Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Steam Days

I have been a railway enthusiast since 1942, and together with my two sons, Ian and Andrew, since March 1993 have provided a record of Britain’s railway scene when steam ruled supreme, from the 1800s until the end of steam in 1968. With a focus on line histories, train spotters’ memories, technical information, railwaymen’s reminiscences and nostalgic photo-features, our purpose is to bring back those halcyon days. With our subscriptions you can get your magazine delivered straight to your door every month, with a superb saving on the cover price. We hope to welcome you soon to the Steam Days family. CHOOSE WHICH STEAM DAYS SUBSCRIPTION SUITS YOU BEST 1: 12 MONTH SUBSCRIPTION BEST VALUE 12 print issues for £47 direct debit 12 print issues for £54 credit/debit card SAVE…

Established on the Edinburgh & Northern Railway main line in 1854, and subsequently part of the North British Railway and then LNER, the story of the evolution of engine shed facilities at Thornton Junction was set out in the June 2024 issue of Steam Days, but as the major shed at the heart of Fife, its influence was far more than just the provision of locomotives. Over the decades, Thornton depot was, at one time or another, associated with no less than 15 locations where locomotive’s were regularly out-based at sheds or stabling points for servicing, this article concentrating on those at Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Dysart, Ladybank and Cupar, and the first era at Markinch is covered too. These are presented from south to north on the original Edinburgh & Northern…

In the late 19th and early 20th century those prosperous enough to afford rail travel were expecting more creature comforts: toilets, hot water and dining cars, as well as faster journeys. This meant heavier, faster trains that demanded much more power. To add to the challenge, coal prices were very volatile and subject to disruption of supply, so economic use of coal was essential. On the London & North Western Railway, Francis Webb’s three-cylinder Compound passenger engines came in small batches of ever-increasing-size to cope with demand, and later appeared the larger four-cylinder Compound 4-4-0 classes of ‘Jubilee’ (1897-1900) and ‘Alfred the Great’ (1901-03). Around this time it was becoming more generally understood that within the limited space of the British locomotive and the relatively low boiler pressures of the…

The two Isle of Man Railway routes, west from Douglas to Peel and south from Douglas to Port Erin, were authorised by a single Act of Parliament in 1872, and while the Peel line was completed first, with opening on 1 July 1873, it was the Port Erin line, opened exactly 13 months later, that has endured and can still be enjoyed today. In the August 2023 issue of Steam Days I offered an introductory overview of the 3ft gauge steam-worked IMR lines on the island, ahead of an appraisal of the Peel route when it celebrated its ‘150’, so suffice to say here that the railways were created and played a role in the heady days of mass holiday-making on the island and that the IMR was very capable…

The General Election held on Thursday, 5 July 1945 returned to Parliament the United Kingdom’s greatest reforming Labour administration to date, with a 146 seat majority that was arguably the last truly socialist government. As early as October 1944 the party had made clear that if elected to power it would implement a wide-ranging plan of nationalisation that included the railways. On 27 November 1946 the proposals to nationalise transport were made public in a Bill that included the so-called ‘Big Four’ and other transport undertakings. The resultant Transport Act of 1947 received the Royal Assent on Wednesday, 6 August, and on Thursday, 1 January 1948 the railways were nationalised. Few alive today remember the post-war years of austerity. After nearly six years of total war the national debt in…

The present station serving the Hampshire town of Chandlers Ford boasts an hourly service in both directions and opened for business on Sunday, 18 May 2003. Located on a single track line, the Eastleigh-Romsey route had been freight-only since the original station on the same site closed 34 years earlier. Completion of the London & Southampton Railway put the village of Bishopstoke on the railway map from 11 May 1840, and it soon became a junction when a branch line to Gosport opened on 29 November 1841, by which time ‘London & Southampton’ was re-imagined as ‘London & South Western Railway’. The nearby settlement of Chandlers Ford, barely two miles west of the new railway, had been established by the end of the 16th century and was close enough to…