NRS NL 58-1 Jan-Feb 2013

Volume 58 No. 1 Jan/Feb 2013

_________TRACK REPORT

news from railways in and around Norfolk

National Network Thursday 17th January
Another severe frost overnight down to minus 10C. One of
Wintry Weather in January 2013 the first Up Norwich to London services failed at Chelmsford
as the Class 90 pantograph head had been damaged on its
Wintry weather graced counties bordering the North Sea approach – possibly because of icicles hanging from an
coastline from Suffolk northwards on Monday 14th January overbridge – and the pan had dropped. The Class 47
with freezing temperatures and more particularly 1-2” of “Thunderbird” was not available and the failed train was
snow. assisted by a sister Class 90 detached from a following Up
Norwich service terminated at Colchester with the stock
Tuesday 15th January stabled there in the Up Loop.
Things weren’t too bad until a heavy snow shower fell on the
Norwich area in the early afternoon. Extreme traffic chaos The bi-directional signalling allowed services to pass the
resulted, and the night temperature fell dramatically with failed train during the interim but with delays of up to an hour.
minus 13.1 degrees Centigrade being recorded at RAF The assisting 90 was routed to the front/London end of the
Marham. failed train preventing such passing movements until it was
again clear of the Down line. The failed train was finally
Wednesday 16th January moved some 2 hours after it stopped.
Extremely hazardous road conditions were demonstrated
when a motorist approaching the ahb level crossing at OLE problems north of Cambridge, believed to be ice
Haughley Junc, north of Stowmarket, was unable to stop and related, resulted in replacement bus services being
his car skidded over the crossing demolishing the pedestal necessary between Cambridge and Ely for much of the day.
unit operating the Upside barrier arm. A new unit had to be
sourced from elsewhere and the prevailing road conditions A further 2-3” of snow fell late on Thursday evening across
delayed its arrival on site for several hours during which time the Southeast creating a total depth of 5-6” of snow in the
the crossing had to be manually controlled with trains Norwich area.
passing over at walking pace. The Norwich – London service
was reduced to an hourly interval after the initial delays of Friday 18th January
more than an hour’s duration. Travel proving somewhat difficult by any mode. Heathrow
cancellations stranded hundreds of passengers.
Snow and ice caused problems at Brundall Junc and at
Reedham Junc (“some lines blocked” – presumably due to Greater Anglia operated hourly services between Norwich
point operation difficulties) resulting in the service to Great and London for much of the day with, for example the 1500,
Yarmouth being withdrawn for much of the day – a road 1600 and 1702 Liverpool St - Norwich plus 1430 and 1530
service was provided between Yarmouth and Lowestoft for Norwich – Liverpool St services cancelled perhaps in
rail connections for the few passengers venturing out. response to signalling problems between Bethnal Green and
Liverpool St. The 1702 Liverpool St stock (3 x 321s) worked
IN THIS ISSUE 1 the 1700 Liverpool St - Norwich service, in place of the
2 normal 90/Mk3 set, calling at Colchester and main stations to
Track Report 3 Norwich rather than the usual booked stops at Ipswich and
National Network 3 Diss.
Heritage, Narrow Gauge & Miniature 9
Away from the Tracks Sunday 20th January
10 The remaining parts of England and Wales experienced their
Pick-up Goods first snow fall as a weather front moved from the southwest
NRS News 11 towards the northeast reaching Scotland on Monday. South
Features Wales snowfalls were reported as being up to 10” with a
13 further 2-3” reaching Norfolk from mid-afternoon to midnight.
The Cambridge Busway 16 All modes of transport were severely disrupted including
Gordon Bruce hundreds of flights cancelled at Heathrow due to the runways
having to be closed temporarily for snow clearance – such
First Photos in a Golden October cancellations continued into Monday partly as a result of
David Pearce other UK airports being closed for some hours because of
snow (including Norwich [again]; Leeds / Bradford; East
The East Coast First Class Experience Midlands and Manchester) and similar weather conditions
John Hutchinson being experienced in Europe disrupted flights.

Working Timetable

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_________TRACK REPORT

Monday 21st January Generally delays of up to 25-30 minutes for trains heading
The snowfall resulted in almost 5000 schools being closed towards Liverpool St resulted from snow related issues and
today as roads and pavements made for difficult travelling. reduced speeds imposed on train services.

There were various reports of trains failing across the Tuesday 22nd January
network. Greater Anglia 317s and 321s were limited to a Early morning services were disrupted by a failed Up service
maximum of 60mph in an attempt, not altogether proving at Attleborough and a failed Up freight train at Brentwood.
successful, to prevent snow/ice damage to traction motors. Further snow fell in the southwest but elsewhere dry with
The Class 90/Mk3 sets were being allowed to run at the daytime temperatures of 1 or 2 degrees C above freezing but
normal 100mph where possible. overnight temperatures fell below freezing though weather
forecasters gave hope of a thaw commencing on 26th
In the morning an Up service formed of a pair of Class 360 January.
units experienced problems at Chelmsford. Indications (Peter Adds)
suggested that the coupling between the units had become
defective and the units were split in an attempt to rectify the Heritage, Narrow-gauge and
problem – however the units declined to re-couple and Miniature
further delays occurred awaiting another driver summoned
from afar to arrive before the second unit could be moved. Eaton Park Tunnel
Delays of up to an hour were experienced and the Norwich –
London service was again reduced to an hourly frequency for Work has started on the only tunnel currently being built in
a period. Norfolk. In the photograph below, Neville Gower is seen
inspecting his work on the tunnel portal for the new tunnel
A level crossing problem between Ely and Kennett prevented under construction at the Eaton Park Railway. When
operation of Ipswich – Peterborough services for much of the completed it will also be used as a secure trolley shed.
day. Initially such trains were cancelled but later these were Weather permitting it should be completed by Easter when
terminated at Bury St Edmunds. the railway reopens for the summer. Photo: Mike Fordham

Norfolk Railway Society \\Server\nrs\...\DSCF1409 Mike Fordham Eaton Park.JPG
(Founded 1955)
Advance to Hoe on The Silver Lining
President: Arnold Hoskins, Esq.
Vice-President: Ken Mills, Esq. “The first through train to Hoe, on the Mid Norfolk Railway
two miles beyond Dereham! “ So says the UK Tours website
Committee and Officers 2012-2013 Telephone of The Silver Lining excursion it is running on 18th May 2013.
(See www.ukrailtours.com)
Chairman Peter Adds 01508 492070 Thanks go to Mike Handscomb for alerting us to this event
featuring an InterCity 125 travelling from London St. Pancras
Vice Chairman Gordon Bruce 01603 861389 via Leicester, Peterborough, Ely and Thetford.
Mike adds that there was a plan to open Hoe at some point
Past Chairman Peter Davies 01603 929283 last year, but it never came off. If the IC125 does get to Hoe
some MNR services may do so later in the year, maybe at
Secretary Ian Woodruff 01603 700856 'special' weekend events.

Treasurer John Laycock 01603 720125

Fixtures Arranged by sub-committee

Membership Sec. Mike Handscomb 01953 605068

Newsletter Editor Edward Mann 01603 456372

Publicity Mike Fordham 01508 493437

Committee Members:

Graham Kenworthy 01603 714479

Chris Mitchell 01603 451692

Peter Willis 01508 492562

—------------------------------

Website Editor Andrew Wright 01508 492010

Archivists Peter Allison & 01508 499723

Raymond Meek 01263 860662

=============================================
Norfolk Railway Society Newsletter

Editor Edward Mann

Distribution Graham Smith

Please contact Graham if the next edition does not arrive by
the end of the month of publication

Opinions expressed in any articles are the author's and
should not be taken to represent those of the Society.
Next issue published mid-April 2013
Copy date: Thursday 4th April 2013

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Wissington to provide ‘Middy’ Steam in 2013 unusually, 1’7”. The restored, short-length of railway is now
powered by a winding engine from Tilmanstone Colliery in
The M&GNJS’s Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST Wissington will Kent.
provide Mid Suffolk Light Railway steam throughout 2013.
Signs in a Hedge
As reported in NRS/NL 57/4 p.9 Wissington appeared for
the MSR’s first ever Gala last July. The newly agreed hire Blue running in boards from Yarmouth South Town, Hopton
deal will see Wissington back at the NNR from January and and Corton stations have been found in a Norwich garden.
then return to the Middy in late April, where it will remain until Salvaged by a railway worker when Yarmouth South Town
January 2014. It may visit other heritage lines when not closed, the signs were stored in his garden attached to a
required at Brockford. wicker fence. They were only re-discovered when a hedge
which had grown over them was removed.

North Norfolk Loco Attractions in 2013 Railwayana Auctions was contacted by the son of the railway
worker and the signs collected and put up for auction.
Last October, for the first time in 45 years, a fire was lit in the Although some were sold or reserved prior to auction, three
boiler of Standard Class 4 No 76084. Subsequently the lots sold at auction on 12th January. Hammer prices - below
boiler was tested up to full pressure with no reported in brackets - supplied by Mike Handscomb.
problems.
Lot No. 54 (£700)
On 20th November 76084’s tender arrived at Sheringham “A BR(E) station enamel
and is now at Weybourne. On completion of its overhaul running-in board
76084 itself will arrive at the NNR - hopefully in time for the "YARMOUTH SOUTH
BR Standards Spring Steam Gala - where it will remain on TOWN". Comprises two sections. Acquired from the station
long term loan. on closure 4 May 1970 and has been in storage since then.
Yarmouth’s South Town station was originally the terminus of
The Gala, running over two weekends in March (8-10 and the East Suffolk Railway and had a direct service from
16-17), should feature BR 7MT 70000 Britannia and 70013 London Liverpool Street via Ipswich and Beccles. Some rust
Oliver Cromwell, BR 2MT 78019, BR 4MTT 80072 and BR marks to face as would be expected but a respectable and
5MT 73129. Rolling stock will include the Quad-Art set, Mk 1 rare example. Acquired on station closure by vendor’s father
stock both in maroon and blood and custard livery and a who was a local railway employee. Found behind a hedge on
short goods train featuring some newly refurbished vehicles. a boundary fence and had been left forgotten / undiscovered
for 30 years. Sizes 52" X 36" and 57" x 36".

Away from the Tracks Lot No. 55
(£350)
Leaving the Tracks “A BR(E) station
enamel running-in board "HOPTON ON SEA". Comprises
A railwayman who followed his father into the business was two sections. Acquired from the station at the same time as
due to retire finally at the end of 2012 after clocking up 61 the above. Condition as above. Origin as above. Sizes 62" X
years service. 16" and 59" X 16".

As reported on the BBC Norfolk website on Christmas Eve, Lot No. 56 (£350)
Chas Bellchamber, 77, a ticket inspector based at Norwich “A BR(E) station enamel running-
station, began his career in 1951. Inspiration for the job in board "CORTON". In one section. Acquired from the
came from his father, Sidney, who drove steam trains station at the same time as the above. Size 66" X 16".
between Norwich and London, and took up the job before (Andrew Wright)
World War I.
_________PICK-UP GOODS
With two sons and a grandson also working on the railway,
the Bellchamber family has, over four generations, served A miscellany of news and
the railway for almost 180 years. members’ contributions

Somewhere Else to Visit! Recently at the URC Hall

Your Editor is probably not alone in being unaware of the “The Central & Pacific Railway of Argentina”
existence of the Cambridge Museum of Technology. It is in (6th December 2012)
the former sewage pumping works and contains several gas,
oil and steam engines, and is probably similar to Forncett Despite a cold and wet evening in early December, there
Steam Museum. There has been a part-reconstruction of the was a good gathering of members for Ken Mills’ latest South
Cambridge Ash Railway which burned household waste in American presentation. This time we were treated to views of
the boiler room. How was the ash disposed of? Well, by rail, Argentina which warmed us up for a couple of hours.
of course. The ash, in tipper wagons, was transferred from
the boiler house to a wagon turntable and then cable-hauled Another huge country eleven times the area of the UK with
to the top of an incline by a stationary steam engine. The ash extensive rail routes, Ken began with the Pacific Railway
then went to old brick pits, now filled in and given over to which runs from Buenos Aires west to Mendoza on 5’ 6 “
residential or light industrial use. The railway finished in wide gauge rail. His slides started in Junin which had large
1968, and it should be noted that the rail gauge was, very workshops and engine sheds. The Pacific was originally
British owned and on shed we saw many locos
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manufactured in Britain, among them 4.6.2s produced in of Friday 30th November 2012 after more than 125 years
Newton-le-Willows in 1948, Hunslet shunters 1900-1910, service. The “fly on the wall” behind the scenes filming
and a 1904 4.6.0 manufactured at Queen’s Park for the recorded the end of an era complete with the personal
North British Company. Good quality Welsh coal was used emotions of the last resident signallers to operate these
initially until coal was found in Argentina. Most of the locos, signalboxes.
by the time of Ken’s visit in 1972, were running on oil.
David Pearce admitted to sending (highly collectable)
Next stop was Rufino which had an attractive station. One of Christmas cards portraying appropriate scenes taken from
the tracks here apparently continued on for 250 miles his photographic collection. Some of the images used since
completely straight with no cuttings or embankments. Rufino 2009 were shown variously taken at locations such as the
was also memorable for its array of semaphore signals. At North Norfolk Railway, Norwich, Caistor St Edmund, Shap,
one end of the station we saw a magnificent signal gantry Toton, Grantham, Middleton Towers and Dereham, to name
which spanned all four tracks. All the stations had large but a few. The images were taken in all manner of weather
depots and at Rufino’s there were many 2.8.0 locos and one conditions including seasonal snow and during the day and
huge Beyer Peacock 2.8.2. night – an excellent picture captured during almost total
darkness at Weybourne was then followed by a tumble down
Many of his photos were of freight traffic, and Ken said that the footbridge steps! Such dedication to the cause! An
at Monte Coman there were only about 8 passenger trains a interesting sequence of his sons viewing a Hornby Dublo 3
week and that bus travel was much quicker! Because of the rail layout on his dining room table ably demonstrated the
arid conditions locos often had a water tanker behind the virtues of a mobile telephone camera.
tender.
John Hanchet produced images taken during three recent
Next were shots of large wine tankers at Huinca Renanco. photographic charters on heritage railways. The first
The Mendoza wine region is designated as one of the nine sequence was of T9 30120 on the Severn Valley Railway
world “Great Capitals of Wine”, and wine freight trains left with an excellent shot of the T9 exiting a tunnel followed by
twice daily for Buenos Aires from where the contents were “Schools” 925 Cheltenham and then Ivatt 46521 on the Great
shipped onwards around the world. Central Railway. John highlighted the ability to capture
scenes uncluttered by intruding spectators etc during such
After Mendoza the track changes to metre gauge and using photographic charters but did point out the personal
a rack 0.6.8.0 loco the line reaches the foothills of the Andes sacrifices involved such as crossing a muddy field to secure
before crossing them into Chile. The track changes from rack a stream in the foreground of the picture and then being kept
to adhesion depending on the steepness of the incline, so waiting for more than half an hour in windswept sub-zero
the loco must be extremely difficult to drive. The eight wheels temperatures for the train brakes to be released!
are used for normal adhesion travel but then the six wheels
are needed for the rack sections. (Sadly, this very Chris Mitchell presented images taken both currently and
interesting line is now closed – Ed.) collected from the past illustrating the Crossrail scheme with
a view to producing a digital book. Various images shown
After the break we moved on to Argentina’s Central Railway. included the long closed Broad Street station, including the
Construction started in 1863, and initially ran from the last day of service; the recently re-opened East London Line;
terminus at Rosario west to Cordoba, some 396 kms. At the DLR and current Crossrail construction works.
Rosario’s North depot Ken had photographed a large
selection of tank engines, plus a rare 4.8.4 compound. Steve Cane showed extracts taken from a commercial video
showing the transition between steam and diesel traction on
We moved on to a town which translated into English as the lines out of King’s Cross station. Views were enjoyed of
“one-eyed deer”; a comedian in the audience shouted “not to A4s and first generation diesels, including the prototype and
confused with no idea!” Here we saw a magnificent photo of production Deltics, and this was followed by film taken of
a 1914 P.S.8 4.6.2, number 118, which were Argentina’s Greenwood signalbox, made famous by Terence Cuneo’s
equivalent of our Black Fives. Out of interest, this same loco painting “Morning Shift”, which controlled the transition
was being restored at Rafaela in 1997. between quadruple lines to double track south of Hadley
Wood. The film showed the engineering works which saw the
Next we saw the busy freight hub at Rio Cuarto which had a construction of three new double track tunnels to the west of
junction with the Pacific Railway. A large amount of cereals the historic ECML formation enabling quadruple tracks to be
are grown in this area, and a huge grain silo could be seen at opened between Greenwood/Hadley Wood and Potters Bar
the station’s freight sidings. in 1959.

Finally at Via Maria Ken had enticed about half the depot to During the transition between projection modes Mike
pose for a photo on a 1907 4.6.0 wood-burning compound Handscomb discussed books produced by Lewis Cozens
which was in immaculate condition considering it was including his recently acquired copy of a “Rail Speed Pocket
already 65 years old in 1972. Chart” enabling budding time recorders to convert seconds
recorded per quarter mile into mph. Sadly Mike had to pay a
The Chairman thanked Ken for another great travel higher price than the original 9d! Mike then spoke of the
experience with some wonderful unique shots and a very manufacturing company Barnards of Norwich who evidently
interesting commentary. (Steve Cane) had produced railway locomotives and rolling stock. One
member in the audience recalled that the company did have
Members’ Evening (20th December 2012) a narrow gauge works railway (and others may have recently

The evening began with Robert Scarfe’s video showing the read about Barnards in the Norwich Evening News of 24th
closure rituals of two of the mechanical signalboxes between December – Ed.).
Wymondham South Jcn and Harling Road (inclusive),
namely Eccles Road and Harling Road, closed on the night Ken Mills, followed by Peter Willis, then showed slides of
heritage railways including the NNR and the NYMR – some
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even proved that the Summer of 2012 did actually include which was opened in 1982 and the combined muscle of
some sunny days! Chris Mitchell returned to the fray showing British Rail and Madame Tussauds restored the station and
images taken on 25th July 2012 when he and Peter Willis put on a remarkable show including Europe’s first
travelled on “The Elizabethan” special charter train to animatronic (*) figures. A full-size replica of G.W.R. 4.2.2.
Edinburgh – see last Newsletter for a full report – with a “The Queen” was specially-constructed and placed on
Deltic northbound and A1 Tornado southbound. display. The exhibition closed in the early 1990s with the loco
itself remaining in situ but it is pleasing to note that parts of
The smash hit of the evening was the inadvertent falling to the scrapped tender are being re-used to create the replica
ground of Malcolm Cooper’s Carousel projector as it was “Brighton Atlantic”.
being taken out of its case which prevented Malcolm from
displaying his slides. Hopes were expressed that the Anyway, to return to his early days, Peter showed a photo of
damage was repairable. his class at the City of Norwich School, where he helped
create a Railway Society, “Railsoc”, and we saw them
The evening’s fare was rounded off by a splendid video visiting Willesden M.P.D. in its last days. He also had an
filmed at Wymondham, Spooner Row and Besthorpe excellent photo of a pair of Class 15s (D8227/32) on the
showing A4 60009 Union of South Africa hauling a charter Coltishall – Mile End sand train passing Swainsthorpe on
bound for York on the -5°C morning (great frozen scenery!)
of 13th December 2012. 17th July 1967. We also saw something of Bressingham
when 70013 Oliver Cromwell was giving short rides and the
The Chairman, Peter Adds, who had been acting as scribe Beckton Gas Works tank being driven by our member David
for these notes, duly thanked Edward Mann for acting as MC Ward.
introducing members’ contributions, and those members who
had thoroughly entertained all present during the evening. \\Server\...\ADD018A Swainsthorpe 30C D8237 for NL.jpg
He then expressed Seasonal Greetings to all present on
behalf of the Committee after the audience had warmly
appreciated the evening’s show. Thanks also to projectionist
Andy Wright. (Peter Adds)

Editor’s Note: We were grateful to Graham and Joy
Kenworthy for providing seasonal refreshments. The
customary collection for St Martin’s Housing Trust (perhaps
better known as the Norwich Night Shelter) at this and the
preceding meeting raised £140.

“Britannia, Royalty & Railways” (Chairman’s
Address – 3rd January 2013)

The Chairman’s Evening is almost guaranteed to spring a On 17th July 1967, D8227/32 draw up to Swainsthorpe
surprise or two. Even if you were aware of Peter Adds’ signalbox with the Coltishall – Mile End sand train so that
particular railway interest (signalling) it would not have the signalman could advise the train crew that the brakes
helped, and for the best part of 2 hours we were taken were dragging on two of the wagons. > Peter Adds
through his career, never knowing what was coming next.
The large marshalling yards at Neasden made way for
Peter was born in 1950 at the General Lying-In Hospital, commercial development and it was here that Peter
London, near the old County Hall. His railway interest was encountered “The Goat Man of Neasden” – an urban
given a big boost around 1960 when his father – a Chartered squatter with some 40 goats which needed to be removed.
Surveyor then a local authority employee – used to leave Like the bad penny, both man & goats reappeared in
Peter to watch the trains at Swainsthorpe. On a wet day the Cornwall some 3 years later! Peter’s role as a surveyor
signalman took pity on him and invited him into the box, and seemed to have expanded into project management,
told him he could come in again if he saw the same overseeing developments at Watford Junction (new station &
signalman’s car outside! Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Peter’s offices) and Welwyn Garden City (new station and the
career was as a Chartered Surveyor with the British Rail Howard Centre shopping centre). However, the old railway
Property Board (and its successors) in London, and he might never quite went away as he showed a 1983 photo of a coal
be said to have “fallen on his feet”, starting at St Pancras in wagon at Newbury where the coal was simply shovelled into
1971. bags via a movable set of weighing scales!
Peter’s “day job” ensured that he was kept abreast of
Early in the presentation we saw Sir William McAlpine sat on unusual workings, and we saw Class 91 91012 heading
the verandah at the rear of the General Manager’s saloon as
it passed Meldreth in 1984 before moving to Sir William’s north through Stevenage extremely rapidly on 26th
Fawley Hill Railway, famous for its 1 in 13 gradient and its September 1991 on its record-breaking run from King’s
amazing collection of just about anything connected with Cross to Edinburgh in just 3 hrs 29 mins, with the benefit of a
railways. We were also treated to an intriguing 1962 photo of specially-arranged clear road and a maximum permitted
70000 Britannia on its way into Norwich. Peter could not speed of 140 mph.
recall if this was the Easter Saturday or the Whitsun
Saturday - a “dated” train or even a special suggests the He had a couple of runs on the sadly ill-fated APT, one as far
latter but does anybody know? as Crewe and the other one to Preston. We saw Holborn
Viaduct station just before closure; it was instructive to learn
There was an extensive and elaborate “Royalty & Railways” that there is now an almost I in 30 gradient on the
exhibition at the little-used Windsor & Eton Central station Thameslink line into Blackfriars. Finally, we saw 70000
Britannia ghosting as 70014 Iron Duke on a special at

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\\Server\Pictures\Peter Adds C...\ADD974 3553 for NL.jpg (17th January)

70000 Britannia at Carlisle on 3rd March 2012 > Peter Despite sub-zero temperatures with snow and icy conditions
Adds under foot this meeting was attended by 21 intrepid
members displaying their dedication........to the cause.
Sandling on 7th May 1994 affording the public the opportunity
of travelling into the just-completed Channel Tunnel on Brian Cornwell, a career civil servant who has now been with
specially-sourced Class 319s – the only domestic trains the DVLA for 26 years but previously spent 4 years with the
permitted to enter the Tunnel – clear of the first crossover Railway Inspectorate, presented his talk, with an “inherited”
then returning via the crossover back to Sandling. title of “Round the Country at Government Expense”,
highlighting his extensive travels by rail during 2012 in order
In his spare time, then resident in Hitchin, Peter helped to attend DVLA offices and up to 100 magistrates courts in
organise a series of more than 20 special trains under the England and Wales in the course of his employment. Brian
collective title “Sparkle Express”, beginning with a pair of manages 27 DVLA prosecutors in locations such as London,
Class 321 units from Welwyn Garden City to York. Other Brighton, Bournemouth, Exeter, Swansea, Shrewsbury,
trains were usually Class 47 hauled (but 33102, 90022 and Bangor, Preston, Leeds, and Newcastle which involves long
HSTs did share the honours) and ran from Cambridge, train itineraries from Norwich.
Peterborough and King’s Cross serving intermediate stations
en route to a variety of destinations including Chester, the January 2012 was described as a fairly typical month with
Lake District, Paignton, Bristol & Bath, Portsmouth, trips to Borehamwood, Sevenoaks, Hartlepool/Stockton,
Weymouth and York. A train ran from Cambridge to Peterborough, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham.
Minehead using two “Manors” in tandem on the West Brian described the individual journey itineraries in detail
Somerset Railway and 4 GW HSTs ran to Paignton (for the showing excellent pictures of the types of train used and
P&DR), Tenby, Whitby (for the NYMR) and the first direct described their performance characteristics. Brian’s
HST to Minehead on the WSR. The last train ran on 25th manager’s office is at Borehamwood on a site adjacent to
September 1999 from King’s Cross to Scarborough, with an Elstree film studios which produced such classic films as
optional tour on the NYMR being fittingly hauled by 60007 “Oh, Mr Porter” and “Brief Encounter” – a clip of the latter
“Sir Nigel Gresley”, and on the return train loco 47757 had to was shown and Carnforth remains a place of pilgrimage for
be replaced by 66079 at Peterborough. Proceeds derived fans of that film. A trip to Sevenoaks reminded Brian of the
from these trains (some £30,000) were donated to the Guide Hither Green derailment which happened on the evening of
Dogs for the Blind, RNIB, and other charities plus donations
to local hospices. Sunday 5th November 1967 and some newsreel of the
accident which claimed 49 lives was shown. The cause of
In August 1999 he project-managed the recovery of more the accident was a 7” section of rail which broke away next
than a mile of track from the stub end of the former Bedford to a rail joint. A trip to Hartlepool was marred by a failed HST
line at Cambridge, arranging for 4 trains to take the at Peterborough and the resultant delay necessitated a
redundant track panels to the Mid-Norfolk Railway and, to colleague coming to his aid at Thornaby, the closest station
avoid bias, he is a volunteer signalman on the North Norfolk he could reach in the time available.
Railway. He also served as a Bressingham Steam Museum
Trustee between 2005 & 2010, and since 2011 has been the February 2012 was busy but Brian focused on trips to
BSM’s nominated Trustee on the Royal Scot Locomotive & Brighton and Chester. Brighton gave Brian an excuse to
General Trust, custodians of 6100 Royal Scot, 70000 show the black and white film of a 4 minute dash to Brighton
Britannia, 6024 King Edward I and two presently scrap from London’s Victoria station. Notwithstanding
condition “West Country” locos. predominantly semaphore signalling in the London area
sighting was obviously good with extremely rapid progress
All too soon the meeting had to close, and we must express achieved! At the same rate of progress Norwich to London
our thanks to Peter (with moral support from his wife Marie) would take about 9 minutes! Chester was reached by Super
for a remarkable evening’s entertainment. (EM) Voyager via Euston and this gave Brian the opportunity of
(* animatronics = the art of animating a lifelike figure of a showing a photomontage illustrating how the much-missed
person/animal by electronic means) Doric Arch would look if recreated outside the modern
Euston station. In keeping with the wintry weather outside a
YouTube clip was shown of 37419 in similar weather
conditions attempting to start its engine amid prolonged
spluttering noises and dramatic exhaust effects.

March 2012 highlights were trips to Cardiff, Swansea and
Welshpool. Brian reminded us of the HST history and that on

27th September 1985 a special press run of a shortened 2+5
set from Newcastle to London touched 144mph north of York
– the world record for a diesel train conveying passengers.
The DVLA HQ is located in Swansea with some 6000 staff
employed there. Whilst travelling to Welshpool by a variety of
DMUs Brian changed trains at Ely and photographed DRS
37087 returning a DVT to Crown Point after overhaul – the
loco has subsequently been withdrawn for scrapping as life
expired. The excellent photograph again demonstrated the
quality of mobile phone pictures.

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April 2012 concentrated on a family trip to Aachen to visit December 2012 featured a cold snap during which Brian
one of Brian’s sons studying there. The trip was made via St enjoyed a journey over the Settle & Carlisle line en route to
Pancras International by Eurostar – the departure of which Glasgow returning via Edinburgh and Peterborough.
was interrupted by a lightning strike outside the station – to
Brussels where arrival was 90 minutes late but a connection Brian summarised his rail journey statistics as involving more
to Aachen via a DB ICE train service was still made. By than 30,000 miles travel at a total cost of more than £10,000
chance, Brian’s selected hotel in Aachen happened to be spread over 56 working days. Some 40 hours’ worth of delay
directly opposite the station entrance! An excursion was was experienced which may help to explain the need to
made to Cologne/Koln where pictures of various types of consume more than 200 cups of coffee! Excellent value for
train seen were shown together with views taken of a money was enjoyed by the taxpayer as Brian and his team’s
pedestrian bridge beside the railway bridge over the River efforts recovered more than £26m from less than law abiding
Rhine notable for the thousands of padlocks attached to the vehicle owners.
fencing – each padlock has a message written on it and
usually the names of a couple. Similar adornments have The audience warmly appreciated Brian’s presentation and
appeared in other European cities such as a bridge crossing Chairman Peter Adds formally expressed the Society’s
the River Seine in Paris. Aachen is notable in having one of thanks for both a superbly presented and interesting talk.
the largest model railway shops seen by Brian and he was (Peter Adds)
pictured outside with a beaming smile. The return journey
from Aachen was made by a Thalys TGV set to Brussels A West German Holiday 40 Years Ago - (Peter
then Eurostar back to London. Cooke)

May 2012 focused on a trip to Leeds via a Class 158 to A busman’s holiday in May 1973, planned by a work
Peterborough then an HST. Mention of Stoke bank and the colleague, began at Norwich Rail Station, then to London
(Heathrow) and thence to Amsterdam (Schipol). It was rail
75th anniversary of Mallard’s world steam record (which will again to Rotterdam, and more rail to Berlin via Hanover
see all 6 surviving A4s brought together) allowed the playing crossing from West to East.
of a sound recording of Driver Duddington describing how he
handled Mallard on that record- breaking run. We anticipated travelling on many forms of transport, mainly
rail, and encountered all sorts of situations, some funny,
June 2012 featured Peterborough station and an artist’s some serious.
impression was shown of how Peterborough will look
following the £43m improvement scheme now being We arrived at Schipol mid-Saturday afternoon, collected our
undertaken providing additional platforms – a Class 185 baggage, cameras and two pieces of home-made chocolate
appeared to have been on a special working! Types of cake (foil-wrapped) which had come all the way from
locomotives to be seen at Peterborough included various Norwich. Every screen in the terminal was showing the
owners’ 66s and the new Class 70s. Leeds v Sunderland F.A. Cup Final (apparently the Dutch
are football-mad) but we explored Amsterdam by train,
July 2012 highlighted the various tram systems in the UK spending a whole afternoon at Amsterdam’s main railway
including Croydon, Manchester, West Midlands, Sheffield station which was busy with both passenger and freight
and Nottingham. A 750V DC overhead system seemed of trains. Next, it was on to Rotterdam, train again, this time
universal application with the trams built by a variety of exploring the city by tram and discovered much history as
European manufacturers. well as a newly-built tube system which ran into the suburbs.

August 2012 featured a trip to Bristol Temple Meads. An As we strolled round the terminus in the early evening two
excellent aerial view showed the curved alignment of the complete strangers came up to us, explained they heard
existing operational station plus the original Brunel station English voices, how they liked and admired the English
(proposed to be used again for trains which would displace people, and gave us their daily tickets (valid until midnight)
the interim car parking use) and it was somewhat sad to note as they had finished with them. We thanked them profusely
a large cleared site where Bath Road diesel depot once and enjoyed our free rides on the new tube system for the
existed. rest of the evening.

September 2012 took us to Exeter which offered a fine range Early next morning, we caught our train from Rotterdam to
of destinations including a 10hr 19min journey to Aberdeen Berlin (actually The Hague – Rotterdam – Hanover – Berlin –
by a direct Super Voyager service! October 2012 recorded Warsaw) and again the station was busy with passing freight
trips to Bournemouth and Leeds/York. trains. Our reserved seats were near the rear of the 12-
coach train, all of which were corridor with sliding-door
November 2012 trips involved several journeys on the compartments, though it was noticeable how cold our coach
felt even in May. I began to explore and we moved up after
London Underground and given the 150th anniversary finding a warmer place near the front of the train. Our
celebrations being held in 2013 Brian gave a rundown of chocolate cake was beside us, ready for a nice snack, but
notable historic events and the pictures showed Metropolitan we soon fell asleep ! I awoke, hearing a lot of noise, and got
Railway steam locomotive No 1 which has run anniversary off the train (at Hanover) for some fresh air. Panic now set in!
steam hauled passenger services in January 2013; electric The rear of our train had disappeared as, unknown to us, it
loco Sarah Siddons, the new S stock and an interesting had been uncoupled and shunted into another platform to
version of Harry Beck’s network map with distances between make up another train for Berlin & Warsaw !
stations inserted on it. A very sobering film sequence was
shown showing rescue workers’ efforts following the In my broken English / German I asked where was our train
Moorgate accident in February 1975. 42 passengers were to Berlin ? It was due to leave very soon and my companion
killed when the Northern Line train ploughed into the tunnel was still fast asleep in the wrong train. I ran back, quickly
end wall after the driver appeared to have become
incapacitated for reasons unknown.

7

_________PICK-UP GOODS

woke him up, and we grabbed our baggage and ran through a 45° angle. It seems the driver misjudged the entrance to
several subways to rejoin our original train to Berlin. We the section between Swavesey and Longstanton, according
jumped into the nearest carriage; the door slammed behind to operators Stagecoach.
us, and we had to find our original coach from Rotterdam ! Thanks to Mike Handscomb.
We sat down, out of breath and sweating liberally, our
baggage and cameras next to us although in the mêlée we’d Underground Anniversary Stamps
forgotten the chocolate cake which was now presumably
well-received by the Hanover station staff ! We could do no A complete Victorian teak train, hauled by Metropolitan
more than laugh it off, though the elderly couple, sitting Railway E class 0-4-4T No. 1, travelled from Kensington
opposite and speaking fluent German, might not have Olympia to Moorgate on Sunday 13th January marking the
understood our sense of humour as they stared at us in 150th anniversary of the opening of the first part of the
amazement. Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon.
The train made the 7½ mile journey carrying VIP guests as
At the border, East German armed guards boarded the train the first of a series of public steam trips through the London
to check passports and tickets before the electric loco made Underground tunnels.
way for a much older diesel. As we passed through East
Germany – mainly forests – we came to a vast opening Four days earlier Royal Mail issued The London
alongside the railway and, to my surprise, saw a great many Underground stamp collection, celebrating the anniversary.
Russian tanks. The elderly woman opposite me began to These feature lithographs, illustrations and photographs
shout and swear, mostly in German, and then got up and depicting a timeline of the development of the London
spat out of the window, leaving us in no doubt what she Underground from the first steam driven Metropolitan line
thought of the Russians ! service (below, top left) to the modernity of the Jubilee Line’s
Canary Wharf station (bottom right).
We arrived on the outskirts of Berlin at a disused station to
await signals. A steam engine was in the other platform and I \\Server\nrs\Archive Newsletters\58-1 Jan-Feb...\LU Set.tif
got out to take a couple of photographs, but before I could
rejoin the train two East German armed guards made their The First Class stamp (top right) depicts a traditional 1911
presence felt ! After much persuasion, speaking very basic commute from the suburbs with a carriage of Edwardian
German and acting the complete fool, I got away with a ladies and gentlemen illustrated on their journey to work. By
caution and was allowed to board the train (of course, we contrast Boston Manor (bottom left) represents the pre-World
were still in the Russian Zone). War II Art Deco station designs of Charles Holden, defining
the distinctive look of the period. The second class stamps
We arrived in the American Zone in Berlin and over the next show the excavation of a Tube tunnel by railway construction
few days travelled on the West Berlin transport system, workers in 1898 (top centre) and the classic rolling stock
which was very modern, brightly-coloured and very clean, introduced to deep cut lines in 1938 (bottom, centre).
only to get a permit to enter the Russian Zone via
Checkpoint Charlie. I can still remember the British Army \\Server\nrs\Archive Newsletters\5...\LU Mini eg.tif
Officer telling us: “You are free as a bird this side. Be careful
the other side and return safely before 5 p.m. !”

Every street we walked in East Berlin had very little people or
traffic; soldiers looked at us, sometimes through binoculars,
and the transport system was almost non-existent with only a
few really dirty old buses.

Some of the historic buildings were still bomb-damaged after
the end of the Second World War, which left me awestruck,
and attempts to get near Hitler’s Bunker were prevented by
armed soldiers.

We were very pleased to return to Checkpoint Charlie,
having a laugh and chat with the American and British
guards and relating our experiences in East Berlin behind the
intimidating Wall.

We finished our holiday in West Berlin, having many trips on
the modern buses and underground system, and came back
to England from Berlin’s Templehof Airport more educated
than when we arrived !

‘Deroadment’ on Guided Busway The London Underground stamp collection will be
accompanied by four stamps in a miniature sheet, which
If a bus leaves a guided busway in a manner not envisaged celebrates the rich design heritage of the London
by the designers what term is given to the incident? Well, it Underground, reproducing classic posters from history.
would seem ‘deroadment’ is the option favoured by one An example is shown above. The pictorial poster was a
national railway magazine. distinctive and highly effective medium for promoting all
aspects of the London Underground and later London
On 18th November 2012 on the Cambridge busway a guided Transport. (Andrew Wright)
bus came off the tracks and was left lying across the route at

8

_________PICK-UP GOODS

A Long Way Down Memory Lane We are left to wonder whether the sender or, indeed, the
recipient was a keen student of railway civil engineering, but
John Tripp, one of our members, has sent me this postcard the facts and message thankfully leave little room for dispute.
of Somerleyton Swing Bridge. The somewhat faint pencil And, almost 110 years ago, that postcard may well have
message on the back reads: “6.5 of a.m. Feby 5th was the reached its recipient on the day of posting!
first train passed over this Bridge & the Board of Trade
Inspector has passed it today”. The card appears to be dated The Inner Man…
9th February 1904 and was addressed to Miss E. Parrott,
Friendly House, High St., E.Dereham. Unfortunately the It is pleasing to report that over 40 people enjoyed an early
stamp is missing. Christmas Dinner at the Maid Marian on 3rd December last.
Society Christmas dinners began in 2009 and, DV, I expect
\\Server\nrs\Archive Newslette...\Somealeyton1904-NL.jpg there’ll be one in 2013. Now, if the same number would
attend some of our outside functions…
Graham Kenworthy has added a few additional comments.
There was an engineering notice for Sunday 31st January Deepest Wales (again)
1904 for installing the new bridge and a further one for
Monday/Tuesday 1st/2nd February for removing the old one. One of our members from the Tenby area followed-up my
No doubt one or two snags/complications were encountered article (NRS/NL 57/5 p.8) with a piece of the area’s history.
to delay use of the new one for a day or two, but the He said that a couple of “Castles” were outstationed at
installation had been inspected by the Board of Trade Whitland to work the milk trains to West Ealing & Wood
Inspector and his official report was dated 9th February 1904. Lane. This is fine as far as it goes but Whitland happened to
be a sub-shed of Neyland (87H) which, according to my
_________NRS NEWS 1955 Locomotives & Locoshed Book had no “Castles” on its
allocation anyway, though it had 4 “Counties”
(1001/020/027/029). Carmarthen (87G), which is closer to
Whitland, just had “Castle” 5043 allocated there. All a bit
odd, though no doubt the Castles were needed to work the
heavy trains which, unusually, bypassed both Carmarthen
and Swansea. Perhaps the answer is that the locos were
loaned by Swansea’s Landore depot (87E), but when you
start to investigate these things the explanation is rarely a
simple one. In the unlikely event that somebody is an expert
on these workings do please get in touch.

There is an interesting article on the W.R. milk trains from
Devon & Cornwall in the March 1959 Trains Illustrated, if
such esoterica interests you. (EM)

Membership Matters then last year, because of Roger Harrison's generous
bequest, we were all granted a year's free membership.
We are pleased to welcome two new members:
Well, later this year, each paid-up member is due to be
Brian Baker, Acle, Norfolk presented with a very interesting and valuable publication,
with a strong East Anglian flavour.
Mrs Jane Goodyear, Framingham Earl, Norwich.
Intrigued? Want to know more? My lips are sealed – but it'll
NRS Membership Subscription certainly make your membership a bargain. Details of
subscription fees can be found on the yellow renewal form
I'd like to thank those members – the majority – who have enclosed with the Nov/Dec 2012 issue.
renewed their membership for 2013, either by post or by
bringing their form and cheque to a meeting. Mike Handscomb
Membership Secretary
However renewals from several members are still awaited.
We'd be very sorry to lose you, but must advise you that this Annual General Meeting
NRS Newsletter will be your last unless your subscription is
received soon. The Society’s A.G.M. will be held on Thursday 18th April,
commencing at 1930. With this issue you should have
And here's an added incentive to renew. received an Agenda, Accounts and Minutes of last year’s
A.G.M.
Remember 2005, our 50th anniversary? That year, as well
as enjoying an extraordinarily packed programme of The Society’s revised Constitution is also being
prestigious meetings and events, every member received a distributed with this issue, and all new members will
free ceramic mug and a DVD of the Society's history. And receive a copy shortly after their joining.

9

_________NRS NEWS

Bad News about Irish Trip insufficient people came forward to enable the trip to run,
and Peter hopes that another trip to the Emerald Isle in 2014
In NRS/NL 57/6 p.7/8 it was apparent that Peter Davies had will prove more popular.
put a lot of time and effort into his proposed Irish trip. Sadly,

_________FEATURES

The Cambridge Busway – A Pragmatic was conceived by a Labour Government which had lost
Opinion (Part 2) interest in light rail, a project which was then left dumped on
By Gordon Bruce the county council once Labour had left office. And certainly,
the planning had left a lot to be desired. The concrete
So, what’s the verdict of what is at present the world’s beams, which form the base of the busway, may have been
longest guided busway? I would sum it up in a few words – locally fabricated, but then were required to be laid over
fast, futuristic, environmentally friendly – and flawed. Let’s pretty boggy ground. Remember what I said earlier about
make no bones about it, I have yet to find anybody who has the flooding near Swavesey? Well, the embankment on
found something positive to say about the busway, outside of which the busway was laid needed a fair bit of building up
the chambers of Cambridgeshire County Council - a fact before it could accommodate those concrete beams – there
borne out by the comments below the two aforementioned were much publicized problems with flooding of the busway
clips on YouTube. Both clips open with the slogan ‘Trams itself contributing to one of its many delays. And then there
Would Have Been Better’ emblazoned on the screen, making is the problem of how the concrete will stand up to the
no doubt of the film-maker’s opinions. The first film I found is weather before crumbling, and just how much ‘routine
essentially a driver’s eye view (although filmed from the front maintenance’ will be needed in a few years’ time. Will there
of the top deck of a double decker) running on Route B, be weekend ‘replacement bus services’ avoiding the
speeded up, with some weird electronic sounds busway? ! The new bridge over the River Ouse also caused
accompanying the speeded-up human voices as the bus problems over which the litigation lawyers are still enriching
negotiates the streets of Cambridge and ultimately the themselves.
busway into the centre of St Ives. This film will give you a
pretty good idea of the flavour of Route B, and just how fast The bulk of the busway may be wide enough for two ‘tracks’,
these vehicles can travel out in the country on the busway. but on the southern section near Trumpington P&R there is a
The second bit of film is described as a ‘speeded up rail stretch of ‘single line running’ as two old railway bridges are
journey in 2007’ – in other words, before construction began, only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle. In addition,
and ends up with the words ‘What A Waste!’ and ‘Bring Back the busway sections of the southern part of Route A may be
the Railway’. This film is constructed in a very arty fashion – fast, but there is a diversion into Addenbrooke’s Hospital,
basically, someone filming the railway on foot as it was in which must traverse every nook and cranny of the vast
2007, and accompanied by some extremely stark ‘music’ – hospital site. On a quiet Saturday afternoon this took nearly
resembling a string quartet on a particularly harrowing acid eight minutes to negotiate – unless peak hour services omit
trip! If you can stomach the sounds you will find that they Addenbrooke’s there is hardly likely to be a time saving
complement the images remarkably well. for commuters leaving their cars at Trumpington P&R, not
when other conventional bus routes serve the site.
And herein lies the problem. It’s always too easy to get
sentimental and romantic about an old railway line. Hardly There is also the problem of cars and other vehicles straying
anyone wants to see one go - even if they have no intention onto the busway. This has happened on a number of
of ever using it they want it kept, somehow. But that second occasions, with rather feeble excuses being offered to the
piece of film leaves you in absolutely no doubt as to the state police once they fall into the ‘car traps’ (satnavs, low sun, ‘I
of the abandoned Chesterton Junction – Fen Drayton line at thought my 4x4 would negotiate that’, etc). Well, there may
the end, and anyone who believed that all they needed to do be plenty of road signs around warning cars of the dangers
was dig out all the weeds and maybe replace a few rails and of the busway, but you have to remember that some car and
signals to reopen it was deluding themselves. The railway van drivers are not the most patient of road users, and too
line was, by then, completely and utterly derelict – totally many buses just get in their way. They are sucked in by the
overgrown, level crossing gates rotten, stations dilapidated, popular press decrying the number of SPADs on the railway,
litter and graffiti everywhere. Even into Cambridge Science but probably 'run' half a dozen red lights themselves every
Park, the sorry state was there to see. There just happened day.
to be a pair of rusty rails somewhere, so by definition the line
was still there and possible to reopen. Don’t kid yourselves. Wolmar’s article is anti-busway more than it is pro-railway.
It would have required total and complete rebuilding from Because, if we are to be brutally honest, the railway per se
scratch – no mean feat at all. John Hull’s recent talk to the never had a look-in when it came to solving Cambridge’s
Society on the Mid-Norfolk Railway’s attempts to revive the transport problem. It would only have served the stations at
line from Dereham to North Elmham illustrated just how St Ives, Longstanton and Histon and possibly a new one
much effort was needed in bringing a derelict line back to life, serving the Science Park, but that would be it apart from
and that was just for a heritage railway. The St Ives line Cambridge Railway Station (into which paths would have
would have been be a full-scale passenger railway, built to had to be found). It would only have been viable if
full Network Rail passenger standards – and this would have electrified, which means that First Capital Connect would
been a revival of a line which had survived only as a freight have had to have provided through services extended out to
line for 40+ years since passenger trains ended. St Ives – if they had the rolling stock available. In reality
it was more likely to have run as a Council-subsidised
But everyone is still against the busway – mostly due to the ‘shuttle’ utilizing a Class 153. One word – Corby.
fact that it was seen as a ‘cheap option’, but using untried Remember the first attempt in the 1980s to return a
technology. Christian Wolmar wrote in 2010 that the project passenger service to Corby, using a bubble car shuttling to &
fro to Kettering, and how soon that experiment floundered?
10

_________FEATURES

So, pardon me as a railway enthusiast for not standing up for eye, the lens the bottom of a milk bottle. With my ‘Saturday
the railway, but it would just never have happened. sixpence’ as pocket money, I was never likely to be all that
prolific in the picture-making department, but it took me from
Which just leaves us with the slogans at the head of those June until October to summon up the courage to persuade
two YouTube clips – Trams Would Have Been Better. my dad that I’d like to ‘waste’ a frame pointing the camera at
Seeing as the railway would have had to have been rebuilt, a a railway subject.
light rapid transit system would have been so logical. It’s
been a success in Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Middle Furlong Road was a long row of red bricked terraced
Croydon and Nottingham, with at least two of those systems houses lining one side of a typical dusty ‘back to back’
planning further expansion. A tramway along the course of suburban street in a typical East Midland city. Iron railings
the railway would have used tried and tested technology, opposite marked the boundary of a railway shed complex
would have been less of a problem in the boggy stretches, that constituted 16A, Nottingham Motive Power Depot.
and would have served more of the city’s suburbs . . . . Across the street for about 200 yards these humble
provided, of course, a way could be found through dwellings overlooked a fitting shop, the brooding No 1 shed
Cambridge to build a LRT track. Cambridge is a very and the depot’s offices and entrance, all in a similar red
densely-packed city with little space to accommodate bus brick. The next 250 yards or so overlooked what had been
lanes. Closing the centre to normal traffic would ease the the coal stacking ground and the old coaling stage, largely
city’s congestion a great deal, but shops and other made redundant in the thirties when a huge mechanical
businesses do need their deliveries. The coalition tower was erected on the other side of the site. For the past
government, having to coalition government, having to deal year or so we had made regular forays down this
with an economic recession, is not likely to be able to unprepossessing cul-de-sac to snatch a glimpse and savour
fund new LRT systems at this present time in any case. the smell of anything that had been left to simmer in the
vicinity. By now the rosebay willow herb was beginning to
So what were the solutions for Cambridge? To be fair to the take hold.
County Council they saw they had a problem – a congested
city centre and equally congested A14 - compounded with Increasingly, boilers were cold with sacking over chimneys,
expansion outside of its then boundaries. Money was simply telling their own sorry tale of redundancy in the face of an
not available for a LRT system, but they had the St Ives ever encroaching diesel invasion.
railway line as a golden opportunity. The busway option was
selected as a cheaper option and capable of serving more One such foray, on a Saturday morning in that October of
people than if the railway was rebuilt, but without sufficient 1962, was to be the setting for my first railway picture. That it
research being carried out into its practicality. Whether the should depict illustrious subject matter was more a case of
busway will turn out to be the white elephant that everyone luck than any informed judgement on my part, though I have
says, well only time will tell. But, for now, Cambridge citizens a feeling my dad had an inkling it was worth a recce! Broken
will have to make the most of a bad job, and should use it autumnal sunshine provided good cheer as we turned off
whenever they can – especially as they’ll be paying for it Wilford Road into Middle Furlong Road, that delicious feeling
through their council taxes for many years to come. of anticipation sweeping over once again. By the time we’d
parked the car next to the railings beyond the shed entrance
But you never know if it all does run smoothly and they can the excited buzz had subsided somewhat on noting there
be persuaded to get out of their cars, they might even enjoy were only four or five locos on view – a couple of ‘Peaks’
the experience. whose identities were obscured by a row of three steam
(Concluded) locos, one of which turned out to be very much a ‘rose
amongst thorns’! It was this that attracted the attention of my
Phirst Fotos in a Golden October (A 50th new camera. Mindful of the gaps between the railings and
Anniversary Waltz) dad’s insistence on ensuring I took a deep breath to keep
By David Pearce the camera steady (!), I squeezed the shutter button and
hoped for the best.

As instrumentals go, ‘Telstar’ by the Tornados was weird, ...\47631-&-46100-&-40165-Nottm-Midland-MPD-Oct-19...
distinctive, and, in October 1962, orbiting the top of the
British Singles Chart. Me, I was a Shadows man in those Withdrawn 46100 Royal Scot is sandwiched between “Jinty”
days – give me Hank Marvin over Bert Weedon anytime. As 47631 (left) and 40165 (right – withdrawn 1961) at
for their red Stratocasters, my school jotters were littered with Nottingham Midland MPD in October 1962.
sketches of those sexy Fender creations, surreptitiously
drawn in idle moments when teacher wasn’t looking.
However, the best my heroes could muster at this time was
an appearance at the Royal Variety Show supporting Cliff
Richard! That the Tornados were also the first British band to
have a number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 meant my
brother laid claim, as a fan, to a pop group that posed a
serious threat to Hank and his mates. Our endless
arguments about the relative merits and defects of these two
beat combos were never really resolved and were never
likely to be - well that’s how it seemed to this ten year old
anyway.

For my tenth birthday my mum and dad had bought me a
camera, a Kodak ‘Brownie Cresta 3’. It had three ‘settings’,
which meant little to me, and offered twelve exposures using
120 film stock. The shutter speed was roughly the blink of an

11

_________FEATURES

No 46100, the doyen of the ‘Royal Scot’ class, had just been into the rush hour’! As I wandered along the platform I noted
withdrawn a matter of a week or two before our foray. It a B1 4-6-0, bathed in late afternoon autumn sunlight, parked
appeared, to my eye at least, to be commendably clean in bay Platform 8 in front of some parcels vans. To this day I
given its strained circumstances. This in marked contrast to cannot explain why I didn’t bother with a photograph of it,
the loco parked behind it - a Stanier 2-6-2T No 40165. It was except to say that I was keen to record the York train and
in a pretty deplorable state, having been withdrawn the was anxious not to use up too many frames!
previous autumn, the patina of rust betraying the several
months it had languished at the end of this siding. The other ‘The train now approaching Platform 4...’ announced auntie’s
loco, buffered up to ‘Royal Scot’, was a ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T No arrival at 4.37, thus interrupting my thoughts on the
47631 which still, apparently, had three or four years of life complexities of choice. My eyes firmly focused on what
left in it, certainly outlasting the depot itself. Nonetheless, my would emerge from Thurland Street tunnel beyond the
first ever railway picture was ‘in the bag’; though it would be cavernous train-shed and a moment or two later an English
a couple of weeks before I’d see the result. As it turned out, it Electric Type 3 nosed its way in, creeping along the platform
wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, and you with a string of green Southern Region coaches. Its stately
could even read the number! progress was finally halted just short of the end of the
canopy and, slightly irritatingly, just short of a patch of
Towards the end of the month a visit from my godmother sunlight. Nonetheless, I risked two frames on what turned out
would coincide with my school’s autumn half-term holiday. to be my first proper pictorial encounter with a diesel.
Being cautious and perhaps a little nervous, in an old 1N83 was a time honoured train if ever there was one, being,
fashioned sort of way as some car owners used to be, she more prosaically, the 10.50 Bournemouth West to York
tended to confine her driving to Hampshire where she lived. express. In summer this had a tendency to be extended to
When longer journeys were called for she maintained a well Newcastle and had the distinction of being the last remaining
established tradition in her family of travelling by train. She daylight cross-country service to use the former Great
could walk from her house to Eastleigh station and catch Central main line when it closed four years later. The train
trains to more or less anywhere. As it happened, there was a had just gone over to diesel haulage, but, perhaps
daily through cross-country service between Bournemouth surprisingly, I remained unperturbed by this. It all added to
and York that called both at Eastleigh and Nottingham
Victoria so she could make the journey without having to \\Server\nrs\Archive ...\Nottm-Vic-D6750-Oct-1962-NL.jpg
change trains anywhere – changing trains, particularly in
London, was a total anathema to her! It also gave us the D6750 arrives at Nottingham (Victoria) with the 1050
opportunity to observe a time honoured ritual of meeting her Bournemouth (West) – York in October 1962.
off the train. Flushed with the success of my first attempts at (David Pearce)
picture making, I felt another photo-opportunity beckoning.
We could usually nudge into a parking space near the the variety in my ten year old view. D6750, a Sheffield
entrance to the station, under the elegant clock tower – so Darnall loco, was only two months old when I pointed my
handy if heavy luggage was an accompaniment. Sometimes camera at it and, thus, another first was ‘in the bag’.
expediency meant parking in Milton Street, Shakespeare So what of the sets and players subsequently? Well, Middle
Street or Trinity Square if the rest of the Nottingham Furlong Road, the ‘back to backs’ and the shed complex
populace had similar ideas. On this occasion we were in luck were declared unfit for the modern Nottingham. They
and at about 4.15 in the afternoon we pulled up near the disappeared under inevitable redevelopment and dual
Great Central Hotel, that familiar feeling of excitement and carriageways in the early 1970s. Victoria Station, with the
anticipation washing over once more. The ticket machine honourable exception of the clock tower, went a similar way
duly dispensed our platform tickets, a quick snout at W.H. at the same time, its demolition coinciding with the end of the
Smith’s news-stand to see if the Ian Allan Winter ‘abc’s were impressionable years of my youth. Amidst a bustling and
out, and thence to the entrance to the platforms. vibrant shopping mall and dwarfed by a towering flats
complex, the clock still warns the good folk of Nottingham of
The ticket barrier, a booth blocking the entrance to the main the lateness of the hour!
footbridge, reminded me of an entrance to a magical theatre,
full of mystery, where entry was not so much at ground floor ‘Royal Scot’ is still with us, but the Jinty, Stanier 2-6-2T and,
level but ‘up in the gods’, a gallery view from an imaginary for all I know, those ‘Peaks’ have gone the way of all things
Circle nearer the roof than the Stalls. No clue could be redundant or life expired. D6750 lingered for quite a while,
gained of what was on stage as advertising hoardings not being withdrawn until September 2007. The Brownie had
covered the sides of the footbridge - it was not until you long since been dispensed with, its last railway subjects
reached the top of the stairs to the platforms that the full recorded in about 1974. The Tornados line up had more or
realisation of what was on offer could be appreciated. For the
ticket inspectors it must have been quite frustrating being
able to hear the goings on below but only to view the
occasional wisps of steam wafting up to the rafters. They
seemed fairly sanguine about it all as we offered our tickets
for inspection. Once through, the broad expanse of the
footbridge opened up and we headed for the stairs that led
down to the north bound platforms.

A quick check of the timetable poster indicated that the
Bournemouth to York train would be arriving at Platform 4,
something that was confirmed a minute later by an echoing
disembodied voice that additionally announced it was
running ‘on time’. I mentioned to dad that I was going up to
the end of the platform so that when the train arrived I could
make my picture. He seemed happy enough with this though
warned not to linger once the train had departed – ‘we’ll be

12

_________FEATURES

less blown over by the end of 1963 while Hank and Co fact, the unit wasn't even there waiting in its usual platform 3
continued to cast their Shadows, on and off down the years, location, eventually arriving at 0811 (158810). What I had not
realised was that, although the set is stabled at Norwich
right up to their 50th Anniversary Tour in 2009. Dear old Bert, overnight, it operates a round trip to Lowestoft and back for
the unlikely guitar hero that influenced many of the great Greater Anglia (0536 depart, return at 0719). With admirable
guitarists of our time, died in April 2012 at the grand old age efficiency, our train was actually turned around in 4 minutes
of 91 – perhaps I underestimated him. – no seat reservations displayed, of course, causing the
usual chaos when that occurs – and departed at 0815, some
And what of this fiftieth anniversary waltz? Well, I still find 18 minutes late. Given that there was originally a comfortable
myself occasionally asking the question ‘why’ but have long 20-minute break between trains at Peterborough, this was
since given up trying to resolve it. The simple answer is I not the most auspicious of starts to the day. From the
haven’t the faintest idea! It’s difficult to explain what impels conductor's apologetic tannoy announcement, it transpired
one to pursue the art of making pictures apart from the that the train had been delayed at Lowestoft, I suspect by a
immense pleasure and satisfaction one gets when it all goes fault with a Greater Anglia unit. At Ely, the train ran into
according to plan. These firsts, whilst by no means perfect, platform 1 instead of the usual platform 3, and reversed out
went according to plan and are as satisfying now as they in commendably quick time (it normally stands at Ely for 4 or
were then. 5 minutes). However, it was still 16 minutes adrift and try as
you might it is difficult to put out of one's mind the impact
... but whatever happened to that ten year old I wonder? upon the rest of the day if the connection for the Edinburgh-
bound train is missed at Peterborough. But all was well: not
The East Coast First Class Experience only was a further 4 minutes clawed back, on arrival at
By John Hutchinson Peterborough at 0937 it transpired that our 0945 arrival from
London was actually running five minutes late.
As a fully paid-up member of the Scottish Branch of the
Norfolk Railway Society, from time to time in recent years I Peterborough to Edinburgh
have shared with you some of my travels and experiences The Edinburgh train (hauled by 91120) eventually departed
over the border to and from the North of Scotland, both on Peterborough around seven minutes late. When running to
the printed page and on screen. These pleasures have been timetable, this service, with stops at York, Darlington,
attainable since my daughter moved to Forres (sandwiched Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed, is scheduled to arrive
between Nairn and Elgin, in Morayshire), handily placed in in the Scottish capital at 1325, allowing 10 minutes to access
whisky country on the ScotRail route from Inverness to platform 15 for the Inverness train. However, the timing from
Aberdeen, some ten years ago. My most recent foray (a Berwick to Edinburgh is quite generous and the train often
foray to Moray, indeed!) to this delightful area of the British arrives 6 or 7 minutes early; indeed, it had done so at least
Isles, accompanied by my good lady, was in early November twice earlier in the week (yes, I know it's sad, but I checked
2012 and what follows is a fairly detailed record of the on the web!). Unfortunately, on this day things got worse –
journeys, involving four trains each way and one or two although not terminally, as I shall disclose as we progress.
fraught connection experiences, that we experienced on this Departure from York was 5 minutes down, Darlington 10 late
occasion. So, if you can endure a plethora of timings and, (due to being held outside the station for several minutes),
needless to say, the odd bit of 'number crunching', here Newcastle 8 late (further exacerbated by being severely
goes. checked 5 minutes later), and Berwick 13 down. Running
into Waverley, the conductor apologised for the late arrival,
On odd occasions over the years we have flown to blaming a late-running Cross Country train in front of us for
Edinburgh and then gone forward by train for the remainder the delay. He also announced the platform details for our
of the journey, but mainly the trips have been up the East ScotRail 1335 Inverness departure (it's always 15),
Coast Main Line by rail, initially with GNER, then National suggesting – somewhat optimistically – that this train would
Express East Coast and these days by East Coast Trains. be held for passengers from his train.
Mostly we have travelled, with our Senior Railcards, in
Standard Class, but on odd occasions have splashed out on On arrival, the doors opened at 1331 . . . and we were off!
First Class tickets when we've had the opportunity to find real Knowing the layout of Waverley station pretty well, from our
bargains on the internet. This was one of those occasions – position at the rear of our East Coast train on platform 11 we
but more of that later. I recall that the catering experience in were able to dodge the crowds and scurry to the concourse
First Class on GNER was quite pleasurable, with pleasant for access to platform 15, still with a couple of minutes to
service, complimentary unlimited tea and coffee and an spare. But the adrenalin-rush didn't end there, as the
occasional snack; National Express had a more spartan Inverness train was up the platform in front of an out-of-
outlook on what constituted their 'at-seat catering' facilities. service 3-car set. Nevertheless, we made it but hadn't even
However, in my view East Coast have really come up trumps sat down before we were on the move, and I doubt that all
with their current offering, which includes a full breakfast or the intending passengers from our East Coast service were
snack meal (or sandwiches) on longer journeys on so lucky. There is always a 'Plan B' for us at Edinburgh, as
weekdays. More about this later. Our outward journey was there is an hourly service to Aberdeen, giving access to
planned to depart from Norwich just before 0800, then 0945 Forres from the opposite direction, via Dyce.
from Peterborough, 1335 from Edinburgh and 1711 from
Inverness, arriving at Forres at 1739. Before we depart for the Scottish Highlands, however, let me
digress and share something of the experience that gives
Norwich to Peterborough this article its title. Shortly after boarding at Peterborough we
The day got off to a sticky start on arrival at Thorpe station, were offered (and declined) a full English breakfast, choosing
with the departure screens showing the 0757 to Liverpool to wait for a later offering from the All-Day menu . . .
Lime Street as 'Delayed until 0812' – due to a train fault.
This was something of a surprise, as in my experience the Chicken and rocket with lemon mayonnaise
reliability of the East Midland Class 158 units is excellent. In or double egg and spinach sandwiches
served with hand cooked crisps
13 or

_________FEATURES we arrived three minutes up at 1701. Transfer here was quite
simple, as our next and final train – the 1711 departure to
Courgette, broad bean, pea, green bean and basil tart Aberdeen – was just a stroll across the platform. Again, the
garnished with mixed leaf salad and balsamic dressing Inverness to Aberdeen route is always busy in our
experience, and a rush-hour service doubly so. A two-car
Served with a rustic bread roll 158 is really inadequate for this service, so I was pleased to
or see that provision has now been made to double the
capacity with a four-car train. Mind you, on this occasion,
Posh hot pork pie with piccalilli garnished with the set comprising 158721/709, one of the carriages of
with mixed leaf salad and balsamic dressing the former was out of use because of a lighting failure. A
passing inbound service from Aberdeen was already at Nairn
Blickling Hall honey cake as we arrived, before we finally made the last leg of our
A selection of fruit journey to Forres with an on-time arrival at 1739.

Additionally, a fine selection of hot and cold drinks are on Time at Leisure
offer, including whisky, gin, vodka and Chilean wines – all Two trips with a railway background were made during our
freely available throughout the journey, it appeared. We visit. The first of these, by car, was to Strathpeffer (in Ross
settled for a very nice Swedish cider. (Perhaps not a fair and Cromarty), a well known hotel base for coach touring
comparison, but with a First Class ticket on Greater Anglia's holidays in the region. What is also there, of course, is a
Norwich to London service a passenger is eligible for a cup charming station dating from the days of steam. It was the
of tea or coffee and two biscuits in a wrapper – on production terminus of a five-mile branch line from Dingwall, with no
of your ticket at the buffet counter!) intermediate stations, opened in 1885 and closed in 1951,
although the last passenger services ended in 1946.
Edinburgh to Inverness
There are five daily M-S direct services from Edinburgh to \\Server\nrs\Archive Newsletters\58-1 Jan-Feb 2...\15.JPG
Inverness and in our experience, whatever the time of year,
this 1335 departure (in 2013, 1336) is always well
patronised. In spite of this being 1 November, almost two-
thirds of the seats in our three-car Class 170 were reserved
for some portion of the journey. A reminder that the journey
embraces Perth (via the coastal route through Kirkcaldy),
Pitlochry and Aviemore, as well as several smaller locations
on its way to the Highland capital. The ScotRail services to
and from the Highlands are dominated by the 170 units, with
the Highland area itself the domain of the Class 158,
although the 170s are gradually seeing more service on the
Aberdeen route.

\\Server\nrs\Archive Newsletters\58-1 Jan-Feb 2...\099.jpg

Strathpeffer station > John Hutchinson

170430 in Saltire livery at Edinburgh Waverley. Actual unit Strathpeffer was a popular Spa town with a widely known
travelled on, but not my picture! > Supplied by John reputation; prior to the First World War there was even an
Hutchinson overnight sleeper service from Euston. The station buildings
remain and are home to the Highland Museum of Childhood,
Our unit for the 3½-hour journey to Inverness was 170430, several retail shops (including an excellent secondhand
one of the recently refurbished and newly-painted sets in the transport book shop) and a café. The Strathpeffer Spa
attractive blue Saltire livery. The journey is invariably a Railway Association have an ambitious £2.5million plan to
delight and on this occasion doubly so, as blue sky and the bring the age of steam back to Strathpeffer by laying a track
sun highlighted the late autumnal colours of the trees. Then and buying an engine to restore the old railway line (initially
the mist set in as we climbed up the Drumochter Pass and for one mile) in Strathpeffer as a heritage line.
early snow was evident at the top and further along in the
Cairngorm National Park. Timekeeping was almost The second railway nostalgia trip was to Aberlour, located on
exemplary throughout and Aviemore, the last stop before our the River Spey 12 miles south of Elgin. The station here
destination, was reached on time. Here there is usually a featured in my 'More Highland Railways' presentation at a
pause whilst awaiting the arrival of an Edinburgh-bound train GER meeting last year. Access was made by bus from
from Inverness (we actually departed two minutes late) Forres to Elgin and a change onward to Aberlour. It was built
before accessing the northbound single-track for the by the Strathspey Railway (Dufftown to Boat of Garten) in
remainder of the journey. (In the new timetable that was 1863 and was the last station eastwards before a junction at
introduced in early December 2012 the trains appear to pass Craigellachie, where the line met the Great North of Scotland
a little further up at Carrbridge.) Our Inverness-bound train is line that ran from Keith to Elgin. It closed in 1965 but the
quite often early into the terminus and this was the case as platform and buildings remain and the site is now home
during the tourist season to the Speyside Way Visitor Centre
and a teashop. It's a lovely spot and well worth a visit if ever
you are in the area.

14

_________FEATURES

Forres to Inverness and York 1801, with six stops en route. With DVT 82117 on the front,
The return journey five days later also involved four trains but propelled by 91108, departure from York was minimally late
with a slightly different pattern for our connections – but punctuality gradually slipped away; following stops at
changing at York instead of Edinburgh. The day started with Doncaster, Retford, Newark North Gate and Grantham,
the ScotRail 0717 departure from Forres to Inverness arrival at Peterborough was 11 minutes down at 1537. A
(158719) – always reliable, as the set overnights one stop hasty walk down the platform and over the footbridge with
down the line at Elgin. This train connects reasonably cases to platform 4 proved to be unnecessary, as our
comfortably (usually about 10 minutes to spare) with East Norwich-bound East Midland train eventually arrived at 1547,
Coast's popular daily HST 'Highland Chieftain'. Departure seven minutes late – delayed at Grantham by our errant East
was prompt at 0755 (power cars 43296 and 43238) and, Coast service.
comfortably ensconced at our First Class table, within four
minutes we were supping our first cup of coffee. We learnt And so to the last leg on a long journey, Peterborough to
from the attendant that it was the first quiet day for some Norwich – one that we never look forward to. With seat
while, as the train is frequently booked by rail tour reservations that have usually gone out of the window (not
companies, and (quote) serving a full breakfast to two fully literally) by this stage of the journey from Liverpool, and very
occupied First Class carriages is quite manic in the kitchen limited luggage space on the EM Class 158s, it is invariably
area. a free-for-all boarding here. Add to that the confusion caused
by rarely being able to identify which end of the train coach
The 'Chieftain' wended its steady way up and down the 'A' is positioned. Grantham is a much more civilised place to
Slochd and Drumochter passes back to Perth without too transfer but there isn't often the opportunity to change there
much effort, with stops at Aviemore, Kingussie and Pitlochry, without risking the chance of missing the connection. 158777
arriving at Perth a couple of minutes down at 0956. From was our steed on this occasion and happily there was plenty
here the service takes the slightly quicker inland route back of room. The Peterborough-Norwich service is usually very
to Edinburgh, via Gleneagles, Stirling and Falkirk, due at reliable, often arriving several minutes early, and on this day
Waverley at 1117 – again, we were just under two minutes achieving an on-time arrival.
down upon arrival. Thirteen minutes are allowed here for a
crew change and catering top up. Invariably in our Fares
experience this train fills up at Edinburgh and this occasion In conclusion, a word about the fares paid for our travels.
Historically we have booked most of our Scottish journeys on
\\Server\nrs\Archive Newsletters\58-1 Jan-Feb 2...\43.JPG the excellent East Coast (and its predecessors) website,
using our Senior Railcards in conjunction with the advance
Waiting in vain for a train at Aberlour > John Hutchinson ticket facility, booking single tickets as far in advance as
possible. This time we also took advantage of a ScotRail
was no exception. On the move again on time at 1130 we annual winter special offer. This is open to anybody aged 55
looked forward to our lunch from the All-Day Menu, having and over at a cost of just £19 (£17 with a Senior card),
again earlier declined the offer of a full breakfast. Our choice permitting Standard Open Return tickets to and from
this time was salmon and pickled cucumber sandwiches, anywhere in Scotland – First Class is £2 extra. (Carlisle to
followed by Calke Abbey apple and cinnamon cake (we Wick and return for £19 – you just can't beat that.)
know how to live!), washed down again with some excellent
Swedish cider. Following on-time stops at Newcastle and So, starting with a base of Open Return tickets from Norwich
Darlington, we arrived at York four minutes late at 1357, to Forres, we had a per person figure of around £108
having been held outside the station for a while. Our HST Standard or £293 First Class. However, after, admittedly,
then runs non-stop to King's Cross, necessitating a change spending some considerable time on the computer
for us on to a service stopping at Peterborough. considering various options, we came up with the following
permutations.
York to Peterborough and Norwich
Eight minutes are allowed at York for the transfer to the 1401 Outward
departure, a service which commences its journey here. With East Coast First Class Single, Norwich to Edinburgh
our late arrival, we had just four minutes to spare but the
transfer couldn't have been easier. Our 'Highland Chieftain' (including the East Midland leg to Peterborough)
glided into Platform 5 and from coach 'M' within 15 seconds ScotRail 'Club 55' Standard, Edinburgh to Forres
we had walked straight across to Platform 6 and boarded Return
coach 'M' on our waiting Mallard set. This York to London ScotRail 'Club 55' Standard, Forres to Inverness
service departs from platform 6 every two hours from 1001 to East Coast First Class Single, Inverness to Norwich

(including the East Midland leg to Norwich)
TOTAL COST - £95.25 per person

Bear in mind that much of the travel was in First Class;
Standard travel would have cost £70.80 each. Amazingly, in
the process of planning this particular journey we discovered
that a Standard Senior Advance single ticket on the
'Highland Chieftain' HST from Inverness to Perth (a two-hour
journey) can be purchased for as little as £5.80. To put that
into perspective, Norwich to Sheringham on a Class 156 will
cost you £4.45!

We will be planning afresh for the summer ahead, with a
holiday booked to the Hebrides in June, commencing in
Glasgow and ending in Inverness. This is a rail holiday
organised by Railtrail – although I have heard it rumoured
that there aren't any railways on the Hebridean islands!

15

_________WORKING TIMETABLE
a selective look ahead at local railway events

NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY, GER Society (Norwich Branch) and Norfolk Transport Group meetings take place (unless
otherwise stated) at: United Reformed Church Hall, Ipswich Road, Norwich, NR4 6QR
Events are listed in good faith, but visitors should check with the organisation concerned before travelling.

FEBRUARY

14th Thur NORFOLK TRANSPORT GROUP - Out and About Again with John Hutchinson

19.30

16th Sat - Sun BURE VALLEY RAILWAY “Teddy Bear Express”. Details: www.bvrw.co.uk
-24th
21st Thur NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY - “Caught on Canvas” - Wrenford Thatcher
19.30
22nd Fri 'South Lynn to Cromer by the M and GN Railway', a talk by Adrian Vaughan
19:30 at Kettlestone Village Hall, The Street, Kettlestone, Fakenham NR21 0AU. Admission £5 to include
23rd refreshments. Booking advised: please ring Bridget Fielden 01328 878200.
Sat DEREHAM MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION at Neatherd School, East Dereham from 10:00 - 16:00

23rd Sat RAILWAY TOURING COMPANY - The Anniversary Fenman hauled by Britannia Pacific 70013 Oliver
Cromwell. Liverpool St. to Norwich and return via Ely and King’s Lynn. Details: www.railwaytouring.net
28th Thur
19.30 GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY (Norwich Branch) - “Norfolk and Suffolk Rail Scene 2012” -
Richard Adderson
MARCH

2nd - Sat - Sun BURE VALLEY RAILWAY - Volunteers Open Weekend
3rd See how the railway operates and a chance to drive an engine.
7th
Thur NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY “A South-Eastern Miscellany” - Chris King & “The Lone Star State
8th - 19.30 Railways” - Chris Mitchell
10th
14th Fri - Sun NORTH NORFOLK RAILWAY SPRING STEAM GALA
The BR Standards will be out in force. For Details see www.nnrailway.co.uk
16th -
17th Thur NORFOLK TRANSPORT GROUP - "Indian Transport" - Chris King and "Australian Miscellany" - David
21st 19.30 Tranter

28th Sat - Sun NORTH NORFOLK RAILWAY SPRING STEAM GALA Part 2
The BR Standards will be out in force. For Details see www.nnrailway.co.uk
29th -
1st Apr Thur NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY - “60s Steam on Shed” – David Percival
31st - 19.30
1st Apr
APRIL Thur GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY (Norwich Branch) - "Fares please" - Graham Kenworthy and
19.30 Mark Rhodes

Fri - Mon MID NORFOLK RAILWAY EASTER BUNNY SPECIALS

Sun - MID SUFFOLK RAILWAY - Easter for Children (Diesel loco)
Mon

1st Mon BARTON HOUSE RAILWAY Easter Running Day 1430 - 1730
4th
Thur NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY - “Irish Steam and Railway Change in East Anglia” – William Wood
5th - 19.30
7th Fri - Sun MID NORFOLK RAILWAY - Spring Diesel Gala
11th For further details see the MNR website: www.mnr.org.uk/calendar/events/gala/
Thur NORFOLK TRANSPORT GROUP - "Oil and Grease: Get it on the Ramp” - Peter Willis and Mike Fordham
13th 19.30
Sat NENTA Train Tours – From Norwich (dep 0530 approx) and principal stations to Stratford for Bath, Bristol,
18th Cheddar Caves & Gorge and Cardiff. Norwich return 2355 approx. Fares from £63.75. Premier
21st Thur Class/Dining available. Details:www.nentatraintours.co.uk or telephone 01692 406152
19.30 NORFOLK RAILWAY SOCIETY - Annual General Meeting
25th Sun
BARTON HOUSE RAILWAY Running Day 1430 - 1730
Thur This month we commemorate 50 years of Barton House Railway.
19.30 GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY SOCIETY (Norwich Branch) - An Evening With Andy Wright

Printed by Express Impressions. Tel. 01603 301127

16