RAILWAY Tel: 0282 073 2844.
Standard gauge, one mile, Milton of Crathes, Running: W/Es.
Kincardineshire. www.deeside-railway.co.uk ■ WATERFORD & SUIR VALLEY RAILWAY
Running: Sep 28, 29. Narrow gauge, two miles, Kilmeaden, Co Waterford.
■ STRATHSPEY RAILWAY www.wsvrailway.ie Running: Daily.
Standard gauge, 10 miles, Aviemore, Inverness-shire. ■ WEST CLARE RAILWAY
Tel: 01479 810725. www.strathspeyrailway.co.uk Engines: 46512, Narrow gauge, Moyasta Junction, Co Clare.
828. Running: W/Es + Wed, Thurs. Running: Daily (steam Sun, Mon).

RAILWAY MUSEUMS
BEAMISH LOCOMOTION: THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM SOMERSET & DORSET RAILWAY TRUST
County Durham. North of England. Open Air Museum. AT SHILDON Washford, Somerset. Open: Weekends. Tel: 01984 640869.
Open: Tues-Thurs, W/Es. Co Durham. Open: Daily.
BERE FERRERS STATION STEAM – MUSEUM OF THE gWR
LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM Swindon, Wilts. Open: Daily. Tel: 01793 466646.
Bere Ferrers, west Devon. Open: W/Es. Tel: 07813 360066. Covent Garden Piazza. Open: Daily.
COL. STEPHENS RAILWAY MUSEUM ST ALBANS SOUTH SIgNALBOx & MUSEUM
Tenterden Station, Kent. Open: W/Es. Tel: 01580 765155. MIDSOMER NORTON St Albans City station, Open: see website www.sigbox.co.uk
Silver Street, Midsomer Norton. Open: Suns/Mons. Tel: 01727 863131.
CONWY VALLEY RAILWAY MUSEUM CREWE HERITAgE CENTRE
Betws-y-coed, Conwy. Open: Daily. Tel: 01690 710568. MONKWEARMOUTH STATION MUSEUM
Sunderland, Co Durham. Open: Daily. Tel: 01915 677075. Vernon Way, Crewe. Open: W/Es + B/H. Tel: 01270 212130.
MUSEUM OF SCOTTISH RAILWAYS ULSTER FOLK & TRANSPORT MUSEUM
Bo’ness. Open: Daily Apr-Oct. NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM
York. Open: Daily. Tel: 01904 621261. Cultra, Co Down. Open: Tues-Sun.
IRCHESTER NARROW gAUgE RAILWAY MUSEUM VINTAgE CARRIAgE MUSEUM
Near Wellingborough, Northants. Open: Suns. PENRHYN CASTLE INDUSTRIAL RAILWAY MUSEUM Ingrow, West Yorks. Open: Daily. Tel: 01535 680425.
Bangor, Gwynedd. Open: Daily except Tues. www.nationaltrust.org.uk
KIDDERMINSTER RAILWAY MUSEUM YEOVIL RAILWAY CENTRE
Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Open: SVR operating days. SHILLINgSTONE STATION Yeovil Junction, Somerset. Open: Certain Sundays and
Tel: 01562 825316. Shillingstone, Dorset. Open: Sat, Suns and Wed. Tel: 01258 860696. special events.

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 Web Watch
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To advertise on our new Web Watch

page telephone Craig Amess
on 01507 229310
or Email camess@mortons.co.uk

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Stay a While
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Telephone Craig Amess on 01507 529310 • camess@mortons.co.uk
HErITAgE rAILWAY, po Box 99, HornCASTLE Ln9 6LZ

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104 Heritage Railway WorldMags.net www.heritagerailway.co.uk

 RAILWAYANA
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SPECIALIST PAINTS WANTED

To advertise in
the next issue
call Craig on
01507 529310
RESTORATION

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The autumn season is now in full
swing and the railways which have
not already held their autumn events
will be doing so over the next four
weeks. So much to see and visit!
SPECIaL EvENTS
SEPTEMBER
27-29: NoRth YoRKShiRE MooRS RAiLWAY: AutuMN StEAM gALA
The railway’s locomotives, ‘Black Five’ No. 45428, Standard 4MT No. 75029 and
Lambton tank No. 29, plus home-based 9F No. 92214 Cock o’ the North and
A4 Pacific No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley will be joined by visiting USATC S160
2-8-0 No. 6046.
28: BodMiN & WENfoRd RAiLWAY: AutuMN diESEL gALA
28, 29: coLNE VALLEY RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
28, 29: EASt LANcAShiRE RAiLWAY: AutuMN diESEL gALA
28, 29: KENt & EASt SuSSEx RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
28, 29: LYNtoN & BARNStApLE RAiLWAY: AutuMN gALA
28, 29: MiddLEtoN RAiLWAY: AutuMN gALA
28, 29: Mid-SuffoLK Light RAiLWAY: pLAtELAYERS gALA
28, 29: NoRthAMptoN & LAMpoRt RAiLWAY: RAiLWAY At WAR
28, 29: RoMNEY hYthE & dYMchuRch RAiLWAY: ViNtAgE 1940s-
1980s
28, 29: SittiNgBouRNE & KEMSLEY Light RAiLWAY: ENd of SEASoN
gALA
29: LiNcoLNShiRE WoLdS RAiLWAY: MixEd tRActioN EVENt
OCTOBER
3-5: SEVERN VALLEY RAiLWAY: diESEL ENthuSiAStS’ gALA
3-6: gREAt cENtRAL RAiLWAY: AutuMN StEAM gALA
With steam trains departing and passing every few minutes, this four-day gala
features not only an intensive service of passenger and freight trains, and regular
TPO mail drops. Locomotives will be Bulleid Pacific No. 34070 Manston,
Standard 5MT No. 73129, King Arthur No. 777 Sir Lamiel, moguls Nos. 78019
and 46521, red 8F No. 48624, ‘Jinty No. 47406 and GNR N2 0-6-2T No. 1744.
There will be a Great Train Robbery exhibition at Quorn & Woodhouse, 50 years
on from the event.
3-6: WESt SoMERSEt RAiLWAY: AutuMN StEAM gALA
This event celebrates the 150th anniversary of two of the independent railway
companies in Mid-Wales which eventually merged to become parts of the
Cambrian Railways Company.
The home fleet of engines will be No. 7828 Odney/Norton Manor, No. 6960
Raveningham Hall, prairie No. 4160 and mogul No. 9351 making its last gala
appearance before overhaul. 2-8-0 No. 3850 will be used for driver for a fiver at
Minehead station while S&D 2-8-0 No. 88 will be at Washford station for all
four days.
Visiting engines will be no less than three Manors; No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor,
No. 7822 Foxcote Manor and No. 7827 Lydham Manor plus No. 5029 Nunney
Castle. All locomotives will face direction of travel on all four days taking
advantage of the turning facilities at either end.
4-6: NENE VALLEY RAiLWAY: diESEL gALA
5: coLNE VALLEY RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
5: NoRth NoRfoLK RAiLWAY: WANdERiNg 1500 dAY
5, 6: didcot RAiLWAY cENtRE: dAYS out With thoMAS
5, 6: EASt ANgLiAN RAiLWAY MuSEuM: diESEL dAYS
5, 6: EASt LANcAShiRE RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
5, 6: EMBSAY & BoLtoN ABBEY RAiLWAY: 125th ANNiVERSARY
WEEKENd
This event celebrates the opening of the line in 1888 under the Midland Railway
to its present existence as the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, with LMS
and BR ownership in between as well as its closure under Beeching in 1965. It is
hoped that four or five steam locomotives will be in service with four or five
different trains running at approximately 30 minute intervals.
5, 6: gLoucEStERShiRE WARWicKShiRE RAiLWAY: RAiLcAR & StEAM
WEEKENd
5, 6: iSLE of Wight StEAM RAiLWAY: fEStiVAL of iSLANd
LocoMotiVES
5, 6: RiBBLE StEAM RAiLWAY: diESEL ShuNtERS
5, 6: South tYNEdALE RAiLWAY: BARBER gALA
5, 6: SpA VALLEY RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
6: EAStLEigh LAKESidE RAiLWAY: SMALL ENgiNES gALA
6: LAVENdER LiNE: StEAM diESEL tRANSpoRt gALA
11-13: ffEStiNiog RAiLWAY: StEAM 150: 1863 ANd ALL thAt
The month ahead
L&Y 0-6-0 No. 52322 departs from Bolton Abbey on the Embsay
& Bolton Abbey Steam Railway on September 14. ALAN WEAVER
This event will feature traditional and authentic combinations of original stock
and locations, taking people back 150 years.
The weekend will also include costumes, technology, food, customs and maybe
even beer and wine from that period in history where anything seemed possible
and this little corner of Wales was at the forefront of global development.
11-13: KEighLEY & WoRth VALLEY RAiLWAY: BESt of thE WESt
The railway goes Great Western for this event which offers the unprecedented
sight of a Castle on a West Yorkshire branch line. No. 5029 Nunney Castle will
be joined by prairie No. 4160 and Hawksworth 0-6-0PT No. 1501. The home
fleet in action will be WD No. 90733, 4F No. 43924, ‘Black Five’ No. 45305,
Coal Tank No. 1054 and 0-6-0T Nunlow. Goods trains and non-stop expresses
will feature in the usual intensive timetable.
11-13: NoRth YoRKShiRE MooRS RAiLWAY: RAiLWAY iN WARtiME
12, 13: BodMiN & WENfoRd RAiLWAY: VictoRiAN WEEKENd
An opportunity to sample travel behind a trio of steam locomotives built in the
Victorian era, including a visit from the recently-overhauled Metropolitan Railway
E Class 0-4-4T No. 1, making one of its first appearances in steam away from
London and the Home Counties since its return to steam. Home-based LSWR
4-4-0 No. 30120 and 2-4-0WT No. 30587 will also feature.
12, 13: foxfiELd RAiLWAY: AutuMN StEAM gALA
The railway welcomes its first visitor to this recently-introduced event. Mainline to
Industry will see a BR-liveried ‘Jinty’, No. 47406. Which will tell the story of BR
steam engines being sold into industry. Four ‘Jinties’ entered industrial service,
two receiving the elaborate orange colours of William Pepper & Sons in
Wakefield.
12, 13 MidLANd RAiLWAY – ButtERLEY: StEAM EVENt
12, 13: SpA VALLEY RAiLWAY: dAYS out With thoMAS
18, 19: SpA VALLEY RAiLWAY: diESEL gALA
19, 20: AVoN VALLEY RAiLWAY: ENd of SEASoN gALA
19, 20: Bo’NESS & KiNNEiL RAiLWAY: StEAM gALA
19, 20: EASt LANcAShiRE RAiLWAY: AutuMN StEAM gALA
Star visitor for this event will be the green Duchess, LMS Princess Coronation
Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland. The event coincides with the Vintage
Bus Running Day which will see period road vehicles ferrying passengers
throughout. Loco allocations, information on the attending buses and
timetables will be made available nearer to the event.
19, 20: NENE VALLEY RAiLWAY: tpo WEEKENd
20: SpA VALLEY RAiLWAY: MixEd tRActioN
26, 27: EAStLEigh LAKESidE RAiLWAY: Big fouR WEEKENd
26, 27: BLuEBELL RAiLWAY: giANtS of StEAM
27: BREdgAR & WoRMShiLL RAiLWAY: ENthuSiAStS dAY

Heritage Railway will as usual be bringing you all the action from events large and small.

ISSUE 182 IS OUT ON

OCTOBER 24, 2013
HERITAGE RAILWAY IS PUBLISHED
13 TIMES a yEaR
Catch up with the latest news, views and great features
every four weeks.
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