BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER 2020

Dear Member,

Welcome to our latest Newsletter and once again, we hope you are still keeping safe and well? It is certainly strange times with no early end in sight at present. Unfortunately there is still no news on when we can resume our monthly meetings.

Firstly I am saddened to report the passing of Don Froud on October 7, at the age of 95 years.  Don was born in Bristol and his love of railways and the Great Western Railway in particular arose when trainspotting at Ashley Hill station in the 1930s.  After a career in the Royal Navy as a Chief Engine Room Artificer (ERA) he moved to Bath to work at The Admiralty, Foxhill.  He joined Bath Railway Society in the mid-1960s having come to know Norman Lockett and on a couple of occasions gave presentations of his railway pictures, taken towards the very end of steam.  These included a number from the last weekend of the S&D and used extensively in my book – ‘Somerset and Dorset Swansong’ He was an active modeller in Gauge One live steam and his Combe Down Garden Railway achieved widespread recognition, including the accolade of Railway of the Month in both the August 2007 and August 2015 editions of Railway Modeller. There are many other pastimes he pursued and the family was delighted to be able to share memories of these with the congregation who attended a service of thanksgiving for his life on 21st October 2020 at Manvers Street Baptist Church, attended by Mike and Davina. Our condolences go to John and all his family at this very sad time.

We are pleased to advise you that we now have a new website up and running. This went live in the second week of October. I’m sure you will agree that it is an improvement and we will now be able to keep it up to date. It’s still the same address (see above), so do take a look. Our thanks go to Tom Hagarty for his hard work on this along with our chairman John Froud. Do let us know what you think of the website. We do get a number of enquiries from outside the Society for different things through our website, so it has proved to be a useful advertising tool for us.

In the last newsletter I included a competition. If you took the first letter of each answer then unscrambled the mix, you should have made the name Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Hope you enjoyed doing it? There is another competition added for you at the end of this Newsletter. If you do enjoy doing the competitions, do let us know as more can then be compiled for future issues.

Due to problems with the railway embankment in the Corston areas, Network Rail have laid a proper hard-core roadway at The Globe Inn end of Newton Meadows at the end of the A4 dual carriageway. It starts on the farmers track just off the roundabout and stretches alongside the footpath to the railway embankment underbridge. Adjacent to the underbridge NR have built a base/compound which contains several lime green portakabins, generators and plant vehicles including diggers and dumpers.

Planning notices have appeared at Bradford on Avon station citing that there is a plan to restore the canopy to the footbridge and these plans have been presented to the council for consideration.

There are two interesting film clips on the internet. One is of Bath Spa station and the other is of Freshford station. To view go to https://www.facebook.com/FollyBooks/videos/680129446237818/  and https://www.facebook.com/FollyBooks/videos/1641436332701370/ Can anyone put names to those featured in the clips? Sorry no sound, but certainly worth looking at.

Many heritage railways have benefitted from the Culture and Recovery Fund receiving varying amounts of money. The Severn Valley has been given £906,000 with the West Somerset getting £865,000. The Mid- Hants has been granted £600.00 with the Gloucester & Warwickshire getting £318,000 and the Swanage Railway £223,000. Smaller railways have also benefitted with Cornwall’s Helston Railway getting £76,100 and the Plym Valley £27,900. The narrow gauge Lynton & Barnstaple have been awarded £79,300 and the Seaton Tramway £435,100. This is not a complete list of benefactors from the heritage sector, and it is understood this money has to be used by the end of March next year,

50 years ago this month the remaining section of line from Yarnton to Witney in Oxfordshire was completely closed.  British Railways had closed the line through to Fairford to passenger traffic on June 18, 1962, but retained the section between Oxford (Yarnton) and Witney for goods traffic. This was then closed on   November 2, 1970, when all freight services were withdrawn. On October 31, two days before complete closure, British Rail Western Region ran a farewell rail tour to Witney from London Paddington formed of a nine car DMU called ‘The Witney Wanderer’. The tour also visited the lines to Abingdon and Morris Cowley. There is still a desire by pressure groups to re-open the line to Witney and introduce a Witney/Oxford service, although there is no commitment at present from Oxfordshire Council to do so.

Two weeks after the above tour ran, the Great Western Society (Bristol Group) and the Wirral Rail Circle also ran a tour called ‘The Somerset Rambler II’. This started at Bristol Temple Meads and traversed the Westbury avoiding line, and freight lines to Radstock West, Writhlington, Bristol - Avonside Wharf, Yate, Bath Midland Yard, Highbridge and Bason Bridge before returning to Bristol. This was formed of a three car DMU Cross Country Unit.

The North Dorset Railway Trust at Shillingstone have been pressing ahead with track laying and are making good progress in completing the station area. They hope to extend north to Lamb House Bridge next year. The railway has now taken delivery of a new diesel shunter in full working order. This is named ‘Ashdown’ and originally worked on the Manchester Ship Canal Railway.

The Friends of the Great Central Main Line is assisting the Great Central Railway Plc and Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and they have produced a 2021 calendar. Proceeds from the sales will go towards the planning and construction of the next phase of the reunification of the two railways. They are £10 each plus £4 P&P and can be purchased from Barry Lycett at blycett.gcr@gmail.com

Moves are being made to look at whether it is possible to reintroduce some form of railway connection to Helston in Cornwall. An investigation is being led by Helston Community Interest Company to see how easy it would be reach Helston.  Cornwall Council had agreed to advance Helston CIC £10,000 from its Vitality Fund, to cover the cost of hiring the two professionals to put together a bid to the Government’s Railways Fund to restore the railway. The scheme will be discussed at a council meeting this month. This is not associated with the Helston heritage railway.

A High Speed Train, now owned by Locomotive Services Ltd., is due to immerge from Eastleigh Works this month. It is being refurbished and painted in Nanking Blue, in the style of the old Blue Pullman sets, and it is due to make its first revenue earning run on November 14. This will be a circular tour from London St Pancras International and it is completely sold out.

Also on November 14, 60103 ‘Tornado’ is due to run from Bristol TM to Chester & return. This tour however could be subject to change due to rising Covid levels. The Belmond (British Pullman) should be visiting Bath on November 4 from London Victoria, Class 67 hauled.

You have just two months left to ride the 80 year old Class 483’s on the Ilse of Wight, known as ‘Rattlers’. The former London Underground tube trains, which started their second life on the IoW in 1967, are due to come out of service at the end of the year. The line from Ryde Pier to Shanklin will close from January 4 to March 31, 2021 for upgrading and should reopen using former  D78 (to be known as Class 484) underground stock which have been refurbished by Vivarail. It is hoped that the majority of the remaining Class 483’s will be preserved.

The restoration of Merchant Navy Class - 35011 ‘General Steam Navigation’ is now underway at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway. Work has focused on getting a container ready, which included the installation of lights and electrical sockets and painting it green. On the locomotive, the boiler was successfully lifted from the locomotive’s frames for the first time since 1959, and the trailing truck was also separated from the frames. The springs that attach to the centre driving wheel have also been removed, and these have been found to be in good condition. The right hand side piston and cover has been detached and put into storage, and an assessment into their condition will be completed in the future. The trailing truck was also separated from the frames, and the society is now looking for funding for the overhaul of the front bogie and trailing truck wheelsets. It hoped that the South Devon Railway Engineering will be doing this work with the wheelsets delivered there by the end of this year.

Bob Bunyar – BRS Vice Chairman

<<<<<<<< COMPETITION >>>>>>>>

Take the first letter from each of the answers (unless indicated otherwise), and then unscramble them. These letters will make up the three word name of a former station once served by the GWR. It’s just for fun, no prizes given. Hope you enjoy it? The Answer will be given in the next newsletter.

A London Underground line that runs between Brixton and Walthamstow Central

The Mid Hants Railway joins with the national system here

The names of the first two stations west of Plymouth start with this letter

Jubilee Class 45682

This village in Somerset   had a Junction and New station

Sheringham station is the HQ on this heritage railway

Famous Ealing comedy film about villagers taking over their branch line

‘Nickname’ of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Steam Railway (single word)

You change here for the branch train to Looe

The station at the foot of the Lickey Incline

A Devon bank immediately west of Totnes which is the seventh steepest in the country

The railway photographer Eric Tracey died on this station waiting for 92220 Evening Star

Original name of Brush Class 47 – D1666

A station that once served Bristol City Football ground and could do again in the future

Home of the North Dorset Railway Trust

Place where the first locomotive trials took place in October 1829

The name of a station and viaduct between Bere Alston and Gunnislake

A metallic name of a former station, which has a level crossing, on the Thornbury branch

The second part of a name of a station on the West Somerset Railway associated with a colour

Bullied’s first name

The first name of a famous railway photographer of the Somerset & Dorset who lived in Bath

Last station on the English side of the Severn tunnel which once had a Low Level station as well

Re-arrange the scrambled first letters.

Answer is a railway stations name on a former GWR line:-

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