1337

[BLN 1337]

MR192] Alford* Valley Railway, Aberdeenshire (BLN 1321.MR9): The closure of this 2ft gauge railway
triggered a response by the local community. Following a public meeting in February 2019, a local
volunteer group supported by Donside Community Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Marr Area
Partnership, was formed to investigate the possibility of reopening the railway. Since February the
group has met regularly to discuss various options for taking the project forward. Phase 1 involves a
feasibility study to assess the viability of the scheme, repairing the railway and ultimately reopening it
to the public. In the meantime the group is in the process of applying for grants and raising funds to
commission the feasibility study with currently a sum of £5,905 still required. Once funds are raised for
the study, the group anticipates this work proceeding in autumn 2019 with results available by the
start of 2020. If the study finds in the group's favour, Phase 2 of the project, to begin implementing the
study's findings, will commence early in 2020 with further fund raising events. Anyone interesting
supporting the group, please contact [email protected] (Great North of Scotland
Railway Association magazine August 2019).[*Alford in Scotland is pronounced 'Afford' or 'Awfort'.]

MR193] Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway, Northamptonshire (MR p7) (BLN 1336.MR173):
Their Facebook pages suggests that they last ran a train on 28 December 2017, can anyone confirm?

MR194] Welsh Highland Railway, Gwynedd (MR p29) (BLN 1323.371): The railway's 2019 publicity &
timetable leaflet records five stations and eight request stops on the line. In addition there are two
named platforms at the south end of the line. Hafod y Llyn was used by two trains to/from
Porthmadog on several days in March. Pen y Mount is close to a station with the same name on the
Welsh Highland Heritage Railway; it was first used on 21-23 June 2019, (BLN 1332.MR133) during a
heritage gala held jointly by the two companies. Presumably it will be available for use during future
joint events. One request stop had displayed a platform name 'Meillionen Forest Camp Site' when our
member travelled this way in 2009. On a 2019 visit he saw that this is now reduced to 'Meillionen'.

MR195] Snowdon Mountain Railway, Gwynedd (MR p30) (BLN 1314.MR203): The railway is looking to
replace its existing diesel locomotives, two of which have been in service since 1986. It has named
Clayton Equipment as the preferred supplier to supply two hybrid diesel battery locomotives. These
will be commissioned and ready for service for the start of the 2020 season. The locomotives will be
driven by high torque, maintenance free electric motors, powered either from a battery or a diesel
generator. During descent, the diesel generator will be switched off while regenerative braking will
recharge the battery. The railway state this will lead to significant maintenance and fuel savings as the
engines are lower power units than the existing diesel locomotives, European Stage 5 compliant,
quieter and also deliver significant fuel and carbon emission savings. It is not stated whether these two
new locomotives will replace all four of the existing locomotives, or just the two oldest examples.

MR196] Crowle & Thorne Moors Peat Railway, Lincolnshire (BLN 1323.MR36): A member visited this
3ft gauge railway, under development, on Saturday 14 September as they had their first open days
that weekend. There was a chance to do some of the track by becoming a member for £15, which our
reporter did. This was a cab ride over some of the track that has been laid - being about 100 yards and
formed by two tracks out of the shed to a set of points at about 70 yards and then single track for the
remaining section. The locos on site are all those which used to work the peat extraction until this
ceased in 2001, but the stockpiles of peat continued to be processed until 2005 at Hatfield peat works.

NEXT PAGE TOP: Thorne Moor Peat Moss Railway, Sun 31 Mar 1974. Presumably the 'excursionists'

arrived on that bus which is showing 'excursion' as its destination? Despite the presence of Society

members there is no mention of this in BLN at the time, or in our '40 Years' book, although it may not

have been a Society event of course. Bottom right corner is the very distinctive late George Hebdon

who was our Membership Secretary from 1968 until 1975 (amongst other roles). (Angus McDougall.)

1337 FIXTURES REPORTS (Paul Stewart) [email protected]
2506] BLS Carinthia Explorer; Day 2; Sat 27 Jul 2019 ... PS: The Lendcanaltramway: (BLN 1336.2380)
Your correspondents and half of the explorers joined two vintage coaches from Historama Ferlach for
the short journey to the metre gauge Lendcanaltramway, by the Wörther See. While half of the group
rode on the tramway the other half were guided around the museum, with its interesting collection of
tram, bus and cinema memorabilia! Then it was off for a ride on the tramway, with its lightly laid track
and scratch built electric 'loco' and trailer car, from adjacent to the canal (which runs from the centre
of the city to the Wörther See) around the edge of the park to what appears to be a nature reserve.
At the end of the line is a static car exhibition with things to see in the nature reserve. Returning, a
shunt move was made into a somewhat ramshackle shed containing what can only be described as a
good number of 'labours of love' - ancient tramcars in need of much TLC. Our visit over, a short coach
ride then took us back into the city at the end of a second enjoyable day. At the museum was the
coach that had failed on the Friday evening after it was unable to engage reverse gear...

2507] BLS Carinthia Explorer; Day 3; Sun 28 Jul 2019 ... Preserved Narrow Gauge: (BLN 1335.2255 with
map & BLN 1336.2380) By David Palmer & Paul Griffin. Our explorers joined modern coaches for a ride
north, first to Pöckstein-Zwischenwässern to visit the 760mm narrow gauge Gurkthalbahn, following
the route of the Klagenfurt tram to Annabichl on the way out of the city (once, that was, after the side
door on one of the coaches could be made to close!). Our arrival at Pöckstein- Zwischenwässern
coincided with the start of the rain which was to stay with us for most of the day, resulting in a damp
dash to the train of five coaches hauled by 898.01, an 0-6-0 tank engine.

Starting in the shadow of the standard gauge line (at a considerably higher level), our special train
trundled through the fields to Hohenholz, where a very damp photo stop was made, before continuing
to Treibach-Althofen, the original railway terminus, adjacent to the main line station. The last section
includes dual gauge track and overhead electric wires, the standard gauge line being a headshunt into
a chemical works. Returning to our starting station we rejoined the coaches, which followed the route
of the Gurkthalbahn towards Klein Glödnitz, stopping off to inspect the remains of the stations at
Straßburg, Gurk (with a preserved steam engine outside) and Klein Glödnitz - all in light to heavy rain.

A fairly hair raising run through the mountains on a minor road then took us past Tamsweg to
Maunterndorf, the end of the 760mm gauge Taurachbahn heritage railway, based at the western end
of the 76km Murtalbahn from Unzmarkt to Mauterndorf.

The rain finally lessened as our busy train was assembled; 0-6-0 tank engine No6 'Thörl' in charge of
eight carriages, after requiring some attention to its motion while in the shed. [Which our organiser
failed to see as he was busy paying for 83 train fares plus €400 for the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen
person required for weekend access to Tamsweg. The Gurkthalbahn and coach driver also wanted
paying in cash…] We followed the river Taurach (hence the heritage railway is named Taurachbahn)
through the fields before briefly stopping for a manual level crossing on the way to Maria Pfarr, for a
short break. This station features, for Herren (men), a rather basic pissoir (translation unnecessary).
The explorers were then offered the chance to buy sausages cooked on the footplate for a late lunch!

From there a second manually worked level crossing took us to St Andrä Andlwirt, the extent of
normal passenger running for the Taurachbahn, a station without a passing loop so that normal
operation includes gravity shunting (Manx Electric Railway style) in a siding beyond the station of the
coaches to 'run round'! Leaving the station we then joined the section of railway not regularly used
connecting the heritage railway with the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen railway. This operates
between Unzmarkt and Tamsweg. Our special then steamed into their Tamsweg station, coincident
with a passenger service at the station (and not long after another steam hauled train had departed).

After running round Thörl prepared to return to Mauterndorf, while your correspondents and a good
number of other explorers left the train to experience the passenger service down the Mur valley to
Unzmarkt (and back to Klagenfurt for some). With its cigar smoking driver at the helm the train left to
travel again over the rare track to St Andrä, while those left experienced the sounds of steam
disappearing into the distance. This was a suitable end to a very enjoyable three day exploration of
Carinthia (107 participants - a BLS foreign tour record) with thanks to our organiser, Paul Griffin.

[It wasn't really the end as the group had to return to Mauterndorf and the coaches for the last leg.
The scenic high level road was clearly not a good idea (to think the railway authorities had been talking
about a steam ban a few days earlier!), so the coaches proceeded directly to Villach for set down, then
Klagenfurt, arriving within a few minutes of the organiser's estimate, which he found very satisfying.]

2508] Scunthorpe Steeler No19, Mon 26 Aug: By Geoff Middleton. The dawn of a sunny and hot Bank
Holiday Monday can only ever mean one thing - pack up the car and head to the beach Scunthorpe
Steelworks. Our Society has taken to running twice annual brake van trips around the vast Scunthorpe
complex with more than 100 miles of track set in 1,700 acres. This was the 19th such trip recently,
which usually take place over the Aug Bank Holiday and the first week in Jan when much of the site's
operation is shutdown, allowing us access to areas we wouldn't normally be able to reach. For regulars
they mark the passage of time, like Christmas, birthdays, dental checkups and car servicing/MOTs etc.

So it was that at 09.00 with the temperature already in the mid-20s and rising, I turned up at the
Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society Frodingham platform to find a mix of familiar 'old
faces' and more than a few newbies. In fact, the total of 80 participants set a new Society record for
attendance here due to the temporary availability of four brakevans instead of the usual three.
Soon after 09.30 Yorkshire Engine No1 made its way into the platform with said brake vans in tow
followed by a dignified scramble to grab the best places, standing on the veranda or seated inside
depending on choice. I've always preferred the veranda to give the best view of the track ahead and fill
in my A3 map. Thanks to Mark Haggas, all participants were provided with two printed colour copies.

Setting off, news came that a TPE train bringing tour participants had started from Sheffield instead of
Manchester (the first time this had happened). Our organiser decided we would return to the platform
to collect them off the next train. That still allowed time for a visit to the CEW Dock which was much
clearer than usual, and to the end of its headshunt, overlooking the Heavy Repair Bay (HRB) and some
lines at the rear of the HRB itself. This was where our newcomers got to enjoy the magical experience

of that first Scunthorpe Kiss when we gently nudged the buffers at the end of a cute little siding behind
the bike sheds HRB. Even a few of the grizzled veterans shed a tear. Four of the eight northeastern end
HRB lines were traversed and the Pig Castor Stay Road was thrown in for good measure. [Thanks to
our map man Martyn Brailsford, a marked up updated tour map is available on our website Archive.]
A shock for many at this 'point' was the total disappearance of Scunthorpe Plate Mill (closed Oct 2015)
-all demolished - leaving just Line 23 and a very large empty space drastically changing the landscape.

Retracing our tracks to the platform, collecting two grateful and relieved members, it was time to hit
the Rail Service Centre (RSC) where we enjoyed - for me and I suspect many others - the highlight of
the day, running through 6 Bay of the massive RSC building then out to the end of line. Whopping
track… From there it was a short journey to the Corus Rail Sidings where I scored my second section of
track for the day as we ran through Road 6 to the end of the headshunt, returning via Road 5.

That left time before lunch for a quick trip round the 'Angle' and beneath the Foreign Ore Branch to
Mills Exchange Sidings. This busy part of the railway complex comprises 11 sidings, of which I need
Roads 8 & 9. Sadly these were both full, so Road 6 it was. From here we nipped down to the Medium
Section Mill where an unsuspecting wagon minding its own business suddenly found itself on a trip to
the end of the headshunt. Which just proves that you can't stand in the way of progress, particularly
when it's the BLS. With lunch calling, we headed back through the same Mills Exchange Sidings road,
sped back round the 'Angle' and made our way to the AFRPS Appleby platform for a well earned break.

A sumptuous buffet was enjoyed courtesy of the hard working volunteers from the AFRPS, many ate
'al fresco' and also had an ice cream from the adjacent AFRPS shop - they sold well on this hot day.
Since our Jan visit the buffet had been fully refurbished inside and was very smart and comfortable.
The AFRPs volunteers had no problem efficiently coping with 80 people - their buffet record is 170!

Then it was time for Round Two, a four hour afternoon stint in sweltering low 30s temperatures. Could
we survive? Would Alan Sheppard's impression of a ripe tomato continue? Only time would tell…

But first a little shunting. A DMU carriage had the audacity to be blocking the recently extended AFRPS
headshunt we needed by the platform. No problem, a quick bit of coupling (ooh err missus) and said
DMU was in the adjacent road. Buoyed by this early success, we were clearly up for any challenge. So
when some wagons blocked our access to the coveted High Lines - well there was only one winner.
Soon we were climbing to the bridge that passes over the Stores Road (ground level line); this is the
closest we're likely to get to those four hot ladies of Scunthorpe - the blast furnaces Mary, Bess, Anne
and Victoria. [Strictly entre nous, Mary & Bess date from 1939, the other two from 1954.]

Back down to earth and where next? Just for a change, back round the 'Angle' to the Mills Exchange
Sidings, but this time down Road 11 to the Former Bloom & Billet Mill (BBM). 'Former' as in 'used to
be' rather than anything to do with forming steelwork - this two mile long production line was moved
to India. Here I scored my third bit of track when we ventured into the building down BBM5 (left hand
line) to the end of the line. For good measure BBM3 (right hand line) also ended up on the map before
our return to Mills Exchange Sidings to reverse. These were possible due to the reduced activity at the
whole works which was on summer shutdown, just ticking over, for holidays and maintenance. An
overhead crane was being maintained above the Furnace Road - a continuation of the line through the
end of the Former BBM. This line was therefore under possession which extended to the original and
recently opened new through lines to Concast. This possession was due to be removed the very next
day! One for our next visit then; it was also noticed that its new loop at 'the Subway' was complete.

Next a quick sprint round the longer way to Concast to reverse, noting in passing that the connection
to the Muck Bank was secured out of use (it's amazing how things change). En route we were able to
glance longingly at that new section of track linking the Former Bloom & Billet Mill with Concast.

By now the day was at its hottest and Scunthorpe Sunthorpe was positively glowing. However, it
could also have been the torpedoes (hot stuff) that passed us as we 'ran' via the Mill Shop 'Running'
Road to the P'Way Depot Headshunt. This was once part of a through route to our old favourite, Mills

Exchange Sidings. From the headshunt, a quick sprint past Temper Road (we wouldn't have wanted to
lose that) via the West Bank (no, not that one) took us past Northants Bridge and Road 65 to reverse.
This was to give the railtour access to the line round to the complex of lines at Bridge 44 and beyond
which also involved an interesting double shunt with three reversals where there are four tracks.

There is quite an intricate layout here and some of it has changed over the past year, so in between
trips to the BOS Gantry, Rod Mill Line 14, its Loop and the Scrap Bay right hand road, we covered an
impressive number of crossovers and connections. By now news had filtered through that the 19.08
TPE to Manchester Airport had been cancelled, so a dash back round the site's perimeter brought us
back to the AFRPS platform in time to connect with the 18.48 Northern service to Doncaster instead.

All in all, it was another excellent trip around this fascinating complex and I'm sure some of the
newbies will be returning for another bash. We covered around 36 miles with a dizzying 58 reversals.
Most importantly, the record turnout ensured the much needed donation was a record amount:
£3,645. As usual there was no deduction by the Society for any expenses, all the printing was donated
by a member and the Society waived the normal credit/debit card fee costs to maximise the donation.

It only remains to thank the tireless AFRPS volunteers for their sterling efforts on the day, in particular
Glenn Britcliffe, British Steel Scunthorpe for allowing us on site, and last, but not least, our very own
route director Alan Sheppard (a fully qualified AFRPS member). Alan spent this very hot day (previously
unknown at Scunthorpe) changing numerous points. Hopefully he's returned to his normal colour now.

All pictures of the Scunthorpe tour are by our member Chris Ziemer unless specified.

: WARNING!: LANDSCAPE PAGES AHEAD BEST VIEWED FULL SCREEN :

X.136] BELOW: Nothing to do with Scunthorpe but our member Rob Moorcroft happened to be taking
a conducted tour of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge (thoroughly recommended) on Sun 21 Jul
2018 when he looked over to AV Dawson and saw…. (or was it someone's OO Gauge model railway?)



























Lines 8, 6 (which the tour is on) then 5 on the right with 4 out of sight.

BELOW: Corus Rail Sidings in the opposite direction from the end of line; nea

ar foreground right to left: Lines 8, (7 is the short siding) 6, 5, 4 & 3 (far left).

BELOW: Approaching

g the loco scrap line.

BELOW: The four blast furnaces at Scunt

thorpe (where is the swear box then?)…

BELOW: The BOS Plant Gantry looking east towards the end of lin

ne (we have been allowed up there a couple of times in the past).

BELOW: A hot (it was too) metal torp

pedo train approaches the BOS Plant.

BELOW: A single loco with three discharged hot metal torpedoes on th

he 4-track section by Bridge 44; that's an impressive number of wheels.

BELOW: The three sets of points at Bridge 44 on the 4-

-track section; the two further away are the new ones.

BELOW: Inside the Former (as in ex-) Bloom & Billet Mill, Entrance 5 (BBM
NEXT PAGE: The same location from the loco end of the train, the bu

M5); pictures can't do justice to the size of the structure. (Darren Garnon.)
uffer stops are bottom centre right; note the large overhead cranes.





BELOW: From the other end of our train, in the other direction, BBM3

3 right hand line. BBM4 is immediately ahead - both lines are occupied.

BELOW: The new through line (with loop) was unavailable as the overhead

d crane above 'Furnace Road' in the building ahead was being worked on.

BELOW: Ploughing through the debris filling up the tracks at this busy level

l crossing approaching the Scrap Bay at the southwest corner of the works.