BELOW: (Item 889) Taken from the first MER service of the season on 12 Mar 2024 (hence the rusty seaside track); winter devegetation has improved the view and shows just how long Ramsey Pier is.
BELOW: The first MER public service of the 2024 season at Douglas, Derby
y Castle. (All IOM photos Graeme Easton, 12 Mar 2024 unless specified.)
PREVIOUS: At a secret location… BELO
OW: Also on the first day at Ramsey.
BELOW: N o 20 on Halfway Crossing (halfway between Do
ouglas and Laxey). (Jenny Williamson, Sat 23 Mar 2024.)
BELOW: (Item 890) The first steam train of the season from Douglas, thNEXT: Then it passes through the worksite which is Doug
he 13.50 leaves 7 minutes late on Fri 15 Mar 2024 with N o 13 'Kissack'. glas station yard - work unfinished. (Both Geoff Wilson.)
PREVIOUS: The first train from Port Erin (14.00) to Douglas. BELOW: Gauge cle
earance work (between arrows) at Douglas! (Graeme Easton, Fri 15 Mar 2024.)
BELOW: (Item 891) Newly refurbished and repainted Snaefell Mountain
n Railway car N o 1 at Laxey terminus. (Jenny Williamson, 26 Mar 2024.)
889] Electric Railway: The season started on Tue 12 Mar with two on Island and two off Island (with a capital 'I') members on the first tram, N o 7 single motor. It left Douglas Derby Castle terminus virtually full and picked up more on the way, luckily also setting some down. Ten intermediate stops were used and there were six passengers standing by Ramsey. N o 7 has had new springs fitted over the winter and a test with a full load was wanted (and achieved!). It was incredibly smooth, the smoothest full line run your correspondent can remember. N os20 and 22 were the other trams out this day. At Ramsey, the crossover is still wireless (BLN 1442.499). With no trailers in use, trams stopped short of the crossover, then departed wrong road, using the crossover after the former temporary terminus. New frogs for the overhead wire were ordered in Oct but are still awaited. Some may be 'borrowed' from lines in Derby Castle yard, if necessary, for Easter; the left hand siding at Ramsey is also yet to be wired. There is still single line working through Eskadale (BLN 1444.769). Work is ongoing on the kerbing between the track and road but the seaside track cannot be completed, again awaiting parts. Amending BLN 1443.635, although Halfway Crossing (3m 45ch) has new vertical lights, they are still flashing reds (top and bottom; the middle is amber). The crossing is also laser operated rather than treadle, with the advantage that running wrong line there is no longer a need to stop and press a plunger. This was observed due to the single line working. Next day, N o 5 was also in service. A coach party on the last tram of the day required a trailer (Tram 7 and Trailer 59 formed the service). The run round at Ramsey was achieved as described in BLN 1442.501. Much clearance has taken place along the line, which makes it look a lot neater and opens up the views(for example of Ramsey Pier, which also shows just how far there is to go with the restoration, it has reached Bay 6 only another 54 to go!). 890] Steam Railway: The season began on Fri 15 Mar. As BLN 1444.768 suggested, Douglas station relay was not completed on time, resulting in cancellation of the first two passenger trains from there. Trains from Port Erin trains turned back at Castletown. Bravely, a timetable was published showing that the afternoon trains would run and indeed they did, albeit with a slight delay to the Douglas departure while final sign off was given. N o 4 'Loch' was the Port Erin engine, while N o 13 'Kissack' was the Douglas engine. Two issues emerged once test trains could run on the new formation. N o 18 'Ailsa' derailed on the new points. It turns out that the loco is very slightly out of gauge on the properly set track and she rode onto the check rails. There was no such issue with the steam locos and coaches. It is not clear if Ailsa will be regauged correctly or the points eased slightly. Secondly, the line past the coaling stage is slightly too close to the new concrete ramp wall. While fine for the steam locomotives, it fouled the coach footboards. Coaches do not regularly use the line but must if they are to be moved into the infill shed behind the running shed. The solution was to knock part of the concrete away! On 16 Mar 'Loch' failed and, with no other engines available, the Port Erin diagram (two return trips) was cancelled. 'Loch' was fixed for 17 Mar and a complete service ran. No services scheduled for 18 to 20 Mar allowing time to straighten things out. On 21 Mar, N o 15 (MNR N o 4)'Caledonia'hauled the 09.50 from Douglas, its first run since breaking springs at Knockaloe during the Transport Festival last July. There is still much work to be done at Douglas. While the concrete has been mostly laid in the '6 foot' (between the adjacent lines), virtually none is laid in the '4 foot' (or is that '3 foot' on the IMR? - the space between the rails). Lines 3 & 4 nearest the bus yard (used by dining trains) are still disconnected less than two weeks before the first dining train. In an emergency, it can use the other platform but it has no electric supply for the kitchen car so the generator would need to keep running and the kitchen car only has access on one side, so would have to be loaded either via the next coach or from the track. 891] Mountain Railway: The season commenced on Tue 19 Mar and ran well until the final tram of the day, the 15.45 from Laxey, was cancelled to allow repairs to be carried out on the overhead wires. Car 1 has been was refurbished and repainted prior to returning to traffic on 26 Mar. It is in standard fleet colours for the first time in 12 years, after carrying the 1890s style Blue and Ivory colours before. 892] Cleminson appeal: The Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association is appealing for help to return former Manx Northern Railway (MNR) Cleminson carriage N o 3 (N42) to the Island. It is also seeking somewhere on the Island where the carriage can be kept in covered storage, as there is no available space on the railway. It was in a poor state when moved from the IOM to Southwold in 2012.
Then it moved to Weetings Farm in Suffolk, where it is now in open storage and deteriorating. One of the main solebars is broken which, without replacement, precludes the carriage from seeing further use. There appears to be no suggestion about a change of ownership or restoration. 1445 SCOTLAND (Greg Beecroft) [email protected] 893] Fort William: The GBRf contract to convey powdered alumina (aluminium oxide) from North Blyth to the ALVANCE British Aluminium smelter at Fort William has been extended by five years. This aluminium smelter, commissioned in 1929, is now the only one in the UK. Originally alumina was obtained from a refinery at Burntisland but, since 1988, the smelter has received imported alumina from North Blyth. The alumina makes an extraordinarily indirect journey to Fort William. Bauxite is mined in Guinea and processed at the Russian-owned Aughinish Alumina plant near Foynes, on the River Shannon. The resulting alumina is then shipped from Ireland round the north of Scotland to Port of Blyth, where there is a suitable unloading and storage facility. That opened in 1972 to serve Lynemouth aluminium smelter, which was commissioned the same year. Lynemouth smelter closed in 2012, because of rising energy costs; the Fort William one has its own hydro-electric power station. The scheduled paths for the alumina trains are 6E45 empties 08.07 MWFO from Fort William and 6S45 06.25 TThO, 09.08 SO from North Blyth but usually there are just two round trips from Fort William each week. These are the only remaining freight workings on the West Highland Line, apart from occasional military traffic to and from Defence Munitions Glen Douglas. Ingot traffic from Fort William ceased in Feb 2010 when GBRf took over the contract from DB Schenker. The usual 280 mile route from Fort William to North Blyth is via Singer, Springburn, Coatbridge Central, Shotts, Craiglockhart Jn, Millerhill, Morpeth North Jn and Bedlington (reverse). Fort William drivers work the train as far as Morpeth North Jn, the first driver is relieved by a second at Helensburgh Upper. The journey by road, driving a GBRf van, between Fort William and Helensburgh is much quicker than by freight train! It is 97 miles by rail but only 85 by road and the maximum permitted speed of the alumina train on the West Highland Line is 40mph. A local GBRf driver takes over beyond Morpeth North Jn and the second Fort William driver spends the night at a hotel, ready to work the loaded trip next morning. There have been intermittent proposals for the alumina to be imported direct from Foynes to Fort William but that would require construction of a completely new berth, unloading and storage facilities - possibly in the Corpach area. Alumina might still be carried the 3½ miles from there to the smelter by rail. The five year GBRf contract extension suggests that there are no immediate plans to adopt this option. 894] Easter Engineering: This includes track renewals on the WCML between Glasgow Central and Rutherglen (not affecting trains via Dalmarnock) and between Motherwell (exclusive) and Shieldmuir. On 30 and 31 Mar ScotRail services via these lines are replaced by buses; Avanti trains, running less frequently than usual (!!), are diverted via Mount Florida, Newton South Connecting Line, Holytown and Wishaw. The diversion via Newton South Connecting Line continues on 1 Apr but trains are able to run via Motherwell that day. Shields Road overbridge (BLN 1431.2037) will be demolished over the weekend but presumably not the section spanning the Ayr lines, because trains are running as usual. 895] Ayr: (BLN 1444.775) The condition of the north wing of Ayr Station Hotel is confirmed as worse than expected; the Council is unable to say when the cordoned off area of the station may be returned to NR. The whole building might need to be demolished, so line closures are now until further notice. Work will then be needed per BLN 1444. The tamper recently moved to Stranraer was then used in connection with track renewals at Laggansarroch Viaduct, five miles north of Barrhill and at Kilkerran. 896] Port Glasgow: A curiosity on the Down platform is Hoods Well (sic) drinking fountain. A collection was raised for station master James Hood when he retired in 1843, two years after the railway opened. Mr Hood asked for the money to be spent on something to benefit the station and its passengers, so the drinking fountain was installed. Water poured out from a brass lion's head, with a larger, stone lion resting above it. The fountain was lost under vegetation until rediscovered in 2001. It was renovated by ScotRail in 2015 but has become rather moss-grown. Unfortunately, the brass lion's head was missing but, soon after renovation, a parcel was left anonymously at the station. It was the lion's head with a note asking the staff to look after it better this time! The fountain no longer appears to work.
BELOW: (Item 893) 66736 prepares to set back out of the Fort William Aluwagons for North Blyth on 30 Aug 2013. It reversed on the West HighlanE-BLN 1444.X41 Corrigendum: The second photo is our 'BWC Two' tour at Locha
uminium Discharge branch (TRACKmaps 1 p24A 2021) with the discharged nd line at British Aluminium Ground Frame (98m 33ch). (Greg Beecroft.) an (a small loch) Dubh, betwixt Beasdale and Lochailort, returning from Mallaig.
BELOW: (Item 895) Ayr Station Hotel; demolition has progressed since the e-Bthe north wing has gone. The lower part of the rear wall, along the back of P3
BLN 1441 photos. Very little remains of the south wing but only a small part of 3 (Up Ayr) has gone and much debris has been removed. Glasgow is off right.
BELOW: A survey of the upper part of the north wing under way. The southe
ern end of the roof was destroyed in the fire but the northern end survives.
BELOW: Platform view, looking south, with 156439 in P4 on the
Prestwick Town shuttle. (All four Greg Beecroft, 26 Mar 2024.)
BELOW: The temporary ticket office is on the Down (to Stra
anraer - if only) side where the DMU shuttle departs from.
BELOW: (Item 896) Hoods Well (as can be seen without an apostro
ophe) on Down P2 at Port Glasgow. (Greg Beecroft, 11 Mar 2024.)
BELOW: (Item 897) Springburn station building in Atlas Road on 2
21 Oct 2019; left are the steps down to P2-4. (All Greg Beecroft.)
BELOW: The impressive former North British Locomotive ComNEXT: 'Speed', 'Science' and a steam locomotive over the main entran
mpany offices at Springburn, the main (northern) elevation. nce. (These and the rest of the photos were taken on 19 Mar 2024.)
BELOW: The western (left) and southern elevations of the form
mer North British Locomotive Company offices at Springburn.
BELOW: St Rollox House, the former St Rollox Works offices in Springburn; n
ote the British Rail symbol on the gates (BREL = British Rail Engineering Ltd).
BELOW: The surviving but now empty wo
orkshops at the closed St Rollox Works.
ABOVE: Pthe Apprethat namewere stamLEFT: Var1912. RIGHbe appliedhelps; the Springburn
laque explaining the history of ntices' Pillar. It incorrectly says es were inscribed, in fact they mped (this deserves a Rolloxing). ious apprentice stamps from HT: Some of the final names to d to the pillar. NEXT: Every little Apprentices' Pillar now outside n Tesco Extra
897] Springburn: The station building is Category 'B' listed but has been significantly altered over the years. It is staffed only 06.30-13.22 SuX, so the windows have been bricked up as a security measure. The Railway Heritage Trust reports interest from the local community in promoting improvements. By far the most impressive railway building to survive at Springburn is the head office of the North British Locomotive Company (which was quite separate from the North British Railway Company). It was designed by James Miller and completed in 1909. The four storey building, a short distance south of the station, has an ornate red sandstone, Edwardian Baroque frontage to Flemington Street but is much plainer on its other three sides. Carved in stone above the main entrance is the front of a steam locomotive, flanked by heroic female figures captioned 'SPEED' and 'SCIENCE'. North British went into liquidation in 1962 but the building remains in use as offices. The company's Glasgow Hyde Park Works, relocated here from Hyde Park Street in 1861, was on the opposite side of the road. The site is now occupied by houses and the Springburn campus of Glasgow Kelvin College. The Caledonian Railway St Rollox Works was further south, fronting Springburn Road. The Garnkirk & Glasgow Railway had its Works here but the site was greatly expanded when the Caledonian Railway relocated its Works from Greenock in 1856. The Works was enlarged in 1870/71 and again to 24 acres between 1884 and 1886, the buildings covered 13 acres. Over 3,000 people were employed on the site and the works was modernised in the 1960s. Following sale in 1995 to Railcare Ltd, jointly owned by Babcock and Siemens, the buildings on the north side of the Works, including most of the carriage and wagon shops, were demolished. The former machine shop, erecting shop, boiler shop and iron foundry are among buildings that survive to the south. They have been disused since the Works closed in 2019. A 'Tesco Extra' has been built on the northern part of the site. Preserved outside this supermarket is the stump of an iron column, originally supporting the roof of a workshop. It was a tradition that, when an apprentice qualified as a tradesman, he used letter punches to stamp his name and the year on this column, known as the Apprentices' Pillar. The names can still be read. The 1887 works office building fronts Springburn Road near Tesco. At least part is let, occupiers include a children's nursery. Nothing remains of the North British Railway Cowlairs Works, on the vacant site west of the railway at Cowlairs West Jn. Sharp, Stewart's Atlas Works site, east of Springburn station, is an industrial estate. 898] Grangemouth: Work is underway on a transport appraisal to see if a rail passenger service should be reinstated to Grangemouth. The 2½ mile branch from Falkirk Grahamston (Grangemouth Junction) OG 1860; OP 1 Nov 1861 and CP 29 Jan 1968. The former passenger station (E-BLN 1437.2433 photo) was a terminus immediately south of the A904 overbridge, west of the through lines to the Docks. 899] Jacobite Steam Train: On 20 Mar West Coast Railways (WCR) announced that Jacobite steam trains between Fort William and Mallaig, which had been due to start on 28 Mar for the 2024 season, have been suspended. WCR says that a central door locking exemption certificate for use of its carriages has been automatically granted in previous years but this year a more detailed application has had to be submitted. On 8 Mar WCR applied to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for a short-term exemption certificate while awaiting consideration of the full application. WCR says that ORR refused to issue this and will consider the full proposal but is unsure how long this will take. Those who say that use of slam door carriages is perfectly safe may be unaware that British Rail Solicitors often had to deal with claims from people who had fallen out of trains. Up in one corner of their office, there was a crate containing the locks removed as evidence from the doors concerned. The ORR has issued a statement: All heritage operators were told several years ago that in order to operate after 31 March 2023 they either needed to fit central door locking or obtain an exemption from us. West Coast Railway's application for an exemption failed and they made a claim for judicial review. A temporary exemption was granted in order to maintain the status quo, enabling WCR to operate whilst the litigation reached a conclusion. Despite this, WCR chose to sell tickets when it was far from certain that a new application for an exemption would be granted, either in time for the commencement of services or at all. It submitted an exemption application on 8 March, which we are now assessing. ORR is disappointed that WCR appears not to have made sensible contingency plans for the benefit of their customers.
900] Lumo to Glasgow: (BLN 1444.774) A member comments that those of us with longer memories will recall that Edinburgh to Carstairs electrification was an add-on to the East Coast Main Line from Hitchin to Leeds and Edinburgh (as was North Berwick). This enabled the newly electrified service to run to and from Glasgow Central every two hours. Primarily, the electrification was to connect the steel industries of the Motherwell area with North East England. Sadly, Ravenscraig Steelworks shut just a year after the service started. More recently, some bright spark at the DfT thought it would be a good idea if CrossCountry replaced the East Coast trains. There were, naturally, complaints that Glasgow was being cut off from King's Cross but that was never the intention of those trains anyway. It could be argued that CrossCountry was a better fit as it had through trains to / from Leeds, missing since the demise of the Thames-Clyde Express. As we know, post-pandemic, most of these went too. Prior to electrification, East Coast HSTs served Queen Street, each return trip replacing an Edinburgh/ Glasgow service, just like one might expect of a joined-up railway. Rather than Lumo serving Glasgow Central, our member speculates that, perhaps, the Edinburgh & Glasgow may be a better fit, serving, at the very least, Croy, a station whose passenger numbers have mushroomed over recent years (1.41M 2018-19, recovering to 1.06M in 2022-23)? Lumo EMUs are only 5-cars long, so would easily fit in Queen Street. [Your Scottish Editor adds that there are now two huge free car parks at Croy totalling 940 spaces. The station is more convenient than Greenfaulds for many Cumbernauld residents, as well as those from Kilsyth, and is not far from Jn5 on the M80; it even has a refreshment kiosk!]. 901] Paisley Gilmour Street: NR has repaired the wrought iron girders of the bridge carrying Paisley Gilmour Street station over Gilmour St. The bridge was built in 1840 and widened on the north side when the railway was quadrupled about 1890. The bridge is listed Category 'B', as part of the station. 902] Elderslie: On 6 Mar Freightliner operated trial intermodal workings for WH Malcolm 4D12 08.45 Elderslie to Grangemouth Docks via Carmyle and Cumbernauld and 4D13 15.00 return. It can be no coincidence that the Rail Freight Group's Scottish Conference took place at Grangemouth the next day. Trains ran between Grangemouth and Elderslie for about five years from 2009. It is a shorter distance than is usually viable for containers by train but avoids congested motorways in the Glasgow area. The GBRf Elderslie to Tees Dock intermodal service ended with the departure on 11 Nov 2022. ….. 1445 WALES & THE MARCHES (Chris Parker) [email protected] 903] Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway (WS&MR): (BLN 1437.2442) The company submitted a 'formal' track access application to the ORR on 14 Mar - so what was the status of the one submitted in Nov 2023? It is a consortium of Alstom (could its 'warm stored' 100mph Class 175 DMUs be an alternative or additional to the Class 22X DMUs - most likely Meridians - mentioned last year?) and SLC (Sable Leigh Consultancy). The latter has been engaged in the campaign to reopen Baschurch station (BLN 1416.278) but has stated that WS&MR services would not call there because of the lack of public subsidy, nor at Wellington, which has caused much local dismay but possibly at the proposed Aldridge (BLN 1428.1647); very surprisingly, as it will only have an Up platform! The application confirms the proposed route as via Wolverhampton, Portobello Jn, Darlaston Jn, Pleck Jn, Walsall, Park Lane Jn, Water Orton, Coleshill Parkway and Nuneaton. At Nuneaton, these trains are likely to use the high level P6/P7 and then, of note, the Up Trent Valley Slow on the Up services and the Down Trent Slow to P1/P2, then the Nuneaton Chord, on the return. NR hopes to be able ease the restriction through Sutton Park from 30/45mph to 60mph; 50 min is envisaged from Wolverhampton to Nuneaton. WS&MR is to announce details of its fleet, brand and service provision at a later date, which again begs the question as to how or if this will differ from what was announced in Nov! 904] Torpantau: (BLN 1442.418) Mention of the audio recordings prompted a member to share his superb photos (in e-BLN) of 8 Sep 1962, the last Saturday of the summer timetable before closure. He saw one train pass through Torpantau - the 2.05pm Brecon to Newport. SSuX, this was the third and final southbound train to Newport of the day. Its two coaches were hauled by Collett Goods 0-6-0 3201 this day; on departure it passed the water crane, starting signal and 'PIN DOWN BRAKES' notice for goods trains. On Saturdays, there was an additional train for Newport. There was also an 8.15pm from Brecon as far as Bargoed on summer Saturdays only.