BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER 2022  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

Welcome back to our 2022/23 season, and we hope you all had an enjoyable summer break?

Our first meeting of the season will take place at the Bath Museum of Work on Thursday September 1 commencing at 7.30pm. For this meeting we welcome back top railway photographer Jack Boskett, who will be once again showing us his work, when he presents ‘Ten Years of Saying Cheese’. Jack’s work appears regularly in the railway press and this is an evening not to miss.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, subscription rates have had to be increased, due to increasing costs. Membership is now set at £22 per year with the Newsletter by email and if you have the newsletter by post, then regrettably, an additional fee is having to be charged of £10 due to rising postal and ink costs. In the past, some ‘postal’ members did supply SAE’s, but this did present some problems, so we will not be doing this. The guest fee per meeting will now be £5. Membership fees are now due and the preferred method of payment is by bank transfer to Sort Code- 30 94 80, Account Number- 02294977 Account Name - Bath Railway Society. If you choose to pay this way, would you include your name in the reference, and then also confirm you have paid by emailing bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com with your name and date of payment. If you still wish to pay by cheque, this method will be accepted at the September meeting, and these should be made payable to Bath Railway Society.

Please note, the suggested donation for tea/coffee & biscuits will now be £1. Again due to rising costs!

We are also pleased to announce that member Mike Beale has agreed to take on the role of Secretary when Robert Howes stands down at the next AGM. Mike will now work alongside Robert this season, and we of course thank him for agreeing to fill this very important post. If you know of any fairly local speakers, who we might be able to contact, or if you have any subjects you would like to have covered at future meetings, please do let us know. Contact bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

As mentioned at the AGM in June, and in the last newsletter, we do need to increase our membership to keep the Society flourishing. If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining, please do tell them about us, or, bring them along to a meeting.  Mike Ware would be very pleased to hear from you if you know where we could advertise free of charge, and if you know of any local community newsletters or papers, where we might get a mention. Do get in contact with Mike at davinaware@yahoo.co.uk and provide him with details. We have had some ‘general’ A5 Flyers produced about the Society, which will be available at the September meeting. If you know anywhere these could be placed, please take some to distribute. i.e.  Local model railway exhibitions, heritage railway events etc. etc.

The answer to the competition in the July/August newsletter was The Avocet Line. This is the route in Devon from Exeter to Exmouth which enjoys two trains per hour and is very well used.

The  ‘National Directory of Traditional Railway Societies’, in which our Society is listed, has now been published and is on sale at £24 via website  www.railwayclubdirectory.com    Buyers can purchase it by cheque or bank transfer. If you do buy it, please advise at the time of purchase that you are a BRS member, as the Society could receive some payment from sales. Full details are on the club’s website.

NEWS ITEMS

The Gwili Steam Railway started work in July on the development at Abergwili Junction. Phase one of the work will see an access road built from the A485 as well as the provision of foundations for a shed which will be built next year. The work should be completed in time to allow trains to start from Abergwili Junction in Easter 2023. Currently trains do run there, but passengers cannot alight.

A ‘Classic & Steam Vehicle Show’, run by the Bournemouth and Poole Preservation Club, will take place at Harmans Cross next to the Swanage Railway on September 9 to 11. There will be a varied selection of vintage, modern and custom motorbikes, classic cars, tractors, vintage campervans, commercial vehicles, stationary engines as well as trade stalls and displays. The Swanage Railway will be running regular trains during the event, which is just a two minute walk from Harmans Cross station. It runs from 10am – 5pm, and entry to the show field is £5 per person, with children going free.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway have launched an appeal to extend from the present end of the line at Killington Lane, through to Parracombe. The estimated cost is £1.6m to carry out the works. It is hoped that Bridge 65 at Killington Lane can be replaced during this autumn, with the extension to Parracombe following next spring. Replica L & B Manning Wardle ‘LYD’ will be visiting the railway for their September Gala on Saturday & Sunday 24 & 25. This is courtesy of the Ffestiniog Railway. Full details of the extension appeal and the gala can be found at https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/

The Bristol Temple Quarter is to receive £95m from the Government under their levelling up funding. The money will support the development of sites behind Temple Meads station, regenerating approximately 130 hectares of brownfield land, which includes an old gas works site and Temple Island.

Plans for Bristol’s new mass transit system is now at “very high risk” of being lost as the project has faced long delays, according to new cabinet reports. The idea for a ‘Bristol underground’ were first published in 2017, with estimates putting the total cost at £4 billion.

Meanwhile, the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) leaders have agreed to invest a further £10m into the proposed re-instatement project of the Portishead to Bristol railway line for passenger services. The Department for Transport (DfT) has also announced £15.5m in government funding towards the project. However, the Development Consent Order (DCO) still needs to be approved by the Secretary of State and a new deadline of February 19 2023 has been set for the decision on the application. The line could now re-open in 2026 if the DCO is approved.

The Great Western Society at Didcot have launched a fund to raise £180K to restore 'Dreadnought' 70' corridor third coach number 3299, which was built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in 1905. This iconic vehicle has been in the GWS collection since the days of the Society having a base on the Totnes Quay line in Devon. 3299 was included in the train when stock was moved from Totnes to Didcot hauled by 6998 Burton Agnes Hall and 1466 in November 1967. Also at Didcot, the boiler for 1014 'County of Glamorgan' has arrived for trial fitting as it has been converted from an ex- Barry 8F. Once this has been done successfully it will return to Liverpool with the new smokebox for it to be tubed.  Hunslet 0-6-0 of 1942 - ‘King George’ - has been restored to take the pressure off 'Trojan' as our only small steamable loco. It is expected to enter traffic soon after a few teething problems have been sorted out.

A Chard local councillor wants to see the former Junction station on the Salisbury – Exeter line re-opened as a ‘parkway’ station. Currently he does not have backing from the Council for his idea, and it is estimated that at least £60,000 would be required in a first phase to look at the idea.

The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway will be staging a gala on September 15 – 18. The star attraction at the event will be Pannier Tank 7714, visiting from the Severn Valley Railway.

The Severn Valley Railway will itself be holding a gala from September 15 – 18. This will include evening running until midnight on the Friday and the Saturday. Three guest locomotives are due to attend, and one of these will be Black 5 – 45231 ‘The Sherwood Forester’. A loco due to make its come back into traffic on the SVR after a 36 year absence is 4930 ‘Hagley Hall’.  Two locomotives are also due to bow out after the gala as their boiler certificates are due to expire. These are 1501 and 2857. The major roof and crane project at Bridgnorth shed is due to be competed ahead of schedule, and on budget.

The plans to re-open the Fawley branch to passenger traffic have taken a step forward, with exhibitions being staged during August and running until September 9, at a number of locations along the line. It is estimated that nearly 1,500 new homes are to be built in the Marchwood and Hythe area, which would have stations served by a service to and from Southampton Central. The line sees a number of ‘military’ trains using it each week, and the signal box at Marchwood is still fully manned.

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LOOKING BACK

60 years ago this month on September 8, 1962, the Plymouth Railway Circle ran a farewell special on the Dart Valley Line. Closed to passenger traffic in November 1958, the line from Totnes to Ashburton remained open for freight traffic until completely closing from September 10, 1962. On Friday September 7, the line saw its last freight train, but the following day the PRC Special ran to Ashburton. The train started at Totnes station and went to Ashburton Junction to traverse the line to Totnes Quay. From here it returned to Ashburton Junction to take the Dart Valley line through Staverton and Buckfastleigh to Ashburton. Taking in photographic stops it then retraced its outward route. The train was hauled by 4567 with PRC members riding in 13 brake vans! These were a mix of BR, LMS and GWR vans.  This was the last train to traverse the line before closure by BR, but it is also claimed that it was the first and last passenger carrying train to travel to and from Totnes Quay. Of course the branch is still with us today as the South Devon Railway, but truncated back to Buckfastleigh with the Ashburton section being lost due to improvements to the A38 trunk road.

It was also on the same date, Saturday 8, that the last ‘Pines Express’ ran over the Somerset & Dorset line. The ‘Pines’ ran between Manchester and Bournemouth and first started operating on September 26, 1927. For the final run over the S & D that day, Class 9F 92222 ‘Evening Star’, was used as motive power with 24 year old passed fireman Peter Smith and his younger fireman Audrey Punter on the footplate on the run from Bournemouth to Bath. They attained the record, taking a 460 ton load northbound over the Mendips un-assisted. For the corresponding run back to Bournemouth that day, the footplate crew were driver Peter Guy and fireman Ron Hyde. From September 10, 1962, the ‘Pines’ ran via Basingstoke and Oxford with the first train that day being hauled north to Oxford by 34043 ‘Combe Martin’. In 1965, the southern destination was extended to Poole, but on March 4, 1967, the famous loco hauled train ran for the last time. The name did get a short revival when BR - Inter City restored names to some of their cross country services, but these were dropped in 2002.

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MEMBERS CONTRIBUTION

We have another memory from member Ken Ayres - The Royal Albert Bridge Visit

On 26th May 1956, an official visit to the Royal Albert Bridge was arranged for members of the Plymouth Railway Circle. We left Plymouth North Road Station on the 14.45 Plymouth to Saltash Auto Train, hauled by 6421. We stopped at Devonport Albert Road, saw 6414 and 2892 at Keyham Halt, and called at St Budeaux. We then crossed the Royal Albert Bridge which connects Devon and Cornwall and rode into Saltash Station at 14.51.

Here we had a talk by the Station Master, who gave us a brief history of the Bridge which is named after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Following a request by the Admiralty, he built it 100 feet above the water to enable all their tall ships to pass beneath it along the River Tamar. The two wrought iron tubes form a double arched bridge. Originally planned as a double track line, before completion it was reduced to a single track bridge to save money. It was opened to the public on May 4th 1859.

After receiving some ‘Safety Advice’, we were passed on to the engineers who would take us onto the Bridge. Leaving the Up Platform, we walked along the viaduct track to the Cornish Tower. Using the hand rail, we climbed inside in pairs up to the top of this structure to a door which opened onto the top of one of the main tubes. We had a fine view of the River Tamar and the Southern Region main line on the Devon shore. Here we spotted 34038 Lynton on a down passenger train, which was followed by 34022 Exmoor on a freight.

On the Great Western main line we saw 5023 Brecon Castle on the Cornish Riviera, and 6913 Levans Hall, 6802 Bampton Grange and 4906 Bradfield Hall on other passenger trains. We also saw 6849 Walton Grange on a freight and 6808 Beenham Grange on a milk train. We then left Saltash on the 17.10 train, crossing the bridge once again as we returned to Plymouth, thus ending a very exciting afternoon’s outing.

Our thanks to Ken for his story about a most interesting visit. I doubt if this would be permitted now, in today’s world of health & safety! Next month we have another story by Alan Price - ‘The Penrhos Gun Club’. (Yes, it does have a railway connection). If you have a story to tell, do send it in, we welcome your contributions.

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COMPETITION

The Grouping Act of 1921, was an Act of Parliament which was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies. The Act came into being From January 1, 1923 amalgamating the large number of companies into four, which were then referred to as the Big Four. For this month’s competition you have to find the name of one of the companies that became merged into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The word Railway has been omitted. Just take the first letter of each answer (unless specified differently) and then un-scramble the letters to work out the answer. It’s for fun, no prizes are given, the answer being announced in the October Newsletter.

• A shed in South Wales once coded 87E, and still a TMD today

• Class 52 - D1020 Western ?

• Merchant Navy Class 35026 carried this name   ? & Holt Line

• First station north of Weymouth served by GWR and SWR services

&

• The terminus station of London Undergrounds Northern line in the Borough of Barnet

• A North Devon Town that once had stations called Junction, Town and Victoria Road

• The second station out from Bristol Temple Meads heading towards Filton etc.

• Appointed chief mechanical engineer to the Great Central Railway 1902 - 1922. John George  ?

• Jubilee Class 45614

• The name of the Junction on the Midland Main Line north of Derby for the line to Matlock

• Station between Crediton and Copplestone served by Tarka Line services only

• The junction where services to Avonmouth diverge from the main line, often featured in photographs

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