clay wagon, giving rides along Bodmin General P2. (Peter Scott, 9 Sep 2023.)
BELOW: 47306 heads back up the steep climb towards Bodmin General
l with a replica clay train (from the brakevan). (Peter Scott, 9 Sep 2023.)
BELOW: At Bodmin Parkway looking towards Plymout
th, the main line platforms are far right, upper centre.
BELOW: (Item MR201) Little Western Railway; 'Linda' rest
ts in the neat and tidy station. (Peter Scott, 13 Sep 2023.)
MR199] Paradise Railway, Cornwall (MR p14) (BLN 1236.MR94): This long standing 15" gauge railway runs in a circuit of some 240 yards in the grounds of Paradise Park (formerly Bird Paradise) in Hayle. A visit was made on Sunday 10 September; a check is required before entry to see if the railway is operating as it does not run during wet or damp weather due to rail head conditions. Senior adult entry to the park was £15.95 and the lady on the desk kindly gave our visiting members a £2 discount after they explained their visit was only to see and ride on the railway. The fare was £1 for all for two anti-clockwise circuits, purchased from the driver at the small station ticket office before departure. Under 2s are free. No tickets were issued. The railway encircles Glanmor House (not open to the public) and has one unnamed station, a tunnel/shed and a single line into a workshop. In use was the railway's only loco, 4wDM 'Zebedee' (L10180/1938) with a two coach articulated set of open bogie coaches. Trains were booked to run at: 11.30, 12.45, 13.45, 14.30, 15.45 & 16.40. The 11.30, at least, did not run due to earlier light rain. However, the 14.30 was sampled and was virtually full. The Park has over 1,000 birds and animals, is the home of the World Parrot Trust and is well worth a closer inspection. There are also pleasant views across the bay to Lelant and a good café. The Park is just over a ½ mile walk (uphill!) from Hayle station but downhill going back! The 10 September 2023 plan http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/paradiserailway.pdf (the link is live if downloaded). MR200] Bodmin (& Wenford) Railway, Cornwall (MR p6): The railway held an excellent 'China Clay Gala' over the weekend of 9 & 10 September and a visit was made on the Saturday. An intensive and interesting timetable was in use offering passenger trains to both Bodmin Parkway and Boscarne Junction from Platform 1 at Bodmin General. Of more interest were two China Clay trains and these were sampled first. The 11.55 Clay Wagon Ride was formed of Port of Par 0-4-0ST 'Judy' (WB2572/ 1937) with OOV wagon B743635, which had been fitted with nice permanent wooden seats for around 12 passengers. 'Judy' propelled the wagon from close to the stop blocks on Platform 2 out to the starting signal towards Bodmin Parkway and hauled it back. An unusual and atmospheric ride. Sister locomotive 'Alfred' (WB3058) was stabled on the stops in Platform 2. Also running to and from Platform 2 was a China Clay train on which it was possible to travel in the brakevan. The 13.35 working was formed of 47306 leading brake van B955166 and OOVs B743353, B743171 & B743495. This ran to Bodmin Parkway, where 47306 ran round and returned up the steep climb to Bodmin General. http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/bodminwenford.pdf is the 9 September 2023 track plan. Afterwards, a trip was taken on the 14.50 General to Parkway with GWR 2-6-2Ts; 5552 leading and 5553 on the rear. At Parkway 5552 ran round to the front and the 15.20 departure was doubled headed for a noisy run back to General. The 15.50 from General to Boscarne Junction was formed of 47306, which ran round at Boscarne Junction. The formation of both these trains was the same three coach BR MK1 set. Also in use was 08359; 50042 was to be used on the Sunday in place of 47306. An all day ticket was £25, with the wagon ride and brakevan trip being an extra £5 each. The railway should be commended for putting on such an interesting and well operated gala - timekeeping was excellent. The weather was hot and sunny, which may have sent some visitors to the beach but the passenger trains were reasonably well filled - unsurprisingly the clay wagon and brakevan rides proved to be the most popular. It was a most enjoyable day. MR201] Little Western Railway, Cornwall (MR p14) (BLN 1384.MR161): Originally opened in 1968 by Eric Booth, founder of the Lappa Valley Railway, this 7¼" gauge railway is located in Trenance Leisure Park on the outskirts of Newquay and close to Trenance Viaduct on the Newquay branch. The line is formed of a circuit some 300 yards long and features an attractive unnamed one platform station. This has a simple parallel loop and a turntable serving a two road small locomotive shed. The railway was taken over by Richard Curtis early in 2020 and he has improved it markedly (investing nearly £150,000), adding a second two road loco shed called 'Littlefield Motive Power Depot' and a two road carriage shed. Both these are inside the circuit at its eastern end and are served by a line ending in a turntable, which in turn feeds both sheds. A stream runs through the circuit and the line passes over this by two bridges. A visit on Wednesday 13 September found the railway in operation with 4w-4 'Linda' N o 1990 (Mardyke 2012) and two sit astride coaches (ex-Dobwalls). A third coach was parked spare in the station loop. The fare was £1.50 for all for two clockwise circuits - under 2s are free.
A nice blue titled roll ticket was issued from the station ticket office by the driver and clipped on sale. The railway has an excellent website: www.littlewesternrailway.com with information about the railway's locomotive fleet and full details of opening dates and time. Broadly the railway is open at weekends from Mid March to the end of October and daily in the school holidays, 10.30 to 16.00 minimum. This is what every small miniature railway should be aspiring to and a visit is recommended. http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/littlewestern.pdf is the 13 September 2023 track plan. 1434 FIXTURE REPORTS (Paul Stewart) [email protected] 2376] Immingham Area Signal Box Visits Part 3, Wed 22 Mar 2023: (BLN 1433.2282) By Nick Jones. :⑦Immingham Reception Sidings:: (104m 30ch) This box opened on 6 Oct 1912, the same year as Immingham West Junction box, with the completion of the Port of Immingham. It is also a GCR Type 5 design but looks quite different with its distinctive blue paintwork. Another striking visual difference is the brick blast wall, visually superior to the concrete appearance of Immingham West Jn (although the latter may actually be of similar construction, with more recent rendering over the brick). For many, this was one of the most eagerly anticipated visits today because of its extremely rare British Pneumatic Railway Signal Company (BPRSCo) slide frame, dating from 1912. At the time of the visit, many participants assumed that the signals were operated pneumatically (or had been in the past). However, further research since has clarified that operation had been all electric throughout the frame's operational life. It now only controls the area in the immediate vicinity, including the Grimsby Lines (towards Immingham East and the 'Light Railway') plus the Reception Sidings itself. The single track behind this box once to the former Immingham Motive Power Depot, 'Empty Sidings Line' on TRACKmaps 2 p31B 2020, is 'C&W Loop Line' on the box diagram. It was very shiny and in regular use. Above the frame is a small Individual Function Switch panel dating from 1970 which controls Humber Road Jn, where the main line from Ulceby to the Dock splits three ways split into the Grimsby Lines, the Killingholme Lines (to Immingham West), and the now OOU NCB Terminal between the two. Finally, an eNtrance eXit (NX) panel controls access to Lindsey and Humber Oil Refineries just west of Humber Road Jn. It dates from 18 Sep 1977, inserted into the console shell of an earlier (26 Oct 1967) Westinghouse NX panel provided for the commissioning of the lines associated with the oil refineries. The one mile Lindsey branch makes a triangular junction with the main line; the NX panel labels the junctions logically Lindsey North Jn, Lindsey East Jn and Lindsey West Jn. However, these names are not on the Sectional Appendix (SA). Similarly, the western entrance to Humber Refinery is Conoco West Jn on the panel but has no distinct name on the SA (its east end junction is at Lindsey East Jn). :⑧Great Coates (Sidings) N o 1:: (198m 34ch) It was time to visit the boxes of the former Grimsby District Light Railway, for many years now actually the 'Grimsby Light Single'. It was completed in 1906, linking Grimsby with the (then under construction) Port of Immingham. Access to the first of the three remaining boxes required a drive along the route of the former Grimsby District Electric Light Railway. This section ran as a tramway along Gilbey Rd but closed in 1961. The road is a cycle path, not open to public motor traffic, but NR retains vehicle access rights to the remaining lines and signal box. There have been four boxes with 'Great Coates' in their name. Great Coates signal box was at Great Coates station on the Great Central Railway Manchester to Cleethorpes main line (the passenger route to Cleethorpes now). That box survived until 1987 but, of course, the station remains open. Great Coates Junction box was also on the Manchester to Cleethorpes line, three quarters of a mile northwest of Grimsby Town station and controlled the junction for the original Grimsby Docks branch. However, as the docks expanded around the turn of the 20th Century, the branch was inadequate for traffic and was superseded by a new route from the main line at a triangular junction (Marsh Jns) half a mile further northwest. The original Docks branch (and Great Coates Junction box) closed in 1908. Great Coates Sidings N o 1 (referred to as N o 1) and Great Coates Sidings N o 2 (N o 2) boxes were opened by the GCR in 1909 as part of this new route to the Docks. As the names suggest, they controlled access to large marshalling yards. West Marsh Sidings had 12 through roads and stretched half a mile from Marsh West Jn to N o 1 box; indeed, including the running lines and loops, 17 tracks are shown
across here on the 25'' map of 1933. N o 2 was a further 500yd towards Grimsby Docks and controlled the junction between the light railway to Immingham and the branches to the Docks, as well as access to Great Coates Sidings - a huge yard for marshalling Alexandra Dock traffic. N o 2 box closed in 1966 and the junction between the Immingham line and the (much simplified) Docks branch was moved back to N o 1. The two single line branches then ran parallel for 30ch, before diverging as they do now. The name board on the surviving box is still Great Coates Sidings N o 1 but the Sectional Appendix and box diagram refer to it as simply Great Coates N o 1. The final remnants of West Marsh Sidings were lifted in 2021 but the exit signal GC10 retains its semaphore arm! The branch to Grimsby Docks is still theoretically available for traffic but hasn't seen any for many years. The last working appears to have been a Class 60 light engine on Sat 10 Jan 2016 during a North Lincolnshire 'railtour' to test the new signalling. The most recent public railtour, on 11 Apr 2015, was the 'Humber Sceptre' (UK Railtours). The One Train Working branch staff is no longer kept in the box but is locked away elsewhere for safe keeping. The single track 'main line' to Pyewipe Road is fully track circuited and worked by Acceptance Lever (Red-Brown Lever 7); trains are described on a single stroke bell. Traffic is very 'light', a handful of trains per year, including turning the three Scunthorpe iron ore tippler wagon sets six-monthly to even flange wear. However, the route is available if the main access via Humber Road Jn is blocked to Immingham. Despite its name, the line can handle the heaviest loaded oil trains to Kingsbury but capacity is severely restricted by the lack of loops/block sections and 20mph line speed (10mph in places). Until a few years ago at least, about 25% of all NR freight traffic passed through Immingham. 2377] Scunthorpe Summer Steeler 26; Mon 28 Aug 2023: (Updated, marked up, track plan on our website.) By Chris Lings (3926) This is Paul Stewart's fault. If you would be prepared to do the report you can have a place on the rear brakevan veranda. Ok, deal. (I have never done a BLN report before, so apologies now - my writing skills usually extend to 'Defer to next 'B' exam' in a 170 DMU fault book.) The now traditional Society August Bank Holiday trundle around British Steel Scunthorpe, re-dated to Monday 28 th due to our weekend of mainline tours to Yorkshire and Cumbria, was enjoyed by three brakevans worth of the usual plus a few first timers (referred to in the trade as 'Scunthorpe virgins'). In ideal weather, especially for Alan and Glenn doing the shunting and points, we sampled the scenic vistas of the increasingly rare opportunities to see British heavy industry at work. This was my seventh visit in a row and I still find it fascinating to view and amazing that in this age, given all the rules and regs for rail operations on the mainline and heritage railways, we can still do these trips here. Even better, they still manage to find more 'new' track to do! Anyone who has never been, book now! Starting 09.30 from the rebranded AFR (Appleby Frodingham Railway) Frodingham Platform, even those arriving by TPE made it OK. (I chickened out and drove.) With Appleby Frodingham N o 1, YE 0-6-0 Janus class,leading, we propelled back to the platform buffer stops,.then did the same in the run round loop. A fairly brisk run, obviously with a mission in mind, was made through the middle of the works and down 65 Road, giving good views of the eastern side of the four blast furnaces. Was it 'Anne' that was working? That took us to a reversal near Gate B back towards the Rod & Bar Mills with a quick diversion at 217 Points up the siding (while it was empty), the reason for which soon became clear. Coming to a stand at the road crossing outside the Rod Mill, not only was the crossing alarm operated but also the shunting operation lights for entry into the building by British Steel's person in charge here. It seems a prior arrangement had been made! Into the gloom, a string of internal wagons could then be seen blocking the way to the end. That problem was soon solved by Glenn with his shunting pole; said wagons were moved to the previously done siding allowing our brakevans to be propelled right up to the buffers inside. This was a 'first' as previous visits had stopped at the closed door. With a short detour to the adjacent Bar Mill entrance, (blocked by an immovable road cone) the next calling point was the Torpedo Repair Bay. It was notable that the South Melting Shop Running Road, covered by earlier tours, which gave a direct connection back towards the AFR shed from this area, appeared disused now. Several of the molten metal Torpedo wagons were in various stages of cleaning out, repair and relining, with flames coming from the insides of one to remove the residue.
(I'd be interested to find out more about the processes needed to make the whole plant work and ultimately produce the finished products.*) With our shunting team clearing out the points and finding the rails under the dirt, we managed to cover Lines 1-5 either up to the wagons and, even better, right inside the building on 1 & 2. [*AFR Pacer tours include a commentary on steelmaking.] After all that shuffling about, a swift run to the Scrap Bay at the southeast end of the site followed. We did both sides of the loop and each sharply curved siding up to the covered area with its cranes overhead. Showers of sparks from cutting torches also showed that we were again in a working area. With a reversal, a run around the eastern side of the BOS (Basic Oxygen Steelmaking) Plant and Slab Yard to the Former* Bloom & Billet Mill (B&BM) ensued, using the very sharp reverse curve to enter the building on Furnace Road, then the line towards Mills Exchange Sidings. This has been regularly done but a very rare event was the shunting lights being switched on again for us to access B&BM4 and B&BM2 sidings inside the massive building. With the brakevans being propelled to the stops on the available track, we were joined by Martyn Brailsford, leaving the loco cab for a better view [any excuse]. After all that excitement he had to go and have a lie down on the grass during the reversal after leaving the building. [*Former as in used to be but no longer is; not forming blooms & billets etc.] The inside jobs (in the we never thought we would ever do that category) still hadn't finished as we then ran to the ends of B&BM6 East and West lines, resulting in a lot of very happy track bashers. Another decent run via Mills Exchange Siding 13, 'The Angle' and up the incline to the Rail Service Centre (RSC) allowed access along the RSC 6 Bay line up to the building. It was interesting to see very long lengths of new rail being lifted by the many synchronised gantries onto mainline wagons on one of the adjacent lines, controlled by just one operator with a portable control box, with a second one manually attaching the rail lifting clamps. As this area is higher than the rest of the works it gives a good view of some areas, including over Scunthorpe itself. Most noticeable this time, was the lack of smoke and periodic eruptions of steam from Appleby Coke Ovens. As reported in BLN, they closed in June with coke now imported from China (no carbon tax), with large stockpiles in several locations. Road transport is used as it is relatively light and friable. However, we did see a Class 66 hauled coal train being unloaded in the distance across the mainline as coal is still used in the steelmaking process. Another new, to me, decent length of track was our next objective; 2 Bay on the north side of the RSC. It has always been occupied but permission had been obtained to cover it to the stops, within sight of our starting point. It required more shunting, thanks to Glenn and pole, to remove a wagon in the way. Lunch beckoned, so, after descending back to Dawes Lane bridge and waiting for a Di8 to propel its train into Redbourne Sidings, we could reverse past Winns Sidings, still with its long term resident moribund Class 20, to the AFR loco shed. Their girls and boys put on an excellent buffet with the warm sun making it comfortable to sit inside their Mk1 coach or around the outside tables, which most did. Back on the move and after a shed shuffle to cover the two northernmost shed lines (5 & 6 Roads), it was over to the Heavy Repair Bay, eastern side. As the lines this end were almost empty and a set of buffer stops between 7 and 6 Roads had been moved, it was possible to cover every siding outside to the point of obstruction (per marked up plan), including that reopened link between 7 and 6 Roads. Mission accomplished, we were inclined to go back up to the Corus Rail Sidings (all together now…!). Being a Bank Holiday, they were unusually empty, with only a few wagons, so it was possible to cover most except Lines 4 and 7. Crashing through the Buddleia on Line 1, we reached a couple of wagon lengths from the buffers. A lack of wheels under a stored wagon there prevented further progress. Yet another plan then seemed to have been hatched, as the shunting pole was out again and our loco ran round. The Muck Bank turned out to be the next goal, specifically the West Loop. (It must have been required by someone with some influence on the tour!) I thought we did exceedingly well on the previous tour to reach the end of line after much 'gardening' after previous failed attempts. However, I had forgotten about the loop. It turned out to be an epic battle. The loop was occupied by about seven open wagons, then two sets of very solid looking weighty internal user bogie flats. The first attempt to move them failed due to weeds on the lines causing wheelspin. As we were about to obstruct another Di8 hauled train passing through Mills Exchange Sidings, a retreat was made to cover a dead end road.
ABOVE: (
(Item 2376) Box diagram. LEFT: A signal motor but it is not 'pneumatic'!
BELOW: Immingham Reception Sidings Individual Function Switch (
(IFS) Panel. (All photos by Nick Jones during our 22 Mar 2023 visits.)
BELOW: The Lyndsey Oil Refinery and Conaco (now Humb
ber Refinery) panel at Immingham Reception Sidings box.
[BLN BELOW: Not a museum exhibit but a working sli
1434] de frame at Immingham Reception Sidings box.
BELOW: View southeast from the 'back' (coast side) of the box to Immingham
m Reception Sidings ahead, the scrap metal top left is at the old NCB Terminal.
BELOW: In the other direction, (TRACKmaps 2 p31B 2020) the NCB Terminal br
ranch is right and the Shunt Spur straight ahead, Lindsey Refinery is upper left.
BELOW: 'Great Coates' sounds as though it should have an exclamation mark;
Grimsby Docks and Immingham are to the left, West Marsh Jn is to the right.
BELOW: Great Coates N o 1 (Sidings) frame with no sidings these d
days and many levers now out of order or spare (painted white).
BELOW: From the box, actually looking northeast; ahead the track left is
s to Immingham and right to Grimsby Docks, the overbridge is the A180.
With battle recommencing and a small conference going on in the distance from the vans, another go was had. This time our loco and crew succeeded in moving the seven four-wheelers and one 'set' out and propelled onto the exchange sidings. They then managed, with much effort, to move the other 'set' onto the eastern loop, leaving the way sort of clear to do the required track. That's assuming anyone could actually make out where it was. It just appeared to be a couple of grooves in muck and vegetation, hence the reason the loco had to lead and force a way through, which it did up to the roadway - well after the far end loop points giving participants overlap on what had been done before. With the rails completely buried under the mud across the haul road (as usual), that was as far as we could go without major excavations, so it was just the small matter of putting everything back again. Next our tour was off south again, to the Caster 5 Loop dead ends, via two reversals, to the Furnace Road again and Subway Loop. New track for me again, as these lines are in constant use by internal trains from the Concast plant. Usually it's one train out, then next one in, so the chance was taken to do them while they were briefly clear. An empty train was waiting to go in as we moved out. Passing the Former Mould Shop (again, as in used to be) and over Northants Bridge, we returned to the points at Dawes Lane, passing more piles of imported coke, the line of dead locos and the recently closed Coke Ovens. Some mention was made to the chance of 'doing' the coke oven track but this had been ruled out as, on falling out of use and cooling down, the lining brickwork had started to collapse, making it unsafe to go in. In any case, the approach track was obstructed by heavy equipment. I hope no one was rushing for a train back. My phone said 17.58 as we passed the AFR shed again but we were not quite finished, as another couple of reversals enabled us to cover the Central Engineering Workshop Dock branch, with elevated views of the locos under repair outside the Heavy Repair Bay. With a return to the platform, so ended another highly interesting and successful railtour, actually slightly earlier than our booked (summer) arrival of 18.30. I hope they can continue and thanks once again to Alan, Martha, Neil (for the printed full colour A3 sized track plan provided to every participant on the day), Glenn, the loco crew, catering volunteers and everyone who enables these to happen. [One thing we learnt with the necessary change of date to avoid clashing with our tours, is that the Monday is the best day to go over Aug Bank Holiday. Why not join us for our next trip on Sat 6 Jan, particularly if you have never been before? Details and bookings via our website or BLN 1433.2188.] Details must be checked 1434 CONNECTIONS (Paul Stewart) [email protected] .Please mention BLN . 2378] 16-21 Nov; Rampa de Pajares Farewell: A PTG railtour of several lines not used by regular passenger services and a farewell to one of the most convoluted railways in Europe. The Pajares Ramp/Descent, from León to Gijón, saves the unevenness of the Cantabrian Mountains, through the eponymous mountain pass. Its last section was built between 1880 and 1884 and it is considered one of the greatest engineering works in Spain in the 19th century and one of the most difficult mountain passes in Europe. There are 61 tunnels with 156 pontoons and bridges. Today the line is considered one of the most scenic in Europe. In 2003 worked started on a 25km base tunnel to bypass the 'ramp'. It has been beset with problems but the twin tunnels are almost complete and opening is expected before the end of Nov with all passenger services routed on the high speed tunnel lines. The line was electrified in 1924 and went from steam to electric traction without diesels ever being diagrammed to work it. PTG intends to use vintage Alco diesels! A final and unique chance to travel on the route behind diesel traction in carriages with opening windows. Details are in a 4-page PDF with e-BLN. NOTE: Our members can still claim the reduced prices in brackets. 2379] New Dec 2023 e-Timetable: This is appearing at: https://timetables.fabdigital.uk/nrt/dec2023/ 2380] Sat 6 Jan 2024; Downpatrick & County Down Railway: (MR p10) Diesel Gala with rare track & traction; details to follow. Loco yard cab rides, brakevan & Wickham railcar 713 rides. Unusually, trains will use the North Line from Downpatrick to Inch Abbey and the South Line towards Magnus Grave. CONTACT DETAILS: On website Contacts page and a BLN & Committee directory was provided with BLN 1415 ●Editor: Paul Stewart [email protected] 4 Clarence Close, MALVERN, WR14 3HX 01684 562862 07790 652351. ●Sales: Darren Garnon [email protected] 3 Reader Drive, Marden, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 9FD. ●MAPS: By permission of National Library of Scotland http://maps.nls.uk/index.html ●Printed by Willow Printing & Design Ltd [email protected] 75/79 Back Cross Lane, NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS, WA12 9YE 01925 222449. ●Published by the Branch Line Society, 10 Sandringham Rd, STOKE GIFFORD, BS34 8NP.