BELOW: An identity parade outside the Midland Hotel twin arches (see text f'Spotted' (bottom of page) left to right are Adam Turner (guide), John Cameron (
for relevance), Manchester. (This and next, Laura Mackie via Adam Turner.) NW BLN Editor & Committee Member) & John Hampson (Committee Member).
BELOW: Our members took steps to explore the interior of the Midland Hote
el… They all look happy enough (it must have been the free refreshments).
BELOW: Participants inspect what would be a very suitable venue, with a
railway connection, for a Society AGM in Manchester (John Hampson).
BELOW: ''Parker, get the Rolls.'' … ''Yes, M'Lady, would you like brown or white.'' (John Hampson.)
[BLN 1446] BELOW: From the Network Rail archives, our group gave Manchester Central a framed copy of this architectural drawing of the train-shed roof valance) (Adam Turner).
MR68] Cambrian Heritage Railways (Oswestry), Shropshire (MR p7): Repairs to the station building at Oswestry could be underway by the summer as Shropshire Council presses ahead with a near £1M refurbishment scheme. The local authority is set to appoint a contractor to carry out roof repairs, two years after scaffolding was put up to protect the public from falling masonry, following significant storm damage. The Council says it will be looking to work with a firm experienced in heritage repairs as it draws up long term plans for the future of the Grade II listed building, after the project went out to tender. The exterior is in a serious state of decay; repairs to the ornate corbels and replacement of eroded asbestos tiles on the roof are needed imminently to make the building safe for visitors, local pedestrians and new uses. The building has been hidden under scaffolding since it suffered damage to the roof in 2022, with Shropshire Council taking possession of the building in 2023 following what it described as 'years of neglect'. Plans progressed earlier this year when Shropshire Council's cabinet agreed to fund repairs. A successful funding application to the Government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund unlocked around £630k for restoration works, with the local authority providing around £270k for the scheme. Following completion of the roof repairs and external works, repairs are also required to the internal structure of the building, including the ground floor currently let to Cambrian Heritage Railways and former offices on the first floor, currently vacant. Heating will also be required as part of plans to bring the building back into long term use. The Council hopes work will be underway by mid-July and it is expected to be completed by the end of February 2025. MR69] Statfold Barn Railway, Staffordshire (MR p24) (BLN 1425.MR97): The railway held its 'Spectacle of Steam' event over the 16-17 March weekend; a visit was made on the Saturday - a dull if mostly dry day. On the 2ft gauge railway, 11 steam locos were at work: 0-4-0+0-4-0 K1 (BP5292/1909), 4-4-0T 'Isibutu' (WB2820/1945), 0-6-0T 'Alpha' (HC1172/1924), 0-4-2ST 'Howard' (HE1842/1936), 0-4-2ST 'Trangkil' (HE3902/1971), 0-6-0ST 'Harrogate' (P2050/1944), 0-6-0 'Fiji' (HC972/1912), 0-4-0ST 'CSR Co Ltd No 19' (HC1056/1914), 0-4-0 'Ryam Sugar Company No 1' (Dav1650/1918), 0-4-0ST 'Sybil Mary' (HE921/1096) & 0-4-0ST 'Jack Lane' (HE3904/2006). Giving rides for a time was 4-4wDMR 'The Goose' (Statfold/2015), while 4wDM 'Alistair' (RH201970/1940) was hauling a one coach passenger train. The 16 March 2024 updated track plan: http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/statfoldbarn.pdf The 3ft gauge Burton & Ashby Light Railway No 14 was giving rides over its tramway from the shed to Oak Tree Halt. At the 12¼" gauge Mease Valley Light Railway, the new 380 yard long extension from Mallard Halt to Warren Hill opened on this day. A two train service was operating on the railway with 2-4-2T 'Victoria' (ESR332/2007) and 0-6-0DH No 2 (AK73/2005) - each hauling two bogie enclosed passenger coaches. The trains passed each other at Mallard Halt. Warren Hill has an island platform and was clearly only just completed in time given the bare earthworks adjacent. The platform canopy steel work has been erected but there is no roof currently. The line was busy all day, with lengthy queues at times at the station adjacent to the turntable and four road shed. The updated track plan (16 March 2024) http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/measevalley.pdf for personal use only. The whole site was busy during the time our reporter was there, with all the 2ft gauge trains seen to be well loaded with passengers standing. The Garden Railway was noted to still be intact but its connection from the main 2ft gauge line was very rusty and the gates leading to the garden were firmly closed. A good number of our members were present, including at least three BLN Regional Editors. 1446 FIXTURE REPORTS (Paul Stewart) [email protected] 1043] Manchester Railway Architecture; Fri 23 Feb 2024: (Mainly by Chris Lewis, with additional material by John Hampson.) 17 members assembled in Fairfield Street next to Piccadilly station under P13 & 14, including Adam Turner, our organiser for the day. We were joined by the station manager, Kyla Thomas and her assistant. Unlocking the enormous wooden doors on Fairfield Street under the bridge that carries the through platforms, she led us into the brick arch area beneath the station. We had been told to bring torches and we certainly needed them! There was no lighting at all and the ground was rough. The massive area that we could explore was bounded by the Metrolink alignment to the northwest and Travis Street to the southeast (photos E-BLN 1440.264). We were told that there may have been a realignment of the Metrolink route through some of this area if the HS2 terminus
development here had progressed. Many of the arches were quite damp. There are inspections at least every 6 months to check the supporting arches of the whole station; otherwise, no one enters the area. Opened in 1842, the station was expanded over the years and rebuilt for electrification in the late 1950s;its name changed from London Road to Piccadilly on 12 Sep 1960.This area, the undercroft, had been used as a goods warehouse since the 19 th Century. In 1992, part of the vaults was opened up for the Metrolink stop. We could see the trams through a fence in one area. After a fire several years ago, all the materials and rubbish were removed. Kyla, who also manages Liverpool Lime Street, gave us some fascinating facts about the station. Through P13 and P14 are by far the most difficult to manage. This island platform handles as many passengers as all of Nottingham station (6.74M in 2022-23). We then saw the elaborate Italianate ashlar façade of the ex-London & North Western Railway Grade II listed Goods Offices on London Road. Ashlar masonry uses uniformly cut blocks of stone laid over the top of one another, often breaking up the vertical gaps between bricks for structural integrity. Next, our party ascended to concourse level to catch a Class 331 Airport to Blackpool North EMU from P14 to Oxford Road, a two minute, 48ch, £3 Single, journey. We paused to look at the 1958-60 built Oxford Road station, also Grade II listed, (4.648M passengers in 2022-23), noting the curved platform canopies that match the roof made up of three laminated timber conoids or 'shells'. Improvements to passenger flows here are constrained by being listed but the ticket office will shortly be relocated to the front of the building and, in the longer term, platform lengthening and rationalisation is planned. We then walked up Oxford St (as it is here) to Manchester Central station. Members were greeted with tea, coffee and wonderful cakes and then were given free rein to explore inside and outside the Grade II* listed train shed taking care to avoid the teams setting up the Lego 'Bricktastic' exhibition due to open the following day. The site of the external platforms to the southeast of the train shed is now an access road and has been shorn of its canopies. I [Chris Lewis] remember arriving here behind a 'Peak' Diesel from St Pancras in the early 1960s and, a few years later, leaving behind a Black 5 on a stopping train to Sheffield Midland via Stockport Tiviot Dale and the Hope Valley. Return was from Sheffield Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly on an electric hauled train through the Woodhead Tunnel. Manchester Central was one of the City's four main railway stations. It was opened in 1880 by the Cheshire Lines Committee, a joint railway company owned by the Midland, the Great Northern and the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railways (the latter became the Great Central). The Midland used this station for its trains, including from St Pancras, to avoid London Road. It closed from 5 May 1969. The station was later converted into an exhibition and conference centre opening in 1986, originally as 'G-MEX' but now owned by Manchester City Council as 'Manchester Central Convention Complex'. The rooms in the side walls are still in their original condition, so it was easy to imagine trains still using it. Like St Pancras but smaller, the roof is a single span wrought iron structure, 550ft long with a 210ft span and is 90ft high. Adam had brought along a comprehensive collection of historic images of the station in its previous life and it was fascinating to compare these with what has been preserved. As we had a few minutes in hand, we were able to explore the undercroft at Central, originally used for handling goods. In contrast to the situation at Piccadilly, it is clean, lit and fully accessible, having been restored as a car park, with the installation of a mezzanine concrete parking level. Unlike St Pancras where the platform level is carried on iron girders, Central sits on very neat Gothic brick vaulting. When built it was to have included a hotel at the front of the station but this was never constructed. The Midland Railway opened one in 1903 on an adjacent site, with a glass covered walkway from the station. It was, and is, the Midland Hotel, now Grade II* listed, which takes its heritage very seriously. Built in red brick with much orange/brown terracotta decoration, including pepper pot corner turrets, it has always been recognised as a luxury hotel and a Manchester landmark. This was our last location to visit of the day. The question is, has our resident railway hotel expert, Rhys Ab Elis, visited this one? We were greeted in the Breakfast Room, adorned by former Midland Railway and London, Midland & Scottish Railway posters, by David, the Hotel Director of Sales and Laura, the Hotel Sales Manager. They told us about the hotel, then showed us round. Before they were famous, The Beatles were
refused entry to the hotel's French Restaurant because they were too scruffy! The hotel was also the historic first meeting place of Hon Charles Stewart Rolls MA and Fredrick Henry Royce in May 1904. There is a restored 1934 Rolls Royce 20/25 Barker Limousine in the entrance lobby to commemorate the founding of Rolls Royce Ltd. Two archways in the main entrance are 'in' and 'out' for horse drawn carriages. Once ladies were not allowed to use one of them, as it was reserved for men! I had stayed there before but we were shown places I hadn't seen. Midway through the tour, our party was given tea, coffee and cookies. The hotel underwent a multi-million pound refit while it was closed during the pandemic and certainly lives up to its reputation as perhaps the premier hotel in Manchester. The excellent teams that met us at each of the three sites were welcoming, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, a credit to their organisations. The level of attention given to our group surpassed all our expectations and all thanks to NR, Manchester Central and the Midland Hotel for making this day possible. It was a bargain for the £33 we paid; as a result, £250 was donated both to St Ann's Hospice, Manchester and to Shelter. I think this is why we had such a warm welcome at the establishments we visited. They are all listed buildings, so their future should be safe. Many thanks to our member and knowledgeable guide, Adam Turner from NR, for the arrangements - another wonderful tour. 1044] Mountsorrel Heritage Centre; Sat 24 Feb 2024: By Duncan Finch. As one who doesn't drive, this fixture, despite being relatively local, needed an overnight stay with a friend in Northampton. An early start involved the 05.10 bus from Northampton Bus Station to Leicester via Market Harborough which took 1hr 20mins. This left time in the City for breakfast in a local Greggs before catching a second bus from St Margarets Bus Station to Mountsorrel. I was there for the 08.04 departure but time came and went and no bus arrived. Not to panic though, as there is a 15 min frequency on this route and my schedule allowed wriggle room. I alighted on Loughborough Road, the main one through Mountsorrel, at 08.49 for a 20 min walk to the Heritage Centre. The sun was out and this set the tone for most of the day. In the car park, we were met by Alan Sheppard, who made sure everyone had an orange hi viz vest (lending them out if needed) and gave everyone stickers allowing admission (included in the fare). We were delighted to even welcome Member 13 from Pevensey, so it must have been interesting! A crowd gathered down at Quarry Bottom station on the 2ft gauge Quarry Bottom Railway. Our host for the day and lynch pin of the extensive planning for the visit, Steve Cramp, bid us welcome. It has to be said from the very first exploratory email right through to execution that his team's efforts were timely and exemplary; they even staged a full dress rehearsal! We were warned not to miss anything, as sections could not be repeated with the stock moves. They originally said bring as many as you want but it had to be capped at 60 when they sat down and did the planning. 59 had booked, with no one turned away! Unusually, the first moves were not the normal public run but the rather longer branch which converges (one of two sets of trailing points on the public run) just before the station. This branch runs round the back and side of the main museum/shed. In groups, everyone did it riding a single guard's coach with 4w DM N o 1 'MALCOLM' in yellow livery. This 'little' Ruston (hence the Ruston Diamond tour epithet) 85049 LBT series of 1956 was delivered to the British Transport Commission at Chesterton Junction PW Depot. It is a 3-cylinder example, making it the smallest loco built by Ruston & Hornsby. For a short section this NG line is close to standard gauge Road 5. At one place narrow and standard gauge trains cannot pass due to clearance. The NG branch then splits into two. The 'Greenhouse Siding' curves round left to end behind the Mountsorrel end of Nunckley Hill station platform (on the standard gauge Mountsorrel branch). We weren't at all surprised to see a greenhouse alongside the end of the siding! Apart from the rehearsal, it was only the second movement on this line in five years and the first with passengers. On a 2023 visit, your Editor noted that this greenhouse was located OVER the running line here! The Railway has certainly gone to a great deal of trouble to dig out, fettle and test every possible inch of track for us - some parts we had thought impossible to do. Next was the 'Water Crane Siding' (guess how this was named‽), running behind almost the full length of Nunckley Hill platform, at a lower level. Participants could see isolated semi-buried remnants of an abandoned and mostly lifted NG line from Greenhouse Siding towards the end of Water Crane Siding. On some plans it gave the impression of forming a large triangle but was never connected to Water
Crane Siding. On the return run, there was haulage into the end of the single road Carriage Shed, which involved crossing the path round the outside of the former quarry bottom on the level. Cleverly, this section was done before the public was admitted to the site. Returning to the NG station, after a quick turnaround, it was 'rinse and repeat' - four trips in total were needed to accommodate everyone. With practice, it became a slick operation by the enthusiastic Mountsorrel volunteers (a minimum of 10 were required). The 'Full Dress Rehearsal' of the moves the day before (ECS), in the pouring rain, had perfected and timed everything, such was their dedication to making sure we achieved everything. Next was the standard gauge. This was the highlight for many as there are no passenger trains, only occasional shunting demonstrations on selected days with short footplate rides. Green Wickham Trolley DE320498 was used (hence the name 'Wickham Wanderer' tour … see what we did there … OK, moving on…). It was built in Ware in 1957 and allocated, with 63 others, to British Rail North Eastern Region. This one lived at Castleton Moor on the Whitby branch and had an upgraded JAP 1323cc twin cylinder engine. By 1994,as DB965080,it was pensioned off engineless from Darlington CE Plant Depot and entered preservation on the Wear Valley Railway, where it acquired a Perkins Engine (for Perkins engine enthusiasts!). It came to Mountsorrel in 2012 for construction of the various railways here. We started from Road 2 inside the main shed (alongside NG Road 1), running out towards where Stephenson's Lift Bridge (railway over canal) of 1834 is being reconstructed - very impressive it is too. Then it was towards the connection with the Mountsorrel branch. This is protected by trap (not catch!) points, released by a locked ground frame which requires the branch staff to operate it. Although relaid with much community financial and volunteer support, the Mountsorrel branch is operated by the Great Central Railway (GCR). After progressing as far as we could, we returned to the shed. Interestingly we learnt from the volunteers that, before the Mountsorrel branch was joined to the GCR at Swithland Sidings, they could merrily run back and forth over their connection to it at Nunckley Hill station, with no restriction except one train running but there were no such runs carrying the public. The move was done ten times in groups of six. The many 'normals' now on site (who did not have any access to the railways this day - it is fenced off) were much amused by all these unprecedented events. There was then a short break for shunt moves to clear all of the museum items from Road 3, using 'big' Ruston, 48DE 393304; like its little brother, also built in 1956 and delivered to Bardon Hill Quarry. The Wickham then reached the very end of the line here. On Road 4 a brakevan blocked access to the end but we did what we could as well as Road 5 to the end along the outside of the shed, adjacent to the NG branch done first thing. We also ran back along the Loading Siding to a static immovable oil tanker and 20 tons of aggregates piled on the line for the Stephenson lifting bridge reconstruction. It was realised (and forensically analysed by some!) that overlap hadn't quite been achieved due to the stock positioning on the connecting line to clear the Museum. This was rectified after the lunch break… A 45 min break or so was scheduled for this. We were encouraged to use the fantastic Granite's Coffee Shop (a gross misnomer as it has a wide selection of food, snacks, ice creams, exceptional homemade cakes, drinks, etc) at the Heritage Centre. It is by far the main source of Income for Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre, a Community Interest Company. They also need to make a small charge for site admission (the Coffee Shop can be accessed free) and also for the public NG rides. There is a local history museum with sections on Mountsorrel Quarry and its two railways (one to the Midland, the other to the Great Central). An historic photo was of a long line of stone wagons packed with children on one of the branches with a Sunday School outing! The separate Railway Museum, joined to the main shed, is impressive too, as are the woodland walks, gardens and other facilities. Reconvening at 14.00 at Quarry Bottom Station, it was time for the main public NG run, a 140yd circuit around the pond and King's Coronation Garden. King Charles has always been a keen fan of the whole project(which has a Queen's Award for Volunteering),giving permission for the garden to be so named. He has visited several times over the years but apparently not for the track! The public run is three circuits to give a decent ride and overlap, so this is what everyone was treated to, with the full length 3-coach set. Standard gauge cab rides were also then on offer, using the 'big' Ruston to cover that vital little piece of overlap that matters so much, and reaching the very end of Road 5 alongside the shed.
BELOW: (Item 1044) The end of Water Crane Siding, left is Nunckley Hill pla
atform, ahead is the Mountsorrel branch looking towards Swithland Sidings.
BELOW: The same location showing the standard gauge connection bet
tween the yard and the Mountsorrel branch (with protecting catch points!).
BELOW: Greenhouse Siding is left and Water Cra
ane Siding right, ahead is Nunckley Hill platform.
BELOW: Curving round on Greenhouse Siding, its first ever passenger train
. The back of Nunckley Hill platform, on the Mountsorrel branch, is right.
BELOW: You are not going any further! Greenhouse Siding; Mountsorrel is th
rough the bridge, Steve Cramp is left. NEXT: Same, with greenhouse far left.
BELOW: The return to Quarry Bottom station was via the Carriage S
Shed, seen here. (All photos by Simon Mortimer, Sat 24 Feb 2024.)
PREVIOUS: Propelling out of the Carriage Shed, the fence opens to allow thatBELOW: The Wickham on the standard gauge, far left is the narrow gauge pub
t, note how close the standard and narrow gauge lines are here, bottom left. blic run; the lean-to shed ahead left has a NG track (to be extended this way).
BELOW: The end of one of the two Railway Museum roads (Road 3 of 5) wrelocated. Visiting the Museum before, some thought this would never have bNEXT: In the other direction, looking out of the Railway Museum the same ro
as reached in the Wickham after the exhibits had been (very) temporarily been achievable. Participants literally queue up out of the door for their turn. oad is now on the right; far right the canal bridge lift is under reconstruction.
http://www.minorrailways.co.uk/trackplans/quarrybottomPREVIOUS: At the trap points protecting the Mountsorrel braBELOW: The same location looking in the othe
m.pdf shows the narrow and standard gauge layout here. anch, looking along that branch towards Swithland Sidings. r direction towards the yard at Nunckley Hill.
BELOW: Then limit reached on the Shed Road - Road 2 - (this building is jo
oined to, but separated from, the Railway Museum which is to the right.)
BELOW: On the Loading Line, crunchindid anyone bring a shovel with them, NEXT: The same location from the o
g the ballast for maximum coverage - or a JCB? Member No 13 is far right… other side of the Wickham Trolley.