Tabla de contenidos para April 2023 en Steam World

With their glamorous profile and evocative names, the four classes of LNER ‘Pacific’ extant in the 1960s, namely ‘A1/2/3/4’, became popular choices as motive-power on railtours and excursions, which took them to all parts of the country. The most frequent performers were those with the highest profile such as ‘A3’ No. 60103/4472 Flying Scotsman and ‘A4s’ No. 60022 Mallard and 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley. While there were only two such trips during 1960, the ensuing years saw an ever-increasing number right up to the end of 1966, when the last LNER ‘Pacific’ was withdrawn. The first special within the remit of this survey ran on April 21 1960, when ‘A3’ No.60103 Flying Scotsman had charge of the Ian Allan Locospotters’ Club excursion to Doncaster Works, which utilized the Great Central…

To many enthusiasts, the days of steam mean a running shed full of atmosphere created by smoke, coal, oil and the ever-presence of one of man's most beautiful creations, the steam locomotive. I hope to bring back some of this atmosphere, and perhaps remind some of you of shed visit you once went on officially and often unofficially. I hope to show that even visits to diesel depots have a memory of their own. This is especially illustrated in my book Chasing Diesels published in December, 2021 with a good number of photographs taken on Scottish depots, most of which no longer exist. Some of them were former steam sheds which I dearly wished I had visited in steam days. These included Grangemouth, Hamilton and Motherwell as well as Sunderland…

The articles by Geoff Rogers, about train spotting in the north-east around Newcastle which began in Steam World December 2022 have been particularly interesting as some of my school classmates and I were spotting in the same area five or so years earlier. lt is an area that seems to get less coverage in the railway press than, to my mind, it deserves. We sometimes spotted at the same places that Geoff mentions, such as Killingworth Station and the Benton near-cloverleaf which he describes so well. Like Geoff, however, Newcastle Central Station was the main venue for me and my schoolboy spotter friends between 1950 and 1955. The schematic diagram shows the layout of the major lines around Newcastle in the 1950s, with the River Tyne running from left to…

Before going into the Shed Engineman's Link, I was in a relief link with Jim Emmerson. One of the nicest and calmest chaps I ever met, we called him ‘electric Jim’. The walk to Pyewipe was allowed 25 minutes but Jim always did it in 20 minutes. There was one especially memorable trip with Jim. He was actually riding in the back brake at the time. We had been ordered to take a ‘K3’ 2-6-0 to Grimsby fish sidings and wait instructions; we were told we were working the Annesley fish train as far as Lincoln, as an experimental working. The locomotive was standing in the siding with a fire suitable for Jim's driving, but out of the blue appeared Inspector Emmerson. Told he could go back into the brake…

Getting to the Heart of Wales – an emotional experience! I read with great interest the article by Chris Leigh in Steam World, March issue. It brought a lump to my throat since from 1960 to 1963 I travelled this line six times a year in both directions. By then the motive power was a BR standard Class ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 and I remember on one journey to Shrewsbury the locomotive was changed at Cynghordy. The replacement was a Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0. A bit of information about Llandeilo station. In those days it was the station where one had to change for the Carmarthen line. The two-coach train for this journey, complete with pannier tank, was always waiting in the bay platform which was to the right of the right-hand…

100 not out is normally an excuse to celebrate, be it a sport, person, building, or piece of machinery. In a world of rapid change, it is encouraging to know something, or someone has survived all that history. So, it is no real surprise that Gresley ‘A3’ 4-6-2 Flying Scotsman - first outshopped from Doncaster in February 1923 (then unnamed and carrying the number 1472) is causing a bit of a hullabaloo in its centenary year. The locomotive may be ‘Marmite’ to many railway enthusiasts but one thing that you can't take away from it is its picturesque history. This provides a good marker to consider the way in which Britain's railways have developed over the last 100 years and how railway heritage has developed since it was bought for…

In a joint exercise with Telerail we launched the Steam World Archive series way back during my previous Editorship of Steam World in the 1990s. The aim was to preserve 8mm and 16mm cine film taken by enthusiasts in digital form before it was lost forever through deterioration and the availability of projectors on which to watch it. Dozens of camera-wielding enthusiasts came forward to offer their movie footage and to have it transferred into a more durable form. The experts at Telerail digitized the footage and began to put together programmes featuring particular areas or particular photographers work, and the Steam World Archive series was launched. I even assisted with scripting some of the earlier programmes though the narration was always by the very experienced Neil Wooler. However, some…

In Steam World December 2022, I discussed how my time at Cullompton and Newton Abbot in 1958 not only taught me a good deal but also provided plenty of travel behind steam locomotives. My next spell of training was to be at Taunton Freight Depot, also in the Exeter District, so on April 8 1958 I again reported to Mr King, the Assistant District Commercial Manager for the Exeter Division. After an initial briefing, I set off for Taunton, it was the day after the May Bank Holiday and the 8am Plymouth to Manchester was running in two parts. I caught the relief which was in the charge of ‘Grange’ 4-6-0 No. 6849 Walton Grange. I reported to Mr Hailey, the Goods Agent and was again given a warm welcome…

Changes at home and special cops 1958 also brought my last two terms at Forest Hall CP and I faced the dreaded 11 plus exams. I was one of the lucky ones however as I sat at the back of the class. At Forest Hall CP, in the days before any attention was paid to ‘equality’ of opportunity, this was a sure signal that you were going to pass. The nearer the front you sat the less you were expected to achieve. Sitting at the back also had one other major advantage. The Headmaster was a Mr Hindmarsh, a stern Edwardian gentleman who had a liking for pork pies. He clearly wasn't very religious as every Friday a pair of ‘Trusties’ were selected to go down to the shops and…

The feature in Steam World, January, on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line gave a glimpse of the picturesque unspoiled country through which the line ran. In the 19th century there was plenty of that unspoiled country around Newbury and there were those who thought eveiy town should have a railway. Some schemes, however, were more for local pride than practicality or potential profit. Today we might well call them ‘vanity projects’, however good the intentions of the promoters. “The progress which is being made with the construction of the Lambourn railway is very gratifying and Newbury people evince their interest in the proceedings by making the line a favourite promenade on Sunday afternoons. The view to be gained from the embankment across the moors is a very pleasant one. The…