BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

JUNE  2024  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

We had an excellent turn out for our meeting on Thursday May 2, when our Secretary, Mike Beale, presented ‘Over the Mendips 1874-2024: 150th anniversary of S&DJR Bath extension’ We thank Mike for his excellent presentation and for keeping the memory of the S & D alive. This much missed railway certainly still draws people in as proved at this meeting.

Following on from this talk, Mike is organising a walk along the trackbed and adjacent footpaths in the Shepton Mallet area on Saturday 20th July 2024, departing approx. 11.30am from Shepton Cenotaph, after arrival of the No 174 bus departing Bath Bus Station at 10.20. It will be a circular walk of around 6 miles, via Charlton Viaduct, Bath Road Viaduct, Winsor Hill Tunnel and Hamwood Viaduct, returning to Shepton approx. 3.15pm. A greenway is being created along the trackbed by local volunteers from the Friends of Windsor Hill Tunnels, supported by Greenways and Cycle Routes Ltd and Shepton Town Council, and it is hoped to have representatives of the group on the walk to explain their aims and objectives. To register your interest and get further information contact Mike via the Bath Railway Society website.

Our next meeting on Thursday June 6 will be our AGM, which we will keep as short as possible. This starts at 7.30pm at the Bath Museum of Work. As previously mentioned, there will be changes to the committee with two vacancies arising, which we must fill. If you are interested in joining the committee and would like further information, please contact John Froud, details above. It is certainly not time consuming and only involves a couple of meetings per year, usually via zoom. Details of our accounts will be given at the AGM, and if you wish to raise any questions at the meeting, please send them in advance, either by email or letter, again to the contact details above.

After the AGM we will be having a presentation by Peter Bamber of the Western Locomotive Association the custodians of several Class 52 Diesel Hydraulics which originally worked on the Western Region of British Rail, with the final members of the class bowing out of service in 1977. The WLA was founded in 1973 and we will be hearing about its history, recent developments and future plans. There will also be a WLA sales stand at the meeting.

Again, as previously mentioned, we are also looking for volunteers to help with the catering on the night of the meetings. This is not a committee position and will only involve helping to serve the teas/coffee and tidy up etc. Again, please contact John Froud if you are willing to help.

For those of you going on the visit to the Didcot Railway Centre on June 12, final details will be sent to you in a separate mailing. Bookings for this outing closed on April 20.

Mentioning the Class 52 Westerns, in the last Newsletter, in the competition, you had to work out the name of one of the Class from the questions and then unscrambling the first letters. The answer was WESTERN ENVOY. (D1061).

NEWS ITEMS

The biggest gathering of Bulleid Pacific’s in preservation (8), since 1967, will be taking place at the Swanage Railway from June 7 to 9 inclusive when the Railway stages Strictly Bulleid II. Visiting locomotives will be 34053 ‘Sir Keith Park’, 34081 ’92 Squadron’, 34092 ‘City of Wells’, 35006 ‘Peninsular & Orient S.N.Co. and 35018 - British India Line (with maroon mk1 coaches in tow). Home fleet locomotives will be 34028 ‘Eddystone’, 34070 ‘Manston’ and 34072 ‘257 Squadron’. Trains will be running the full length of the Swanage Railway up to the Network Rail boundary at Frome River Bridge.  Advance tickets are on sale giving a reduction to the ‘on the day’ prices. Full details on the Swanage Railway website. https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/events/view/strictly-bulleid-ii

The Avon Valley Railway is staging its annual Beer Festival on Fri 7, Sat 8 & Sun 9 June with over 25 beers available from around the country.  You can enjoy drinks on the station platform or purchase a diesel train ticket to travel on the train hauled by a Class 31. There is an entry price to the festival, and this includes one souvenir re-usable pint glass for use on the day. The times of the festival are Friday June 7, 18:00 – 22:00, Saturday June 8, 12:00 – 16:00 and Sunday June 9, 12:00 – 16:00. Further details are available from the AVR website.

On Saturday June 8 & Sunday June 9, the Shepton & District Model Railway Society are holding their 47th annual exhibition – ‘Mendip 2024’. This takes place at Shepton Scout Hall (Adjacent to Shepton Mallett FC), Old Wells Road, West Shepton, Shepton Mallett. Adult entrance is £6.00. 13 layouts are due to be on display, with two trade stands in attendance. Open Sat, 10,30am-4,30pm, Sun 10am-4pm. On Saturday June 15 & Sunday 16 the Mere & District Railway Modellers hold the Mere 2024 Exhibition. This is taking place at the Mere Lecture Hall, Salisbury Street, Mere, Wiltshire with 10 layouts and three trade stands in attendance. Admission is £5 and it is open both days 10am to 4pm. There is ample car parking close to the venue.  On Saturday June 29, the West Camel Model Railway Society hold a Summer Open Day at the Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Yeovil, with eight layouts and three trade stands.

On Saturday June 12, The Bath & Bristol Steam Express will be heading to the two cities hauled by Jubilee class 45596. The train originates at Swanage with further pickups at Wareham, Poole, Bournemouth and Southampton, then running via Eastleigh and Salisbury. Its provisional time of arrival at Bath Spa is given as 1100hrs with a return departure time of 1800hrs.

The Dartmoor Line should be getting a new station next year. £16M has been provided by Government, from their levelling up fund, for a second station for Okehampton which is to be known as Okehampton Interchange. The station will be built south of the existing Okehampton station on an industrial estate and close to the A30 trunk road. The station will also serve 900 new homes that are due to be constructed in the area around it.

Also, in North Devon, plans to reopen the section of railway from Bere Alston to Tavistock are progressing. The council is developing an outline business case as West Devon Borough Council have now granted planning permission. Land has been secured for a new station at Tavistock on Callington Road. The Department for Transport is also working on delivery timescales for the Tavistock to Plymouth project and Network Rail is now preparing the business case and engineering study for relaying the line from Bere Alston. It is anticipated that services will be starting in 2029.

LOOKING BACK

40 years ago, this month a Battle of Britain Class Locomotive was moved out of Barry Scrapyard for restoration. Earlier in the Newsletter it was mentioned that Battle of Britain Class 34053 Sir Keith Park should be making an appearance at the Swanage Railway’s Strictly Bullied II event this month and this was the locomotive that was saved for restoration. It was built in 1947 and entered service in January that year. It lasted in service until October 17, 1965, when it was withdrawn from service from its home shed of Bournemouth. It however didn’t arrive at the South Wales yard until March 1966, and was probably towed through Bath enroute there. It was the 153rd locomotive to leave Barry in 1984, and on departure was initially taken to Hull. Further movements took place around the country, and it was finally restored to working condition in May 2012, going to the Severn Valley Railway. It is now owned by Southern Locomotives Limited.

50 years ago this month, the Bridport Branch had unusual motive power for one of its service trains. On June 1, 1974, instead of the usual DMU or Single Car unit, DEMU Class 205 - 1130 formed the 12.00 service train to Maiden Newton and the 12.52 return to Bridport. The unit was working the Wessex Wanderer rail tour and there was a layover at Bridport for its participants. The tour had started at Poole and had run down to Maiden Newton via Southampton, Salisbury and Yeovil Junction & Pen Mill. After visiting the Bridport Branch, it ran to Dorchester Junction to go to Wareham and the Furzebrook and Hamworthy Goods Branches before reaching Poole where it reversed to travel via Broadstone to West Moors. This was the last passenger train to visit West Moors. The train then returned to Poole and continued to Southampton and Eastleigh where it terminated.

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTION

Confessions Of A Steam Train Enthusiast (Maniac) by Fred Parkinson

Until the age of 20 I lived within 500 yards of a fairly important engine shed: Lostock Hall (code 24C), which is no more – and not to be confused with Lostock (Junction) near Bolton.  It was about 4 miles south of Preston, Lancashire, at the junction of the West Coast mainline & the Lancs-Yorkshire railway.  My bedroom looked directly onto virtually the whole of the engine shed marshalling yards, and part of the shed.  I suppose because of this, and my engineering mind, I became such an enthusiast.  Many of my neighbourhood friends were also interested but none as much as me.  I was born in 1947 and therefore saw the last of the great days of British steam railways.

Close to the engine shed there was a carriage shed.  This had about 3 roads but not very long, perhaps holding 8 carriages per road.  However, one road permanently housed very old royal carriages, in maroon & gold livery.  As children we often went to look under the wraps of these carriages as the shed was alongside a public footpath with very little in the way of a fence between.  One day, when perhaps about 6 years old, I and some neighbours were treated to the sight of a copper domed engine pulling the said carriages.  This could link with the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, as it would have been around that time.  I have no photographs, or proof of these, but I paid for an enquiry with NRM @ York.  They wrote saying there was only one reference they could find: in a book of the L&Y Rly by Bob Gregson.  This stated: “the Royal, or Blue Train, was kept there and run regularly to Horwich to prevent wheel bearing seizure”.  But they could find no reference to a copper domed engine, only Copperknob which was housed at nearby Horwich in the 50’s.  So, it seems the two may have been used together as I remember.

Close to the carriage shed was a branch line - shown going south-west of the name Lostock on the map.  Here was easy access to the line and I/we used to place pennies on the line – for a squashed result.  Amazing how flat they would go with a 60 ton engine over them.  We had to wait until the engine was about 100 yards (I never measured it) away or the penny would be vibrated off the line.  A rather hazardous hobby I now think.  And, close to this was a siding where freight trains were often kept, with the fire still lit in the guards van.  Quite a cosy place for the youth to meet.

One of many memories was of me, about the age of 10, arriving home at 9.45 in the evening, having stayed near the LMS line to watch the daily 9.30pm “milk train”.  This was a freight express that I assume took the day’s milk production down to London. Needless to say, my mother was rather anxious as I was the only child out there.  Not a thing that would be allowed nowadays.

The line going almost due West was the L&Y railway on which in the summer we saw many LNER engines: B1’s etc. on their way to Blackpool.  So, I spent many hours watching the great LMS engines with LNER engines passing over them.  The dashed line to the very top left corner was the Preston – Southport Rly.

Now, back to the engine shed.  A place we would often wander through on our way home from school, or of an evening when bored.  It was almost always full of engines and the rail staff never bothered us (once again – not a thing that would be allowed nowadays).  We would obviously “cop” the numbers and often read the milometers on the crank bearings.  Often there would be “visiting” locos, such as Coronation class, Britannia class and the Clan Class, plus others too numerous to mention.  Pennies had to be squashed by these “super” locos.

The shed also had a resident steam crane (quite rare apparently) that was kept “in steam” on poor winter nights.  Such as very foggy mid-winter nights when my friends and I would gather in the lovely warm cab and keep the fire going.  Once again, never troubled by rail staff.

Also, I could go on, and on, and on, and …………………………

Thank you very much Fred for sharing and sending in this article about your memories at Lostock Hall. We are always pleased to receive articles for the Newsletter. Please email them in.

MORE NEWS ITEMS

The London Transport Museum’s restored 1938 Underground tube train will be having an outing and taking passengers on a trip across central London on the Piccadilly line on Sunday June 9. It will run from Acton Town station along the central London section of the Piccadilly line all the way to Oakwood station. The journey will take approximately 50 minutes, and bookings can be made via the Museum’s website.

For the last 20 years, Cardiff Bay station has seen just a shuttle service going down the single-track branch from Cardiff Queen Street station, but now a new service has started between Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay, stopping at all stations in between. Five trains an hour will provide the service, but this will increase to six next year when the line is doubled tracked and electrified. Cardiff Bay station was Wales’s fifth busiest station pre-pandemic with about 1.5m passengers a year. There are major timetable changes to all Valley Line Services from Sunday June 2.

The Department for Transport is funding a business case to look at options for building a new station at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

Barry Railway Coach No. 163 has left the Severn Valley Railway, having been stored there for over 20 years on a siding at Hampton Loade station. The coach underwent a fitness to run examine, before being hauled to Kidderminster in preparation for onward movement by road to the Gwili Railway.

The Swindon & Cricklade Railway has disposed of its hybrid Class 205/7 DEMU. This was formed after an arson attack in 2016 destroyed the driving trailer from Class 207 – No. 1302. They have sold Class 207 power car 60127, and scrapped Class 205 driving trailer 60822 plus a spare’s donor No. 60669 which has gone to the Spa Valley Railway.

Good progress is being made at the East Lancs Railway restoring the unique Co-Bo Class 28 Metro Vic D5705. 99% of all internal walls, floors and roof sections have been restored. Some external bodywork has also been repaired and welded. The Engine room (minus engine) has had almost all of its pipework and conduit overhauled with various tanks (water and fuel header) refurbished. In the generator/boiler room the pipework and conduit has been completed. (The generator was fully overhauled by Bowers in 2020/21 and the actual engine (the V8) is at North Lincolnshire Engineering being overhauled).

Somerset County Council approved the plans for a new station at Wellington. It is expected to open mid-2026, and it will be served by the hourly Exeter to Cardiff, and vice versa, services.

The national summer timetable changes come into force on Sunday, June 2. If you are travelling, do check train times.

COMPETITION/KNOWLEDGE TESTER?

As we all know, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered as one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history. Among his many achievements he built the Great Western Railway, The Clifton Suspension Bridge and the S S Great Britain. But what do you know about him? Do you know the answers to these questions? No prizes given, its just for fun, answers in the July Newsletter.

1.  Where was IKB born?

2.  What is the date of his birthday? 

3.  Where is he buried?

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