BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

MARCH  2024  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

At a well-attended last meeting on 1st February, Andy Cope presented ‘The Last Wheeltapper’. He started with an insight of the railway history of his hometown of Stourbridge in the West Midlands and the ‘Stourbridge Lion’, built in the town and the first steam locomotive to run in the USA. He continued with slides and rare video clips about the Western Region influence on his growing up around the railways of the West Midlands, in particular the Stourbridge Wharf – Town – Junction branch and Stourbridge loco shed. In the second half he talked on the role of the ’wheeltapper’, or Carriage & Wagon Examiner as it was officially known, working with railway carriages in the 60s, carrying out overnight servicing in open sidings and being part of a "quiet" revolution in traction and rolling stock in the early 1970s, mainly at Oxley Sidings in Wolverhampton. The picture showing fires adjacent to gas cylinders under restaurant cars to thaw water on freezing mornings for the early trains to Euston will I am sure stay with us forever. He concluded with a picture of the ‘last wheeltapper’ on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Our next meeting at the Museum of Bath at Work will be on Thursday 7th March, when Peter Brabham presents ‘The Colour Photographic Records of Cardiff-based photographers John Wiltshire and Derek Chaplin, 1958-1970’. Peter will show colour slides taken by two Welsh-based photographers of railways in South Wales and the West Country.  Derek Chaplin lived in Portishead from 1965, so the presentation will include pictures taken in Bristol as well as some of the S&DJR. We look forward to continuing the good turnout and as usual doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.

NEWS ITEMS

Railtours

Tuesday 26th March 2024, The Golden Arrow (Saphos Trains)

LSL Class 47 (Pair) Bristol Temple Meads (pu) - Bath Spa (pu) - Bradford-upon-Avon (pu) - Trowbridge (pu) - West London. LSL Steam Pool West London - Canterbury (break) - Dover Priory - Folkestone Central - Ashford International - Tonbridge - West London. LSL Class 47 (Pair) West London - Trowbridge (sd) - Bradford-upon-Avon (sd) - Bath Spa (sd) - Bristol Temple Meads

For timings when available see https://www.railwayherald.com/railtours.

Heritage railways

The East Somerset Railway is gearing up for its 50th anniversary celebration - the biggest event on the heritage line to date - and after the withdrawal of ‘Betton Grange’ has now announced a star appearance for the gala celebrations on 16th and 17th March of GWR Saint ‘Lady of Legend’ from the Didcot Railway Centre.

The Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust at Midsomer Norton will be running on Sundays 24th & 31st March and the Swanage Railway will be running on 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 16th, 17th, 29th March to 14th April with driver experiences on other dates.

Thursday 4th April 2024 marks 50 years since the first train in preservation at Bitton. To celebrate, The Avon Valley Railway will be holding their 50th Anniversary Gala on 4th – 7th April. with lots happening around the railway including a 2-train service each day, re-creation of the first train, behind the scenes tours of the railway yard, talks on the history of the railway, anniversary dining trains offering a 1970s inspired menu, displays and stalls. Trains are also running on 10th March and 29th March – 1st April.  

The Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Steam Railway has announced the first visitor locomotive for its popular Cotswold Festival of Steam event over the bank holiday weekend of 25th-27th May. New-built Great Western Railway Grange class 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange will be the star, perfectly fitting with the event’s theme of ‘Western Workhorses’.

The West Somerset Railway is to bolster its operating fleet, following the news that GWR 6400 class 0-6-0PT No 6435 and autocoach No. W232 have been purchased privately and will move there from the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. The West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (WSRHT) and Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust (S&DRT) have finalised the agreement for the WSRHT to purchase the S&DRT shed and track at Washford. In addition, the WSRHT has signed an agreement for a 10-year lease of the site from WSR Plc, both agreements being effective from 1st February 2024. The agreement will provide proper covered facilities for the WSRHT carriage restoration team, who until now have had to work largely in the open at Williton, and plans to move most of its fleet of heritage carriages to Washford over the next 12 months, from their existing locations at Williton and Dunster.

Model Railway Exhibitions

Sat 2nd March, Swindon Model Railway Club MODRAIL 2024 at the Steam Museum, Firefly Avenue, Kemble Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 2EY. Features 16+ layouts and demonstrators in N, 3mm, OO and O standard gauge representing British and Continental railways including narrow gauge, opening times 10.00 - 16.30, admission Adults £7.00, Children under 16 Free.

Sat 9th March, Sodbury Vale Model Railway Club’s 37th Exhibition at the Yate Community Hall, Yate Parish Hall and Yate YMCA Hall, Station Road, Yate, Bristol BS37 4PQ. Two separate large halls and a third for catering and refreshments, ample blue badge parking, 20 layouts, 7 traders, 4 demonstrations and 6 heritage societies attending. Opening times 10am - 4.00pm, admission Adults £5.00, Children U16 free if accompanied by an adult.

Sat 23rd & Sun 24th March, Nailsea & District Model Railway Club exhibition at Nailsea School, Mizzymead Road, Nailsea, Bristol BS48 2HN. Layouts in all the main scales and gauges, along with Traders, Societies and Demonstrators. Opening times Sat 10am - 5pm, Sun 10am - 4pm, Admission Adults £8.00, Children £2.00.  

Meetings

Sat 9th March, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm, Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society, Keynsham Masonic Hall, 99 Bath Road, Keynsham, ‘Bristol to Bath the Midland Way, then and now’. Alan Matthews, Chair The Portishead Railway Group and former Chair Avon Valley Railway Group, highlights the changes over the years.

Monday 25th March, 7pm in the Sir Daniel Gooch lecture theatre, STEAM Museum, Swindon, ‘Advertising the Great Western Railway 1900 – 1940’, Dr Alex Medcalf from the University of York.

See appropriate websites for further details of all events shown.

LOOKING BACK

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway was built in 1903 to link farming communities with the market town of Welshpool and provide them with an outlet for their produce. Operated at first by the Cambrian Railways, the line was taken over by the Great Western and then British Railways.

The builders of the W&L chose a gauge of 2ft 6ins to allow for tight curves and steep gradients and motive power was provided by two distinctive locomotives No. 1 The Earl and No. 2 Countess. The locomotives were named in honour of the Earl and Countess of Powis as the Earl did much to support the construction of the railway. Built by Beyer Peacock & Co. Ltd. at the Gorton Foundry, Manchester they were delivered new to the Railway in 1902 and have continued to run to the present day, most recently with The Earl (822) in BR condition and The Countess (823) in Great Western livery.

After 1931 the railway only carried freight traffic and was finally closed in 1956; but that was not the end. In 1963 a group of enthusiasts rallied round and began to progressively re-open the line until it became the railway it is today.

March 2024 marks 50 years since the railway was purchased outright from British Railways for £8,000 - a princely sum for the Company at that time.  The railway has continued to grow and has turned to other parts of the world to acquire both locomotives and rolling stock. A line well worth a visit.

MORE NEWS ITEMS

The Mechanics Institute, Swindon was once a hive of activity during the height of the Railway Works. Built in the Tudor Gothic style, it is a grand, Grade II* listed building, and a fine example of its kind. It opened in 1855 with reading, lecture and refreshment rooms as well as a market hall and shops. The building also incorporated baths, but these were removed in 1864.

An early plan for a new theatre on the site, in the location of the market hall, in 1878 did not proceed. However, the building was adapted and extended in 1892. The market hall was demolished and replaced by an extension, which included a reading room, smoking room, billiards room at ground floor level, and extra dressing rooms for the existing theatre / lecture hall at the first-floor level. In 1930, the centre of the building was badly damaged by fire and the first-floor hall was rebuilt as a theatre with an enlarged stage.

Following the closure of the town’s railway works, the building which is privately owned has sat empty and decaying since 1986 and is currently classed as ‘at risk’ by the Theatres Trust.

Fortunately, a new blueprint has now been approved by Swindon Borough Council outlining how the building can be put back into use in stages, as funds become available and for a variety of activities at the heart of Swindon’s historic Railway Village.

COMPETITION    

No competition this month.

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