532] Minor Railways 36th Edition - 2024: With Easter early this year, Peter Scott's fully revised new Minor Railways booklet is expected to be posted out to every full member in early April, just after Easter. This includes those who just have electronic subscriptions. If you have changed address and not yet informed us, please advise our Membership Secretary, Lisa (above), as soon as possible. Date Book online BLN Lead Status Thur 7 Mar Thunderbirds are Go! Derby to Linlithgow 1439 MG OPEN Fri 8-10 Mar BWC Two to Fort William, Oban & Mallaig 1440 MG Waitinglist Mon 11 Mar International Rescue Linlithgow to Derby 1439 MG OPEN Fri 22 Mar The Strawberry Fields, East Somerset Rly 1441 MG OPEN Sat 23 Mar The Bodmin Bubble, Bodmin Railway 1441 MG OPEN Sun 24 Mar The Southern Extremity, Helston Railway (morning) 1441 MG OPEN Sun 24 Mar Moseley Heritage Museum (afternoon) 1442 MG OPEN Fri 5 Apr New Mills area conducted signal box visits 1442 MG Waitinglist Sat 6 Apr The Scaccarium Dies, Bluebell Railway 'all lines' 1441 MG Waitinglist Sun 7 Apr *NEW* The School Belle - Sussex 10¼'' railways BELOW MG OPEN Sat 20 Apr *NEW*09.00 & 13.00 Toton Doors Reopened BELOW MG OPEN Fri 26 Apr Manchester Victoria behind the scenes tour Website MG Waitinglist Sat 27 Apr Glasgow Central guided tour & Kelvinbridge Below MG OPEN Fri 3-6 May Kernow - Cornwall passenger branches loco-hauled TBA TBA Claimed Sun 12 May Class 507 Farewell from/to Birkenhead North; 507001 & 507003 expected, subject to the usual caveats TBA TBA Claimed Sat 25 May The Hanson Hanse loco-hauled railtour 1439 MG Waitinglist Sun 26 May The Millbrook Meander loco-hauled railtour 1439 MG OPEN Mon 27 May 11.00 & 14.00 Moreton Park railtours; ex-BR locos 1440 MG LIMITED Wed 5 Jun *NEW* The Bucket & Spade Charter (LSL) for RBF Website MG OPEN Thur 6 Jun Mainline railtour - save the date TBA TBA Claimed Sun 9 Jun Mainline railtour - save the date TBA TBA Claimed Sun 21 Jul Mainline charter - save the date TBA TBA Claimed Mon 26 Aug Summer Scunthorpe railtour 28 (09.30-18.30) TBA TBA Claimed MG = Mark Gomm [email protected] 84 Mornington Rd, STOKE-ON-TRENT, ST1 6EL 07983 541887. 533] Re: BLN 1442.441: Our North East Editor was certainly 'bred' in the Middlesbrough area but was born in Bath (and not in one in Middlesbrough). The story (paragraph 8 of this item) widely reported, then, that London Bridge was bought in the mistaken belief that it was Tower Bridge, was vehemently denied by the purchaser and the agent who arranged the sale! They would say that, wouldn't they? Number 1443 (Items 532 - 669 & MR 33 - MR 41) (E-BLN 143 PAGES) 2 Mar 2024 BRANCH LINE NEWS Praeteritum, praesens et futurum ferriviaria [ISSN 1354-0947] 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 [email protected] Park Road South, Hull, HU4 7BU. 07873 354464 British Isles news from members; an International section is available Opinions are not necessarily those of the Compilers or of the Society ciety. Society. …BLN 1444 is dated Sat 16 Mar; contributions by Wed 6 Mar, please
BELOW: (Item X.26) South Downs Light Railway; a bErnest Dove's 'Coronation' which was first unveiled to the public in
beautiful locomotive with an interesting history. n a Nottingham department store! (Peter Scott, 28 Aug 2023.)
BELOW: Track circuits and signalling on the South Downs Light Railway which we visit on Sun 7 Apr.
X.26] :Sunday 7 April; The School Belle - Sussex Minor Railways:: (MR p25): Thanks to your General Secretary, Tim Wallis, these follow on from our Bluebell Railway railtour the previous day. Riding visits have been arranged at the South Downs Light Railway, Pulborough, at 09.30 then, less than 10 miles away, to the private Ingfield Light Railway, Ingfield Manor School at 13.00. Both are 10¼'' gauge. The 1,100yd South Downs Light Railway is at Pulborough Garden Centre, Stopham Road, Pulborough RH20 1DS, less than a mile west of Pulbrough station along the A823. The visit will include their 'short circuit' used only by their 'South Downs Belle' specials - shown as 'Not in regular use' at http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/southdowns.pdf and one or two shed roads / sidings not available in public operation. The 900yd Ingfield Light Railway, Ingfield Manor School, Ingfield Manor Drive, Five Oaks, Billingshurst, RH14 9AX doesn't run very often for the public and then not over the relatively recent Willow End extension as car parking arrangements block the route. They will offer their full run and extra sections as available but note that passenger travel over their 'double slip' is prohibited. They operate to support Ingfield Manor School, which provides facilities for students aged 3-19 years with neurological motor impairment, such as Cerebral Palsy, associated medical / sensory needs. Light refreshments will be available for donations. Peter Scott's track plan: http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/ingfield.pdf (this is for personal use only). Car share may be available; please note any request or offers in your booking notes. £12 (Members only; no reductions) which includes stock lists and track plans; please book online at our website. X.27] : Sat 20 Apr 2024, 09.00 & 13.00; Toton - Doors Reopened:: With huge thanks to our friends at DB Cargo, we are delighted to announce another very special opportunity to experience a guided tour of DB Cargo's Toton Depot including a behind the scenes tour of this fascinating maintenance facility. All profits from these visits will be donated to Martin House Hospice. There are two vguided tours at 09.00 and 13.00, 25 particmaximum for each. Photography is permitted but strictly for personal use is permitted. Participants MUST follow the instructions of our hosts and ensure they stay together as a group for safety purposes As you would expect for a busy working depot, personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential. Before you book, please ensure you have access to an orange hi-viz vest or coat, sensible footwear (ideally safety boots), hard hat or bump cap and safety glasses (for when inside the depot building). The site is extensive, and you will be required to walk significant distances on uneven surfaces and be alert to obstructions and trip hazards.You will be asked when booking to confirm that you have ipants read and understood the above and that you have or will obtain the required PPE. Note that due to technical limitations we are using the boxes for 'joining at' and 'leaving at' on the booking page for capturing this information. Members only £40 no reductions - please book on our website. Seev BLN 1434.1315 (of 21 Oct 2023) for report/photos of our previous Totoan tours.
534] :Sat 27 Apr; 09.30 Glasgow Central guided tour & Kelvinbridge micro-tour:: Thanks to member Adam Turner - so it will be good - this is a great chance to go on a 'BLS version' of the fascinating Glasgow Central station tour and reach parts that other tours don't reach. As well as everywhere on NR's established Glasgow Central tour - which your Editor has done twice and recommends fully - there are some extras, including the football tunnels! Meet at 09.30 on the concourse; our guided tour will descend below platform level to explore the non-public, rabbit-warren-like undercroft, the station museum and disused low level platform (closed to passengers 5 Oct 1964). We then take the Glasgow Subway to Kelvinbridge to see the remains of the Glasgow Central Railway station there and its railway formation. Optionally, the day concludes at Glasgow Riverside Museum. Members only; limit 20. Participants will need to wear sturdy, sensible footwear (no open-toed shoes/heels). During the Glasgow Central tour, a limited amount of small baggage/jackets can be left in a safe location, subject to a visual security inspection. The station has a left luggage facility for large items. Volunteer/s to write a BLN report welcome! £33; no reductions. This fixture supports the SRPS. 1443 BLN GENERAL (Paul Stewart) [email protected] 535] Points & Slips (Pints & Slops as a member calls it): ●●BLN 1438.MR232] On the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, Peckett 0-4-0ST N o 1976 'JOAN' is, in fact, 'JOHN'. At Broadway, the west side platform is P2 and will open when the building is erected (the Trust has granted money for this) and the platform surfaced. This does depend on nothing further being found wrong with Stanway Viaduct! Routemaster bus RML 2478 at Broadway is owned by a local who occasionally takes passengers into the village. The 'vintage bus' runs between Cheltenham NR and Race Course stations. ●●BLN 1441.353] During Single Line Working between Worle Jn and Nailsea & Backwell in the last week of Jan, a '2-4 car' stop board was positioned in the Up direction on each Down platform at Worle, Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell; there were already Down direction stop boards, of course. ●●402] Peak Forest station, like all other stations between Matlock (exclusive) and Chapel-en-le-Frith Central (inclusive), closed from Mon 6 Mar 1967 with the withdrawal of the local passenger services. However, the line between Matlock and Great Rocks Jn closed from Mon 1 Jul 1968 (rather than in 1967) when the St Pancras to Manchester trains were diverted to run via the Hope Valley. However, due to a guards' dispute, the final trains actually ran on Sat 29 Jun rather than Sun 30 Jun 1968. ●●BLN 1442.418] By chance, a member acquired a book (published by David & Charles in 1980) by Peter Handforth about Peter's involvement with railway sound recordings and Transacord in a charity shop. It's an excellent read of wide interest to BLS members and, having reached halfway, our member heartily recommends it. He bought it as he is familiar with the later Argo LPs and has 'Diesel Hydraulics on the Western' and (undoubtedly the best) the outstanding 'Diesels in the Highlands'. Who needs tours for thrash when you can put a record on? (Those records in BLN did sell by the way.) ●●514] At Moreton-on-Lugg, sometime between 1987 and 1997, a Class 47 and coaches was in sight of the A49. Scorch marks suggested that the locally based SAS practiced storming trains (in heavy rain?) ●●441] Oldham was another place where bus routes were lettered rather than numbered until 1 Nov 1969 when SELNEC* Passenger Transport Executive took over the municipal bus operations. (*South East Lancashire and North East Cheshire conurbation, a joint enterprise of the municipal authorities.) This resulted in renumbering of routes throughout the area on a large scale, with much reshuffling of bus fleets. In those early days, some people let buses pass as they were used to, say, a red bus, and thought that the approaching vehicle of a different colour could not be theirs. From 1 Apr 1974 SELNEC became Greater Manchester, more descriptive and understandable. In Preston, letters were used for bus routes rather than numbers and still are in Exeter, a longstanding arrangement for local city routes. Bolton trams also used letters; Tram No 66 a very typical Edwardian double-deck tram is actively preserved on Blackpool Tramway and often displays Route 'A' prominently on its front.
We have had a few 'letters' about this topic. The First-Eastern Counties Excel service between Norwich and Peterborough still uses letters instead of numbers on its buses. They are A, B, C and D: A - Generally only cover part of the route and all buses on Sundays. B - The whole route calling at all places. C - The whole route but avoiding Dereham. D - A shuttle half hour service between Dereham and Norwich only. ●●470] On Sat 3 Nov 1973, DMU shuttles were booked to leave Newbury for Welford Park at 09.45, 11.45, 13.45 & 15.45. The fare was 60p for a '2 nd Class Cheap Day Return' (Adult or Child), worth £9.10p now. Special Edmondson Card tickets of different colours were printed for each train. Ticket holders received a 'Lambourn Valley Railway Scrapbook', specially produced and printed by British Rail Western Region. It included sepia pictures, station plans, gradient profiles and an item about the Kennet & Avon Canal. Participants did not see a lamb born during the trips. Your East Mids Ed once had a bicycle puncture on a public road round the perimeter of RAF Honington (Suffolk). While installing a new inner tube, the RAF police arrived to see what was going on but didn't offer to help! 472] Regarding bell/electronic communication between Eastfield signal box and Peterborough Power Signal Box or York ROC. Trains are 'described' between signal boxes with 'Train Describer Apparatus' not 'transcribed'. Transcription is of course, making a written copy, as opposed to dinging on a bell. ●●485] Regarding the Malvern Link feature, a correspondent remembers the double-deckers well from Crosville buses on Merseyside in his youth. They had the side gangway, 4-seat benches upstairs and very limited headroom on the offside downstairs. These were on the Bristol (Commercial Vehicles) 'K' type chassis, when restricted height was required to negotiate low bridges. The Lodekka, Bristol 'L' type, was a later design on a modified chassis allowing a lower floor and therefore full height upstairs with 2+2 seating within the same overall height. These Bristol designs with Eastern Coach Works (of Lowestoft) bodies were exclusive to the 'British Transport Commission Group' of bus companies (those nationalised in 1948) but widely seen throughout the country. There must surely be some preserved but our member doesn't recall seeing one, at least not with the upper deck side gangway. The 'K' types were also distinguished by a very distinctive engine roar, seemingly whether they had Bristol engines or the alternative Gardner version. Happy days! Another member advises that the Bristol/Eastern Coach Works Lodekka did away with the sunken upper saloon floor layout for a conventional low height vehicle, which was known as a Lowbridge. The Lowbridge would appear to be the type of vehicle intended in the article about Malvern Link. They were a vast improvement for passengers; the low height was achieved in the Lodekka by splitting the prop shaft to allow an unobstructed floor in the lower saloon, thus there was no need for a sunken floor in the upper saloon. There was then no requirement to continue with the unloved Lowbridge design. Eventually rear-engine buses became the norm, as they still are today. A third member informs us that bus Service 112 from Malvern to Gloucester was not a Midland Red route, but Bristol Omnibus (green livery) although Midland Red was by far the dominant operator in Malvern. Bristol Lodekkas did not have 'a side passage with quadruple seats upstairs'; that would have been a Bristol 'K'type (as above), which did not normally run to Malvern after 1956. The whole point of the Lodekka design was to allow a normal seating configuration within a low height for low bridges, achieved by using a drop-centre rear axle. Most journeys on the route were in any case one-man operated (a contemporary term - there were no women drivers then) single-deckers from Jan 1967. [Your BLN (not Bus Lovers' News) Editor usually steers clear of buses and will certainly do so in future.] 536] East Lancs Railway; Western Region Weekend, Sat 13 and Sun 14 Apr: With recently overhauled and repainted DMU 'bubble car' W55001; 13.27 from Bury Bolton Street rare south facing Up P1 bay, south to Baron St Gates (8m 74ch) the Metrolink boundary, Castlecroft Slot (Down side north of Bury station) and the inner and outer curves at Bury South Jn. Day Rover valid (Adult £18.50) Details at: http://tinyurl.com/4688256c Track plan: http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/eastlancs.pdf
THIS PAGE: Item 535 regarding BLN 1442.418 above.
BELOW & TO FOLLOW: (Item 535●●470) We take you back 50 years to 1973, scans thanks to Robert Green.
[BLN 1443]
THIS PAGE: These two photos were not in the 'scrapbook' but were taken by Angus McDougall when he did the branch on 27 Jul 1959. Below is the end of line at Lambourn with the 32XX 0-6-0 loco running round.
537]Keeping Track, passenger service suspensions (contributions welcomed) * = new or amended BLN Start (incl) Reopens Location (stations'exclusive'if bracketed) Bold = closed now 1442.461 22 Jan 24 Unknown (Exchange Square) - (Victoria); Metrolink, cracked crossing 1443.630 2 Feb 24 6 Feb 24 *(Mallow) Killarney Jn - Cork - Cobh/Midleton; work at Cork 1443.642 12 Feb 24 16 Feb 24 *Wick/Thurso-(Lairg); damage to sea wall near Brora again 1443.645 17 Feb 24 20 Feb 24 *(Perth) - (Dunblane) / Ladybank Jn 1443.566.2 13 Feb 24 23 Feb 24 *Supertram (Sheffield Station) - Halfway/Herdings Park 14.30 1443.656.3 29 Apr 23 26 Feb 24 *Pontypridd North Jn - Treherbert; final answer! S Wales Metro - 26 Feb 24 2 Mar 24 (Llanwrtyd) - Hendy Jn - Morlais Jn; some buses to Llandrindod 1439.MR9 21 Dec 22 ?4 Mar 24 *Castle Hill Cliff Railway, Bridgnorth, wall failure etc at 12.00 - 23 Feb 24 ?4 Mar 24 *(Rainham) - Newington - (Sittingbourne); landslip 16.40 1442.520.2 1 Mar 24 5 Mar 24 (Heath HL)/Coryton/(Radyr)-Queen St-Cardiff Bay/(Cardiff Cent) - 29 Feb 24 ?9 Mar 24 *Carlisle S Jn - (Workington) Derwent Viaduct closed at 19.50 1440.225 27 Feb 24 11Mar24 (St Austell) - (St Erth) with Truro - Falmouth Docks; resignalling 4 Mar 24 (Liskeard) - (St Erth) plus Falmouth & Newquay branches 1443.609 8 Mar 24 13 Mar 24 *Ryde Pier Head - Shanklin; whole line, planned maintenance 1442.442 8 Feb 24 ?18Mar24 Dockfield Jn - Baildon - Esholt Jn; serious landslip at 12.45 - 18 Mar 24 21 Mar 24 *(Dorchester South) / (Dorchester West) - Weymouth 1434.2363 25 Sep 23 22Mar24 at least.. Ayr/(Ayr) - Girvan and (Kilmarnock) - Barassie Jn 1437.2432 15 Nov 23 Girvan - Stranraer skeleton train service withdrawn 15 Nov - 16 Mar 24 23 Mar 24 *(Plymouth)-(Totnes); to (Exeter St D) 16th &17th and after 21.40 1441.323 15Mar24 25 Mar 24 Dore Station Jn - (New Mills Central)/Hazel Grove East Jn 23.00 1442.508 16 Mar 24 25 Mar 24 (Crianlarich) - Mallaig; Rannoch Viaduct work, Ft Wm resignalling 1443.659 18 Mar 24 28 Mar 24 *(Whitland) - Pembroke Dock; buses to/from Carmarthen - 24 Mar 24 28 Mar 24 *(Evesham) - (Charlbury); North Cotswold Line ǂ Last ran ǂ 5 Nov 23 29 Mar 24 *GWSR, (Toddington) - Broadway; Stanway Viaduct repairs 1441.MR21 17/3/1981 30Mar24 *Northampton & Lamport Railway 4m 31ch - Boughton 12.00 1421.904 29 Mar 23 30 Mar 24 *Merehead West Jn-Cranmore; occasional special trains only 1443.656.2 29 Mar 24 2 Apr 24 *(Caerphilly)/Coryton/(Radyr) - Queen St - Bay/(Cardiff Central) 1437.2418 29 Mar 24 8 Apr 24 *(Belfast Great Victoria Street) - (Lisburn) 1442.487 23 Mar 24 10 Apr 24 *(Wednesbury Great Western Street¶) - Edgbaston Village; ¶extends to Wednesbury Parkway 23-25 Mar; W Mid Metro 1442.227 2 Apr 24 12 Apr 24 *(Golders Green) - Edgware; LU Northern line work at Colindale 1437.2410 22 Apr 24 27 Apr 24 *(Worcester Shrub Hill) - (Evesham) / Norton Jn - Abbotswood Jn 1441.400 27 Apr 24 1 May 24 *(Whitland) - Milford Haven/Fishguard Harbour; gauging work 538] A Hull of a trip: On Sat 10 Feb, with a planned closure of the ECML south of Peterborough, Hull Trains' 08.05 Hull to St Pancras ran as booked. After Doncaster, it diverted via Mexborough then Thrybergh Jn to Aldwarke Jn and the Up Erewash Fast to Up Erewash Slow at Toton Centre Jn. Next 'up' was the Up High Level line from Toton South Jn to Meadow Lane Jn and Trent South Jn. It crossed Up Slow to Up Fast at Loughborough North Jn. On Sun 11 Feb, the return 12.30 St Pancras to Hull ran as booked, Down Fast to Loughborough North Jn, then Down Slow to Trent South Jn, where it crossed to the Down Nottingham. At Trent East Jn it took the Down Erewash then, at Long Eaton Jn, the Down Erewash Fast. On Sun there was a diversion from the booked route at Aldwarke Jn via Swinton instead of Thrybergh Jn. Operational stops were made in both directions at Doncaster but the doors were not released. An operational stop was also made southbound at Kettering but St Pancras back to Doncaster was non-stop. At St Pancras there was a platform queue banner (photo e-BLN 1442.X.23) for Hull Trains, so St Pancras will be used again - it wasn't just a temporary arrangement. The sign was the same banner style used for normal EMR services to Corby/Nottingham/Sheffield etc.
539] Railway Rights of Way: Our charismatic Casnewydd member, Rhys Ab Elis, has explored disused railways for almost 65 years, meticulously recording details of the routes, mileages, dates etc. By the 1980s, he had realised that there was then no published guide to publicly accessible disused railways. With the encouragement of your Society's Committee, Rhys took this project on. He wrote to every County Council in England, Wales, the Irish Republic, Regional Councils in Scotland and appropriate Governmental Organisations in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the IOM. He also contacted other organisations likely to be able to help and even asked our members. The information poured in. As a result, on 1 Oct 1985, our Society published its 'Railway Rights-of-Way' (RROW) book with 120 pages. It aimed to list all trackbeds of 100 yards or longer in the whole of the British Isles, accessible to the public,including those converted to roads. Subsequently,three printed supplements were available and,in 2013, a second edition was published as a compact disc with regular updates available by email. More recently, the database has been on our website, at first accessible only to logged in members. Rhys has regularly updated his database for over 50 years with the help of our members, BLN, Railway Ramblings (the magazine of our sister organisation, Railway Ramblers) and others. Much has been his own personal exploration and observation. Many regard it as the definitive work on the subject. The whole database, updated to 1 Jan 2024, is available free to all on our website, like PSUL. On our 'Home Page', go across the top banner to 'More options...' and down to 'Railway Rights of Way' (RROW) from the drop down menu. On the RROW page, 'Introduction & Notes' has the background, how to interpret the lists with the sequencing explained, sources and abbreviations (particularly the railway companies). The lists are divided into England, Northern Ireland, Irish Republic, Scotland, Wales and 'Islands' (with the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Orkney & the Western Isles). Other islands can be found in their respective regional areas. Each heading leads to a series of nominal administrative areas, which are likely to be familiar to readers, resulting in 102 different PDFs in total. Each PDF has a list of routes within its area in a seven column tabulation. (1): Item reference number. (2): Type of route: footpath, cyclepath, bridleway, road or open space etc. (3): The path name (if any) or, for roads, the 'A' or 'B' number. (4): The start and finish of the route as six-figure grid references if available. (5): The route distance to the nearest quarter of a mile. (6): Pre-Grouping owning Railway Company. (7): Provenance/references. A second section in each PDF lists 'future proposals' and a third lists 'informal paths' which have no legal status as public right of way but are de facto used as such. As there are so many updates in this release, with changes to the entries in almost every single county document, the opportunity has been taken to step up the version number of all the documents to 3.0 Thanks to our Website Officer, Phil Wieland, the documents have been moved onto our website server from Google Drive, a far more robust arrangement that makes future updating more straightforward. There has recently been a major update to 1 Jan 2024; revisions are usually two or three times a year. Composite PDFs are available covering each whole country. A 375 page (6MB) 'All Areas' PDF has the introduction, British Isles Database and index as one document, regularly updated, equivalent to the book. PDFs can be downloaded, printed or 'cut & pasted' and are searchable (useful for visiting a particular area or where you live). The compiler would be pleased to receive corrections and additions. We do need our members help with this as Rhys isn't able to do as many personal visits nowadays. Committee member John Hampson has kindly taken over as our RROW Coordinator from Neil Lewis and is keen to hear from you! Please specifically check and comment to him on your local (or not so local) area - reports on trackbed/railway walks are also welcomed by your BLN Regional Editors. Please email John Hampson with reports at [email protected] or by post to Rhys Ab Elis, Mynydd Mawr, 14 Rhes-Y-Twnnel, Casnewydd, Gwent, NP20 4BT. 540] How much will this bill cost? Draft Rail Reform Bill (publishing.service.gov.uk) (32 pages) is the Bill setting up the Integrated Rail Authority (oh dear, that's the IRA, what about British Rail instead?). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-rail-reform-bill has all the supporting papers.
541] Railway Memories 122, Alan Fell (512), Episode 6 - mainline BR steam finale: (BLN 1442.420) I spent 3½ years in Birmingham, three as a civil engineering student at Birmingham University from age 17½ and the rest in my first proper paid job. As far as railways were concerned, this was absolutely fascinating, covering the demise of British Rail(BR)main line steam, continued line closures, developing my career as a full blown gricer and my pursuit of as much football as possible. This was almost always by train, with the awkward but necessary challenges of 'fitting in' studying and later employment. With the retrospectoscope, it seems that my principal interest changed as these years unfolded. The 1966-67 academic year was still largely dominated by spotting but this pursuit was increasingly recognised as having to comply with the law of diminishing returns. I became interested in industrial sites where it was possible to still see working steam. Overwhelmingly, 1968-69 was about the end of BR main line steam - full stop. My third and final academic year saw a move into railtours, participating in one a month in Nov 1968 and in the FIVE successive months of Feb to Jun 1969. Then, in 1969-70, my transition to gricing was completed (as for many other enthusiasts, after BR steam ended). Oct 1966 saw my university time off to a flying start by joining a bunch of similarly minded freshers to form the Birmingham University Transport Society - BUTS. Although predominantly about railways, there was also a serious following of other modes. Our elected Secretary, being a resident of the Black Country, even owned the derelict hull of a canal narrowboat. During the next few years, he persuaded some of his new found colleagues to assist him in building a new superstructure as a 'hobby'! I didn't participate in that rather one sided enterprise but became the Society Treasurer for my sins. Our first group adventures were a couple of visits to industrial facilities to test the interest, from Pen Hill to Wroxton and back in a diesel hauled brakevan on the Oxfordshire Ironstone Co (iron ore) quarry site and then a tour of the three Hams Hall Power Stations which still featured steam. It was an eye opener and before the academic year was done, we had made a further nine industrial site visits. Next was a day trip in Oct 66 in the Secretary's Mini, my first visit to Barry Docks Woodham Brothers scrapyard. I remember being quite overcome by the scale of it all; despite knowing how little time was left until 'the end of steam', there were only 144 locos present; a total which grew later, considerably. Then, in Nov, we endured a two day massive 22-shed bash covering the whole area between Brum and North Lancashire. Blimey, it was intense and five of us (in a Mini) bunked down overnight in one room at a seedy B&B in Greek Street, Stockport for £2 each! It was awful even by student standards but was certainly cheap as the rate included a big (greasy) fried breakfast. The things you did for the cause... Our final 1966 outing was a 9 Dec brakevan trip behind LMS 8F 48220 from Kingsbury Branch Sidings to Hall End Colliery (later Birch Coppice), then to Baddesley Colliery, before continuing to conclude in Washwood Heath Yard. The trip had been 'engineered' by our Secretary who had contacts via his father in the BR local management organisation. We reached the start by DMU from New Street to Kingsbury (CP 4 Mar 1968) but the main memory of that trip is seeing the industrial Beyer-Garrett 'William Francis', which used to work the local NCB area, dead inside a shed at Baddesley. I must have become rather keen on industrial visits,as between 18 Feb and 18 Mar 1967 we all trooped around another eight sites, ALL of which featured steam working! They were: Foleshill Gas Works at Coventry, Coventry Colliery, including the three BR-built 'GWR' 0-6-0 PTs 1501/2/9, Pen Green Depot (Stewarts & Lloyds Steelworks, Corby), Kidderminster Sugar Factory, Coventry, Ironbridge and Stourport Power Stations plus Gresford Colliery. To conclude my industrial visits this academic year, I also went into Preston Dock in Mar 1967 while at home for Easter holiday - again steam worked still. Main line stuff resurfaced on 5 Feb 67, a Crewe Works Open Day and a pretty grim comedown from its heyday. The sobering sights on show included A4 60026 'Miles Beevor', for cannibalisation (including, I believe, donation of its tender) for the restoration of 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley' and 60010 'Dominion of Canada'. Also present was a tender-less BR 8P 71000 'Duke of Gloucester', for removal of its unique valve gear 'for preservation' before the hulk - not for preservation seemingly - was hauled off to Barry. Did anyone perceive then the miraculous revival of this fabulous piece of engineering, let alone for it to run again on the main line? Not a chance! I am really looking forward to experiencing that again. Only four other steam locos were present; they included 9F 2-10-0 'Evening Star'- I am not sure why.
ABOVE: 1953; Kingsbury station (just north of Kingsbury Jn) is bottom left; Tamworth and Derby are off top left, Birmingham is off bottom corner. Baddesley Colliery is lower far right; it also had a branch from the Trent Valley line just northwest of Atherstone on the Down side. Hall End Colliery (later Birch Coppice) is at the top and, unlike Baddesley, its site is rail served but now as an intermodal terminal. Although I didn't travel over the full length of the former Great Central main line, due to complacency really, in Feb 1967 I did add to my previous runs from Manchester to Sheffield via Woodhead and Marylebone to Aylesbury. This was with a trip from Rugby Central to Nottingham Victoria (and then on to Colwick - still open as Netherfield). Nottingham Victoria CP 4 Sep 1967; the residual Rugby DMU service then terminated to the south at Nottingham Arkwright Street which had CP 4 Mar 1963 but was reopened especially) - the main line DMU traffic was minimal, a depressing experience. It was no surprise that this run down, isolated, line with a peak service only, succumbed from 5 May 1969. 1967 was a year of transition in the West Midlands with the rapid end of main line steam operation and rationalisation of traditional train service patterns. Sat 4 Mar epitomised this more than any other date; it was the last day of through trains from Paddington to anywhere north of Shrewsbury (Chester and Birkenhead), also the final day of steam from Shrewsbury to Chester/Crewe. To commemorate the former, a special ran from Paddington to Birkenhead hauled by Castle class 7029 'Clun Castle'. I went to Shrewsbury to see it depart north, a poignant and sad spectacle. However, that was only half of it, as I then took the final Down steam hauled Cambrian Coast Express behind BR 4-6-0 75021 to Aberystwyth. The return to Shrewsbury behind that loco was the last Up Cambrian steam - for quite a while anyway! I will always remember leaning out of the end vestibule of my Mk1 coach soaking up the deafening roar as the Class 4 exploded up Talerddig bank in the darkness. The loco crew were clearly well and truly 'up for it' and the effect was exhilarating, spine-tingling and quite unforgettable.
Mid-March saw our group of intrepid spotters venture on a mammoth 31-shed bash around Chester and Liverpool, North Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and the North East. I don't remember being tired but it must have been pretty gruelling! Records show that we saw 885 steam locos on these sheds and yet steam only lasted less than 18 more months. As if to emphasise how quickly it was all changing (for the worse in my view), my next encounter in Apr 1967 was by way of a university geology field trip to the Jurassic Coast. Afterwards, a pal and I went home by train via some of the Southern sheds still housing steam locos. Exmouth Junction shed had closed in May 1965 but we bunked Bournemouth, Eastleigh, Salisbury and Basingstoke, although it was all very sad with only three months of Southern main line steam left. Although we were keen to do these sheds (for the first and obviously last time), we did also see and pass some active steam en route to London. However, I remember thinking that I then just had to be more active in chasing down steam operations in my native North West, due to be the very last area in Great Britain where this would be possible on BR normal workings. Back in Brum, I managed a couple of sly mid-week escapes from lectures in mid-May 67 to do both Stratford to Honeybourne and Stratford to Cheltenham and Gloucester before the slated closure of these very infrequent (token) passenger services, by then with no intermediate stations, early the following month. Both trips involved single (bubble) car DMUs, more than adequate given the virtual absence of travelling 'normals' at that stage in the life of these routes. Using the same technique, I also did the full length of Cambridge to Oxford as part of a giant circular day trip. As we had lectures every weekday, I must have caught up by 'borrowing' lecture notes from my very understanding pal who did not participate in these essential pre-closure jaunts. I distinctly remember thinking how tedious this marathon DMU varsity all stations service was on a route that is not exactly renowned for its scenic splendour, approaching three hours for 77 miles. No wonder through passengers went via London! My final first year university term experience was a big surprise, a 9 day topographic surveying exercise in early Jul 1967 on …. the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. How could that be? As far as I knew, our tutor who arranged it all was a 'normal' - maybe he was a closet enthusiast! Anyway, it was brilliant weather and I managed, in spare time, to walk the 4¾ mile unopened section from Castle Caereinion through to Welshpool. This included from Raven Square through the 'backs' in the town, still with its moribund track in situ, even in the road crossings, to the dual gauge exchange siding in the original Welshpool Cambrian station yard area, where some lengths of concreted in track still incorporated all three rails. I wasn't allowed to relax, for as soon as I was home for summer vacation, I was off with a friend in midJul for a week of intense gricing with a Scottish rover. Only 2,300 miles! It was relentless; we did almost all the routes. The highlights included seeing the resident observation cars in use on the Mallaig and Kyle lines in their last year of service, the Inverness avoiding line both ways to and from the Far North, the Waverley Route on a diesel loco hauled Edinburgh to Carlisle service, Perth to Inverkeithing, then via Oakley to Alloa and Stirling. There was also an unpaid stint making sandwiches for the buffet car to sell on the loco hauled Glasgow to Stranraer boat train, as the attendant's mate had gone off sick! Straight after this, I embarked on a holiday job in the BR District Civil Engineer section at Ladywell House, Preston, for the whole of Aug and Sep which, memorably, gave me a real insight into the rapid rundown of local lines such as freight spurs which seemed to evaporate before our eyes. A good/bad example was a few days spent doing a tape and theodolite survey of the double track East Jn at Accrington, which was to be 'rationalised' following cessation of the direct passenger service to Bury - a line I never managed to travel. Another really vivid memory was returning to Preston North Union Yard (at the junction for the Preston Dock - singular - branch) from Bay Horse after surveying. This was in the cab of a 'Black 5'; two of us with surveying kit. My colleague had arranged, through the signaller, to stop anything except a passenger train going to Preston so we didn't have to call out road transport. There was often a large wooden crate of old steam loco number plates stacked by the doorway into Ladywell House but,even then,I think the market was somewhat muted and they didn't seem to 'walk'. Before returning to Birmingham for my second year, I did the Dee Marsh triangle (Hawarden) and into the cavernous but semi-derelict Chester Northgate terminus (CP 6 Oct 1969). It once had trains to Wrexham Central via Shotton High Level, New Brighton and via Northwich to Manchester Central.
BELOW: Railtour map (see later), Old Hill Jn - Halesowen CA 1 Oct 1969; AlvKenilworth Jn to Berkswell (& Balsall Common) closed suddenly from 17 J
veley Colliery closed 31 Jan 1969 and the last coal train left on 6 Feb 1969. Jan 1969 following track damage that was not repaired the previous day.
Then there was a truly volcanic 12 Aug run from Keighley to Carlisle with Jubilee 45562 'Alberta', just 12 weeks before its withdrawal was my last (to date) Jubilee experience. Exactly one year on and it was all done, steam had ended, which thought sets the scene for my second academic year in Birmingham. Nov & Dec 1967 saw me return home to Preston at weekends, more than once allowing me to do Standish Jn - Whelley - De Trafford Jn - Bamfurlong Jn on a southbound WCML diversion round the east side of Wigan,returning to Birmingham once and a run along the Lancashire & Yorkshire Wigan Wallgate avoiding line on a non-stop Liverpool Exchange to Manchester Victoria DMU. LEFT: 1960 map, top is Standish Jn with Bamfurlong Jn at the bottom,showing how the Whelley Line curved round the east of Wigan. South of the town is the east - west avoider. Another trip to Barry in February 1968 found, among 209 locos present at the scrapyard, none other than 71000 'Duke of Gloucester', shorn of valve gear and tender, of course. (213 of a total of 297 locos there were rescued.) The 2 Mar 1968 was a momentous day for Birmingham University Transport Society, our first (and last) railtour, a 3-car DMU, of the West Midlands. It was the brainchild of our Secretary John Bolsom, who had connections in the local BR management. I was the Treasurer and dished out the tickets by post; it was exactly sold out - the very last place was allocated at New Street station on the morning of the tour! We had a marvellous day with not a hitch and it had a full write up in the following Sunday Mercury newspaper with my picture in it to boot. Our 227 mile day included Walsall - Aldridge - Castle Bromwich - Kings Heath - Redditch (second station, CP 7 Apr 1972). Also, remembering that this was 1968 after all, Leamington Spa - Kenilworth then direct to Berkswell, the Halesowen branch from Old Hill. The tour also did Hartlebury - Alveley Colliery Sidings (between Highley and Hampton Loade on the modern day Severn Valley Railway) and Stourbridge Junction to Dudley Port Low Level and Walsall before returning to New Street. We even made Six Bells Junction: https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/680302bu.html
April 1968 had me exploring the residual freight on the Preston to Longridge branch to Courtaulds Red Scar factory site near the M6. LMS 8F haulage was the norm on this backwater (and later Class 47s). Then, on 1 May, I took a train from Birmingham to Grantham to see A3 'Flying Scotsman' on the (almost not) non-stop King's Cross to Edinburgh 40th anniversary run. I recall being rather underwhelmed, as speed through the station was moderate and it was, of course, all over so quickly. After Easter 1968, things ramped up very rapidly in the final frantic pursuit of the last BR main line steam workings - in my home patch of the North West - although this had to be exclusively by rail as I didn't own a car. I made many visits back home to see and photo workings and it certainly helped that this particular year I did not have to prepare for my Finals at University. The weekend return fare I remember as 44 shillings (£2.20 for younger readers, worth nearly £48 in 2024) - I did that journey so many times it is permanently etched in my mind. Several times my journey from Birmingham landed me at Carnforth in the early hours after which I walked into the Motive Power Depot to scan the roster board before deciding where to go and how to get there! Favourite destinations were stations along the very scenic routes to Barrow and Windermere, sometimes as the sun was just rising, followed by a walk to a photo location, although the routes to Hellifield along with Preston to Copy Pit and beyond featured heavily too. I don't recall too many bad weather experiences but lack of sleep certainly took its toll and it was a blessing (although so sad) to get back to regular bedtimes once steam had ended. In these final months I became acquainted with a number of the members of the MNA, especially Bob Clarke whose friendship endured and whose wedding I attended years later. Bob worked with me in the mid-70s at Britannia Bridge but that is for another chapter. The Master Neverers Association ('MNA') was a group of photographers who recorded the last days of steam on British Railways, the group's name reflecting their determination never to give up their quest for the ultimate master shot. The occasional grice also occurred, such as Earlestown to Tyldesley then Manchester Victoria in June. There was also the fabulous visual spectacle, in the sunshine the same month, of Britannia 70013 'Oliver Cromwell' immaculately turned out, returning from Manchester to Derby on a Midland Railway Centenary special, roaring through the deep cutting at Buxworth between New Mills South Jn and Chinley, near my railway 'initiation' at Disley. The colour slides of the latter are among my very best. The final weekend of 'normal' main line steam (discounting the following weekend's 15 Guinea Special = £15.75, worth £345 now) was quite extraordinary. The last timetabled steam hauled passenger trains ran during the evening of Sat 3 Aug 1968, with a raft of enthusiast specials organised for the next day. My Saturday was actually rather quiet until the late afternoon when I shared a car journey to Ormskirk before returning by DMU to Preston for the evening crescendo. This comprised, firstly, watching the departure of the penultimate timetabled BR steam hauled passenger service - the 20.50 Preston to Blackpool South with 'Black '5 45212 coming on to take over the service on its arrival from Euston. Then it was THE event, the last one, the 21.25 Preston to Liverpool Exchange (ex-Glasgow/Edinburgh), which ran through Ormskirk, taken forward from the incoming diesel at Preston by 'Black 5' 45318. Loads of us piled on, much to the bemusement of the 'normals' on the train as they had no idea of the significance of the occasion. I remember a mixture of emotions - sadness, euphoria, emptiness and adrenaline - but, after racing across the West Lancashire flatlands, it was all over too quickly and I was then back to Ormskirk on an EMU to collect the car left there earlier for our journey back to Preston. The day was not over though; in fact, it was just beginning! After we had a good feed, our car load moved on to Lostock Hall Motive Power Depot to carry out a mammoth clean of the locos allocated to the Sunday commemorative specials. 'My' loco was 'Black 5' 44874, which was worked on until it shone and we had earned a few hours kip, in my case in the driver's seat of this loco. I recall also climbing the coaling tower during the night to take a panoramic photo of all the gleaming stars of the next day before they started off light engine to their appointed rendezvous locations to take on the specials, most of which had originated much further south. What a night - unforgettable indeed! The next day was a gruelling exercise in maximising photo opportunities. My University pal, who had opted to do the previous evening Blackpool South run (but joined us on the Lostock Hall big clean)
used his Mini to transport us and I was navigator on this real 'Tour de North West' rally experience. The grapevine was in full voice as we met up with other photographers doing the circuit. As some of the specials ran rather late, 'intelligence' was shared and we could adjust our targets accordingly. Our final tally of sightings of the specials was: Kearsley, Greenfield, Eastwood (West Yorks), Copy Pit, Entwistle and Wilpshire (44874 was seen at three of them) - plus a final sighting of 8F 48773 light engine at Blackburn back to Lostock Hall after its special had concluded its steam hauled section. Exhausted? No, no, no, no........yes! Compared to that, the 15 Guinea Special, for me, was an anticlimax as I had to persuade my dad to brave the heavy road traffic and drive me to Stainforth for a sighting which I only just made with less than a minute to spare. I think that I just gave up. 1443 EAST MIDLANDS (Nick Garnham) [email protected] 542] Keadby Sliding Bridge: (BLN 1442.423) Thanks to NR, our member Jeremy Harthill, who has had the bridge opened for him on a canal trip previously, was able to attend a press visit on behalf of BLN. Major refurbishment of this unique sliding bridge took place from 17-25 Feb with the railway closed. A site visit on Mon 19th gave a chance to see the works being undertaken and gain an understanding of what is being done. The very low bridge slides at 90o to the canal to clear the navigation for boats to pass. The railway passes over the canal at 45o , so crosses the bridge diagonally. 'Walkways' on the bridge are for towpath users in the open and closed positions, all in all, a very unusual arrangement. There is only 2ft air draft under the railway bridge, so it has to open for any vessel wishing to pass. The railway blockade was from 17 Feb with reopening Mon 26 Feb but the Stainforth & Keadby Canal is closed from 29 Jan until 18 Mar. The current bridge was installed by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1926, replacing a previous swing bridge dating from the 1880s. It was almost totally rebuilt in 2004 and is controlled by the adjacent Keadby Canal Junction signal box, which also dates from 1926. The box will remain in use in the Rail Operating Centre era as the bridge needs local control. The works are intended to make the bridge fit for the future by improving and strengthening it. Over the past almost 100 years of use, the north wall has slightly dropped, not by a large amount but it has twisted the bridge. This wall is being strengthened with new supports in place to realign it at the right height. A limpet dam has been installed to enable work on the foundations. The bridge itself will have a new stronger steel trackbed with resilient rail supports replacing the previous wooden ones. This adds weight to the moving bridge so checks and calculations have been made to ensure it can carry the extra weight. It is also hoped the work on the bridge will reduce the problems with very hot weather causing the bridge to expand, then fail to open or close; to mitigate this, rails on the bridge will have a white coating. The operation of the bridge is quite a complex process; when it is closed in situ, the weight is held on wedges; to move the bridge it is jacked up, the wedges are removed and then the jacks lowered, each time, all mechanically. The bridge then sits on wheels and is winched to the side. This is all controlled by the signal box with the 'engine' room to the side of the bridge. 543] Althorpe: (BLN 1442, 423) Opportunistic repairs were carried out here during the recent Keadby Canal Bridge closure (in fact the bridge stayed 'open' but the Thorne Jn to Scunthorpe line was not). As well as structural repairs to the platforms, the footbridge (believed to be the original from the station opening in May 1916) was replaced by a temporary one. A modern bridge will be installed in April, after the new foundations have been laid. However, it will not be fully accessible as passenger numbers do not justify the high extra cost. Passenger numbers at local stations have dropped with the Northern Scunthorpe service no longer running through to Sheffield but curtailed to Doncaster P0. This was followed by the Pandemic, severe unreliability, a lengthy period when no trains ran at all, only buses and, what used to be an hourly service was reduced to 2-hourly with two 3-hour gaps (eight trains each way, no doubt to economise on DMUs). One early morning TPE train to Liverpool and (SX) a late evening one back serves these local stations. So, the 9,752 passengers in 2019-20 dropped to 1,408 in 2022-23. It is similar at Crowle (29,898 to 5,770) and Thorne South (88,342 to 47,976). During the closure, work was also carried out on the King George V (now fixed) bridge over the River Trent. Interestingly, during the recent line closure, TPE services from Cleethorpes turned back in Scunthorpe P2 using the east end trailing crossover on departure, rather than shunting to P1 ECS as booked.
544] Waleswood: A photo in Autumn 2023 'Steam' magazine shows an afternoon London & North Eastern Railway (L&NER) Cleethorpes to Leicester train approaching Nottingham Arkwright Street. This prompted a member to wonder which route this L&NER train had used to reach that city. 1922 Bradshaw shows a 12.42 express from Cleethorpes to Leicester. It ran via Gainsborough (Central after 1 Jul 1923), making stops at Worksop at 14.32 and then Nottingham Victoria at 15.41 - not far off the time taken by Robin Hood line trains today. But neither the Great Central Railway (GCR) nor the L&NER had a direct route south from Worksop to the GCR main line, so which route did the train take? Colonel Cobb (Historical Atlas) shows a west to south GCR spur from the Worksop - Sheffield Victoria line just west of Waleswood station to the GCR main line at Killamarsh. It was presumably principally used for coal traffic being shipped out of Immingham but seems a rather circuitous way for passengers to travel from North Lincolnshire to/from Nottingham and further south. Was this the route such passenger traffic used and, if so, could this spur have been an example of a pre-Grouping PSUL? For our many new members, PSUL stands for Passenger Train Services over Unusual Lines; a list of BLN abbreviations is a downloadable PDF on our website 'Archive' - put 'Abbreviations' in the search box. Our member came to the right place to ask. Mr PSUL, Richard Maund, its compiler has created PSULs back to 1880 (complete from 1963 but 'work in progress' before then). On our website 'Home Page', go right across to 'More options…' and then down to 'PSUL'. In 'Past editions', the 1922 version shows two SuX trains using the Waleswood Jn - Killamarsh Central Jn spur: The 17.18 SuX Leicester Central to Cleethorpes and, as above, the 12.42 SuX Cleethorpes to Leicester Central. This line appears to have remained in use until 1961; the summer dated 07.36 SO Chesterfield Central to Skegness and 13.47 SO Skegness to Chesterfield Central were booked to use it until Sat 26 Aug 1961. It was not used subsequently by public timetabled passenger trains. Waleswood Jn - Killamarsh Central Jn, which ran through Waleswood Tunnel, closed 8 Jan 1967; in Aug 1967 it was deleted from the Sectional Appendix by Supplementary Operating Instructions and the signalling was disconnected on 16 Mar 1968. LEFT: 1951 revision; Waleswood station is top right, Waleswood Jn is just west, on the Sheffield Victoria (off left) - Worksop (right) line. The double track 1m61ch spur runs southwest to Killamarsh Central Jn; Nottingham is off south. 545] Cottam: (BLN 1377.1357) The Power Station closed on 30 Sep 2019. The last train on the branch and round the loop was UK Railtours 'Cottam Farewell' on 28 Sep 2019. The main building, the boiler house, was blown up on Thu 22 Feb; the eight cooling towers are due to be blown up next year. 546] Barton-on-Humber: The Barton Heritage Project marked the 175th anniversary of the opening of the branch on 1 Mar with a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Mayor at Barton station. The festivities continued next day with goody bags and chocolates distributed to passengers and crew on the 09.50 to Cleethorpes and return. The Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway opened Grimsby to New Holland in 1848, to connect Grimsby with Hull via the New Holland Ferry. The branch to Barton was completed in 1849, originally to be extended westwards to Winterton, which never happened. Barton station, like many others, is a shadow of its former self. The famous Hoppers Cycle works, opened in 1890, used the railway to export bicycles all over the world. The branch from Habrough Jn was listed in the 1963 Beeching Report for closure, although later on had an hourly service (now two hourly).
BELOW: (Item 542) Keadby Sliding Bridge looking east; Keadby The bridge slides off to the right (which is where it is hiding) and the left (north
Power Station is left, Scunthrope is off right and Doncaster left. h) the canal bank is under repair. (All by member Jermy Harthill, 18 Feb 2024.)
BELOW: View east along the Stainforth & Keadby Canal from the bridge con
ntrol box (also a gate box); note new track and fixings on the bridge itself.
…BELOW: A track section is craned in. RIGHT: A new resilient chair to fasten rai