HOW TO BECOME A GUARD ON THE SEVERN VALLEY!
ISSUE 226 March 10 – April 6, 2017
British India Line
A NEW STAR IS BORN
90MPH STEAM RUNNING: THE CASE ■ STANDARD 4 IN MAIN LINE CHARTER DEBUT ■ LYNTON & BARNSTAPLE TURNS MAJOR OBSTACLE INTO PROFIT
CONTENTS ISSUE 226
March 10 – April 6, 2017
News
6
Headline News
6
David Smith’s Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35018 British India Line to become next main line star; Lynton & Barnstaple turn a major obstruction into profit; ‘Great Britain X’ line-up revised; Carnforth’s iconic Brief Encounter clock stops following a ‘race row’ and Bala Lake gets its first foothold in Bala.
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News
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New Saint Lady of Legend ‘unlikely to go main line’; Farewell to West Somerset’s ‘No.1’ John Pearce; Great Central ‘Black Five’ booked for big Toddington festival; Dormans opens door for Flying Scotsman’s Easter Bluebell Railway visit; Beattie well tank returns ‘home’ to South Devon Railway; North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group and North Norfolk Railway share top Heritage Railway Association award; Bo’ness bid for £2 million steam facility; hurdles tumble as Llangollen marches into central Corwen; and go-ahead for Elsecar level crossings.
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Regulars Railwayana
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Centre
54
Main Line Itinerary
67
Platform
84
Off the Shelf
90
Up & Running
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Geoff Courtney’s regular column.
Bristol waterfront at night by Karl Heath. Steam and heritage diesel railtours.
Main Line News
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Festive ‘Jacobite’ trains confirmed; Settle and Carlisle ‘Plandampf’ big hit with public; tour programme blitzed by cancellations and gauging issue forces Vintage Trains reshuffle.
With Full Regulator
64
Don Benn reports on performances by BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0s.
4 Heritagerailway.co.uk
Where your views matter most. Latest book and DVD releases.
Features It’s a guard’s life
48
Been thinking about whether to volunteer at your local preserved railway? Paul Appleton encourages you to step forward, just as he did at the Severn Valley Railway three years ago.
Guide to railways running in March and early April.
The Month Ahead
106 Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway
CONTENTS: LNER A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado on a Northern Rail Skipton – Appleby service passes No. 66059 on southbound ballast empties at Selside on February 16. BRIAN SHARPE COVER: LSWR Beattie 2-4-0WT No. 30587 at Riverford on the South Devon Railway on February 23. ANDREW BELL
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See page 30 Why steam needs a 90mph limit
There has been considerable debate recently about raising the speed limit for main line steam to 90mph and Tornado is about to undertake some experimental runs. John Forman argues that it is time for a more realistic assessment of high speed steam performance on the main line.
Perfect for Snowdonia
Garratt articulated locomotives are the perfect choice to handle the heavy demands made on engines operating on the Welsh Highland Railway’s steep winding route through Snowdonia. Allan George outlines the history of the WHR fleet of Garratts.
Life on Mars
National Coal Board steam lingered on in the North East into the 1970s. Chris Gee reminisces about a trip to the remains of the Bowes Railway in 1971, illustrated by more recent photographs showing how the preserved section of line has changed little in the intervening years.
Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.
Heritagerailway.co.uk 5
NEWS
Saturday night out in Bristol By Martin Creese DOWN by the waterfront probably conjures up the idea of a nice meal out or drinks in one of the many bars in the city, but for a group of railway photographers the attraction was the other side of the water, by MShed, which many readers may be more familiar with as the Bristol Industrial Museum. The event, the first of 2017 for‘30742 Charters’, featured Bristol-built 0-6-0ST Portbury on a short rake of wagons floodlit under the cranes with various cameos being created. Portbury was built by Avonside as
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works number 1764, part of an order for nine engines for the War Office and the Inland Waterways and Docks Board (IW&DB) whose grey livery it now carries. It was delivered in 1917 to help with construction of Portbury shipyard near Bristol. It was acquired by the Bristol Corporation Docks Committee (which became the Port of Bristol Authority) in 1919 and spent its working life at Avonmouth and Portbury docks. At the end of its working life it was donated to Bristol’s museum and technology collection. Its most recent overhaul saw a return to service in 2013 and in 2016 it spent the season at
Beamish museum, a rather long way from its native Bristol. What we now know as the Bristol Harbour Railway was built by the Great Western Railway in partnership with Bristol Corporation.The line leaves the Portishead branch at Ashton Junction, and crosses the River Avon over Ashton swing bridge before running alongside the Avon on the new cut, underneath Cumberland Road and onto the dockside. Sadly the preserved Bristol Harbour Railway ceased running over the swing bridge some years ago and that is now becoming part of the new bus route. Even the section along the new cut is
currently restricted as the retaining wall needs attention. Despite the ongoing development of the harbour area, the quayside retains much of its historic charm and that is what the photoshoot sought to capture. With thanks to the staff of the Bristol Harbour Railway, the quayside was fenced off allowing us clear access.The museum’s eight-wheeled lorry was also brought out to pose alongside for us and fortuitously MV Balmoral, itself dating from 1949, is moored up while its owners endeavour to raise funds to return it to sailing condition, so Portbury posing alongside became one of our scenes.
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NEWS
NELPG and Poppy Line share HRA’s top honour By Robin Jones
AN organisation which has been a defining backbone of northern steam preservation for more than half a century, and a heritage railway which broke new ground by running main line trips, have shared the Heritage Railway Association’s Annual Award (Large Groups) 2016. The prestigious trophy has been shared between the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group and the North Norfolk Railway. NELPG was formed in 1966 with the aim of preserving some of the steam locomotives then still working on regular goods or passenger trains in the region from which it takes its name. It owns four now unique North
Eastern steam locomotives, LNER K1 No. 62005, NER Q6 No. 63395, NER J72 No. 69023 and J27 No. 65894. On October 28 last year, the exact 50th anniversary night of the first meeting at the Bridge Hotel in Newcastle, six of the members at that first meeting returned to the same room to cut an anniversary cake. Nineteen people attended the inaugural meeting in 1966, raising 5s-6d – just 27.5p – towards the target. On the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, NELPG held its own steam gala over the weekend of October 29/30 with three of its engines in use, as highlighted in Heritage Railway issue 222. The NNR shared the trophy for extending steam services to Cromer, via
BR Standard 4MT No. 76084 framed through the Rawtenstall waiting shelter at the head of the East Lancashire Railway’s Valentine’s dining train. LIAM BARNES
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Tyseley Locomotive Works chief mechanical engineer Bob Meanley collects the Special Award for a Meritorious project from HRA chairman Brian Simpson. HRA
Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway commercial manager David Winpenny receives the Annual Award (Small Groups) from HRA chairman Brian Simpson, watched by Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy. HRA
first‘North Norfolkman’from Cromer the Station Road level crossing link at to Sheringham. As highlighted in issue Sheringham, and realising a long held 219, the train became a‘real’service dream by running trains over Network when an Abellio Greater Anglia two-car Rail’s Bittern Line between two major DMU Bittern Line service from Norwich coastal resorts, thereby extending the to Sheringham was delayed to due to a boundaries of railway preservation. trespass incident in Norwich, and NNR The awards were presented at agreed to carry the Sheringham-bound the HRA’s annual dinner at The passengers free of charge on the steam Grand Station – the former GWR train. Wolverhampton Low Level station Runners-up in this category were the and now a banqueting suite and Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage conference centre – by Network Rail Trust at Midsomer Norton, for the chairman Sir Peter Hendy, the principal restoration of Sentinel 0-4-0VBT speaker, on February 11. No. 7109 Joyce to a near-replica of an The John Coiley Locomotive Award S&D original; Scarborough’s 2ft gauge was won by the 76084 Locomotive Company for its painstaking restoration North Bay Railway for the new-build of Georgina, a lost Bagnall type, and of a“no-hope Barry scrapyard the Darlington Railway Preservation locomotive into a main line performer,” Society for the restoration of BR in BR Standard 2-6-0 No. 76084. S Standard 2MT 2-6-0 Built at Horwich N 78018. No. in March 1957, it was withdrawn in December 1967 P Provided a vital and sent to Dai l link d Woodham’s scrapyard T Annual Award The at Barry. One of ( (Small Groups) only four surviving w to one of the went members of her The plaque awarded to the Leadhills country’s remotest class in preservation, railways, South & Wanlockhead Railway. HRA it was bought for Lanarkshire’s 2ft preservation heavily stripped of parts gauge diesel-operated Leadhills & in 1982. Wanlockhead Railway, which is laid on In the 1990s, its owner died and it what was once the highest section of was subsequently purchased by what the UK gauge national network, and was to become the 76084 Locomotive currently the highest adhesion-worked Company and was moved to Ian heritage line, for providing essential Storey’s workshops in Morpeth where public transport into a village while restoration was carried out. the main highway was closed, saving a No. 76084 returned to steam in 50-mile diversion or a mile-and-a-half May 2013 after a 16-year rebuild and walk to the local shop and two miles to entered traffic on the North Norfolk the nearest doctor’s surgery. Railway that July. It gained main line The line came to the rescue by running certification in September 2016. 18 services a day between its two As covered in issue 219, the stations, with seven trains timed carefully locomotive played a major part in the to meet buses in Leadhills running NNR getting its joint award, for on to and from Lanark, and that town’s August 10 last year, it hauled the line’s scheduled rail connections to Glasgow. Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway
General Steam Navigation in original black livery, standing on the Up middle road at Bournemouth Central station circa 1946. JOHN NEVE
Help Merchant Navy Pacific crank up the pressure! THE back conversion of Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35011 General Steam Navigation reached another milestone with the launch of a‘cranking up the pressure’appeal to convert its plain flawed central axle into a crank axle. General Steam Navigation was placed in storage when it was withdrawn from service in February 1966, but in April 1966 its sister, No. 35026 Lamport & Holt Line, was discovered to have a flawed central axle and to keep it in traffic it was given the one from No. 35011. General Steam Navigation was then transferred to Eastleigh works, where the task of fitting its crank axle into No. 35026 was undertaken. While there, No. 35011 was fitted with a new spare wheelset from aWest Country class locomotive, so it could travel by rail to DaiWoodham’s scrapyard at Barry.
Trustee Simon Shutt said:“The Cranking up the Pressure appeal marks an important milestone for the project that will see the serious engineering started on the locomotive. “When people talk about the General Steam Navigation project the conversation inevitably leads to the question of what happened to its crank axle. “The locomotive has even been known to be called the Merchant Navy with the missing axle and its future restoration written off as a result. “This appeal will see the project tackle one of the biggest challenges early on and increase our creditability that will make finding a new base for the locomotive more likely.”
The new crank axle will be built up out of the two stub axles, crank webs and the big end journal, which will all be keyed and pressed together. Then the old flawed axle and the crankpins will be pressed off.The BFB wheelpans will be remachined to accept the new crank axle and crank pins.
Pressed onto axle
The wheelpans will then be pressed onto the new axle, together with the new crank pins and then they will be balanced by filling the pockets with lead to counteract the crank. The work is to be done at the South Devon Railway Engineering workshops in Buckfastleigh, which is widely regarded as the best place in the country
for such work, having previously created the crank axles for both the new Gresley P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales and the LMS Patriot No. 45551 The Unknown Warrior. The cost is expected be about £25,000, which will includes all the work to convert the wheel set and the transport of the axle from Sellindge. The society has also purchased a further component – a cab steam manifold. It is planned to cast and machine a set of Klinger and A/B valves that will fit on it over the coming months. ➜ Anyone who wishes to support the appeal that will lead to the recreation of an unrebuilt Merchant Navy is invited to visit www.35011gsn.co.uk/ news
New crank axle
One of the biggest tasks always known to its restorers is that a new crank axle would need to be made if it was ever to return to steam. When General Steam Navigation’s previous owner agreed to swap axles with No. 34046 Braunton, he simply exchanged a plain set for another plain set.The current axle is stored at Sellindge in Kent. The General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society, which took ownership of the locomotive last August, has now launched an appeal to convert Braunton’s old failed axle into a new crank axle.
Above: A CAD drawing of the new crank axle. GSNLRS/JAMES PEARCE Right: No. 35011’s flawed axle on the wheelset at Sellindge, in front of sister No. 35025 Brocklebank Line. GSNLRS
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Heritagerailway.co.uk 27
NEWS
Above: GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1369 runs along Stretchford straight with the 3.05pm Totnes Littlehempston to Buckfastleigh on February 18. D W V HUNT
Right: LSWR Beattie 2-4-0WT No. 30587 and GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1369 during an evening photo charter at Buckfastleigh. NICK GILLIAM
Happy half-term homecoming for Beattie well tank
By Robin Jones FOR many years, the National Railway Museum’s LSWR Beattie well tank No. 30587 was locked in behind a concrete barrier in the South Devon Railway’s Buckfastleigh museum, seemingly with no hope of ever running again. It was one of a trio which, before the heritage railway movement got into full swing, drew enthusiasts from all over Britain to the sharply-curving Wenfordbridge mineral branch in Cornwall. The sight of three 19thcentury 2-4-0Ts – which had first been earmarked for scrapping at the turn of the century but which could not be replaced on the tight radii, was irresistible to 1950s enthusiasts. When finally withdrawn, two of the trio were preserved, No. 30587 as part of the National Collection. The other survivor, No. 30585, went to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. Neither had been seen in action for many years before late 2002, when Bill Parker completed the overhaul of No. 30587 at his Flour Mill workshops at Bream in the Forest of Dean. The overhaul had been negotiated and funded by retired London banker Alan Moore, the principal backer of the
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Right: LSWR Beattie 2-4-0WT No. 30587 heads north at Riverford Bridge on February 16. KEN WOOLLEY Below: GWR 0-6-0 No. 3205 runs alongside the river at Dartington on February 16. KEN WOOLLEY
Bodmin & Wenford Railway, over which the well tank had operated in BR days. Nearly 15 years later, No. 30587 arrived back at Buckfastleigh as one of the guest locomotives for the multiple award-winning South Devon Railway’s February 11-19 half-term gala week. It was joined by GWR prairie No. 5542. Despite patchy weather, attendances and income were up on last year. SDR spokesman Dick Wood said:“The weather on the first weekend of the gala was very cold, and with a forecast of snow too which sadly deterred some people from visiting us, but it was a success nevertheless. Our visiting engines, especially the Beattie well tank, proved to be popular with visitors, enthusiasts and our own staff too. “The gala also went well during the week with a very busy Monday in some glorious sunshine, and a good number of family visitors during the rest of the February half-term holiday week. The final weekend of the nine-day gala was popular as well, although we did have some timekeeping problems. “The secondary spend in our shop and cafe is certainly well up on last year. The general feedback we’ve had from both the public and enthusiasts alike was very positive, with some really good comments on Facebook too.” Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway
No. 30587 and GWR 0-6-0PT No. 1369 leave Totnes Riverside on February 18, with GWR 2-6-2T No. 5542 providing assistance at the rear. MARK WILKINS
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Heritagerailway.co.uk 29
NEWS
New lives for two harbour stations on the Kent coast By Robin Jones
PLANS to turn Dover’s Old Harbour Station into a live music and theatre venue have been given the go ahead. Last August, the plans were submitted to Dover District Council by local man and lessee Stuart Cameron to convert the Elizabeth Street premises into an entertainment venue, with temporary staging and a licensed bar. The station was built in 1861 by the London, Chatham & Dover Railway with a marshalling yard separated from the main line alongside by various buildings, and opened on November 1 that year. Designed by Gilbert Scott Snr, it has Turkish arches and originally had a tall clock tower.This elaborate Italianate styling was to cock a snook at the South Eastern & Chatham Railway which, through digging all the tunnels from Folkestone, had run out of money to make its 1844 DoverTown station look fancy. In 1902, in order to allow access to the new Prince ofWales Pier, a moveable platform on wheels was introduced to trains. Since the Harbour station was closed by the Southern Railway on July 10, 1927, it has seen many uses, including several years as a bonded warehouse when many of the windows were bricked up. In 1929 when partial demolition began, the top 20ft of the clock tower came down but ferry captains who used
it as a line of sight objected.To make amends, a light was placed on the top. At the north end of the yard there are three tank traps.Two are made of concrete but one is of granite and they all have thick, heavy chains attached. In April 1994, the station was given Grade II listed status by English Heritage.
Offered for sale
Shipping giant P&O bought Stena Line (previously Sealink UK) in 2002 and gained full possession of the old station. P&O converted most of it into a crew training centre before vacating it in 2010 and offering it for sale for £350,000. It was bought by current owner John Shirley, head of a freight forwarding business. John said:“We are the first owner unrelated to the LC&DR. P&O got it when it took over Stena Line in 2002, which bought Sealink in 1984, which was part of British Rail... which got it from Southern in 1948... which was formed from a number of companies in 1923 including the LC&DR. “Tradition was in the late 19th century that you took the one packet boat from France, arriving mid to late afternoon, stayed the night in the Southern Hotel then took your train to London in the morning. "In his book Dover Harbour, Royal Gateway, Derek Leach talks of theTsar of Russia and the Shah of Persia passing through with their entourages, not to mention our own royalty.
“It is said that the Sultan ofTurkey asked for the driver to be beheaded on the platform atVictoria for driving too fast. “We have painted the office we occupy in Southern Railway colours thanks to drawings and instructions kindly supplied by friends at the Mid-Hants Railway and we have put up a large sign which states London, Chatham & Dover Railway. “We are currently restoring the firstclass waiting room and the demolished customs baggage hall. "We have found an internal arch with what we think is the original 1861 Brunswick green paint on it, a sash window hidden behind a panel facing the tracks and what looks like a mortar ball 8in in diameter in the former railway yard.This might be from the Napoleonic fort redoubt above us in the cliffs. “Using some bits of old sheds and windows, including one from a skip, we have created a site office in the likeness of a signalbox. “As part of our initial efforts to begin greening the site we have planted three large palms in a corner of the yard, added various hanging baskets and planted several ordinary trees and shrubs,” said John. Meanwhile, the closed Harbour station at Folkestone is to become a focal point of plans to renovate the town’s seafront. Folkestone Harbour station is located at the end of a viaduct which separates
the port’s inner and outer harbours. The last official train down the Folkestone Harbour branch ran on April 12, 2008, butVenice Simplon Orient-Express still used it for two services a week until November 13 that year, and a number of farewell specials were run. Network Rail had decided that it could not justify spending considerable amounts of public money to maintain and upgrade the route. The line was formally closed by the Department forTransport on July 31, 2014
Popular public space
The Folkestone Harbour Company, which is overseeing a multi-million pound project to redevelop the town, is to create a new access to the Harbour Arm which it renovated in 2015, and will use the former railway viaduct to access what has become a hugely-popular public space. A spokesman for the firm said:“The former railway station, which in the past had become quite neglected, will be renovated to a high standard, surviving features such as the glass canopies will be restored, and the site’s heritage as a marine railway terminus will be recognised. “The aim is to provide a direct route between the town and the Harbour Arm, via the former railway station platforms, and will ultimately link with a boardwalk along the beachfront towards the Leas Coastal Park.”
Above: The Folkestone Harbour Company’s design for the revamped Harbour station. FHC Right: Dover’s Old Harbour Station will now become a public venue again after 90 years. HAWKFLIGHT1066/ CREATIVE COMMONS
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Ride on a railway run by children! THE private Downs Light Railway at Colwall near Great Malvern is to celebrate the completion of a major restoration project on its 9½in gauge miniature line. Over the last four years, substantial drainage and engineering repairs have been undertaken that have saved the line – which was established in 1925 – from abandonment. The Downs Light Railway is the world’s oldest private miniature railway situated within the grounds of an independent preparatory boarding school, The Downs Malvern. It is one of two railways in the UK to be operated and maintained by children.
Special event
The line’s 90th anniversary will be celebrated at a special event on April 30 and bank holiday Monday,
Hosking company buys Hornby factory
Steam locomotive James Boyd on test on the Downs Light Railway. The 2-6-2, built by John Milner in 1991, is named after the eminent narrow gauge historian who taught at the school. NICK DODSON May 1, when a ceremony will take place with a golden fishplate secured in place to mark the occasion. Exhibits will include visiting 9½in gauge locomotives on the railway itself plus models and static displays. The organisers have secured the operational display of Templeford, a vintage O gauge Hornby tin plate
layout of large proportions. Doors at the Brockhill Road site open between 10am and 4pm each day. Admission tickets are available at the door, adults £5, children £2.50, including train rides. More information on the Downs Light Railway can be found at: www.DLRTrust.btck.co.uk
LOCOMOTIVE Storage Limited, a property company affiliated with Jeremy Hosking’s Locomotive Services Ltd, Statesman Rail, Icons of Steam and the Royal Scot Locomotive & General Trust, has bought the iconic Hornby plc factory building in Margate, it was announced on February 28. The Hornby Visitor Centre is currently the only tenant and will remain on site. In a statement, Locomotive Storage said that it intends to embark on a rolling refurbishment of the facilities and to engage in discussions with interested parties as to potential uses of the site. Jeremy Hosking, a director of Locomotive Storage Limited and for a long time a sizeable shareholder in Hornby, said:“We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Hornby plc after extended but friendly negotiations. “Our group has greatly expanded its asset base and activities in recent years and this site will greatly enhance our current facilities.”
Flooding eased South Devon remembers diesel group’s John Frood on GCR trail Class 25 D7612 with GWR 0-6-0PT 6412 on the rear passing Riverside Farm Orchard on the approach to Hood Bridge with the 10.50am Totnes Riverside to Buckfastleigh service during the a John Frood Memorial Running Day. DAVID HUNT THE South Devon Railway and the South Devon DieselTraction Group held a John Frood Memorial Running Day on February 25. John was a long-term serving member of the South Devon DieselTraction Group and was usually to be seen acting as second man to the diesel locomotives on gala days. He had already achieved a lifetime ambition of becoming a driver and had passed out on the DMU and the Class 09 shunter and was under instruction for the driving of the line’s Class 25 and Class 33.
A FLOOD-PRONE stretch of a nature trail which follows part of the Great Central Railway’s London Extension will be easier to follow now that drainage improvement work has begun. Rugby Borough Council obtained a £52,000 grant from theVeolia EnvironmentalTrust via the Landfill Communities Fund, to tackle flooding on the Great CentralWay footpath and cycleway between the Clifton Road bridge and Hillmorton’s Pytchley Road. Flooding regularly blocks the threequarter of a mile stretch, part of the National Cycle Network, forcing walkers and cyclists to detour through the nature reserve which runs next to the old formation. A year after closure, the council bought 4½ miles of the line in 1970 for £5500.
The original plan was to run the service with Class 33 D6501, one of John’s favourite locomotives, but when it became unavailable due to repairs not being completed in time, Class 25 D7612 was used as substitute. GWR 0-6-0PT No. 6412 was used to provide heating for the train. The service on the day comprised four return trips from Buckfastleigh. On the second trip, the 11.40am from Buckfastleigh , the auto coach behind the steam locomotive was reserved for family members and invited guests.This
train stopped atWaterside where those who felt able to were permitted to alight before the train continued on toTotnes Riverside. AtWaterside, a location beside the track is a private garden of remembrance used for several years by those who wish to scatter the ashes of their loved ones who had been associated with the railway. A ceremony when John’s ashes were laid to rest and the returning 12.30pmTotnes Riverside to Buckfastleigh stopped again atWaterside to allow those people to rejoin the train.
Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.
Diesels on offer to heritage sector THE Harry Needle Railway Company has indicated that, following a fleet review, it is considering making a number of locomotives available to preservation. The locomotives under consideration will be one green-liveried Class 08, one green Class 09, one BR blue Class 20, one Class 20 in green livery, one Class 31 in BR blue livery and one in green. The selected locomotives are expected to be available from January 2018. Heritagerailway.co.uk 35
NEWS FOCUS SPECIAL
Guard’s Life It’s a
Been thinking about whether to volunteer at your local preserved railway? Paul Appleton encourages you to take that step forward... something he did at the Severn Valley Railway just three years ago.
GWR 2-6-2T No. 4566 passes Sterns, north of Hampton Loade on January 2. KEN WOOLLEY
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W
e hear it all the time: “our heritage railways need more volunteers”, so why don’t more of us roll our sleeves up and get stuck in at our favourite railway, or on a pet restoration project? When I think how long I have been an ‘enthusiast’, it is a question I have to ask myself, because it was only three years ago at the age of 53, that I decided to do something about it. I had done bits and bobs at one or two railways in my teens, but other than distributing a few timetables, I had never done anything more meaningful at the Severn Valley Railway, despite being a member since 1973. One reason is perhaps not knowing how to go about engaging with the railway, or perhaps not having the advantage of
knowing someone who does. At the SVR, there is a dedicated volunteer liaison officer with an office on platform one at Bewdley station, so the railway makes it quite easy for anyone who has only the faintest of notions that they would like to become involved.
Put something back in
The opportunity to rent a small place considerably closer to Bridgnorth station than my Lincolnshire home was the catalyst for me to finally do something about it. After all those years enjoying the railway, wasn’t it about time that I put something back in, other than my annual membership and buying a few shares? The volunteer liaison officer made me very welcome, but when he asked me what I would like to do, I perhaps didn’t sound too
convincing when I said: “Travelling ticket inspector?”, the question in my voice perhaps giving the game away. I reasoned that I wanted to do something that meant engaging with the public, and travelling on trains was unashamedly part of the appeal. “What about guard?” came the reply, “the railway is short of guards.” I hadn’t really considered being a guard. It always seemed to me that the guard had a lot of responsibility and I imagined that would need a lot of training which, given my age, I wasn’t sure the railway would be too interested in making such an investment in. These doubts were soon shoved to one side: “You would be good at it, I can tell,” he continued. “We give you all the training that you need... and definitely you aren’t too old!” Like many railways, the SVR has
Heritagerailway.co.uk 49
MAIN LINE NEWS
The 5.15pm from Skipton to Appleby pauses at Kirkby Stephen on the evening of February 14. MAURICE BURNS
Settle and Carlisle ‘Plandampf’ proves big hit with public By Cedric Johns and Robin Jones THE three-day Skipton-Appleby shuttles over the open part of the Settle and Carlisle line – topped and tailed in one direction and doubleheaded in the other by A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado and a DB Cargo class 67 diesel – proved to be a big hit with the public... and with BBC television news. Organised and operated by DB Cargo in conjunction with Northern Rail, Riviera Trains, the A1 Locomotive Trust, Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line and supporting groups, the attraction of steam in the shape of A1 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado working 12 timetabled eight-coach shuttles was an undoubted success. As it was, 6000 seats were on offer, in a rake of ex-Anglia Railways blue-livered Mk.2 coaches, over February 14-16, to a mixture of regular commuters and walk-on members of the public seeking a whiff of steam. What also followed was wall-to-wall news coverage, with TV cameras at Appleby for early morning breakfast television, and staying throughout the day until early evening which, if paid for as advertising on a commercial
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basis, could have amounted to tens of thousands of pounds sterling. That said, with tickets on sale at just £17 for the full-length journey – or even as little as £4 if you were making a shorter journey – was the event financially viable, it was being asked. Tales of some passengers being left behind through lack of seats were heard, but these shortfalls were mopped up by a Class 158 DMU following trails of steam heading for Appleby.
Huge credit
Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line chairman Douglas Hodgins said:“This has been a sell-out success and a huge credit to all those involved. “The intention was to give local people the opportunity of a real treat and a big thank you for their loyalty and patience during 2016 when the line was closed to through traffic. “There must be lessons here about the demand for steam, scenery and rail travel in general. It was the perfect curtain raiser for the re-opening of the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle route on March 31.” During the three days, British Transport Police patrolled the route to
ensure that spectators remained at a safe vantage point. Richard Corser, DB Cargo UK’s account manager for charters, special trains and resource hires, said:“It was wonderful to see how enthusiastically the local communities welcomed the trains, from school children to older generations.” Northern Rail regional director Paul Banfield said:“During the past three days over 5500 passengers travelled on the steam service and it was great to see so many entering into the spirit of the occasion enjoying the first timetabled steam in England for almost 50 years.” That last statement is perhaps a debateable point. In 1993, BR Standard 2-6-4T No. 80080 worked Carlisle-Kirkby Stephen passenger services – both trains inserted into the working timetable – for crew training purposes. Two trains a day were run five days a week for a month by BR, stopping at all stations. Much later, in 2001 and 2002, EWS, Steam Dreams and the Mid-Hants Railway combined to provide a stopping passenger service between Eastleigh and Yeovil Junction, trains picking up and setting down at
Romsey, Salisbury, Gillingham and Sherborne. Bulleid 4-6-2s No. 35005 Canadian Pacific and No. 34016 Bodmin shared the duties during a full week’s activities which included crew training. Over the border in Scotland, on Tuesday, October 2, 2001, as highlighted in Heritage Railway issue 31, a‘Plandampf’-style event organised by Highland Rail Heritage saw steam operated by West Coast Railways take over timetabled ScotRail services over the West Highland Extension from Fort William to Mallaig.
Operationally successful
The day saw two full round trips behind steam replace the usual DMUs, and there were also three shuttles. At the time, West Coast’s operations manager James Shuttleworth said:“The ‘Plandampf’was operationally a success and we proved it could be done.” It could also be argued that while they are not a replacement for normal timetabled in themselves, the summer ‘Jacobite’services run by West Coast and Vintage Trains’summer Sundays ‘Shakespeare Express’trips from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon
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Tornado heads the 10.44am from Skipton past Langcliffe on February 14. JOHN WHITELEY
also offer walk-on scheduled steam services. Meanwhile, the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway’s commemorative railtour from Oxenhope to Carlisle behind A3 No. 60103 Flying Scotsman to mark the reopening of the Settle and Carlisle line throughout March 31 has sold out – despite a cost of £220. As reported in February 2016, after a 500,000-tonne landslip at Eden Brows, north of Armathwaite, the ground beneath the tracks slipped 5ft below its normal level and the railway was closed north of Appleby. Sitting over 240ft above the River Eden, the reinstatement of the subsided section has involved a £23 million engineering marathon involving the building an enormous concrete and steel structure beneath the railway, with high-strength piles driven into the bedrock of the Eden Gorge. The special will be operated by West Coast Railways and run by the KWVR in conjunction with Northern, Network Rail and the Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line. It will form part of the line’s reopening celebrations that day, and will be one of the first trains to traverse the previously closed section.
No. 60163 passes a stone train being loaded at the recently-opened sidings at Helwith Bridge on February 15. PAUL BERRY
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