BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 2022  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

At out last meeting on October 6, Colin Brading gave us a most informative evening when he presented: ‘Tunnel Vision - 150 Years and More of the Metropolitan Railway’. He took us from the early beginnings of the Metropolitan Railway right up to the present day. It was an excellent presentation and we thank Colin for coming from his home in Swindon to be with us.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday November 3 and it will be a relatively local topic. Our speaker will be Richard Heacock, presenting: - ‘From the Midland & South Western Joint to Swindon & Cricklade’. The M&SWJR, known as the 'Tiddly Dyke', ran from Andoversford near Cheltenham through to Andover via Swindon Town, closing to passenger traffic on September 9, 1961. Today a small part of it has been reopened as the heritage Swindon and Cricklade Railway and a section from Andover to Ludgershall remains for military traffic. This should be another informative evening hearing a little about the old line and then the current heritage railway. As usual, the meeting takes place at the Museum of Bath at Work starting at 7.30pm (Doors open 7pm).

We hope that, if you have not yet renewed your subscription for the 2022/23 season, you will consider doing so. In addition to paying by bank transfer, as detailed in previous newsletters, you can pay on the night by cheque or cash. It would also be helpful if any of you have decided not to renew your membership, if you could advise us accordingly, so we can adjust our records.

NEWS ITEMS

At the Didcot Railway Centre, work is making progress on pouring foundation concrete for the Heyford station site. The plan is to do a section every two weeks. When rebuilt the Heyford building will form the central feature at Oxford Road station, the terminus of the main demonstration line. Projects for the next year include the 3299 Dreadnought coach restoration, and refurbishment of the broad gauge track with a view to having the two replica engines returned to steam in due course. The project to build County Class 1014 County of Glamorgan still requires to raise £130,000 to complete the work. It is hoped the loco will steam for the first time in 2024.

Somerset based Track Systems UK, which makes track, signalling & control systems for heritage, industrial, construction & leisure park railways ceased trading last month. The company was based at Hendford Manor near Yeovil. The Poole Park miniature railway, run by the Bournemouth & Poole Council, were due to receive a new locomotive from the company, but they are now relying on using a ‘borrowed’ one.  They are now having to source a new locomotive elsewhere.

Engineering works will effect services between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach on Sunday November 6. On the same date, track upgrades will close Southampton Central, with service diverted via Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh and Fareham. On Sunday November 13, trains will not stop at Westbury also affecting train services between Trowbridge and Frome or Warminster. Trains between London and the South West will stop at Frome instead of Westbury, while those between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth will use an alternative route between Trowbridge and Frome, not stopping at Westbury. According to Real Time Trains, some services are divert via Hawkridge Junction to Heywood Road Junction (reverse) and run to Fairwood Junction using the avoiding line. For enthusiasts, it could be some rare track for passenger services, but do check before travelling!

The Belmond British Pullman will be visiting Bath from London Victoria on November 30. This is Class 67 hauled. It is also booked for November 9 but strike action may see this date cancelled.

SWR services between Salisbury and Exeter will be restored to a full timetable this month. They were cut back due to speed restrictions imposed because of subsidence of the line, due to the dry summer.

On Saturday November 5, the West Wiltshire Gauge 0 Group will be staging the Westbury Model Railway Show at The Paragon Hall, Haynes Road, Westbury, from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Admission:  Adults £6.00, Concessions £5.00, Children £2.00 and Family £12.00. There should be 10 layouts and four trade stalls in attendance. Westbury station is 0.6miles from the venue.  On Saturday 19 and Sunday 20, the Thornbury & South Gloucestershire Model Railway Club hold their Annual Exhibition at the Turnberries Community Centre, Bath Road, Thornbury. 18 layouts are currently due to be on display with four traders in attendance.

On the Isle of Wight, the Island Line has closed from October 30, until spring next year, between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde Pier Head stations. This is to allow Network Rail to carry out strengthening work on the 686m pier. Services from Ryde Esplanade to Shanklin are running as normal.

The SDRHT based at Midsomer Norton has announced that they have agreed to purchase class 9F 92207 from its current owner. Restoration of the 2-10-0 has been taking place at a private site at Holton Heath near Poole. 92207’s boiler is currently at the East Lancashire Railway and it is estimated it could take up to 10 years to complete the restoration of the locomotive which will also require a new tender.

We have updates on three items that have previously been mentioned in the Newsletter. Firstly, plans to restore the Tarka Line from Barnstaple to Bideford have received a boost. The Tarka Railway Association has been successful in obtaining a grant of £6,500 from GWR to go towards providing a business case for the re-opening the line. Meanwhile in Gloucestershire, Network Rail and South Gloucestershire Council have now submitted a planning application to build a new two platform station, with footbridge at Charfield on the Gloucester to Bristol line. Finally in Cumbria, Eden District Council has issued an enforcement notice to National Highways to remove the infill to a bridge at Great Musgrave, within the next twelve months. The bridge was controversially filled in with concrete by National Highways, and in May the Eden Council refused a retrospective planning application. NH will not be appealing against the Council's refusal.

The Kent & East Sussex Railway has launched a £20,000 appeal to complete the restoration of their GWR railcar W20W. They hope to have it back in service by 2024. Only three of these railcars have survived in preservation: - W4W (formerly at Swindon Museum, but now at the National Railway Museum - York), W20W (K&ESR) and W22W (Didcot Railway Centre).

New build 3MT 82045 will be temporarily moving from Bridgnorth SVR to take up the centre stage position on display at this year’s Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. This takes place over the weekend of November 26 & 27. The side tanks of the locomotive have just been fitted, but they may still be in undercoat grey paint at the exhibition instead of BR Green! Meanwhile at the Bluebell Railway, progress is slowly being made on the project to build 2MT 84030.  The project is using Standard class 2MT 78059 as a donor. This was purchased by the Bluebell Railway Trust in May 1983, from Barry Scrapyard, with the intention of converting it to a 2-6-2T tank engine. The rear bunker sheet was recently fabricated and fitted to the frames/rolling chassis, making it look more like a locomotive from the back.

Great Western Railway has introduced a new ticket – ‘The Long Weekender’. Leave on a Friday or Saturday and return on a Monday and you can save over 60% compared to an Anytime Return. If you have a railcard you can also get a 1/3rd discount. See www.gwr.com/your-tickets/ways-to-save/long-weekender

At Shillingstone station, the boiler of the USA designed tank locomotive – 30075, was lifted back into its frames on October 19. The boiler has been refurbished and tested at Vincent Engineering at Henstridge. Work is continuing at Shillingstone to prepare for the extension of the track north from the station to Lamb House Bridge, and it is hoped 30075 will be steaming there on the newly laid track during 2023.

On Saturday November 19, steam will be operating out of and back into Bristol Temple Meads. The Railway Touring Company’s ‘Christmas Cheshireman’ will be hauled to Chester by 45596 with the return working back to Bristol having 6233 at its head.

The Loco Services Ltd - ‘Midland Pullman’ HST set - will be making two visits to Bath from the North of England. On November 29 it is due to run from Newcastle and York for the Bath Christmas market, and on December 1, it will again be venturing south, with a similar special from Leeds.

The RMT union has announced further strike dates this month on November 5, 7 & 9 which will seriously disrupt services. Do check before travelling.

LOOKING BACK

55 years ago on November 5, 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service, the 1943 from Hastings to London Charing Cross, derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in London at 2116, The train was formed of DEMU units 1007 and 1017, and of the twelve coaches, many full of standing passengers, eleven were derailed and four turned onto their sides, resulting in 49 fatalities and 78 injuries. The cause of the crash was found to be a broken rail at a fishplate. One of the survivors of the crash, with his wife to be, was Robin Gibb from the pop group The Bee Gees. All four trailers of unit 1007 were scrapped after the accident with the remaining vehicles being re-formed. The three most seriously damaged carriages from unit 1017 were subsequently repaired and returned to service. This was the sixth most serious crash recorded in the UK.

30 years ago on November 8, 1992, a rail tour ran from London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids via Salisbury and Templecombe. This was hauled by 37 901 37 906 and 33 114. At Exeter St Davids, the three locomotives were run round the train and Class 47 – 47 281 was added to the rear. The train then ran back up through Exeter Central taking the line to Exmouth at Exmouth Junction, giving the rare sight of a locomotive hauled train on the branch. 47 281 then hauled the complete train back to Exeter St Davids, where it was detached. The train was called the Exe – Solent Explorer, but its return to the capital, via the same route as the outward one, was not without incident. The Class 33 – 33 114, which was leading the formation, suffered a traction motor fire at Axminster, which had to be dealt with. It was eventually shunted inside the Class 37’s and hauled dead back to Salisbury in the train. The two Class 37’s were also changed at Salisbury for 37 178 and 37 278 for the return to London.

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTION

A Visit to the Penzance Long Rock Locomotive Depot by Ken Ayers

In 1956 British Railways planned a major overhaul of the turntable at Penzance. While this was out of action, a batch of large Prairie tank engines were drafted in on loan to replace the tender locomotives between Truro and Penzance.

We therefore decided to have a weekend cycle tour into Cornwall to see these rare locomotives. On June 2 we all met at Ferry Road, Devonport, to take the Chain Ferry to Cornwall. From Torpoint, we rode for 30 miles along the A374 to Par Station. We left our bikes here while we walked along a little path to St Blazey Shed which has a yard and nine road Roundhouse. Here we saw the following 20 locomotives: 1024, 1626, 1664, 3787, 4200, 4247, 4508, 4559, 4565, 4684, 5521, 5959, 5985, 6300, 6305, 6397, 7446, 7795, 8702 and 8733.

Back on our bikes we cycled another 25 miles to Truro, where we left them at the YHA and walked to the Depot. Here we saw seven of the loaned 5100 class engines. These were 4107 (from 87E), 4134 (from 87C), 4168 (from 86A), 5184 (from 84D), 5198 (from 83E), 6114 (from 86A), and 8104 (from 87A). Other engines also on shed were: one County, one Castle, two Granges, two Halls, three Moguls, and nine tank engines.

Next morning, after breakfast at the YHA, we went back to Truro Station and parked our bikes before visiting the shed again. Much had changed since the previous evening and we saw six more loaned engines: 4106 (from 87E), 4114 (from 85D), 5107 (from 84F), 5148 (from 83F), 5161 (from 84D), 5172 (from 88A). Also new to the Shed were another County, five new Granges, another Hall and another Mogul, together with nine assorted tank engines.

Returning to the down platform, we realised that owing to the closure and overhaul of the Long Rock Turntable, the incoming 6824 Dummer Grange would not be hauling our next train.  Therefore after a change of Engines, we had Prairie Tank 4114 for our journey onwards to Penzance. We left at 10am with the engine working very hard to haul its eight coaches up the 1 in 80 gradient to Chacewater in 13 minutes. We then rolled downhill through Redruth, Camborne, Hayle and St Erth, arriving at Penzance at 11am.

We walked to Long Rock Shed, but as this was a Sunday, no repairs were being carried out to the turntable at the time. However, we did see Prairie tanks 4134 (from 87G), 4148 (from 85A), 5158 (from 83A), and 5154 (from 84D). Other Locos also present were two further Halls, four more Granges and eight assorted Tank Engines. On the way back to the station, 8104 passed us hauling an Up-Parcels train. 

We left Penzance Station for Truro at 13.20. Our five coach train, pulled by 4114, stopped at St Erth where 4570 plus 4578 were standing in the St Ives Bay platform. Arriving at Truro at 14.10, we saw 5153 (from 83A) and 5915 Trentham Hall in the station. Collecting our cycles, we then headed the 65 miles back to Plymouth via Indian Queens, (through heavy rain), then on to Bodmin and Liskeard in the dry.

Details of the allocations of the class 5100 locomotives seen.

83A Newton Abbot  83E St Blazey           83F Truro 84D Leamington Spa 84F Stourbridge

85A Worcester            85D Kidderminster  86A Newport (Ebbw Junction)     87A Neath

87C Danygraig          87G Carmarthen     88A Cardiff (Cathays)

Altogether a good weekend, when we saw 20 Class 5100’s from these various sheds in the Midlands and Wales.

Thank you Ken for another great story. It’s quite amazing what railway enthusiasts did in the past! Does anyone else have a story to tell? If you do, then please send it in and share it with us.

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COMPETITION

There are many well-known names associated with steam locomotive design and building, particularly from the former Big Four railway companies. All you have to do this month is find the name of one of these recognised designers/builders. Take the first letter of each answer, then re-arrange the scrambled letters to find the name. There are no prizes, it’s all for fun!

• ?  & Timsbury. Passenger station between Paulton and Camerton on the line from Hallatrow

• The Diesel and Electric Preservation Group has its base here on the West Somerset Railway

• Headquarters of the Cambrian Heritage Railway

• Name of preserved Manor Class number 7822

• Name given to the line from Stoke Canon to Dulverton via Tiverton. The ?  Valley Line

• The Somerset & Dorset line ran through this Vale before going into Devonshire Tunnel southbound

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