Newsletter

BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

MAY NEWSLETTER 2021

Dear Member,

As usual, trusting you are all staying safe and well at this time?

Despite the pandemic and a year in which we have not been able to hold meetings, nevertheless we do consider it appropriate to once again hold an AGM in the same way as last year ie using Survey Monkey for those ‘on-line’ and postal to others.  We will therefore be sending out all reports and committee nominations approximately 1 week in advance of the AGM date with on-line voting on the day - 3rd June 2021.  If you have any business you would like to raise for the AGM then please contact the Chairman, John Froud – details above, no later than Thursday 20th May. We are keen to see a new member(s) join our committee and appeal to anyone who is interested to speak with our Chairman (as soon as possible) to discuss what is entailed and so that any nominations can also be addressed in our ‘virtual’ AGM.  In advance of the AGM we will also provide information on how we propose to resume meetings into 2021/22, based on what we currently understand from government advice.

The answer to the quiz in the last Newsletter was Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway. Another quiz for you at the end of this Newsletter.

Our local heritage railway, the Avon Valley, will be re-starting train services on Saturday, May 1 in time for the bank holiday weekend. They will be running four trains a day at 11:00, 12:30, 14:00 and 15:30. As capacity remains much lower than normal due to social distancing, they recommend that tickets are purchased in advance to guarantee seats. 

The Avon Valley Railway and Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust have been in discussions to help re-locate a portion of their rolling stock and museum artefacts which are currently based at the SDRT site at Washford on the West Somerset Railway.  The essence of the agreement is to establish a display of Midland/LMS vehicles and artefacts at Bitton which will form the basis of a new museum at the station. Several SDRT vehicles will be adapted to house a range of S&D items with additional historical items belonging to the AVR which together will tell the story of the Midland lines terminating at Green Park, Bath.  The AVR will be announcing further details in due course.

The Somerset & Dorset Trust’s 0-4-0 Peckett locomotive ‘Kilmersdon’ has now moved from the Helston Railway in Cornwall to the Mid – Hants Railway, where their 7F - 53808 is now also based.

GWR are planning further additional services in their summer timetable, which starts on Sunday May 16, when they reintroduce half-hourly services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington. During weekends in May, GWR services will run to an amended timetable between Cardiff Central, Bristol Temple Meads, Frome and Warminster, and between Salisbury and Portsmouth Harbour with bus replacements taking place. Much of the work revolves around Wilton where the junction points are being replaced. GWR trains will not run to Brighton, but alternative local services will be available. On Sunday May 30, Services to/from Weymouth will start/terminate at Yeovil Pen Mill with bus replacements due to engineering work at Dorchester and 800 yards of track replacement at Chetnole.

Wellington station in Somerset could be reopened by 2026. West Somerset & Mid Devon Councils will be submitting a joint application to the Department for Transport for finance as part of ‘Restoring your Station Fund’. The original station at Wellington closed in 1964, and if a new station is built, it is most likely to be on a new site in the town and probably by a new proposed housing development.

Melksham station on the TransWilts Line has gained a café. It is located in a former commercial depot building which has been restored, with a kitchen installed and a new toilet. Due to Covid restrictions, the cafe will initially operate as a takeaway with outside tables offering a place to eat, drink, chat or wait for a train.

A new ticket office has been opened at Taunton station as improvements there near completion.

It will be 53 years ago this month that the former SR route from Okehampton through to Bere Alston was closed to passenger services from Monday May 6, 1968 with the last trains running on Saturday May 4. Of course the section from Plymouth survived to serve the Gunnislake branch via Bere Alston, and the line to Okehampton is reopening this year with services from Exeter. There is now much campaigning to reopen the missing section from Okehampton to Bere Alston which would restore the old SR main line from Exeter to Plymouth.

50 Years ago this month, on May 8, 1971, the Bristol & District Group of the Railway Travel and Correspondence Society organised a rail tour that covered numerous lines and sidings in the Newport and Ebbw Vale area. Called the Eastern Valleys Rail Tour it was formed of a 3 car DMU and started and finished at Bristol Temple Meads. The tour ran to Newport High Street from where it covered many junctions and lines including Furnace Sidings, Hafodyrynys Colliery Sidings, Newport Dock Street, Aberbeeg and Coalbrookvale, Abbw Vale Low Level and South Sidings and Limekiln Sidings, before returning to Newport and Bristol. One of those on the tour was Hugh Ballantyne. Where any of you also on it?

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Keeping the South Wales theme, member Brian May has kindly sent in a story that happened to him there!

THE BIRDMAN OF RHYMNEY - The glory that was Wales

In the early years of this century, seems like a long time ago phrased like that, there used to be three Class 37 hauled trains in the early evening bringing the workers (?) back from Cardiff to all points up the Rhymney valley. One evening after photographing said trains, in cracking weather at superb locations, as per usual, and after a couple of celebratory pints in The Farmers Arms, I returned to Rhymney station in order to catch a train to Cardiff to connect with the last train through to Bath. “Zut alors", the said train had been terminated and turned back at Bargoed. The signing on point/office at Rhymney was still open for the cleaners who prepared the stock of the three loco hauled trains ready for the morning. On speaking to the chargeman on duty he told me to take a taxi from the adjoining office and he would issue a covering white ticket. The lady in the taxi office informed me that the two taxis she had out that night had already been dispatched to Cardiff, one for returning train crew and one for four train punters who had arrived in front of me. Not wishing to lose a white ticket fare she said that she would phone her husband, who was at home, and get him to drive me to Cardiff in the family saloon.

After about 15 mins an aged Ford Granada lumbered up to the station and I was beckoned inside. “Where to Bach?" issued from the copious figure wedged behind the steering wheel. I said that originally it was agreed on Cardiff but as time was moving on Newport might be a better destination and I could make my connection there. As the car lurched forward my chauffeur offered the classic line " O.K. Bach, no problem, you'll just have to show me the way as I don't drive very often and I haven't been to Newport in a long while ". It comes to something when you have to show a local the way to the nearest big city. Anyway, we were underway and I tried to intersperse the directions with conversation. I thanked him for coming out from his home, which turned out to be a caravan parked in The Farmers Arms car-park, and I hoped that I hadn't disturbed his evening." No, I was only watching a video, ' The Birdman of Alcatraz ', one of my favourites." ”Ah", I replied “Robert Stroud“(the actual name of the birdman). ”Noooooooo" says he, "Burt Lancaster". I tried to tell him I meant the character Burt was playing but in his mind Burt Lancaster was the birdman. As we trundled on our merry way he asked me why I had been in Rhymney. When I told him that I was photographing the trains and that I had travelled the world photographing railways he replied in a serious tone "I've travelled a bit, I used to live in the south of Rhymney, but now I'm living in a caravan in the centre of Rhymney while I have a bungalow built in the north of Rhymney". Any chance of having a conversation about China, Cape Town or Darjeeling went out of the window, which kept dropping open.

On the outskirts of Newport he asked me where I wanted dropping off for the train and my sardonic reply that trains normally go from the railway station was lost on him. After negotiating the delights of the inner ring road we arrived at the station. "It was a good job you were here Bach, I wouldn't have found it on my own". It never occurred to him that it was only because I was there that he had to come to Newport in the first place. We said our goodbyes and the faithful (fateful) chariot belched a final cloud of smoke and wheezed out into the traffic. I still have a vision of an ageing Ford Granada circling the Newport inner ring road trying to find an exit that would enable 'The Birdman of Rhymney’ to fly back to his nest - only in Wales.

Our thanks to Brian, we’ll have another article from him in a future newsletter.

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Due to concerns about landslips, the Severn Valley Railway have invested and installed Tilt Monitoring Equipment at Sterns and Aveley Woods locations where there have been serious issues with embankment subsidence.

The Severn Valley is holding a ‘Diesel Bash’ this month from May 13 to 16.  Locomotives to feature include Class 14 D9551 and Class 17 D8568, 40106 Atlantic Conveyor, Class 42 D821 Greyhound, Class 50s and Class 52 D1015 Western Champion. Guest locomotives will be Vintage Trains’ Class 47 - 47773 and one of the Class 20s (identity to be confirmed) owned by Class 20189 Ltd, Tickets for the event are selling well, and details of the locomotives rostering will be online.

Following demolition work to remove and recycle the old one, construction of a new, longer platform 4 at Swansea station is well underway. The new platform will be 260m long to allow GWR’s Intercity Express Trains to arrive and depart from it. It is 13m longer than the old platform and it forms a key part of plans to modernise the station.

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust has been awarded the ownership of an Ex-British Railways ‘SNCF’ 16ton Mineral Wagon by the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York. There are only two of its type left in existence, and the Trust has been awarded the transfer of ownership by the NRM by process of tender. The wagon will untimely be part of the Trust’s coal train, and it has now  been delivered to Midsomer Norton.

There is still no date for South Western Railway’s Isle of Wight ‘Island Line’ services to recommence. The introduction of the Class 484 units is being delayed by software problems and engineering works have been set back by covid issues. Services should have started last month, but it could now be mid-summer at the earliest before trains start operating.

Redevelopment work has started at Plymouth station which will see alterations to its concourse area. In the first phase the ticket gates will be doubled in number while a proposed ‘Brunel Plaza’ will have shops and cafes. The former station office block is being refurbished and will be used by Plymouth University.  In Phase 2 of works it is planned to improve passenger waiting areas and plans are also proposing a hotel and multi storey car park. The current station buildings were opened in March 1962.

Refurbishment has also been carried out at another Devon station. The platforms at Exeter St James have been extended and new lighting installed. The station is operated by GWR.

The Swindon and Cricklade Railway are reopening on Sunday May 2 running diesel services and pre booking of tickets will be a requirement, Steam services will be introduced at a later date. Meanwhile contractors having been clearing the old track bed of the line towards Cricklade in preparation for laying down ballast.

The Plym Valley Railway have taken delivery of Class 31 -31190 for use on their line from Marsh Mills to Plym Bridge. The Class 31 was purchased from RMS Locotec. The railway has reopened, but again tickets must be booked in advance.

Plans to reopen the Hampshire branch line to Fawley for passenger traffic have taken a step forward with the County Council helping to support further planning.  Proposals will look at new stations at Hythe Town, Hythe and Fawley Parkway and the old platforms at Marchwood would be upgraded. Currently the line, which closed to passenger traffic in 1965, only sees occasional military traffic to Marchwood where the signal box is still manned.

Plans are being formulated for Bristol Temple Meads to become a world class interchange station with 22M passengers per year. The plans for the Temple Quarter and St Philip’s Marsh are being developed by Bristol City Council, Homes England, Network Rail and the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). However, work is not expected to start for another decade with completion not until 2041 at the earliest!

A new purpose built temporary shelter is due to be put in place at Shillingstone station this month. It will be sited just on the Sturminster Newton side (north) of the station and will be used for the restoration of steam locomotive 30075, the USA designed, Yugoslavian built tank locomotive. Progress is being made on the restoration of this loco and its rolling chassis will be put inside the shelter to allow re-assembly of it. 30075’s boiler is further up the S & D at Henstridge where it is being overhauled by boiler smith Richard Vincent at his works. It is hoped to have 30075 operational at Shillingstone during 2022.

Further again up the S & D at Templecombe, the Gartell Light Railway has announced that at present it will be remaining closed as it cannot comply with distancing covid restrictions. The 2’ gauge railway normally opens on a number of dates during the year, including Bank Holidays.

On May 23, the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway will be running a diesel locomotive and this will be 'Peak' No 45149. Passengers can only join trains at Toddington and once again, pre-booking is essential to guarantee a seat. Only diesel traction will operate on this date, no steam services. Your ticket @ £30 will entitle you to ride all day on three round trips of the line. Hales Abbey Halt, Winchcombe and Gotherington Stations will not be available for use by passengers or for public access. (See website for further details)

West Country Class 34028 ‘Eddystone’ should be re-entering traffic on the Swanage Railway during early summer. It has returned to the railway from its Herston Works after a major overhaul. Going into the works in its place is Battle of Britain Class 34072 ‘257 Squadron’ which will be receiving attention and a minor overhaul before returning to traffic for this summer. Standard Tank 80104 is due be coming out of traffic on May 11 when its boiler ticket expires. It is then due for overhaul, depending on funding.

The book on Bath Stone by our late former member David Pollard has finally been published. It is available from Lightmore press of Lydney, E mail info@lightmoor.co.uk, tel. 01993 773927. It is titled “Digging Bath Stone” and priced at £50, but it is a definitive account on the subject.

In our June Newsletter there will be articles from Mike Dodd and Alan Price to look forward to. If you would like to send in a story, please do get in touch.

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 >>>>>>>>


A new competition for you and this month and it should be an easy one. Back in the 1960’s there were widespread cuts in the former Southern Railway lines in North Devon and Cornwall and the remaining ones became known as the Withered Arm. All you have to do is take the first letter from each answer and rearrange them to give the name of a station on the old southern system. It’s all for fun and no prizes given. The answer will be given in the next newsletter.


Your answer is the name of a station on the former Southern system in either North Devon or Cornwall:-

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