Heritage Railway Issue 197

STEEL, STEAM & STARS IV:THE COMPLETE LINE UP!

ISSUE ISSUE 197 ISSUE197 197

December 18, 2014 December 18,2014 2014––– December18, January January 15, 2015 January15, 15,2015 2015

COMPLETE W XMAS & NE W YEAR EVENT GUIDE

PRAIRIE MARKS COMEBACK WITH REAL FREIGHT! FAREWELL TO LENSMAN MICHAEL MENSING

CONTENTS ISSUE 197

December 18 - January 14 2015

News

6 HEADLINES

All new bridge to be built for Great Central Loughborough gap ; GWR prairie heads real freight train after Llangollen overhaul; P2 Prince of Wales funds top £1.5 million; Philip Benham to stand down at North Yorkshire Moors Railway: Underground steam to run from Watford to Chesham, and Dinmore Manor to guest at GCR winter gala.

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9 NEWS

10

Complete line-up for Steel, Steam & Stars IV gala announced; KWVR WD to guest at Severn Valley gala; ‘stolen’ numberplate to be reunited with Dwight D. Eisenhower; April decision date for Great Central second £10 million museum bid; top awards for Ffestiniog, Welsh Highland, Mid-Norfolk and North Yorkshire Moors Railway; biggestever rail poster display; prototype HST hauls complete 125 unit; East Kent and Lincolnshire Wolds get People’s Millions cash; oldest BR steam driver celebrates 102nd birthday; Fowler 4F moves to West Somerset; West Coast steamfest, Government asks for second study on Okehampton option for avoiding line and farewell to prolific lensman

CONTENTS: LMS ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 No. 13065 heads an East Lancashire Railway Santa special past Ewood Bridge on November 30.

PHIL JONES COVER: LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s Nos. 44871 and 45407 pass Fullers End crossing near Elsenham with Steam Dreams’ ‘Cathedrals Express’ from Southend to Norwich on December 6. PETER FOSTER

Regulars

Features

Centre spread

54

Main Line Tours

64

Railwayana

72

Platform

82

Brian Sharpe’s picture of No. 4965 crossing the River Trent.

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

16 MAINLINE

56

Cornish steam fears arise again as St Blazey turntable repairs still awaited; Richard Corser departs Locomotive Services; Deltic to head Pullman special to Bridgnorth; Tangmere back on form after firebox problems and B1 Mayflower on track for passenger debut on February 11.

WITH FULL REGULATOR 61

DON BENN reports on Bulleid Pacific performance on the South Western main line.

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Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Where your views matter most.

Scale Heritage Railway 84 Hornby 2HAL EMU and Class 71.

Up & Running

90

Christmas and New Year guide to venues.

The Month Ahead

Upcoming galas and events.

106

Famous British Locomotive Engineers: George Jackson Churchward: Great Western Railway

In the first of an occasional series of historical reviews featuring locomotive engineers of the ‘Big Four’ companies, Cedric Johns steps back even further in time to highlight the career of the Great Western Railway’s chief mechanical engineer, George Jackson Churchward.

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A Successful Day for Scottish Preservation in 1964

With the arrival of a Turkish 8F 2-8-0, the Scottish Railway Preservation Society is launching a major appeal.

Fifty years ago the recently formed SRPS was at a crucial stage in its history. On December 28, 1964, Neil T Sinclair was involved in a meeting in Glasgow to conclude negotiations for a home for the society’s rolling stock at Falkirk. On the same day visits were made to Cowlairs and St

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66 Rollox works to inspect two of the principal exhibits it was hoped to house at Falkirk.

A Peacock in Rutland

Since its relaunch as Rocks by Rail, the former Rutland Railway Museum has become more true to its ironstone railway origins. Alistair Grieve reports on the first threesteam engine event at the venue.

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See page 32

76 Three Days on the Rack

74

David Rodgers joined an excellently organised three-day programme of photographic charter trains on the metre-gauge Dampfbahn Furka over the Furka Pass in Switzerland.

Heritage Railway 5

NEWS

Sleaford first for ‘Number Nine’

By Brian Sharpe STEAM railtours from King’s Cross to Lincoln have become regular in recent years, particularly in connection with the city’s Christmas market, and are usually routed north via Spalding and Sleaford returning via Newark to avoid turning the engine.

The Railway Touring Company’s ‘Lindum Fayre’ on December 6 saw LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 Union of

South Africa making history by becoming the first steam engine since the 1960s to run northbound over the Sleaford avoiding line.

The Down line on this part of the Great Northern/Great Eastern joint line had been disused for many years because of problems with one side of an embankment , but a recent upgrade of the route has seen the track repaired and opened to traffic in both directions once more.

The A4 makes history as it comes off the avoiding line at Sleaford North Junction.

BRIAN SHARPE

UnionofSouthAfrica leans to the curve at Harringay as it climbs away from King’s Cross. TIM EASTER No. 60009 reverses the empty stock out of Lincoln station, which had already witnessed the arrival of GWR 4-6-0 No. 4965 RoodAshton Hall on a train from Tyseley. JON POTTER

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Could the longest railway tunnel in Wales reopen?

A CAMPAIGN to reopen the longest railway as a tunnel in Wales is now under way.

The 3443-yard Rhondda or Blaencwm Tunnel is also the seventh longest in Britain and at its deepest point is 1000ft below ground.

It was the key piece of infrastructure on the Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway, which connected the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley to the Swansea Bay ports.

The railway was operated by the GWR from 1907 and was fully incorporated from 1922. A long-time lossmaking route, passenger services were withdrawn in 1962. Deterioration of the fabric resulted in the tunnel being closed ‘temporarily’ on safety grounds in 1968, but it never reopened because of the cost of repairs. Freight over the rest of the route ended in 1970, apart from on the line’s industrial branch to Neath which survived until 1983.

A new group, the Rhonnda Tunnel Society, has established a Facebook group and Twitter feeds to muster support. A group spokesman said: “This was a major artery in the years of steam. It is time for it to be recognised for what it is, what it stands for and how this tunnel can help bring much needed tourists to this part of the valley.”

The immediate aim would be to restore it for walkers and cyclists, as with the Two Tunnels of the northern section of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway main line south of Bath and those of the Midland Railway main line at Monsal Dale in the Peak District.

Fresh hopes for Anglesey revival

Journey’s end as UnionofSouthAfrica once more stands at the bufferstops at King’s Cross. JON POTTER Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

THE Welsh Assembly’s First Minister has given fresh hope for the revival of the mothballed Amlwch branch.

During an early December session of questions to First Minister, Carwyn Jones, Ynys Mon AM Rhun ap Iorwerth asked if he would support the reopening of the line from Llangefni to Amlwch as a heritage railway.

Already, proposals to run regular trains south from Llangefni, the island’s administrative centre, on the southern section of the branch, on to the national network at Gaerwen Junction have been mooted.

Carwyn Jones responded: “That is something that we would certainly be keen to investigate and work on with any potential company in terms of being able to deliver that.”

Replying to a further question from Mark Isherwood AM, the First Minister said: “In terms of a reopening from Llangefni, the trains would have to run through, I suspect, to Llandudno Junction or at least to Bangor to make the service viable.

“There is potential for looking at a railway not just in terms of its tourist potential.”

Lein Amlwch has long campaigned for the reopening of the branch, but there have also been calls to lift it and use the formation as a cycle track.

Heritage Railway 17

NEWS

LNER A4 Pacific No. 4464 Bittern departs from Rugby on November 22, while LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 DuchessofSutherlandtakes water in the Up goods loop en route for Euston. MERVYN LEAH

West Coast steamfest

By Brian Sharpe SINCE Britain’s railways were privatised in 1994, steam has had virtually free range over all of the country’s main lines... but there are lines which are just so busy that

finding a path for a train limited to 75mph can be difficult, the southern end of the West Coast Main Line between Rugby and Euston being a case in point.

Nevertheless, Network Rail’s train planners have managed to come up

trumps and find suitable paths and we can usually expect to see steam in Euston station at least once or twice a year, but two in the same day, surely not!

Steam Dreams had advertised a Euston – Chester excursion for

November 22 and although there was a last-minute change of motive power, LNER A4 Pacific No. 4464 Bittern duly steamed out of Euston at 7.41am bound for Cheshire.

But fairly late in the day, PMR Tours had advertised a Christmas shopping

In brighter conditions, No. 4464 Bittern is seen near Beeston nearing the end of its journey to Chester. KEVIN WHITEHURST

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Above left: LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 DuchessofSutherland passes Long Buckby, heading for Euston. GRAHAM NUTTALL Above right: LNER A4 Pacific No. 4464 Bittern passes Stafford with the Euston to Chester ‘Cathedrals Express’ on November 22. BRAD JOYCE excursion from Sheffield to Euston to be hauled from Derby to the capital

by LMS Princess Coronation Pacific No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland on the very same day. The route was via Birmingham, although it did not prove practicable to use New Street station as intended and the train had a circular tour of the suburbs via Bescot to pick up its passengers at Birmingham International.

It was clear that the two trains were going to pass somewhere on the

WCML and when final times were issued it transpired that both would actually pause at Rugby at around the same time.

Bittern arrived for its pathing stop at 10.06am and the Duchess duly pulled into the Up goods loop at 10.19am for water, stopping almost opposite the A4. With much whistling from both engines, No. 4464 set off at 10.29am with No. 46233 continuing its journey at 10.43am.

And that was not the end of it, the A4 met yet another steam excursion at Chester, with LMS ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s Nos. 44871 and 45407 arriving with the Railway Touring Company’s ‘Christmas Cheshireman’ from Bristol.

With the A4 and Duchess meeting again at Rugby on their return journeys, this had been a remarkable day for main line steam, all three trains appropriately being operated

by West Coast Railways.

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

Heritage Railway 31

STEAM OVERSEAS

After some 18 hours of continuous heavy rain, the weather began to improve by mid-morning on the first day of the charter. The entire morning was spent with photography on the short adhesion-worked section out of Realp. Here 2-6-0RT No. 9 runs alongside the river shortly after leaving Realp as the clouds begin to clear. September 1, 2014.

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THREE DAYS ON

THE RACK

B

y way of introduction, the section of line covered by the charter on September 1-3 was formerly part of the Furka-Oberalp Bahn, a part-rack and part-adhesion worked line through extremely difficult terrain and a section of a large Alpine metre gauge network connecting the valleys of the Rhȏne and Rhine.

From Disentis in the east (where there is an end-on connection with the Rhatische Bahn) the line runs over the Oberalp Pass to Andermatt. A short, easily graded section to Realp is followed by the severe climb (and descent!) over the Furka Pass to Oberwald before continuing on easier grades to Brig in the west.

The line was opened throughout in 1926 but the F-O was so impoverished that it was operated from the start by steam traction; and it was not until there were serious coal shortages

during the Second World War that the decision to electrify in 1941 became inevitable.

There were many avalanches on the Furka Pass mountain section between Realp and Oberwald so that the railway was always closed for several months each winter.

Eventually a new 15km/9.5-mile Furka tunnel was opened in 1982 and for the first time this permitted services to operate throughout the year. With the opening of the new tunnel, the old line over the Furka Pass between Realp and Oberwald was abandoned.

The original line has since been completely rebuilt and reopened in stages as a tourist heritage line by the largely volunteer Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke AG and the entire 17.8km/11-mile line brought back into use in 2010 using steam traction.

David Rodgers joined a well-organised three-day programme of photographic charter trains on the metre gauge Dampfbahn Furka over the Furka Pass in Switzerland.

From Realp, 1546m/5072ft and the operating base of the railway, the line climbs largely on the Abt rack system on grades as steep as 1-in-8.5 to a summit at Furka 7km/4.4 miles and 2163m/7097ft; the second highest rail crossing in Europe.

After traversing the 1.8km/1.16-mile Furka summit tunnel, the line descends and affords excellent views of the now receding Rhȏne glacier to reach Gletsch 12.9km/8.1 miles and 1762m/5781ft before descending further through the Rhȏne Gorge to Oberwald 17.9km/11.2 miles and just 1366m/4482ft.

Connections can be made at both Realp and Oberwald stations to the hourly electrified services now operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, a journey of just

Heritage Railway 77

THE MONTH AHEAD

Merry Christmas!

Our heritage lines are looking forward to celebrating the completion of a busy month of festive season running, with most lines operating up to Christmas Eve. But it doesn’t stop there. While the Great Central Railway remains unique in running a dining train on Christmas Day itself, most lines only have a day or two’s rest before the mince pie and winter warmer trains start, in a slightly more relaxed way to the pre-Christmas trains. With many people away from work for a couple of weeks, late December is also a good time to stage a mini steam gala... and there are several on the calendar.

As usual we will be bringing you all the action as 2014 draws to a close and we look forward to a steamy New Year.

December 27: Swanage Railway Winter Warm-Up ■ Operating for this special mixed traffic event will be SR U class 2-6-0 No. 31806 and LSWR M7 0-4-4T No. 30053 plus Class 33 diesels D6515 and No. 33111.

27, 28: Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway: Diesel Gala ■ 27, 28, 31: Churnet Valley Railway: Cauldon Lowe mince pie trains 28: Bodmin & Wenford Railway: Winter Steam-Up ■ Three steam locomotives will be operating an intensive service with two GWR 0-6-0PTs No. 4612 and 6435 on passenger services and LSWR T9 4-4-0 No. 30120 working a set of brakevans.

29, 30: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway: Christmas Cracker ■ A two-day mixed traction gala, with two steam locomotives and three diesels plus a diesel railcar operating on both days on an intensive passenger service with double heading or top and tailing on certain trains.

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29, 30: West Somerset Railway: Winter Steam Festival ■ A feast of winter steam from locomotives with at least four home fleet engines in steam working an hourly timetable.

January 2, 3: Llangollen Railway: Winter Warmer ■ An intensive timetable of steam, diesel and railcars, including doubleheading, top and tailing, and a demonstration parcels train, also featuring the Corwen extension.

KEY ■ Major or featured galas ■ Diesel and/or electric galas ■ Thomas and family events

WR 4-6-0 No. 7812 ErlestokeManorapproaches Bewdley South with a Matt Fielding photo charter on November 24. RALPH WARD

Issue 198 is out on January 15, 2015

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