1378

Number 1378 (Items 1490 - 1661 & MR 93 - 99) (E-BLN 75 PAGES) 12 Jun 2021

BRANCH LINE NEWS

Distribuendi notitia, verbi disseminandi

Published 24 times a year by the Branch Line Society; founded 1955.

branchline.uk https://www.facebook.com/BranchLineSociety/

Membership queries: Lisa Sheppard [email protected]
186 Anlaby Park Road South, Hull, HU4 7BU. 07873354464

British Isles news from members; an international section is available.
Opinions are not necessarilyathvaoislaebolef .the Compilers or the Society.

..BLN 1379 is dated Sat 26 Jun; all contributions by Wed 16 Jun please.

1490] PSUL 2021: With thanks to the compiler, Richard Maund, the May edition is now available to
anyone (not just logged in members) on our website branchline.uk where it will be updated from
time to time. On the Homepage go acrcoiestsyt.hSeoctieotpy.banner to 'More options…' towards the end and
down to 'PSUL' then 'Current Year'. If you have any information, comments or updates, please email
the compiler at [email protected] with a relevant heading/title to your email.

E-BLN has a one off PDF document of the original contents (it will not be updated) as a download
which can be saved or printed. All paper subscribers who requested a printed copy of the contents
should now have received this except for one who sent an SAE without an address! Please contact
the BLN Editor (back page), describe the stamp you used to confirm it's you, and it will be sent!

1491] The Railways of Manchester: (see BLN 1376.1200 of 8 May 2021) This new, well illustrated, A4
hardback book by Andy Chard (272 pages) is now in stock at £31 with UK P&P (cover price alone £40).
Those who expressed an interest will receive an invoice, possibly delayed due to our Three Peaks Tour.
Anyone else who wishes to order this interesting book please contact the Sales Officer (per back page).

1492] E-BLN 1377: Those who save e-BLN on their devices, cloud storage etc might like to know that a
version with fewer typos and extra full stops etc was uploaded on our website at 9pm on Sun 23 May.
Those who downloaded it before then might want to update their copies. Extra items with e-BLN 1377
available on our website 'Archive': ❶A financial overview of the rail system in England; an interesting
report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (26 Apr 2021). ❷HRE Group letter to the Transport
Committee (4 May 2021) about Highways England and what they are doing to the Historical Railways
Estate. ❸Elan Valley Railway Walk handout with photos thanks to Railway Ramblers and our Chris
Parker. ❹BLNI Extra No74: Travelling by Rail in India in 1994, thanks to Neil Berry and Pete Skelton.

.Date Event and details….... Please book online BLN Lead Status
Sun 13 Jun
Telford Stream Railway trips with 08757 & 37263 N/A MG SEE WEBSITE

Fri 2-Mon 5 Jul The Summer Syphons - **SEE WEBSITE UPDATE** 1374 MG Waiting list

Mon 12 Jul 12.30 K&ESR Traction Tour with 08888 1374 MG CANCELLED

Mon 12 Jul 17.00 The East Kent Rods & Miniature Railway 1375 MG CANCELLED

Sun 18 Jul Ashton Packet Boat Yard NG Railway, Guide Bridge 1356 MG Waiting list

19-21 Jul The Great Scott (service train tracker) 1376 TG OPEN

Sat 31 Jul The Thanet Thunderer Class 50s to Margate 1374 MG OPEN

13-17 Aug BLS Silesian Explorer (Poland) 1369 IS OPEN

To be advised The Castleton and Woodside Light Railways 1367 MG Waiting list
Mon 30 Aug 09.30 Scunthorpe Steel Works railtour No22 then… 1364 MG Waiting list

Mon 30 Aug Normanby Hall Miniature evening running TBA MG Claimed

MG = Mark Gomm (back page); IS = Iain Scotchman (back page); PG = Paul Griffin; TG = Tom Gilby (back page).

BELOW: part of the timetable for a recent rail service re

eplacing buses in Germany - see item 1501 (Geoff Blyth).

1493] Apologies: To all who sent material in that has not been included yet, it has all been saved.

1494] :WANTED PLEASE!: Prizes for our raffles (100% of the money goes to the charity)

biscuits, booze or anything suitable connected with railways etc - can be collected on most Society
events and some other tours. Please contact your General Secretary or BLN Editor per back page.

1495] E-BLN 1378 Extras: Thanks to David Palmer, logged in members can see and download the route
descriptions and historical notes from our website for each of our 10, 11 &12 Jun railtours (participants
will have a printed copy). Other extras include PSUL 2021 a website text PDF which can be printed but
will not be updated (the website itself will be, of course) and Jonathan Perks' May 2021 Sonderzug.
In addition, the estate agent's details for Dunsland Cross station with some trackbed (Bude branch)
has many photos plus floor plans. Last, but not least, there is Peter Scott's first 2021 MR Supplement.

1378 HEAD LINES (Paul Stewart) [email protected]
1496] Ballybrophy P3 - Nenagh - Killonan Jn (Limerick) 5 stations: (BLN 1376.1212) Service suspended
11 Jan 2021 (Covid), then under a continuous daytime possession ('office hours') since 18 Jan 2021 at
08.30 (extended week by week) for relaying of jointed track on the northern section. A replacement
bus service is provided. Miles of new continuously welded rail have been installed but there will be no
increase in the 40mph line speed due to the many farmers' crossings. The North Tipperary Community
Rail Partnership (a politician is a key person) is seeking a middle of the day train on reopening.

1497] LUL, Waterloo & City Line, Waterloo P25 & 26 - Bank P7 & 8: (BLN 1378.1381) (normally SuX)
ROP Fri 04 Jun 2021; first passenger train 15.24 ex-Waterloo & 15.30 ex-Bank after running ECS from
1 Jun (with 15 months of closure the first trains resulted in clouds of dust and dirt that had to be
cleaned). https://bit.ly/3uXXP2r & https://bit.ly/3z1MSA6 are videos of the first passenger trains and
passengers. The Working Timetable had showed trains from 14 Jun. Previously suspended Fri 20 Mar
2020 (Covid). Initially there are 12 trains per hour SSuX from 06.07 until 10.13 and 15.23 until 19.11.

1378 BLN GENERAL (Paul Stewart) [email protected]
1498] Thanks! To the anonymous member who sent in a quiz for BLN and a couple of articles. As and
when, please, can you email or post the answers? (Rule 1 of BLN quizzes is to have the answers first!)

1499] 1957 London Midland Region Service Answers: (BLN 1377.1349) Thanks to member Philip Crow.

The 49 stations which had direct services from London Euston in Summer 1957 but are now closed:

●Willesden Junction Main Line  ●Hest Bank   

●Castlethorpe   ●Bolton-le-Sands  

●Roade    ●Eskmeals

●Althorp Park   ●Milnthorpe  

●Kilsby & Crick  ●Tebay  

●Armitage   ●Keswick  
●Beeston Castle & Tarporley ●Bassenthwaite Lake 

●Holywell Junction  ●Cockermouth 

●Menai Bridge  ●Brigham 

●Port Dinorwic   ●Castle Douglas  
●Caernarvon (sic)    ●Newton Stewart  

●Groesion   ●Stranraer Town    

●Penygroes   ●Glasgow St Enoch  

●Brynkir   ●Beattock    

●Chwilog   ●Symington   

●Afon Wen  ●Callander  

●Gaerwen †  ●Strathyre  
●Birkenhead Woodside    ●Balquhidder  

●Blackpool Central    ●Killin Junction  

●Morecambe Euston Road    ●Luib  

●Crianlarich Lower   ●Moy  
●Ach-na-Cloich  ●Daviot  
●Dalnaspidal  ●Culloden Moor  
●Kincraig   ●Macclesfield Hibel Road  
●Tomatin  
Key to symbols below…

 10 were on the direct Euston to Glasgow Central line.  29 stations were not in England.  5 were
termini in 1957 (Stranraer Town once on a through line to Portpatrick; CP 6 Feb 1950).  Willesden

Junction Main Line was a distinct part of a larger station (now just Willesden Junction still open) but

carried a non-identical name; parts had been called Willesden Junction High Level and Low Level/New.

 22 stations are on sites that are not now part of NR. 13 stations were situated on electrified
sections of the current network. 20 have their names (or part of their names) in the latest (15th)
Baker Atlas. Other clues: Castlethorpe - castle for cricketer (Graham Thorpe). Armitage - payment of

pennies (penny in the slot public toilets). Beeston Castle & Tarporley - castle for heavy insects (a ton
of bees). Holywell Junction - junction for pilgrims. Hest Bank - location for bankers? Tebay - banking

station. Castle Douglas - castle for Manxmen. Beattock - banking station. Moy - three letters in name.

1500] Rail Riders at Forty: By Simon Buxton. Those of a certain age may remember Rail Riders; it's
hard to believe it started way back in Feb 1981. Rail Riders was a British Rail Children's Club that
promoted train travel and featured the APT (Advanced Passenger Train) as its logo. Many of you may
remember the Club and even have collected its stickers from the 'sticker stations' for the large wall
poster time chart, as well as using the travel vouchers while trainspotting in the hope of seeing the
club's locomotive 47406 'Rail Riders' (47488 from 1988 onwards). I was a member of the original club
and always had fond memories of receiving the magazine and visiting Rail Riders World at York
station, (the building is now the York Tap pub) and seeing the club loco on my Saturday spotting trips.

In the 1980s Rail Riders averaged about 80,000 members all over the UK; this peaked at 125,000 when
the Wagon Wheel promotion took place. Wetherby based business Michael Benn & Associates
produced all the printed and promotional material and ran the club for British Rail. The club had its

own membership secretary who attended the fun
days and other events that Rail Riders attended.

Who remembers Caroline and Angela who ran the
club? It continued up to 1991 when the decision was
taken to close down after 10 years and 36 issues of
the club's magazine 'Rail Riders Express'.

Fast forward to 2018 when I introduced the Rail
Riders logo to my range of clothing and giftware that I
took to the Spa Valley Railway summer diesel gala.
The feedback was excellent, with smiles appearing on
people's faces, reminiscing about their time in the
club and exclaiming what a shame it was not still
around. The consensus was that something like Rail
Riders was needed again. This continued for several
more months while I attended other events.

It got me thinking 'what if someone could bring the club back' and was that possible? After lots of
discussions and research, it was established that yes, it was possible, and so why not do it myself, with
help from close friends. From the outset our aim was to make the revived Rail Riders as near as
possible to the original, the exception being that membership is now for all adults and families. The
first step was to gain trademark protection on all the logos the club used. (No point trying to bring the
club back if we could not use the logo.) This was granted in Aug 2019 and is now under our ownership.

Now the fun part started in building the club up with enough outlets and heritage railways to appeal to
potential members for a launch date of 29 Feb 2020. By the time we opened registration in Nov 2019,
we had gained 35 heritage railways and around 20 railway themed businesses willing to offer members
a discount. By launch day we had put together a members' pack, website, magazine, and a large social
media following. Rail Riders now has 49 heritage railways plus 37 railway themed businesses and is
adding to these all the time. We even managed to find Angela (the former membership secretary) who
regularly writes for the club's magazine and has great stories of the inner workings of the former club.

One of the aims I had in mind while planning the revival was to hopefully have a loco named after the
club again. This became a reality, on 20 Mar 2020, when DB Cargo 66175 was named Rail Riders
Express (after our magazine). The only major part missing that the former club offered was discounted
travel vouchers. However, this last part of the jigsaw was put in place in Jul 2020 when we partnered
with Bishop Trains, to offer our members discounted travel on National Rail network with exclusive
travel vouchers. This agreement between ourselves and Bishop Trains is unique in offering discounts
on most UK rail tickets including Rail Rovers and Sleeper reservations and is not available elsewhere.

Rail Riders aims to be 'A Railway Club for Everyone'. We promote train travel, the hobby of railways in
its many forms from books and models up to the full sized national network. We also aim to increase
support for, footfall and revenue of, heritage railways. We are humbled to have had industry support
from various TOC/FOCs. Rail Riders members receive a pack including the Official Club Handbook
listing all the discounts with useful information, a membership card, pen, badge and a minimum of £15
discounted National Rail travel vouchers. Members also receive a quarterly magazine. Alongside all the
current discounts offered, there is access to the members' Facebook group and the members' area of
our website; all from £35 for 12 months. Details can be found on our website: www.railriders.club

We are planning members only or discounted Rail Riders events. We intend to be at heritage railway
galas and model railway exhibitions. The club may even dip its toes into running a railtour or two.

As an introduction to Rail Riders and 'thank you' for including us in BLN, Society members
can enjoy a £5 discount on 12 months membership. Enter BLS21 at the website checkout.

1501] Bus replacement trains: We are all too well aware of buses replacing trains in this country but
when was the last time a bus service was replaced by a train? This was prompted by it occurring in late
May in northwest Germany. The road between Bruchhausen-Vilsen and Wachendorf was closed for
resurfacing some days between 25 May and 1 Jun. To serve bus passengers in Uenzen, Süstedt and
Wachendorf (particularly schoolchildren), a replacement train service was run using a preserved railcar
known as the 'Kaffkieker'. The line is owned by the Verkehrsbetriebe Grafschaft Hoya GmbH (Hoya
County Transport Co) - a 'private' railway company, like many in Germany owned by local council(s).

A major such operation lasting six weeks took place in Poland in May-Jun 2013 due to an emergency
closure of the bridge carrying a major road over the River Warta east of Poznan. A service was run
over the 66km Gniezno - Wrzesnia - Jarocin line, which had lost its passenger service the previous Dec.

So when has this occurred in this country? BLN Vol 3 No31 (Apr 1958) reported that Malton to Driffield
and the Wensleydale branch temporarily reopened for passengers during very snowy weather. On the
latter the train became stuck near Finghall Lane. Unfortunately no dates are mentioned and there was
no follow up. Michael Quick (Apr 2019) suggests it was probably in Feb 1958, when the snow was at its
worst. The branch had also reopened 12-16 Feb 1953 for the same reason, but it is not certain that all
stations were used. BLN 1363.3005 reported that a special passenger train ran to Hawes on 2 Jan 1962
due to roads being blocked by snow after a blizzard, and the bus service had been suspended west of
Leyburn. After complete closure of Pickering - Grosmont on 8 Mar 1965, a special train was run from
Grosmont to Goathland in Dec 1965 for schoolchildren returning from Whitby in snowy conditions, as
their bus could not manage the journey. Your NE Editor thinks it was a condition of closure approval
but does not know how long the condition applied - perhaps until the line was no longer fit for use?

In Devon, Bideford Bridge became unsafe and closed to all traffic, including pedestrians, from the night
of 9-10 Jan 1968. British Rail provided a Bideford to Torrington (CP 5 Oct 1965) service - except on
12 & 14th - until 20 Jan (incl) on the Barnstaple Junction to Meeth freight line. At Bideford to cross the
River Torridge, people had to catch a bus to Torrington and then travel back to the other side by train -
this was free to use, funded by Devon County Council. On 19 Jan a temporary river footbridge opened.

More recently, a 'free' hourly rail shuttle ran between Workington and a temporary scaffold and board
platform at Workington North (OP 30 Nov 2009 at 7m 65ch) after both River Derwent road bridges
collapsed in the town with flooding on 27th. Note how quickly things can be done without endless GRIP
and Pipelines stages! A new road bridge opened on 28 May 2010, Workington North continued to be
served by normal services (not free to use) without the 'shuttle' until, and including, Fri 8 Oct 2010.

From 4-9 Jul 2016 the Leadhills to Wanlockhead B797 was closed for resurfacing. The Leadhills &
Wanlockhead Railway provided a special road replacement rail service with Glasgow and Lanark road
connections http://goo.gl/mtyJFU (timetable) by 'Interlink'. The fare was £1 single or £2 return.

1502] Not so Early Railway Memories (54) Part 2; by Aubrey Davey: (BLN 1377.1353) (Member 2773)
In 1963 we spent a week in a rather tired holiday camp at Seaton, Devon. One fine summer evening,
'escaping' from the confines of the camp, we walked along the sea front towards the River Axe and the
railway station. We were delighted to find that, within a few minutes, there was a departure to Seaton
Junction and once Dad was satisfied that we could also return alright, we boarded. The train was
(I think) at least one auto-coach in push pull mode with a filthy pannier tank. My mother's normally
utterly reliable diary entry failed to record the loco number, but it would apparently have been one of
these: 6412, 6435, 6430 or 6400, according to photos available online. The fact that I had not only
covered the 4¼ mile branch, but with steam as well, was a source of irritation to my friend the late
John Farrow. He was a Seaton Tramway driver for many years, but had never traversed the line in BR
(British Rail) ownership. It was DMU operated by Nov 1963 and closed to all traffic from 7 Mar 1966.

As a young man, shift work always meant that public transport would never be appropriate for me if I
was to stand any chance of being punctual and, more importantly, getting home to sleep! Motorcycles
were my preferred mode of transport and trains simply did not feature in my early career. With only
one weekend off every four weeks - even that was never guaranteed - the pressures of having a young
family were quite exhausting and there was no time for days out on trains until the mid-1980s.

Following a change to my shifts, I now had two weekends off every four weeks and stood a much
better chance of them not being cancelled, so felt more confident in making bookings. The railway
periodicals of the day were inevitably always a bit late with changes to the advertised tours, but I did
find that the late Bernard Staite's SLOA (Steam Locomotive Operators' Association, founded in 1975)
empire was quite reliable. Remember this was pre-internet and email, so poor Dorothy Staite must
have worked like a Trojan to keep on top of all the correspondence involved in running such a large
number of tours. Typical bookings for me would be a Cumbrian Mountain Express - north or south -
with Duchess of Hamilton, Sir Nigel Gresley, Lord Nelson and even Evening Star. Imagine that - a 9F on
BR metals! The tours, if not dining, were affordable and enjoyable. In early Jan 1985, A4 4498 Sir Nigel
Gresley worked south to Marylebone to herald the return of steam excursions from there. I believe it
was achievable as Marylebone (then a quiet station!) turntable was still usable. That was the start of
many a Thames-Avon Express to Stratford-upon-Avon, featuring Clan Line, Sir Lamiel and a good many
others. I couldn't travel on these mostly dining trains, but it was an easy matter to go and see them.

Easter 1985 saw the Great Western 150 celebration specials start and I had a booking on the Sunday
working from Paddington with SLOA on The Great Western Ltd. The cold day started well with a GWR
style repainted '47484' taking us to Bristol Temple Meads, where 6000 King George V (KGV) & 7819
Hinton Manor were waiting to take us south to Plymouth. Setting off in the rain, we reached Taunton
when KGV's tender ran a hot axle box and The King had to be taken off. Someone waved a magic wand
and two Class 37s appeared out of nowhere (37007 + 37178) to assist the Manor over Whiteball.

Sadly, at St Davids, '7819' also had to be removed as she too had run a hot tender axle box. There was
talk of cutting this train off there and then, but the decision was taken to carry on with the syphons to
Plymouth. Alright by me, I was at the front of the train! The kettle bashers were not so happy though.
At Plymouth, 50007 ('Sir Edward Elgar' from 1984 until 2014), returned us via Bristol to Paddington.
Bernard earned his money that day and I began to take interest in how these tours were organised…

In Apr 1986 the Hastings DMUs were finished and the line electrified. A 27 Apr special celebrated the
first EMUs. It certainly made a pleasant change to only have to travel from Orpington to pick up the
train. I seem to recollect that Jaffa Cake livery was much in evidence that day. But not for much longer!

A couple of months later, my wife drew my attention to a local newspaper advert for something called
Network SouthEast - two words - (NSE) day. Go anywhere on the Network for £3. Yes, £3! It HAD to be
done. I had planned a diesel day - no EMUs after Waterloo. Class 33s, 50s and a DMU to Barnstaple
were all taken in. There would be many more NSE days and planning the day out was as much fun for
me as doing it. I covered much needed track, especially branch lines in foreign regions like Colchester
St Botolphs (renamed Colchester Town after 15 Jul 1991). Happy, very cheap, days indeed.

My railtour activities were now starting to focus on the route and track rather than the traction, but I
could not resist a SLOA Welsh Marches Express on 24 May 1986 with 7029 Clun Castle for some of the
journey, but highlight was 6000 KGV doubled heading with 3440 City of Truro (leading) south to
Hereford. All the locos ran faultlessly returning to London via Newport, collecting the diesel there.

With my green Baker's Bible starting to look colourful with the obligatory yellow highlighter ink, I gave
Hertfordshire Rail Tours (HRT) a go for some of the more esoteric parts that others cannot reach. So it
was on Sat 15 Aug 1987 I travelled with them for the first time, and a cracking day out it was too.
The Valley Basher 3 included Oakdale Colliery, Ebbw Vale and Tytherington, 2 x 33s for the most part,
with 37284 assisting in Wales. Clearly well planned and I had no hesitation in making further bookings.

Another useful railtour clan was the Southern Electric Group, and on 4 Oct 1987 I booked with them
on the Rep-ar-tie-Sea. With the 4-REP units rapidly being withdrawn, this tour would take unit 2005 to
some fascinating places from Charing Cross, including Addiscombe, New Beckenham, Beckenham
Junction, Crystal Palace, Newhaven Marine, Brighton and Redhill. Here, 33008 hauled the train to
Tonbridge, then back on the juice to Dover Western Docks. A problem with a lack of lights on the REP
meant that it was necessary to attach 4-CEP unit 1567 for the journey back to London, but first the
CEP's traction motors had to be isolated, so very unusually, a REP hauled a CEP to Charing Cross.

The Settle & Carlisle Line was headline news in 1988, and closure seemed inevitable, so I thought I
would treat myself to the dining option on HRT's 'The Hills of the North' - King's Cross to Carlisle and
back, to go 'out in style' as I told my disapproving wife! A very clean 47637 'Springburn' was the diesel
provided. Thanks to Michael Portillo [and actually Margaret Thatcher] the line never did close, but I
remember seeing the sales brochure from the BR Property Board, which included half a dozen Duffs
(Class 47s) to run the trains. Even Pete Waterman would have baulked at that! I sensed an element of
competition between David Ward's InterCity land cruises and John Farrow's HRTs push towards posh
dining trains now, both using very smart InterCity liveried Mk1 charter stock, mostly with white roofs.

Not all railtours are all day affairs, and some of the shorter ones are just as much fun as the longer
ones. When Holborn Viaduct closed in 1990, there was a NSE/HRT farewell special on 26 Jan (the last
day) which departed from the station in the evening, but then went round the houses in two 4-CEP
units, 1605 + 1513. We reversed VERY briefly at Victoria and lots of waiting passengers on the South
Eastern platform were looking into the full coaches, to board. To their astonishment, nobody on the
train moved, no doors opened and we were off again! The looks on those folk were priceless. It went
to Beckenham Junction then New Beckenham, Ladywell, London Bridge and Cannon Street where
again the same thing happened. People were just about to attempt a door opening when we took off
again! This time over the little used curve directly back to Charing Cross, where the tour finished.

1990 also saw the return of 71000 Duke of Gloucester to the mainline and on 21 Apr I was fortunate to
secure a seat on its first train in 28 years, from London Marylebone to Nottingham. The loco had no
problem with its long train and, although towards the centre of the stock, I could hear that the Duke
was making some great sounds. At Nottingham, there was just enough time to walk to 'Ye Olde Trip to
Jerusalem' for refreshment. Truly an amazing pub, one of the oldest in England, if not THE oldest.

The year concluded with another HRT tour on 29 Dec, 'The Copy Pit Pullman' with the last Class 25
going and Mk2 Pullmans, also not long for this world. It started at Euston with 86417, via Crewe
Independent lines and Bamfurlong Goods line to Preston. 'Tamworth Castle' took over for the run via
Copy Pit to Leeds. Then 91013 took us via York to King's Cross, the only time I rode in Mk2 Pullmans.

HRT could often be relied upon for innovative and aptly named tours; the list is a long one. John's
encyclopaedic knowledge of the railway and Ian Kapur's sense of humour made for an excellent team
based at Welwyn and later, Knebworth. Sometimes it was necessary to really push the charter sections
of BR to get things done and this I'm sure was where John's knowledge of what could be done, and
what was not possible, came into its own. He was not one to give up easily. Perhaps most importantly,
he could be relied upon to get you home when things went wrong. Which they often did…

Many will remember the 18 Jul 1993 'Atlantic Coast Express' when 50033 Glorious derailed descending
into Exeter St Davids from Exeter Central, along with the leading coach. Fear not, 50050 Fearless was
still attached to the rear of the train, and eventually a plan was hatched to separate the derailed part
of the train and head back to Waterloo with 50050. With delays on the long single sections of The
Mule ex-L&SWR mainline, our return to London was very late and a great number of people, including
me, had to have a taxi home as the last trains had long departed. I obtained a receipt as instructed and
submitted my claim to HRT. Reimbursement was received by return of post; I was much impressed.

Another memorable horror story was the Trawsfynydd Lament of 17 Oct 1998 which went belly up at
Crewe with a coach defect, causing extensive delay and resulting in us losing our path over the line to
Blaenau Ffestiniog. Despite John's best efforts to get going, the TOC concerned refused to give up any
path (to maintain their service), so we waited a ridiculous amount of time for that train to clear before
we could carry on. Since it was THE last train to Trawsfynydd, it had to be done. Fortunately I had
taken my car to Euston for the start of the tour so I could get home, but I ended up taking three others
who also lived in Orpington, with me. Home at about 03.30, I was indeed cream-crackered.

1996 turned out to be a momentous year for me and there were several railtours of note. On 16 Mar
'Skirl of the Pipes 2' with 33109 + 33116 ran from King's Cross (at 00.05) to Aberdeen - a first for the
class. I met a chap called Michael Timms who was very keen on Deltics. Two in particular - D9000 Royal
Scots Grey and D9016 Gordon Highlander, since his company owned them. We would become firm
friends and I foolishly asked what I could do to help the cause. More anon on that.

Another HRT first (1 Jun 1996) was the Three Capitals Eurostar excursion to Paris and Brussels. My first
time on a Eurostar, although I had previously been through the tunnel on the car 'Overture' service put
on as a free service to fault find the new system, prior to public services commencing as 'Le Shuttle'.
The HRT special was hugely popular and sold out within days, as were the many repeats that followed.

A very interesting day for me came at the end of that month. Rail Express Systems, largely responsible
for charter train activity then, gave a free day out for a conference at the Manchester Museum of
Science and Industry. On board 'The Charterer's Charter' from Euston was just about anyone who had
run a tour in recent years. I was with another Michael, Michael Owen who ran RT Rail Tours (based at
Stanhope, Weardale Railway) and was acquiring locos for hire to TOCs. I recognised most of the faces
who spoke at the conference; I learned a lot that day and was pleased to be able to attend.

24 Aug 1996 saw my first SRPS/BLS booking, the Bo'ness Traveller, with the maroon SRPS Mk1 set from
Bo'ness via Bo'ness Jn mainline connection, Ayr Harbour, Waterside (Minnivey) and Grangemouth.
Motive power was 37212, 37043, 26001, 25235, 20020 and 08443. A good day out for sure.

Unknown to me, Michael Timms had secured an agreement with John Farrow to return D9000 to the
mainline with HRT providing the necessary charter work. They had come up with a 'Friends of D9000'
plan for which I would be responsible. This coincided with an invitation to steward on the 'crankex'
tours as they called them. Wow! I immediately thought of the money I would save by not having to
pay for my railtours in future - well, HRT ones anyway. Having passed my Personal Track Safety
examination, I was able to accompany Royal Scots Grey from storage at Old Oak Common depot all
the way to St Rollox/Springburn Works where the old girl would be restored to mainline 100mph
working. The route took in a circuitous path in the late afternoon to Euston station towed by a '47'.

We did not dwell long there before moving to the recently demolished Down Carriage Sidings just
outside the station. Chris Wayman, our engineer, was with me and we spent some time in the tiny
bothy with the shunter. I was alarmed by the extremely close proximity of trains being shunted around
us; a moment of carelessness could easily have had serious consequences. In the early hours of the
morning, we set off north on the WCML to Crewe Diesel Depot, then very much alive and functioning.

Our speed was limited to 60mph and we were occasionally looped to make way for normal, faster
traffic. We had a break of several hours, so there was time to use the scaldingly hot showers at the
depot. Springburn could not accommodate us late in the evening, so we were put inside the secure
compound at Polmadie Down side, and slept on the loco. There was very good reason for the secure
compound - it was bandit territory! Next day we were towed through Polmadie Depot to Sighthill Jn.
and into the works and formally handed over our charge. I'll bet there's a few that need that track.

The months and my stewarding tours passed by and on 23 Nov 1996 we left King's Cross with an aptly
named 'The Grimsby Reaper' and set BN97, an all maroon Mk1 coach set which was going to be used
on the following week's tour with 'D9000'. Unfortunately this set had a brake defect delaying us early
into the journey near Potters Bar with leaking vacuum brakes. Much later, as we entered Grimsby
Docks, our rear end locomotive 47745 became derailed, effectively trapping us. John Farrow quickly
whistled up a fleet of buses which collected us from Brick Pit Siding, to take us to Doncaster station.
However, before anybody had left the train, the ever resourceful John remembered to draw the raffle.
At Doncaster a Mk4 set and 91003 was waiting to whisk us back to London, arriving not long after we
were supposed to! Full refunds for all on that day, so there were no complaints.

And so the Big One! John had very kindly allowed me to name the 30 Nov tour 'Deltic Deliverance', but
he did like his definite articles, so it became 'The Deltic Deliverance'. We set off from King's Cross with
86424, itself delayed by a points failure at Euston. By Peterborough we were 75 minutes down, and
this delay continued all the way to Waverley. Unfortunately, D9000's engines were left idling
unnecessarily long, and this resulted in some build up of oil in the collector drums. With a piper to see
us off, at last there was a Deltic back on the mainline after nearly 15 years absence. I put my head out
of the first coach window as we were about to enter Calton South Tunnel and promptly brought it
back in, covered in oil deposits! Everyone was beaming now and we settled down to a cracking run
with Napier music towards Berwick-upon-Tweed. As we approached it was clear that we were losing
speed big time and the vacuum brakes on the coaches were dragging again. We struggled into the Up
platform for an investigation of the brakes but, in no time at all, a fire developed in the loco exhaust
and we were in danger of setting fire to the station canopy. Much bellowing and slamming of open
train doors later, the loco moved forward clear of the scorched canopy and the engines shut down.
The Fire Brigade had already been called, but couldn't do anything with the loco on the mainline, so it
was shunted to the dock siding and sadly declared a failure. Somewhat crest fallen, I felt a bit stupid
handing out certificates of travel as we made our way south to Newcastle with 37702, where 86430
took over for the remainder of the journey back to The Cross. The champagne would have to wait…

Following a successful test run or two, the Deltic was cleared to run on 2 Jan 1997, 'The Deltic Reunion'.
This time all was well and despite the cold snowy weather around York the tour highlight was achieved
with D9000 on to the turntable inside the National Railway Museum (NRM), driven by the redoubtable
late Ray Towell. I was invited by Andrew Scott of the NRM to make a speech, which I did standing

precariously on the front of a huge Chinese steam locomotive. Fame at last! This time there were
many happy faces at King's Cross on our return; the start of the second age of Deltics on the mainline.

1503] Points & Slips: ●●BLN 1377.1351] With apologies to Mark Twain, the report of the closure of
Bardon Mill and Riding Mill was an exaggeration - both should be in the 'open unstaffed, limited/no
passenger use of buildings' section at the end. There is also a former Newcastle & Carlisle Railway
building at Haydon Bridge although it is in the former goods yard rather than the present station.

Hampton (-in-Arden) Midland Railway, separate from the present L&NWR station, has a surviving
building dating from its opening as a short lived mainline station on 12 Aug 1839; it CP 1 Jan 1917.
At Eastleigh, the entrance and P1 buildings were designed by Sir William Tite; the station opened in
1841 (Quick 5.02 explains why the commonly quoted 1839 is possibly incorrect) as 'Bishopstoke' and
was renamed Eastleigh & Bishopstoke in 1889 then Eastleigh for Bishopstoke in 1923 and finally just
Eastleigh in 1955. On the platform towards the country end are four canopy cast iron supports made
by Lankester (sic) & Sons of Southampton, with a 'cast in' date of 1841; several others are undated.

●●1461] Original closure of Londonderry Foyle Road station was with effect from 1 Jan 1955 not May.

●●MR 87] Apologies from your BLN Editor for misunderstanding (from the labelling) the Leighton
Buzzard Light Railway deviation plans; rest assured he isn't involved in the construction. The railway
will be in a shallow cutting; the deviation allows the new road to climb to cross over it gaining height
either side, in particular from the new junction with Vandyke Road. The railway will be installed by
Alan Keef and is funded by the housing estate developers. The generously proportioned overbridge
will be the first one on this line; made of precast concrete arch segments it will be landscaped.

1504] Answer Corner: (BLN 1377.1356) Regarding the van load of furniture going by rail from High
Wycombe to Perth in 1920 and whether it would use the returning Caledonian vehicle or a GWR
vehicle. The answer is definitely the former. Common user schemes started with the Great Northern,
Great Central and Great Eastern Railways forming a common user group on 15 Dec 1915. Then, while
RCH discussions were on going, in Mar 1916 the London & North Western, Midland, Great Western,
Lancashire & Yorkshire, and North Eastern Railways set up a similar scheme, before the full national
scheme came into effect at 4pm on 2 Jan 1917. These were all for non-specialist wagons and simplified
clerical work. ('The Railway Clearing House in the British Economy 1842-1922' by Philip Bagwell) and….

The benefits of the common user scheme were undeniable. Whereas in Oct 1913, before pooling was
introduced, nearly 61% of waggons [sic] in transit were running empty, the comparable figure for the
same month of 1919 was only 20%. It was estimated that the six largest railway companies alone
saved some £470,000 a year [worth £25M now] through this more economical use of rolling stock.
A million shunting hours per year were saved on British railways. Thanks to all who responded to this.

1505] The Downs Light Railway: ('The world's oldest private miniature railway'.) In 2017 this school
hobby railway of unusual 9½" gauge held a steam gala, producing a glossy 36 page brochure/guide.
Over 140 mint copies are available FREE to anyone interested. Very well illustrated, it includes a full
history of the railway, locos past and present, archive photos, futures plans (now progressing), with
a past/present track plan. Weight is 86gm. Copies can be delivered on our July tours but please
request from your BLN Editor well in advance, or posted on receipt of a SAE BLN A5 size - a 2nd Class
stamp is fine; 'Large' stamp not required. Please increase postage if you want more than one copy!

1378 EAST MIDLANDS (Graeme Jolley) [email protected]
1506] Barton-on-Humber: EMR has issued a press statement to explain that the line was previously
run by Northern and TPE (plus other basic facts that our members will know). EMR manage 12 of the
14 stations on the almost 23 mile line (all except Cleethorpes and Grimsby which are TPE managed).
Around 150,000 passengers a year are normally carried on services. Sunday services run from 16 May
until 12 Sep. TPE will continue to crew the Class 153 units until Dec 2021, when EMR intends to use
Class 156s on the route, with train crew supplied by Freight Operating Companies until May 2022.

BELOW: (Item 1507) A Burton-on-Trent to Immingham train with 1,800 tonn

nes of scrap powering up at Crowle. (Martin Crompton, Tue 8 Jun at 18.16.)

1507] Stanton New Park: (BLN 1378.1346) Arranged at short notice, the 13 May GBRf train carried
1,400 tonnes of scrap for Thos W Ward to Immingham NCB No1 Coal Terminal (there isn't a No2
Terminal!). It is not the Bulk Terminal but the branch near Humber Road Jn - TRACKmaps 2 p31B 2020.
It was OOU, but has reopened and has plenty of stocking ground for scrap. Possibly the first train (DBC)
was from Burton-on-Trent West Yard (Maurice Hill Transport, east of the line!) at 14.00 Tue 13 Apr.

At least 12 scrap trains have run, two GBRf operated. The scrap arrives cut up quite small, but a man
with a blow torch spends hours cutting it up further. It then goes by lorry to Immingham Mineral Quay
(originally the scheduled destination of the trains) for transport by ship, it is thought on to Turkey.

A DBC scrap train ran at 14.43 from Burton-on-Trent, Maurice Hill to 'Immingham Pad 1' (19.37) on
25 May. Then at 03.17 next morning the unloaded wagons went to Stanton Gate (07.40) for reloading
leaving there at 16.02 for Cardiff Tidal Sidings for Celsa (22.13), similar trains also ran on 1 and 2 Jun.

1508] Snibston: (BLN 1377.1363) In the final year of the Discovery Centre (closed from 1 Aug 2015), a
member took his four year old grandson, making sure that trains were running (having previously
attended when they were not). It was midweek. The nature of the operation was basically hauling or
propelling a brake equipped vehicle. On the day it seemed to be all grandparents and little kids, so
must have been during the school term. The young ones were allowed to stand on a box at the front of
the brake vehicle (which had a 'windscreen') and thus 'drive' the train with their hand on the brake
handle. Obviously every kid had to have a turn. They had returned to Snibston Central from Belvoir
Road Halt but his grandson still hadn't had a go. Chiswell Drive crossing gates were duly opened and
he then 'drove' the train to the end of the line but miraculously avoided a full speed buffer stop 'kiss'.
They were most definitely at the 'keen end of the train' but hadn't appreciated the rarity of the track!

1509] Wymington Deviation: (BLN 1377.1361) The Working Timetable is misleading, amending paper
BLN (e-BLN was right): Most (not all) Corby to London services are booked to use the Slow lines south
of Kettering then cross to the Fast lines south of Wellingborough. The majority (not all) are booked to
call at P4 at the latter. They then call at Bedford P1, 2 or 3! The 04.32 Corby SSuX to St Pancras is the
only one booked via the Wymington Tunnel/Deviation (ex-Sharnbrook Goods Lines) PSUL and calls at
Bedford P1; the 05.39 ex-Corby (and others) also call at Wellingborough P4 then Bedford P1 but are
booked between the two via the Up Fast. The only other train via Wymington is 03.56 MO Derby to
St Pancras. This is all as shown on Realtime Trains etc and generally observed on signalling diagrams.
As stated the only Down trains are SO 22.46 & 23.35 St Pancras to Corby and Kettering respectively.

1510] Grimsby Light Railway: A light engine made morning route refreshing runs on 1-4 Jun; route:
Immingham Sorting Sidings (08.02) - Humber Road Jn (rev) - Pyewipe Road - Great Coates [XL?] - Ulceby
(rev) - Great Coates - Great Coates No1 Jn (rev) - Great Coates - Barnetby - Great Coates - Pyewipe Road -
Humber Road Jn (rev) - Immingham Sorting Sidings (11.33). The afternoon trip did not run any day.

1511] Nottingham Express Transit: Concerns have been raised about the viability of the operator
Tramlink Nottingham; reports in the Nottingham Post revealed significant losses said to be £50M in
the recent financial year. Tramlink Nottingham and Nottingham City Council both said that the figures
are as expected, explaining that it is a bit like a repayment mortgage where the interest payments are
high in the early years. This story is repeated at this time of year; as usual opposition Councillors
expressed their concern about the company's viability. The Nottingham Post says that Tramlink
Nottingham (Finco) - which financially supports Tramlink Nottingham - posted losses of £27.3M in the
pandemic year, an increase of £10.8 million on 2019. This company is said to be dependent on the
other operating company paying back loans plus interest so it can repay the loans to its shareholders.

1512] EMR Timetable: (BLN 1377.1358) SSuO services between St Pancras and York (without any
summer Saturday Scarborough extension) were in the draft timetables but not implemented. The only
EMR working to Leeds is now the 16.32 SSuX St Pancras to Leeds, returning as the 20.36 to Derby.
(BLN 1377.1361) Oddly, the 10.45 from St Pancras (11.52 from Corby) to Melton Mowbray and 13.15
return do not run between Corby and Melton Mowbray on Wednesdays, but does anyone know why?

1513] Electrification: At Kettering the OHLE on the Fast Lines now ends just north of P3 & 4. Plans for
the nearly 11 mile extension to Market Harborough show it includes the facing Down Slow to Up Main
and trailing Up Main to Down Main crossovers at Kettering North Jn but not the Market Harborough
Jn trailing and facing crossovers, north of that station. A main purpose of the scheme is to connect
with the new Braybooke Auto-Transformer Feeder Station, southeast of Market Harborough where
there is a high tension power line supply. The alternative would have been an expensive 9½ mile cable
from there to Kettering. The electrification limit at Market Harborough is shown as 'to be confirmed'
and our Prime Minister recently said that the Government is looking at extending electrification of the
Midland Main Line (to be continued…?). Immunisation and re-sectioning of the OHLE south of Bedford
is part of Market Harborough electrification. To sample the recent electrification the off peak day
return from Corby to Bedford is good value at £15.70 or £10.35 with a railcard for 60½ miles in total.

1378 GREATER LONDON (Geoff Brockett) [email protected]
1514] Bethnal Green North Jn: (TRACKmaps 2 p2A 2020) On 5 Jun the Down Suburban to Down Fast
crossover was missing its middle section, fortunately all Down trains have been using the Down
Suburban line, crossing at Hackney Downs North Jn if heading to Clapton. Looking at RTT/OTT, this
seems to have been going on for a while; Hackney Downs P2 was partially taped off by the staircase.

1515] Angerstein Wharf: (BLN 1366.3451) Due to near misses, NR plans to close the foot crossing on
the branch and invest in an alternative. Of 342 crossings on the Kent Route, it is considered to be the
highest risk. Used by nearly 700 people a day, it is the only foot crossing in southeast London. Your
Regional Ed thinks the only road crossing in southeast London is Charlton Lane, controlled by an 1894
gatebox. This is the only traditional style signal box still in operational use in south London. The 1940
Richmond box is still in use, although we could debate if that is in south or west London! [Southwest?]

1516] Arnos Grove: At about 17.30 on Sat 15 May, an Eastbound train reversed in P1, rather than the
centre road, and returned to Northfields. Our member, who happened to be at the right place at the
right time, wonders if this happens very often. The only booked Westbound departure is at 08.08 SuO.

1517] Bakerloo Line Microgricing: (BLN 1348.802) Despite the significant recasting (BLN 1376.1226),
the impact of new WTT No47 https://bit.ly/2YWBTbf on microgricing is negligible. Affected are:
Queen's Park northbound arrivals at P2: SuMX 00.35 [213]; SuO 00.32½ [221]
….(each has a connection onward to Stonebridge Park but not to the south).
Willesden Junction bay P2 (all these are LO to or from North London Line):
….Arrivals SuO 00.59, 23.47 (00.29 is to P3.) Departures SSuX 05.51; SO 05.47; SuO 09.02.

1518] Barons Court: The crossover from the Westbound District to Piccadilly Lines is due to be taken
OOU from 12 Jun. This will then prevent District Line trains being diverted over the Fast (Piccadilly)
Line to Acton Town. The MX empty 'rusty rail' working now uses the District Line.

1519] Brent Cross West: (BLN 1376.1229) From 1 Jun, the Up Fast line between about 5m 60ch and
6m 30ch was slewed by about 20m, with crossovers between the Down Slow and Up Slow and Up Slow
and Up Goods commissioned. At the same time, item 1606) North Freight Sidings were taken OOU.

A keen member travelled on the first booked diversion in BLN 1375, 23.37 Brighton to Bedford; it ran
via the Wash Road rather than Goods Line No1 to North Reception Road 1 when the Goods Lines did
not seem to be occupied. The actual first train to do this move was 22.55 Brighton to Bedford, much
delayed by an incident at Gatwick Airport. RTT showed all trains seemed to be taking far longer to
pass through the depot area than scheduled, typically 15 to 20 minutes from Cricklewood to Hendon.

On Sun 6 Jun the 07.51 St Pancras to Bedford with your Regional Editor onboard ran Depot Exit Road
to Departure Road then North Reception Road 1. There has been some variation with line availability.

1520] Crossrail: (BLN 1377.1372) An additional entrance to Ilford station leading from Ilford Hill to the
London end of P1 opened on 23 May. Slow progress seems to be being made with construction of the
new main entrance building. Some Liverpool Street to Shenfield diagrams went over to 9-car Class 345
EMUs from 26 May. The new ticket hall and lifts at Ealing Broadway opened on 27 May.

BELOW: (Item 1515) 66149 at Charlton Lane gate box on the 11.07 Angerste

ein Wharf to Woking with sea-dredged sand. (Geoff Brocket 2 Sep 2020.)

BELOW: (Item 1519) Sun 6 Jun and the 07.19 from St Pancras to Bedford is
laminated glass (BS 857 1967)' double glazing with the new fan of sidings vis
site will be part of the new Brent Cross West station. Quite a few members w

s diverted through Cricklewood Depot. The view through 'CUDO toughened
sible which has replaced those at the north end of the depot. Their vacated
were about; some later turned up at Tipton (item 1606). (Simon Mortimer.)

1521] c2c: Barking to Fenchurch Street is closed every weekend from 5 Jun to 11 Jul to relay nearly
1½ miles of track and upgrade drainage. Follow up work is 14-15 Aug. Trains divert to Liverpool Street.

1522] Hither Green: A £6M station refurbishment is complete. Work included rewiring all the station
electrics, replacing all the lighting, refurbishing the platforms, removing and replacing the old timber
canopy on P2/3 with a tubular steel glass one, as well as improving station buildings and footbridges.

1523] King's Cross: (BLN 1377.1375) Class 365 EMU use has ended; the final departure was 18.12 to
Peterborough on 14 May led by 365522. The last working of all was 09.10 from Peterborough on 15th
with 365520/2. Only 25 years old, they are out of favour as they are not fitted with air conditioning or
Selective Door Opening. The fleet has been returned to the DfT, who took ownership of them in 2019.

1524] London Overground: (BLN 1369.191) From 17 May most Stratford to Richmond cancellations
were reinstated but 15 remained cancelled in each direction, spread throughout the day SSuX. A full
service resumed on West Anglia routes from Liverpool Street the same day. At Enfield Town, the
06.00 ex-Liverpool Street, arriving 06.33 and returning at 06.54, is booked to use P3, which previously
had no booked passenger use. P3 was used five times in the first two weeks; the first week on Wed
and Fri, but in the second week these were the days it didn't do so! P1 has several booked workings in
both peaks instead of a very limited number of early morning workings. At Hackney Downs, the 17.06
Cheshunt to Liverpool Street continues to be booked to cross from the Up Suburban to Up Fast at
Hackney Downs South Jn. In the first two weeks it was cancelled once and did not do the move once.

1525] Mill Hill East - Edgware: (BLN 1377.1377) Another member lived in Mill Hill East from 1953 to
1969. He advises that the bus route from Edgware to Mill Hill Broadway and later Mill Hill East was
the 240A (not 240). Initially with single-deckers, probably as the bridge under the LMS line at Mill Hill
Broadway was too low for double-deckers, but that changed when the area was rebuilt massively for
the M1. His abiding memory of the line past Mill Hill East dates back to 1955 on starting secondary
school. The school's sports field was in Mill Hill adjacent to the line. During one rugby session, an 0-6-2
tank came trundling past with a very short mixed freight. Naturally, this was far more interesting than
playing rugby, so he turned round, straining his eyes to spot the loco number. Unfortunately, at that
critical moment a teammate passed the ball to him as he had a clear run to score a try. Needless to
say, he missed the ball completely as he was looking in the opposite direction and was not popular!

His earliest railway memories are of steam trips from Highgate High Level to Finsbury Park with his
father. The High Level station is largely extant, but in poor condition. Pre-pandemic, LT Museum ran a
guided tour 'Highgate - Wilderness Walkabout', with participants receiving an informative booklet.

1526] Northern Line Extension: (BLN 1369.190) From 16 May Kennington changed from Zone 2 to
Zones 1/2, a condition of the extension funding agreement. The two new stations will be in Zone 1 so
journeys to/from central London will be wholly within that zone. Trial operation is expected to start in
Jul or Aug, with OP in Sep. Four new passageways between platforms have opened at Kennington to
improve interchange. The entire Northern Line service was suspended on 23 May for commissioning of
power and signalling on the extension, with modifications to the line's signalling software required.

1527] Tower Subway: (BLN 1377.1368) In a 20 Jan 1871 letter to 'The Times' the Tower Subway Co's
engineer and receiver stated that the use of the subway for foot traffic was fully considered in the first
instance and continued: Indeed, in a new undertaking of this sort many plans … suggested themselves,
and although it was ultimately determined to try the first experiment with machinery, it was soon
found that in a single line of only one quarter of a mile in length the foot traffic would be more publicly
beneficial and commercially successful, as unlimited numbers could pass through, and the expense
would be much less than with the use of machinery. This view has proved to be correct. Opening for
foot passengers was actually on 24 Dec 1870. The line will be on the London Railway Atlas 6th Edition!

1528] Unusual Crossovers 12-13 Jun: The trailing crossover at the country end of Plumstead station is
in use for a Plumstead to Dartford shuttle. The trailing crossover at country end of Streatham station
is in use for Streatham to Caterham services (Sat 12th) and Streatham to East Croydon (Sun 13th).

1529] TfL Finances: (BLN 1365.3305) The existing agreement was extended by ten days to 28 May
while negotiations with the government continued. Yet another short term deal was then reached,
until 11 Dec. A support grant of £1.08bn will be made and this will be adjusted up or down if passenger
revenue is more or less than anticipated. The government imposed a long list of conditions, including:
TfL to reach a financially sustainable position ASAP, but no later than Apr 2023. In the meantime,
TfL will have to deliver savings and/or new income of around £900M in the current financial year.
Joint reviews of demand to inform future service levels (potential changes from 2022/23 onwards)
and of options for long term reform of TfL's funding framework, including governance and oversight.
A review of TfL's pension scheme with the aim of moving it into a financially sustainable position.
The DfT will lead a joint programme on the implementation of driverless trains on LU. This will
investigate the conversion of the Waterloo & City and Piccadilly Lines to Grade-of-Automation 3
(driverless, but with an on board attendant, as on the Docklands Light Railway). This might be feasible
on the Waterloo & City Line, but a review has already concluded that conversion of larger lines would
be enormously expensive and represent extremely poor value for money. At present, the government
hasn't even committed to funding the resignalling of the Piccadilly Line, a prerequisite for automation.

1530] Victoria PSUL: (BLN 1377.1380) Use of P8 by Southern services in weeks beginning 17 & 24 May:
09.11 ex-Sutton (8 out of 9) - cancelled on 18th; 10.08 ex-Epsom Downs/11.30 to Epsom Downs
(2 out of 9) [must try harder!] - cancelled on 18th; 11.14 ex-Horsham/12.41 to Epsom (3 out of 10);
13.08 ex-Epsom Downs/14.30 to Epsom Downs (5 out of 10). Up workings into P8 cross from Line 'F'
to Line 'E' at 0m 33ch (Ebury Bridge); a crossover not normally used by trains going into Victoria P9-12.

1378 NORTH EAST & YORKSHIRE (Geoff Blyth) [email protected]
1531] HS2: The future of the eastern leg was in doubt when the National Infrastructure Commission
recommended in Dec that local rail links should be given priority. It has not yet been approved by
Parliament, but on 27 May the Minister reaffirmed the Government's commitment to completing the
line through to Leeds. [Talk is cheap, railways expensive.] It was originally assumed construction would
take place in 2040-2050 but the Minister thinks: we can bring that forward quite dramatically by
building it in a smarter way. He said the Government remains committed to 'levelling up' the country
by completing several projects designed to improve public transport, including the Transpennine route
upgrade (next item) and that this is about raising transport quality in the rest of the United Kingdom to
the levels of the South East. The Government is drawing up an Integrated Rail Plan that looks at how
the Eastern Leg can be completed ahead of schedule and integrated with Northern Powerhouse Rail.

1532] Investment: In late May the DfT announced £401M of railway investment but it is not clear how
much is new, or just a re-announcement of existing schemes: An 'extra' £317M for Transpennine
Route Upgrade without any details. The only schemes announced so far are electrification and
upgrade of Manchester/Guide Bridge to Stalybridge and Colton Jn to Church Fenton (BLN 1346.539),
plus the Huddersfield to Dewsbury upgrade. £15M from the New Stations Fund towards White Rose,
Thorpe Park Park & Ride and Marsh Barton, Exeter, but with no split shown between these stations.

1533] Blyth & Tyne: (BLN 1376.1241) On 26 May Northumberland County Council submitted an
application for a Transport & Works Act Order to the Secretary of State, for the work needed to
reopen the line to passengers targeted for early 2024. https://bit.ly/3vQb06J has details of the Order,
including plans of significant locations. It can be seen under 'Transport and Works Act Order'.

1534] Teesport: PD Ports has extended the existing intermodal service between Doncaster iPort and
Teesport to serve Elderslie - previously not in regular use in recent years - west of Paisley at 8m 76ch
on the Ayr line. The GBRf train is dedicated to longstanding customer Containerships. Although daily,
it is a conditional path: 06.48 Tees Dock - Darlington - Millerhill - Shotts - Elderslie (16.18/19.38),
returning the same route to Tees Dock (05.59 next morning). PD Ports plans to add further services in
the near future. Teesport now claims to be the fifth largest port in the UK (presumably by tonnage as
opposed to value) and the only major port in England to handle more exports than imports.

1535] Trainspotting is Cool: Well, a recent article https://bit.ly/3wYhZe0 in that fount of all
knowledge the 'Bradford Telegraph & Argus' recommends it as a 'cool' hobby. But what about gricing?

To Sunderland
Hall Dene SB and LC

N To Vane Tempest Colliery

Running Loop

Seaham
Colliery
"Screens"

SEAHAM station and SB NCB locos hand over to Seaham
Harbour Dock Co. locos here
FB FB Incline,
adhesion worked Open level crossing
Lifted
Sidings
New loading pad New connection Running Loop
under construction under construction Dawdon SB

BR & Henry Boot workmen installing new track

Key NCB wagon shops LC Harbour (all
(site) tracks lifted)

New track in use Sidings
New track being laid
Freight lines lifted
Freight lines out of use
Freight lines in use

A Spoil unloading point A
B Spoil unloading point
C End of BR line from Hawthorn Incline lifted Seabanks
D NCB sidings SB
E Weak bridge on BR line
F Parallel but unconnected lines, Dawdon
Colliery
both disused
Dawdon RLB
D B
E
C

Former coal F
stocking site

SEAHAM AREA

From an original sketch by a BLS member, 29
Oct 1986. Not to scale, not all tracks included.

To South Hetton Hawthorn GF
To Easington

1536] Seaham Part 1: (BLN 1376.1247) The incline between Seaham Colliery and Harbour was not the
last self acting one in the country. From 1965 locos worked the incline then, in 1968, it was singled and
the rope removed. It is not known if rope working continued until 1968, with locos running from 1965,
or if it ceased in 1965 with the rope left in situ as a backup. The Barclay locos working the incline had
extremely cut down cabs because the overbridges had been built with clearances only for wagons.

BELOW: (Item 1536) Barclay '659' takes a loaded coal train from Seaham Colliery
down the bank to Seaham Harbour on 4 Jan 1984. (Brian Carter.)

ABOVE: Looking south, an NCB loco alongside the BR line at Dawdon, (signal box in the background).
The loco is thought to be running round wagons from Seaham Colliery in the NCB exchange sidings.
The signal in the far distance is at the start of the Seabanks branch. (Ian Mortimer, 9 Sep 1980.)

BELOW: (Item 1543) The 'Malton trolley' (J W Armstrong/ARPT reproduced with permission).

Our 1987 Annual Report claimed that it was, at the time, the steepest adhesion worked line in the
country, with a maximum gradient of 1:17½. [I'd be inclined to agree - the 1:14 adhesion worked
Hopton Incline on the Cromford & High Peak Railway closed in 1967 - BLN Ed.] East Durham History
website https://bit.ly/3uPe6qn claims that a line (known as the 'Dogger Bank') on the Seaham Harbour
internal system, connecting the low level quay lines with the high level lines was 'a ferociously steep
climb' of about 1 in 11! Do any members who travelled on the system years ago have a view on this?

Another line used to transport coal from Seaham Colliery ran south of the incline line to exchange
sidings on the west side of the Durham Coast line, just north of Dawdon Signal Box. Coal despatch to
Seaham Harbour via the incline 'declined' and ceased some years previously (date unknown). In late
1986 a direct connection was installed from the national network to this line (see sketch, which is
thanks to Dave Cromarty; the original is thought to have been drawn for our 29 Oct 1986 visit, possibly
by Brian Ratheram) and new signalling was installed on 14 Dec 1986. At first it was used only for taking
out coal, with British Rail (BR) locos then working to the colliery. Colliery waste continued to be
removed via the incline and mostly tipped directly into the sea. The itinerary for the Institution of
Mining Engineers' North East railtour (written by our NE Editor) states that the incline was not used
after the colliery summer holidays in Aug 1987. However, good information was much more difficult to
come by in those days and the 'Seaham 1980s' website (see below) states that all traffic on the incline
ceased from 17 Jul 1987. Following this, the spoil trains were worked by BR via the connection to
Dawdon Signal Box and the branch to Seabanks (but then still tipped on the beaches). The NCB had
running powers over this branch as the NCB workshops were situated on the west side of the BR line
immediately south of Dawdon box. In Apr 1983 some members were able to travel on the Saturday
morning trip working from Seabanks to the workshops and then to Vane Tempest Colliery. Your NE
Editor was not one of them! By then Vane Tempest was linked underground with Seaham where the
coal and spoil came to the surface but its branch was retained to serve the coal stocking ground there.
https://bit.ly/34OFmus has superb pictures of the Seaham area in the 1980s, including the incline.

1537] Wakefield: (BLN 1364.3168) NR is to permanently remove the trailing crossover, OOU since Aug
2019, just west of Turners Lane Jn. Following consultation with affected train operators, the Monk
Bretton Branch routing from Oakenshaw Jn to Crofton East Jn via Oakenshaw South Jn has been
gauge cleared for Class 180 passenger services to mitigate against loss of flexibility. (Please explain!)

1538] Northallerton - Eaglescliffe: (BLN 1357.2162) The line is due to be closed in Jan 2022 to install
slab track in Yarm Tunnel. It is only 75yd long and not very deep, so the work shouldn't take too long.
This will provide W10/W12 clearance to accommodate high cube containers to/from Teesport. These
trains will no longer need to reverse in Darlington Up Sidings and take up paths on the ECML north of
Northallerton. It is not clear if any other work has to be done. Two other potential candidates are
'Northallerton (or Springwell) Tunnel', a covered way carrying the ECML over the Longlands Loops
north of Northallerton station and the bridge carrying the ECML over the Up Longlands Loop south of
Northallerton. The former has been alleged to be 'quite tight'. The latter was constructed in 1932 so
might have a more generous clearance. Hopefully all the work might allow for future electrification.

1539] Middlesbrough: On Sun 17 May a 10-car Azuma unit made a test run here: 01.10 Neville Hill to
Middlesbrough (03.10). The 04.30 return working terminated at Leeds station. Gauging work was
completed by late Feb, and this was to check various operational elements such as stepping distance.
The operational length of P2 was to increase from 167m to 265m from Mon 31 May. The extension is
two reinstated sections (29m at the western end and 39m at the eastern end) plus a new 30m section
at the eastern end. BLN 1370.366 gave the length as 299m, probably the result of double counting. It is
thought there may be a further 7m overrun extension when signal M691 is removed with resignalling.

One through train a day to/from King's Cross is due to start from the 12 Dec timetable. Indicative
timings are 07.08 ex-Middlesbrough, and 15.25 ex-King's Cross. However, due to the Yarm line closure
(previous item), LNER is assessing whether to wait for this to be finished before introducing the service.
LNER state that they would like to add more services as the 2020s progress, 'to support levelling up'.

BELOW: (Item 1539) Thornaby, the Sun 17 May test Azuma at 03.04 (that's ke

een) en route for Middlesbrough. (Tony Winward, Durham Coast Group.)

1540] Bridlington: (BLN 1352.1425) There is to be an 11 day Oct 2021 half term blockade to resignal
and remodel the layout, originally planned for Feb. With the dramatic loss of commuter traffic, TOCs
are placing more emphasis on leisure traffic, so they do not wish the line to be closed in the summer.

It is thought that there is significant school
traffic on the line (can anyone confirm?).
LEFT: By Martyn Brailsford; current and
new layouts. The new one will be much
simpler, requiring significant alterations to
the interlocking. A new facing crossover,
southwest of the signal box, will access P5
(renumbered P2) which will become fully
bidirectional, and also bay P6 (to be P3);
that is all. The connection from P6 (P3) to
the Up Main will be in a different position.

P5 (P2) will be used bidirectionally when
the station is unstaffed, level access to P4
(1) requires staff to escort passengers over
the barrow crossing and they must arrive
early. P5 (2) is more convenient for the station concourse, main entrance and facilities. P4 (1) will no
longer be bidirectional and may well only be used if trains cross here. On P6 (3) the inevitable energy
absorbing buffer stops are required. P7 & 8, the carriage sidings, the Up and Down Excursion Lines and
the trailing crossover southwest of P4 & P5 will all be recovered. The trailing crossover is currently used
by the 07.03, 21.37, 22.33 and 23.06 SuX Bridlington to Hull, 19.56 to York and also SuO 21.50 to Hull.
The many trains that terminate in the bay from Hull currently follow a rather 'circuitous' 15mph route.

The existing 65 lever frame and switch panel (commissioned in 1998) in Bridlington Signal Box (was
Bridlington South) will be replaced by a new NX (Entrance Exit) route setting panel where the lever
frame is now. The signals are a mixture of colour light and semaphore and the points a mixture of
motor worked, mechanical and hand points. They will be replaced by colour light signals and power
worked points. The only shunt signal will be on the Up Main south of the crossover; it will facilitate
single line working and enable trains to shunt between P5 (2) and P6 (3). Permissive working will be
removed from P4 (1) and provided to bay P6 (3) from the south and P5 (2) from the north and south.

Bridlington fringes with Seamer towards Scarborough; track circuit block (TCB) and Driffield (towards
Hull; absolute block). The new NX Panel will allow for future TCB working to Driffield. The Manually
Controlled Barriers with CCTV Bridlington Quay level crossing will remain as now, with the control and
indication system incorporated into the new panel. Bridlington supervises 10 level crossings and this
will remain. The station barrow crossing has undergone a suitable risk assessment but this will be a
temporary measure as the 'Access for All' project proposes to install lifts in late 2021/early 2022.

1541] Stocksbridge: The financially troubled Liberty Steel Group has put its aerospace and special
alloys steel business up for sale to help pay off debts and loans. This includes plants at Stocksbridge,
Brinsworth (Rotherham), and West Bromwich. Only Stocksbridge is rail served; a 9m 09ch branch
running northwest from Woodburn Jn, most of which is part of the former Woodhead mainline to
Manchester (BLN 1374.996). At the NR boundary (Deepcar) the branch makes an end on connection
with the 2m 31ch internal Stocksbridge Railway. Due to the collapse in orders from the aerospace
industry because of the pandemic, all production ceased on Fri 12 Mar 2021 and most of the 1,600
staff at the plants were put on furlough. No freight trains have run to Stocksbridge since Tue 9 Mar;
22.34 Aldwarke UES to Deepcar (23.15) and the return at 00.19 on Wed 10 Mar (Aldwarke 01.45).

1542] Hebden Bridge: The Calder Valley Community Land Trust has taken on the Grade II listed signal
box, decommissioned after resignalling in autumn 2018. See https://bit.ly/3wUyyHS for more details.
https://bit.ly/3gb6dGl is the first newsletter about the project. Membership is only £1 per year.

1543] Malton: Work has started on a £170k upgrade by TPE of the Grade II listed station, providing a
new ticket office, waiting room and accessible unisex toilet. They are not restoring a second platform
then... said the BLN Editor in jest. Many members may not be familiar with the most unusual platform
arrangement that once applied here, so it is worth relating. Originally, the station had an overall roof
covering both the Down and Up through platforms and also part of the Down Bay platform (once used
by trains for Whitby via Pickering), sufficient in length at least for a 3-car DMU. It would appear that
these original platforms must have been rather narrow. (Or perhaps as at Weymouth the roof support
columns were too close to the platform edge and track?) When they were widened in 1862, the Up
platform had to be placed outside the south wall supporting the roof. This left the Down line as a
single track through the roofed section, with a platform face immediately on each side.

The Board of Trade began pressing railway companies to install footbridges for passengers to cross
tracks in greater safety. However, the North Eastern Railway had other ideas and came up with a much
cheaper solution - a wooden trolley running on rails at right angles to the Down line. It was housed in a
recess under the island platform separating Up and Down lines, and was used to transfer luggage as
well as passengers. It was manhandled backwards and forwards and secured in its recess by a bar,
worked by lever No44 in Malton (station) box. The lever was presumably coloured brown, in the same
way as level crossing and wicket gate release levers. The lever was interlocked with the Down home
signal and permission to roll out the trolley was requested by a porter pressing a button to ring a bell
in the box. When across the line, the trolley was secured to the platform edge by a hinged flap and a
wheel was also chained. It was thought to have been unique in the former BR North Eastern Region*
but there may possibly have been other examples on British Railways. [Halesworth had a variation.]

(*Thanks to Charles Allenby for information from the Mar 1953 regional magazine). The trolley would
need at least some side railings to satisfy Health & Safety requirements today! https://bit.ly/2Rnds5L
has pictures of the station and trolley. This meant that passengers for York could be cut off from their
train if a Down train was signalled at the same time. One suspects that, in the days of slam door stock,
if a Down train was actually in the platform with its other side at the Up island more daring passengers
might well have used it as a 'bridge' to cross to Up platform! Malton West and Malton boxes closed on
22 May 1966 and a new panel was installed in Malton East box (renamed Malton; BLN 1357.2157).

At the same time the Up platform was abolished, with bidirectional working over the Down platform
line, and the trolley was no more. Sadly it was no doubt just scrapped. It is ironic that the NER had
stations on double track lines with just one bidirectional through platform, but Malton - a rare current
example - was not one of them. The overall roof, dating from opening in 1845, was removed in 1989
and replaced by the canopy recovered from the former Whitby bay platform at Malton.

The 42 mile York - Scarborough line is nearly all double track; a few years ago Up and Down trains were
ironically booked to pass near Malton; if one was late it delayed the other due to the single platform.
This is not the case now but may explain why the recent hourly York - Scarborough shuttle required
four trains with journey time only 50 mins each way. The Up line at Malton was recently quite shiny.

1544] T&W Metro: (BLN 1370.363) Nexus has placed a £55M order for construction of the Metro Flow
project, doubling the three single line sections on the South Shields line: Pelaw - Hebburn (800m),
Hebburn - Jarrow (1.4km) and Jarrow - Bede (600m). Work is due to take place from Sep to Dec 2022.

Body cameras have been issued to all frontline staff to deter troublemakers and reassure passengers.
They were trialled in 2017 and made permanent the following year, but then with only one per team.

1545] Leeds: (BLN 1376.1240) Installation of new OHLE and moving signalling equipment at the west
end on 30 May involved closure of several platforms. There were extensive service alterations and
replacement buses but the only rare crossover was at Horsforth from P1 north. The multistorey car
park, closed since May 2019 to build the new P0, reopened on 1 Jun with new electric vehicle charging
points. Further signalling work will continue over the next few months. The main work, to remodel and
enhance the connections to P4-6 from Lines 'C' & 'D', takes place later this year and in early 2022.

1546] Darlington: (BLNs 1347.674) Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) & Darlington Council have
released an impression of the redevelopment. TVCA is contributing £25M towards the £100M project
to add new platforms on the east side of the present Main Lines (the avoiding line). Darlington Council
ran a public consultation from 10-31 May. The Victoria Rd (west) entrance is proposed for upgrading.
There will be a short stay car park next to the main portico (but no vehicle access to the portico), pick
up/drop off points, wider pavements and improved walking and cycling access. On the east side, an
additional station building is proposed on Neasham Rd, with a multistorey car park and footbridge.
Considerable progress has been made since Jan 2020 when the business case was submitted to the
government, including land acquisition alongside the station. A planning application is expected in Jun
with work completed in Dec 2024, for the 2025 Stockton & Darlington Railway 200th commemorations.

1547] Laisterdyke West - Bowling Jn: Summer 1966 PSUL shows this 1m 59ch line avoiding Bradford
Exchange had just one service at a very unsocial hour for most of the year: 03.32 SuX Leeds Central to
Halifax; D 08.55 SO Leeds Central to Blackpool North; D 13.25 SO Blackpool North to Leeds Central
('D' is a dated service.) The line was also used by empty DMUs between Hammerton Street Depot and
Halifax as well as to/from Bradford Exchange, reversing at Bowling Jn. The Blackpool train ran for the
last time on 3 Sep 1966. The Halifax train was retimed to 06.27 from 5 May 1969 then withdrawn from
9 Jun. A 30 Jul 1977 fire at Bowling Jn box temporarily closed the line; it later reopened as a dead end
freight branch with no connection to the Leeds line at Laisterdyke. This closed possibly by Dec 1985?

1548] Sheffield Supertram: On Bank Holiday Mon 24 May there was rare daytime use of the southeast
PSUL side of Park Square triangle, which normally sees only early morning and late evening services
from and to the depot respectively. For a short period tram train services were diverted from
Cathedral and ran to/from Sheffield Station-Hallam University instead. The cause is unknown.

1378 NORTH WEST (John Cameron) [email protected]
1549] Padgate: General utility van S4588S, ex-Llangollen Railway, is now on display at the station.

1550] Blackpool Trams: (BLN 1367. 3650) Demolition of the Wilko building is finally complete and
contractors are preparing the site for the steel framework of the new Holiday Inn and Marco Pierre
White restaurant. Tramway contractors SISK are working in Talbot Road to complete the £23.4M
Blackpool North extension, due by the end of 2021. The existing tram track will be extended from the
corner of Dickson and Talbot Road, through the construction site to the new North Station terminus.
A pedestrian subway is under construction to the mainline station. OHLE and signals will be installed
along Talbot Road. Talbot Square is the first OHLE, working overnight from 24 May for 3 weeks, which
affects early morning and evening services on the existing line (at the new junctions), except weekends.

Rigby Road (heritage) Tram Depot has been in a poor state of repair for years; Blackpool Transport has
launched a £1M Crowdfunder to fully restore the historic building. Plans to modernise the bus side of
the depot require some of the heritage engineering facilities now used by trams to be moved into one
facility. However, the state of the main depot building (particularly the roof) means the equipment
can't be moved yet as it is not weatherproof. The £1M would fund roof repairs, with further money
required in the future to secure the structural integrity of the building and to install a new set of doors.

(BLN 1370.381) Many of the Blackpool Trams stored at Wyre Dock in Fleetwood appear to be decaying
in the open air. The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust, who own the vehicles, is putting them up for
sale after failing to create a viable tourist attraction. See https://bit.ly/3fTKJz1 with many photos.

1551] Northern Viaduct Trust: Formed in 1989 to acquire, restore and maintain disused important
railway viaducts in the North of England, the first project was Smardale Gill Viaduct (BLN 1368.84)
Ravenstonedale. See https://bit.ly/3z9qUeq the latest newsletter. Restoration was completed in 1992
and cost nearly £400k. The Trust spent several years planning its next project, applying for grants and
negotiating land purchase from the British Railway Property Board. The Hartley to Stenkrith footpath
project involved acquiring a mile of disused railway southeast of Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria, including
Podgill Viaduct. Other projects include Merrygill Viaduct and Millennium Bridge at Kirkby Stephen.

1552] Metrolink: (BLN 13778.1402) On 4 Mar a member found that The Trafford Centre right hand
platform (on arrival) was in use; any advance on 4 Mar please (actually earlier dates)? It has emerged
that the direct Harbour City to Broadway PSUL route avoiding MediaCityUK (all one word) is used by
the first tram of the day from Trafford Bar to Eccles (via Cornbrook reverse) and also the last one back
from Eccles to Trafford Bar; this is why it has stayed shiny. They are not ECS and will carry passengers,
but no other trams have been booked that way from 23 Mar 2020 (BLNs 1350.1133 & 1351.1214).
At MediaCityUK itself current platform use appears to be roughly equal between the two platforms.

1553] MetroCard - you mustn't touch it! This is a new contactless card for travel on Merseyrail.
It costs £1 initially from any staffed Merseyrail station, then can be used for online ticket purchases.
The Merseyrail Only Railpass gives unlimited travel over a week, month or a year. They are available
for any zones so are often cheaper than the previous tickets covering the Wirral, Northern or City lines.

1554] When the balloon goes up: A helium balloon tangled in the OHLE delayed trains at Prescot on
1 Jun. The line had to be closed and OHLE power switched off so the foil balloon could be removed.
NR has had 600 balloon related incidents in 10 years; so the problem is not blown up out of proportion.

1555] Hartford: From 31 Jul, NR is changing Line of Route NW3035 description 'Hartford West Jn to
Hartford North Jn (West Goods Line)' to 'Hartford West Jn to Oakleigh Sidings (Winnington Branch)'.

1556] Great Musgrave: The Eden Valley and Stainmore Railways are lobbying Eden District Council and
the local MP over Highways England's plan to infill the 159 year old railway bridge (near the former
Musgrave station) designed by Victorian engineer Thomas Bouch. The Heritage Railway Estate Group
disputes the need for this. Contractors are on site. The two railways have a long standing ambition to
join up by laying five miles of track from Kirkby Stephen to Warcop, creating a tourist attraction that
would deliver a significant boost to the area. However loss of the bridge would place a substantial
obstacle in their way, putting the connection in jeopardy after many years of development work.

Highways England manages the Historical Railways Estate of 3,100 disused structures on the DfT's
behalf. In a letter sent on 23 April 2020, they told Eden District Council that an assessment undertaken
in 1998 found the structure suitable only for 17 tonnes and action was needed to remove the
associated risk of structural collapse and harm to the public. Normally, a project like this would require
planning permission as it constitutes an engineering activity and affects the external appearance of the
bridge. However, just a day after receiving the letter, a Council Officer told Highways England's agent
that we don't consider that we would need to see a planning application for these works.

1557] Headbolt Lane: (BLN 1374.1009) It seems that the new station will not be Frankenstein themed
after all, proposals include: ●Redoubling the line from Kirkby (singled in 1973) with a new double track
bridge over Country Road. ●Two new platforms for Merseyrail services linked by a level walkway.
●One new platform for Northern services (suggesting the Skelmersdale extension isn't going to
happen anytime soon). ●A new station building with a ticket office, glazed booking hall and passenger
toilets. ●New station access road from Headbolt Lane with a bridge over the brook. ●Adjacent bus
interchange (= two bus stops and shelters!). ●Cycle parking with 100 spaces and a cyclepath from
Headbolt Lane. ●Approx 300 parking spaces, 15 for Blue Badges & 10 electric vehicle charging points.
●Landscaped station frontage and car park. [Please look away now if you work for the ORR or DfT.]
The current design includes third rail electrification, requiring a sub-station next to the new station.

However, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has approved funding to trial battery power on a
new Class 777 EMU. If successful, then the line will not be electrified. Merseytravel, Lancashire County
Council and stakeholders are still 'considering' the Skelmersdale extension. Proposals are at an early
stage, but Headbolt Lane has passive provision for a footbridge and a future car park extension.
Subject to the necessary planning and railway approvals, it is proposed that work would commence
around Nov 2021. It is expected that the new station will be ready to open by the end of spring 2023.

1558] Trafford Park: (BLN 1377.1408) From Tue 1 Jun the Reception Emergency Power Ground Frame
was recovered with all its associated point work between Reception Lines 1 & 2 and Departure Line 2.

1559] Mersey Ferries: Plans to replace the boats, now over 60 years old, have sunk due to the cost.
Merseytravel will now refurbish its current fleet instead. In 2020 services were more frequent than for
decades - a commuter option with better ventilation. The River Explorer cruises restarted on 17 May.

1560] Bootle Branch: (BLN 1374.1007) Regent Road LC 'closed' in Sep 2020 with recovery of signalling.
From 31 Jul NR is changing the NW2027 Line of Route description from 'Edge Hill Bootle Branch Jn to
Regent Road LC' to 'Edge Hill Bootle Branch Jn to Liverpool Docks'. The NR boundary is unchanged.

1561] Warrington Central: NR is to completely replace Bewsey Street and Foundry Street bridges on
the CLC line. Work begins in Jul with a three day closure of the line over the Aug Bank Holiday.

1562] Todmorden: (BLN 1359.2433) The 181 year old Grade II listed Gauxholme Viaduct designed by
George Stephenson has now been restored and repainted. A before/after video: https://bit.ly/3uS6Aeu

1563] Sunbathing at Shap: NR has cleared the cutting of birch and bush because south and west facing
cuttings and embankments are ideal for cold blooded reptiles such as adders, other snakes and lizards
to bask in the sun's warmth. This is especially important for new born snakelets to survive and thrive.

1564] Transpennine Upgrade: Manchester Victoria and Guide Bridge Jn to Stalybridge is to be route
cleared for Class 319, 323 & 769 multiple units to accommodate the heterogeneous Northern fleet.

1565] Manchester Victoria: Northern marked the fourth anniversary of the Manchester bombing on
Sat 22 May. 'Manchester Bee' floor stickers were placed on the floor so the public could pay tribute
and socially distance. 22 bee candles were lit by station staff in memory of the victims, one minute's
silence was held at 22.31 (the time of the attack) and the building was lit in yellow. Soldiers Gate is a
memorial to those who lost their lives in the attack; new artwork has been installed by local artist, Dez.

1566] Workington: An exhibition of the town's industrial heritage, particularly its railway history, has
opened at the station. There is also a short video for people to enjoy in the waiting room [sometimes a
long video would be more appropriate], which includes West Cumbrian characters. The exhibition was
opened by Arnold Proctor, 84, who started working at the station in 1952 and stayed all his working
life in different roles. He was the last person at the station to be qualified to drive steam engines.

1378 SOUTH EAST - NORTH & EAST ANGLIA (Julian James) [email protected]
1567] Watford Jn: Siding 10, the Grinding Siding adjacent to the Arrival and Cripple Roads, was taken
OOU from 15 May. It is not evident on TRACKmaps 2018; successive editions showing reducing layouts.
The first Quail (Oct 1990) has No9 Road in the Wheel Shop with an adjacent unnumbered road outside.

1568] East West Rail to Aylesbury to go west? (BLN 1376.1271) In a 24 May adjournment debate in
the House of Commons it was made clear that, instead of delivering EWR in the western and central
sections, it will be delivered in 'connection stages'. Stage 1 is Bicester Village to Bletchley and Milton
Keynes (cost £760M). Stage 2 takes it further east, from Bletchley to Bedford; Stage 3 is the new line
from Bedford to Cambridge. Aylesbury is not included but the Railways Minister stated that did not
mean it will not go ahead. He suggested a strong economic case had yet to be made for it, believing
that a much stronger case can be made. There are also concerns about providing a reliable railway
without jeopardising existing services. Financial provision for the design and delivery of the 'Aylesbury
spur' is stated to be included as part of the comprehensive spending review later in 2021. The Minister
mentioned that funding has been agreed for the Stocklake and Aylesbury eastern link roads to support
housing development, and £170M has been awarded to Aylesbury's housing infrastructure fund bid.
Aylesbury has also benefited from the rural mobility fund. You can draw your own conclusions!

1569] Wickford: Down bay P1 is out of use from 5 to 18 Jun, for lengthening to take a Class 720 EMU
on the Southminster shuttle. The relatively rare Up bay P4 is used instead. There are no plans to
extend P4, so if you want to do it now is your chance! Note P1 is being extended at the buffer stop end.

1570] Werrington: (BLN 1377.1426) The realignment of the Up Stamford Line to its final position for
7 Jun included commissioning of the new Marholm Jn points (78m 63ch from London King's Cross/
20m 31ch from Manton Jn). Not already in situ, their installation was before these weekend works.

1571] Princes Risborough - Oxford: The minor road underbridge in Horspath is to be restored to allow
the trackbed to continue to be used by local residents to pass over the road below. (ABOVE: 1956 map,
the arrow is the current end of the Morris Cowley branch from Kennington Jn. the central 'HALT' is
Horspath.) Recent surveys found issues with the structure of the bridge, including deterioration of the
bridge parapets. The bridge has continued to lean and fracture, so the parapets were removed, and in
Feb 2021 the path over the bridge was closed due to safety concerns. It is a stone faced arch
construction with stone faced piers and abutments. The current parapets are wood post and rail.

Oxfordshire County Council and, for once, Highways England Historic Railways Estate are planning a
complete renovation of the bridge with restoration of the parapets using the original bricks. The work
has attracted interest from Horspath residents who volunteered to clean and repair the 3,000 bricks
they removed under supervision. Work expected to start later this year will include vegetation and
root removal that has caused the damage, as well as on the bridge structure, including joint repairs.

Horspath Halt (SP 572 046) was a 150ft single wood platform with shelter on the embankment next to
the underbridge OP 1 Feb 1908 between Wheatley and Morris Cowley stations. It CP 22 Mar 1915
then ROP a few yards to the east 5 Jun 1933, again wood with timber staging support; CP 7 Jan 1963
along with local services on the line. The Cowley end of line, 15m 15ch, is now about 600m southwest.

1572] King's Lynn: The north side bay (right on arrival) is P2 on platform signs and railway documents,
but does not have a number on TRACKmaps 2 p12B 2020. Currently P2 enjoys its best service for years,
booked for 05.39, 06.10, 07.10 & 20.44 SSuX, 06.44, 09.19 & 10.12 SO and 09.25 & 17.54 departures to
King's Cross. SSuX the 05.50 ex-Cambridge, 19.07 from Liverpool Street and 22.39 ex-King's Cross are
booked to arrive in it as are SO 18.12, 19.12 & 22.42 ex-King's Cross. On Sundays the 21.12 & 22.12
from King's Cross are booked to use it. RTT shows occasional platform changes between P1 and P2.

1573] King's Cross - Cambridge/Peterborough: NR is to remove equipment for Driver Only Operation
(DOO) that is no longer used from platforms at 19 stations: Alexandra Palace, Arlesey, Ashwell &
Morden, Baldock, Biggleswade, Gordon Hill, Hatfield, Hertford North, Hitchin, Huntingdon,
Knebworth, Letchworth Garden City, New Barnet, Potters Bar, Royston, Sandy, St Neots, Welwyn
Garden City and Welwyn North. DOO mirrors, monitors, housing and posts will be removed and
recovered by Mar 2022. All DOO trains that stop at these station now use on board cameras instead.

1574] Berney Arms: (42 passengers in 2019-20.) This is no longer a request stop, all booked trains now
call and just the front door is released. This may be a Covid mitigation and/or because of the longer
bimodes now running. Automatic announcements now treat the station the same as any other stop.

1575] Oxford: (BLN 1367.3666) On 25 May the DfT confirmed £69M for work to start in 2022 on the
next stage of developing plans for the new Down Loop P5, converting P4 into an island and a new west
entrance. This will improve capacity, reduce journey times and, from 2024, allow more trains to call.
The project is separate from, but complimentary to, the current East West Rail (EWR) consultation.

Designs will be developed for a new Botley Rd western entrance linking to P4 & 5 via a subway, cutting
walking time from the west side of the station by up to 3 mins. The road network will also be improved
by the station, Botley Road bridge will be replaced and the road lowered for standard double decker
buses to pass underneath for the first time. A 4m wide cycle/footpath will be installed each side.
The £69M also funds level crossing closure north of Wolvercot North Jn at Yarnton Lane (67m 40ch) &
Sandy Lane (67m 78ch), as well as installing three high speed (75mph) crossovers at Oxford North Jn.

The changes will create capacity for extra Oxford to Birmingham services to run and reduce passenger
journey times by up to two minutes. It will also increase capacity along the corridor to accommodate
an additional 12 freight trains per day. Early consultations about the proposals have taken place with
local residents ahead of the plans being formally submitted to Oxford City Council. Further funding is
required for the full implementation of the scheme and the Full Business Case for the project will be
submitted to DfT later this year, with a decision on final funding expected in spring 2022. The artist's
impression shows electrification masts and OHLE at the station but sadly they are not in the plans!

1576] Clacton-on-Sea; pan down? (BLN 1371.555) Greater Anglia (GA) plan to provide controlled
emission toilet equipment alongside Up Siding Road 3 (ex-Run Round Road), in the Depot next to P4
road to service berthed new trains during turnaround stabling. New Class 720 & Class 745 EMUs are
longer than the current stock and Upper Sidings will not provide adequate space for servicing without
'fouling' other roads, making them inaccessible for stabling. The new facilities will be used while a train
is berthed during service turnaround so the facility will not result in increased train movements on the
network. Latest works dates are for start of construction around Jan with completion Apr 2022 based
on full competitive tender procurement. GA is now working on expediting those dates.

1577] Waterbeach: On 28 May the electrified London end trailing crossover was partially dismantled.

1578] Ipswich: With the current East Suffolk Line hourly off peak service, the bimodes have a 40 min
layover in bay P1 - the country (non-canopy) end of which is electrified. The doors remain released
throughout (possibly to help avoid crowds building up on the platform as the service is busy this end).
On arrival the diesel engines are shut down and the pantograph raised while the train is stationary to
power the onboard services, does this happen at Cambridge and Norwich? The canopy buffer stop
end section of track is now very rusty indeed. The OHLE is also used between Ely and Stansted Airport
(39½ miles) and Stowmarket and Ipswich (22 miles). A member recently was very impressed with the
speed and acceleration of the bimodes - in both modes - so much so that they were often arriving
early at stations and waiting time. Some East Suffolk services run through to/from Norwich via
Lowestoft (rev). This is not announced and passengers are asked on each leg to 'all change' by the
automatic announcements. However, passengers making through journeys such as Norwich to/from
East Suffolk stations seemed aware and stayed in their seats at Lowestoft. There are still significant
stretches of jointed track on the East Suffolk Line which are more noticeable on the new trains!
For those used to a lifetime of trains with level floors, announcements are made advising caution
stepping down from the raised podiums (also on the new Class 745 EMUs) but it is very easy to forget!

1378 SOUTH EAST - SOUTH (Julian James) [email protected]
1579] Balcombe - Haywards Heath: (BLN 1376.1279) The derailment which occurred at Copyhold Jn,
one mile north of Haywards Heath, fifty years ago on the 28 Jun 1971 at 07.19, was blamed squarely
on a relief signalman whose irregular actions proved to be the cause. While the derailment fortunately
had no serious results, the Report by Lieutenant Colonel IKA McNaughton of the Railway Inspectorate
found it was directly caused by the actions of the signalman on duty at Haywards Heath at the time,
who reversed No58 points as the leading coach of the train was passing over them.

Copyhold Jn is where the double track section from Balcombe split* into four tracks, Down Local,
Down Through, Up Through and Up Local, and was also the junction formerly for Horsted Keynes,
curtailed back to a single line to Ardingly for inward aggregates. Control was by Haywards Heath signal
box. This contained a 60-lever frame with full mechanical interlocking, installed in 1932. The method of
signalling in the area was by Track Circuit Block with colour light running signals. The points at
Copyhold Jn were operated electrically. [*Per original report - should be 'splits' of course.]

The driver of the 06.41 Norwood Junction to Brighton passenger train, formed of three 4-car electric
multiple units of 1963 main line stock, had experienced an uneventful journey until the approach to
Copyhold Jn when he received a Yellow aspect on the automatic 3-aspect signal (CA16) which was
1,517 yards before reaching 4-aspect junction signal (CH54) beyond which the signalman had set the
route to the Down Local as usual over the facing points (reversed). Having slowed to between 3 and
4mph, the driver then received a Yellow on CH54 followed almost immediately by it exhibiting a
double Yellow without a junction indication thus routing it to the Down Through over the facing points
(set at normal). Consequently, the train picked up speed, and had reached 40mph when the
derailment occurred, the points moving under the leading coach. The front bogie became derailed
while the remainder of the train was diverted onto the Down Local line. There were no casualties.

To some extent the Haywards Heath signalman was unlucky. The points, Down Through/Down Local,
failed some seconds after the train had passed CH54 signal. Evidence of an Assistant Signal Engineer
was that the method of releasing approach locking was obsolescent, but that during the 13 years in
which he had been in the area he had never known of a failure that had released the approach locking
in this way. The approach locking would not be destroyed in a modern installation with route relay
interlocking by an individual track circuit failure or failure of the detection on a pair of points. Without
the approach locking on the facing points, they were left free to be moved under the train.

The signalman had allowed the Brighton train to be checked at CH54 signal while he decided whether
to give precedence to an ECS movement at Haywards Heath station to form the 07.35 to Seaford.
While deliberating, he noticed that his indicator for CH54 signal was showing red, and no indication on
the points. He assumed the train was at a stand at CH54 signal, and thus returned the lever to normal
which to his surprise went straight back into the frame rather being held at what is known as the
check-lock. In reality the train had already passed CH54 signal, but had not cleared the points.

With the lever for CH54 signal having been fully restored, in contravention of Rule 68(a) which
instructed that a signal must not be returned to Danger until the last vehicle of a train has passed the
junction points, this meant that the mechanical interlocking between it and the lever for the points
was removed. Unfortunately, the signalman made matters worse rather than establishing where
the train actually was before attempting to alter the route, by trying to get a reverse indication on the
points which resulted in the derailment. The Report pointed out that had the signalman moved
the lever for the points a moment earlier the whole train would have passed without incident onto the
Down Local line; a moment later the lever would have been locked by the track circuit occupation.

The Inspector raised concerns about the lengthy hours of duty not only worked by this signalman, but
by signalmen throughout the Central Division where there was a critical shortage resulting in them
having to work their rest days. The Divisional Manager revealed that 22% of posts were vacant, and
the situation was not going to change significantly until the introduction of new power signal boxes.

1580] Sevenoaks: On 26 May a 5mph Emergency Speed Restriction on P3 resulted in Charing Cross to
Hasting and Dover services using P2 then crossing to the Down Main on the country side of the station.

1581] Fawley: (BLN 1378.1429) The Fri 7 May DMU was organised by SWR for invited guests from NR
and Hampshire County Council. There is a photo of it at Marchwood in Jun 'Modern Railways' page 19.

1582] Reading Green Park: (BLN 1369.233) By 28 May nosing stones had been laid the full length of
the Down platform, but none on the Up side; surprisingly little progress. On the Down side, the steel
work for the building has now been erected with one steel beam for a short canopy projecting out.

1583] SWR: A livery variant to denote First Class is now appearing instead of the previous row of light
blue filled circles at cant rail level, unique to SWR. Standard horizontal yellow lines are returning to
5-car Class 444s, which can now be seen in SWR or Stagecoach liveries, all with 'refreshed' interiors.

1584] Longcross: (BLN 1364.3193) SWR has signed a funding agreement with Surrey County Council to
improve the station (22,948 passengers in 2019-20). It includes a refurbished waiting room, renovated
and additional waiting shelters, extra benches, platform upgrades plus new public announcement and
CCTV systems. Work starts this summer for early 2022 completion. The £750k investment by property
developers Crest Nicholson is part of the wider development scheme in the area https://bit.ly/3i860qk
(housing in the form of Longcross Garden Village, a new community that retains the local film studio).

1585] Swanley: The new £2M station building and ticket office has opened, funded by Sevenoaks
District Council through the Community Infrastructure Levy (£750,000) and Kent County Council
through their Local Growth Fund (£1.5M), via the South East Local Enterprise Partnership. The project,
delivered by Southeastern and NR, has also seen new CCTV and lighting installed. Work on the station
footbridge was carried out by NR with replacement of the canopy, new glazing and paintwork.

1586] Maidstone East - Ashford International: The line is closed 7-15 Aug (incl). As well as this nine
day closure, it is shut for two weekends on 3 -4 and 24-25 Jul. Engineers will be reinforcing Bearsted
cutting as well as enhancing drainage and signalling in the area. The cutting is over 150 years old and
requires soil nailing to ensure safety and resilience. Over 2,000 of 6,000+ soil nails will be installed in
its lower reaches. New Year's Day was the most recent landslip, due to heavy rain. The power supply
feeder cabling between Harrietsham and Charing will also receive attention (thus there is no Ashford
to Lenham shuttle which has been known during engineering work). NR will also address earthwork,
drainage, track and signalling maintenance issues elsewhere, including track realignment, rail grinding
or reprofiling and flood mitigation. Several stations will also benefit from various maintenance works.

1587] Ryde - Shanklin: ❶(BLN 1377.1430) A correspondent points out it only took three years for the
Newport, Godshill & St Lawrence Railway to complete the 1¼ miles St Lawrence to Ventnor Town*
section along The Undercliff; OP 1 Jun 1900. (*As named, it wasn't in the town and more realistically
became Ventnor West from 9 Jul 1923). The current Ryde - Shanklin rail replacement bus service is
shown as running until 31 Jul at present, however briefly National Rail had it until 30 Sep (2021?). Until
7 Jun National Rail's PDF bus timetable was the pre-16 May hourly one rather than the service running,
now half hourly, but was updated after an email from your Editor. It is worth chasing these things up.

❷(BLN 1376.1277) Unit 484004 was transferred to the IOW via Portsmouth and Fishbourne on the
18 May 13.40 and 15.40 sailings, then offloaded at Sandown station. It was taken to Ryde on 20 May
propelled by a Unimog. Traction power is only chargeable in Ryde Yard [we must resist the urge to ask
if it is free elsewhere…]. It had been intended to use it to test clearances in Ryde Tunnel but this didn't
happen. 484002 & 003 are still at Eastleigh; 002 had previously been conveyed by road to visit Derby
Litchurch Lane test track [lucky unit], said to be where the software problems were first encountered.

❸(BLN 1376.1277) 483007 was moved by rail with the Unimog from Ryde Works (where it had been
stored to deter vandalism) to Sandown on 19 May about 18.00, then went by road to the IOW Steam
Railway at Havenstreet (one word since 9 Jun 1958). The first car was unloaded that evening, but it is
believed the second was taken off the lorry next morning. The EMU is now in 'Train Story' Museum.

483004 moved from Ryde to Sandown by rail on 20 May around lunchtime, then to Hollier's Farm on
the main Newport to Sandown A3056 road between Horringford and Apse Heath. The first car was
offloaded by 19.00 and the second about 22.30. Standing on flat bottom railed track, it is to become a
café. 483008 similarly moved from Ryde to Sandown on the afternoon of 20 May. Planned to be
moved to the mainland on arrival, this was postponed to prevent the lorries missing their booked ferry
crossings. The unit therefore remained at Sandown. Meanwhile unit 483006 is still at Ryde.

1378 SOUTH WEST (Darren Garnon) [email protected]
1588] Holton Heath: There is a new replica Southern Railway target name, on an Up platform planter.

1589] Kingham - Bourton-on-the-Water: (CP 15 Oct 1962; CA 7 Sep 1964) A group has formed to
promote the trackbed as the Kingham to Bourton Recreational Trail. They are trying to crowdfund
£7,666 for a Sustrans feasibility study. Cotswold District Council has pledged £3k so it looks achievable
(£1k to go in a month). The 6¾ mile route via Stow-on-the-Wold is in beautiful Cotswold countryside
with rail connections at Kingham. See https://bit.ly/3fW3L81 for more details and how to contribute.

ABOVE: 1950 map, Kingham is far right middle on the North Cotswold line, Worcester off northwest,
Oxford southeast; off right the line went to Banbury. Upper left is Stow-on-the-Wold station, 1¼ miles
south of the town. Bourton is lower left; the line (lightly engineered here) continued to Cheltenham.

1590] Westbury: Freightliner uses the former cement works sidings to the east of Heywood Road Jn to
run round trains destined for the former Southern Region and West of England (which also can use the
avoiding line) instead of the DBC yards west of Westbury station. This reportedly reduces costs and is
expected to remain in place. Locos are also now able to stable in this area between turns.

1591] Bristol TM: Fast, free reliable and unlimited (well, that's what it says) WiFi is now available at
the station. NR plans to introduce this at all the 'major' stations it manages by the end of 2021. Already
live are Paddington, Victoria, Euston and London Bridge, that leaves 15 more to do by the end of year.

1592] Bristol Parkway: In contrast, spare a thought for passengers here (not a NR managed station).
Currently the main waiting room (non-platform side of ticket barriers) is closed to the public but still
available to rail staff. Unless you wait on a platform, your only choice is a few concourse bucket seats
by the downstairs travel centre. Other than a seat, they offer nothing, no power points, no table and
surprisingly no view of departure screens. The station WiFi does not reach here; your only chance is if
there's a bus waiting outside long enough to use its access. Our local General Secretary has observed
that when the car park, 100yd away, is used as a rail replacement hub, the WiFi from one parked bus
can be accessed from the station, unlike GWR's own poor WiFi. Some ticket machines have recently
been removed, presumably due to low passenger numbers; combined with failure of the remaining
machines a visit to the travel centre was required to collect his prepaid tickets. This is not a welcoming
passenger experience just now and upstaged by the many improvements at Temple Meads.

1593] Class 800s: (BLN 1378.1442) IET sets working from Paddington were in abundance from Mon 17
May once safe tolerances had been agreed for the cracking problem, although there are some planned
cancellations and short formed trains. Jacking points are now painted white to show up the cracks.
GWR Class 387/1 continue to cover a small number of diagrams to Bristol Parkway and the three c2c
387/3's only work as single units on Reading - Newbury diagrams due to selective door opening issues.

1594] Dunsland Cross: CP 3 Oct 1966, this was the first station after Halwill Junction on the Bude line.
This former railway station now with eight bedrooms, original features and a long stretch of trackbed
are for sale (£600k) perhaps for your very own BLS fixture. Plans and many pictures are with e-BLN.

1595] Bedminster: (BLN 1376.1291) During the closure for Bristol East Jn work, the station may have
all West of England Bristol arrivals and departures. However, the GWR website now says it is buses to
Taunton and Weston with no mention of trains terminating/starting at Bedminster. Even though it's
only next month, recently journey planners have still been showing the normal through timetable!

Work is apparently to start bringing P3 back into use on the Up Relief, general surfacing repairs and
bringing disused parts of the main platforms back into use for longer trains. The Bristol East Jn work is
from 24 Jul to 18 Sep. It is unclear if freight and engineering trains will be able to pass through the area
using the line past St Philip's Marsh depot and 'Rhubarb Loop' to Dr Days Jn, once considered for
some passenger diversions. Signalling is apparently complex and would need a pilotman and additional
ground staff. CrossCountry will reportedly be using Bristol East Yard to stable stock over the period.
A well placed contractor wonders if preparatory work will be finished in time, especially the extension/
rebuilding of Bedminster station. He thinks that it may see much more use than previously surmised.

1596] Yeovil - Weymouth: Track renewals at Chetnole from Sat 29 to Bank Holiday Mon 31 May were
postponed until later in the year so that passengers could travel to the seaside (the 'official' reason).

1597] It wouldn't be BLN these days without Okehampton: (BLN 1377.1438) Relaying of 11 of the
14 miles of track from the site of Coleford Jn was completed by 14 May. The work was 24/7 (over four
miles of lights were powered by 'silent' generators, have you 'heard' of them before?) and included
groundworks, fencing and drainage. GSM masts, bridge repairs and level crossing works are next.

1598] Portishead: (BLN 1372.716) A Development Consent Order decision is pending but NR is now
seeking a contractor for the work to reinstate passenger services, estimated to cost as much as £70M
(of the £116.4M budget). It will be undertaken by one contractor as a 'Design & Construct' agreement.

1378 WEST MIDLANDS (Brian Schindler) [email protected]
1599] A long short journey; right place, right time: On Mon 14 May your local BLN Editor caught the
13.45 Great Malvern to Hereford (the 12.50 ex-Birmingham New Street service) which left from the
usual Down platform on time at 13.45. It was one of 22 such trains that he could have caught that day.

After passing his house and travelling barely a mile, the train, a well filled 2 x 2-Car Class 170 DMU, after
being checked, was held at Malvern Wells for about 90 minutes due to a block failure on the single
line ahead to Ledbury. As an experienced former Annual Season Ticket holder, he had plenty to read,
as usual, so wasn't too bothered. The DMU blocked trains from Worcester even turning back here
(if only they had put it in the Down Goods Loop!). Two trains in the other direction were able to pass
though under 'special working', one to London 12 mins late and a second to Birmingham 56 mins late.

After this, the points on the single line from Ledbury to the double track 'locked' in the 'Normal' (up
direction) position and could not be changed to move forwards. These very points had been relaid and
converted from mechanical to electrical working the weekend before (when Worcester to Hereford
was shut, although there were a variety of interesting engineering trains). This was not coincidental!

Meanwhile another train from London was stuck in Great Malvern Down platform so there was no
going back wrong line (as has happened before). Therefore the driver was authorised to change ends
and the train duly returned to Great Malvern via the trailing crossover at 129m 71ch. Newly installed
in Jun 2016 (TRACKmaps 3 p15B 2016), it is only used by ECS which is permitted 15mph but the Class
170s did it very gingerly at 5mph. Our local members believe that this was the first ever authorised
passenger train use. Arrival at Great Malvern Up platform was at 15.20, after travelling two miles in
95 mins. The remarkably large number of passengers were all told to alight and joined the many
already on the platform. One (only, probably) passenger was highly delighted by the turn of events.
The train sped off to Birmingham in service at 15.25, only 14 mins late on its booked departure time.

Online systems showed it as terminating in passenger service at Malvern Wells on time at 13.48, then
vanishing (the station, CP 5 Apr 1965, wasn't reopened especially). That just leaves the loop to do - no
booked use but remains shiny (when the timetable has been more generous, ECS stables at times).
Last time something like this happened to your Editor was 12 Nov 2016 (BLN 1269.2272/19 Nov 2016).

1600] Birmingham Snow Hill: (BLN 1377.1450) E-BLN 1377 included a detailed track plan of the 1912
rebuilt station. Although on a relatively long, narrow, northwest to southeast site there were 12 good
sized platforms, fine buildings and facilities with very complex track work (at the Wolverhampton end
in particular). The station had two large islands. P1 at the London end of the outside (southwest) Down
side was a through platform becoming P2 at its Wolverhampton end. Here were P3 & 4 bays, used by
the residual Langley Green and Wolverhampton services respectively. Engine release was by a sector
table originally, between them (in contrast to the engine traverser at nearby Moor Street terminus).

The main through Down platform was P5 at the London end, becoming P6 (by p4!) at the northwest
end with a Cambridge style scissors crossover between them into/out of a platformless centre Down
Main. The Up side island was similar, P7 at the London end of the main through Up platform, then a
scissors crossover with the Up Main centre line becoming P8 at the northwest end. Bays P9 & 10 at the
island's Wolverhampton end were shorter than their equivalent P3 & 4, with no engine release facility.

The outer Up (northeast side) through platform was P11 at the northwest end and P12 at its London
end. The turntable was this side before the platforms. At the London end there were two tracks
through the tunnel (hence Moor Street OP 1 Jul 1909 for south suburban traffic, particularly the North
Warwick/shire line). Quadruple passenger track (plus a goods line) resumed southeast of Moor Street.

Remaining passenger services from the south ended 4 Mar 1968. After closure of the main part of the
station, entry was from the street level booking office (beneath the platforms), at the Wolverhampton
end of the station. From 19 May 1969, with the reduction in service to just peak hours, the whole
station became unstaffed, along with all the others on the line. (However there were still nine signal
boxes to staff in the 12½ miles to Wolverhampton!) A new station access was created through the wall
from Livery St which runs along the Down side of the station at platform level. It went across and over
the former P1 & 2 track, severing it, but there was still quite a walk from this entrance to the terminal
end of bay P3 & 4. White painted wooden hoardings were installed either side of this route to prevent
access to the closed parts of the station. The final train, (the special to New Street) from P1 (not
normally used by then) would not have gone far into former P2 with this new access severing the line.
Much of the rest of the station became a car park - the quadruple trackbed between P5 and 7 was
filled up to platform level - British Rail would have made more money from this than passenger fares.

1601] Snow Hill (2): In the current timetable there is a freight path for commercial traffic through the
station for the first time since the former Handsworth scrap trains ran that way temporarily years ago.
The 07.29 SSuX Kineton MoD to Ashchurch MoD (11.44) is booked to pass through Snow Hill P2 at
09.27. In the other direction it is booked via Kemble, Swindon and Oxford. However, it has yet to run
and the equivalent train in the previous timetable (via Swindon both ways) did not run at all.

1602] Snow Hill (3): (BLN 1377.1450) A member's first track tour, organised by the LCGB, ran directly
between Birmingham's two main stations on 23 Mar 1963. The Class 120 Cross Country DMU started
from Snow Hill, reversed at Bordesley Jn, and ran to New Street - the most direct route between them
and not available in 1972. It then did Lifford Curve, Sutton Park, a shunt to the Midland line at Heath
Town Jn, Wolverhampton LL, and Victoria Basin at Stafford Road Jn (visit to Wolverhampton Works).
Return was via reversals at Stafford Road Jn and Dudley South, Sedgley Jn to Dudley Port HL curve,
Soho Road, Bescot Yard & Curve to Sedgley Jn, for a last reversal to Snow Hill via Great Bridge South!

1603] Perry Barr: TCP 10 May, the 1960's concrete station building was demolished in mid-May, along
with an attached row of shops on the overbridge. Work was at night to avoid disrupting rail services.
The station should ROP 15 May 2022 for the Commonwealth Games at the nearby Alexander Stadium.

1604] New Street: P10 reopened Sun 6 Jun as planned and P9 closed until 4 Jul for resignalling work.





PREVIOUS: (item 1606) Turning back at Tipton (from Walsall); Down P2, loo
BELOW: A very socially distanced long range view of the trailing crossover with

oking towards New Street, (note the First Class is at the centre of the train!)
h 'U' for Up Line on the indicator; the Down Loop is ahead (Simon Mortimer).

1605] Stratford-upon-Avon: P1 has been OOU from at least 25 May due to a track circuit failure, as at
8 Jun West Midlands Railway mostly used P2 and Chiltern were using P3 far more than normal.

1606] Tipton: On Sun 6 Jun New Street departures screens were showing exotic destinations such as
Aberdeen, London Euston, Penzance, Glasgow Central, Cardiff Central and … Tipton! Spot the odd
one out. The line was closed beyond Tipton to Wolverhampton (where the only train services were
to/from Shrewsbury). CrossCountry and Avanti services were diverted via Bescot Jn - Portobello Jn -
Bushbury Jn direct. An all day hourly local service from Walsall via New Street turned back in Tipton
P2 using the Birmingham end trailing crossover in service on departure. Its first regular passenger use
since Birmingham New Street Phase 4 resignalling was commissioned on 3 Jan 2018. The move was
available before but is now much easier. It was due to happen 11, 12 & 13 Apr (Easter) and 3 & 24 May
2020 but, with so few people travelling in Lockdown, buses ran from/to New Street. On 6 Jun there
were certainly plenty of passengers, including on the 11.24 arrival/11.30 departure, four members.

1607] West Midlands Metro: (BLN 1377.1458.2) Wednesbury Parkway Birmingham end trailing
crossover was in passenger use during half term (20 May to 6 Jun) for turnbacks from Library. The line
beyond to Wolverhampton was closed to demolish an overbridge in Bilston. This crossover had been
out of use for long periods before, and was unavailable for our 5 Aug 2001 railtour. Most trams turned
back in P2 but some members did P3 (two crossovers on departure) when services were ramping up
coming out of the depot ECS then reversing in P3. The possession started clear of the Wolverhampton
end facing crossover in case that was needed; however P1 had a reassuring 'temporarily closed' notice.

1378 IRELAND (Martin Baumann) [email protected]
1608] Northern Ireland Railways: Translink plans to resume a full weekday timetable on Mon 14 Jun.

1609] Dublin - Belfast: (1376.1302) In fact not all cross border trains are booked loco hauled. Until
further notice an NIR DMU works 06.45, 12.35 & 18.05 ex-Belfast and 09.30, 15.20 & 20.50 ex-Dublin.

1610] Peatlands Park: (MR p26) (BLN 1310.1709) This 3ft gauge 1½ mile railway in County Armagh at
Dungannon advertised running at 'Weekends and Bank Holidays' in Jul & Aug 2020 (last day 31 Aug).
However, no online or social media evidence has been found that they did run. Can anyone advise
please? There were Santa trains in 2019, the last on 15 Dec but these did not operate in Dec 2020.

1611] Londonderry: On 21 May poor regulating after an external signalling power failure resulted in
severe disruption. The 18.10 ex-Great Victoria Street (GVS) waited 25 mins at Ballymena for the 17.38
ex-Londonderry, instead of crossing at Killagan. The 18.10 then used Killagan loop to cross the 18.38
(on time) ex-Londonderry. Translink has an official 'no connecting services' policy except at Coleraine,
but they sent the branch unit to Londonderry at 19.43 (18.10 path) and the 18.10 service to Portrush
(arriving 22 mins late via the southern entrance to Coleraine P2 - no booked use). (19.45 ex-Coleraine
path.) Londonderry passengers were abandoned at Coleraine to wait for the 19.10 ex-GVS, except for
your Ireland Editor who, with his Zone 4 all day ticket, had an extra trip to Portrush. Back at Coleraine
Belfast passengers had to wait about 45 mins as the 19.38 Londonderry to GVS had not been held!!

1612] Londonderry (2): Local campaigners have met the regional development minister to press for a
third phase of the line upgrade, including 'new halts and loops'. They want a 30 minute interval service
but traffic does not warrant this west of Coleraine and only in the peaks between there and Belfast.

1613] Don't forget to pack your TRACKmaps! Translink's public travel information sometimes gives
the impression that they expect every passenger to carry their copy of TRACKmaps. On Sun 31 May:
Report from PSNI that cars are backing up at Umbra Crossing due people trying to access Benone
beach. Trains being cautioned on approach. (This was actually a traffic jam around 1¾ miles long.)

1614] : All the extra new Luas trams ordered have now been delivered and all the previously

delivered shorter 5000 Class have now been extended to nine sections (becoming 55 metres long).

1615] Freight: A new twice weekly Ballina - Waterford flow starts at the end of Jun for XPO Logistics
with potential for over 5,000 truck movements a year to switch from road (75% less pollution per unit).

1616] Rosslare Strand - Waterford; let us spray: Irish Rail Multipurpose Vehicle 790 operated out and
back on 31 May weedspraying. (The previous train on the 31 mile line was a 6 Oct 2020 inspection car.)

1617] SLW: On 19 Jun this was over the Up line between Lisduff facing and Thurles trailing crossovers.

1618] This is a Corker! Irish Rail would like to double track the rest of Glounthaune - Midleton, develop
a new through platform at Cork station to run Mallow to Midleton/Cobh services and resignal the
Cork commuter network. This would need major demolition work at Cork, probably with closure of the
avoiding line. Of course, there are two through platforms already, one of which is only rarely used.

1378 ISLE OF MAN (Graeme Jolley) [email protected]
1619] Mountain Railway: On the afternoon of Sat 5 Jun there was a serious OHLE problem on the Up
line from Laxey to Bungalow, some passengers ended up being 'rescued' from Bungalow by bus.
An emergency timetable was operating, hourly each way, and single line working using the Down line
throughout - Laxey to Bungalow to avoid three breaks in the overhead and Bungalow to Summit for
coincidental track and drainage works. This required cars to cross at Bungalow which was achieved by
reversing the Down tram (with passengers) over the 'upper' Bungalow facing crossover (remember it's
right hand running normally) to recess on the Up line while the Up tram passed on the Down line.
The down tram then crossed back to the Down line (bidirectionalists delight) to carry on down to Laxey.

The three OHLE breaks were opposite Snaefell Mines. It was anticipated that this problem would be
addressed over the subsequent three days in time for Thur 10 Jun, the next advertised public workings.
Above Bungalow, the track had been lifted for relaying on the Up line between Poles 1070 and 1072.

1620] Electric Railway: On the first day of the season, Thur 22 May, Cars 20, 7, 5, & 1 were running but
no trailers (possibly to help speed up turnarounds at Ramsey). There were two single track sections.
One, with work on the seaside track, was from Lewaigue (15m 72ch) to 17m 60ch just south of Ramsey.

From Ramsey, cars returned from the arrival platform and took the landside track. Within it a landslip
just south of Ramsey was temporarily fenced off, with no sign of any work yet then. A longer stretch in
the same single line section further south had works vehicles, with plastic ducting ready to be installed.

(BLN 1377.1466) Work north of Eskadale (2m 71ch) is progressing; the inland track had been lifted and
the foundations were being replaced. Apparently it is intended to relay the track through to Halfway
(Baldromma) (3m 46ch), but it is not known if this work will continue throughout the summer.

1621] Ramsey Shipyard slip: Yet another IOM railway, double track, probably 4' 8½" gauge. It is partly
submerged (appealing to aquagricers who like their water overlap) and on a steep gradient. On 25 May
Mezeron freighter, 'Silver River' was at the top for inspection ready to grice it - hopefully no 'slip ups'!

1622] Steam (mostly) Railway: On the first day of the season, Thur 27 May, the Douglas loco was No4
'Loch' and No13 'Kissack' started at Port Erin, both very well turned out. The Society was represented
on both first trains. A recently installed overbridge north of Ballasalla station will take the new bypass
over the railway. It will become the main Douglas to Airport/South road, reducing traffic over the level
crossing. This is part of a large new housing development both sides of the line. The bridge will
eventually be stone clad apparently. Questions have been raised over the vertical clearance (horizontal
is fine) and it certainly felt rather tight. There is a rumour that No21 (the diesel 'Cabbage') might not fit
but it may never get that far anyway! '21' is actually back on its bogies in the carriage shed at Douglas!

The Steam Railway was very busy on 29 May; the 09.50 ex-Douglas was strengthened to five coaches
and the 13.50 to six (the Foxdale coach was added). Do you remember when British Rail could do that?

1623] Staffing: The Steam Railway still uses staffs to regulate train. In the standard timetable, two are
required: Douglas to Castletown and Castletown to Port Erin. In multiple sections, they can be divided
if needed for any of the intermediate loops to be used. The Sunday lunch train passes service trains at
Santon each way requiring the Douglas to Castletown staff to be split. The two parts are recombined
after Santon loop is closed for the day. The lunch train is booked slower than a standard service (you
can't rush lunch) and normally pauses for the views at Keristal, so takes much longer to Port Soderick.

BELOW: (Item 1621) Ramsey Shipyard slip aquatrack; it is understood

d that both tracks are bidirectional! (Jenny Williamson, 22 May 2021.)





PREVIOUS: (Item 1620) Looking south from Ramsey. BELOW: Halfway (B