Heritage Railway Issue 231

IT was always going to be the keynote occasion of the year, but the glorious sunshine in the second week of July made certain of that. The series of main line specials marking the 50th anniversary of the end of Southern Region steam proved to be the outstanding success that the occasion merited, and accordingly the event forms the core theme of this special edition. Of course, Southern steam did not die in 1967: it was just a case of turning the volume down for two decades or so, as an army of enthusiasts rescued and restored Bulleid Pacifics and others from Barry scrapyard, and tour operators gingerly reclaimed lost territory including electrified routes, to the point where today we have operators like Steam Dreams and the Railway Touring Company…

PAUL Kirkman has stepped down as director of the National Railway Museum after nearly five years in the job. During that time he oversaw the Mallard 75 event – one of the most successful in the museum’s history – which saw all six surviving A4s reunited to mark the 75th anniversary of No. 4468 setting the world steam railway speed record in 1938. While the event was planned and orchestrated by his predecessor Steve Davies, it was Paul who oversaw the three Great Gatherings, which included the temporarily-repatriated Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and which turned in a sizeable profit. He also oversaw the completion of the return to steam of Flying Scotsman in 2016, to a rapturous public reception. Paul initially replaced Steve, who quit on September…

PARACHUTED in to replace Paul Kirkman has been Judith McNicol, director of people and culture, at the Science Museum. She will take over the job as interim director on a temporary basis until a permanent successor is found. Judith said: “For those that don’t know me, I’ve been with the Science Museum Group for 13 years. “The National Railway Museum is close to my heart; my great greatgrandfather was one of the many to die in the building of the Forth railway bridge; from a young age I remember travelling across that bridge in awe of the scale, beauty and the possibilities that it held; and joining the museum to work amongst the great ‘firsts’ – Stephenson, Brunel, Mallard, Rocket and of course Flying Scotsman – was a childhood dream…

THE demolition of historic Wolverton Works began in July, signalling the end of 179 years of history. The works was built in 1838 by the London & Birmingham Railway at the mid point of the 112-mile route between the two cities. The redevelopment on the disused two acres of land at the east end of Wolverton Works commenced on July 10, and the end result will be a discount supermarket opening in 12 months’ time. This is the first phase of the works’ demolition which lies 100% within a designated Conservation Area – that was not enough to save the buildings. Demolition contractors moved on site to break up the floor and track of the 1860’s built carriage, wagon and repairs shops. In the first few days of breaking up…

A COUPLE who aim to visit all of Britain’s 2563 main line stations in 14 weeks, travelled on the Ffestiniog Railway as part of their journey. Vicki Pipe and Geoff Marshall rode between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog on July 1, using the heritage railway as a link between the Cambrian Coast and Conwy Valley lines as part of their marathon odyssey. Up to that point, they had visited 1604 stations. The FR upgraded the couple to the first class observation carriage which allows an unobstructed view through huge windows. The couple are not getting out at every station, but they have to be on a train that stops at the place they want to tick off. They are also using taxis and lifts from friends to save doubling back on…

 THE newly-formed Carlisle Railway City Group which wants to make the city as well known for its railways as Crewe and Swindon, held its first public meeting at Tullie House on July 8. Chaired by broadcaster Eric Robson, around 50 people showed up and suggestions include the establishment of a railway museum, research into railway workers and individual streets, to investigate how the railways shaped the city, and the establishment of dedicated walks along old trackbeds. THE Talyllyn Railway has appointed volunteer of more than 20 years Chris Smith as its new engineering manager. Having served an apprenticeship as a mechanical fitter, he has worked on main line diesels and was the lead engineer on the overhaul of over 600 wagons for Freightliner. He has been employed as a contract…