‘Scene’ on the North Norfolk Railway 2015

A short holiday in the Norfolk coast gave me a chance to take a look at the ‘North Norfolk Railway’ (NNR) initially on a normal service day and later in the week on a diesel gala day.

 

76084

 

A British Railways (BR) Standard class 4 2-6-0 loco. Owned by the ‘Locomotive Company Limited’.

 

Built at Horwich works in 1957, it spent most of its short working life (10 years) based in Northwest England.

 

M51192

A Metro Cammell Class 101 DMU built in 1957.

 

Unlike today where the front of loco’s and units are covered in yellow paint. At the time these entered service, the small yellow panel under the cab window was considered sufficient.

 

D 3940

A Class 08 diesel shunter dating from 1960 when it was built at Derby. 

 

Prior to being preserved it was 08772.

 

D 5401

A Class 27 loco that was formerly  27064, 27210 and 27116.

 

Built by the Birmingham Railway & Carriage Company (BRCW) in 1962. Powered by a Sulzer 6LD28B  engine. The class numbered 69.

 

Initially working in the Midlands it moved to Scotland in 1969 where as 27210, it worked on the Glasgow /Edinburgh push pull services.

 

Withdrawn from BR service in 1986.

 

25057

A Class 25 loco built at Derby works in 1963. withdrawn in 1987 when it was based at Crewe, it is now based on and owned by the ‘NNR plc’.

 

D5343

 

A Class 26 loco that was later numbered 26043. Built by the Birmingham Railway & Carriage Company (BRCW) at Smethwick in 1959.

 

The loco spent most of its working life in Scotland being withdrawn in 1993.

 

Purchased by the ‘Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group’ the loco normally resides at Toddington on the ‘Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway’.

 

D 7076

A Class 35 diesel hydraulic loco built specifically by Beyer Peacock in 1962 for ‘BR’ Western Region. 

 

Powered by a Bristol Siddeley built Maybach designed engine model No. MD 870. Like all diesel hydraulics, it suffered early withdrawal in 1973.

 

Now preserved on the ‘East Lancashire Railway’.

 

 

D5631

A Class 31 loco that was later 31207. Built by Brush as a mixed traffic loco in 1960. 

 

Powered by Mirrlees 1,250 HP engines that were eventually replaced with English Electric engines when the original engines proved unreliable.

 

Having spent much of its working life in East Anglia it is fitting that it is preserved on the ‘NNR’ and owned by the ‘Midland & Great Northern Railway Society’.

 

37059

 

A Class 37 loco owned by ‘Direct Rail Services’ (DRS) of Carlisle.

 

Built in 1962 by English Electric and powered by that company’s 12CSVT engine.

 

One of the most successful early designs that remain in service today. The loco was subject of an extensive overhaul in 2014 at Derby RVEL.

 

D 6732

 

later 37032.

 

A Class 37 built by English Electric and powered by that company’s 12CSVT engine

Dating from 1962, it started work at Hull Dairycoates depot and was withdrawn from Tinsley depot. 

 

The loco received a heavy general overhaul in 2013 and is owned by the ‘Anglia Type Three Association’.

 

2015

 

This delightful model saddle tank at the head of a trainload of wagons full of geraniums graces platform 2.

 

It is nice to see that a sense of humour is still in fashion.

 

 

‘Scene’ on the rails in Bury

Bury is a very interesting place for transport enthusiasts not only because of its bus station (see my earlier ‘blog’ dated 09/08/2014) which forms part of Bury Interchange and also includes the terminus of the Tramway line.

The tramway runs largely on the trackbed of the old railway line that started at Manchester Victoria and now involves street running in the city itself.

 

If that is not enough, there is also the preserved ‘East Lancashire Railway’ (ELR) that runs North to Rawtenstall and Ramsbottom. This being based at Bolton Street station which is barely 5 minutes walk from the Interchange.

 

 

The view from the platform end which shows how either of the 2 platforms can be accessed from both the running rails.

 

 

The first generation of modern trams were Italian built Ansaldo Firema T-68/T-69‘s. Dating from the early 1990’s They have now all been withdrawn.

 

‘Metrolink’ the operator have replaced them with new Bombardier ‘Flexity Swift 5000’ ‘Light Rail Vehicles’ (trams to you and me).

 

84 units have been delivered and another 32 have been authorised to be delivered up to 2016. Costing £2,000,000 each they are fast, powerful and comfortable. 

 

But then there are also trains, buses.............!

 

Both platforms are in use and here car No. 3057 is seen departing whilst car No. 3020 waits for departure time.It

carries the name ‘Lancashire Fusiliers’ an apt name considering that 2014 is the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in which the regiment like many others suffered badly.

 

 

 

 

The ‘ELR’ has a history dating back to 1859 when a company of that name operated from 1844 until 1859 running over much of the route that today’s ‘ELR’ covers.

 

After an acrimonious relationship with the ‘Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) the ‘ELR’ was absorbed by the ‘L&YR’ in 1859.

 

Ownership then continued through the ‘LMS’ and on to ‘British Railways’ who finally closed the line down in the 1980’s.

 

The modern ‘ELR’, a heritage railway opened in 1987.

 

Today, the line is one of the UK’s premier preserved railways.

 

After the modernity of the tramway, it is like stepping back in time. It is pleasing to see the use of 1950's vintage signage.

Just look at this marvelous signal gantry controlling the approach from the South.

 

 

 

This handsome structure on platform 2 provides a tea room/cafe and shelter in poor weather conditions.

 

Heading North from Bury trains run via Summerseat to Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall.

On view on the day were,

 

No. 61994 The Great Marquess

 

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built as a K4 class loco in 1938 by the LNER and numbered 3442 in service. The class was 6 loco’s strong.

 

The K4’s were designed specifically for the West Highland Line to Mallaig and Fort William.

 

Withdrawn in 1961 and sold into preservation it was stored on the Severn Valley Railway from 1972 until 1980 when it was overhauled.

 

Sold in the mid 2000 it was then overhauled at Crewe. It has since moved back to Scotland where it operates trains on the national rail network.

D1501

Built by Brush Traction in 1962 being powered by a Sulzer 12LDA28-C engine. Under the TOPS numbering system it became 47402. 

 

It was unusual in that it was fitted with both steam and electric train heating capability from new and also the Westinghouse braking system.

 

Withdrawn in 1992 in BR blue livery, it entered preservation in 1993 being repainted into its original livery in 2010.

 

Withdrawn in 2001, the loco was overhauled and re-entered service in 2005.

D9531

Built by British Railways (BR) at Swindon in 1965 as one of its Class 14. A Diesel Hydraulic locomotive, a type of transmission that at that time was in favour with 'BR’s Western Region.

 

Sold out of service D9531 arrived at the ‘ELR’ in 1987 in the National Coal Board’s dark blue livery.

 

Withdrawn at the ‘ELR’ in 1997, the loco was subject to an overhaul that lasted 15 years after which it ran temporarily as D9556 to emphasize that it was effectively a brand new loco. The original production run of 55 loco’s had been numbered D9500-9555. 

The 'ELR' has only recently hosted an event to celebrate 50 years of the Class 14 with 10 of the loco's in preservation being in attendance. 

 

11506 (D2956)

 

Pictured in an anonymous black livery, this loco was one of 5 produced for British Railways by Andrew Barclay and Sons of Kilmarnock. The first four were numbered 11503-11506. They then became D2953-D2956. The fifth which was produced for departmental stock work as No. 81 was re-numbered to D2956 when the original loco was withdrawn.

 

Two loco’s survived (‘54 and ‘55) to become BR Class 01 001 and 01 002. They were withdrawn in 1979 and 1981 respectively and cut up.

 

 

W56289

A Class 121 Driving Trailer having arrived at Bury. Built by the Pressed Steel Company in 1960 to lot number 30519.

 

Working with another Pressed Steel set this time a 2 car DMU Class 117 numbered DMBS 51339 and DMS 51382 built in 1960.

 

 

 

13594

 

Every preserved railway seems to have on 08 shunter on strength and the ‘ELR’ is no exception. Its TOPS number was 08479.

 

Built by British Railways at nearby Horwich works in 1958. Powered by an English Electric 6KT engine.

 

RNAD 167

This quaint little reduced height van which stands at Bury was used for carrying ammunition by its previous owner the Royal Navy.

 

 

 

‘Scene’ at the Great Western Society (GWS) facility at Didcot Part 1

A day out to Oxford mainly to see the buses (see elsewhere on my blog) also afforded me the time to catch the train from Oxford to Didcot where the ‘GWS’ are based. 

 

Although it was not a running day, there was plenty to interest me and from the assorted wagons on display, I have been able to make up a couple of typically ‘Great Western Railway’ (GWR) trains that will appear in later ‘blogs’.

 

Where vehicles have been restored, the standard is excellent and work is ongoing to restore many others.

 

The GWS site stands at the side of Didcot railway station and the sound of trains passing by on the main lines is a constant accompaniment.

 

Access is via an underpass from the mainline railway station and the site itself is spacious and well set out.

 

 The coaling stage with the water tank on top dominates the 1930‘s built loco sheds seen to the right.

Loco No. 5227 

A Great Western Railway (GWR) 2-8-0T of the 5203 class built at Swindon in 1924.

They were built for hauling coal trains from the South Wales coalfield over relatively short distances.

The loco was has been used to supply parts for the building of a class 47XX No 4709 freight loco at Didcot.

What is left is displayed to represent  loco’s that were in Woodhams scrapyard at Barry.

 

Loco No. 6697

An 0-6 2T loco of the ‘GWR’ 56XX class built by Armstrong Whitworth & Co. at Newcastle in 1928.

 

This class of 200 loco’s were urgently needed to replace worn out machines taken over from the absorbed railways of South Wales. This led to the use of outside contractors, an unusual move for the ‘GWR’.

 

Sold into preservation in 1966 from Wrexham depot the loco came to Didcot in 1970, was restored cosmetically and is now on static display.

 

Loco No. 18000

A gas turbine- electric loco (gte) was ordered by the ‘GWR’ in 1946 and delivered to 

‘British Railways’ in 1949. It was built by Brown Boveri and SLM in Switzerland.

 

The ‘GWR’ chose the ‘gte’ because at that time there was no single unit diesel electric that could haul what the ‘GWR’ King class loco could.

 

In service it proved troublesome and expensive to operate so was withdrawn in 1960. Returned to Switzerland, it was used in wheel to rail experiments. In 1975 it was displayed in Vienna. It was returned to the UK in the early 1990’s and was stored at Crewe. It spent some time on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway as a static exhibit before coming to Didcot in 2011.

 

Loco DL 26 named ‘The Rat’.

Built in 1957 by the Hunslet Engine Co. of Leeds. A lightwieght loco it is used for moving stock over the carriage shed traverser (see later).

 

British Railways (BR) class 05 was a very close relative and although this loco carries a  ‘BR’ totem it is in fact a loco produced for an industrial customer.

 

Loco 08604 named ‘Phantom’.

Although it carries ‘GWR’ style number and nameplates it is a standard ‘BR’ 08 class shunter.

 

Built originally as D3771 at Derby, one of a class of 996. Shedded for many years at Tyseley, Birmingham it has been at Didcot since 1984.

Diesel Railcar No.22

Built by the ‘GWR’ at Swindon in 1940/41to diagram A1. Powered by 2 AEC 105 HP engines this and its classmates were the forerunners of the mass introduction of Diesel Multiple Units that were to be produced in the early 1960’s at about the time that No. 22 was withdrawn. 

 

No.190 Autcoach

Belonging to an earlier generation of passenger transport is this ‘GWR’ coach built at Swindon in 1933 to diagram A.30. Being non powered, they always worked with a loco in push-pull mode, the loco normally being a tank. 

 

A driving cab was fitted at the one end whilst the loco end is without windows.

 

No. 190 has been in preservation since 1970. The interior has been refurbished but the unit only operates on high days and holidays.

 

The sheds that hold the coaching stock at Didcot are accessed by a traverser. The little red/cream ‘cabin’ is effectively a loco that pushes or pulls the bridging deck to line up with the vehicle required which is then extracted and placed elsewhere.

 

A clever device that saves a lot of points and trackwork in a limited space.

 

There are a couple of direct links to Isambard Kingdom Brunel (IKB) at Didcot. The first of which is this remnant of pipework from ‘IKB’s unsuccesful ‘Atmospheric Railway’ (AR) in South Devon.

 

The story of the ’AR’ is far to lengthy and complex to be covered in detail here however it is a fascinating story and is well worth further investigation should you be so minded.

 

This piece of original pipework is seen set between a section of broad gauge track. 

 

After the failure of the ‘AR’ the hardware was disposed of. The section seen below was recovered from a site at Goodrington Sands near Paignton. It had been used for land drainage. The smaller sections that make up this pipe were discovered in 1993 by the South West Group of the ‘GWS’.

 

The other link to ‘IKB’ is to the ‘Broad Gauge’ (BG) itself. ‘IKB’ was of the opinion that a track gauge of seven feet would produce a more stable and a higher speed line. Indeed many hundreds of miles on the ‘GWR’ were so built before it was decreed that Stephenson’s gauge of four feet eight and a half inches became the Standard Gauge (SG).

 

Didcot has a short stretch of ‘BG’ Track and here we see it interlaced with ‘SG’ track to produce a dual gauge point.

 

‘BG’ and ‘SG’ track side by side.

A replica of a ‘GWR’ ‘BG’ loco named ‘Firefly’ stands in an adjacent shed when it is not in operation. Its construction took over 20 years entering service at Didcot in 2005.

 

The original loco of was designed by Daniel Gooch in 1840 as a 2-2-2 and it ran in service until 1870.

 

 I think that Brunel’s original conception of the Broad Gauge was probably right in that it would have produced a more comfortable ride than the Standard Gauge.

 

The whole railway would have been bigger and more spacious. Just how much that would add to the cost of today’s HS2 ? I dread to think.