"Preserving the steam locomotive legacy..and more..on film"
76079 & 45407 Crossing Denby Dale viaduct 29.3.2009.(C)Alan Lewis
Contents:
Welcome...and site news.
Steam Tube Photographic Highlights
Steam Tube Video Highlights
On This Day-In This Month-In Railway History
Around The World in 80 Railways. No. 15. Hong Kong to Hanoi
Christian Wolmar- July Newsletter
The State of Britain's Railways, 1945-1948 (Turnip Rail)
Railways Through Bolan Pass (All Things Pakistan)
My first ‘Streaks’ -My First Visit to King's Cross. By Dick Bodily
Welcome...and site news.
A very warm welcome to all to this August edition of "On Shed"!
And may we say how pleasing it is to see some high quality images being uploaded this last month.
Perhaps our Photographic Competition has added an extra incentive to our efforts! (More on that later..)
Steam Tube (TM) now has 645 members, 2,990 video clips, 13,600 photographs, over 1,900 friends on our Facebook page, and 613 followers on Twitter. We are pleased to extend a warm welcome to all who access our pages, and hope that you like what you find here.
You will have noticed that we now have a "non"-Steam Tube section.....Diesel, Electric and Disused Tubes were part of Steam Tube's original line up, but pressure (cost!!) forced our hand somewhat.
But we have been able to find some space on this site, so please feel free to upload your very best images ..we shall look forward to seeing them.
On the subject of uploads, we know you won't mind the reminder about Copyright.
Unless you have the permission of the copyright holder, please don't risk uploading on to Steam Tube.
We couldn't afford the litigation!! We are trying to make contact with appropriate broadcasters and programme makers in an effort to minimize this problem...if you have any suitable contacts, please let us know.... You will have noticed that we have added a link to the home page "BBC Archives". We hope to add more sources in the future......
In addition, we have the Photographic Clinic; this is the place to visit for suggestions on photographic technique and preparation for that all elusive master shot. The Steam Room is the place to go to tell us about what's happening on your preserved line-steam talk for grown ups!!
Our thanks, as always, go to you, the members, for your continued support and encouragement.
We field excellent suggestions from time to time, and maybe, just maybe, an idea or suggestion may produce some results....Indeed, any suggestions about the content of "On Shed" would be very much appreciated...
So, on with this edition......
We start off with a wall of photographs uploaded this last month, then a wall of videos...clicking on the thumbnail should activate the clip.........
David Turner's historical article takes a look at the state of Britain's railways between 1945 and 1948.
A look at the month of August in railway history has to make mention of the Last days of Steam in 1968, and Christian Wolmar's regular column takes a look at what's happening on the rail scene at the present...and Derby features in this edition...
Steam Tube Photographic Highlights
Steam Tube Video Highlights
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On This Day-In This Month-In Railway History
--/08/1923
Great Western Railway (Great Britain) takes delivery of its first 'Castle' Class 4-6-0 express passenger steam locomotive from its Swindon Works, No. 4073 Caerphilly Castle
Its first shed allocation was Old Oak Common. Its August 1950 shed allocation was Bath Road, Bristol. Its last shed allocation was Cardiff Canton in March 1959. It was withdrawn in May 1960, and after a period at Paddington and the Science Museum in Kensington, is now preserved at the Swindon Steam Railway Museum
The introduction of the "Castle" class enabled a significant improvement in timings. The name "Cheltenham Spa Express" was given to the service, which reached Paddington in 75 minutes from Swindon, an average speed of 61.8 miles per hour (99.5 km/h).
Fierce rivalry between the four main railway companies during the 1920s and 1930s to run the fastest train in the country, and therefore in the world, led to further accelerations to the service. In July 1929 the scheduled journey time became 70 minutes, an average speed of 66.2 miles per hour (106.5 km/h). Two years later (1931) the train was again accelerated to an average speed of 69.2 miles per hour (111.4 km/h), and by now had acquired its popular nickname of the "Cheltenham Flyer", although this was never adopted officially.
On Monday, June 6, 1932, the train broke all railway speed records with a time of 56 mins 47 seconds at an average speed of 81.6 miles per hour (131.3 km/h). Such a journey speed had never been previously recorded and this made this run the fastest railway run in the world.
02/08/1870
The world’s first underground tube railway, the Tower Subway, opens in London, England. On its first trip, 12 people travel 450 yards(411meteres) in 11(eleven) seconds.
04/08/1883
Volk's Electric Railway, the first of its kind in Britain, opens at Brighton.
In 1892 with the Electric Railway comfortably installed as far as Paston Place Magnus cast his eyes towards Rottingdean. To extend the existing railway the three miles would entail either a steep climb to take it along the cliff top or a man-made viaduct along the unstable undercliff. Understandably he was not keen on either alternative so he turned his mind to building a completely new railway that would 'travel through the sea'. A similar system was already in operation across St. Malo harbour in Brittany but this was pulled along the rails by chain rather than being self-propelled, and ran through sheltered water not the English Channel.
Finance for the new railway was found locally. One of the biggest investors was Edward Bleackley who became the first Chairman of the new company. R. StGeorge Moore, later to be engaged as the designer and engineer of the new Palace Pier, was taken on as the project engineer, and under his guidance a Bill was submitted to Parliament applying for an Act to incorporate a Company and then empower that Company to construct an electric railway on the foreshore between Paston Place and Rottingdean, together with the associated works and piers that would be needed.
Continue reading at: http://www.volkselectricrailway.co.uk/
04/08/1914
British Government takes control of railways as a wartime measure.the railways were passed into the wartime control of the Railway Executive Committee made up of the general managers of the 10 major railway companies and responsible to the Government.REC control lasted from 1914 to 1921. It was followed by the Railways Act 1921 which led to the creation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1923.
08/08/1968
Steam locomotive power was withdrawn from British Rail
Footage from the '15 Guineas Special' on 11 August 1968. It was the last steam hauled passenger service on British Railways. The train is travelling from Dent station in Yorkshire north towards Carlisle on the Settle-Carlisle railway.
Video courtesy NRM
10/08/1840
Regulation of Railways Act
This act introduced government regulation to the railways
Measures contained in the Act were;
■No railway to be opened without notice;
■Returns to be made by railway companies;
■Appointment of Board of Trade inspectors;
■Railway byelaws to be approved by the Board;
■Prohibition of drunkenness by railway employees;
■Prohibition of trespass on railways.
11/08/1880
The Wennington Junction rail crash in England kills 8 people
Source: http://www.tathamhistory.org.uk/resources/railway/7-accident.php
14/08/1927
Royal Scot class of locomotives introduced
(C) John Edkins
14/08/1915
A rail crash in Weedon kills 10 people
Extract from Lieut.Col E. Druitt's report to the Board of Trade:
"In this case as the second part of the 5.30 a.m. Irish Mail train from Euston to Holyhead drawn by two engines was running at high speed between Stowe Tunnel and Weedon, it was derailed, and several of the vehicles were thrown over either side of the line and wrecked.
Ten passengers were killed and 21 injured, some severely, and 33 cases of shock have been reported to the company. The driver and fireman of each engine, and a guard and five dining-car attendants in the train were also injured."
Source: http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=86
17 Aug 1857
West Somerset Railway Company incorporated by Act of Parliament
18/08/1837
Daniel Gooch takes up his position of Locomotive Superintendent of the GWR.
Sir Daniel Gooch by Leslie Ward, 1882
19/08/1921
Publication in the United Kingdom of the Railways Act 1921, which provided for the amalgamation of British railway companies into four large groups, "The Big Four", with effect from January 1, 1923
"1.-(1) With a view to the reorganization and more efficient and economical working of the railway system of Great Britain railways shall be formed into groups in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the principal railway companies in each group shall be amalgamated, and other companies absorbed in manner provided by this Act."
Source: http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=65
Coat-of-arms of the GWR, LMS crest, carved into the stonework at Leeds station
incorporating the shields of the cities
of London (left) and Bristol (right)
LNER Southern Railway Coat of Arms
24/08/1816
Birth of Daniel Gooch at Bedlington, Northumberland
24/08/1927
The Sevenoaks railway accident in England kills 13.
Report by Colonel Sir John W. Pringle, C.B. on the Derailment of Passenger Train, which occurred on the 24th August, 1927, near Sevenoaks, on the Southern Railway
Go To: http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=307
28/08/1915
The first train operates over the regauged Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway using 1 ft 3 in (381 mm) gauge equipment
First visit to The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway on 3rd June 2010. The 7 mile journey from Ravenglass to Dalegarth is outstanding. Sit back and relax as you...
(C) mollsmyre
30/08/1909
Great Western Railway begins using its Fishguard terminus in Wales for boat trains in connection with the Cunard steamships on Atlantic routes as a first port of call.
See the Hywel Davies Postcard Collection at: http://www.pembrokeshirevirtualmuseum.co.uk/extra_menu/photo_gallery/hywel_davies_collection/album/fishguard/pages/image_001.html
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Around The World in 80 Railways. No. 15. Hong Kong to Hanoi
So, here we are on the 15th leg of Around the World in 80 Railways, Hong Kong to Hanoi.....
This is not so easy to arrange, since there are no direct train routes....however, The Man in Seat 61
has some answers for us...
- Day 1, morning: Take a train from Hong Kong (Kowloon station) to Guangzhou (East station). There are a range of departures daily, including one leaving Kowloon at 11:17 and arriving Guangzhou Dong at 12:58. Fare about HK$190 (£17 or $28). A taxi from Guangzhou East to Guangzhou Main station costs about RMB 30.
- Day 1, evening: Take an overnight sleeper train from Guangzhou (main station) to Nanning, train number 2571 departing Guangzhou at 16:52 and arriving Nanning the next morning at 06:35. Soft and hard class sleepers are available. The fare is about 286 RMB (£29 or $43) in a soft sleeper, or 184 RMB (£19 or $29) in a hard sleeper. There are in fact several alternative trains too, such as the K483 departing Guangzhou main station at 21:08 arriving Nanning at 09:34 next morning. Spend the day in Nanning.
- Day 2, take the daily overnight train from Nanning to Hanoi, It leaves Nanning in the early evening and arrives Hanoi next morning. Soft & hard sleepers available, fare RMB 229 (£23 or $37). Alternatively, there are several modern buses from Nanning to Hanoi every morning.
So, there you have it!
What can we expect along the way?
Chinese Train Ride Guangzhou to Hong Kong(rklingberg on YouTube)
Video of a train ride from my recent trip to China-- this was the "high speed" train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. Midway through the video you can see the DMZ with fences, cameras, and security checkpoints between mainland China and Hong Kong.
Nanning, The Green City of China (waysia on YouTube)
Ga Ha Noi - Main HaNoi train station, Vietnam - Train 02( Yumgui2 on YouTube)
Now, where is our next destination........??
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Christian Wolmar- July Newsletter
Dear subscriber
A bit late, I’m afraid but pressure from my publishers means that I am devoting all spare time to pushing ahead with my book on US railways. It has, too, been a busy time with the aftermath of the McNulty report and the redundancies at Bombardier’s Litchurch Lane factory, but now things have gone quiet, thankfully, as attention focuses on the hacking scandal, which makes me, for once, long to be back in the Westminster Village reporting on it.
The Bombardier factory issue is fascinating, a microcosm of what has gone wrong with British industry and of the failure of successive governments to understand the need to maintain a train building capability in this country. I wrote a piece for the Guardian here when the redundancies are announced, which has attracted numerous comments on the site. I have also written a piece for Tribune which will be on the site next month.
The hold up in this month’s newsletter was because a friend is publishing an e-version of Down the Tube, my book on the London Underground PPP, which will soon be available on Amazon as a download for Kindle etc. Unfortunately, there are a few technical hold ups but it will be on the site next month and I will give details in my next newsletter, which will be out early in August..
Otherwise, there’s just the two news Rail columns on the site. The first gives some background to the McNulty report after various informants came out of the woodwork, and the second, here looks at the demise of the Heathrow airport scheme, Airtrack as well as a little story about a spat with the comrades at the RMT.
I am still trying to clear things from under my bed, so if anyone wants a signed hardback copy of Blood, iron and gold for £8 plus £2 75 p and p, just email me.
I continue to make heavy use of Twitter. It’s absolutely wonderful to follow in a crisis like the hacking scandal with tweets flying in thick and fast. Its particularly useful, too, to a specialist like me when there is a big issue like the Bombardier redundancies. I’m afraid, for those of you who are sceptical, it is a medium that is going to stay. I now have over 2,000 followers @christianwolmar, so do join in the fun. Much of the rubbish about what people have had for breakfast has gone as users are now understanding how to exploit what is a fantastic medium. Means I have blogged a bit less, in truth.
I will be signing books at the War and Peace exhibition this Friday July 22 in Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent. It’s a massive event, obviously mostly concerned with war, but is apparently very well-attended and interesting. I had hoped it would be a day out in the sun….
I also have a whole string of talks in September and October at various railway societies, which are all listed on the calendar on the site. Otherwise, its nose to the grindmill on the book.
Christian
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The State of Britain's Railways, 1945-1948
During World War Two Britain’s railways played a crucial role, hauling the goods, people and machines that allowed this country to make war. Indeed, in 1944 the freight ton mileage of Britain’s Railways was 50% above 1938 levels. However, when the conflict was over the railway network was in a horrendous state. Infrastructure had not been maintained adequately, obsolete locomotives were common place and the wagon and carriage rolling stock was run-down. This post will examine the state of Britain’s railways in 1945 and will summarise possible causes. I will be using statistics and information provided in Terry Gourvish’s British Railways 1948-73: A Business History (p. 3-5).
The maintenance of all sorts of Rolling Stock, locomotives, carriages and wagons, had fallen back significantly creating a maintenance and renewal backlog. On the 31st December 1938 only 6.04% of Britain’s total locomotive stock was awaiting or under repair (a 32% increase). Whereas on the same day in 1946 the proportion stood at 7.98%. Coaching stock had fared worse, and over the same period the proportion had risen from 6.52% to 12.52% awaiting maintenance or under repair (a 92% increase). It was Britain’s “little bob-tailed wagons” that had received the worse treatment, and on 31st December 1938 only 2.82% were awaiting or were under repair. However, by 31st December 1946 the figure had risen to 10.79% (a 281% increase).
The causes of these maintenance deficiencies were simple. Many locomotives were at the end of their operational lives, had not been broken up because of wartime requirements and, thus, required heavy repairs. Wagon stock had been augmented by the railway companies acquiring 563,000 privately owned wagons during wartime, many of which were aging and obsolete. Indeed, more than 50% being over 35 years old. Lastly, passenger carriages, which had not been prioritised for renewals under wartime conditions, were falling to bits. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) had approximately 22,000 carriages, yet, had only renewed a measly 16 per year between 1940 and 1944.
Alongside the evident problems afflicting the rolling stock, after the war the condition of Britain’s railway infrastructure was just as bad, if not worse. The increases in traffic had not precipitated an increase in track maintenance, which had reduced to 30% of pre-war levels. Indeed, in 1945 2,500 miles of track required maintenance, the equivalent of two years’ worth of work at pre-war rates of repair and renewal. Indeed, similar requirements were felt on the structures of the network, the bridges, the buildings, the tunnels etc.
The cause of these back-logs has been put down to the fact that the railways had a weakening financial position. The government had restricted railway earnings to £43.5 million per year, it retaining any revenue above this level. Thus, between 1941 and 1945 the railways earned £412.6 million pounds, but £195.3 million was retained by government. However, the restricted income was inadequate for all the maintenance required given the significant increases in coal, material and labour costs. Despite this, the government did not invest any more money.
Some of the surplus government retained went into an accumulating trust fund for deferred repairs and renewals, i.e. a fund for after the war. However, despite the pressing needs of the time, government thinking was that this fund would be sufficient to meet replacement infrastructure costs at ‘future prices’ [italics in text] which diminished the need for heavy wartime investment, some of which may be unnecessary. Furthermore, they felt that the money should be held back so that post-war renewals could be geared more towards changed national transport needs and ‘motive power policy.’
Yet, despite all these factors, Gourvish argued that much of the under-investment was due to wartime shortages and that ‘it may be difficult to accept that a more generous wartime policy towards railway investment would have succeeded in safeguarding assets which were, it is generally agreed, in relatively good shape in 1939.’ (p.5)
Whatever the cause, Britain’s four private operators, the Southern (SR); London, Midland and Scottish (LMS); London and North Eastern (LNER) and Great Western Railways (GWR), did not have the financial or physical resources to reverse the maintenance and renewal situation quickly or efficiency after the war. The result was that the Labour government nationalised Britain’s railways through the 1947 Transport Act, which came into force on the 1st January 1948 and created British Railways.
For more historical articles , visit David Turner's excellent site at: http://turniprail.blogspot.com/
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All Things Pakistan
One of the greatest Engineering feats of British rule in India was to lay a railway track through the famous Bolan Pass. More than a century old, this railway track still generates an awe among rail enthusiasts all over the world.Orders for a feasibility survey of Bolan Pass Railway were first issued by the British Government in 1876. Work on the construction of railways through the Pass started in 1880 but was soon stopped after laying of 31 km track due to the occurrence of famous ‘battle of Maiwind’ in the
area. Work restarted in 1885 by rapidly laying a rail track in the bed of river Bolan and finally a steam locomotive rolled into Quetta in August of 1886. The present day railway track through Bolan Pass is the third attempt of laying railways through the pass. In 1889 a torrential flood destroyed the track which was first laid on Bolan River bed. A new track was laid at a higher altitude but that also got washed away. In 1890 orders were issued for laying an all season track through the Pass. This new track was inaugurated on April 15, 1897 and it is still operational. At some places along the track one can see the abandoned tunnels and the rail bed of earlier two attempts of laying railways here.
For more photographs and a full account of this engineering feat, go to http://pakistaniat.com/2006/08/23/railways-through-bolan-pass/With grateful thanks to Owais Mughal at All Things Pakistan
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My first ‘Streaks’ -My First Visit to King's Cross. By Dick Bodily
Half a century ago –
My first ‘Streaks’
When I was still very, very young my gran used to take me to Blakesley station bridge most days to wave to the trains on the ‘Strawberry & Marrow Jam Railway’ as she called it. The 3Fs and 4Fs those days seemed gentle and friendly like ‘Edward’ but one day en route for a West Country holiday, I was taken to catch the train at Woodford... and there I saw ....‘Gordon the Big Engine’! It was a namer A3 Pacific on a GC line express. Other clanking monsters, probably ‘Aussies’ were seen on freights before our train departed. Yes, ‘Woodford engines’ were a bit special, they were powerful and menacing and like Mr Toad when he saw the motor car I was hooked on LNER Pacifics without even realising it. At Paddington Dad took me up to the front of ‘The Rivera’ to show me the engine that would take us towards our holiday destination. It was big and named ‘King Richard 1’, the same christian name as me as Dad pointed out, but as much as its brasswork shone it wasn’t as impressive as seeing ‘the real Gordon’ earlier that morning. As I got older I longed to see A4s like the ones in my ‘Wonder Book of Trains’ but was told ‘there are none of those near here’.
So when I began spotting my unobtainable mecca was to be the East Coast Main Line, but my parents quite sensibly wouldn’t let me travel on my own to Peterborough or to Hitchin, they said it was too far, so I filled my books with LMS types at Northampton and GWR ones at Banbury. Both places were reachable by buses , occupied by grown ups from our village that my parents knew, so I was allowed to travel to these places unaccompanied. I was also allowed to cycle to the West Coast and Great Central main lines both 6 miles away. But I wanted to see LNER engines, big ones, A1s and A2s with mysterious names like ‘Madge Wildfire’ or ‘Steady Aim’. Of course there was the Central at Woodford, but apart from a few V2s and B16‘Bloodspitters’which were always a bit special and which arrived on fitted freights from York, all there was were B1s, a type which I could see at Northampton where March shedded ones appeared daily on Peterborough - Castle trains and Woodford’s L1s which I could see in any case at Banbury on ‘The Motor’.
We were staying with relatives near Reading where I was happily watching SR Moguls and ‘Spamcan’ 0-6-0s as well as all things GWR, when my dad announced that he wanted to go to the ‘Radio and TV Show’ at Earls Court where there was going to be a demonstration of colour television! I wasn’t then that impressed, but he added he would take me to Kings Cross for a couple of hours while we were in London.
True to his promise we actually arrived at Kings Cross (on 24thAugust 1961) before visiting the show and the promised two hours became nearer three! On arrival, the first engine I saw at the buffer stops was Doncaster’s (36A) A1 60136‘Alcazar’ which had arrived on a West Riding express. I straightaway decided that Peppercorn Pacifics were just as good as Gresley’s. But disaster, the only other locomotives to be seen in the train shed were diesels, Brush Type 2s and Baby Deltics D5901 and 8. Horror of horrors, the next train to arrive was hauled by a boring EE Type 4! Dad suggested we might be able to find our way to the other end of the station and more by luck than judgement we found ourselves at the end of the main departure platform, next to the suburban platforms where we joined a whole horde of spotters. We had a fine view of the Gasworks Tunnel entrance to the terminus and of the mini depot and 70ft turntable where A3 of Grantham shed’s (34F)60047 ‘Donovan’ simmered between turns. Then another Doncaster (36A) engine, roller bearing equipped A1 ‘Great Central’, complete with GCR crested nameplate, emerged from the tunnel in a cloud of steam on an up express. The last numbered L1 tank 67800 appeared on ECS, I was disappointed that it wasn’t a N2, but apparently they had all been replaced by Brushes and DMUs so I was lucky to see steam at all on such a working. Next to burst from the tunnel was Copley Hill (56C) A3 60077‘The White Knight’ on another West Yorkshire express, while Top Shed (34A) A3 60109‘Hermit’ backed down to take out the’ Northumbrian’ which was formed of the stock brought in earlier by the L1. Meanwhile a new type of diesel for me, a BTH/Clayton Type 1 took a short freight train down onto the underground.
Bittern on The White Rose 4/7/'09 (C)Dick Bodily
Suddenly our attention was grabbed by a short chime whistle blast. ‘Streak’ went up the call, I didn’t understand what this meant, but slowly out of a cloud of smoke at the tunnel’s mouth appeared the sleek unmistakeable outline of a Gresley A4 Pacific. Top Shed’s own 60010’Dominion of Canada’ brought it a shortish train of parcels vans and other assorted coaching stock. It didn’t seem quite right to me to put such a fine well burnished thoroughbred on such a mundane train.
Things went quiet for almost an hour with almost total diesel domination. The type 1 D8240 appeared again in the Suburban station and my first Deltic D9008 appeared on an up express . Another Baby Deltic appeared on an outer suburban working. The only steam presence in this period was a Peterborough (New England) shedded V2 arriving with more parcels vans and another ‘Green Arrow’ backing down to take out yet more vans and empty stock, probably the train the A4 had brought in earlier. I wish my notes taken at the time had been more detailed.
Then suddenly the great terminus was awoken by a frenzy of steam action. 67797 brought in the stock for an Edinburgh bound express and soon after the last numbered A4 60034‘Lord Faringdon’ (3 4A) backed out the tunnel and pulled up right in front of me to couple on. As I gazed in wonder at this apparition I was brought back to by senses by the sudden appearance of ‘Brit’ 70040 ‘Clive of India’ , recently transferred to Immingham (40B), arriving on a Cleethorpes express. Having seen nearly all the LMR and WR ‘Brits’ this was my first ‘Brit’ cop for what had seemed like ages. Two more expresses arrived, both from the North East. First to appear was headed by that famous old warhorse Grantham A3 60106‘Flying Fox’ , second to arrive was 60521‘Watling Street’ of Heaton (52B) providing me with my first sighting of a Thompson A2/3 Pacific. ‘Lord Faringdon’ departed majestically confidently negotiating the climb into the tunnel, to be soon replaced at the platform by a Brush hauled ECS, followed by another Kings Cross based A4 60030‘Golden Fleece’ which coupled up to form a Newcastle bound express. Finally a Peterborough stopper came in hauled by the most famous Pacific of all, Top Shed’s A3 60103‘Flying Scotsman’.
Sir Nigel Gresley passing Tempsford on The Up Tynesider 28-11-09 (C) Dick Bodily
Accepting things couldn’t get much better than that I was happy to accompany Dad to the TV Show. There Dad joined a crowd gathering in front of a sizeable TV screen watching The Billy Cotton Band performing in dull grainy pastel colour. As for me, I was standing aside a few feet from the crowd almost alone watching the actual band on stage with ‘Breezie’ extolling the virtues of his coconuts. Far better than watching it on tele, even if that was in colour.
Spotting at Banbury or Banbury Lane never seemed quite the same after Kings Cross, but things were about to change in my favour. Dad had been so impressed with the behaviour of the spotters at Kings Cross and in the ‘safety in numbers’ aspect of trainspotting that he was now prepared to let me travel further afield on my own. Already I was planning future trips to Wellingborough, deciding where else I would go when I stayed with my uncle at Swindon the following year, but more importantly finding out how the times of trains from Northampton to Peterborough would fit in with bus services from my village. I was destined to see many more engines beginning with 6 in the following three years, many of them splendid Pacifics!
(C)Dick Bodily
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http://www.british-heritage-railways.co.uk/
British Vintage Railways provide an independent guide to Britain's Preserved lines.
Please make good use of it when planning for your future visits to a heritage railway!
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UK Steam Info is another excellent site listing all known mainline steam excursions..
Very useful for obtaining times and locations.....!
http://www.uksteam.info/tours/--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Railway Chronicle..for your railway news.......
Go To: http://rtn-news.blogspot.com/
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"On Shed" acknowledges the following for the news items that appear in The Railway Chronicle
www.railway-technology.com http://www.transportinfo.org.uk/ http://www.youtube.com/
...and many others duly acknowledged..
Thank you.
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Back Page
Bournville Model Railway Club (C)Paul Wilkes
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Thank you for reading through, and watching, this edition of "On Shed".
Please feel free to offer any articles or suggestions for inclusion in future editions.
Till next month....
Peter S. Lewis (Editor-On Shed)
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