Dear Member,

Thank you to those of you who came to our meeting at the Bath Museum of Work on October 7, when we were treated to an excellent presentation by our Chairman, John Froud on The Hijaz Railway.  John last presented this talk to us  back in the 1990’s, and had updated it, giving us an insight into The Hijaz and other Railways, and some of the cultures of the Middle East. A most enjoyable show, and thank you John for dusting it of for us!

Our next meeting will be on Thursday November 4 at the Bath Museum of Work at 7.30pm when we welcome Brian Arman. Brian has of course visited us several times in the past, and his talk on this occasion will be “From Hawksworth to the End of Steam: Swindon Works, 1945-65".

We did receive feedback from several members following our meeting at the BMofW on October 7, and they were positive on the venue. We will be continuing to meet there until at least and including January next year as the restrictions still being impose by St Mary’s church make that location unviable. We are aware that there are issues with parking near the Museum, but just to remind you, all parking is free in the area after 7pm, and also the on-street ‘Residents Only’ parking does not apply after that time, and hopefully you will be able to find a space. The situation will be monitor by the committee and reviewed if circumstances change.

On November 6 & 7, the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway are holding a Mixed Traction Weekend with an intensive timetable in operation. Steam locomotives scheduled to take part are:- 4270, 4903 ‘Foremarke Hall’, 7820 ‘Dinmore Manor’ and  35006 ‘Peninsula & Oriental SN Co. Diesel locomotives are Cl. 24 – 5081, Cl. 37 – 37215, Cl. 45 – 45149 and Cl. 47 – 47105. See the G-WR website for full details. Note: This event has been rescheduled from October.

The 8 ½ mile Island Line on the Isle of Wight is due to reopen on the 1st of this month if all safety checks are completed without any problems. The reopening is 7 months late due to software issues with the Cl. 484 units, and delays caused by severe flooding which washed away newly laid ballast. To increase frequency of the services, a new loop has been installed at Brading station. Meanwhile, former Cl. 483 Units (ex- 1938 Tube Stock) 483 006 and 483 008 are to leave the Island shortly for preservation at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway in South Wales. Unit 483 006 was used on the last service train operated by the Class. The two units are now owned by the London Transport Traction Group, and they hope to fit batteries in one of the cars so the units can be operated. A coach from unit 483 129, which had been stored out of use at Ryde St Johns depot, has also been preserved by a private owner. This is now at the East Somerset Railway and is to be restored by Cranmore Traincare Services in their workshops. Its sister car is apparently stored in a haulage yard in the Midlands.

A Wickham trolley (number 10841) and trailer (8385) once based and used at the former Dartmoor Railway have been sold, and moved to the Epping and Ongar Railway in Essex. It is planned to service the engine, mechanical parts etc., and ensure operational reliability. Then the next phase will be to carry out some bodywork repairs, including the roof-supporting angle irons, after which it will receive a full repaint. In the long term, a second bench is to be fitted with some modifications to allow the carrying of passengers, something that has proven popular at Midsomer Norton.

Mentioning the Dartmoor Railway above, it has been announced that train services between Exeter and Okehampton are set to start on Saturday November 20, with the first service from Okehampton at 0739. For the winter 21/22 timetable period, services have been included and shown in GWR’s timetable 267 which covers the Exmouth and Barnstaple lines. This is from the December 12 timetable change. Until then, train times will be separately advised, as they might be slightly different. Tickets for the new services went on sale via the GWR website in October. The former signal box at Okehampton is being converted into exhibition space.

The Avon Valley Railway has successfully raised money through crowdfunding to provide a lamp hut at Bitton station. The railway will recreate the hut at the north end of the old cattle dock, just feet from where the original once stood on the former Bath direction platform, now the stations main platform. The hut will be used by the stations gardeners to store their tools and equipment. The AVR will be running their first Santa Specials, starting this month, on Saturday November 27, First train at 1020hrs. They have also announced details of a range of Dinning Trains for 2022.  There is the ever-popular roast lunches, fish & chips and Afternoon High Tea services with new additions such as Pudding Club, Savoury High Tea, Taste of Italy and Strawberries & Fizz. They are also offering a new take on their ‘Pines Express' dinning trains, with regional menus based on the locations the train once passed through between Manchester & Bournemouth. See their website for details, bookings now being taken.

Currently on Saturday November 13, the West Wiltshire Gauge 0 Group will be holding the Westbury Model Railway Show at The Paragon Hall, Haynes Road, Westbury, There are layouts in most of the popular scales and gauges with at least 10 in attendance, plus four trade stalls. On Saturday 20 & Sunday 21, The Thornbury & South Gloucestershire Model Railway Club will hold their Annual Exhibition at The Chantry, 52 Castle Street, Thornbury, with 14 layouts and one trade stand.

Network Rail has now completed the first stage of the new entrance at Bristol Temple Meads which will connect passengers to the east of the city. The new east entrance will be positioned at the far end of the current passenger subway, and will make for better access to the station allowing for a higher volume of passengers. The east is undergoing development on Cattle Market Road, and it is where the University of Bristol has planned the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus. Network Rail engineers, along with contractors BAM Nuttall, have put in place 18 concrete piles with a depth of more than 20 meters into the ground beneath platform 15 and will provide support for the new structure. The first stage of work saw a 750-tonne crane lift precast units into position to create a bridge which then allowed the track to be re-laid. New ticket gates are now being designed.

50 years ago this month on November 13, the Bristol Group of the Great Western Society together with the Wirral Railway Circle ran the Berkshire Rambler rail tour. The train originated at Bristol TM and ran via Bath Spa to make its first reverse at Kennington Junction, south of Oxford, to visit the Morris Cowley branch. The 3 car DMU then traversed lines to Reading High Level Goods, Reading Low Level, Reading West, Andover, Ludgershall, Salisbury, Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Penn Mill, returning to Bath & Bristol via the Frome avoiding line and Westbury. Quite a good day out and round trip, but certainly not all lines covered were in Berkshire!

On November 28, 40 years ago, a Class 55 Deltic visited the West Country. 55016 'Gordon Highlander' worked the ‘Devonian Deltic’ tour which originated at Finsbury Park running to Exeter St Davids via Newbury and Westbury. The Class 55 then took the 9 coach train up the bank up to Exeter Central returning to Clapham Junction via the former SR main line through Salisbury and Andover. From Clapham it took the route through Kensington Olympia and the North London Line via Stratford to terminate at London’s Liverpool Street station. The tour was run as a farewell to the Deltic Class, and very fast running was recorded on the return run between Basingstoke and Woking. 55016 is preserved and now owned by Locomotive Services Limited.

Network Rail will be applying weekday and weekend closures on services to Weymouth this month, due to engineering works. South Western Railways services will be effected by the planned works in the Brockenhurst area from Monday November 1 to Friday 5. Later in the month their services between Weymouth and Wool will be replaced by buses on Monday 22 and between Weymouth and Dorchester South between Tuesday 23 and Friday 26. Great Western Railway services to Weymouth will be effected from Thursday November 18 to Friday December 3 due to track renewals and drainage works. Services will terminate and start from Yeovil Penn Mill with buses to/from Weymouth. There are also other weekend closures, so do check if you are planning to use SWR or GWR services in the Salisbury/Southampton/Yeovil/ Weymouth areas.

The North Dorset Railway at Shillingstone have launched an appeal to raise funds for the restoration of their BR STD 20 Ton brakevan. Although the running gear is in good condition, all the woodwork of the cabin needs replacing and they are hoping to raise £12,000 for the costs of the new timber.

60163 ‘Tornado’ will be heading out of Bristol Temple Meads on Saturday November 13 for a return trip to Chester. The train will also pick up at Filton Abbey Wood running via the Severn Tunnel, the Maindee East and North Junctions onto the Welsh Marches line. The Railway Touring Company are operating this tour. Fares: Standard £99, First: £159 and Premier £259. Tel: 01553 661500 for details.

 *****************************************************************************************

The Floods of 1960 by Bob Bunyar

We hear about saving the planet and severe weather conditions on an almost daily basis, but back in 1960, the South West experienced heavy rainfall from September through to December, with rivers bursting their banks on numerous occasions and causing serious flooding which impacted on our railways. Of course in 1960, before the Beeching cuts, there were many more lines, and it was easier to put diversions in place if flooding or other events occurred, and they did make for some very interesting workings.

The first serious flooding occurred towards the end of September, at Cowley Bridge Junction, just east of Exeter St Davids, when the River Creedy rose some 10’ above normal. This flooded the tracks, but more seriously washed away a bridge, severing the SR Exeter to Plymouth main line via Okehampton.

A Plymouth to Brighton working had reached Okehampton, but could not proceed further to Exeter and had to be sent back to Plymouth, and then worked through to Exeter via the WR main line. That night the SR main line was again blocked, this time by a landslip at Honiton, causing even more problems for the SR ‘control’.

The 9am from Waterloo to Plymouth and North Devon had reached Salisbury without problem, but here the train was split and a Western Region 2-8-2 Tank, normally employed on South Wales to Salisbury coal trains, was commandeered to take it as far as Westbury, where it terminated. Passengers were transferred to the WR’s “Cornish Rivera Express” which was diverted into Westbury to make a special stop to pick up the SR’s passengers and take them to Exeter and Plymouth.  The second portion of the Waterloo service was then worked to Westbury behind Battle of Britain Class 34051 ‘Winston Churchill’ where that was also terminated.

In the opposite direction the 1030am service from Ilfracombe to Waterloo was hauled throughout to Westbury by ‘N’ Class 31840, this taking the GW route from Barnstaple to Taunton via Dulverton and Castle Carey. At Westbury, 34051 was waiting to take the train forward to Waterloo having been turned there.

Conditions were getting worse and the GW main line was also being effected by rising water levels and it had to be closed at Hele. This then produced some interesting workings as trains were sent from Tiverton Junction up the Exe Valley line via Tiverton and Cadeleigh to re-join the main line at Stoke Cannon to reach Exeter. These lines were normally worked by nothing larger than 14xx, 55xx or Pannier Tanks with a few coaches in tow, but trains diverted included the down “Royal Duchy” and “Cornish Rivera Express” which gave the sight of long express trains snaking through the Devon countryside. The WR’s larger locomotives, normally used on these trains, were too heavy for the route and were removed and substituted at Taunton or Exeter by GW 2-6-0’s.

On October 27, more heavy rain occurred, with Exeter suffering its worst flooding for 60 years with the WR main line at Cowley Bridge being flooded. This resulted in WR trains to/from London Paddington being diverted via the SR main line via Axminster and Yeovil Junction where they could regain WR metals at Yeovil Penn Mill. Some WR services were also diverted from Reading to Basingstoke and then via the SR main line due to weight issues with some classes of WR steam locomotives between Castle Carey and Yeovil Penn Mill. Also the WR diesel hydraulics could not be used due to the flood waters getting into their transmissions.

On December 3 and 4, more flooding and diversions occurred with lines being blocked and WR services again being sent over the SR main line. This lead to the unusual sight of a 4-6-0 County Class working the  “Cornish Rivera Express” from Exeter to Basingstoke via Salisbury, and 5093 ‘Upton Castle’ arriving at Exeter Central, from the east, having run via Reading and Basingstoke and the SR main line on the 0930 Paddington to Plymouth.

More locally, a landslip had occurred at Midford closing the Somerset & Dorset line completely. Local services were replaced by buses and the “Pines Express” had to be diverted via Salisbury and Bath Spa from December 5, regaining its normal route north of Bristol. What the SR control were not aware of, was that their locomotives were not being changed by the WR, and this led to the very rare working of a Bullied Pacific into Birmingham New Street! 34102 ‘Lapford’ made it through to New Street and then spent the night on Saltley shed. The next day 31805 was provided for the northbound “Pines” but this was taken off by the WR at Westbury where 4942 ‘Maindy Hall’ took over to Birmingham, again a rare working for the ‘Pines’. December 7 saw 34053 ‘Sir Keith Park’ on the service, as far as Gloucester, and the following day, 34045 ‘Ottery St Mary’ was replaced near North Somerset Junction, Bristol.

On a personal note, I was at the time living at Wellow, and on the first train with my mother to run over the repaired landslip at Midford.  I do not recall what our locomotive was, but it might have been a BR Standard 5. However, I certainly remember going through Midford with many heads looking out of the carriage windows as we gingerly went past gangers who were watching intently as we passed over the effected section of line!

The weather certainly caused havoc towards the end of 1960, but the railways battled through. With climate change etc. it will no doubt happen again with lines cut as was the case at Dawlish in 2014. Unfortunately we don’t have the options for diversions now as we had back then, and of course our modern trains don’t like the water getting in their engines and electrical systems. It was a good job we still had steam to rely on in 1960!

If you have any stories to tell and share with members, please do get in touch.

 ***************************************************************************************** 

MORE NEWS

Work on the restoration of the unique Class 28 Co-Bo D5705 has been continuing at the East Lancs Railway. It has concentrated on the electrical components, wiring and pulling cabling into the correct positions of this sole surviving class member which has an association with this area. It was stored out of use at the former Bristol Bath Road Depot and Swindon works, before being saved for preservation. It will still be some years before this locomotive is returned to running condition.

BR Standard 2-6-4 Tank locomotive 80078 has returned to its former home on the Swanage Railway on loan. It will be staying right through the festive period.

The restoration of LSWR T3 No 563, at the Flour Mill Workshops in Gloucestershire, is progressing well. Its boiler could steam this year for the first time in over 70 years and the locomotive completed next year. Work will now focus on the tender, to ensure that it will be ready when 563 returns to the Swanage Railway. The tender is to be restored at Swanage, using volunteers.

The Severn Valley Railway has reached its target of £5,000 for a new bracket signal at Bewdley South. The existing signal has had to be replaced due to its poor condition, and it is planned to erect the new replacement bracket signal in the early spring next year.

Also at the SVR, work on assembling the firebox of new build 82045 is well advanced at Bridgnorth, with the prospect of having a complete boiler/ firebox unit within months. The pony assemblies have been completed and now await a suitable date for them to be fitted under the engine. This was scheduled to take in a two-part operation commencing in mid-October. The side tanks have been ready for some time now, and they are due to be painted in the not-too distant future.

Just a reminder, there is a petition against the withdrawal of the SWR Bristol/Waterloo services from this December. You can sign it, if you wish, at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598397 or you can write to Grant Shapps at shappsg@parliament.uk

Our next meeting will be on December 2 at the Bath Museum of Work at 7.30pm when we welcome Chris James as our guest speaker. His subject- "Broad and metre gauge railways in Spain, Portugal & Argentina". There will also be a bumper Newsletter next month!  Don’t forget, if you have any railway news to pass on, or if you would like to submit a story to share, please contact me via email or letter – bob.bunyar@outlook.com or at 7, Anglebury Avenue, Swanage, Dorset. BH19 1QP.

Bob Bunyar

Vice Chairman