Heritage Railway Issue 239

CROMWELL STRANDED BY SNOW AFTER NORWICH FAILURE

ISSUE 239 March 9 – April 5, 2018

TORNADO TPWS FAULT MYSTIFIES EXPERTS ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR GOOD FRIDAY BROADWAY LAUNCH

TRIBUTE TO DICK HARDY

ONE OF BRITISH RAILWAYS’ FINEST ■ WENSLEYDALE DITCHES COMMUNITY RAIL AIM FOR HERITAGE ■ NEW CYLINDERS FOR SEVERN VALLEY’S HAGLEY HALL CAST

OPINION

GWR 2-8-0T No. 4277 runs alongside the Caldon Canal north of Consall Forge on the Churnet Valley Railway, on February 4. ANDREW RAPACZ EDITORIAL

Editor Robin Jones 01507 529305 rjones@mortons.co.uk Deputy editor Brian Sharpe bsharpe@mortons.co.uk Senior contributing writers Geoff Courtney, Cedric Johns Contributors Fred Kerr, Roger Melton Designer Tim Pipes Reprographics Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Production editors Sarah Palmer, Sarah Wilkinson Publisher Tim Hartley Editorial address Heritage Railway magazine, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ Website www.heritagerailway.co.uk

ADVERTISING

Advertising representative Andrew Bruce 01507 529310 abruce@mortons.co.uk Divisional advertising manager Sue Keily skeily@mortons.co.uk

CUSTOMER SERVICES

General Queries & Back Issues 01507 529529 Monday-Friday 8.30am-7pm Saturday 8.30am-12.30pm Answerphone 24H help@classicmagazines.co.uk www.classicmagazines.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION & PRINTING

Distribution Marketforce UK Ltd 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf London, E14 5HU 0203 787 9001 Printing William Gibbons & Sons, Wolverhampton

Independent publishers since 1885

MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD

Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Marketing manager Charlotte Park Subscription manager Paul Deacon Commercial director Nigel Hole Publishing director Dan Savage

ARCHIVE

Enquiries Jane Skayman 01507 529423 jskayman@mortons.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTION

Full subscription rates (but see page 31 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £55.90. Export rates are also available – see page 31 for more details.

UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax. Enquires: subscriptions@mortons.co.uk

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions to this magazine should be clearly typed and ideally sent by email.

Photographs, which should be clearly marked with the contributor’s name and address, are submitted at the owner’s risk.

Mortons Media Group Ltd cannot be held responsible for loss or damage, however caused. All postal submissions must include an appropriate SAE for the return of all material. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or his staff. © Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISSN No 1466-3560

Published Every four weeks on a Friday.

Advert deadline March 26, 2018 Next issue on sale April 6, 2018*

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Ambitions achieved, dreams edited

I

T hastaken37yearsfromthetimetheearly GloucestershireWarwickshireRailwayrevivalistsmoved intoderelictToddingtonstation,withtheaimofrestoring theentire29-mileroutefromStratford-upon-Avonto Cheltenhamthathadbeenliftedtwoyearsbefore,to reachtheCotswoldtouristgemofBroadway.When ForemarkeHalltriumphantlyhaulsthatfirstpublictrainout ofBroadwayonGoodFriday,everyonethroughoutthe heritagesectorwillfeelamassivesenseofprideandrightly so.WeatHeritageRailway certainlydo.

Therailwayhasreachedthisgoalstagebystage,without goingintothered,usingvolunteerlabourtoinchitsway forwardoverthedecades,firstreachingWinchcombe, andthenCheltenhamRacecourse,andturningnorth, extendingtoLavertonandnowtherealjewelinthecrown.

However,afterabreathingspace,willtherailwayextend muchfurther?Ihavelongbelievedthatthereisasound businesscaseforittopushsouthagain,toCheltenham HighStreet,ifonlytoofferaDMUpark-and-rideservice fromtheracecourseforvisitorstoacongestedtowncentre.

AndanortherntoextensiontoHoneybourne,wherea platformisalreadywaitingforitstrains,wouldofferthe benefitsofamainlineconnectionandamassiveboostfor thelocaleconomy,withchartertrainsbring500visitorsa timeintoBroadwayfromLondonandelsewhere.

Yetlookatthenameoftherailway.Broadwayand HoneybouneareinWorcestershire,butasyet,thereis nowhereinWarwickshireservedbytheline,andmany havelongdoubtedthatitwilleverdoso.Anoffshoot group,theStratford&BroadwayRailwaySociety, disappearedmanyyearsagowhenmembersthrewintheir lotwiththeValeofBerkeleyrevivalists,andwhileitisstill physicallypossibletopushfurthernorthtoStratford,the phenomenalcostofbuildingalinkthroughthetownto theNetworkRailstationwouldclearlybeoutoftheG/WR’s pocketsmanytimesover.Iholdouthopesthatmajor housingdevelopmentsinLongMarstonwillunderlinethe caseforNetworkRailtoreopenthelinebackto Honeybourne,andthenasaby-producttheentirerestored routecouldbeusedforsteamspecials,maybefromTyseley, homeofVintageTrains.

WhiletheG/WRvolunteershadtorebuildeveryyard oftheirlinefromscratch,andnowhavenearlyhalfof theoriginalrouterunningagain–atrulyincredible achievement–comparethisremarkableprojectwith thatoftheWensleydalebranchrevival.TheWensleydale Railway,whichaimedfromthestarttoruncommunity raillinkingthetownsandvillagesinthedale,alaudable ambition,notonlytookoveraready-made22-mile linebutalsohadaspirationstorebuildafurther18miles toGarsdale.

Yetthetrans-PennineroutewhichlinkedtheSettle& CarlislelinetotheEastCoastMainLineatNorthallerton lostitspassengerservicesin1954,nineyearsbeforethe Beechingaxewasannounced,andsometimebeforethe tidalwaveofmasscarownershipsweptBritain.Clearly therewascomparativelylittledemandevenbackthen, andmorethan70decadeslater,thedalehadlongsince becomeentrenchedintheuseofroadtransport.

StilltohavealinewhichrunsintoNorthallertonstation itself,andrunningtothe‘nowhere’destinationofRedmire, itisunderstandablewhytherevivalistsnotonlystruggled tomaketherailwaypaybuthaveincurredsizeablelosses intryingtodoso,resultingintheneedtoselloffAysgarth station,anextensiontowhichhadbeenamedium-term goal,inabidtobalancethebooks.

Wewouldallliketoseeruralrailwaysrevivedas‘real’ transportventuresasopposedtotouristorenthusiast concerns.However,thedecisionofthecurrentWensleydale Railwayboardtotailortheoriginalaimsandconcentrate onmakingitpayasaclassheritagelineisbothcredible, pragmaticandsomeyearsoverdue.Thereisstillmuchthat thislinehastooffervisitors–andvolunteers–alike.

Thisnew‘aboutturn’inthedaleholdsmanypositive lessonsbothfortheexistingheritagesectorandthosewho drawupschemestorevivemorelines,ortakethemover simplybecausetheyarethere.

You don’t have to go to a Broadway, Bridgnorth or Whitby tomakeasuccessofaheritageline,butifyoucan’t offer“somewheretosomewhere”withinareasonabletime span,thinklongandhardagainbeforediggingthatfirst sodofearth.

Robin Jones Editor Heritagerailway.co.uk 3

CONTENTS ISSUE 239

March 9 – April 5, 2018

News

7

Headline News

Oliver Cromwell stranded by snow at Norwich after main line failure; Tornado TPWS failure mystifies experts; Wensleydale ditches public transport goal and turns to heritage; new cylinders cast for Hagley Hall; Talyllyn Douglas turns RAF blue and new plan to take Churnet Valley into Leek.

6

26

News

10

Heritage Railway publisher to sponsor Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railways’ ‘Give My Regards to Broadway’spring festival; Foremarke Hall to take first train out of Broadway on Good Friday; green light for North Yorkshire Moors Railway £9.2 million project including new Pickering carriage shed; Duchess of Cornwall visits Keighley & Worth Valley in 50th anniversary year; National Railway Museum appoints first permanent lady director; hero train driver’s grave marked with headstone after 52 years and tributes paid to Dick Hardy, one of the greatest British railways’officers of all.

56

Regulars

Features

Subscribe Today Centre

31 54

Main Line Itinerary

68

Railwayana

70

Off the shelf

84

Platform

86

Up & Running

94

Oliver Cromwell on the Great Eastern by Ken Livermore.

Steam and heritage diesel railtours.

Digital nights

The advent of digital photography gave many advantages for photographers over what had gone before and continued technical advances are creating new opportunities. John Titlow presents a selection of recent images recorded long after the sun had gone down.

48

Geoff Courtney’s regular column.

Main Line News

56

Shooter to lead Vintage Trains TOC talks; ‘Lizzie’ on the move; Mayflower out of gauge; more ‘Hosking’ diesels for Crewe and further details of Flying Scotsman’s 2018 tours.

With Full Regulator

Don Benn reports on exceptional runs by Galatea.

4 Heritagerailway.co.uk

64

Latest book and DVD releases.

Where your views matter most.

Guide to railways running in Spring 2018.

The Month Ahead

106 Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

CONTENTS: A wintry scene at Burrs on the East Lancashire Railway as L&Y 0-6-0 No. 52322 passes with a photo charter goods train on February 12.

PHIL WATERFIELD COVER: GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway during clearance trials on February 24. JOHN TITLOW

Nipper of the Yard

An early use of narrow gauge steam locomotives was as works shunters. Mark Smithers reports on a new-build project for an LNWR locomotive design which will be the first 18-inch gauge non-miniature steam locomotive completed in the UK since 1927.

72

The Sumpter Valley Railroad

Heritage lines in the United States come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all with their own individual history. Andrew Rapacz reports on an excellent weekend of steam in Oregon.

78

Two Pannier Tanks to Brymbo

In the last days of BR steam, there were some surprising workings but in the days before mobile phones and the internet, reliable information could be hard to come by. Robert Anderson reports on one of the last passenger trains to be hauled by a Great Western pannier tank, which also involved an LNER Pacific in North Wales shortly before its withdrawal.

SUBSCRIBE

FROM JUST £20* *THAT’S JUST

£3.33 AN ISSUE

IF YOU PAY BY DIRECT DEBIT EVERY 6 MONTHS

See page 31

88

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 5

HEADLINE NEWS

Cromwell stranded at Norwich by snow

By Cedric Johns IT was meant to be a celebration: a Britannia Pacific working a train from Liverpool Street to Norwich, replicating the 1950s when class members were rostered to work East Anglian express services to and from London.

No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell, the only member of its class in steam at present, was just weeks away from its main line ticket expiring. Organised by Steam Dreams, at the request of the 4-6-2’s Loughborough-based team led by engineerTomTighe, the firm’s director, Marcus Robertson alerted the media to what in many people’s eyes was an historic event, onThursday, February 22.

Departing Liverpool Street restricted to 20mph by an engineering restriction as far as Stratford, the‘Cathedrals Express’, began its journey in earnest, with more than 350 passengers on board.

The train was three minutes early passing Ilford but had dropped time passing Shenfield and Chelmsford

two minutes down. Colchester was reached three down, station platforms and bridges crowded with people all anxious not to miss the occasion which made the front page of the town’s Daily Gazette.

After a brief top-up the‘Express’was accelerated, gaining time and passing Ipswich on schedule but dropping a minute on reaching Diss – then the brakes went on, the train coming to a halt 14 miles from its destination.

A quick inspection of the engine revealed an overheated big end.

End of the journey? No, after allowing the part to cool, large amounts of heavy oil were applied for lubrication and with assistance of the accompanying diesel the train progressed cautiously at a steady 20mph to Norwich, arriving around 44 minutes in arrears.

Notwithstanding the delay, a carnival atmosphere was created on the platforms as local crowds and passengers mixed to get photographs of Cromwell and have a few words with

the engine’s crew.The general feeling seemed to be delight at having a‘Brit’ back where it belonged, as noted by the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich.

Having shunted the stock, the engine’s support crew got to work removing the damaged part which awaited a van arriving from Loughborough to take it back for repairs.

The big end was due to be returned and fitted allowing Cromwell to proceed light engine to Southall ready for its booked‘Cathedrals Express ’trip from Paddington to Cardiff onThursday, March 1. However, the threat of disruptive snow led Anglian Railways to curtail its services and Network Rail would not permit non-essential train movements so Cromwell was stranded at Norwich and the March 1 trip postponed to June 14.

Oliver Cromwell’s final main line run was booked to the RailwayTouring Company’s‘TheYorkshireman’Ealing Broadway-York trip on Saturday, March 3, but this was dependent on the engine being able to reach Southall in

The picture that says it all: The ‘Not to be moved’ sign fixed to the cab of No. 70013 on arrival at Norwich.

PETER FOSTER time.The 4-6-2 then moves onto the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway for its gala weekend before it is due to be returned by road to Loughborough where, it is understood, the boiler will be lifted for overhaul.

Sources close to the‘Brit’say that much work was accomplished on the engine prior to it returning to the main line late last year, and therefore a quick return to traffic might be anticipated.

The diesel, a West Coast Railways Class 47 which had hauled the stock into Liverpool Street, accompanied the train because no suitable stabling point was available in the Stratford area.

The 47 was able to assist the train on to Norwich, and worked the return journey to London. ➜ Oliver Cromwell passes Chelmsford – pages 54-55.

New cylinders cast for Severn Valley’s Hagley Hall

By Paul Appleton By the time this issue went to press, the new cylinders for SevernValley flagship locomotive, No. 4930 Hagley Hall were expected to have been cast.

This is a major milestone in the locomotive’s overhaul and later this year the 4-6-0 will take the place of Southern Region BR Standard 4MT 4-6-0 No. 75069 in the main shed so that reassembly can get underway.

The next major step will be getting No. 4930’s wheels sent away for new tyres to be fitted. In the meantime, various critical components are being manufactured in readiness for reassembly.

The boiler cladding sheets for No. 75069 are currently being painted and it is expected to clad the boiler

in April.The cab has been fitted to the locomotive’s frames in the main workshop with the remaining assembly likely to be completed so that running in can start in the summer.The locomotive is to be finished in early BR black livery with cycling lion emblems on the tender.

Also in the works at the end of February, the boiler from Isle of Man Railway No. 15 Caledonia was being hydraulic tested and should have been returned to Douglas in early March, while that from No. 4 Loch has been stripped and readied for overhaul.The components for the five brand new boilers for the Isle of Man Railway (issue 238) have started to arrive.

Another narrow gauge project nearing completion in the boiler shop is that of a new boiler for Bala Lake Railway-based

Quarry Hunslet Alice.The SVR will have completed and delivered four boilers during a six-month period.

Work continues on the boiler for LMS Stanier mogul No. 13268 (2968), but in the erecting shop, a significant crack has been found in the frames which will need a section of frame cutting out and replacing.This will take place in the next two months, but has delayed return of the popular 2-6-0.

As previously reported, Churchward 2-8-0 No. 2857 was taken out of traffic for an intermediate overhaul and to prepare it for its 100th anniversary year and a starring role in a special goods gala to be held on June 2/3. New cylinder liners, new valve spindles, new pistons, complete small re-tube and several other repairs have been undertaken.Work

The polystyrene pattern for one of No. 4930 Hagley Hall’s new cylinders at Premier Patterns. SVR on this locomotive is expected to be finished by early April.

Tender issued for National Railway Museum Great Hall revamp THE Science Museum Group has invited tenders for an exhibition design team to restructure the National Railway Museum’s Great Hall at a cost of £12 million.

It will be the first time that the 9600 square yard Great Hall, a former roundhouse, has undergone a redesign since the York museum opened in 1975, and is part of the venue’s wider redevelopment

6 Heritagerailway.co.uk

master plan which is expected to be completed in 2025.

The tender states that the chosen consultancy should create a “dramatic”and“coherent”exhibition that“ does justice to stars of the museum’s collection.

It is planned that hitherto unseen objects from the museum’s archive will go on display, with a strong focus on science, technology, engineering

and mathematics. Work is scheduled to start this summer 2018, with the reimagined Great Hall expected to open in late 2021.

Newly-appointed NRM director Judith McNicol said:“The Great Hall is one of the largest museum exhibition spaces in the UK. The current treatment of both the historic structure and the exhibition space needs updating to be more

accessible, with better interpretation to bring the many railway stories to life for our visitors.

“Our aim is to complete these works by 2021, as the first phase of our larger master plan which will create a unified museum, drawing together all the elements of our site to tell a story of rail innovations past, present and future.” ➜ Ladies first – News, pages 32-33.

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

DB Cargo Class 66 diesel No. 66114 pilots the stricken A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado over Ribblehead viaduct with UK Railtours’ ‘North Briton’ from Cambridge to Carlisle on February 24. DAVID TROUT

Tornado ongoing TPWS failure mystifies experts

By Cedric Johns PASSENGERS travelling onThe A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust’s ‘North Briton’railtour on Saturday, February 24, were surprised to discover that the train was fronted by a Class 66 diesel pilotingTornado when it departed on its steam-hauled leg from Doncaster.

Those who had joined the train, dieselhauled from Cambridge and stations beforehand, had expected the 66 to give way to the No. 60163 at Doncaster – but it was not to be.

Troubled by a serious technical problem to itsTrain Protecting &Warning

System, discovered during a fitness-torun examination at East Leake on the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) on February 13, a positioning run by the A1 to Didcot planned for that day was cancelled. Following a week’s investigations, during which industry experts, including the manufacturer, examined the system in what might be termed an unprecedented situation, progress was slow in finding answers.

Lacking time to carry tests out on the railway it was considered safe to make a light engine positioning move, this time to Doncaster on February 19, the A1 travelling via Peterborough.The

problem seemed to be solved.

However, during a FTR exam prior to the‘North Briton’s’departure from Doncaster on February 24, it was apparent that all was not well.

With no time left to make alternative arrangements the decision was taken to run with Tornado working inside the 66.

“The two locomotives ran in tandem,” said the trust’s operations manager Graeme Bunker-James.“The driver of the DB Cargo 66 was responsible for observing signals and braking and generally speaking was in control of the train.

“The engine did its fair share of

taking the load, especially from Carlisle to Newcastle.”

Some passengers were disappointed but‘thank you’emails were also received by the trust.

After the‘North Briton’, the A1 ran from TyneYard to the NorthYorkshire Moors Railway for seven days of operation from March 11. It will also star in the Severn Valley Railway’s March 16-18 spring steam gala (see separate story) and will also run at Midland Railway–Butterley over the weekend of April 21/22. For public trips, the venue has launched advanced booking facilities at www. midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk However, before then, fingers will be crossed that theTPWS issues will be resolved in time for the 4-6-2’s next trip, to Bath and Salisbury from the Midlands on March 24, which will be followed by the long-awaited 90mph passenger debut from King’s Cross toYork on April 14.

Tornado rounded off its routine winter maintenance by making its first visit to the Great Central Railway (Nottingham). At Locomotive Maintenance Services in Loughborough, the A1 had undergone a routine cylinder rebore, a full valve gear exam and routine renewals of pipework and unions. One small modification saw an additional trapdoor let in to the ash pan to facilitate washing out at disposal. Afterwards, No. 60163 was taken by low loader from the non-rail connected LMS premises to the GCR(N) where it hauled services over the weekend of February 10/11. Its train comprised a rake of Mk.3 coaches – a foretaste of Tornado’s future, for owner The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust has plans to create a dedicated rake of Mk.3s. Tornado is seen emerging from Barnston Tunnel during its visit. TONY WATSON/A1SLT

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

Heritagerailway.co.uk 7

HEADLINE NEWS

Wensleydale ditches public transport goal for heritage

By Robin Jones THE controversial sale of the Wensleydale Railway’s Aysgarth station has been accompanied by a major about-turn in the line’s short, medium and long-term strategies.

The overall aspirations of the Wensleydale Railway Association when it was formed 28 years ago, to restore ‘real’ community passenger services and eventually rebuild the entire 40-mile trans-Pennine route linking Garsdale on the Settle and Carlisle Line to Northallerton on the East Coast Main Line are being edited down or discarded in favour of the running of a self-sufficient heritage railway over a far more financially feasible “bite sized” distance.

The move is a diametric contrast to the direction of the Swanage Railway, which as reported in News, pages 28 and 29, has just received the Heritage Railway Association’s Peter Manisty Award for Excellence for its reinstatement of ‘real’ public services between Swanage and the main line at Wareham after 45 years.

The £400,000 sale of the currentlyisolated Aysgarth station, yet to be connected to the operational heritage railway, to a “wealthy railway-focused individual” who is supportive of the line, was recently completed.

‘Hobby railway’

The buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he will restore the station buildings, lay track and bring in locomotives and rolling stock of his own, in the first instance as a “hobby railway.” However, it is understood that he is to work with the railway in linking up with it so that heritage services can run to Aysgarth, a beauty spot famed for its waterfalls.

The proceeds from the sale of the station will be used to reduce the railway’s debts and mortgage liabilities.

The initial purchase of Aysgarth station funded on the back of a bond issue of which £26,000 was still owed, plus a mortgage of which £187,000 remained outstanding, now repaid. The railway has now refocused its immediate aim on extending from Redmire to the tourist destination of Castle Bolton, where a new station is planned in conjunction with the landowner.

Director Steve Davies, the former head of the National Railway Museum, said that the railway lost £1,346,709 between 2001-7, indicating that the revivalists’ original aim to run public services over the 22-mile line that they took over on a 99-year lease in 2003 was not sustainable.

8 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Passenger services over the full 40-mile line was withdrawn on April 26, 1954, leaving one train each day operating between Garsdale and Hawes until March 14, 1959. The line between Redmire and Hawes closed completely on April 27, 1964, after which the track west of Redmire was lifted and many bridges demolished.

However, Dalesrail services in 1977 prompted interest in a renewed passenger service on the remaining section line and occasional railtours were subsequently run. Limestone trains served the quarry near Redmire until 1992.

The Ministry of Defence paid for repairs and restoration of the line and the installation of loading facilities at Redmire so that armoured vehicles to and from Catterick Camp could be taken by rail via Northallerton, and did not object to revivalists taking over the line.

Under Wensleydale Railway plc, passenger services restarted on July 4, 2003 with the stations at Leeming Bar and Leyburn being reopened, followed by those at Bedale, Finghall and Redmire in 2004. In 2010 a passing loop was opened at the site of the former Constable Burton station, allowing a two-train service when needed. Four years ago, a new station opened at Northallerton West, a 15-minute walk from Northallerton station on the ECML. However, the railway has continued to make heavy losses, as it became obvious that in the 74 years since through services ended, dale residents have permanently switched to other and more versatile forms of public transport, and the modern-day demand for community rail had been overestimated.

Steve said that an ideal heritage railway should be no more than 10 miles long, go from “somewhere to somewhere” and offer a return journey of no more than 90 minutes. It should be able to invest £10,000 per track mile per year, have non-challenging civil infrastructure, offer stunning scenery and be predominantly steam operated.

He said that Leyburn to Castle Bolton and eventually Aysgarth would be ideal for round trips, Leyburn being the eastern end of a regular steam shuttle service over the most picturesque part. Despite this aspiration, the main service will continue to be based on the Leeming Bar-Redmire route but high-quality vintage experience shuttle services would also operate between Leeming Bar and the award-winning Scruton station.

However, regular operations east of

A major first step in the Wensleydale Railway’s new ‘heritage first’ strategy has been the completion of an undercover steam/diesel/carriage servicing and maintenance facility at Leeming Bar, essential to attract privately-owned steam and diesel locomotives to the line. Discussions are now taking place with steam owners. WR Scruton would not take place until the track is in good condition and it makes economic sense to reinstate them.

Specials could continue to be run over the railway from the main line connection at Northallerton, while Hambleton District Council continues to support the railway in developing a more permanent presence in that locality.

Poor condition

Steve said that the Wensleydale Railway inherited infrastructure in very poor condition and yet remains responsible for all maintenance apart from overbridges. “A large paid staff operated an intensive service which made a massive operating loss,” said Steve. “The plc board and trust are faced with poor track and infrastructure, a railway that is currently too long for our heritage purposes.

“There is now a recognition that the railway must provide a full familyfocussed predominantly steam heritage experience, and a need to rapidly improve the infrastructure required to take matters forward. But we are determined to implement an ambitious but achievable programme to rescue the railway.

“The railway could not reach Aysgarth under its own steam in the next 10-20 years, if ever. Even if a sugar daddy came forward with £5 million we

would have to spend it on the existing infrastructure and the extension to Castle Bolton, not to Aysgarth. ”The railway needs immediate infrastructure investment but it cannot take on more debt.

“The Wensleydale Railway will extend to Castle Bolton – the optimum terminus for our line in the near term. ”The railway needs to give the public what they want today, not what we thought they wanted 15 years ago.

The key to our survival is to offer a predominantly steam operated heritage service, focusing on the staggering beauty of the landscape, and enhancing the travel experience with quality on board catering and special events.

“Completely unachievable aspirations to run a 40-mile public service railway when we can’t even afford the current line are a massive distraction. We should not dispense with our very long-term aspirations to connect Northallerton with Garsdale but we must recognise that this is not likely to happen in the short term,” he said.

Steve added: “This is a great moment for volunteers to come and join us in delivering a truly spectacular railway.

We are firmly in growth mode, and a warm welcome awaits those who want to help us to achieve our aims on this most friendly of railways.”

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

March ‘double your money’ GCR canal bridge appeal boost

New in blue passing the yellow spring daffodils: No. 6 Douglas worked the 11:40am departure from Tywyn on Friday, February 23, and is seen running nonstop through Rhydyronen. PAUL STRATFORD

Douglas turns blue as it gets its wings!

THE Talyllyn Railway’s Barclay 0-4-0T No. 6 Douglas was unveiled in a brand new livery of RAF Traffic Blue to mark the 100th anniversary of both it and the RAF. Built to 2ft gauge originally for use at the Royal Naval Flying Corps airfield at Manston in Kent, a few weeks later, on April 1, 1918, the Royal Air Force was formed and the airfield became RAF Manston.

In 1921 it was transferred to RAF Calshot, the RAF’s sea plane base in the Solent, where it worked transferring personnel and stores on a line along Calshot Spit. After that line closed in 1945 the locomotive was eventually sold to Abelson and Co., in Birmingham, and in 1953 was donated to the newly-

preserved Talyllyn Railway.

The only condition of the donation was that the locomotive should be named after the then managing director of Abelsons, and so it became Douglas.

Regauged to 2ft 3in, it was delivered to Tywyn in July 1954 and has remained in regular service ever since.

The railway worked with the local RAF Association to mount the joint celebration of both centenaries. During the event on February 21, Douglas was officially adopted by the Association. In attendance was the Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd Edmund Bailey and Lord EllisThomas, who has a long association with the railway.

At 11am the locomotive steamed

into Wharf station in its new livery to be greeted by the assembled crowd.

Crewing the locomotive for the day were a current and a past member of the RAF, the latter being Chris Price formerly the line’s general manager. Speeches and presentations were hosted by the current general manager, Stuart Williams.

After lunch, No. 6 hauled a special train.

‘Leave on the Line’, a further celebration of the locomotive’s centenary, will take place over June 1-3 with significant RAF involvement.

At the end of March, locomotive No.1 Talyllyn will be withdrawn from active duty for overhaul. Its place on the roster will be taken by the returning to service No. 3 Sir Haydn.

LMS Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 No. 43106 works hard round Safari Curve, Bewdley on the Severn Valley Railway at sunset, returning to Kidderminster on February 24. RALPH WARD Write to us: Heritage Railway, Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 43, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6LZ.

THE Great Central Railway’s £475,000 appeal for funds to repair a Victorian bridge over the Grand Union Canal in Loughborough as part of the ‘Bridging the Gap’ project has passed the £40,000 mark. GCR managing director Michael Gough said: “To have reached just shy of 10% of our target in under three months is truly humbling.”

Last autumn, the spans of bridge to connect the heritage line to the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) were lifted into place above the Midland Main line.

To take the ‘Crossing the Canal’ appeal total raised even higher, a ‘money match’ campaign is being run during March.

Donations to the appeal during March will be matched pound for pound up to £25,000. “When we last held a Money Match March, for the new Main Line bridge, the response was incredible,” said Michael. “People loved the idea of making their contribution go further.

To make a donation online, visit www. gcrailway.co.uk/unify Donations to the appeal through the post can be made with a cheque (payable to ‘DAVID CLARKE RAILWAY TRUST’ with Crossing the Canal written on the rear) sent to, DCRT, Lovatt House, 3 Wharncliffe Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1SL.

New plan to extend Churnet Valley into Leek A PLANNING application to bring the Churnet Valley Railway into Leek has been submitted.

The plan involves a single line railway track and replacement footpath on the council-owned vacant trackbed between Cornhill and the boundary of existing operational railway land at Leekbrook. A decision is expected to be made by the council by the end of April.

A design and access statement produced by chartered building surveyors, Jonathan Cornes Associates, said the development would comprise a new railway and pedestrian route with a protected fence.

Coun Sybil Ralphs, the leader of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, said: “One of my administration’s top priorities is to bring the railway back to Leek.

“That is now fast becoming a reality.

Had it not been for the recession, and the resultant lack of funding opportunities, we would have been further down the line on this project.”

The planned new line does not extend to the site of the original Leek station, which lay half a mile to the north and which closed in 1965.

Heritagerailway.co.uk 9

NEWS

Dick Hardy A giant of the railway world and a true gentleman

By Geoff Courtney THE omens were good for legendary railwayman Richard Hardy – who died on February 18 at the age of 94 – from the day in January 1941 he was offered an LNER apprenticeship at Doncaster by Edward Thompson.

Richard, known to most as Dick, or to others as Mr R H N Hardy, was born on October 8, 1923, and was drawn to steam locomotives at an early age during his early years in Amersham, Bucks. He was educated at Marlborough College, and as his schooling drew to a close he told a careers advisor that he wanted to join either the LMS or LNER. At the time the LNER’s chief mechanical engineer was Sir Nigel Gresley, and the advisor told Dick to go for the LNER “because there was a gentleman at the top”. He duly wrote to Gresley and received a reply from Thompson, inviting him to an interview.

Perhaps seeing a kindred spirit in the 17-year-old sitting across the table as he too had been a pupil at Marlborough College, Thompson offered Dick a premium apprenticeship after a mere 15 minute interview and, to the

youngster’s surprise, said his chauffeur would take him to some digs in town.

And so he found himself at 43 St Mary’s Road, under the care of landlady Miss Marsh, with whom he stayed for nearly five years and who he described as “a wonderful landlady of the old school who would stand no nonsense.”The rent was 30s (£1.50) per week seven days a week with four meals a day, this later rising to 35s “with profuse apologies”.

He was one of five youngsters there, one of whom was another Doncaster apprentice, and he enjoyed a stable and enjoyable environment in the company of Miss Marsh, her mongrel Queenie, and his fellow boarders. “I could come in all hours if I was in overalls, but if I went to the flicks and was not in by 2230, she wanted chapter and verse,” Dick once wrote.

His Doncaster apprenticeship, which included training at the town’s Technical College, started in the machine shop, followed by 11 months in the erecting shop, and for much of 1944 in the running sheds, where he became part of the emergency breakdown crew. This work could be intensive, as is illustrated by a breakdown in February of that year

Stratford remembered: Dick Hardy (right) at Stratford International station on July 10, 2012, after he had unveiled a plaque commemorating the history of the works and depot (30A), where Dick enjoyed two spells during his 41-year railway career. With Dick is Lew Adams, former general secretary of the footplatemen’s union ASLEF and an ex-Stratford driver. DAVE BRENNAND when he was on duty on the breakdown train for a continuous 63 hours.

Interview at Stratford

At the end of 1944 he moved to the drawing office, where he didn’t settle, and the following August he had a meeting with Thompson, who four years earlier had succeeded Gresley as LNER chief mechanical engineer. This led to an interview at Stratford in east London with the locomotive running superintendent, L P Parker, who took him on and was to become his mentor.

Thus ended the first railway chapter in

his life, and he bade farewell to Doncaster in the summer of 1945 with many fond memories and a great deal of careershaping experience, which included no fewer than 60,000 miles on the footplates – both officially and unofficially – of a vast variety of steam locomotives.

Parker had a reputation for encouraging apprentices to take on responsibility to achieve quick promotion, and in Dick he had a willing learner who thrived in a railway environment. He had also taken on someone who had become an accomplished photographer of steam

Southern steam: It’s June 15, 1958, and Dick Hardy (on the footplate right, with his son James), is at Stewarts Lane, Battersea (73A), where he had been shedmaster for three years between 1952-55. With Dick on the footplate of H class 0-4-4T No. 31552 is passed fireman Charlie Watson, and standing are, from left, Fred Pankhurst with his grandson, Alf Prater, and an unidentified fireman. R C RILEY / THE TRANSPORT TREASURY

10 Heritagerailway.co.uk

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway

Heart of a lion: Dick Hardy (far right) in about 1960 at Liverpool Street, when he was district motive power superintendent.

With him beside Britannia No. 70007 Coeur-de-Lion on a Clacton express are, from left, fireman Ron Cudmore, retired driver Bert Hudson, inspector Ernie Foskett and passed fireman Ron Eagle. On the left is N7 0-6-2T No. 69653.

DR IAN ALLEN/THE TRANSPORT TREASURY locomotives and the men who worked with them, and many of his pictures, taken with a trusty Brownie 620 box camera, provide pleasure to enthusiasts more than seven decades later.

Quick promotion was certainly what Dick achieved under Parker, for a year after arriving at the sprawling Stratford complex he became foreman at King’s Lynn shed in Norfolk, followed by 14 months until 1948 as acting shedmaster at the nearby former M&GN Joint depot of South Lynn, where the inhabitants made clear their preference for Midland 4Fs rather than GER J17s.

After a spell at the motive power HQ at Liverpool Street and with nationalisation of the railways still in its infancy, Dick was appointed shedmaster at the ex-GCR shed ofWoodford Halse, a post which put him, while still in only his mid-20s, in charge of 280 men and 50 locomotives.

Quite what those hardened railwaymen initially made of their young public school-educated boss is anyone’s guess, but his burgeoning man-management skills and ability to‘muck in’would have smoothed his path.

That same year of 1949 saw him marry Gwenda, and a year later, soon after becoming a father, he was on his travels again, to shedmaster at Ipswich.There he remained for two years before taking over a similar role at Stewarts Lane in Battersea, south-west London, a move which meant he had been shedmaster at three major locomotive depots before his 30th birthday.

Transformation

The year of 1955 saw racehorse Meld – after which Deltic D9003 was named – win the classics’triple crown, Stirling

Moss become the first Englishman to win his home Grand Prix, and Winston Churchill resign as Prime Minister. It was also the year Dick’s career took him back across theThames to Stratford, as assistant district motive power superintendent, with promotion to DMPS at Liverpool Street following in 1959, the latter role seeing him at the heart of the diesel and electrification transformation of the former GER lines.

Management positions ensued as acting traffic manager at Lincoln in 1963, divisional manager at King’s Cross (196468) and Liverpool (1968-73), and finally into training as personnel development advisor in engineering and research, in which capacity he was involved with BR’s graduate engineers’programme.

He was also appointed to the BR board at Marylebone.

He retired in December 1982 but remained deeply involved with the world of steam railways. He wrote a number of books, including Beeching: Champion of the Railway? (published 1989) and A Life on the Lines (2012) to follow Steam in the Blood, which had been released in 1971, was chairman of the Steam Locomotive Operators’Association until 1993, and became much in demand as a guest speaker. He was also closely involved with the early Steam on the Met events.

In addition he was a director of the Festiniog Railway Co until 1987 and was the current president of the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society, whose vice-president Phil Starks said in tribute:“Those privileged to meet him speak of him universally with the greatest respect and affection. He was a true gentleman with an astronomical memory who treated everyone

with the utmost courtesy. He was a wonderful man.”

The society’s chairman Neil Sharpe said:“We are hugely proud to have had such a giant of the railway world as our president.This was a man who will be missed by so many.”

Dick, who had three children and was a widower, lived in Amersham, and moved into a nursing home last autumn.

His funeral is at 1pm on March 13 at the Chiltern Crematorium,Whielden Street, Amersham.

DavidWard, whose 46-year railway career included posts atYork, Norwich, Liverpool Street, Cambridge and Euston, and culminated as director special trains, knew Dick Hardy well and was a great admirer of him as a man and as a railwayman.

He writes: Richard (Dick to his friends) must be considered among the last two or three great BR motive power officers who spent a large part of their career managing the day-to-day supply of steam locomotives and their crews to run the freight and passenger timetable safely and punctually.

Motive power officers needed to be qualified mechanical engineers and excellent managers of men, and they progressed to the top positions by starting with an apprenticeship at a main works and then by being appointed successively to supervisory working posts at locomotive sheds, technical assistants posts at district or head office, and locomotive shedmasters at depots of increasing size.

The whole process was planned to ensure development and training of men who showed the necessary ability, aptitude and interest.

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

Home from home: When Dick Hardy joined the LNER at Doncaster as an apprentice in 1941, he was taken on as a lodger by Miss Marsh, and remained there for nearly five years. Miss Marsh was photographed by Dick with her mongrel Queenie and Mr Barrett, foreman of the Doncaster plant stores who came to cut the grass on Sunday afternoons. R H N HARDY / THE TRANSPORT TREASURY From his earliest days as an apprentice at DoncasterWorks, Dick had showed great interest in footplate work, spending many hours of his own time firing locomotives on local work in theWest Riding. Experienced railwaymen always showed interest and were prepared to train younger men in the arts of their job, and in Dick they had the ideal character.

Although public school educated and one of nature’s gentlemen, he soon showed he was not afraid of hard work and dirt, and quickly built up mutual respect with enginemen who enjoyed his company and his willingness to learn in what were often uncomfortable conditions.

This ability to strike up mutual friendships and respect with working men was one of Dick’s greatest strengths, and it stood him in good stead when, although still a relatively young man, he took charge of depots such as Ipswich (32B) and Stewarts Lane (73A), with Heritagerailway.co.uk 11

NEWS

Broadway festival sponsored

by Heritage Railway!

Happy retirement: Dick Hardy (second from right), on the running plate of B12 4-6-0 No. 8572 on the North Norfolk Railway at Sheringham on October 5, 2012.

With Dick are fellow retired railwaymen (from left) David Butcher, Bob Bane, and the late Ron Bowyer. ROSEANNE BOWYER several hundred men under his control.

Managing these depots was a hard and arduous job. The work was heavy, dirty, and usually carried out in the open or in old buildings which had long ceased to ever be repaired. Shift work was unattractive, and consequently conditions made it very difficult to attract the skilled labour necessary to repair, maintain and service the locomotives, many of which were of old design.

The shedmaster’s life was therefore one of a constant battle to supply serviceable locomotives on time to work the timetable, and many a calculated decision had to be taken, especially at peak periods, when it might be necessary to turn out the least reliable old crock in the shed to avoid a late start.

With his innate fairness and understanding of human nature, Dick thrived in this environment and took great interest in the comments of his men, who respected his knowledge, determination and the example he set.

He always led from the front, and if a driver or fireman complained his engine would not steam, Dick, after satisfying himself there was no obvious cause, would go out and fire the engine himself to identify the problem or prove to the crew the engine was serviceable for the job to which it was allocated. At Ipswich, Dick earned the accolade from his men of being the best fireman at the depot.

First priority

All this was in an era when it was unthinkable to cancel a passenger train except in the most exceptional circumstances, and if a blockage of the line occurred the first priority was to get trains moving again using the most expeditious means available. Dick, with his wide practical experience, was essential in such endeavours, either with his depot breakdown crane and gang or reorganising train crew rosters or locomotive allocations to cover as many trains as possible.

In the 1960s Dick was promoted into general management successively at Lincoln, King’s Cross and Liverpool. He could then have anticipated promotion to regional assistant general manager and then general manager, but this was not to be, and instead he was called

12 Heritagerailway.co.uk

to BR headquarters to manage the development, training and appointments of all BR graduate engineers.

With his vast knowledge of railway management posts, their requirements and his ability to understand people and their aspirations, he was ideally suited to this important work, but his heart remained with running the day-to-day railway. Many railway engineers however have cause to be thankful for the guidance and facilitation Dick gave them in shaping and advancing their careers.

Dick was always ready to increase his knowledge of the steam locomotive, and he struck up a friendship with an SNCF motive power superintendent that led to exchange visits to France, where he would fire such locomotives as Chapelon Pacifics.

When Dick retired he was in constant demand to give lectures to railway societies, and for a time he was a director of the Festiniog Railway Company, who sought his help in negotiations with the trade unions. When the Steam Locomotive Operators’ Association needed a chairman, Dick took up the honorary position for about five years, an ideal choice because he made locomotive owners comply with the disciplined way BR had managed, and he had the knowledge to ensure no locomotive owner could get away with an excuse when their engine had caused a delay. Many owners enhanced their knowledge from Dick’s sound advice.

Dick wrote many articles for railway publications and also wrote a number of books, including Steam in the Blood and a very well-researched biography of Dr Richard Beeching. These are all important records of railway history, particularly that on Beeching, in which he showed his very balanced understanding of railway management and revealed what a great man Beeching was, and how misplaced was much of the criticism levelled against him.

Dick was not only a great steam locomotive man, he was also a great railwayman. His passing leaves an enormous void which cannot be filled, and the loss of his experience and advice will be sorely missed. Above all, the many that knew him have lost a sincere and valued friend.

HERITAGE Railway and its sister title The Railway Magazine are to sponsor the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s May 26-28 spring bank holiday Cotswold Festival of Steam – which this year has the theme Give my regards to Broadway.

The high-profile event will celebrate the railway’s extension into its new Broadway station – and topping the bill will be GWR ‘blue King’ 4-6-0 No. 6023 King Edward II – which afterwards has been booked to spend the summer on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

It is believed to be the first time a King has worked over the line, although there is a rumour that No. 6000 King George V made a positioning move in the 1970s before the line was closed by BR. Two further guests were being negotiated as we close for press. For the first time, the G/WR will be operating five train sets using eight locomotives.

One will be the line’s DMU which will have its drives disconnected so it can be loco-hauled and one will be a freight.

Footplate rides on home fleet locomotives will be £99 each, while brakevan rides will be offered for £10 for a round trip between Toddington and Cheltenham. A classic bus service will between Toddington and Broadway stations and via Broadway village itself.

Construction work on the original Broadway station nearly complete in 1904, just after it opened. Its platforms could accommodate a six-coach train at best. G/WR

Broadway station as pictured in February. The new building and platforms are longer than the originals and will accommodate a 10-coach train, The footbridge came from Henley-in-Arden and the signalbox on Platform 2 is a new replica of the one that once stood at Shirley before it was controversially demolished by Network Rail in 2011. IAN CROWDER

Six visitors for Severn Valley gala

By Paul Appleton THE Severn Valley Railway will field one of its biggest ever guest line-ups for its March 16-18 spring steam gala with six visitors.

Two of these have been added to the initial four guests that were announced last year for reasons other than solely appearing at the event, with BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No. 80072 enjoying an extended stay after starring in the preChristmas Santa programme.

The latest guest, ‘Blue King’ No. 6023 King Edward II, arrived at the SVR on February 22 to, as reported last month, have its new draughting arrangement tested under load on weekdays between normal spring weekend passenger operations. Owner the Great Western Society has given the SVR the go-ahead to use the GWR front-line express locomotive during the gala, adding an unusual splash of blue to the otherwise green and black motive power on the 16 mile-line.

The SVR announced its first visitor, North Norfolk Railway-based B12 4-6-0 No. 8572 as long ago as July last year, and moved to the line following the Great Central Railway’s

January 26-28 winter steam gala.

The Vintage Carriages Trust’s 1874-built Haydock Foundry 0-6-0WT Bellerophon, an unusual and interesting visitor from the Foxfield Railway, is expected to be used on a frequent BewdleyKidderminster shuttle service.

A repeat visitor is new-build 101mph Peppercorn A1 Pacific No. 60163 Tornado, returning to the SVR and reinforcing the LNER flavour of the event on the former GWR cross-country line, North Yorkshire Moors Railway-based Thompson B1 4-6-0 No. 1264 will be repainted into lined LNER black in time for the gala.

Three of the smaller home-based engines will be used on ‘local’ trains, especially newly-repainted GWR Collett 0-4-2T No. 1450 on autotrains, and panniers Nos. 1501 and 7714, which will also double-head some trains. GWR 4-6-0 No. 7802 Bradley Manor is expected to be on standby.

The LNER apple green-liveried B12, will be matched with the line’s rake of Gresley teak coaches. The intensive timetable will run into the evening and there will be earlier than usual starts from both ends of the line. Full gala details can be found at www.svr.co.uk

Find us on www.facebook.com/heritagerailway