Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 556 i Steam Railway

One step forward… IT’S HARD to know where to start this month because as we go to press there has been a deluge of news. Let’s start with a tentatively positive piece of news; as you’ll read in Down Main, West Coast Railways has applied for another exemption for its Mk 1 stock. At the time of writing, we do not know the details of Carnforth’s exemption application, such as whether they have agreed – like Vintage Trains and the SRPS – to a timetable for fitting central door locking, nor do we know what the Office of Rail and Road’s response will be. However, the fact that the ORR has said it will consider granting another exemption will no doubt provide a degree of comfort for railtour promoters and,…

ENTHUSIASTS GOT to see a complete Brighton ‘Atlantic’ for the first time since 1958 on March 6, when new-build LBSCR ‘H2’ No. 32424 Beachy Head was united with its tender for the first time. The new-build Marsh 4-4-2, a replica of the original Beachy Head albeit using a spare Great Northern Railway ‘C1’ boiler, was mated with its tender during its transfer from Atlantic House – where the locomotive has been under construction since 2005 – to the Bluebell’s maintenance shed at Sheffield Park for final finishing work before it enters traffic later this year. This was the first time a complete ‘H2’ had been seen in Britain since April 1958, when the original Beachy Head – the last ‘Atlantic’ in BR service – was withdrawn and subsequently scrapped. A…

LOUGHBOROUGH MOTIVE power depot on the Great Central Railway is set to come down to enable the GCR to link up with the Great Central Railway (Nottingham). Erected on the former Great Central Main Line trackbed north of Loughborough Central station in 1973, using a hangar building recovered from RAF Langar near Nottingham, space was left to the west of the three-road structure to allow the GCR running line to be extended north as and when reunification with the GCR(N) took place. However, with the shed now reaching the end of its useful life, the decision has been taken to remove the shed in around five years’ time to allow the railway north towards Nottingham to be re-laid on its original alignment. GCR general manager Malcolm Holmes explained: “This is…

A NEW carriage shed at the Great Central Railway (Nottingham)’s Ruddington headquarters is expected to be complete by the end of March. At the time of going to press, contractors were installing tracks to connect the shed to the rest of the site, before pouring the concrete floor which will allow the shed to also be used as an exhibition space. Meanwhile, supporters have raised more than £11,500 towards the installation of a roller door on the new shed. GCR(N) director Andy Fillingham said: “We’d like to thank everyone for their generosity in donating to our shed appeal, which has allowed us to purchase a roller shutter door. Our original appeal was for £15,000 to allow us to fit the new shed out with power and light and we’re so…

WHITWELL & Reepham station celebrated two milestones over two consecutive gala weekends. The events, held on February 24/25 and March 2/3, marked the 65th anniversary of the withdrawal of passenger services from the former Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway station, on March 2 1959, and the 15th anniversary of Whitwell & Reepham’s reopening after restoration, on February 28 2009. For the occasion, the heritage line welcomed its first visiting steam locomotive in 12 years – Buckinghamshire Railway Centre‑based Peckett 0‑4‑0ST Works No. 1370. The 1915‑built ‘R2’ saddle tank worked alongside Whitwell & Reepham’s resident Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0‑4‑0ST Works No. 7681 Agecroft No. 3 on both weekends, with the pair hauling demonstration trains and brake van rides, courtesy of Whitwell & Reepham’s ex‑SECR brake van.…

The Cavan & Leitrim Railway was a 3ft gauge line that served the counties of Leitrim and Cavan in north-west Ireland from 1887 to 1959. The earliest form of public transport in Leitrim (apart from the mail coaches) was the canal. In 1817, the Lough Allen Canal had opened, joining the vast expanse of the lake to the Shannon Navigation, but after a period of moderate traffic, it fell out of use and by the 1850s was choked with weeds. In 1846, construction of the Ballinamore & Ballyconnell Canal began and hopes were high for the improvement of trade in central Leitrim. The final stages of construction were completed as late as 1859 and the canal opened the following year. Only eight boats are said to have used it and…

GET IN TOUCH Got an event you want to be included? email steam.railway@bauermedia.co.uk APRIL 6/7 NORTH NORFOLK RAILWAY: 60th Anniversary of Closure. 6/7 WHITWELL & REEPHAM STATION: 1940s Weekend. 7 AMBERLEY MUSEUM: Vintage Car Show. 7 WHITWELL & REEPHAM STATION: Steam Sunday. 10-14 EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY: Storm the Castle. Loco: 4079. 12-14 LLANGOLLEN RAILWAY: Branch Line Gala. 13/14 STATFOLD BARN RAILWAY: Model Railway Weekend. 14 AMBERLEY MUSEUM: Spring Industrial Trains. 18-21 SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY: Spring Steam Gala. Locos: 29, 72, 6880, 813, 4930, 7714, 7812, 13268 20/21 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE RAILWAY CENTRE: Spring Transport Festival. 20/21 EAST LANCASHIRE RAILWAY: Storm the Castle. Loco: 4079. 20/21 GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY: Road & Rail Steam Weekend. 20/21 LEIGHTON BUZZARD LIGHT RAILWAY: Beer Festival. 20/21 WELSHPOOL & LLANFAIR LIGHT RAILWAY: Vintage Weekend. 21 AMBERLEY MUSEUM: Jaguar…

8C SHEDCODE Special The former London & North Western Railway (LNWR) shed at Speke Junction was a relatively late construction, being approved by Francis Webb in 1885, and opening to traffic on May 10 the following year. Plans for the depot had been first suggested in 1864, but at a cost of some £27,000. Proposed to replace a simple two-road affair, this suggestion would have housed some 60 engines, but was not realised for another 21 years. By the time the shed was actually built, traffic demand in the nearby Speke yards and to Edge Hill depot had notably increased, and the new 12-road building was a welcome addition to the area. Known sometimes as ‘Garston’, after the surrounding area, what was to become 8C in 1935 was, from the…

Forward. Famously the motto of the old Great Central Railway company. Unlike the somewhat pretentious Latin mottos adopted by other railway companies, this single word epitomised the GCR’s modern attitude and transformation from the old, regional Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway into a new and dynamic organisation that, with its new ‘London Extension’ main line to Marylebone, had its eyes firmly on the future. ‘Forward’ could also be, appropriately, the motto of today’s Great Central Railway. While 2023 was very much a celebration of its past and 50 years as a heritage line, 2024 is all about the future and making Britain’s only preserved double-track main line fit for the next 50 years. Choice of passion Leading the charge is the GCR’s new general manager, Malcolm Holmes. Replacing the outgoing…

ANY FUTURE Swanage Railway services to and from Wareham “would require a subsidy” the railway has said, as it announced that it would not be running trains over its link with the national network in 2024 and beyond. The ‘Purbeck Line’ ran trial services over its reinstated link to Wareham for 60 days in 2017 and 90 days in 2023, with the initial trial using West Coast Railways motive power, rolling stock and crews; last year’s trains used Swanage’s own Class 117 and Class 121 DMUs. Despite being “operationally successful”, the trains “did not deliver commercially and any future service to Wareham would require a subsidy so it could operate,” said Swanage Railway Trust chairman Frank Roberts. He added: “We appreciate the disappointment this may cause to people in the…

EX-LNWR ‘SUPER D’ No. 49395, ex-NER ‘Q7’ No. 901, and unique 2-2-4T No. 66 Aerolite will form part of the largest undercover display of rail vehicles in Europe when the National Railway Museum’s £8 million New Hall opens at Locomotion, Shildon, in May. The three locomotives are part of the 46 rail vehicles going on display in the new exhibition building at Locomotion, which is scheduled to open to the public on May 24; when combined with the vehicles already on-site at Shildon, there will be a total of 99 rail vehicles on undercover display at Locomotion, making it the largest such collection in Europe. Installing the various vehicles – which, in addition to Nos. 66, 901 and 49395, also includes the Hetton Colliery Lyon and ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Juno, as…

THE 6880 Betton Grange Society is “reasonably confident” that its new-build Collett ‘68XX’ will attend the Severn Valley Railway’s forthcoming Spring Steam Gala, it has told Steam Railway. The two-cylinder 4-6-0, which is being built as the 81st ‘Grange’, was expected to steam around the time this magazine goes on sale, as its construction enters the final stages at Tyseley Locomotive Works. Speaking to SR on March 13, 6880 Betton Grange Society publicity officer Paul Appleton said: “The locomotive should steam next week, possibly by Friday. If that goes well, it will then be in action running up and down the yard at Tyseley the week after, before heading to the Battlefield Line at the end of the week. We are reasonably confident that it will be at the SVR…

1924‑BUILT ‘CASTLE’ No. 4079 Pendennis Castle celebrated its 100th anniversary at Didcot Railway Centre on March 2/3. Outshopped from the GWR’s Swindon Works in February 1924, the Collettdesigned 4‑6‑0 was the star of the show over the centenary celebratory weekend, and for which a special ‘Cheltenham Flyer’‑ style headboard was made to adorn the ‘Castle’. The four‑cylinder locomotive also carried commemorative ‘100’ reporting numbers at various points over the weekend, and hauled trains on Didcot’s demonstration line alongside ‘Saint’ No. 2999 Lady of Legend, while Avonside 0‑4‑0ST No. 1340 Trojan was in action on the ‘branch line’. On the Saturday, classmate No. 7029 Clun Castle whistled a salute to Pendennis Castle as it passed through Didcot with Vintage Trains’ Birmingham‑Salisbury and return ‘Cathedrals Express’.…

THE ISLE of Man Steam Railway Supporters Association is looking for a home for a rare surviving Manx Northern Railway carriage that it hopes to repatriate to the island. 1879‑built six‑wheel composite MNR No. 3 (later Isle of Man Railway N.42) was one of 14 coaches built by the Swansea Carriage & Wagon Company for use on the St John’s‑Ramsey route, and is one of only three such vehicles to have survived. Stored after withdrawal in St John’s carriage shed, it was subsequently cosmetically restored and displayed in the railway’s museum at Port Erin until 1998. The carriage left the island in September 2012 and, after a period displayed outside at Fengate Farm in Suffolk, was subsequently relocated to the Southwold Railway Trust’s headquarters in Southwold. Association chairman Bill Cubbon…

REPAIRING THE damage caused by recent floods could cost as much as £2.8 million, says the Downpatrick & County Down Railway. Severe flooding engulfed the railway’s Downpatrick headquarters at the end of October and start of November, after heavy rain caused the nearby River Quoile to overflow, with floodwater up to waist height at places on the railway. The DCDR has launched a fundraising appeal for an initial £250,000 but the railway’s chairman, Robert Gardiner, fears the final bill to get everything up and running could amount to a staggering £2.8m. He said: “This figure is based on professional assessments of our rolling stock and infrastructure, as well as our own calculations. “The £250,000 figure is the figure our infrastructure insurance was capped at by the insurance company. The remainder…

MAKING A success of a heritage railway is a long-term job. We were testing a loco the other day and were stopped by one of the station gardeners waiting for the P-way chaps to clear the section. Despite it being winter, looking over the garden we could see that it is quite impressive. Now I am no gardener myself, but I can certainly appreciate gardens and the work that goes in to them. Making a success of a garden takes years. I think we have all seen gardens when they are newly laid out – they look raw and a little fragile. With time and persistent care, a garden can become quite a magnificent thing. A mature garden can weather a few storms, and if some plants have problems and…

GET IN TOUCH Steam Railway, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough PE2 6EA steam.railway@bauermedia.co.uk or www.facebook.com/steamrailway STAR LETTER ‘Yugo-Yankee’ in steelworks service The article on the Class ‘62’ 0‑6‑0T No. 30075 in SR555 was most interesting. The author refers to its earlier history as a shunter at the Štore steelworks near Ljubljana. In October 1977, I was the guest of the director of a large scientific institution in Ljubljana. He was aware of my interests and introduced me to a local enthusiast, Tadej Bratè, author of The Steam Locomotives of Yugoslavia. We were given an institute car and driver to visit local railway installations, including Štore steelworks. Tadej spoke fluent English and was the perfect guide. However, even with his help, accessing the steelworks was like trying to enter a top‑secret military…

In January of 2024, I finally fulfilled a lifetime ambition to visit the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in Northern India. The line has not featured much in the railway press since the pandemic, so it seems timely to review the operations of this remarkable narrow gauge line. By way of background, the line was constructed in what is now West Bengal as a means of getting from the metre gauge main line railway up to the mountain resort of Darjeeling. In the early 19th Century, during East India Company rule in India, Darjeeling was identified as a potential summer retreat for British officials, soldiers and their families. The narrow mountain ridge was leased from the Kingdom of Sikkim, and eventually annexed to British India. Experimentation with growing tea on the slopes…

FLYING SCOTSMAN could return to what is arguably its most iconic, single-chimney guise under its new operating agreement – if its new custodian so chooses. The Science Museum Group published an Invitation to Tender (ITT) on March 6, beginning the process of finding a new custodian for the National Collection ‘A3’. The previous custodian agreement with Riley & Son (E) Ltd expired on December 31 2022; the new agreement is expected to start on June 3 2024 and will last until January 31 2032. As well as operating and maintaining Flying Scotsman during that period on behalf of the SMG, the new custodians will also be responsible for No. 60103’s next overhaul, which is due when the locomotive’s current main line boiler ‘ticket’ expires in 2029. Although Flying Scotsman will…

UP TO 25 staff potentially look set to be made redundant at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) with doubts cast on the line’s ability to continue in a report published last year. Steam Railway understands that many of the positions to be disposed of are occupied by staff such as cleaners, handymen and retail assistants. When asked about the possibility of staff redundancies, the railway issued a statement to both this magazine and The Yorkshire Post (see panel) and would not comment further. The news follows the publication of the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending February 2023 in which independent auditors BHP LLP stated that “a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The…

BR ‘4MT’ 4‑6‑0 No. 75014 masqueraded as two of its long‑scrapped classmates during its visit to the Churnet Valley Railway, to pay homage to their roles in the final years of BR steam. The Riddles Class 4 locomotive, visiting from the Dartmouth Steam Railway, was renumbered as No. 75033 for a photo charter on March 5 – almost 57 years to the day since the original locomotive famously hauled the final Up steam-worked ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ from Aberystwyth to Paddington. No. 75014 was also adorned with a ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ headboard, and remained in its guise as No. 75033 for public services on March 16/17. The only giveaway was the 5D (Stoke) shedcode plate on its smokebox door, as the original No. 75033 was allocated to 6D (Shrewsbury) shed at…

Narrow Gauge THERE WILL be two Hughes ‘Falcon’ 0‑4‑2STs at the Corris Railway for the first time in living memory in June, when ‘Sir Haydn’ visits its former home to work alongside its 2023‑built successor, No. 10. ‘Sir Haydn’ – originally Corris No. 3 – was one of three ‘Falcons’ built for the CR in 1878 and, following a rebuild during which the parts of No. 1 and 3 were amalgamated into a single locomotive, worked on the CR until its closure in 1948, by which point it was the sole survivor of the original trio. Based at the neighbouring Talyllyn Railway since 1951, ‘Sir Haydn’ will operate at its former stamping ground on June 1, 8, 22 and 29, as well as a special gala day on June 15.…

FOUR STEAM locomotives will be in action for a gala at the Llangollen & Corwen Railway for the first time since the line went into administration in 2021. The L&CR’s ‘Branch Line’ gala, scheduled for April 12‑14, will feature the formal re‑dedication to traffic of ‘57XX’ 0‑6‑0PT No. 7754, following the completion of its recent overhaul. Also making a much-welcomed return to service will be Collett ‘2884’ 2‑8‑0 No. 3802, which has been out of action since October 2022 and has received a full ‘bottom end’ overhaul. Completing the line‑up will be Hudswell, Clarke‑built ‘Austerity’ 0‑6‑0ST No. 68067, hauling its final trains on the LR before departing to go on hire to another railway, and Kitson 0‑6‑0ST Works No. 5459 Austin No. 1, which is having a new axle bearing…

The HRA view SOME MIGHT call it benchmarking, while others might call it ‘keeping up with the neighbours’. Either way, we’re all naturally drawn to making comparisons. And that’s no bad thing, as sharing – and sometimes ‘nicking’ – ideas has probably done much to drive best practice and positive change in the heritage rail world. But do we compare the wrong things? Do you really know if the grass is greener, or brasswork shinier, on your neighbouring railways? What comparisons do we draw, and are they useful? Railways like to publish passenger numbers. It’s a tangible measure of something we do (move people) and it replicates something that the ‘Big Railway’ does too. We’ve all read stories about high passenger figures in magazines like this. But are they the…

GWR & CONSTITUENTS 813 Ex-Port Talbot Railway 0-6-0ST No. 813 is expected to return to steam in time for the Severn Valley Railway’s Spring Steam Gala on April 18-21. The 1901-built Hudswell, Clarke locomotive last steamed at the SVR’s ‘SSG’ in 2022, when it failed with a broken rear spring housing casting. 7714 The ‘57XX’ pannier tank is the third guest engine to be confirmed for the Bluebell Railway’s Branch Line Gala Weekend from May 10-12, courtesy of the Severn Valley Railway and SVR Pannier Tank Fund. Other visitors will be ‘Manor’ No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor and ‘1366’ Collett pannier No. 1369, making the event a very Great Western-themed affair. 7827 Dartmouth Steam Railway-based ‘Manor’ Lydham Manor (top) has been outshopped from its latest overhaul in BR lined green for…

NUMBER 40 Crossword aficionado and railway enthusiast Alan Frost has come up with the perfect way to spend ten minutes (if you are quick) or a couple of hours (if research is required). The Steam Railway crossword is back – just for fun. No need to send in your answers – just test yourself and find the answers here next issue. ACROSS 1 The ‘Royal Scot’ Regiment 46136 edging along? (6)4 Comment concerning fellow evangelist of he on the nameplate of ‘Brits’ 70003 and 70005 (6)8 Zoo in Bedfordshire that has a narrow gauge steam railway (9)10 & 6 Down: ‘----- ---- Service Corps’ giving name to Stanier 4-6-0 engine 46126 (5)11 Fate of “the best laid ------- o’ Mice an’ Men”, observed by ‘Brit’ 70006 poet (7)12 60036 ER…

‘GRANGE’ MEMORIES Tyseley depot always held a noble stud of the ‘Grange’ class engines. Indeed, two of the class – Nos. 6853 Morehampton Grange and 6866 Morfa Grange – spent their whole working lives at the shed and therefore became cosseted favourites. Many others came and went after spending long periods of time at the depot, including Nos. 6843 Poulton Grange, 6847 Tidmarsh Grange, 6848 Toddington Grange, 6855 Saighton Grange, 6858 Woolston Grange, and No. 6861 Crynant Grange – all engines that were well maintained and a pleasure to work on. The ‘Granges’ had a higher tractive effort than the ‘Halls’, owing to the smaller driving wheels, yet the ‘Granges’ held up well after high mileages to wear and tear, rarely becoming less than comfortable to work on. Even so,…