BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

OCTOBER  2024  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

We started our new season with a presentation on ‘Fayles Tramway’; on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset presented by Richard Heacock. This was an interesting system used to carry clay and hopefully you enjoyed the evening.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday October 3 at the Bath Museum of Work, at 7.30pm when we welcome Nicolas Wheatley. His subject will be ‘Final Journey’ – The untold story of Funeral Trains. I don’t think we have covered this subject before, so it is something a little different!

If you’ve not yet renewed your membership for the new season, fees are now due, at £22, with the newsletter by email. You can pay your membership by Bank Transfer to Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-94-80, Account No. 02294977, Bath Railway Society. Please put your name in the reference box. If you wish to renew at the next meeting by cheque, could you please have them made out ready.

Thank you to those of you who would like to visit the Western Locomotive Society at Kidderminster. All names have been added to a list, and we will now look at visiting in the spring next year, after the clocks have gone forward. Details will be announced in the Newsletter nearer the time, and the visit is likely to be on a Wednesday, and we will probably be travelling by rail to Kidderminster.

We welcome new member John Boxall, who joined at our September meeting.

Following past requests for the ‘Members Contribution’ section of the Newsletter, I am pleased to say that we now have stories to cover us through to and including January next year. However, if you feel you have a story to tell, please do still send it in for future use.

NEWS ITEMS

Although it looks like a new station at Wellington in Somerset is likely to go ahead, the Government has announced that a station further down the line towards Exeter at Cullompton will not be proceeding at present. This was to be part of the Devon Metro plan. Also axed are plans to build a line from the west coming off the GWR main line to serve Heathrow Airport.

It appears that Great Western Railway is to have a fleet of Class 175 units for use in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, subject to Department for Transport approval. The units are currently in store, and were last used by Transport for Wales, being withdrawn from service last year. If the use of the units takes place, the remaining HST ‘Castle Sets’ would be withdrawn. The 175 would likely be serviced at Plymouth Laira Depot and possibly also St Philips Marsh, Bristol. Paths have been made available for them to run ECS up to Bristol. The final GWR Class 166 unit to be refurbished (166 220) has been completed at Gemini Rail Services at Wolverton Works. The work to refurbish the class was carried out over a three-year period with each unit taking about one month to complete.

Engineering works will affect services between Bath Spa and Westbury on Sunday 27 October, then between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads from Monday 28 to Thursday 31 October. Replacement buses will operate between Bath Spa, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury on October 27. From Monday 28, trains between Paddington and Bristol T M will be diverted between Swindon and Bristol, not stopping at Chippenham or Bath Spa. However, a reduced train service will be operating between London Paddington and Bath Spa via Chippenham. Trains will be running between Bath Spa and Westbury, Portsmouth Harbour or Weymouth. A replacement bus service will operate between Bath & Bristol. Do check times if you are travelling. See https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/planned-engineering/bristol

During the weekends of October 13/13, 19/20, and 26/27 engineering works will take place on the main line between Cardiff Central and Bridgend. This will affect TfL and GWR services and trains will be diverted via the Vale of Glamorgan Line via Barry Town, extending journey times by around 35 minutes. GWR trains for Carmarthen will start/terminate at Swansea instead.

LOOKING BACK

50 years ago on October 19, 1974, the Great Western Society ran their first All-Vintage steam hauled train from Didcot to Stratford on Avon and return via Oxford. The train was hauled by 6998 'Burton Agnes Hall' & 7808 'Cookham Manor hauling preserved GWR coaches from their collection including Collett Super Saloon 'Princess Elizabeth 'W9118 'Princes Elizabeth' which was built in 1932 to run between Paddington and Plymouth on the ‘Ocean Special’ trains in connection with the transatlantic liner services. Eight of these coaches were built and five examples still exist, three at Didcot Railway Centre and two at the South Devon Railway.

Also 50 years ago this month, the signal box at Maidenhead on the GW main line was closed. Of wooden construction, its type were nicknamed ‘Wooden Wonders' being introduced in 1957. It had opened on December 8, 1963, and had a relatively short life being closed from October 21, 1974. It had a 46-lever frame and had replaced three boxes at Maidenhead East, Middle and West. (The middle and West boxes had dated from 1891, with East Box being a 1923 replacement for an 1891 box). The Maidenhead area came under control of an MAS box at Reading when the box closed, but this has now been superseded, as it comes under the Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot.

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTION

You may recall that in the June letter we had an article ‘Confessions Of A Steam Train Enthusiast (Maniac)’ by Fred Parkinson and he has now kindly written a Part 2 to the story.

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This is a follow-on from an article in the June magazine which was mainly about the immediate neighbourhood of where I lived.  This article expands geographically on my experiences.  For those that have saved my last article as a major historic document, can refer back to the map for the following descriptions of trains.  The length of line where the sitings were made is along the north-south line, between the east-west line and the bottom of the map (where there is a road bridge).  The spotting days often started at 9.30 am and ended 9.30pm.  Food and drinks were taken.

From memory, the first notable train was the down Royal Scot at about 2.30pm, almost always pulled by a Coronation Class engine.  This was followed around 5.30pm by the down “Mid-Day Scot”: which, apparently, left London at 1.30pm. This was pulled by either a Coronation or Princess Class.  I witnessed the first (& many subsequent) runs of a new service in 1957: The Caledonian, which passed me at 7.30pm with the first engine being “The City of Glasgow” (Coronation Class) on 17.6.57 out of London.  I don’t recall the times of any of the up trains.

Then, there was the 9’ o’clock Brit from? to?  This was always a Britannia Class, or rarely a Clan Class.  And the “milk train” at 9.30pm – mentioned in Part 1.  There was also the London – Stranraer Ferry train.

The N – S line had 4 lines: 2 x slow, and 2 x fast.  Occasionally all 4 had trains on the length I had in view (as above) and this we called a “birthday”, sometimes making it difficult to identify an engine.

One of my many exceptional memories was a visit to a level crossing 2 miles from home at 1.00am in a summer morning, aged about 14.  It was in the days when “special” steam engine excursions were starting up.  Mallard had taken a daytrip outing from. (Yorkshire?) to Blackpool on the Lancs-Yorks line and Compound 1000 had done a similar run.  They both came back through Preston double-headed (led by Mallard).  I waited, sat on my bicycle at the level crossing with all around silent & dark except for the bright crossing lights.  There was a fairly stiff climb for about 4 miles out of Preston and so the sound of heavy pulling was very distinct.  It was to the pattern of: che – che – che (quick) / che – che – che (quick) / chuu – chuu – chuu (slow).  Some years later I heard “Home in Pasadena” by the Temperance Seven (other bands are available) that has an instrumental refrain that sounds exactly the same.  An amazing reminder.  I think both engines had 3 cylinders and so the noise could have been from either or both.

Trips to a foreign country – Yorkshire: The journey out of Lancashire being stressful.  From Preston there was no easy direct line to this: over-the-Pennines territory.  We had to go via Manchester, which had its cross-city problems like London.  The arrival station from Preston being Man – Victoria.  To Sheffield and Doncaster, we had to walk across the city to Piccadilly Station.  For Leeds & York it was easier as Exchange station was integral to Victoria.  I remember catching the “Trans-Pennine” express a couple of times.  Quite exotic in its day with rounded ends and nameplated – on a diesel railcar set!  Similar to the Trans-European Express which I had seen in Bern a year earlier.

We had many daytrips to the above cities (not Bern) and would often, if not always, do a tour of the local sheds.  We typically would travel on a Sunday and hence few staff at the sheds, but there would be many locomotives.  Doncaster was a place where we often “sneaked” round the engine works to “cop” engines.  On one occasion I saw a couple of other spotters trying to pack the nameplate “Bittern” into their rucksack.

Another great memory was of seeing the first prototype Brush Falcon, Type 47 or 50 (?), in the Beyer Peacock works sidings at Gorton Manchester.  It was a sunny day, and the engine was painted pure white with a gold falcon on the side.  Some memories become ingrained, and I just wish I could photograph them.

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Thank you, Fred, for sending in Part 2, another very interesting memory of your times by the lineside. Don’t forget, if you have a story to tell, do send it in for use after the January Newsletter. Next month John Beck will be sharing his story: ‘June 1995, A derelict Swindon Works’.

MORE NEWS ITEMS

The Severn Valley Railway will be holding a celebration of diesel traction at their Autumn Diesel Bash from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 October, starring two Class 25s. The event will also feature both guest and home locos and will be running a busy timetable over the four days.

On Saturday October 12, the Gauge 1 Model Railway Association’s Autumn Show will take place at Steam, the Museum of the Great Western Railway, Firefly Avenue, Swindon, from 10am to 4pm. There will be a Live steam running track, layouts, 20+ traders, and things for the younger ones!

The 14th Vintage Hornby Train Show will take place at The King Alfred School (B Block), Burnham Road, Highbridge, Somerset on Saturday October 26.  There will be a range of vintage layouts with an emphasis on Hornby products, both O-Gauge and OO-Gauge. Six traders will be at the show with 10 layouts on display.

The Mid-Hants Railway is holding a gala from October 4 to 6 inclusive. Guest locomotives will be 34072 ‘257 Squadron’, Prairie 4144 and 0-6-2T 6695 + home fleet locomotives in use.

A refurbishment of Salisbury station subway, and some of its facilities has been completed. The subway has been renovated with new flooring with murals added to the walls to enhance its appearance. The Platform 4 refreshment rooms have also had a face lift, as have all the platform waiting rooms.

An appeal has been launched to raise £150,000 to complete new build 1014 ‘County of Glamorgan’ which it is hoped to get steaming by 2026 at the latest. There are opportunities to sponsor various fittings on the locomotive, visit www.county1014.org for further details.

The Severn Valley Railway has acquired a three-carriage Class 101 Diesel Multiple Unit, from the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. Apart from cosmetic work required, it is in running order and can be run in multiple with the SVR’s Class 108 unit.

The Bluebell Railway has sold Pullman Kitchen Car ‘Carina’ to the Churnet Valley Railway. It left for its new home on September 3, 2024.

The Swanage Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala, due to have taken place from October 25 to 27, has been cancelled. This is due to the unavailability of guest locomotives and a damaged bridge on the Norden to Frome River Bridge section of the line. The road underbridge was hit by a skip lorry causing serious damage to timbers and structure and will require a road closure in place whilst repairs are carried out in the winter. The section of line is not expected to reopen until Easter. The Swanage to Norden section is not affected. Over 3,000 tickets have already been sold for this year’s Polar Expresses.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway will have to build two new bridges when it extends it current running line by 0.8miles from Killington Lane to a new halt at Cricket Field Lane. At the new terminus, a simple layout of a platform and run round loop will be provided.

COMPETITION

For the competition in the September Newsletter, you had to find the name of the London Underground station used in WW II, which was transformed into an underground office facility, with phone lines, and even hosted a meeting of the War Cabinet. The answer was Down Street. It was located in Mayfair between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park stations and had a short life as a working station from 1907 to 1932. Tours of the former station can be made as part of the London Transport Museum’s ‘Hidden Tours’ programme.

This month’s competition is about the builders of the first-generation diesel locomotive builders.  Apart from the BR Works, there were numerous builders of diesel locomotives such as Brush and Metropolitan Vickers. In this competition you have to answer the questions and take the first letter of each answer and unscramble the letters to give you the name. It is easy and all for fun, no prizes given.

• Name of Battle of Britain Class 34050

• Junction station for the Princetown branch which closed on December 31, 1962

• Name of the station between Montpelier and Clifton Down

• A former BR run underground line, originally Southern, now TfL, runs from Bank to this London Terminus

• St James Park, Polsloe Bridge and St Thomas are stations in this City

• Location of the Great Western Society’s depot and collection

MORE NEWS ITEMS

At the Bath Museum of Work this month, the prestigious Michael Cross Lecture is being delivered by local historian Nigel Pollard on Bath's curious presence, with its own pavilion, at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. This is an unusual tale, celebrating its 100th birthday, so to speak. It will take place on Saturday October 12, 2024 at 2.00pm at the Museum. Tickets will be available on the door, £10.00 to include refreshments. info@bath-at-work.org

The new Ashley Hill station in Bristol was officially opened on Friday, September 27. Situated between Stapleton Road and Filton Abbey Wood, the two-platform station will be served by an hourly service. The original station, on the same site, was closed in 1964.

The Dartmoor Line (Exeter-Okehampton) recorded 200,000 passenger journeys by the end of the first 6 months of this year. 258,000 were recorded for the whole of the first year of operation, and the number of people using the line is steadily increasing. Plans are still ongoing for the new Okehampton Interchange station on the Exeter side of the town.

Construction of the new eastern entrance at Bristol Temple Meads station is now complete, but it will now go into “hibernation” until the University of Bristol’s new enterprise campus next door is also finished. The main structural steel frame of the building, that makes up the new eastern entrance, stands six metres high and 20 metres wide on land that used to be the Royal Mail sorting office and previously was the city’s cattle market. Passengers entering the station from the new entrance will emerge at the end of the pedestrian subway beneath the platforms. The train departure boards are already in place but will remain blank until the entrance is brought into use in 2026.

A proposal has been made for rebuilt West Country Class 34028 ‘Eddystone’ to go main line. The Swanage Railway based locomotive is owned by Southern Locomotives Ltd and the costings are being obtained to have it registered for main line work. Several of the charter companies are very keen to have a locomotive based in the south of the country for work, and  decision still has to be taken to see if it is viable.

LOOKING FORWARD

Our next meeting will be on Thursday November 7, when Stephen Gay makes a welcome return with his tales of ‘Woodhead - The Lost Railway Part Two’. 

Please note - due to work being carried out at the Bath Museum of Work, the venue for this meeting has been changed.  It will take place in the Upper Hall of the Salvation Army Citadel, Green Park, Bath at the normal start time of 7.30pm.

Bob Bunyar

Newsletter Editor

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