Newsletter

BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

JULY NEWSLETTER 2021

Dear Member,

Thank you to those of you who participated in our second virtual AGM and voting using Survey Monkey on June 3. Approximately 60% of the membership voted on line and all motions received unanimous votes in favour.  No other matters were raised. A vacancy does now exist on the committee with the retirement of Anne Meddick. If anyone would like to join the committee, please contact John Froud and he will be happy to talk to you about it. John’s contact details are above.

The answer to the competition in the last Newsletter was Bernard Cribbins who was one of the stars in the original film ‘The Railway Children’. Filming of a sequel, ‘The Return of the Railway Children’ has been taking place at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and this is due for release in April 2022. Only one of the original cast, Jenny Agutter, is in this new production.

Major alterations to track and signalling will be taking place at Bristol Temple Meads from Saturday July 10 to Friday September 3. The Improvements to the junction east of the station will help to ease congestion and enable more trains to run with an extra line being created. This will also pave the way for new suburban services in the future. The works will mean changes to train services and longer journey times. Some services will not call at Temple Meads and there will be bus replacements in operation. On some dates services to/from London Paddington will terminate/start at Bath Spa, and services to/from Filton Abbey Wood direction will avoid Temple Meads. Bedminster station will have an important role throughout the work, with disused sections of platform temporarily brought back into use for GWR services. From Tuesday August 31 until Friday September 3, trains from Taunton will terminate at Bedminster, with passengers then using buses from/to a car park in Dalby Avenue. A temporary depot situated behind a business park on Whitby Road/Eldon Way will service CrossCountry trains overnight on two periods during the upgrade. You are strongly advised to check your journey before traveling during this period.

Plans to reopen the Portishead line for passenger traffic are taking a step closer. The process to appoint a contractor to upgrade the existing freight line and build a new station at Portishead has begun. Next month Network Rail will shortlist four contractors for the £70m project which will also see a new station built at Pill. The project, which is part of MetroWest, is now fully funded and is proceeding through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process, but this has been delayed by about 4 months due to Covid-19.  If all goes to plan, passenger trains should start running in 2024.

Oxford station is to get a new platform and entrance in a major revamp of the station. The DfT has given the go-ahead for the £69M investment which will see a new island platform built adjacent to the existing platform 4. This should increase capacity at the station from 2024. New fast crossovers will also be installed to the north of the station.

Network Rail have now completed relaying the track on the route from Crediton to Okehampton ready for the commencement of passenger services later this year. Signalling masts now have to be installed, and then GWR will commence crew training on the route. Meanwhile, the former Dartmoor Railway Supporters Association have changed their name by dropping the word ‘supporters’ from their title becoming the Dartmoor Railway Association. At Okehampton, the up side of the station, which will be used for the Exeter service, has been transferred to Network Rail, but the down side remains with Devon County Council. The buildings are occupied by the Dartmoor Railway Association and they have reopened their museum and served refreshments on a number of days in June.  At present the future of the Okehampton to Meldon section of line has not been decided, although rolling stock formerly owned by the Dartmoor Railway Community Interest Company, which went into administration, is being disposed of from Meldon. (See another item on Page 4). The DRA also has stock stored there.

 

Forty years ago this month on July 25, 1981, the R.C.T.S. and Southern Electric Group ran the ‘Wilts & Somerset Rail Tour’ which started and finished at London Paddington. It ran via Reading and Southcote Junction to Basingstoke and Andover before traversing the line to Ludgershall. It then went to Salisbury and to Wilton Junction Ground Frame to run down the short stub to Quidhampton. From there it headed to Westbury to cover lines in Somerset including Merehead Quarry, Whites Crossing Siding, Cranmore, and Radstock West. From Frome it travelled to Swindon via Westbury and Melksham to go up the then remaining section of the Highworth branch to the Pressed Steel factory. It returned to the capital via the GW main line. The train was formed of Class 117 - 3 car DMU, (set L416) 51395+59505+51353. All of this set did go into preservation, but 51395 was finally cut up at the Dean Forest Railway in 2012 due to its poor condition. 59505 is now on the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway, while 51353 is in static use as a community hub on the Wensleydale Railway.

Fifty years ago this month, on July 23, 1971, the first passenger train since March 8, 1965, reached Pickering station in North Yorkshire This had run the 18 miles from Grosmont and carried a party of the then North Riding County Council to view the plans of the preservation group which is todays North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The two coach train was hauled by NCB Lambton No. 5 which was built in 1909. No. 5 was employed all its working life hauling coal transfer trains over the colliery ‘main lines’ around Wearside and withdrawn by the NCB in 1969, when it was purchased by NYMR members. There is a link here with Bath, as one of those who became an owner of No. 5 was the late John H Boyes who had a residence in Bathwick. John was a well-known photographer in the North-East and he held the position of a senior signal and telegraph engineer on the NYMR. He also had a part in the purchase and preservation of D1048 ‘Western Lady’ from BR in 1977. John died in December 2006, and a memorial train was run in his memory on the NYMR.

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust’s Peckett locomotive Number 1788 ‘Kilmersdon’ is currently in Ropley Works on the Mid Hants Railway. The 1929 built locomotive is now based on the railway as previously reported. It is being overhauled and should be back in traffic next year. The Mid-Hants plan to be using the locomotive on special occasions such as Thomas the Tank events. The locomotive was delivered new to Kilmersdon Colliery where it remained until it closed in August 1973.  1788 was moved from Washford to its new home at the MHR earlier this year. Two further items of rolling stock were moved in June from Washford to the MHR, one of which was a brake van.

Other items owned by the Somerset & Dorset Trust are also being removed from Washford. A 2’ gauge ‘Peat Line’ has been lifted, and placed on long term loan, to the Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum on the Somerset Levels near Bridgwater.   A number of items of rolling stock are also being moved with the track work to the museum.

The Severn Valley Railway have launched an appeal to raise funds for essential repairs to be carried out on the roof of the Locomotive Works at Bridgnorth. They need to raise £425,000 to repair the roof which has serious leaks when it rains. They also want to install an overhead crane to improve working facilities. Further details can be found on the SVR website.

Also with the S V R (Charitable Trust) they have launched a Just Giving appeal to raise funds for the renovation of a wooden bracket signal at Bewdley. £1,475 of the needed sum of £5,000 has already been raised. The SVR has two wooden bracket signals situated near to Bewdley South signal box.

In Weymouth, a new low level 80m long pedestrian/cycling bridge is proposed alongside the B3155 Swannery Bridge to connect to existing pedestrian and cycle paths either side of the Radipole Lake. The bridge will improve access to Weymouth station, the town centre, and seafront areas. Dorset County Council are also planning to transform the station forecourt area and improve the first impressions of it. The rails of the former tramway to the Quay station have now all been removed.

Plans for a new station in Somerset to serve the Somerton and Langport area are progressing. The local MP for Frome and Somerton – David Warburton, has managed to secure funding of £50,000 from the Government for a feasibility study for a new station on the Somerset Levels. South Somerset District Council has also now pledged a further £6,000 to go towards the study on top of contributions from local town and parish councils. Local residents are now being canvased for their opinions on the plans, and are being asked to complete an online survey which will then be submitted to the Department for Transport. A site being considered for a new parkway station is at Long Sutton and Pitney where there was once a small station. This closed on September 10, 1962 at the same time as Langport and Somerton stations closed.


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We now have another story from member Brian May.  If you have a story, railway related, please do send them in. We only have one more at present, so your contributions would be most welcome.


AT THE END OF THE DAY - Reflections on a Swanage gala day in 2013.

After a late summer Saturday which had produced a day of warm sunshine, albeit with a slight chill in the air, dusk has descended over the railway station at Swanage. At the head of its eight coach train West Country Pacific 34028 sits impatiently awaiting its booked departure time of 20:50. With only a couple of weeks left on its ticket before withdrawal it has been a good few weeks since it last saw a cleaner's rag. The front number plate and nameplates have already been removed for safe keeping although there is enough light from the station lamps to illuminate the remaining scrolled plate proudly proclaiming ' West Country Class '. Perhaps in an attempt to mislead train-spotters somebody has chalked ' Honiton ' where the ' Eddystone ' plate once resided.

The guard is passing through the train informing the passengers that there will be a slight delay to departure owing to the late arrival of a freight train from Norden. A few minutes later the sound of an approaching train can be heard whistling through Herston and shortly afterwards the shed lights illuminate Standard 4 2-6-4T 80104 as it passes under the road bridge and gently eases its motley collection of vans and open wagons into the bay beside the goods shed and slows to a stop at the buffers outside the stationmaster's office. A burble from the station throat announces the presence of a 0-6-0 diesel shunter as it trundles down to the bay to collect the wagons and to allow the 2-6-4T to retire to the shed for servicing.

The passenger guard can now concentrate on getting his train underway. The length of the train means that the locomotive is in front of the starter signal and, although the signal is off, a telephone call is necessary to the duty signalman at Swanage signal box to ascertain that all is in order for the 20:50 to depart. Having obtained the ' right away ' the guard puts a whistle to his lips and a shrill blast echoes around the, by now, almost deserted station. A cheery wave from the driver to the guard, in response to his waving of the green flag, and the regulator is slowly eased open. With steam escaping from the cylinder cocks and a steady ' whoomp ' from the chimney the locomotive, unaware of its imminent demise, takes the strain and the train begins to ease away on its journey. A short slip is soon arrested and as the carriages glide by a glimpse inside reveals a good compliment of passengers. The fifth carriage is a bar car and a group of enthusiasts are already keeping the steward busy. In the carmine and cream dining car a full complement of diners are waiting for the soup tureen to arrive. It is only as the last coach passes that U class 4-6-0 31806 appears from the shadows as it gently assists 34028 by pushing from the rear. By the time 31806 passes, the 4-6-2 is already passing the loco shed and getting into its stride and beginning the climb to the Victoria Road Bridge and heading for its first booked stop.

Shortly afterwards the station returns to its slumber with the only sounds to be heard being the chatter of the servicing crew at the loco shed and the noise emanating from the public houses in Swanage as it hosts its annual folk festival and it is time to join them for a beer or two.


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Many thanks Brian. As mentioned above, please send in your stories to share. They can be sent directly to me at bob.bunyar@outlook.com

In June, Devon County Council submitted a bid to the Government for funding to develop the business case for the re-opening of the line between Tavistock and Plymouth. The project will aim to reinstate the disused former SR main line between Tavistock and Bere Alston to provide an hourly rail service through to Plymouth, as well as opening a new single platform railway station at Tavistock. The station would be next to 750 houses currently under construction. The present two-hourly services between Plymouth, Bere Alston and Gunnislake would be maintained. The reinstatement of the line to Tavistock is identified in the 20-year plan of the Peninsula Rail Task Force as a key second phase for the re-opening of the Northern Route between Plymouth and Exeter via Tavistock, (old SR route) following on from the reinstatement of services between Okehampton and Exeter later this year. The County Council hope to hear later this summer if their bid has been successful, and they are also now considering the re-opening of a station at Plympton on the main line.

Reading’s new Green Park station, on the line to Basingstoke, should open later this year, with construction now well advanced. It is being built close to Reading Football Club’s Madejski Stadium and will be served by GWR’s Reading - Basingstoke services.

If you are holidaying in Cornwall this year, the Helston Railway is reopening this month. They are planning to start services on July 7, initially running on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Steam trains will run every day they are open, using steam locomotive, Peckett no.2000. Check their website for details.

Looking ahead, UK Rail Tours is running a tour from London Paddington on September 11 to cover rare tracks in the Bristol area. Included in the itinerary will be the Tytherington and Westerleigh branches. The train will run to Bristol via the Berks and Hants line and Westbury and return to Paddington via Kemble and Swindon after reversal at Cheltenham. Further details and bookings can be made via the UK Rail Tours website.

Former Dartmoor Railway Hampshire Units (Thumpers) 1132 and 1128 have been moved from Meldon Quarry by road, and are now on the Caledonian Railway at Brechin in Scotland. Serviceable 1132 should be entering traffic on the CR, and unrestored 1128 will be used as part of an alternative power project with Aberdeen University. They are now a very long way from the Southern Region!

Steam is returning to Midsomer Norton station, the home of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust. Kitson 5459 -‘Austin 1’ will be at the railway for July through to September 26 and will be hauling trains on selected dates. (See website for details and for ticketing information). 5459 is visiting from the Llangollen Railway, and this coming weekend, July 3 & 4, it will be in use at a mixed traction gala. On Friday July 2 it will be on static display, and also that day, there will be the chance to ride on the freight train hauled by 7109 'Joyce' with Class 03 D2128 on the rear from 10:30 until 15:30 along with some shunting at the end of the day. On the Saturday and Sunday there will be an intensive timetable in operation.

The two LSWR coaches thought to have been used on a Boat Train for the ‘Titanic’ have been saved. Unless they were moved by June 30, they were going to be scrapped at the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway where they have been stored for thirty years. They have been purchased by David Scott-Beddard, the Chairman of the British Titanic Society, for £1 each. The coaches will now be moved to the Mid-Hants Railway later this year where it is hoped restoration will take place at Ropley, taking several years to complete. It is estimated that each coach will cost at least £350,000 + to restore. An application could be made for lottery funding.

Bob Bunyar

Vice Chairman

Please note:    All events and special trains etc are mentioned in good faith and hopefully details are correct at the time of publication of the Newsletter.      Please however, do check before travelling or attending events as things can change

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


For this month’s competition you have to find the name of a Class 60 diesel locomotive. The Class were introduced from 1989 and this name is the first one carried by this locomotive. It subsequently carried a second name, and to give you a slight clue, it is now preserved. Just take the first letter of each answer (unless otherwise specified) and then unscramble then to work out the name.


Answer

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