Backtrack Volume 33 (2019)

Published by Pendragon, Easingwold, YO61 3YS

January 2019 (Number 333)

BR Class AL2 (later Class 82) No.E3046, in the new 'electric blue' livery', awaits departure from Manchester Piccadilly station on 18 September 1960. front cover

Madding crowds — how to be far from them? Michael Blakemore. 3.
Editorial moan: Overcrowding on Northern Powerhouse three-car Trans-Pennine services: standing under Standedge: at one time one had to leg it by narrow boat.

Snow on the line. Keith Dungate. 4-5
Colour photo-feature: Nos. 37 2226 and 37 098 on Manchester Collyhurst Street to Tunstead limstone empties passing closed Peak Forest station on 18 March 1987; No. 37 011 at Crianlarich on 10.20 Corpach to Mossend freight on 25 February 1986; No. 37 404 Ben Cruachan leaving Glasgow Queen Street on 12.20 to Oban with No. 47 702 St. Cuthbert waiting to leave on 13.25 push & pull service for Aberdeen on 22 February 1986; No. 37 405 at Tyndrum Lower on 12.20 ex-Glasgow Queen Street for Oban; reversed image of DMU at Leeds City departing for Neville Hill with snow-covered windscreen on 12 January 1987.

Doug Landau. 1948 — the missing contenders. 6-10
It is suggested that if the Peppercorn A1 and A2 class  Pacifics had been included in the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges they would have out-performed the other classes. In part this assertion is based on data obtained from  tests on the A1 and A2 classes soon after construction, by their routine performance, and by experience with No. 60163 Tornado. Illustrations: A1 No. 60114 W.P. Allen on Doncaster shed in September 1958 (colour); A2 No. 60539 Bronzino at Darlington on up express in snow in February 1958 (colour); A1 No. 60114 in LNER green livery but with BRITISH RAILWAYS on the tender leaving Newark with Harrogate to King's Cross express (note concrete signal post to Marriott design); A2 No. 60539 Bronzino with rimless double chimney and in LNER green livery with BRITISH RAILWAYS on the tender near Grantham in 1949; A4 No. 60033 Seagull with ex-GWR dynamometer car leaving Waterlloo on Atlantic Coast Express on 10 June 1948; Duchess class No. 46236 City of Bradford with ex-LNER dynamometer car near Finsbury Park on 13.10 to Leens on 6 May 1948;; A1 No, 60163 Tornado on The Border Raider near Shap Summit on 24 June 2010.

Spencer Jackson. Starting work at Brent — November 1961. 11-15
Training and practice of clerk in yard master's office who rostered guards for duties mainly on freight trains, but also included some passenger duties, notably the boat trains for Tilbury. Included workings onto  and off the Southern Region where freight movements were not tolerated during the peak periods. The railway environment was dangerous and the death of a West Indian guard who was eager for regular work is told when his brake van was struck by adjacent coal wagons and he was buried in coal. Smog still caused chaos and heavy snow disrupted the progress of The Condor: the new Anglo-Scottish freight service between  Hendon and Gushetfaulds. Illustrations: 9F 2-10-0 at South Sidings alongside Brent Junction No. 2 signal box; Ivatt Class 4 2-6-0 No. 43121 moving towards Cricklewood shed; 8F 2-8-0 No. 48617 with coal train; Jubilee No. 45628 Somaliland passing Brent Junction No. 1 signal box; Jubilee No. 45566 Queensland on up express; 8F heads off on 10.20 Brent to Hither Green coal train. See also Author's experiences of Whitmore signal box and Author's experiences observing signalman

Alan Taylor. Anglo-Scottish Monday to Friday West Coast Main Line services — 1966. 16-23.
Electric traction had radically reduced the time taken to travel from Euston to Crewe, but beyond there the ponderous English Electric Type 4 were woefully inadequate for the gradients of Shap and Beattock and the heavy trains allotted to them. The Brush versions were only slighly better, but the ascents brought speeds down to freight train levels. Even the downhill running was hardly inspiring. The basic service pattern followed that of the steam services with the 10.00 (or thereabouts) Royal Scot filling most of the day for their journeys; an equally slow trains at around 14.00. There were also the Caledonian services at about 08.00 and 16.00: these were still faster than the norm, even with diesel "power". Birmingham sill had a through Anglo-Scottish train in each direction. There were the complex Liverpool/Manchester to Edinburgh/Glasgow caravans wherein its clients spent long periods pondering Preston and Carstairs. Perth was as far as one could expect in day-time. Inverness was served by overnight services. The Thames Clyde Express offered an even longer journey time than the Royal Scot and linked many East Midlands and Sheffield and Leeds with Scotland. There were corresponding night services with sleeping cars and protracted journey times for seated passengers. Northern Irish services had been diverted via Kilmarnock to Stranraer and required massive motive power combinations for the section beyond Girvan (Royal Scots plus Britannia Pacifics for intance), but Stranraer Harbour was still available. llustrations: Class AL5 No. E3074 in electric blue livery at Manchester Piccadilly in September 1963 (C.J. Gordon Stuart: colour); AL6 No. E3143 waits to leave Euston with 17.00 down express on 7 May 1966 (Brian Stephenson); AL6 No. E3116 arrives at Euston with up express on 7 May 1966 (Brian Stephenson); English Electric Type 4 No. D268 on down express near Leyland on 4 June 1966 (Brian Stephenson); Brush Type 4 No. D1958 struggling to Shap Summit with down Royal Scot on 7 May 1967 (Brian Stephenson); Class AL3 No. E3027 passing Carpenders Park with express for Liverpool in 1966 (C.R.L. Coles); A4 No. 60024 Kingfisher leaves Perth with express for Glasgow Buchanan Street on 8 July 1966; AL1 No. E3008 at Liverpool Lime Street with express from Euston on 25 June 1964 (C.R.L. Coles); Class 47 No. 47 523 calls at Dumfries with 10.35 Stranraer to Euston on 9 June 1983 (Gavin Morrison: colour); Britannia Pacific No. 70024 Vulcan near Milnthorpe with 13.15 Euston to Glasgow on 20 August 1966 (M.J. Fox); Brush Type 4 No. D1851 passing Tebay on 1 April 1967 with up express (Patrick Russell). See also letters from Stephen G. Abbott and Chris  Mills

Alastair Nisbet. Overcrowding —the same old story. 24-31.
The Department of Transport has set maxima for Passengers in excess of Capacity although these only apply to the pampered London Underground and South of the Thames services and not to the Northern Powerhouse let alone the Dutch-owned Bittern line where it is normal to send out a single car to cope with Carnival days traffic. In the past railway companies were expected to treeat their passenger cargo with greater respect. The Ipswich Journal on 24 December 1953 reported that a station master and guard employed by the Caledonian Railway had been fined for taking two passengers into custody two passengers who had protested when carriages were filled beyond their capacity. The Perth Courier of 31 December 1857 noted that a York County Court judge was liable for overcrowding carriages. The Pall Mall Gazette of 29 July 1869.  Quite a lot of space is devoted to the needs of those living on or not far beyond the southern limit of the underground system, namely Morden. A proposal by a grpou pf local authorities proposed a tuble line from Tooting Broadway to Mitcham and Carshalton, but did not appreciate that this woud still further impede progress towards Centrl London. Strangely, the current issue of Modern Railways has suggestions, including light rail for improving access to Sutton from Wimbledon. Illustrations are not of sardine conditions in a Pacer or a quad-art but mainly of sleepy rural locations where packed trains may have passed: Mablethorpe station looking north with small crowd dimly visible at exit on 24 April 1965 (L.R. Freeman); Helensburgh Central with V3 2-6-2T No. 67607 on 12.33 to Bridgeton Central on 13 February 1960 with snow on the platform and not a soul in sight (W.A.C. Smith); J11 No. 64303 with 15.30 Skegness and Mablethorpe lumbering its way across the Fens near Coningsby on its way to Manchester on 28 August 1948 (Peter Prescon); Ivatt Class 4 2-6-0 No. 43134 and V1 or V3 2-6-2Ts Nos. 67648, 67625 and 67618 at Singer on 28 August 1956 (W.A.C. Smith); ex-LBSCR D1 0-4-2T No. B612 at Epsom Downs with train for Sutton on 18 December 1926 (H.C. Casserley); 4-SUB multiple unit arriving at Sutton from Epsom on 5 August 1951 (Derek Clayton); Morden South station; St. Helier estate, Morden; Rosehill flats; Banstead station (John Scrace); Bulleid double deck train; RT 3986 red double deck bus at Sutton station on 164A to Tattenham Corner station in 1976 (colour: John Parkin); Tooting Broadway station in July 2017; Clapham North station in July 2017 (still with very narrow island platform); Morden station with tube train (colour). See also letters from Stephen G. Abbott and Chris  Mills 

The A5 Pacific tanks. 32-4.
Colour photo-feature: No. 69808 at Boston in June 1958; No. 69814 at Grantham in August 1959; No. 69820 at Derby Midland in July 1959; No. 69821 at Southwell on 8 June 1959: Class A5/2: No. 69835 on Scarborough shed in June 1957 (W. Oliver); No. 69805 leaving Hayfield for New Mills Central; No. 69808 at Southwell on Southwell Paddy for Rolleston Junction. 

Looking West. 35-7
Black & white photo-feature: No. 3302 Charles Mortimer (with domeless parallel Belpaire boiler) passing electrified Hammersmith & City Line at Westbourne Park see correction to caption from Michael J. Smith; Brymbo station  looking towards Minera; Radford and Timsbury Halt with corrugated iron pagoda shelter in Edwardian period; exterior of Swindon Works in Edwardian period; Corsham station with steamroller and large amount of stone traffic with only a very inadequate crane to load it; Clifton Bridge station with auto train; Dunball station platforms; Chipping Campden station and level crossing; staem railmotor No. 74 in crimson livery at Hungerford   

Edward Gibbins. Britain's railways in World War 1: sequestration & consequencies. Part Two. 38-44
Part 1. To a great extent this article overlaps with a recent book by Mullay on the 1923 Grouping. The extremely parsimonious treatment of railway companies by the government following WW1. Labour costs had risen by 268% since 1913 and the effect was aggravated by the goverment colluding with the trade unions to accept an eight hour working day which greatly increased the cost of rural railways. Coastal shipping had been traffic had been diverted to the railways and then was redirected back to shipping. Demobilisation was a further cost to the railways which were even expected to collect greatcoats and refund the bearers with £1 for each returned coat. The railways were even expected to convey surplus road vehicles free from charge whicxh would be used to erode railway freight carryings. Perhaps the most destructive government act was the establishment of the Colwyn Committee which was formed of five MPs, one Treasury official and the President of the Federation of British Industries. The railways were required to forego documentary rights. Gibbins states that "no industry, including those of which Lord Colwyn was a director — coal, cotton or rubber or the Manchester Ship Canal — was treated in this way. [KPJ it is notable that many of those involved in the Grouping moved onto the rubber or automotive industries]. The report attempted to demand that recompense should be kept at the 1913 level. Illustrations: Lancashire Infantry at Warrington Bank Quay in 1914; Wick station on 6 August 1914 with part of the 5th (Sutherland & Caithness) Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders;  Eric Geddes' personal train (NER 2-4-2T No. 206 plus seven six-wheel vehicles and one bogie coach presumably for the great hero); tea trolley at Paddington; Jellicoe special coal train on Shap hauled by Webb compound and banked in rear; interior of L&YR ambulance train; NER T1 0-8-0 as ROD No. 5660; D1 0-4-2T No. 2221 at Tumbridge Wells West. See also letter from John Buhby

Over the Hills and Far Away. George Watson. 45
Colour photo-feature of the Settle & Carlisle Line: Blea Moor on 20 September 1966 with 9F 2-10-0 No. 92015 entering northbound loop with train of anhydrite empties, No. 92093 taking water wnd Class 2  struggling up the incline; Class 5 4-6-0 No. 44853 and 9F No. 92096 on anhydrite train from Long Meg to Widnes on same day as previous; Blea Moor signal box with 8F No. 48756 on anhydrite empties on 30 May 1964; Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45640 Frobisher  with a special express climbing past Mallerstang on 22 July 1961; rebuilt Scot No. 46152 The King's Dragoon Guardsman leaves Ribblehead Viaduct with 15.40 Bradford Forster Square to Carlisle all stations on 3 April 1965; Britannia Pacific No. 70014 Iron Duke on short down freight at Settle on 29 April 1967; Class 4 2-6-0 No. 43028 on up freight looped at Blea Moor behind looped freight in first illustration; and Class 5 No. 44668 on 16,37 Carlisle to Bradford Forster Square at Kirkby Stephen West in snow on 14 April 1966.   

Malcolm Timperley. Taking the Cure  — the railway to Strathpeffer. Part One. 48-51
Dr Thomas Morrison suffered from arthritis found that the putrid, suphururous waters at Strathpeffer eased his condition and he encouraged the development of a spa from 1819. The Dingwall & Skye Railway promoted in 1864 hoped to serve the spa, but Sir William MacKenzie of Coul was determined that no railway would cross his land. This led to the Skye line having a difficult route and the eventual construction of a branch line to Strathpeffer where potential passengers were forced to change at Dingwall. This opened in 1885 and for a time enjoyed through sleeping cars from London and a Strathpeffer Spa Express which used the Rose Street curve to avoid calling at Inverness. Illustrations: Bellafrum class 2-2-2T (original Strathpeffer and nicknamed The Puffy Dunter or wheezinng whale); 0-4-4ST No. 13 Strathpeffer; 0-4-4T No. 25 Strathpeffer at Dingwall; 0-4-4T No. 25 Strathpeffer at Dingwall with 4-4-0 No. 7 Ben Attow arriving from Inverness for Far North; No. 25 Strathpeffer at Strathpeffer; 4-4-0 No. 129 Loch Maree on Strathpeffer Spa Express (publicity photograph); pump room (coloured postcard); Highland Hotel just prior to opening. Part 2.  .

Mike Fenton. Kemble Station — The branches and the railbus years. Part One. 52-7
Brunel's broad gauge railway reached Kemble and Cirencester on 31 May 1841. Difficulties with the Sapperton Tunnels through the Cotswolds delayed the opening to Gloucester until 1845. The Author has personal ties with the area. Illustrations: Kemble station looking north post 1872 but pre 1882; Ken Jones and Don Pritchard; Professor Mowat's view in same orientation as first illustration but taken on 8 August 1934; Jeremiah Greenaway, Station Inspector 1869-1900, map; up pllatform in 1980s; 10.35 mixed train departing for Cirencester behind 8750 class No. 8779 on 6 May 1952 (H.C. Casserley); 58XX No. 5805 in Tenbury platform at Kemble in mid-1950s (David Lawrence); view looking north in early 1920s with cordon gas tank wagon; water tank on 8 August 1934 (C.L. Mowat). Part 2. See also letters from Robin Leleux and from Michael Pearson

Mike G. Fell. Midland Railway 0-6-0s for Italy. 58-9
In 1906 the Midland Railway sold 50 Kirtley double frame 0-6-0s to the Italian State Railways and they were transported via Goole then by Bennett Steamship Co. ships to Boulogne; thence via the Mont  Cenis line to Italy. The article was first published in the Stephenson Locomotive Society Journal (2001, Volume 77 (808)), Illustrations: No. 981 at Goole prior to shipment with group of Italian State Railway officials; SS Africa being loaded with one of the locomotives via the Armstrong Mitchell hydraulic crane with Alfred Banning watching; Armstrong Mitchell crane lifting coal wagon to tip its contents into hold of Bennett vessel; SS Mapsa outward bound for Boulogne with deck cargo of four locomotives

Leicestershire shed visits .60
Colour photo-feature: Coalville with 8F No. 48644 in April 1965 (Trevor Owen); Market Harborough with WD 2-8-0 No. 90161 in September 1959 (P.J. Hughes)

Readers' Forum.. 61-2

Cumberland coal. Chris Mills 
The picture of colliery waste being tipped into the sea at Whitehaven also records that classic coalfield activity of coal picking. The sacks being loaded in the foreground will join those already on the cycle propped up against the corrugated sheeting, ready for wheeling home. Quite how that Lambretta is going to cope with a load of sacks is anybodies guess! Note also the adventurous guy right up the slope under the wagons, getting the best of the lumps.

Streaking through time and space. David Andrews 
While I challenge the accuracy of Mallard's maximum speed I do not regard it as bogus (letter from Bob Walker in the November issue). Land speed record cars do not tow caravans and air speed record planes do not tow gliders. Rail speed record attempts, however, usually involve a locomotive hauling a train. If records should be set on level track then what trailing load should be used? Should it be a fixed load or should it vary with the size or power of the locomotive? I suggest it is impossible to find a fair way around this and the simple rule of highest speed attained regardless of load, gradient and wind direction is best.

Streaking through time and space. David E. Slee 
David Andrews has done a lot of very fine work to show how the published information on the record run of Mallard down Stoke bank contains errors which throw doubt on the claimed maximum speeds achieved. He did this by examining the actual dynamometer car chart recordings.
At the beginning of his article he includes a letter (to whom? KPJ see reference) from J.S. Dines commenting upon an aspect of the charts produced during record runs by Flying Scotsman and Papyrus. His basic point was that mathematically the accelerations over quite short distances at about MP 91 were unbelievable and needed some explanation. This point was then largely ignored by Andrews who then expounded on possible causes of error within the recording system. He did find two causes which generated sufficient error to cause the seen discrepancies and when these were used to correct the Dynamometer Car measurements he got the smooth curve shown in Fig.3 as '2017 analysis' with a maximum speed of only 124mph.
The slope of the speed curve indicates the rate of acceleration (both positive and negative) and the greater the inclination of that slope the greater the acceleration rate. As Mr. Dines observed, the accelerations involved were as great as for trains accelerating from a start to 60mph and this would be impossible in practice. Further, although Dines didn't mention it, the subsequent deceleration is also just as unbelievable, being equivalent to a light brake application when none was made! If all the track dimensions (grade, MP placements etc.) were accurate then such blips on the charts cannot represent the actual speeds attained by these trains, but rather imponderable errors within the whole recording system and its interpretation.
The 125mph case in Fig.4. is more believable than the 126mph one; however, they both deny reality on account of the very improbable accelerations involved. Andrews hints at a future article looking at the power capabilities both Mallard and the DRB 05.002. I would suggest this is the only way to get to the bottom of the matter. I have used that approach myself in simulation runs and I have concluded that about 124mph was achieved at MP 91, with a small fall in speed (about 0.3mph over the next level section to MP 90.6, and that this was followed by an increase in speed to a little less than 124.5mph before steam was shut off at MP 89¼. I believe there can be no doubt that both claims for a 125mph or a 126mph speed record are not justified by the events on 3 July 1938.

Passengers and pigeons. Allen Ferguson 
Re Glen Kilday's article on special traffic notices writer was living in Bridlington in 1962, but never fully appreciated the planning required for these additional trains or the implications for already stretched staffing and rolling stock.  He recorded locomotives and trains through Bridlington from 1955 through to 1967 and can add to Glen's notes on the Blackburn and Preston Wakes Week extras on Saturday 21 July 1962:  1X10 Preston to Filey Holiday Camp — hauled by 8F No.48608 of Mirfield shed. 1X09 Cherry Tree to Bridlington and Scarborough — hauled by 'Crab' No.42713 of Farnley Junction shed I have spoken to retired Mirfield engine driver Geoff Oliver, who believes the trains were normally hauled by one locomotive throughout with a possible driver change at Wakefield Kirkgate. Water could be collected from the troughs along the Calder Valley. The 1X12 Scarborough to Blackburn that day was hauled by Bl No.61385 of Wakefield shed. As a matter of interest, the returning Wakes Week trains the following Saturday (Bridlington departure times) were:
08.43? to Preston — V2 No.60954 of York shed (plus No. D6738 to Bridlington)
10.22  1X86 to Preston — B16 No. 61448 of York shed
14.25 1X09 to Cherry Tree — K3 No.61980 of Ardsley shed
I have been unable to ascertain how far these locomotives worked.

Passengers and pigeons. L Holland
Re Glen Kilday's article on STNs: on Saturday 21 July 1962 writer was at Brighouse station on the LYR Calder Valley main line. At 11.03 No.45559 British Columbia (24E Blackpool) came through on the 1X10 Preston-Filey Holiday Camp. Then at 11.50 No.42713 (55C Farnley Jn.] appeared on 1X09 Cherry Tree-Scarborough. Later at 16.56 No. 45559 came back with 1X12 Scarborough Central-Blackburn. I cannot say where the 'Jubilee' changed engines.

Great Western branch lines. R. Clark 
Re Jeffery Wells article on GW branch lines: it brought back many memories as writer went to school and then worked on the Fairford branch until its closure beyond Witney in 1962. I also knew and travelled on the Faringdon branch a number of times as a young boy in 1947-51.
Regarding the top picture on p692 the pagoda-like hut was not a waiting room; this was in the station building. The lower picture is at Witney with an Oxford-bound train running wrong line. The vans on the other lane sat there all day to facilitate loading of parcels from a nearby mail order company. The first Witney station was not temporary, although it was unfinished when opened, but the line could not be extended from there so a junction was formed further back and the new station was at right angles to the old one and several hundred yards away. With regard to Faringdon, the nearest station prior to the branch opening was Challow, then called Faringdon Road. Uffington opened with the branch. Although in relatively close proximity to each other, the two branches were of very different character. This is shown by the observation about no underbridges on the Fairford line whilst the Faringdon line crossed only one public road and this was by an underbridge.

Peebles and NBR J88 tanks. Rae Montgomery
Re account of NBR J88 tanks caption on p543 states that "none ... ever received the BR crest or lined paintwork". Writer immediately questioned this, recollecting that a number of these locomotives still around during his early career with British Railways bore the early crest. The nearest source of confirmation was the lan Allan ABCs of 1958 and 1962/3. Both clearly indicate that Nos.68322 and 68345, the very stovepipe locomotive to which the writer refers, both carried the crest
The former Caledonian station at Peebles was not closed for goods traffic until 1959, not in 1955 as implied on p551. The Peebles Hotel Hydro was built in 1905-7 following the total destruction of the 1881 building in a fire in 1905. The comment that closure of the former NBR/LNER loop via Peebles was "one of Scotland's most puzzling closures" was itself puzzling. The operating cost of maintaining the eighteen manned level crossings between Hardengreen Junction and Peebles alone, not to mention the maintenance of substantial bridging structures between Hardengreen and Galashiels, would never have been remotely covered by the revenue accruing to the passenger service.

The Chatham line to Dover. Stephen G. Abbott 
Patterns of electric services on the Chat ham route are not quite as described in Jeremy Clarkes's excellent article (November). In 19S9 there was only one Sittingbourne to Sheerness local service, connecting with the fast train from Victoria as described. The Sheerness connection out of the Charing Cross-Ramsgate train was provided by the Dover-Sheerness train. Thus, with the through train from and to Victoria, the Sheerness branch saw three, not four, hourly trains each way.
The present-day 'Javelin' service from St. Pancras to Ramsgate is only hourly, trains on the alternate half hours terminate at Faversham. However, a third hourly train from Victoria at 40 minutes past the hour runs to Ramsgate. Thus principal stations between Faversham and Ramsgate have trains from both Victoria and St. Pancras, but stations between Faversham and Dover are served only from Victoria. However, Canterbury West and Dover have fast trains from St. Pancras via Ashford. A complex, but comprehensive, service in true Southern tradition! Finally, since Sheerness steelworks closed in 2012 there has been no freight on the Chatham line east of Swanley.

Diesel transition in Scotland. Mike Christensen
The caption to the lower photograph on p581 of the October Issue states "Note the token exchanger at the platform end though the units were not fitted to make use of them". Not so. The token is about to be exchanged using the Manson ground apparatus, which is in the extended position, and an exchange pouch can be seen hanging in the exchanger jaws. The unit is fitted with exchanger apparatus, but not beside the driver's position. The Manson exchange apparatus was installed in the guard's van and operated by the guard. In addition to the usual bell codes between the driver and the guard, which were
1. Stop
2. Start
3. Set back
3-3. Guard required by driver
4. Slow down (when propelling)
5. Guard or driver leaving the train in accordance with rules
the units working between Aberdeen and Inverness used the additional codes
2-2. Correct token received (guard to driver)
2-2-2. Approaching token exchange point (driver to guard)

Economics, religion and politics. Sam Somerville 
May I offer a few observations to the comprehensive article on the GNR (I) by Stephen G. Abbott (Backtrack November 2018). The post-war years in Northern Ireland were dominated by an economy in growing need of external investment being managed by a Government protective of its traditional industries. Social investment based on the GB model tended to serve ends rather than be redistributed to meeting actual need. An internal NI boundary centred on the River Bann separated the western counties from those to the east and marked the political divide. Management of the economy was poor and regional planning non-existent. Publication in 1955 of a highly critical Northern Ireland economic report was delayed for two years such were its contents whilst regional planning based on the GB 1947 Town and Country Planning Act was non-existent until 1962. It was against this background that the GNR Board was formed.
The impact of the border had been a prime factor in changing GNR traffic patterns. like Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland had its various fault lines. However, fresh economic foresight in Dublin represented by talented government officials such as T.K. Whitaker and the acknowledgement that rail had a key role in connecting Dublin with the rural regions were important. This contributed to Dublin's 'reasoned argument' against the GNR cross-border closures. These 1957 closures left no measureable impact on the Northern Ireland border counties, but simmering social and economic discontent in those counties stemming from other factors was present. It might be fair to say railway closures did nothing to improve matters.
Unlike the GNR routes closed in 1957, the Derry Road between Portadown and Londonderry was a major secondary route and the key west of the Bann transport corridor. It linked the western counties and the administrative, industrial and commercial centres in Belfast and Dublin. Strabane on the Irish border was the main freight railhead for 'free to free' traffic between Co. Donegal and the rest of the Republic of Ireland. Acknowledgment by the Government of 'the greater interest' in maintaining societal stability by assuaging discontent west of the Bann was still absent by the early 1960s.
The internal UTA Committee in 1961, alluded to by Mr. Abbott, recommended modernisation of the railways including the Derry Road. Sir Robert Matthew, commissioned in 1962 to produce the first regional plan for Northern Ireland, argued the current railway system was at an appropriate scale to serve Northern Ireland's future needs. In 1964 Sheelagh Murnaghan, MP for Queen's University, made prescient comments about the proposed closure that she added would eventually lead to regret by Government. The Government's head remained in the sand throughout and the prescriptive terms of reference given to Henry Benson dismissed the wider interest. The Derry Road closed as intended and the huge land mass on the island of Ireland without rail became fact.
By 1966 as the Derry Road was being ripped up, the lack of interest from Government continued to be reflected in the failure to commence building work on west of the Bann road schemes promised before closure. This led to growing unease from Unionist as well as Nationalist opinion. Unionist backbench MP for South Tyrone John Taylor was critical of the decision to defer road schemes. He linked the requirement for good transport links to Tyrone and societal stability by referring to the disaster about to hit the western part of Northern Ireland. Nationalist backbench MP for East Tyrone Austin Currie made similar points, arguing dissatisfaction had been building up ever since the decision to sever the rail link with Co. Tyrone.
In the early 1990s I met William Craig. Mr. Craig was the infamous Stormont minister who pushed through the Derry Road closure. Asked if he had any regret at the closure decision, he paused and simply replied "With hindsight, I may have gone about things differently."

Book Reviews. 62

The Eyemouth Branch. Roger Jermy. Oakwood Press, Reviewed by GK. *****
Knowing a little of the geography of the Borders Region I wondered, when unpacking my copy of Roger's book, how it might be possible to say so much about an uncelebrated branch line a mere two and a half miles long. Dipping into the book's 190 pages the answer soon becomes clear. Roger was meticulous, widely read and thorough in the research, preparation and execution of his writing, taking the reader through every stage of building and operating this interesting little byway.
Sensibly he avoids a trap often fallen into by railway writers. He begins his story not by launching straight into railways and trains but by setting the scene by way of short and interesting visits to the county of Berwickshire, Eyemouth itself and the various settlements in its vicinity. Thus the reader, who may know nothing of this little corner of Scotland, gains some understanding of the geography, people and trades of the district.
Like so many mid-Victorian enterprises, building this little branch was a long-fought and oft frustrating battle for its proponents. Roger, through careful examination of local written reports of meetings, alongside some useful anecdotal evidence, takes us through a blow-by-by blow account of the ups and downs of the process. He includes touches of irony and little sparks of humour as he spells out a series of optimistic meetings that were followed by periods of complete inaction. The same thorough approach continues in his description of contractual matters prior to and including construction itself. It is here that Roger makes, from the viewpoint of the reader, a small presentational mistake. He has written three separate sections each entitled 'Fulfilling the contract...', one describing the permanent way, one the major viaduct over the Eye-Water and finally the stations and other facilities. In itself it is through but, unfortunately, it leads to a degree of repetition that proves particularly apparent in the railway's dealings with one Major Marindin RE, who was the Board of Trade's appointed inspector. Marandin made two visits to the line before declaring it safe to open to the public. The author's description of Marandin's task and reports are spread over all three sections and repeated, albeit with differing emphasis. A single chapter about Marindin's work might have been more satisfying.
Burnmouth, the junction for Eyemouth with the East Coast Main lline, lies just a couple of miles north of the border with England, itself but a short distance from Berwick-upon-Tweed. Rightly then, it is at Berwick that Roger begins his description of the branch, for its operation was, from the start, completely linked to that town's engine sheds and other railway facilities. With no engine shed at Burnmouth or Eyemouth, everything was worked from Berwick. Roger gives us great detail about Burnmouth and Eyemouth stations and how they were operated and managed coupled with assiduous information about gradients, bridges, the permanent way including construction of the great viaduct over the Eye-Water.
His story of the line is divided up, first North British times, then LNER days and finally its fortunes under British Railways (BR) management. Here the reader must get used to an approach that, at first, is disconcerting. Roger comes at the story by way of a series of meticulously researched anecdotes, taken variously from a vast array of sources. Thus we have a little tale of a station master's doings juxtaposed with pieces about crime and punishment on the railway, and so on with other topics. Once familiar with the style it becomes fascinating, never quite knowing what snippet will come next! Inevitably the BR section ends with the line's closure in 1962, fought over, of course, but lost in the face of a road-obsessed Transport Minister.
That's not the end of Roger's work because he goes on to study timetables over the years and follows up with stories of several tragic accidents in and around the branch. He discusses the town's all-important fishing industry. Then he looks at the tragic floods of 1948 that, surprisingly, did not lead to the line's premature closure. There follows a penultimate short chapter with a couple of slightly tongue-in-cheek article lifted from newspapers in 1909 and 1916. He rounds off his tale with a look at the remains of what can be seen of the little branch line today.
Roger's work is an interesting and altogether readable account that certainly adds value to the vast library of publications in the Oakwood Press series. The wealth of illustrations are nicely placed and very well reproduced. The little and sometimes personal tales of its workers and the local population will be an invaluable tool for those pursuing local studies and even family histories.

Scottish Railways 1923-2016: a history. David Ross. Stenlake Publishing. 256pp, 143 illustrations. Reviewed by NTS *****
This book follows the histories of the five Scottish pre-grouping companies by David Ross and continues the story of the nation's railways from 1923 up to the present time. It is wide-ranging, looking at how Scotland's railways were organised over nine decades, the traffic they carried, the personalities involved, industrial relations and the political climate which resulted in major changes of policy for the country's railways.
The Grouping of 1923 divided the five Scottish companies between the LMS, with its concentration on centralisation, and the LNER, which had a more devolved approach to management. Twenty-five years later the LMS and LNER lines were merged to form the Scottish Region, with savings from integration of freight and other services.
The influence of the significant general managers of the Scottish Region is assessed in the book. James Ness is probably the best-known of these to railway enthusiasts, because of his restoration to working order of four pre-grouping locomotives. Here he is remembered by a member of his staff as being "a complete autocrat but a man of constant drive and ability".
While Ness and several other general managers spent most of their career in Scotland, two of the most influential were Englishmen who returned south as their careers prospered. W.G. Thorpe introduced the two-tier management system to BR while in Scotland. Chris Green re-invented the Scottish Region as ScotRail with "a marketing approach which focussed on customer needs".
Scots were, of course, involved in the wider British railway scene in significant roles. The LNER's chairman between 1923 and 1938 was William Whitelaw, previously chairman of the Highland and then the North British. Other Scots included transport ministers, such as Malcolm Rifkind and John McGregor, the two politicians most involved with the privatisation of the British railway network.
Privatisation was one of three Government-led "great upheavals" — Grouping and Nationalisation being the others. The critical examination of these applies to the whole British system and make the book of wider than just Scottish interest. Since Devolution that there has been a divergence in policy, which has been to Scotland's advantage. This is reflected in the maps of the Scottish system in 1984 and 2016 which show lines that have not only been re-opened, but also electrified.
The text includes tables showing traffic at various dates and there are several appendices which include a timeline and lists of station closed and opened or reopened. The book is well-illustrated with several useful maps. There is a full index
With this book David Ross completes his volumes which provide a comprehensive history of Scotland's railways over two centuries. This latest work is particularly valuable as it is the first detailed analysis of Scottish railways since 1923 and is highly recommended.

Lost lines — railway treasures. Nigel Welbourn. Published by Crecy Publishing Ltd. 224pp. Reviewed by CH ***
Prior to this, his latest work, Nigel Welbourn had visited and revisited over 400 of Britain's closed railway lines in a series of fifteen 'Lost Lines' books. Each volume covering different regions provides a history of its closed railways and is illustrated with primarily black and white photographs.
Lost Lines — Railway Treasures adds a sixteenth volume to the series but is a different beast from earlier books. As Mr. Welbourn explains in his introduction he has abandoned his very successful formulae, preferring to take an overview of Britain from a different perspective. In this book he has selected a number of his best loved lines and combined them with closed railway remains, locomotives, rolling stock and ephemera, all illustrated in full colour. The book is divided into 25 chapters covering most aspects of the country's railways including early waggon and tramways, the main lines, industrial railways, ports, docks and piers and London Transport.
Chapter 1 chronicles 'Early Closures' and features amongst other subjects the 'Innocent Railway', the London & Birmingham Railway's Curzon Street station, Merthyr Tramroad and the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The following chapters continue to meander through line closures linked to the history of Britain's railways until Chapter 19 is reached. At this point we pause for a while and venture across the water for an Irish Interlude where amongst many Dublin railway relics he describes the miles miles of narrow gauge track which linked the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate to the main line and quay on the River Liffey. Finally in Chapter 25 'Time Travellers' he turns full circle and reflects on the closed standard and narrow gauge railways that have reopened and returned to main line use or developed as heritage railways.
The book is a massive undertaking by Welbourn and each page is full of never-ending facts as he endeavours to include as many closed railways and their accompanying remains as possible. On occasion, though, it appears that he has resorted to using easily available illustrations without much thought for the subject or reader. For example a whole page devoted to the Whitby-Scarborough line would have benefited by sourcing a picture of the magnificent Larpool Viaduct (an icon of the railway) rather than resorting to a couple of images of tickets, a timetable and a rather inaccurate LNER poster, especially as the structure is mentioned on two separate occasions within the book. Further disappointment is in the quality of reproduction of many of the photographs, which compared with other books selling at a RRP of £25 is poor. Illustrations are either muddy, bleached or of dubious focus. This could be blamed to some extent on inferior originals but it is no excuse. A further small gripe concerns the number of the photographs of buildings and structures that are not recent. A note with each, qualifying their continued existence, would have prevented numerous referrals to Google Earth!
So has the new perspective of 'Railway Treasures' proved successful? There is no doubting Nigel Welbourn's enthusiasm and dedication to his subject and his 'Lost Lines' series has been a welcome addition to the railway library. However, I feel this book has lost its way. From the very first page there is an information overload as the author rapidly moves from one location and subject to another. This may be appreciated by the 'railway an cion ado' but for the more general reader at which this book is aimed, will probably prove to be terribly confusing.

February 2019 (Number 334)

Great Western Railway '43XX' 2-6-0 No.6377, fresh from the paintshop, gleams at Newton Abbot station in July 1957. P.W.  Gray/. front cover

Toast and honey. Philip Crow. 67
Guest Editorial: Pullman cars on the Brighton Belle to tube-like travel from Brighton to Cambridge (suppose it could be the Oxford tube by dirty old bus)

Piccadilly — with diesel power. Tom Heavyside. 68-9
Colour photo-feature (Manchester Piccadilly): No, 47 411 on 12.45 to Cardiff General on 12 March 1986; No, 33 099 on 13.45 to Cardiff via Shrewsbury on 20 Februarty 1986; No. 31 414 on 12.45 Liverpool Lime Street to Sheffield on 14 April 1987; Class 08 shunter No. 08 721 Starlet in Red Star Parcels livery on 14 April 1987; No. 33 012 on 13.45 to Cardiff on 28 February 1986. See also letter from Eddie Johnson 

Peter Tatlow. Crane laying of prefabricated track. Part one. Relaying plain line. 70-3.
A large labour force of  about 26 was required to lift even 60-foot lengths of rail and to relay half a mile of single track a gang of seventy would be required. There was a risk of injury. The Southern Railway in 1937 fitted three 64-foot bgie wagons with German Robel cranes to enable 180-ft long welden rails to be off-loaded. On the Midland & Great Western Railway in Ireland the Chief Engineer Arthur White Bretland was faced with renewing extensive lengths of singe track main line and invented a track-laying machine, The crane and plant manufacturer Herbert Morris Ltd manfactured and developed machine. Illustrations: trainload of chaired sleepers at Mold Junction in March 1939 (A.M.V. Mace); hand-operated Robel cranes unloading 180-foot bullhead rails on Brighton main line (D. Brough); gang of men using  tongs to move flat-bottom rail at South Forth Junction in Fife in 1948 (G.L. Wilson); Bretland track-layer at work on former M&GWR section; diagram of Morris track-layer; Morris track-layer at work on LNER; Morris track-layer near Stansted on 31 March 1930 (A. Askew); Morris track-layer  at work with 15-ton Cowans Sheldon crane on North Eastern Region. Part 2

Mark Tittley. 'The Marples Report' — the nemesis of Britain's railways or their saviour? Part one. 74-8
Author is a life long steam enthusiast and a local government politician and thus aware of acceptable behaviour of politicians in this case Ernest Marples, a self-made man  from a working class background, who became MP for Wallasey. He was also a director of Kirk & Kirk, a construction company. Through his company connections he met Reginald Ridgway and in 1948 formed Marples Ridgway & Partners which built power stations, dams in Scotland, a port in Jamaica and the Hammersmith Flyover:. not then the usual sort of Tory party rogue from a privileged background.  In Churchill's Government of 1951 Marples was Parliamentary Secretary to Harold Macmillan Minister of Housing and Local Governmnet and between them they managed to build 300,000 houses per year to meet the desperate shortage caused by World War II. Following the Suez Crisis Macmillan became Prime Minister and Marples became Postmaster General and was responsible for Premium Bonds and a new Atlantic Cable. Subsequently he became Minister of Transport and responsible for the motorway programme and the railway closures wrought following the establishment of a Special Advisory Group formed to examine railway finances and which brought Beeching to notice and who replaced General Sir Brian Robertson. Illustrations: Maples caught on camera; Harold Macmillan in command; Woodford Junction with staff not doing very much; West Pennard station; General Sir Brian Robertson; Chellaston station; 4P compound on express passing through Chapel-en-le-Frith station (long before all being discussed was thought of). Part 2 see page 14.,See also letter from James Hargrave on Macmillan See also letter from David Holt showing how data were deliberately manipulated

David Milburn. Beamish before the Museum. 79-81
The North of England Open Air Museum opened in the 1970s and includes part of a railway line but appears to be devoid of steel rail public transport access although incorporating an up-market (based on ticket price) internal electric tramway system. Part of the amusement park even includes a "railway" conveying pretend freight, but all of this used to be a working railway carrying passengers until 1955 and freight on a grand scale untill Consett Steel Works closed in 1980. Before then it was the haunt of the oft-described Tyne Dock to Consett iron ore trains which culminated in the 9F 2-10-0 pounding up 1 in 50 gradients and presumably making a significant contrtibution to global warming. An ill-judged decision even replaced these with inadequate diesel traction and the transfer of the port of entry for the ore to Teesside. The local coal reserves also became exhausted at this time. Illustratiions: K1 2-6-0 on coal train to Consett near Beamish (now access road to museum) (colour); National Coal Board 0-6-0T  No. 5 Major at Beamish on 29 May 1965 (when industry still existed); Q6 0-8-0 No. 63455 at Beamish with train of wagons probably going to Consett for scrap; 9F No. 92097 paused at Birtley waiting for banker Class 40 No. D250 to come on at rear of loaded iron ore train on 22 August 1965 (David Idle: colour); Q6 No. 63387 drifts through Beamish with coal empties on 17 May 1967 (colour). See also lette from Chris Mills

A look at Lincolnshire. A.J. Clarke. 82-3.
Colour photo-feature: V2 2-6-2 No. 60841sing Grantham with an up freight on 21 December 1962; A3 Pacific No. 60056 Centenary about to leave with a King's Cross to Leeds express: B1 4-6-0 No. 61009 Hartebeeste crossing Witham bridge with Lincoln Cathedral above on 8 July 1958; B1 No. 61157 on short freight train crossing branch from Sleaford on ECML on 22 October 1963; A3 No. 60049 Galtee More leaving Grantham with up express from Newcastle in December 1962.

Alistair F. Nisbet. Kirkcaldy Harbour — town versus railway. 84-9.
Kirkcaldy has a harbour which pre-existed railways and passenger services operated out of it to newcastle and London as well as to Leith and Glasgow, presumably via the Forth & Cllyde Canal. The Edinburgh & Northern Railway Act of 1845 included a branch line to Kirkcaldy Harbour with a gradient no steeper than 1 in 80 but was trumped to find that it began at 1 in 21 and this affected all subsequent railway operations. The Town Council was eager to exploit its harbour for the export of coal, but was thwarted by the North British Railway which owned its own ports at Leven and Methil and stated that the branch and harbour at Kirkcaldy were unsuitable. The harbour is still open but railway access ceased in the early 1980s. Kirkcaldy Town Council hired an 0-4-0ST from A. Bird & Son of Hamilton and subsequently purchased a reconditioned Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST (Industrial Railway Record, 2001, 15 (167)). The branch has received very extensive attention by members of the North British Railway Study Group: suitable entry point. Runaways, including locomotives falling into the harbour were a problem. Illustrations: D49 No. 62712 Morayshire on stopping passenger train passing entrance to Harbour Branch (Bill Oswald); J88 0-6-0T No. 68335 with tool van from breakdown train at harbour to retrieve another J88 from it in November 1954; Kirkcaldy Town Council 0-4-0ST out of use; NBR notice still in situ in BR period noting working of wagons on incline; three class J88 propelling breakdown crane up incline in November 1954 (Peter Westwater); Class 06 diesel shunter No. D2438 with grain wagons for Hutchison's fluor mill (Peter Westwater); NBR signal controlling swing bridge on 13 June 1965;; No. D2442 at work on incline; railway tracks out of use at harbour.

Let's go to Blackpool.. 90
Black & white photo-feature: exterior of Talbot Road station c1910; view from Blackpool Tower of Central station c1905; Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45652 Hawke with express from Manchester Victoria at Dobbs Brow Junction on 16 June 1962 (Alan Tyson); Stanier Class 4 2-6-4T No.  42657 at Blackpool Central with Tower behind on 15 May 1961 (Alan Tyson); Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45584 North West Frontier with express from Manchester passing WD 2-8-0 No. 90271 at Moorside on 23 December 1961 (Alan Tyson); interior of Talbot Road station in 1910 on an August Saturday with vast piles of passengers' luggage; street outside Blackpool Central excursion platforms on 21 June 1921 when Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation held a rally involving 130 special trains; Barton Wright 0-4-4T modified to act as a train heating boiler at Blackpool North on 6 March 1960 (Alan Tyson);A4 No. 60022 Mallard viewed from corridor tender end at coaling stage at Blackpool North after arrival on Alan Pegler's Northern Rubber Company special from Retford on 30 September 1961 (Alan Tyson); Aspinall High Flyer 4-4-2 on 16.55 Blackpool Club Train passing Manchester Exchange long before its state of decay in the 1940s: see also Editorial caption correction    

Alistair F. Nisbet. One thousand miles in 24 hours. 94-5.
The Halifax Evening Chronicle 23 July 1910 told how Halifax resident J. Ingham Learoyd aged 64 set out to travel 1000 miles in 24 hours using the then reliable Midland Railway setting out from St. Pancras just afteer midnight on Monday 18 July for Leeds; arriving there at 04.03 and departing at 04.10 for London reached at 08.15. He then caught the 09.30 to Carlisle, returning on the 15.58 thus achieving 1008½ in 21 hours. He played Patience to relieve the tediousness of travel. Illustrations: Halifax joint L&YR & GNR station forecourt c1910; 4-4-0 Nos. 484 and 700 in Deeley period leaving St. Pancras with an express; Leeds Wellington interior with clerestory coach and Carlisle with John Menzies bookstall advertising Russian battleship disaster. Re challenge for 2019 (by Pacer, perhaps?) see Leonard Roger or Peter Reynolds and Chris Hilden

The '43XX 'Class — useful Great Western locomotives. 96-9.
Colour photo-feature: No. 5330 in fully-lined green outside Swindon Works in 1957; No. 6316 in what caption states to be green livery at Carmarthen on Freight train in 1960; No. 6373 in black livery with express headcode on corridor stock in both carmine & cream and maroon liveries at Lydney Junction on 15 August 1959 (Trevor Owen); No. 7330 with side windoww cab and lined green livery on Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society's AGM special on 24 September 1960; No. 7319 in filthy condition leaving Hereford on stopping passenger train in 1964; No. 7341 at Penmaenpool on Llangollen to Barmouth Junction passenger train; No. 5306 in unlined green with single Hawksworth brake composite corridor coach near Wolf's Casrle Halt between Fishguard and Clarbeston Road in Juune 1962; No. 7307 with a mineral train enters Neath Riverside in October 1962 (P. Esgate);  No. 7337 with side window cab and unlined green livery descends into Brimscombe from Sapperon Summit qith a freight train in April 1962 (J.L. Champion). Note no locomotive had a copper-capped chimney and only No. 7330 had a polished safety valve cover.

Malcolm Timperley. Taking the Cure —the railway to Strathpeffer. Part two. 100-3.
Part 1. The First World War (WW1) "changed everything and Strathpeffer started its long decline" The Northern Highlands became a military restricted area and the spa was given over to tending injured military and once the USA entered the War Strathpeffer the Strathpeffer Hotel was requisitioned by the United States Navy and trains from Southampton were run through to Strathpeffer. In 1924 Dr Wilfrid Edgecombe in his Presidential Address to the Royal Society of Medicine queried the efficacy of spa treatment. The railway survived during the 1930s but WW2 killed it due to the military restricted area. Motive power is considered and included a Sentinel steam railcar (illustrated elsewhere); the HR Yankee 4-4-0Ts, a LNWR Coal Tank and a Strioudley Brighton D1 0-4-2T No. 2358. Also considers other locomotives named Strathpeffer. Various proposals have suggested restoring rail access, but require mega-baubees). Illustrations: Strathpeffer station (coloured postcard c1900); LMS 0-4-4T No. 15051 (former HR No. 25 Strathpeffer) at Dingwall; No. 16118 at Dingwall; in July 1926; Yankee 4-4-0T in magnifiscent Strathpeffer station on mixed train; outhern Brighton D1 0-4-2T No. 2358 at Dingwall in July 1941;; CR 294 class 0-6-0 No. 17260 arriving at Strathpeffer in on daily freight June 1947. See also letter from John Roake on Strathpeffer Spa Express during WW1

James Graham. All in the County of Surrey. 104-8.
Croydon was the location for the Surrey Iron Railway of 1801. The Wandle Valley was industrialised with water mills providing the power. An initial proposal in 1791 by William Jessop to build a canal was firmly thwarted by the mill-owners and in 1801 an Act of Parliament was obtained for a railway.. The line was laid on stone blocks and had a gauge of 4ft 2in (not established until 1967 when  a group of archaeologists found a section of the original track). The rails were in the form of "L" shaped plates designed to accommodate flangeless wagon or waggon wheels drawn by horses: steam was not considered. The railway ceased to operate with another Act of Parliament obtained in 1846. The Croydon Canal had opened in 1811. Illustrations: facsimile of the Act of Parliament—George III—21 May 1801; original plan; share certificate; poster dated 1804; Ampere Way tram stop on alignment of ancient railway; facsimile of the Act of Parliament—Victoria—3 August 1846 closing the railway; electric tram near Ampere Way. See also correspondence from Anthony Dawson and Ian Smith (both of whom note the Lake Lock Rail Road as being earlier) and from Eric Shaw on the Wandle Industrial Museum..

A Premier Line pair. David P. Williams. 109 .
Computer generated colour images based on photographs: LNWR locomotives in LMS liveries: Prince of Wales No. 25673 Lusitania in lined black at Bletchley in 1938; large boiler Claughton No. 5946 Duke of Connaught in crimson livery at Crewe in April 1934.

Paul Joyce. A close escape. 110-15.
Recollections of Bob Judge, a former locomotive inspector of an accident on 29 January 1975 on the approach to Oxford station when a train hauled by No. 1023 Western Fusilier derailed due to broken axle on the leading bogie. The train fitted with Buckeye couplers remained upright and was only partly derailed.Driver F.G. Harris was in charge and had two further drivers (learning the road) with him, one  of whom was in the rear cab. Illustrations: No. D1001 Western Pathfinder awaiting departure from Paddington; track plan of derailment; No. D1028 Western Hussar departing Swindon on up service in August 1959; No. D1005 Western Venturer near Westbury on mineral wagons from Merehead Quarry; diagram of axle; crane alongside Western Fusilier; bogie showing how gearbox protruded above; three diesel hydraulics on 08.30 Plymouth to Paddington at Exeter in September 1968 (Class 43 D860 Victorious; class 42 D823 Hermes and D819 Goliath); No. 1023 Western Fusilier at Hereford on enthusiat special on 2 October 1978. See also page 254 letters from L.A. Summers (who invents another title for article) and from Malcolm Hicks who questions date of last photograph: i.e. the Western Fusilier at Hereford 

Last Call for Hayling Island. David Idle. 116-17
Colour photo-feature: Stroudley A1X Terrier 0-6-0T Nos. 32650, 32670 and 323636 on Hayling Island branch in first week of November 1963 just prior to closure: at Havant; approaching swing span (photographed from Hayling Farewell special; at Havant; on causeway and on Hayling Island.

Jeffrey Wells. Railway involvement in the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition —1857/8. 118-21
Manchester achieved City status in 1853 and to mark this it held the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition which was an exhibited a huge collection of art works (still possibly the largest ever) which included a work by Michelangelo painting of the Virgin and Child which has become to be known as the Mancester Madonna — Wikipedia). The Exhibition was opened by Prince Albert on 9 May 1857 and Queen Victoria made a private visit in June. The Exhibition was located at Old Trafford and the site later became that of the Manchester Botanical Gardens which subsequently moved elsewhere. The usual contemporary press reports describe some of the special trains put on to convey visitors to the exhibition:  including The Bradford Observer, Manchester Courier, Liverpool Mercury and Leeds Mercury. Illustrations (none contemporary): LNWR Old Trafford station c1890; renewed Precedent 2-4-0 as LMS No. 5005 Peel at Manchester London Road c1929 (MSJA platforms) See also letter from Eddie Johnson See also letter from Eddie Johnson ; Oxford Road station with MSJA electric multiple unit; staff at Cheadle Hulme station c1920; MR Saltaire station c1920?.

Geoffrey Skelsey. Not the Big Four' — tickets from some Independent Railways .122-3
Not quite entirely Edmondson prre-printed tickets because there is a cinema-type Automaticket ticket from the Glasgow Subway Copland Road costing  pre-decimel four pennies. The other illustrations (all colour) show the interior of Oakworth booking office on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway with an Edmondon storge case and dating press and NCR 21 register; Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway return from Belcoo to Enniskillen; Manx Northern Railway Kirk Michael to Peel Road first class single purchased from Kirkmichael ticket office in Seprtember 1960 (Peel Road had closed in 1951); Corporation of Birkenhead Liverpool (Landing Stage) to Birkenhead (Woodside) (By Woodside Ferry) Railway passengers ferry ticket; Liverpool Overhead Railway monthly return from Southport (LMS) to James Street; Derwent Valley Light Railway second class market return York Layerthorpe (abbreviated to L'thorpe) to Skipwith; Welsh Highland Railway Beddgelert to Ynysfor return ticket acquired in 1959; Easingwold Railway second class return Easingwold to Alne; Harton Coal Co. lTd. South Shields, Marsden and Whitburn Colliery Railway child first class return Shields to Marsden; Festiniog Railway through workmens ticket return Talsaurnau to Tanygrisiau and Automaticket ticket from the Glasgow Subway (unless specified otherwise all are third class). Stephen Abbott has the audacity to attempt to measure the dimensions of pre-Metric tickets in inches: they were probably in units used to measure stationery

Great Eastern signal boxes. (Signalling spotlight:). Richard Foster. 124
Colour photo-feature: Chippenham Junction (near Newmarket) see also letter from Geoffrey Skelsey: Norwich Trowse Swing Bridge with two class 31 hauling an express in 1984; South Tottenham (Station Junction) on 28 December 2006.,

Tony Robinson. Derby Staff Training College. 125
Designed by William H. Hamlyn in 1928. Illustrations: facade; group photograph taken in March 1955 {probably from motive power depots e.g. Ferryhill, Tysley and New England). See also letter from John Glover on p. 189. and from John Pearse on page 573.

Readers' Forum. 126

Reviving the Vale of Rheidol Railway. Tim Edmonds 
In the article on his initiatives to promote the Vale of Rheidol Railway (December issue), Edward Gibbins is critical of the Vale of Rheidol Railway Supporters' Association (VORRsA). As a former member of VORRsA I would like to make a couple of observations on his comments. In spite of his work from 1970 to 1977 as Divisional Operating Officer and Divisional Operating Superintendent at Stoke-on- Trent, Mr. Gibbins notes that he had not been aware of the existence of VORRsA before his first visit to Aberystwyth as Divisional Manager in 1982. However, VORRsA was set up under BR auspices in 1970 and was an initiative by Ron Owen, a predecessor of Mr. Gibbins as Divisional Manager at Stoke-on-Trent. Until at least 1977 it was run by Ron from the Stoke Divisional Office. In an advertisement launching VORRsA in the March 1970 edition of Railway Magazine, its stated object was "to promote and popularise this unique narrow gauge line". This belies Mr. Gibbins's statement that "Supporters' associations are invariably established to raise funds". Fund-raising initiatives came from the membership at a later date, including the contribution (of 50%, I think) to the repaint of No.9 in 1982 about which he is so scathing.

The failings of the Hadleigh branch. Andrew Kleissner  
The map accompanying your interesting article on the Hadleigh branch shows an east-to-north chord between the East Suffolk line and the Great Eastern main line. However, this is inaccurate for the period 1847-1965 as the line is of recent construction and opened in March 2014. It was built to obviate the need for freight trains travelling from Felixstowe to the Midlands to reverse in Ipswich Yard and is named the 'Bacon Factory Curve' because it crosses an area formerly occupied by the Harris Bacon Factory. On 11 November 2017 a steam charter from Norwich and headed by Flying Scotsman used the new line to reverse. Incidentally both Hadleigh and Reydon stations still exist and are linked by the attractive 'Hadleigh Railway Walk'.

Placating the Civils. Kevin Jones
What riches to end the year! Sadly Miles Macnair has slightly erred. His reference to 'George' Howe as the inventor of three-cylinder locomotives should be William Howe with George Stephenson and the patent number is 11086/1846. This is listed in Bennett Woodcroft's Alphabetical list. Woodcroft was a key early figure in locomotive preservation.

Economics, religion and politics. James Hargrave 
What Mr. Abbott should have written (p.660), is that the Great Northern Railway (I) paid no dividend on its ordinary or preference shares in respect of 1932-40, and for 1938 and 1939 could not pay a dividend on its (cumulative) guaranteed stock. The arrears were cleared during 1940 and 1941 and dividends resumed on all stocks for the year 1941. If the debenture interest had not been paid, then the company would have been pretty well at the end of its financial resources at that point, not in 1950. And of course the ill-conceived NIRTB was "very much a road-orientated body". What else could be expected of a Road Transport Board? It was one of those many bright ideas, supported by the right sort of people, that any fool knows would be a 'stuff-up'. The Irish Free State managed things better — a surprise, really, since its economic policies in the 1930s were generally retarded and retarding.

An Introduction to Great Western Locomotive Development. Alan Wild,
Re Les Summers's review of Jirn Champ's recent book An introduction to Great Western locomotive development in the November issue. which states that A.C. (Tony) Sterndale produced two volumes of Great Western Locomotive Diagrams. There were in fact six volumes, which were unusual in having plywood covers to better protect the contents. They contained copies of every known locomotive diagram drawn at Swindon together with a fair number created by Tony from information gleaned by him and, to a certain extent, by 'Dusty' Durrant also. Durrant asked Mrs. Sterndale to lend them to him for a short-term research project. Against my better judgement I agreed that a limited period loan could be arranged provided that it was clearly understood that the books were the property of Mrs. S.J. Sterndale and as soon as possible they should be returned to Britain. Their ultimate destination would be the Library of STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon. In correspondence Durrant agreed the terms and promised to amend his Will to ensure their safe return to Britain. Sadly 'Dusty' fell ill shortly after receiving the books and before his Will could be amended. After his untimely death his widow Christine also fell ill and during one of her periods in hospital the bungalow was broken in to and most of the 'white goods' and many books and photographs disappeared. If any of your readers can throw any light on the possible whereabouts of the Diagram Books I shall be pleased to hear from them. Chairman, The Friends of Swindon Railway Museum

The Dyserth branch. Tony Robinson
Small caption error crept in: Dyserth goods shed not Meliden shown on p750.

The Dyserth branch. Robert Bracegirdle 
Re Dyserth branch: witer last saw it on the 1969 DMU tour mentioned at the end of the article. Somewhere in the mass of my collection is the tour leaflet and I certainly have photographs of the DMU at the terminus (those were the days when they let us on and off a train at our own risk). There must be many other participants who have pictures there too. The tour was quite full!

Book Reviews 126

The acquired wagons of British Railways. Volume 1: Fleet composition & brake vans. David Larkin. Published by Crecy. 152pp. Reviewed by Peter Tatlow ****
Upon the creation of British Railways at the beginning of 1948, the entire stock of wagons at its disposal until new designs could be implemented, had been inherited either from the four grouping companies, indeed a small proportion had in turn been acquired from the pre-grouping railways in 1923; a further almost equal number had been requisitioned from private owners in 1939, or acquired from other bodies. This intended series of fully illustrated books by recognised wagon expert David Larkin sets out to specify a wide range of the fleet of wagons available to BR upon its formation.
Volume 1 begins by informing readers of the various origins of the fleet, which as well as the more obvious of BR and PO wagons, included the Ministry of (War) Transport. The system under which these were renumbered, the liveries subsequently applied, upgrading and conversions carried out are described. The bulk of the book then goes on to give details of the usage of goods brake vans and all the main types of van contributed to BR's stock, in this case entirely from the four main line companies. Numerous examples of brake vans, plus a selection of PO wagons, are illustrated by mono-chrome photographs usually taken in BR days. Captions are provided and extended where appropriate and detailed information is available.
For those interested in the immediate post-nationalisation period, particularly railway modellers, this book and its subsequent volumes will clearly prove a welcome addition to the literature and is accordingly recommended.

Southern style after Nationalisation. John Harvey, Historical Model Railway Society, Softback (stiff card covers) A4 format, 160pp plus colour swatch. Reviewed by DT *****
This remakable publication comes on the heels of two earlier similar volumes on the London & South Western Railway (which your reviewer had already purchased) and on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. It covers the era from nationalisation until the mid-1960s when the very successful British Rail corporate identity was adopted, and recalls a time when, although the rail network was supposedly unified in its identity, a great deal of 'Southern' individuality lived on.
Perhaps surprisingly, in retrospect, a small but dedicated group of contemporary observers kept meticulous notes during the period following nationalisation, covering not only the progressive switch-over from the old Southern Railway liveries to the new BR order, but also a number of experimental applications of liveries, including lining-out and totems.
The publishers' claim that this book is likely to be the definitive work on the subject seems very likely to go unchallenged. This is indeed a magnum opus and its publication is a tribute to all those who took notes at the time, as well as the author. Indeed, the book is so detailed that every change in livery for not only every type of vehicle but every actual vehicle seems to be set out. The application of the new BR colours might seem to the outside onlooker to be expected to be a relatively straightforward process, but this was very clearly not so, and this book explains why. Some of the book's information was recorded by 'insiders' within the SR's Works.
The colour rendition for the colour illustrations seems remarkably good, given the variability of the colour film of those times. The origins of the colours in the swatch folder are of great interest, being based upon fragments of paint and liquid samples obtained from workshops.
The amount of detail recorded is sometimes astonishing. For example, there is a paragraph on the activities of Ryde Works just for November 1948, detailing the lining layout applied to one solitary locomotive, No. W14 Fishbourne.
As well as locomotives and coaches, the publication covers passenger stock and lineside structures such as stations, signals and even fencing and gates. Freight stock, however, is not covered, as there apparently were no house colours for freight that were peculiar to the Southern Region.
The book includes 42 colour and 124 black and white illustrations, plus 30 line-drawings. The supplementary card folder incorporates thirteen paint swatches featuring the principal colours in use by the Southern Region during the BR steam era.
This is a truly fascinating book, invaluable to the Southern Region modeller but of a much wider appeal as it spells out just how difficult it was to create a standardised visual image on the then-new 8ritish Railways.

Bradford railways in colour Volume 2: The Lancashire & Yorkshire and Great Northern lines. Alan Whitaker and Jan Rapacz. Willowherb Publishing. A5 landscape, hardback, 128pp. Reviewed by Michael Blakemore. *****
The first volume, dealing with the Midland lines, was reviewed here last year. This survey begins at Bradford Exchange, a now vanished and replaced terminus, depicted extensively and atmospherically, with Jubilees, 2-6-4Ts, diesels, mail van and a wonderful Palethorpe's sausages van. Most remarkable, though, is the extent of locations of which the authors have managed to track down colour photographs; the Idle branch, Drighlington, Birkenshaw, Laisterdyke, Low Moor... I could go on but you get the idea. 'Little known' is a location description which can be applied widely! — and the book is the better for it. The photographs are used one to a page, giving the best possible detail, the captions are knowedgeably compiled and the printing by Amadeus is again to a high standard. There are lots of photographic books about, of variable production quality, but when they are done well they can be excellent. This is one of the latter: done well and excellent.

Working to the end: WD Austerity No. 90427 on freight passing Wakefield Kirkgate station in June 1967. rear cover
Not Kirkgate, but Westgate: see letter from David Carter

Southern Region 0415 class 4-4-2T No.30582 at Axminster station ready to work the Lyme Regis branch in 1953.

March 2019 (Number 335)

The very model of a model railway goods yard. Michael Blakemore. 131
Editorial see Bob Essery on model railway layout,

Jeremy Clarke. The trials and triumphs of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway. 132-40.
Makes extensive use of T.B. Sands The Midland & South Western Junction Railway. The Swindon, Marlborouugh & Andover Railway was first proposed in 1872 and eventually received Parliamentary approval on 21 July 1873, but construction was slow and hostility by the Great Western was severe as the railway was forced to use that company's Marlborough branch between there and Savernake and make do with a terminus in  Swindon Old Town. The relationship with the larger company was worsened by the Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway which not only provided accesss to the main line at Swindon, but also required running powers over the Great Western from Andoversford into Cheltenham to access the Midland Railway. The London & South Western Railway was approached for financial assistance, but this was declined, but did propose that Sam Fay should become its General Manager. One of Fay's initial actions was to secure the M&SWJR running powers into Southampton. Fay also with thes connivance of the Marquess of Ailesbury who owned Savernake Forest and was a major shareholder of the railway an independent route from Marlborough to south of Savernake thus avoiding Great Western interference. Loans from the Midland Railway enabled extra loops to be provided on the northern section. Surprisingly the M&SWJR became part of the GWR at the Grouping. Traffic was very heavy in both WW1 due the camps at Tidworth and Ludgershall. This was repeated in WW2 when Savernake Forest became a major storage area for munitions.. Illustrations: Cl;ass 4 4-6-0 No. 75029 at Swindon Town with two coaches from Cheltenham on 21 August 1960 (colour: R. Denison); U class 2-6-0 Nos. 31793 and 31795 with passenger trains passing at Marlborough Low Level (colour: P. Esgate); former MSJWR 4-4-0 No. 5 as rebuilt with GWR taper boiler and numbered 1123 at Cheltenham St. James with a train for Andover (Ian C. Allen); map; U class 2-6-0 No. 31639 arriving with 10.40 Southamton Terminus to Cheltenham and Q class No. 30549 with stovepipe chimney at Andover Junction on 21 August 1957 (L.R. Freeman); Chedworth station on 19 September 1959 (L.R. Freeman); MSJWR 2-4-0 No.12 as GWR No. 1336 at Cirencester Watermoor in May 1953 (colour); U class No. 31618 at Marlborough on 19 September 1959 (L.R. Freeman); 43XX 2-6-0 No. 5396 joins MSWJ at Rushey Platt Junction with10.30 for Andover on Sunday 18 September 1955 (R.C. Riley: colour); 16.03 from Marlborough at Savernake Low Level on 19 September 1959 (L.R. Freeman); Savernake Low Level  looking west with 17.33 to Marlborough on 19 September 1959 (L.R. Freeman); Ogbourne station looking towards Andover on 14 May 1955 (R.C. Riley); 43XX 2-6-0 No. 6343 shunts freight at Lugershall on 14 May 1955 (R.C. Riley); U class No. 31620 at Redpost Junction on 13.56 Cheltenham to Southampton on 14 May 1955 (R.C. Riley); Chiseldon station on 21 August 1957 (L.R. Freeman); Andoversford Junction showing divergence of MSWJ line on 19 September 1959 (L.R. Freeman). See long letter from Mike Barnsley on significance of military traffic to Salisbury Plain and stations at Ludgershall and Tidworth.

Mark Tittley. 'The Marples Report' — the nemesis of Britain's railways or their saviour? Part two. 141-5
Part 1.
The legacy of Marples concludes Tittley is that most major politically-led initiatives probably deliver no more than at very best 70%-80% of their planned objectives, because a politician's real working horizon is typically no more than to the next election — usually four or five years away at most — also personalities in high political office change very regularly and hence so do priorities. So were Macmillan and Marples successful in terms of removing mileage and hence the financial burden placed upon the country by the railways? The simple answer to the first question is 'Yes' and to the second one 'No'. Was the Macmillan/Marples-initiated programme of mass closure a total failure? I would love to say 'Yes', but looking at the question with a legitimate level of political pragmatism, I would have said it was necessary. The public wanted cars and good uncongested roads on which to run them; road hauliers also wanted a modern, fit-for-purpose, fast road system, whilst everyone (or almost everyone) wanted their local line retained. However, by 1959/60 no taxpayer wanted the railways to continue to accrue ever-increasing and seemingly uncontrolled massive annual debts.
Was the Beeching closure plan well co-ordinated and enacted? A 'mixed bag' would be my answer. Firstly, because the traffic loading data manually collected by observation to determine a line's future were too often hurriedly based upon only one week's-worth of traffic figures. The collected data were then processed by hand in the pre-computer age, so refined data modelling as we know and apply it today wasn't possible. No real consideration was given, until I think at least the early 1970s, to any social or economic hardship issues which a closure would cause. Nor in the 1960s were the medium to long-term local, regional or indeed national transport needs associated with proposed major route closures ever really considered. That said, however, the 1959 route mileage, with all its much-loved but mainly under-used branch lines, along with certain longer secondary lines, couldn't be sustained even in the short to medium term.
Therefore for me the Marples legacy, whether he intended it or not, is in no small part the modern railway network we have today — and, of course, our motorway system!
When Ernest Marples stood down as an MP at the General Election of February 1974, he was made a life peer. Due to shall we say — to use Harold Macmillan's phrase — 'little local difficulties' between Marples and Her Majesty's Inland Revenue regarding the former's personal tax issues, Marples apparently very hurriedly left the UK's shores in 1975 (by the Night Ferry|) to live in France and died in 1978. So was it really the 'Marples Report?'  Author's answer: "Of course it was!"
Ernest Marples was, I think it can be fairly said, certainly a 'bit of a lad'! He was a self-made lad, though, with significant interests in commerce and business which, in the case of his construction company interests, would by modern political standards have seen him very conflicted as a serving Minister of Transport: a flamboyant character who, whilst not to everyone's taste as we've seen in this article, by strength of personality got things done. This he did in buckets with both housing and transport. To many people Marples will always be the Nemesis of the Railways. I also very much doubt that Ernest Marples would have ever seen himself as the Saviour of the Railways; I know as enthusiasts we wouldn't! However, the hard and unpalatable fact remains that in 1959 something had to change with the railways and Marples was the man who made it happen.
However, he needed a senior level analytically driven manager to give him the basis to achieve his goal of pruning and remodelling the railways; Beeching was that man. Personality-wise I think both men were poles apart, but they seemingly worked as one when it came to the railways.
Finally the reader, is left to chew the cud as to which lines Marples and Beeching really got wrong! The Author's own list starts with the Great Central's London Extension, followed by the Peak line, followed by the Waverley Route and a minor route near Derby where he lives! One could add the lack of any reasonable rail service from Peterborough to Northampton and... which motorways should be closed. See also John Macnab's remarks on bending the statistics

Miles Macnair. Placating the Civils — a balancing act. Part Three: Some conclusions and thinking outside the box. 146-9
Previous part. Cambrian system, Werry system and Cox paper on balancing. Illustrations: Thompson rebuilt D49 No. 62763 The Morpeth, B1 No. 1000 Springbok in apple green livery; Class 5 No. 45020 (caption nottes Stanier's bolten on balance plates on coupled wheels; John Jones's patented Cambrian system locomotive Albion (drawing); Nord 2-8-2T with Cossart rotary  cam valve gear and Saumon balancing lever (Gresley was very interested in these tank engines and their Cossart valve gear); Webb South Australian Railways Class 600 4-6-2 (Locomotive Mag., 1925, 31.70); Werry variant of previous devised by Armstrong Whitworth in 1925 (see Locomotive Mag., 1936, 42, 208)

Jeffrey Wells. A perfect specimen: the rise of the Maryport and Carlisle Railway 1836-1890. 150-7
The Maryport & Carlisle Railway was surveyed by George Stephenson and aimed to serve the West Cumberland coalfield through which it ran with the aim of exporting its output through Maryport. It also aimed to link up with the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway to provide a route to Ireland. The Act for the railway was passed without opposition on 12 July 1837. Wells cites Jack Simmons' history The Maryport & Carlisle Railway as well as his usual notes on what both the local, and not so local, had to report. George Hudson leased the M&CR to the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway and the Maryport was stripped of its capital, but recovered and was able to enter Carlisle Citadel station for its passenger services. Illustrations: M&CR 2-4-0 with passenger train at Maryport; map; Aspatria station with building work in progress; Brayton station; 2-4-0 No. 13 at Carlisle Citadel with officials c1908; Brigham station; Dalston station; M&CR engine shed at Carlisle with 2-4-0 No. 8 and 0-4-2 No. 4 (both built at Maryport)

Glasgow St. Enoch Station. 158-9
Black & white photo-feature: Manson Class 8 4-4-0 No. 14176 in early LMS period on an Ardrossan express (with a connection for Arran steamer?); St. Enoch Hotel and Glasgow Subway station c1900; Whitelegg 4-6-4T No. 543 in main departure platform, Peter Drummond 4-4-0 in LMS crimson livery as No. 14521 in main departure platform with express headlamps; Hughes Horwich 2-6-0 No. 2834 with express headlamps and CR indicator showing Stranraer and dour train crew; rebuilt Scot No. 46107 Argyll and Sutherland Highlander and well stacked tender with corridor train and passengers in summer clothes heading off for the Coast? See also personal note  

Dorset delight [Axminster to Lyme Regis branch]. 160-3
Colour photo-feature: 0415 Adams 4-4-2T had been found to be uniquely suitable for working this sharply curved and weight limited branch: all photographs are by R.C. Riley unless specified otherwise: No. 30583 leaves engine shed at Lyme Regis on  14 July 1960; No. 30583 moves a van from goods sshed at Lyme Regis on same day as previous; No. 30582 leaving Axminster with train which included a LSWR non-corridor coach painted red on 22 June 1958 (Trevor Owen); No. 30584 with two Maunsell corridor coaches at Combpyne on 19 June 1962 (R. Patterson); No. 30584 with through coaches for Waterloo passing Combpyne in May 1960 (M.D. Marston); rebuilt Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35019 on down West of England express and No. 30584 on branch train leving Axminster on 11 July 1959; Nos. 30582 and 30583 om  through coaches for Waterloo on 10 September 1960; No. 30583 with single coach near  Combpyne 0n 24 July 1960; No. 30583  in bay platform at Axminster on 14 July 1960;  No. 30584 leaves Combpyne for Lyme Regis on  9 July 1959. See letter from David Preston.      

L.A. Summers. A revisionist view of Edward Thompson. Part One. 164-9.
KPJ had the good fortune to see P2 Cock o' the North in Dundee Tay Bridge station prior to its carve up and it still remains the yardstick for what a poweful locomotive should look like. Thus any positive assessment of Thompson is predoomed to failure. Illustrations: preserved A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman bringing style into Paddington on 9 May 1965 when working a train to Shrewsbury and Gobowen on 9 May 1965 (David Idle: colour); Edward Thompson (portrait); No. 4479 Robert the Devil climbs towards Finsbury Park with a heavy down express c1924; Sir Nigel Gresley (portrait); A2 Raven Pacific No. 2401 City of Kingston upon Hull in North Eastern Area; E.E. Lucy Class D57 4-8-2 for New South Wales Government Railways showing conjugation levers ahead of cylinders; No. 4470 Great Northern in original Thompson rebuilt misform without smoke deflectors; No. 60113 Great Northern leaking steam from front end leaving Retford with DMU seemingly very close on crossing (Derek Penney: colour); Sir Vincent Raven (portrait); B17 No. 2814 Castle Hedingham on Brentwood bank; preserved B12/3 still in mourning livery on North Norfolk Railway on climb to Weybourne. Continued p. 226

When roads and rails meet. Paul Aitken. 170-1
Colour photo-feature:road lorry crossing railway at Apsley Guise station with crossing keeper holding gates open on 4 September 1997; Class 37 No. 37 094 propelling transporter wagon loaded with cars for Northern Ireland at Stranraer statio on 7 August 1984; stretch limo on level crossing at Healing on Cleethorpes branch on 28 May 2006; Ely with level crossing and low bridge and Class 101 DMU in BR corporate blue & grey livery on 13 April 1990 (now there is a road by-pass for HGV south of Ely station); Achnasheen station with Royal Mail  Post Bus in September 1978; Class 66 No. 66 089 in EWS livery on level crossing at Lidlington station.  

Mike Fenton. Kemble Station — the branches and the railbus years. Part Two. 172-7
Part 1. Possibly due to its proximity to Swindon the Tetbury and Cirencester branches were selected for a trial rejuvenation with four-wheel railbuses built by A.C. Cars of Thames Ditton. Extra low cost halts were provided in the hope that they might generate traffic. Illustrations: publicity folder for railbus services; railbus at Tetbury in May 1962 (colour); railbus at Kemble having arrived from Cirencester with Castle-hauled express also arriving (John Parker); railbus at Kemble having arrived from Tetbury on 1 February 1964 (Roy Denison: colour); track plan of Kemble station; railbus at Kemble in Cirencester platform on 1 February 1964 (Roy Denison: colour); Cirencester Town with railbas in plafrorm (E.K. Lockstone: colour);

Jeffrey Wells. Timber structures of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. 178-9
Denby Dale timber viaduct built in 1847 and suffering from partial collapse during construction and subsequent damage by fire was replaced by a masonry viaduct in 1880 was susequently dismanted (photograph shows this last in progress); Wakefield Goole Junction signal box with frame outside the box to suypport pulleys to carry signal wires over the railway lines; Middleton Junction station (mainly timber structure); Newton Heath station timber footbridge; Lostock Hall station (mainly timber structures); timber signal post at Bolton Trinity Street; Orrell Park station — men at work on timber buildings.

Rick Ashton. The Ashton Valve Company .180-1.
Henry Ashton was born in Norfolk in 1846 and emigrated to Boston USA with his wife Emma and son, Albert. He joined the Hinkley Locomotive Company where he invented the lock-up pop safety valve,

Bob Essery. Railway goods stations — modelling the reality. 182-8.
Sorry, but the reality is Plasticard thick and the turds smell of glue. See Editor's coniving Editorial and appreciations from Chris Mills and Terry Walsh and sullen silence from KPJ.

Readers' Forum 189

Let's go to Blackpool. Editor
The LYR 'High Flyer' heading the 'Blackpool Club Train' on p93 a 4-4-2, not as stated!

Overcrowding. Stephen G. Abbott
Overcrowding of regional services stems in part from Government insistence in the late 1980s that Pacer and Sprinter trains replace the existing diesel multiple unit fleet on the basis of two new for every three old vehicles. Seating was maximised by the elimination of remaining first class provision, and replacing guard/brake compartments with 'flexible space'. These trains were thought — wrongly, as it turned out —to be serving a declining market. This view culminated in the last built Class 158 cars immediately being converted in 1992-93 into Class 159 for the Waterloo-Exeter line to replace loco-hauled stock. To make up the regional fleet 35 two-car Class 155 trains, then only four years old, were converted into 70 single car Class 153 units.
Incidentally, people pushers in Japan have been used to cram passengers into Tokyo metro and subway trains, not the Shinkansen (New Trunk Line) 'bullet' trains.

Overcrowding. Chris Mills.
Attempts to introduce staggered business hours in London: this was a high publicity campaign; certainly as a schoolboy  writer was well aware of it and over a couple of years it did seem to have a noticeable effect. Waterloo services suffered less than most, as that station had a secondary exit from the platforms to the underground, situated about halfway along the platforms. Thus the passengers tended to be spread more evenly through the trains, rather than concentrated at the front. The London smogs were not mentioned: on the Waterloo lines their effect was for the semi-fast suburban services to be cancelled on those days, leaving services in the hands of the all-stations trains. Thus the remaining trains became grossly overcrowded. As a schoolboy travelling up to Wimbledon he, and others, developed a technique for train entrance — wait until the guard blew his whistle, whip open a compartment door, dodge the passengers caught unawares who fell out, leap in and shut the door as the train pulled away. Eventually the practice was terminated by the guards deciding that schoolboys could travel in the guards van — a haven of comfort compared with the packed compartments.

Looking west  Michael J. Smith
The caption to the upper photograph on p35 is misleading. The Hammersmith & City line on the right is not "emerging from its underground course". What we see here is the Westbourne Park end of the underpass taking the H&C beneath the main line formation, replacing a much earlier flat junction. Having taken the underpass, westbound H&C trains serve Royal Oak and Paddington (Suburban) stations, both on the surface. Only then do they enter the predominantly tunnel section through to the City which could be described as their "underground course" Should be looking EAST.

The Marples Report. James Hargrave
Harold Macmillan was twice a Great Western director and it is not an appointment that rebounds to the GWR's credit (a bit like Beatrice Webb's father [GWR chairman], about whom Sir Daniel Gooch expressed himself in terms that would fit Marples). A sometime junior minister at Transport, Cuthbert Headlam, a vivid and pithy diarist, represented a north eastern seat for the Conservatives when Macmillan was MP for Stockton: shared long railway journeys north left him with an impression of Macmillan as a bore and a bit of a crank. Lennox-Boyd, Minister of Transport in the early 1950s and later one of Macmillan's cabinet, referred to him as the 'old actor manager' (a ham). But better still is the view from Sir Roy Welensky, ex-engine driver, former Minister of Transport in Central Africa, later Prime Minister, who had many dealings with Macmillan and who bore few grudges. He said to me, 30 years on: "I hope he burns twice in hell".

Anglo-Scottish West Coast route services. Chris Mills
Re Anglo-Scottish services in 1966, mention is made of the well patronised feeder service into the Stranraer boat train, which left Newcastle at 00.30. During the period up to the end of steam a significant proportion of the passengers on a Friday night consisted of railway enthusiasts. Having spent the latter part of the evening in the refreshment room on Newcastle's Platforms 9 and 10 the contingent then decamped to the 00.30, which made a suitable connection at Carlisle into a southbound train stopping at Penrith and Carnforth. As I recall that train conveyed a couple of sleeping cars at the rear. There was adequate time at Carlisle for an early breakfast in the staff canteen before heading south for a day's photography on either the main line or the southern lakes.

Anglo-Scottish West Coast route services. Stephen G. Abbott
Re Anglo-Scottish services in 1966, this brought back happy memories of summer evenings watching trains at Rugby and waiting to see the Stranraer sleeper. This train was not routed via Kilmarnock until May 1975. From closure of the Port Road in June 1965 it took the branch off the Glasgow & South Western main line at Mauchline via Annbank to Ayr, a journey fourteen miles shorter.

Great Eastern signal boxes. Geoffrey Skelsey
Re GE signal box feature: in relation to Chippenham Junction the caption isn't quite correct, though the full story is too complicated to set down here. Briefly, the line through Newmarket Tunnel was always single, with token working between Newmarket Yard Junction and Warren Hill Junction, ie the boxes at either end. This was later extended to the complete section between Newmarket Station box and Chippenham Junction: token less block came later.

Beamish before the museum . Chris Mills
"Coal is just coal, isn't it?" In his article on Beamish traffic, David Milburn comments that "Substantial movements of coal went in either direction ... ". Without a short further explanation this may leave some readers confused. Coal isn't just coal; there are many variations in the chemical composition. Some are suitable for coking, some for raising steam, some for chemical production. The Durham and Northumberland coalfields contained distinct areas where the seams were suitable for one purpose or another. Thus the coalfield was unusual in the traffic flows of loaded coal could be seen passing in opposite directions in many places. In theory, there would be some occasions when wagons could take a load in one direction and bring back a different coal type. However, because of the different permitted loads on the hilly routes trains tended to remain in a semi-block formation. There was no point in loading 30 wagons which had previously worked a Tyneside delivery up to Consett, since the train would have to be split at South Pelaw into nine wagon units for climbing the bank, leaving three orphans. Sorting this lot out, especially in the snowy months, was a highly skilled job for the Mineral Controllers — it made modern computer games look simple!

Manchester Piccadilly and the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition. Eddie Johnson 
In photo feature on Manchester Piccadilly it is stated that electrification first came to the station in 1954 with the Woodhead 1,500V dc scheme. This is incorrect: London Road (as it was then) first saw electric traction in May 1931 when the MSJ&A (Altrincham to Manchester) scheme went live.
In the article on the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, the caption describes ex-LNWR No..5005 Peel standing in the MSJ&A platform as having brought in a train from Altrincham. This is unlikely: almost all MSJ&A trains were hauled, years about, by either ex-LNWR or ex-GCR tank engines. Peel is more likely to have brought in a stopping train from either Liverpool Lime Street or Warrington Bank Quay Low Level. An incredibly slow service, in 1912 the Liverpool trains, travelling by the Lymm line, took just over two hours for the 37- mile journey, a trip involving 22 or more stops! As matter of interest this splendid picture was taken by P.F. Cooke, the Huddersfield photographer who captured many superb shots in London Road's precincts.

Derby Staff Training College. John Glover 
Tony Robertson's brief article on the Derby Staff Training College omits to mention its role for BR's Traffic Management Trainees. Here, for a week at a time, groups of around twenty were instructed in the intricacies of the Rule Book and how the railway worked. These were busy days; after dinner, they continued in the classrooms until 21.00. There was no slipping out to the pub, as there were none in the area. The Principal was Leslie James, whose monumental work The Law of the Railway stood the writer in good stead for many years.
The afternoon sessions finished by 13.30, so that all students could make a dash to the lounge and watch Magic Roundabout on the novelty (in 1970) of a colour television! Derby is central to the railway system and the weekly sessions ran from Monday lunchtime to Friday lunchtime. That gave attendees time to travel from the far-flung outposts of Plymouth or Glasgow. For some, it provided opportunity. The writer, based in Leeds, had time to travel by train from Derby to New Holland Pier (three alternative routes), thence by the Humber ferry to Hull Corporation Pier, and home via Selby and its swing bridge.  See also letter from W. Tayllor,

Reviving the Vale of Rheidol. Chris Magner
In the late 1960s and through the 1970s the Wirral Railway Circle did a great deal of business with the Stoke Division. During a visit by members to the Vale of Rheidol on 20 September 1969, the train crew of locomotive No.9 Prince of Wales let the WRC members know in no uncertain terms that so called 'enthusiasts' did not care for them, the guards and other railway staff and their livelihoods and were not doing anything to prevent the closure of the line and its sale to private enterprise with the consequent loss of their jobs. On hearing of the men's concerns for their jobs in an area of high unemployment, the WRC members felt a strong desire to do something to show their concern for the railway staff and more importantly prevent their redundancy. So it was decided to write to Ron Owen, Public Relations Officer at BR Stoke Division, suggesting that a Supporters' Group' be set up to help promote the Vale of Rheidol line to keep it in BR ownership and prevent the Aberystwyth staff from losing their jobs.
On 16 January 1970 Ron Owen replied to the WRC as follows: "It has been decided by this Division to promote a Supporters' Association, the original idea for which arose in correspondence with you. Press advertisements are to be placed in the March and April railway press. Membership will be ten shillings for the first year and we shall probably offer a brochure on the historical side, a reduced rate voucher for travel on the line, a special badge for the Association finished in red and gold, news bulletins and reasonable access to both the rolling stock and engines at Aberystwyth, by arrangement. Members will receive a discount on Vale of Rheidol mementos and souvenirs. If we only get 500 members we should cover our expenses for the exercise. The value we are giving, however, should ensure this number will be greatly exceeded." An ad-hoc committee was formed including Ron Owen, Divisional PRO, the BR Area Manager, Norman Greenwood, BR Staff representative and the author. Commenting on the formation of VORRSA, Norman Greenwood said "It was unique for a voluntary organisation to endeavour to create a strong relationship with a nationalised concern. It would not have come about but for some useful spadework by certain founder members. VORRSA successfully allayed the fears of BR staff who worked on the VoR that there was a link with any individual or company awaiting the opportunity to bid for the purchase of the line should it be put on the market. Rumours of this were so rife on the 1960s."
One of VORRSA's main achievements in its early days was persuading BR to introduce black and white lining on the Rheidol locomotives and rolling stock. Without doubt this enhanced their appearance and eventually led to the restoration of their former liveries in the 1980s. Members distributed VoR and BR publicity material and tourist literature on special trains and stewarded summer Saturday trains from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth. A spokesperson for BR Stoke Division said "Another feature which helped the general publicity on the line was the formation of VORRSA in the early months of the year, and from a rather modest beginning, the Association now boasts 600 members." It had been a good start for VORRSA. It is interesting to reflect that from the time of VORRSA's formation in 1970, there was a huge increase in passengers using the Rheidol line. Numbers went up from 95,0000 passenger journeys to 179,000 in five years. The Association also organised several splendid tours, the best known being The Wild Wales' circular tour of 1981 in memory of travel writer George Borrow. For a fare of £9, including travel from selected BR stations, participants travelled from Shrewsbury (connections from all parts) to Aberystwyth, then on the VoR to Devil's Bridge, road coach to Llandrindod Wells and then by Heart of Wales Line train to Shrewsbury. The tour was repeated several times and then taken up by BR in its 'Merrymaker' programme.

Book Reviews 190

The Avonmouth Line: history and working. P.D.Rendall. Crowood Press. 240pp. Reviewed by MF ***
This history of the Avonmouth line focuses on the history of three different routes to Bristol's port at Avonmouth, via Pilning, Henbury and the surviving passenger route via Clifton.The author makes it plain that this volume deals with the history and working of the lines from the grouping of 1923 to the present. Readers expecting many archive photographs will be disappointed with this aspect of the book, as in fact there are very few illustrations that pre-date WW2. A 1980s atmosphere pervades throughout with a large colour content, but with a pronounced lack of pictures contemporary with the earlier chapters —.there is an awkward sense of chronology present — readers used to a Wild Swan or Lightmoor approach will find it strange to be reading a chapter about the beginnings of the local railways with the only photographs present being 1960s colour views. A chapter on WW1 is accompanied by just one 1948 photograph. A fantastic staff group photograph of 1904 at Avonmouth Docks with the largest GWR nameboard you've ever seen has its impact somewhat diluted by a 1960s view on the same page.
The book's main strength is the author's ability to draw upon his own work experiences as engineer and signalman, hence the chapters on staff, signal boxes (nearly 50 pages), goods yards and sidings, goods traffic and level crossings are well-written with a lot of detail relating to old work colleagues, all benefiting from his considerable local knowledge. He was a Mechanical Engineering apprentice at Swindon Works at the age of sixteen and as signalman became supervisor of the Bristol Panel Signal Box, and this background is put to good use in an authoritative text with excellent back-up from signalling diagrams and railway paperwork. A full index is included — something many great railway tomes often forget.
Reviewer found this volume helpful in giving a better awareness of the railway configuration in the Bristol area, but a major omission is the non-inclusion of a route map anywhere in the book, which he solved by keeping OS map 172 handy. Chapters 16 and 17 deal with the years between Beeching and the present day, detailing the attempts to close the line between Temple Meads and Severn Beach and the more recent work to promote and develop it. With this in mind, anyone wanting to explore the lines between the northern suburbs and the docks in the Bristol area would find Rendall's book a handy companion. Enthusiasts for the diesel era will feel well-served by the modern .

Blood on the tracks; edited by Martin Edwards. British Library. Reviewed by NM "
This attractive-looking paperback is subtitled Railway Mysteries and this sums up what the book's author and publisher are trying to do. This is a collection of fifteen short stories, or excerpts from novels, intended 'to celebrate the classic railway mystery'. Train travel, according to the editor can create an atmosphere of enclosed, tension, bringing together suspects and detective in a situation with ever-changing scenery as background, or even better, when immovably stuck in an isolated location. A sleeping berth compartment can even provide the locus for a classic 'locked room' scenario. That's the theory, but it must be said that if Blood on the Tracks represents the best of the genre, the revirewer would not like to read the worst. The two most modern stories in this book — from no more recently than the 1950s — contain little of railway interest, little of any interest at all in fact. The first story in this collection, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is so long-winded and devoid of tension that to the second one (which isn't much better). All this is surprising. Martin Edwards is the leading expert on the history of detective writing, and his The Golden Age of Murder (Collins, 2016) is a definitive work for readers interested in 'whodunits'. Railway mysteries are well within his ambit and not surprisingly his introduction to Blood on the Tracks is an important part of this book, indeed probably the best part. Mr. Edwards points out that railways have attracted the attention of some of the most famous authors — from Dickens to Agatha Christie — although their works are not reproduced here. Somehow, the classic railway stories, if there be any, have not found their way into this anthology. This reviewer is a little taken aback to find that the publisher is a library, the British Library in fact. This is the second selection of themed short stories published by the BL and read by this reviewer and neither exactly 'hits the spot'. But reviewing a book is not just about the author's work and it seems unethical somehow to criticise a library. An author can always answer back, defending an unfair or undeserved critical review, but... a library? But this celebration of railway mysteries is an idea over-stretched somewhat. If you want to read about railways, there are plenty of non-fiction volumes available. To read a crime mystery set in or around railways is no way to unearth interesting railway facts, or even enjoy the atmosphere evoked by rail transport. You might as well watch Coronation Street to brush up on Mancunian history and topography. To summarise, this British Library book is all about railway fiction for people not interested in railways!

An illustrated history of the Port of Hull and its railways. Mike G Fell. Irwell Press. 168pp. softback.
The front-cover illustrations of this book are misleading. They show the seal of the pioneer Hull & Selby Railway, the elaborate programme for the Hull & Barnsley's sod-cutting ceremony and, as the main picture, a WD 2-8-0 on a a local trip working. Admittedly this last is not especially inspiring, but collectively they suggest that here is a reasonably comprehensive new study of a group of railways that have received scant attention in recent years.
Such a work is certainly needed as past books have had their defects. Back in 1879 there was G.G. MacTurk's History of the Hull Railways, perhaps now best remembered for its nine-line chapter on the Hull & Hornsea stating in print that finding the time to write it had proved impossible! A century later there was the two-volume history of the Hull & Barnsley, which had all the problems of being written by a panel rather than a single author. It may have been an ominous sign that the panel had thirteen members.
So there are high hopes with the new work but some readers may find that the content does not meet expectations raised by its cover. The order of words in the title is crucial as this is primarily an illustrated history of port of Hull. Its railways take second rather equal place.
With this caveat, it is a worthwhile and most informative book — and especially so for students of maritime history. It could scarcely have a better-qualified author as Mike Fell was in charge of the Port of Hull for sixteen years from 1987 to 2003. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Just as many railway historians concentrate on their core subject before adding background about such items as steamer services, so it is here the other way round. There is a workmanlike account of how railways came to Hull, but later chapters on the Hull & Barnsley and North Eastern very much concentrate on their role in creating the docks. There is little on such themes as railway operation, locomotives or buildings. Similarly the final chapters covering the period since nationalisation make only the briefest reference to railways in the form of a few paragraphs on closures and traffic.
Yet those of railway persuasion willing to broaden the mind will find much of interest — and especially with the well-reproduced photographs. The overwhelming majority are of the port, but among them are views of the once infamous level crossings that became such a source of frustration for road users. Social historians will pore over one pre-1945 scene that shows a waiting stream of buses, a lorry full of milk churns and distant tramcars together with scores of women — all wearing headscarves and no doubt impatient to pedal across on their bikes.
There are also photographs of the outstanding signal gantries at Hull Paragon in their prime and some illustrations combine both port and railway interest. A prime example shows laden wagons discharging coal through end doors on to conveyor belts and into a ship at Victoria Dock. There is a splendidly detailed two-page map showing the railways and docks in LNER days.
Royalties from sales are being donated to a new charitable trust established by Hull City Council to create awareness of the city's rich nautical history and conserve the port's maritime heritage. The star rating has railway historians in mind but for those with a broader interest this is certainly a five-star publication.

The 'Princess Royal' Pacifics. Tim Hillier-Graves. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, hardback, 222 pp. Reviewed by Philip Atkins
Not for want of trying, to keep up with its more impecunious rival, the LNER, the LMS at last built its first Pacifics in 1933. As the very apex of the considerable LMS locomotive pile the Stanier 4-6-2s in general have already received considerable coverage and there are only a finite number of photographs of them in service. What more can be said and shown? Here the author has concentrated more on the human than the detailed technical side, ie on the sometimes conflicting personalities involved, with more new light thrown on Stanier the man, together with many excellent and previously unpublished illustrations that the author has happily inherited from a close relative. There is quite a bit about Stanier when he was still with the GWR at Swindon; who would have guessed that he once had fire hoses turned on strikers in 1926? There is also a photograph of him looking on distinctly underwhelmed while his wife was presenting prizes shortly before his departure for the LMS in 1932. Once there he wasted no time in initiating a 4-6-2, in both three- and four-cylinder form, whose initial diagrams were drafted in April by E.S. Cox at Euston, both showing a total (estimated) engine weight of 104½ tons, with an axle load of 22½, tons. The author explains that during construction there were concerns that the estimated weight might be exceeded, but not that the true weight of the 'Princesses', as they became known, was ever officially acknowledged. The actual weights of No.6200 as built are contained in one of the notebooks, now at York of Eric Langridge, recording total weight as 111 tons and maximum axleload 24 tons! Shortly before his death in 1986 Ken Cameron explained to the reviewer that back in 1933 he had had charge of erecting No..6201 at Crewe with instructions to cut back on its weight, mainly by time-honoured method of making apertures in the main frames. He'd had the temerity to complain to Stanier, during the course of a Sunday morning visit to Crewe, that this was proving difficult, only to draw the blunt response from the great man 'that's what your'e b- paid for'! This also explains why, uncharacteristically for Crewe, the second LMS 4-6-2 emerged five months after the first. Ever since 1932 the intended weights for these engines have always been quoted.
The book contains some very fine illustrations of the 'Princesses' at work, but rather surprisingly on p196 is a photograph of No.6201 said to represent how the first two had appeared in 1933, except that it shows the enigmatic double stovepipe chimney which is mentioned only briefly earlier in the text, and for which the only tangible evidence is three official photographs dated October 1934. There are no known photographs of the engine in traffic while so fitted and strangely the experiment was not inscribed on No.6201's record card.
Ten production 4-6-2s plus the 'Turbomotive', which is again dealt with both here and by the author in a previous book devoted entirely to it, followed in 1935. Their primacy was short lived, however, following the emergence of the streamlined 'Coronations' in May 1937, a great deal happened during only four years! By the early 1950s the 'Princesses' were suffering from similar problems with their front end frames as their GWR forbears the 'Kings', which also had a very similar outside cylinder arrangement, on what was now the Western Region. A little more comparison of these two classes would have been of some interest, together with more allocation details for the 'Princesses'. The book is produced to a very high standard and is well recommended.

Chesterfield to Lincoln including the Mansfield Railway. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press, hardback, 96 pp. Reviewed by DWM ***
Delivered in the usual style and to the customary high production values this book is a further addition to the 'Country Railway Routes' series of the Middleton Press. Interest in the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway seems to have revived of late with a two volume pictorial history appearing in the last year, so this book appears as a timely addition. The book is laid out as a journey from Chesterfield eastwards to Lincoln with reference to the Mansfield Railway which was built to give the Great Central, after its acquisition of the LD&EC, access to the coalfields east of Mansfield and to provide the area with direct passenger services to Nottingham and beyond. Devotees of the publications of the Middleton Press will need no reminding of the format of this book. A catholic selection of pictures, ancient and modern, is supported by informative and detailed captions and the extensive use of the Ordnance Survey map extracts is very impressive. Your reviewer felt that a slightly more organised and detailed introduction would have enhanced the whole offering but if your interests are stirred by the thought of a virtual journey to the far east through Arkwright Town, Tuxford Central and Pyewipe Junction then this is may well be the book for you.

The next train from Halifax. Geoge Watson. rear cover
Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42109 on 15.50 to Stockport via Huddersfield on 11 October 1961.

LNER A4 Pacific No.60009 Union of South Africa at Perth with the 17.30 Glasgow Buchanan Street to Aberdeen express in May 1964. Derek Penney

April (2019 Number 336)

Up the cliff and round the boating lake. Michael Blakemore. 195.
Editorial: family holiday in Aberystwyth; "new" trams in Manchester; Scarborough miniature railway and picture of young Michael in posh blazer at Southport. John Macnab ventured to question why Michael failed to mention Kerr's Miniature Railway in bracing Arbroath and from Philip Shelton whose father had to adjudicate as to whether the Lynton to Lynmouth Railway was a railway or a lift as one was liable to pay or not pay VAT!

Stephen Roberts. Shropshire's railways. 196-204. 
A singularly poorly served County for train services: no through trains for London; no electric traction and the absence of modern public transport to Newport and Market Drayton and no refreshment services on trains. In 1965 there were through dining car trains from Paddington to Shrewsbury and the Cathedral city is still capable of drawing people into its busy commercial centre. Ironbridge is the classic example of railway preservation failing to serve a world heritage site. Oswestry, a former miniature Crewe and location for government offices remains neglected. Some of the former railways have been converted into cycle tracks and the gradients on them are quite challenging. Illustrations: Jubilee No. 45651 Shovell at Shrewsbury station (colour); map; 7F G2X 0-8-0 No. 48895 at Craven Arms & Stokesay on 16 August 1962 (colour);  Shrewsbury station c1965 (note Class 47 and Cross Country DMU for Swansea?; Ironbridge & Broseley station c1950s?; No. 5910 Park Hall passing Gobowen station on fitted freight on 12 April 1960 (Ben Brooksbank); No. 7815 Fritwell Manor in Oswestry station with ordinary passenger train on 12 April 1960 (Ben Brooksbank); Trench Crossing Halt between Wellington and Newport (postcard posted 26 August 1927); No. 7814 Fringford Manor in Swindon fully lined green on down Cambrian Coast Express at least partly formed of chocolate & cream stock at Shrewsbury station (M. Chapman: colour): caption had implied an arrival, but in reality impending departure on final leg: see letter from David Jenkins; BR single unit railcar at Much Wenlock on 28 April 1962 (Alan Tyson); Fowler 2-6-4T No. 42385 at Knighton on 07.45 Swansea Victoria to Shrewsbury service on 15 September 1949 (T.J. Edgington); Churchward 2-8-0 No. 2856 on down freight passing Madeley Junction in August 1962 (Michael Mensing: colour); Class 5 No. 45422 at Craven Arms with15.00 Shrewsbury to Swansea Victoria service on 18 April 1960; "angular" GWR railcar at Cleobury Mortimer station in 1961; LNWR 0-6-2T No. 58904 with two coaches (one very antique) at Coalport sttaion on 15 July 1950  (T.J. Edgington) see letter from Stephen Berry concerning incorrect  caption and from Stephen Abbott; 57XX No. 9636 at Market Drayton station on 28 April 1962 (Alan Tyson). Several letters noting errors/subsequent changes: Chris Magner notes that Henry Robertson was engineer of Cefn and Chirk viaducts; the closure of Craven Arms sub-shed and more questionably the haulage of the Royal Train to Llandridnod behind two Castles and from Stephen Abbott on Virgin service from Shrewsbury to London 

Peter Tatlow. Crane laying of prefabricated track. Part two. Relaying by plain line in panels by crane. 205-8.
Part 1 see page 70. Developed in the North Eastern Area of the LNER using 15-ton capacity steam cranes, and pre-assembly depots. The LMS performed a trial on one of its routes to Peterborough with panels assembled at Derby in 1938, but the impending War caused a break until 1946 when a 6¼ mile stretch between Leicester and Trent was relaid in this way. Illustrations:Southern Railway 10-ton Taylor & Hubbard steam crane of 1945 handling a bundle of timber sleepers; LNER 10-ton Grafton steam crane No. DE330222 built in 1940 handling flat bottom rail (K. Lane); part of LMS Crane Renewal of Track Standard Assembly Diagram; track relaying on LMS  at Berkhamsted on 30 May 1948 (H.C. Casserley); 10-ton Taylor & Hubbard steam crane unloading track panel from GWR 40-ton Gane A bogie bolster wagon (R.K. Blencowe); two 8F 2-8-0 on long train of concrete sleepered track panels at Blea Moor on 19 August 1967 en route from Castleton to Gretna for installing CWR on WCML (M.S. Welch); two Taylor & Hubbard 8½ ton diesel electric cranes on relaying work on West Coast Main Line at Madeley in 1959 (M.S. Welch: colour); Taylor & Hubbard 8½ ton diesel electric crane lifting out 60ft track panel near an overbridge (M.S. Welch). Part 3 see p. 332   .

Mike G. Fell. Aberystwyth Cliff Railway. 209-13.
George Croydon Marks was the engineer of this unusual (in that it operated over more than one gradient) cliff railway. The Aberystwyth Improvement Company was conceived by John Bourne, a wealthy businessman and Thomas Barnet Grant, an electrical engineer from Middlesex, but the latter died of typhoid in 1895. Marks's brother, Edward Charles Robert Marks (1866-1928) acted as Resident Engineer. The funicular  railway ran from the north end of the sea frontage to the top of Constitution Hill, 430 feet above sea level. The line opened on 1 August 1896. Originally the line worked on the water balance principle with the water retuned to the summit by a steam pump located at the foot, but in 1921 was replaced by electric power; originally dc, but changed to alternating current in 1935. In 1978 the electrical control gear was replaced again, with the originall going to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. Illustrations: Guidebook cover, 1896; diagram from Patent 10457/1895 showing car and its seating; cover of 1896 Souvenir Guide; Lord Marks portrait; car photographed from the other car on 5 September 2018); lower station; upper station and terrific view from summit (all latter colour images taken by Author).

David P. Williams. Streamlined colour. 214-15.
Coloured photographs: No. 2509 Silver Link leaving King's Cross on 27 September 1935 on press run of Silver Jubilee (less convincing than remainder due to lack of overall colour); No. 6221 Queen Elizabeth climbing Shap on Coronation Scot in blue livery with silver stripes (highly convincing); No. 6225 Duchess of Gloucester in red livery leaving Euston with party of German railway experts en route to Glasgow for Institution of Locomotive Engineers meeting (nearly as convincing as Duchess of Hamilton herself at NRM); No. 4495 Golden Fleece in King' Cross (not as per Mallard at NRM). See also defence of the colourisation technique. Letter from John Macnab noting that Duchess of Gloucester picture had featured on cover of Railway Wonders of the World [KPJ was it coloured?] and the articulated stock of the Silver Jubilee were relegated to the Fife Coast Express until broken up at Ardmore yard.

Bill Taylor. The railway in court — animal matters. 216-19.
Maiinly concerned with cattle, although horses receive some attention. The railways were exempt from any common carrier obligatiion to transport animals, but the 1854 Act set out financial levels due to claimants where damage had occured for horses, cattle or sheep. In 1921 Henry W. Disney in The law of carriage by railway verified that these charges still applied. The 1894 Diseases of Animals Act demanded that the railways provide water and food for animals in transit at such stations that the Board of Agriculture may stipulate. Cases outlined: Martell versus South Wales Railway Company 1860: horse killed on a railway adjacent to a tram road onto which the horse had wandered as a gate was left open. Alfred Payne versus Great Eastern Railway 1871: bullocks killed by a train as the animals had broken down a gate onto the railway. Great Western Railway versus Blower, 1872: Blower's bullock had been killed in transit between Dingestow near Monmouth and Northampton as animal had damaged the wagon and fallen out (judge found no negligence on part of railway). Great Northern Railway versus Swaffield, 1874: horse despatched from King's Cross for Sandy, but nobody at Sandy ready to receive animal and it was put into a livery stable.Swaffield rrfused to pay the cost of livery and costs mounted which the judge ordered should be paid. Smith versus Midland Railway 1887: eight cows sent from Derby to Bedford of which suffered a broken leg and another was lame: the initial hearing found in favour of the claimant, but this was over-ruled by the High Court. Simpkin versus the London & North Western Railway, 1888: horse drawn wagon overturned due to the horse taking fright from a locomotive blowing off steam: simpkin was partially successsful in the lower court in claiming that the railway had been negligent, but this was lost at the Court of Appeal. Pickering  versus  North Eastern Railway: a horse was injured due the horse box being attached to mineral wagons joined by chains — the North Eastern lost its appeal for negligence.  Illustrations (not directly related to text): Bleasby station on Nottingham to Newark line with horse & rider near crossing; LNWR Precursor 4-4-0 No. 25277 Oberon on cattle train near Talycafn on cattle fair special in 1942 (A.M.V. Mace); Class 2P No. 40542 and 5XP Jubilee at Melton Junction on up express on 18 June 1958 (P.H. Groom) (caption notes f\ilure of fencing); Jones Goods on freight with cattle trucks, cattle pens and sidings adjacent; LNER K3 No. 1389 on train of empty cattle trucks near Thirsk in 1933 (E.R. Morten); B1 No. 61348 leaves Maud Junction with cattle train; Great Central Railway horse box. See also letters from Stephen G. Abbott and from John Brown.

John Chapman. Two Journeys in 1961 — the last throes of the 'Great Western Region'. 220-3.
Expedition from Dorking with Scouts starting on 21 July 1961 (KPJ: auspicious date) to Dartmoor by train to Newton Abbot, thence by Beford OB to campsite. From Paddington tjhe 23.50 the slow overnight train was used which conveyed sleeping cars (a novelty for those south of the Thames, but the Scouts were packed eight per compartment in a Hawksworth coach. No. 6016 King Edward V was the motive power. Arrival was ninety minutes late. The return was on 3 August on the fast 12.30 from Newton Abbot to Paddington behind Warship diesel hydraulic D807 Caradoc which managed to reach Paddington on  time. Illustrrations: No. 6016 King Edward V on 08.30 Birkenhead to Paddington passing Beaconsfield on 16 June 1962 (K.J. Cook: colour); No. 6016 King Edward V at  Newton Abbot on 09.50 Newquay to Paddington with No. 7907 Hart Hall which had been pilot from Plymouth on adjacent platform on 17 September 1960; 0-6-0PT No. 1503 bringing empty stock into Paddington on 17 August 1963 (Trevor Owen: colour); King William III on sea wall at Dawlish ion  Sunday down Cornish Riviera on 19 May 1959 (Peter W. Gray); No. 6930 Aldersey Hall at Chester with an express for Wolverhampton c1960 (Kenneth Field); No. D807 Caradoc near Whitchurch with 11.00 Waterloo to Exeter on 23 May 1965; Z class 0-8-0Ts Nos. 30955 and 30956 bank a stone train from Meldon Quarry? up to Exeter Central from St. David's on 15 August 1960 (M.J. Fox)

A4 Pacifics in the 'Scottish years'. Derek Penney. 224-5
No. 60009 Union of South Africa on arrival at Perth from Aberdeen on the 07.10 Granite City for Glasgow; No.  60026 Miles Beevor approaching Hilton Junction and Moncriefe Tunnel in May 1964; No. 60024 Kingfisher at Carmont on the 17.15 Aberdeen to Glasgow and No. 60034 Lord Faringdon crossing the Allan Water near Kinbuck on the 17.30 from Glasgow

L.A. Summers. A revisionist view of Edward Thompson. Part two. 226-31.
Began page 164. Makes much play on Gresley's lack of standardisation whilst failing to register how the Stanier Class 5 and Jubilee classes had varieties of boiler which could not be exchanged and that Riddles was prolific at the excessive multiplication of boiler types. The rebuilding of the P2 class at the height of WW2 was treasonous: they should have been used on the southern part of the East Coast route. No mention is made of the hazards of lubricating inside valve gear see Norman McKillop's appreciation of Gresley's valve gear.*Illustrations: P2 2-8-2 No. 2002 Earl Marischal on the Aberdonian; B1 No. 61017 Bushbuck on crossing at north end of York staion with freight train (Author); A2/2 No. 60502  Earl Marischal with scorched smokebox and black smoke at York on express (colour); A2/2 No. 60505 Thane of Fife at Hitchin on up fitted freight in May 1958 (D.B. Swale colour): V2 No. 60932 at west end of Edinburgh Waverley in 1964 (Author: caption notes letter from Thompson to Brian Reed stating that V2 should have beeen a Pacific (KPJ: would have been more difficult to sell to Board, but leading pony trucks have always been questionable; V2 No. 60835 with individual cylinders and outside steam pipes at Aberdeen on southbound express in spring 1964 (Author: this significant change not mentioned in caption); No. 60813 with stovepipe chimney and small smoke deflectors at Dundee Tay Bridge in spring 1966 (Author who questions whether this was successful — presumably not unsuccessful as lasted from 1946 until withdrawn); streamlined B17 No. 2870 City of London (rather rude caption, but only truly streamlined British 4-6-0!); B2 No. 61632 Belvoir Castle at Cambridge in April 1958 (P.H. Wells: colour); B2 No. 61671 Royal Sovereign on stopping train; O4/8 No. 63785 in 1966 (Author); J38 No. 65929 at Dunfermline in 1966 (Author); O4/8 No.63899 at Elescar Junction on coal train which included some timber-bodied wagons on 23 June 1960 (colour). Next part

Colin Divall. Canford Manor's 'Splendid Archway under the South-Western Railway', c1844-55. 232-7.
A listed ornamental bridge, built in association with an early now closed main line railway in Dorset formerly serving the increasingly large settlement of Wimborne Minster. The former railway has become the Castleman Trailway: Castleman was a Wimbotne solicitor who became involved with the westward extensiion of what had been the London & Southampton Railway.  The estate had been acquired by the Welsh ironmaster Guest. A major transport historian examines the relationship between the landowner and the railway and the rather crumbling listed structure now detached from its original function. Illustrations: the splendid archway (colour); crossing keeper's lodge in similar splendour; Class 33 diesel electric locomotive with short freight crosses River stour Viaduct in April 1974 (colour); Charles Castleman (portrait); Canfiord Manor designed Charles Barry (postcard c1914); Canford Lodge (21st century view); Wimborne Lodge (21st century view). The recent and colour images were taken by the author.

Peter Butler. Signalling between Gilberdyke and Brough. 238-40.
Former four track main line reduced to two whilst it still retained its semaphore signals. Illustrations: Gilberdyke Junction and signal box on 23 September 1986; upper quadrant semaphores at Gilberdyke; plan; banner repeater at Gilberdyke; Crabley Creek signal box and level crossing on 2 October 2013; Cave crossing and notices; Oxmardyke signal box and level crossing in August 1993; Brough East  signal box and level crossing on 18 November 1988. See also letter from Leonard Rogers 

John White. From Wrexham Central to New Brighton. 241-3.
Black & white photo-feature: On 30 August 1965 (August Bank Holiday) operated steam trains in partial replacement of the diesel railcars on this still (never?) to be electrified route:Class 108 DMU at Caergwrle Castle & Wells on serviice to Chester Northgate; 57XX No. 4683 leaving Penyffordd for New Brighton; and at New Brighton (three views of odd sight of Pannier tank and third rail) and Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75012 at Shotton High Level with 111.16 New Brighton to Wrexham Central. See also letter from Chris Magner p. 382

Aliatair F. Nisbet. Advice for Victorian tavellers. 244-8
Cites Jack Simmons' preface to the reprint of The Railway Traveller's Handbook originally published in 1862. This article examines social attitudes to railway travel in terms of the risk of accident and of encountering incorrect social behaviour: both are illustrated by contemporary of actual events (engraving of accident at Staplehurst in 1865 and photograoh of one at St. John's Lewisham in 1898) and cartoons from Punch. There are also colour reproductions of advertisements and other material from the Railay Passengers Assurance  Company

North Eastern survivors. 249-51.
Black & white photo-feature: J21 0-6-0 No. 65021 on passenger excursion at Wark on Hexham to Reedsmouth branch; G5 0-4-4T No. 67298 leaving Sunderland on an ordinary passenger train in mid-1950s: see letter from Neil Sinclair which states that train approaching Fawcett Street Junction in Sunderland with one from Durham; S class 4-6-0 (LNER class B13) No. 760 with copper-capped chimney and polished safety valve cover at York pre-WW1; D class 4-4-4T No. 2143 in photographic gray at Darlington Works in 1913; Y8 0-4-0T No. 559 on road trailer at Partington on Withernsea branch in association with its use by the Royal Engineers on the Spurn Head Railway to build fortifications on the Humber estuary during WW2; D17/2 4-4-0 No. 1923 leaving York for Leeds on an express in late 1920s; J78 0-6-0CT crane tank No. 590 at Gatehead Works; B16 on fast down freight near Potters Bar.

Recalling the 'Plant Centenarian'. 252
Black & white photo-feature: on 20 September 1953 Doncaster Plant celebrated its century with the works being open and a special was run from King's Cross hauled by preserved Ivatt Atlantcs  Nos, 990 Henry Oakley and No. 251 in the hands of Ted Hailstone and Bill Hoole. The locomotives are shown at King's Cross awaiting the arival of the empty stock (Eric Bruton); approaching Hadley Wood South Tunnel with Captain J.E.P. Howey waving; and at Dukeries Junction

Book Reviews. 253-4

The British Transport Commission Group former Thomas Tilling companies in the 1960s. Jim Blake. Pen & Sword. 156pp. Reviewed by PR **
It must be something of a rarity for a bus book to be reviewed in the pages of Backtrack. However, in this case, there is a connection through the fact that the Tilling Group of bus companies had come under the control of the British Transport Commission following their nationalisation in 1948. Ownership subsequently passed to the Transport Holding Company in 1963, although the fleets remained under Tilling Group control, and the companies became part of the National Bus Company in 1969.
During the 1960s, Tilling Group companies operated almost half of the inter-urban and rural bus services in England and Wales and one wonders how many of these replaced closed rural railway routes. They tended to have both highly standardised fleets - the vast majority of vehicles having Bristol chassis and Eastern Coachworks bodies — and liveries —usually red with cream relief or green with cream relief for buses, with reversed liveries for coaches. There were some exceptions — Midland General and Notts & Derby, for example, both having a dark blue and cream livery.
This volume of black and white photographs (all taken by the author) records the Tilling Group scene from April 1962 to September 1968. The Tilling fleets were rather unevenly distributed around the country with a concentration in East Anglia but few in the South East. Towards the front of the book is a useful summary of the Group's companies, listed by area. Unfortunately, the book's rather idiosyncratic, strictly chronological format means that it is not possible to use this company list as a guide to the contents. As there is no index either, trying to find any particular location, operator or vehicle type is very much a case of taking a long trawl through 146 pages of photographs.
The photographs themselves (reproduced two to a page) vary considerably in quality. Many are pin-sharp while others are decidedly 'muddy' or blurred. This reviewer couldn't help feeling that many of them had been enlarged beyond the capability of the original negatives. This is very much a bus enthusiast's book for other enthusiasts who know what they are looking for. Grouping the photographs area by area in the same order as the company list would have been a distinct improvement.

The changing face of British Railways. Bruce Peter, Lily Publications, 336 pp. Reviewed by Geoffrey B. Skelsey.*****
Design and aesthetics have been part of our railway scene since the birth of passenger railways, even if not recognised as such. Recall the lavish liveries, polished brass, names bestowed on locomotives as if they were ships, monumental stations and viaducts, castellated tunnel portals. All these demonstrated a conscious intention to establish in the public mind the dignity, power and scope of railways, and this in part is the theme of Bruce Peter's magnificent new book. Whilst popular railway literature has often stressed locomotive history, around the middle of the last century anotner approach crept in. C. Hamilton Ellis, Christian Barman, Geoffrey Kichenside and Brian Haresnape were amongst the pioneers of what has become a major branch of railway studies. 'Design', it was argued, was not just a decorative dress but a comprehensive approach which informed the whole process of origination, construction and operation of railway equipment and structures, to enhance their public appeal. So this book is much more than an aesthetic analysis and includes succinct accounts of, for example, the origins and development of the High Speed Train and ofthe second generation DMUs.
After an historical introduction Bruce Peter reviews the sometimes tentative history of British Railways' policies, beginning with the establishment of a Design Panel in 1956 which helped ameliorate some of the worst features of early Modernisation Plan rolling stock. The full corporate identity which followed in 1963 is recognised as another of the positive legacies of the much-reviled Richard Beeching, and one which made BR a standard-bearer in Europe (if, like the prophets, it was sometimes without honour in its own home). A small aspect of these innovations thankfully survives: the inspired 'double arrow' whose design process is recounted here and which still identifies our stations.
Over seventeen chapters we follow the emergence and later refinement of a coherent rolling stock and traction policy, and innovations in areas such as ships, hotels, goods traffic, catering outlets, hovercraft, signage, and uniforms. Even those well read in BR history may find surprises here, such as the sad story of the Old Course Hotel at St. Andrew's, the observation DMU proposed (vainly) for the Scottish Region's scenic lines and the development of the doomed APT. Engineers and managers did not always welcome the interventions of designers, and the resulting conflicts add a human element to the story. The text is lavishly supported by illustrations, many in colour, and although some are familiar official views many are less well-known. There are thorough source-references and a full bibliography and index.
The book ends with a sad valediction. Sectorisation had already eroded BR's unified visual palette, although arguably some of the best work came towards the end, such as the final InterCity livery. After reviewing these last achievements — the Class 442 units, Network SouthEast, Class 91 and the Mark IV coach, Eurostar and station restorations such as Liverpool Street — we are left with today's meretricious kaleidoscope of bright ideas, some devoid of any apparent good taste. 'lchabod' one might say, 'where is the glory now'?
It is impossible to do credit within the scope of a few hundred words to one of the finest and most authoritative recent railway studies, but if you buy only one book about design policy this should be it.

Locomotive builders of Leeds: E.B. Wilson & Manning Wardle. Mark Smithers. Pen & Sword Transport.199pp. hardback. Reviewed by MR ****
In general, most of the railway companies in Britain designed nearly all their steam locomotives and built most of them too, certainly in the century up to the final BR Standard designs were completed. There were, of course, many exceptions and the larger private builders often supplied large batches of new locomotives on a regular basis; that was, after all, what they were tooled up for whereas the companies' shops also needed to overhaul and rebuild their stock. The nature of the company shops and their longevity have always been of great interest to enthusiasts and large numbers of books have been, and continue to be, produced.
Books.for the general reader, on the earlier period and especially for building companies supplying 'industrial' locomotives for private owners (mines, steelworks, contractors etc) at home and abroad are few and far between. This, however, is an excellently produced A4-sized book which covers the first commercially-built steam locomotives (a number, built by Matthew Murray in the Round Foundry at Leeds from 1812) supplied to the local Middleton Railway for coal traffic. These were fitted with John Blenkinsop's patent cog-wheel drive to a rack alongside the running rail. The company built further locomotives between 1831 ('Planet' type 2-2-0s for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and other Stephenson designs and finally a batch of twenty Daniel Gooch's 'Star' Class 2-2-2s for the broad gauge Great Western Railway).
The firm closed in 1843 but meanwhile a former apprentice there, Charles Todd, had formed with James Kitson and David Laird the Railway Foundry in Hunslet Lane in 1837 and their firm of Todd, Kitson & Laird. Todd moved to a new firm close-by in 1839 (with financier John Shepherd) and set up a new company that took with it the Railway Foundry name for the works. E.B. Wilson joined the firm in 1844 and the author has included many quotes from David Joy's diaries for the complex and turbulent years of E.B. Wilson until the financial problems and auction of the Railway Foundry assets in 1859.
E.B. Wilson had produced many different main line locomotive designs for railways at home and abroad. The firm of Manning Ward le , one of the beneficiaries of some of the E.B. Wilson material, was to build a series of standard 0-6-0Ts and 0-4-0Ts which contained many features from the Wilson era.
A number of Manning Wardles have survived into preservation and would make attractive engineering models in live steam scales and this book is a good story.
There are a few minor carps: firstly there are no references and such information could be useful in some cases — for example, the drawings of E.B. Wilson locomotives from The Locomotive magazine. Similarly the bibliography is poor and there is a good half-page blank that could have been used. However, this is a good and interesting text and worth purchasing.

The Southwold Railway. Peter Paye, Lydney: Lightmoor Press, 248pp. Reviewed by Geoffrey B. Skelsey.*****
It has been an oddity of railway publishing that one of the most distinctive of English narrow gauge lines lacked an extended history for so long. Considering that the Southwold Railway served for 50 years a select holiday resort within easy reach of London, and that the company remained in shadowy existence until as late as 1994, this is all the more strange. Fortunately, Peter Paye has come to the rescue, and the Southwold now joins the Leek & Manifold and Ashover Railways as the subject of a definitive record. His full bibliography attests to the long process of assembling authoritative information from many sources.
Other oddities, we learn, characterised the line. The choice of the three-foot gauge may have lessened construction costs but brought substantial penalties, notably in terms of transhipment: from 1900 the directors sought to convert their line to standard gauge and even undertook some work towards that end, but in vain. The company also suffered a conflicted relationship with its big brother, the GER, which repeatedly declined either to acquire the line or to subsidise it, whilst its introduction of a pioneering motor bus service from Lowestoft in 1904 started the road competition which doomed the railway. Directors located in London meant management by remote control, and apart from cost- and fare-cutting little was done to meet the problems of the post-1918 world.
New information about signalling, antediluvian by the time of closure, is welcome and there are full accounts of locomotives and rolling stock, much of which lasted for the whole life of the line. There are clear diagrams of track layouts and large-scale OS maps form the endpapers. Appendices reproduce in full the signalling regulations and general rules.
Like many independent railways and especially narrow-gauge lines, the Southwold had its share of questionable practices and eccentric individuals. The company's refusal to adopt automatic braking defied Board of Trade and Ministry of Transport directives for decades. From 1910 the line was the subject of a series of cartoon postcards drawn by Reg Carter under the tendentious title 'Sorrows of Southwold', echoing public attitudes: reproduced here, they remained on sale long after closure. Abandonment, when it came in April 1929, was sudden and inconclusive and the right of way, rolling stock and premises fell into a bizarre state of suspended animation which lasted until wartime scrap metal drives, an echo of the situation of the Welsh Highland. Even then the company itself survived on paper, the cost of winding it up deterring any action.
The book is well produced,and although some illustrations will be familiar from previous publications, there are many fresh ones and they benefit from excellent reproduction and size.
There can be little doubt that had the line been built to standard gauge it would have lasted at least until the 1960s, like the not dissimilar branches serving Aldeburgh and Mundesley-on-Sea; sadly the possibility of its reopening or recreation eventually foundered. The author will be familiar to readers from his previous histories of minor lines in East Anglia: here he has surpassed himself and given us at last a fitting tribute to a brave but doomed railway.

The Ingleton Branch. Robert Western. Catrine: Oakwood Press, Reviewed by David Joy? ****. 253-4
The history of this book is as out-of-the- ordinary as that of the line it describes. It began life almost 50 years ago as The Lowgill Branch. This was an error as the author freely admits, but in those days of far from instant communication a strike by postal workers meant the mistake could not be changed prior to publication. Nineteen years elapsed before a second edition with the correct title The fngfeton Branch. Now after a further 28 years comes a third revision. It is praiseworthy that the Oakwood Press has been able to keep one of its Locomotion Papers in print well into the 21st century.
Such longevity has not been the case with the line covered in its pages. Although this reviewer risks many Backtrack readers cancelling their subscription, it should logically still be with us and the Settle- Carlisle railway should either never have been built or long since abandoned.
When authorised in 1857 the 18¾ miles of what became the Ingleton branch represented a missing link between existing railways to give a direct connection from Yorkshire to the West Coast Route at Low Gill. It should never have been a branch but rather an essential part of a main line to Scotland. Only a country lacking any strategic approach to railway development would a mere nine years later have authorised a parallel line that was slightly longer, involved almost four times the mileage of new construction and was clearly going to be vastly more expensive to maintain. Thus was born the Settle-Carlisle and thus consigned to wither away was the Ingleton branch ultimately to perish in 1966.
The author ably covers the many political machinations during its existence of little over a century. One advantage of the book having a lifespan of almost half this length is that it includes memories dating back to the 1960s from those working or travelling on the line. The new edition brings events after closure up-to-date. Illustrations including many useful maps are largely unchanged, but the book does now have a more generous format and is easier to read by those of a certain age.

Readers' Forum. 254.

February back cover. David Carter
He used to work on Austerities at Wakefield shed 56A. However,  caption states wrong station; this is Westgate, the train is going towards Leeds on the down through line. Westgate has a footbridge, Kirkgate had an overall roof.

The Marples Report. David Holt
There are good reasons to take issue with the 'Marples Report' (February). There's a huge dissimilarity between an industrial conglomerate (such as ICI) and a railway system (such as BR). One has a strong public service ethic and the other doesn't. Marples and Macmillan must surely have realised that when Beeching was appointed. Much has been said elsewhere about distortion of statistics to 'justify' closures, for example the counting of passengers at known quiet times. That wasn't the only tactic. My father, a lifelong railwayman, was allocated to passenger survey duties in the early 1960s. One day he was sent to Preston to ask passengers where they were going and by what route. I can remember how angry he was when he told us that he'd been given instructions to distort the data — for example, if someone said that they were going to Cardiff via Shrewsbury, he was told to put down that they were going via Bristol. No prizes for guessing what the motive behind that was and no wonder he was a prominent protester against the Beeching/Marples closures.

Edmondson tickets. Stephen G. Abbott
Skelsey quotes the Edmondson ticket size as 2¼in x 11/8in, but this would mean that each half of a return ticket is exactly square. As can be seen from the examples illustrated, each half is actually slightly 'taller' than it is 'wide'. Tickets in Abbott's collection measure 2l4in x 13/16in (nearer to 17/32 for my few pre-nationalisation and early British Railways examples). To me, these proportions add to the aesthetics of this much missed adjunct to rail travel. KPJ: the ticket machine at West Runton station completely baffles me: I fear it may take £100 out of my account if I was try to book a single to Sheringham as the device does noty accept cash even Dutch Gelders.

A close shave. L A. Summers
Re  1975 Oxford derailment: letter writer actually witnessed this derailment from the up platform. He had been on teaching practice in east Oxford and came across to the station to ride down to Didcot where his parents lived. From his vantage point the derailment occurred exactly as Joyce described it, though he would add that he is pretty certain that he saw a sparks arise from the front of the locomotive, almost certainly the result of something, wheels most likely, abrading on the track. He has several clear recollections of the events that followed. He did not have his camera with him, otherwise it is perfectly likely that he might have decided to photograph the train's arrival, Westerns always looked 'oversized' in Oxford station. There were two men near him on the up platform, one of whom declared to the other "Hey, you've got a camera on you, photograph it and take it to the Oxford Mail." He did indeed have a very small camera, took a few shots, climbed over the wall on to the station forecourt and hoofed it away, presumably to Osney Mead where the Mail offices were, but no photograph ever appeared in the paper. More surprisingly, the train that SummersI was awaiting, 15.29 or something, formed of a three-car DMU, ran into the station and was actually signalled out, late, but within an incredibly short time of its booked departure. The derailment had interfered with the crossing that then existed at that point, but the up side was completely undamaged; interestingly he did not recall anyone actually inspecting the track though they obviously must have done. As Joyce suggests, I cannot see that happening today; fleets of buses and taxis would be summoned, for no good reason. I have never seen any other derailment though he had seen the results of several including the Brush Type 4 (D1775 possibly) that turned over on to its side near Didcot West Junction early in 1966.

A close escape. Malcolm Hicks
Correct date for the photograph of No.D1023 at Hereford was 2 October 1976, not 1978 as stated in the caption.

Taking the Cure. John Roake
Re railway to Strathpeffer: in the second part of article Dr. Timperley states that the Strathpeffer Spa Express eventually ceased running at the end of the 1915 Season. Although Highland Railway timetables, both public and private, for 1915 certainly show the train as being timetabled to run throughout the season, there is an red notice inside the front covers of these publications warning intending passengers to the effect that "there is a War on and trains may not run". The Highland Railway's Weekly Notices issued during 1915 that are in the collection of the Highland Railway Society list each week those trains which were not running. Included in this list every week in very bold type is the Strathpeffer Spa Express, It would seem that, therefore, military requirements meant that although it was intended to run the Strathpeffer Spa Express in 1915, it did not indeed run. Unless somebody knows different?"

1,000 miles in 24 hours. Leonard Roger
In response to the challenge contained in the last paragraph of Alistair Nisbet's article in the February issue, he examined the online version of Table 65 (WCML) of the National Rail Timetable on the Network Rail website. It seems that a day's continuous travelling up and down the WCML may well be the best way to maximise mileage in 24 hours, especially since it is one of only two long-distance routes with overnight service — the other is the Great Western, of course. Using only regularly scheduled services of the franchised TOCs, as specified by our author, it is possible, using the services of Caledonian Sleeper and Virgin, to make two round trips between Glasgow Central and London Euston in a period of 22 hours 22 minutes on a weekday during the currency of the present timetable. This is thanks, of course, to the increased frequency of services and much increased speeds today, compared with 1910. Total mileage is 1,605. The actual details are as follows: Glasgow dep. 23.40, Euston arr. 07.07; Euston dep. 07.30, Glasgow arr. 11.59; Glasgow dep. 12.40, Euston arr. 17.09; Euston dep. 17.30, Glasgow arr. 22.02. It will be seen that there are no particularly tight connections to be relied upon and, even in today's railway traffic conditions, I would suggest that there is a reasonable chance of it's being do-able successfully, barring breakdowns or major hold-ups. Other readers will doubtless have their own suggestions.

1,000 miles in 24 hours. Peter Reynolds 
Re the exploits of J. Ingham Learoyd in travelling 1,000 miles in 24 hours; and a look at the challenge at the end and have developed the following itinerary using the National Rail Enquiries website: Dep. 00.10 Watford Junction Arr. 07.22 Glasgow Central Dep. 08.40 Glasgow Central Arr. 13.10 London Euston Dep. 13.30 London Euston Arr. 17.59 Glasgow Central Dep. 18.40 Glasgow Central Arr. 23.34 London Euston Dep. 23.44 London Euston Arr. 00.04 Watford Junction. Calculated distance somewhere in the region of 1,603 miles 52 chains.

All in the County of Surrey. Anthony Dawson
Re the Surrey Iron Railway: the claim that it was the first railway to be built under an Act of Parliament is perhaps misplaced as the Middleton Railway in Leeds is generally considered to have been the first to have been so built under an Act of 1758,
The claim for the Surrey Iron Railway to be the first public railway, insasmuch as we can make claims for any 'first', should be the Lake Lock Rail Road near Wakefield in Yorkshire which pre-dates the SIR. The Lake Lock RR was built without an Act, but in order to circumvent the South Sea Bubble Act which prevented the formation of joint stock companies unless by a Royal Charter, was worked, and perhaps uniquely so, via a Trust Deed. Capital was held in 128 shares.
The Lake Lock RR was established in 1793. It was engineered by Israel Rhodes and was laid out (again perhaps uniquely) by the lnclosure Commissioners. It was completed in 1798 as a public railway open to all users upon payment of a toll and so long as the waggons were of the correct gauge (3ft 4in). It was laid with edge rails weighing 14lb/yard on timber sleepers. It was extended via private railways to reach various collieries around East Ardsley and on Wakeneld Outwood. The concern was wound up in 1840 and finally sold over a decade later. As John Goodchild described:
First — earlier known railways had been the property of consortia of colliery etc owners or a canal company; the Lake Lock was owned by an independent group of proprietors of shares who built a railway for independent use.
Secondly — the railway received its income by way of tolls charged upon its users and was open to any user upon payment of the toll.
Thirdly — the railway carried any goods which were offered to it. It was open to any suitable vehicle and could be extended via private branches, just as a Turnpike road could.

All in the County of Surrey. lan Smith
The Surrey Iron Railway was not the first to be established by an Act of Parliament. That honour belongs to the Middleton Railway, Leeds, the first to be authorised by an Act of Parliament (9 June 1758) solely concerned with the building of a waggon way/railway and the regulations under which it would operate. The railway was built for Charles Brandling in order to get coals from his collieries at Middleton into the developing town of Leeds. The first official train ran on the Middleton Railway on 23 September 1758 and at least some part of it has been in use ever since that date. The Middleton Railway has also continued its innovations, eg: 1812 — the world's first commercially successful steam locomotive (also the world's first rack and pinion locomotive) which excited visitors from many other countries, and 1960 —the first trains run by a volunteer-operated standard gauge railway. The Middleton Railway is still entirely operated by unpaid volunteers. As Wikipedia points out, the Surrey Iron Railway wasn't even the "first public railway or the first railway company: both of those honours go to the Lake Lock Railway near Wakeneld, Yorkshire"

All in the County of Surrey. Eric Shaw
Re Surrey Iron Railway. Letter writer volunteer at the Wandle Industrial Museum in Mitcham, Surrey, where we have worked for over 35 years in keeping the industrial past of the Wandle Valley including the SIR alive. Whilst we have information, and items from the railway, on display your readers may be interested in the information that can found on our website at: http://www.wandle.org/surreyironrailway/ header.html. Wandle Industrial Museum Volunteer

Waiting for spring in the Dales. J.S. Gilks. rear cover
Class 5 No. 44905 with express headcode passing Eldroth with a Leeds City to Morecambe express: typifies the neglected North where the vestigial train service is provided by Lenten Pacers, which if Surrey or Essex would have electric multiple units at half-hourly intervals

Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 No.46431 leaves Lancaster Castle station with a local passenger train in 1963. M. Chapman

May  2019 (Number 337)

Re-creating a Colourful Past. David P. Williams, 259
Guest editorial extolling colourised images as in the pre-war streamliners which graced the April issue. Here he makes the case far the colourisation process. In 1953 my parents bought their first television. The stimulus for them and many others at the time was the forthcoming Coronation which was to be televised across the nation. It is hard to appreciate in 2019 just how primitive the viewing experience was in those days, as the digital age was still a long way into the future. Fuzzy images accompanied by varying amounts of 'snow' on the screen could sometimes be improved by slightly adjusting the position of the aerial - but this was also done at the risk of making things worse. The picture was black and white, of course, as we lived in a world of monochrome photography in those days and were well used to seeing images devoid of colour in books, magazines and at the cimema. Ten years later at the start of a degree course, I was whisked from the backwaters of Tees-side to London, where colour television was being experimentally broadcast. Within days of my arrival, walking along Chiswick High Street my attention was drawn to a group of bystanders gazing in a shop window at a small television broadcasting in full colour. It was an experience which remains vivid in my memory. We take it all for granted now, but colour images were not always so instantly and freely accessible.
Although colour television did not come into its own until the 1960s, colour photography had been around since the mid-1930s and grew rapidly after the war. In the same way that the early colour television experience bore a pale comparison to that of today, the same is true of early colour photography which was a very expensive activity and limited in its scope. Development of colour photography with improving film speeds, greater availability and reduced cost gathered pace during the 1950s but it remained something of an elitist branch of the art until the advent of digital photography.
Railway photography has a long and distinguished past which has left a rich legacy of images to enjoy, but the fact remains that most of these photographs were taken in the days of monochrome film. This is something of a tragedy as history tells us just how colourful the railway scene used to be. Before the Grouping a host of different companies vying for the traveller's custom used distinctive liveries as part of their armoury in attracting patronage. Even in the days of the 'Big Four' colour was a vital part of the commercial strategy, so clearly demonstrated by the inspirational choice of garter blue by the London & North Eastern Railway for its A4 Pacifics.
We are now able to re-create the past by digitally adding colour to black and white pictures, a process known as colourisation. News coverage was recently given to cine film of World War I originally shot in monochrome, which has been dramatically brought to life in this way. The technique is not without its detractors who point to the subjectivity in choice of the applied colours. There is no answer to this as these selections must be made somehow and there are literally millions of colours, shades and intensities available. The diehards point to the objectivity of colour transparencies whilst conveniently forgetting that analogue colour film was notorious for variability in its results depending on the make offilm and type of colour processing. We have a simple choice to reject or embrace colourised images, but to reject them is to deny the possibility of enjoying colourful scenes which existed in the past. The colourist bears a heavy responsibility to get things right and do the necessary homework. The health warning that comes with a colourised picture is no different from that which came with colour transparencies - there are no guarantees with this product.
As with conventional photography, colourisation is a skill which must be acquired the hard way, in my case with years of painstaking trial and error. There are no simple textbooks. It helps to have been an active railway photographer as the colour differences between rails and wooden sleepers, both shades of browr., become engrained in the memory. The object of the exercise is always the same, to re-create the scene observed in the viewfinder by the original photographer. Sometimes there are elements which simply cannot be known. A woman stands on the platform wearing a dress which appears as dark grey on the original. It could have been dark grey but could also have been various dark shades of red, blue, green etc. Some colours can be ruled out -yellow, for example. The original black and white picture sets its own limits for what is possible. The diehard will crow that the colour transparency despite its deficiencies will give a better idea ofthe woman's dress colour. True, but there is another important advantage of colourisation to be mentioned in passing, which concerns picture resolution. The vast majority of colour transparencies in the Railway Archive were taken on 35mm film or smaller, sometimes using a camera of lesser quality. When such pictures are enlarged the limited resolution often becomes starkly revealed, but it need not be this way for the colourised image. The amount of time and effort expended on one work makes it necessary to choose the original carefully. A really sharp, high quality large format negative can result in a colour picture which retains good resolution to a huge magnification, sometimes with truly breathtaking results.
The proof of any pudding is in the eating. We all have a concept of correctness and are free to make our own judgement on whether any colourised image is an accurate representation of reality. The examples presented in these pages last month/and on other past and future occasions provide scope for debate.

Great Northern (Ireland) Railway 4-4-0s. David Moseley. 260-1
Colour photo-feature: all images date from break up of the Railway between the Ulster Transport Authority and the Irish CIE transport organization; all were 4-4-0 (and with exception of first which was three-cylinder, inside (two) cylinder): VS class No.207 Boyne allocatated to the CIE, but at the Belfast Adelaide shed whre it retained most of its blue livery but had been fitted with a wooden nameplate; S class UTA No. 61 Galtee More (still blue with green livery train) at Strabane; Q Class UTA No. 135 in black with teak leading coach at Strabane on 2 August 1958 (locomotive No. 131 of same class is preserved); S class UTA No. 174 Carrantuohill in partial blue livery shunting green CIE livery coaches at Amiens Street, Dublin; CIE owned S class No. 170 Errigal in blue livery at Amiens Street shed in August 1961.

Clive Carter. Cafeteria cars. 262-6
Concept originated in 1951 as a cost saving measure by the Hotels Executive. They were conceived in part as party cars and then a potential new service emerged: the low cost Starlight Express operation which was intended to compete with cheap long distance overnight motor coach services. Illustrations: interior of prototype E13369E (Gresley 61-ft 6-in open third with leather seating; E43034E at Wembley Hill on Cup Final special in 1957  (Gresley 65-ft 3-in vehicle with six-wheel bogies); type B car (party car) W411697E (Great Northern 52-ft 6-in car built in 1914)l ; SC670E based on Great Eastern first class 54-ft restaurant car (W.A.C. Smith); type B M254M (ex  60-ft ambulance  car and sleeping car);  V2 No. 60833 leaving Lincoln with Colchester to Newcastle train wih cafeteria car E266M as front vehicle; M9212E restau rant-cafeteria car converted from LNER 61-ft 6-in ambulance car; diagrams plans & side e;levations of party car and type D cafeteria car

David A. Hayes. Remembering Connectrail (March 1995-November 1997). Part One. 267-75
Connectrail grew out of several attempts to retain some wagon load traffic, especially that from Europe. Tiger Rail tthrough Tiger Freightways attempted to convey china clay from St. Blazey in Cornwall  to Warrington and Mossend, but the company went into receivership.A strike on the French  SNFC did nothing for this declining trafficIllustrations: British Rail Class 20 Nos. 20 128 Guglielmo Marconi and 20 075 William Cooke leaving Bloxwith to pick up backload for vans which had brought  zinc from the Nertherlands on 21 September 1995 (Andy Williams: colour); Class 33 211 and another Crompton hauling wagons off Nord Pas-de-Calais train ferry at Dover on 28 July 1992 (Paul Dorney); Class 90 127 Allerton TRS Depot with two wagons passes Docker southbound from Mossend Yard to Washwood Heath on 1 June 1995 (Neil Harvey: colour); Nord Pas-de-Calais train ferry off Dover on 28 July 1992 (Paul Dorney); No. 47 316 propels three discharged phosphorus tank wagons from Albright & Wilson on former Oldbury branch alongside class 150 DMU for Birmingham New Street on 17 August 1995 (David J. Hayes: colour); No. 47 356 with train including six Cargowaggon loaded with steel sections at Slindon on Washwood Heath to Crewe Connectrail service on 19 September 1995 (Andy Williams: colour); Calais Channel Tunnel portal with 92 040 Goethe and 92 014 Emile Zola with Wembley Yard to Lille Connectrail service at 16.00 on 30 April 1996 (Chrisopher Wilson); No. 47 361 Wilton Endeavour at Hamstead at 09.57 with 08.25 Washwood Heath to Brierley Hill with loaded phosphorus tank wagons on 6 November 1995 (David J. Hayes: colour); derailed Connectrail train at Maidstone East station viewed from above Week Street Tunnel portal on 6 September 1993 (Adrian Nicholls); No. 90 130 Fretconnection plus dead 90 133 on Dover Town Yard to Crewe Basford Hall Yard on 9 September 1995 (Andy Williams: colour). Part 2 see page 402

Jeffrey Wells. Four Yorkshire stations — a ninetenth century perspective. 276-80.
Sheffield (Midland Railway), Skipton, Middlesbrough and Boroughbridge. Illustrations: 4-4-0 No. 468 with another 4-4-0 departing Sheffield Midland; Albert Bridge which riuns under Middlesbrough station (T.J. Edgington); Middlesbrough station exterior (T.J. Edgington); east end of Middlesbrough station looking towards docks siding with cranes and DMU arriving; Skipton station showing all platforms with local steam train leaving and entrances to subway page 278 see also letter from Kevin Tattersley on page 573; Skipton platform c1905 page 278; Boroughbridge goods shed on 7 August 1951 (T.J. Edgington); Boroughbridge station during NER period  

Anthony Dawson. Strikes, theft and fraud at Liverpool Road. 281-5
Original Manchester terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. Opened on 15 September 1830; closed to passengers in 1844 and by British Railways in 1975. Since 1983 has become site of Science & Industry Museum. Illustrations: Thomas Talbot Bury coloured; plan (map) of Liverpool Road station in 1831 (after C.E. Makepeace 1980). Water Street Bridge; facade of Livrerpool Road Coach Office; interior of first class booking office; waiting area at rail level.

'Dashing away with the Smoothing Iron' [Deeley Midland Railway 0-6-4T class]. 286-7
Black & white photo-feature: No. 2031 in early LMS livery and with round-top firebox with new coaches for London Tilbury & Southend line posed near Derby; No. 2038 in early LMS livery & with Belpaire firebox and extended smokebox at Sutton Park; No. 2037 leaving Cofton Tunnel in June 1926: black livery in following: No.2000 piloting MR 4-4-0 leaving Nottingham Midland for Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Cromer (No. 2000 will have been displaced long before any of these); No. 2030 with express headlamps at Northfield with substantial train headed by a clerestory set

Less is more — the LMS Class 2 2-6-0s. 288-91
Colour photo-feature: No. 46497 propelling vehicles through Derby Midland station in early 1962 (David Fielding); No. 46471 at Kelso with a local freight on 17 February 1962 (R. Patterson); No. 46411 with officers' saloon at Wilpshire in 1963 (M. Chapman); Nos. 46406; 46416 and 46436 on Bury shed in October 1959 (P.J. Hughes); No. 46522 at Talyllyn Junction on train for Moat Lane Junction with train from Newport handing over single line tioken to signalman on 10 September 1962 (Gavin Morrison);  No. 46503 at Glasbury-on-Wye with 09.02 Hereford to Brecon on 14 April 1962 (R. Patterson); No. 46511 at Builth Road with train for Moat Lane Junction (David Lawrence); Nos. 46426 and 46458 on Solway Ranger railtour climbing towards Troutbeck on 13 June 1964 (Gavin Morrison; No. 46446 at Drws-y-Nant with train from Barmouuth to Bala Junction for replacement bus service eastward due to flood damage and eventual full closure on 19 December 1964 (Gavin Morrison); No. 46484 approachin Dore & Totley with a  Hope Valley local (P.J. Hughes)    

Brian Parsons. 'Place on rail'— the transport of the dead by train in the UK. 292-5.
From the 1850s until the 1960s coffins were conveyed by train. Until the nineteenth century the Church of England had a monopoly on burial grounds in England, but this was broken by the establishment of joint stock companies to establish cemeteries in urban areas: Kensal Green in 1832; Highgate in 1839 and in Liverpool in 1826. Brookwood Cemetery near Woking originally had its own stations at Waterloo (Necropolis Station) and at Brookwood.Woking was the location of England's first crematorium which opened in 1892. Scotland's first opened at Maryhill in 1895. Both generated new traffic in corpses. Some undertakers specialized in the movement of the dead by rail, notably F.W. Paine. Both World Wars led to an increase in the use of rail as against road transport due to a shortage of fuel,  Trade union leader Jimmy Knapp's corpse was taken by Virgin train from Euston to Glasgow in 2001, but the practice has died. There are several references including some to undertaking which presumably mention rail transport. Illustrations: Coffin containing Lady Howe was taken to Euston where it was placed on the 07.10 train to Shackerstone together with a horse-drawn hearse and nine of Kenyon's undertaking staff; waybill for corpse from Euston to Holyhead in April 1937; coffin carrier at or from Paddington station; Dottridge Bros., wholesale coffin supplier, advertisement  from The Undertakers' Journal March 1907 showing hearse at Euston station; St. John's station in Bedford where coffins for victims of E101 airship disaster were being unloaded for onward movement by road to Cardington. They  had lain in state in Westminster Hall having been conveyed by train from Dover Marine; members of Free French Army exhumed from British graves being loaded into vans at Dover Marine station prior to shipment to France; tariff of railway charges for conveyance of corpse and hearses made by different railways as per C. Farebrother of Kingston; coffin of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar being loaded onto train at Bexhill-on-Sea as part of journey to crematorium at Golders Green; funeral of Lady Sykes being taken from train at Sledmere & Fimber station (where it had arrived from King's Cross) to Sledmere led by five Anglo Catholic clergy weaaring berettas. See also letters from John Macnab; from P. Snape and from Russell Jackson citing film Terminus. See also letter from Stephen Abbott on page 638

Trans-Pennine. David Rodgers. 297-9.
Colour photo-feature: Colour photo feature:WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90113 (ex-Western Region) climbing to Standedge at Longwood with a freight in 1964; class 5 No. 45350 approaching Sough Tunnel with 13.25 Colne to Manchester Red Bank parcels on 15 June 1968; 8F No. 48348 on 12.00 Rose Grove (Burnley) to Healey Mills coal empties near Towneley Tunnel on climb through Cliviger gorge;; BR Standard clss 5 No. 73067 on Christmas Mail extra waits at Tunnel End, Marsden to join remaining Standedge Tunnel on 18 December 1967 (former single bore tunnels had closed in October 1966); 8F No. 48519 climbs towards Todmorden on Calder Valley main line with an additional coal train from Healey Mills to Padiham power station on 23 June 1968; Class 5 No. 44983 slipping on frosty rails near Golcar on climb to Standedge; Class 5 4-6-0s Nos. 44871 and 44894 at Black Rock on Stephenson Locomotive Society special on 4 August 1968 (KPJ passed this point almost daily for nearly five years and never noticed the black rock (millstone grit) above train and behind tall telegraph pole)

Jeremy Clarke. Into Ashford by the back door. 300-7
The main thrust is that of a rather old fashioned examination of the route from Swanley Junction down through Otford through Maidtone and along the line of the North Downs to Ashford. There were few grand engineering works and none comparable with the Polhill and Sevenoaks Tunnels on the South Eastern's cut-off line between London and Dover. The line from Swanley Junction originated as the Sevenoaks Railway which opened to Bat & Ball on 2 June 1862. From a junction near Otford the Sevenoaks, Maidstone & Tunbridge Railway projected the route to Maidstone and another nominally independent Maidstone & Ashford Railway achieved the final objective albeit with a separate station at Ashford opened on 1 July 1884. Electrification reached Sevenoaks (via Swanley Junction) on 6 January 1935; Maidstone East on 2 July 1959 and Ashford on 9 October 1961. Lullingstone Airport was backed by the Southern Railway who started work on the station, but was attacked by Arthur Mee, Editor of the children's Newspaper: it failed to survive WW2, but it is not clear whether the station was ever used (some Post-War) excursions were scheduled to call there. Illustrations: No. 37 609 in Direct Rail Services livery with SERCO test train on Eynsford Viaduct on 12 September 2008 (colour: Rodney Lissenden); map No. 73 101 on Venice Simplon Orient Express passing Kemsing en route for Folkestone on 14 August 1997 (colour: Rodney Lissenden); H class 0-4-4T No. 1264 at Swanley with train for Sevenoaks; H class 0-4-4T No. 1519 at Swanley with birdcage set  for Sevenoaks (new power signal box completed) in 1939; Eynsford station (date given as 1955 bur Southern Railway signage still in situ); Otford station in snow and littkle evidence of third rail; Wrotham & Borough Green station (caption states 1930s but probably 1920s); Malling station in 1900s (later West Malling)); East Malling Halt being extended with concrete platforms in 1939; Barming looking west c1955; Maidstone East station with Southern Railway signage, third rail and Week Street Tunnel portal see also page 274; Bearstead station; Hollingbourne station during electrification works; Hothfield Halt. See also letters from Stephen Bacon who lived in Eynsford railway station, and from Frankland Macdonald Wood who points out errors on the map and ,mentions proposed railway through Loose and Boughtonn Monchelsea to Headcorn, as well as substatial bridge across Medway to Tovil Paper Mills.

L.F.E. Coombs. Failures. 308-11.
Railway accidents caused by drivers failing to see or misread signals. This could be due to the poor design of the signals and their primitive illumination. It was a long time before colours were standardized and yellow was adopted for distant signals. Fog caused great difficuties. Many railways in Britain adopted a right hand driving position which made signal viewing diffiucult and positioning at most intermediate stations. Little attention was paid to the location of controls on the footplate until very late. Cites Rolt's Red for danger, Hall's Railway detectives and Rich's observations on cab ergonomics

L.A. Summers.  A revisionist view of Edward Thompson. Part three. 312-16.
Previous part began page 226. The L1 2-6-4T; the very successful O1 2-8-0 rebuilt from the Robinson O4 type with B1 boilers, cylinders and cabs; some O4 were merely reboilered with the B1 boiler. The 2-8-0s are not illustrated. Thompson's rebuilld of the Raven S3 4-6-0 is briefly mentioned, but casual reading could imply that this was a rebuild of that by Gresley: it was similar to Gresley's but employed three sets of valve gear. The bulk of the S3 class remained unchanged until withdrawn. The new J72 0-6-0Ts are subjected to the usual Summers diatribe to cover the 94XX saga presumably. The J72 must have been very cheap and at least one should have been forced upon every heritage railway and serviced from a manufactury in Shildon. They were not a Thompson standard. Illustrations: L1 No. 9000 (in apple green) alongside D16/3 at country end of eastern side of Liverpool Street station; remains of No. 2005 as Pacific without name and with "NE" on tender; K1 2-6-0 No. 62045 at West Hartlepool station (L.A. Summers). See also letters from Don Rowland and from Bill Dickinson.

Readers' Forum 317

Dorset delight ..• or not. David Preston
I don't like to nitpick but in referring to the Lyme Regis branch as a Dorset branch is not really correct - only about the last 600 yards (into Lyme Regis station) is in Dorset, the rest, including Combpyne station, is in Devon. Only the first two (of a cracking collection of shots!) in the feature are in Dorset and the "rolling Dorset countryside" is in fact the rolling Devon countryside ... ,

The Marples Report. John Macnab .
An excellent two-part resume of the infamous report and its author (Backtrack February and March) that continues to inspire debate more than half a century on. It has certainly earned its place in the annals of British railway history.
The comments on p 145 (March) that collected data was processed by hand in the pre-computer age is all too true. For a period in 1968 I was employed in the section of BR Scottish Region, Buchanan House, Glasgow, dealing with the closures still outstanding and census figures were called for from certain service routes for passengers joining and alighting over a period of a week. Needless to say, the gathered figures called for much amending and correcting mathematically if nothing else. No two columns at the final destination tallied whatsoever! We had to shuffle the figures about over the whole journey to make the numbers agree which defeated the whole purpose of the exercise - we could have done it 'in-house'!
To say jiggery-pokery played a part in closure proposals not only in this particular respect is in no doubt. I can add as a postscript that writers and researchers on such related matters within the Scottish Region and much else have commented on the relative paucity of information now deposited in national archival offices. The section mentioned was very good at filling black bin bags of written matter.

Railway goods depots — modelling the reality. Chris Mills
It was a pleasant surprise to see the article on historical modelling, as represented by Dewsbury Town. You are right, I think, to express the editorial view that Backtrack will remain a publication devoted to its traditional approach, which is its USP. There are other magazines which well cover modelling aspects of railway history. Some of those aspects may pass by the readership of Backtrack, although the subjects may well have had significant influence on the development of railways. I doubt many of the readership have considered the process of ageing and decay of rolling stock, a subject of prime interest to modellers if a realistic scene is required, but learning lessons from early deterioration of stock was a driving factor in design development on the prototype.
Both branches of railway interest can learn from each other, eventually. Unfortunately visual 'record' has a far higher impact than the written word, so things seen on a model tend to become 'facts' which are then difficult to displace. Thus there is an imperative to ensure that a publicly displayed model does not distort the historical understanding. This is becoming increasingly difficult as the past recedes, particularly since so many of those around at the time of the real railway didn't really pay too much attention to what was going on.
As a builder of wagons for a very large exhibition layout I have, for years, been banging my head against a brick wall over the subject of 'model' speeds - a difficult balancing act between realism and maintaining public interest at an exhibition. At last there is light at the end of the tunnel (or in this case, the viaduct), the results of which should hopefully be on display at this Easter's exhibition at York. All the locomotives have, at last, been programmed to not exceed a true scale speed for the type of work on which they appear - no more 'Deltics' on a diversionary route travelling at 90mph. Hopefully coal trains will stay in view for three minutes whilst they pass through the public gaze. Perhaps even enough time to enable the viewers to see that not all wagons are the same; Backtrack readers will be welcome to identify how many different types of 21-ton coal hopper there were! ,

Railway goods depots — modelling the reality. Terry Walsh 
Congratulations on publishing. Not only is it worthy in its own right but sometimes, as I discovered when I modelled a Midland 'coal hole', the only way we can now find out how these things operated is to model one. The article reminded me so much of the much lamented Modellers' Backtrack, a truly excellent magazine which I still re-read from time to time. By all means let's have more

Kemble station —The branches and the rail bus years. Robin Leleux
May I add a postscript to Mike Fenton's interesting and thought-provoking pair of articles in the January and March issues? BR Western Region obviously at some stage replaced the large 1930s running-in board illustrated on p57. This seems to have comprised two enamelled panels, the upper saying KEMBLE and the lower presumably (I do not know the exact wording) advising changing for Cirencester and Tetbury. Whether the lower panel was taken away after closure I do not know. Certainly the upper panel appeared in a local 'Collectors Corner' organised by the WR at its Worcester MPD Open Day on 12th April 1969 along with Kemble totem signs. The asking prices were five shillings (=25p) for the totems and half a crown (two shillings and six pence = 12.5p) for the RiB panel. I bought the latter and loaded it on to my elderly bicycle for the long walk up hill home for display in my garage. Likewise it was mounted in the garden when we moved to Wellingborough but alas I never got round to do so when we moved to Yorkshire.
Then in 2017 the Tetbury Rail Lands Regeneration Trust submitted its nicely restored original goods shed at Tetbury for the National Railway Heritage Awards where it received a Highly Corn mended certificate. Having seen pictures of the work at the Awards Presentation Ceremony I realised that my Kemble sign would be better on display there than skulking behind boxes in my garage in Yorkshire. So a few e-mails later it was all arranged and the sign duly transported south where hopefully it is on show on its home turf.
As an aside, it was depressing to read how lack of initiative, drive and general no us were prevalent in the early 1960s, for example in failing to capitalise on the heavily increasing passenger loadings on the Cirencester branch by putting on regular through workings, with sensible DMU stock, to Swindon and Gloucester which were already becoming congested. These would be a God-send now. Instead the railway left itself wide open to the depredations of the Beeching Report. See also letter from A.M. Jervis.

Kemble station — the branches and the rail bus years . Michael Pearson
I thoroughly enjoyed Mike Fenton's two-part evocation of Kemble and its branch lines. It was a model of railway journalism in the clarity of its chronology and sense of place and atmosphere engendered. Hitherto I hadn't appreciated Cirencester's slgnificance as the original terminus of the broad gauge branch from Swindon. The town was indeed misfortunate to lose its railway. Similarly the likes of Witney, Marlborough and Devizes which would all benefit from the connectivity of a rail service today, their hardly lengthy lines abandoned as unremunerative in the sixties for paltry savings.
Shares the author's fondness for Kemble's timeless character, having used it on a number of occasions in recent years as a railhead for walks down the Golden Valley along the towpath of the Thames & Severn Canal. Kemble reminds me of Sleaford, another station which has retained its identity in the face of so much change. Well done Mr. Fenton, well done Backtrack!

Shropshire's railways. Stephen Berry
Re caption to photograph at top of p204: the station was not three-platformed; it was Coalport East (a single-platformed terminus) that is illustrated. The two-platformed station (known simply as Coalport) was to the west. The distinction is that East was owned by the LNWR/LMSR and the west by the GWR. West opened on 1 February 1862 and closed on 9 September 1963; East opened on 10 June 1861 and closed on 2 June 1952. Suffixes were not generally used before nationalisation where two separate companies had only one station each at a particular location, but I cannot find any refence to the official addition of suffixes to either of these stations.

Derby Staff Training College. W. Taylor 
Re John Glover's mention of Leslie James in his letter was most welcome, making it very clear that he was held in high esteem by those whom he trained during his tenure as Principal of the College. The "monumental work" which he refers to was published in 1980 and a copy has graced my bookshelves for more than twenty years. Leslie James BA, LLB, FCIT joined the Legal Department of what was at the time the British Transport Commission, progressing through posts of regional police officer of BTP and senior personnel officer on the Eastern Region of BR, fmally to his appointment as Principal of the College. I
n his foreword to the book he comments "I have been fascinated by the complexity of railway legal problems and have derived considerable intellectual enjoyment in seeking to elucidate them". I, for one, am extremely grateful for his endeavours because it was The Law of the Railway which persuaded me to investigate the details of the (mainly) nineteenth century cases cited by Leslie by spending many hours at the Portland Building of Nottingham University where transcripts of the reports are held, and in turn it set me off to start the 'Railway in Court' series of articles which your Editor has very kindly published during the past few years.

The trials and triumphs of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway. Mike Barnsley. 317-18
Re article on the Midland & South Western Junction Railway he was surprised that no mention is made of the signihcant milestone in the development of the line that took place in 1898. When the Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway opened in 1881/2, Ludgershall station, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, wasn't expected to see much traffic as the surrounding area was sparsely populated. But everything changed after 1897, when the Government purchased a large part of the Plain to provide a manoeuvres area for the army. The Army then organised a large-scale manoeuvres exercise on the Plain for the summer of 1898. Many thousands of troops and their equipment had to be transported to and from the Plain and Ludgershall was obviously a convenient railhead.
As noted in the article, at that time the 62 miles of line, from the Midland Railway main line at Cheltenham in the north, down to Ludgershall in the south, was only single track, apart from a seven-mile double stretch between Marlborough and Grafton. The section from Andover to ludgershall, for trains coming up from the south, was only 7½ miles, but again was only single track and Ludgershall station only had a small station with a passing loop and a small goods siding. Nevertheless, the task of transporting a considerable number of the troops was entrusted to the M&SWJR, despite serious doubts that the single line railway could cope.
However, manager Sam Fay had had experience of organising special traffic for races and military or naval reviews during his time with the London & South Western Railway and he knew his M&SWJR well. He drew up a seven sheets of paper, showing in detail how the traffic would be handled. Preparations included the installation of electric lamps at Ludgershall to allow trains to be handled during the hours of darkness, while a new 1,000yd-long siding and loading platform, capable of handling up to four trains at a time, was laid in immediately north of the original Ludgershall station. Also, to relieve pressure on Ludgershall, it was agreed that cavalry and artillery units would be taken to Weyhill, the next station down the line.
Over four days at the start and end of the manoeuvres period, the M&SWJR dealt with a total of 63 trains, carrying some 26,000 officers and men, 1483 horses, 51 military wagons and five batteries of artillery, more than half the total engaged in the manoeuvres. The only hitches involved horses. One bolted and got stuck in the station fencing, another tried to escape between two cattle wagons and the train had to be parted to get it out. A third flatly refused to board the train and eventually had to be sent on by road. The achievements of 1898 demonstrated to the military authorities just how useful even a basic railway could be for the movement of large numbers of troops and in due course the knowledge was put to good use, both at home and abroad. After 1898, up to the First World War, considerable numbers of troops and their horses and equipment were transported to and fr om Salisbury Plain via the M&SWJR, providing a valuable source of income for the railway which ensured that it would now be consistently profitable.
After the success of the manoeuvres, the War Office decided to build permanent barracks at Tidworth, about 2½ miles south west of Ludgershall. Sam Fay's successor as M&SWJR manager, lames Purkess, negotiated the building of the branch line from Ludgershall to Tidworth. Although operated as a branch of the M&SWJR, the line was owned by the War Department, being built on its land without the usual Parliamentary Act. Initially the line was used for the conveyance of building materials for the barracks, but later on it catered for passenger traffic to and from the barracks, providing further welcome income for the railway company.
After war was declared in 1914, the emphasis on military traffic over the M&SWjR changed to transport to and from Southampton Docks and, over the war years, the company conveyed 181,683 officers, 2,992,202 men, 134,852 horses, 8,717 vehicles and guns, 5,730 cycles, 15,176 tons of baggage and 9,021 truckloads of ammunition, and ran 6,452 special and 1,488 ambulance trains.
A few other points. Photographs in David Batholomew's Wild Swan M&SWjR book, taken prior to the opening, clearly show both up and down platforms at Chiseldon and Ogbourne. On the other hand, Blunsdon never had a passing loop until the station was resurrected by the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. The photograph of 4·4·0 No.1l23 at Cheltenham St. lames almost certainly shows a local train to Gloucester, as trains for the M&SWjR line continued to depart from Cheltenham Lansdown up until 1958. The M&SWjR's entry into Cheltenham was not facilitated by the GWR, but by the impecunious Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway, which in 1891 owned the line from Andoversford to Cheltenham. However, the GWR operated the line so, until 1896 when the GWR bought the B&CDR, it was a three- cornered fight, with the M&SWjR wanting to use the line, the B&CDR happy to let it, albeit at the maximum possible cost, and the GWR making it difficult.
The line from Cirencester to Andoversford was sanctioned for opening for the beginning of March 1891, temporary repairs allowing traffic to run despite the slip by Chedworth cattle creep, and on 16th March a train carrying the company directors and officials was able to run through from Andover to Cheltenham. The line was then opened for goods traffic. Unfortunately Cheltenham was not ready for M&SWjR passenger traffic and so regular passenger services could not start until 1st August. However, an excursion ran from Cirencester to Cheltenham, Worcester and Birmingham on 30th June 1891 and on 18th July 1891 another ran over the full length of the M&SWjR from Cheltenham to Andover and then on to Southampton.
A further step forward in 1896 was the establishment of workshops at Cirencester, enabling the M&SWjR to repair its locomotives and stock at cost instead of paying a premium to a third party, while at the same time avoiding the need to wait their turn in somebody else's queue.

Looking West. Michael J. Smith 
In my letter in the March issue the mention of "westbound H&C trains" serving Royal Oak and Paddington (Suburban) on their way to the City should refer to eastbound trains. Please accept my apologies for this error.

Book Reviews 318

A detailed history of the LMS 'Patriot' 4-6-0s. John Jennison. Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. 224pp. Reviewed by Michael Blakemore *****
The LMSR's 5XP 'Patriot' 4-6-0s do seem do seem to a have a place in the affections of many enthusiasts. In 1929 Sir Henry Fowler, the company's CME, wrote "There are 129 'Claughton' engines which were built between 1913 and 1919, for the purpose of working heavy passenger trains on the old London & North Western system. They have not given the satisfaction that was hoped for, being very heavy in coal and water consumption and also in shed maintenance." Having gone on to regard the rebuilt engines with larger boilers as better but "still not as efficient as they should be", Fowler went on to propose rebuilding two of them as three cylinder engines with independent valve gear to each cylinder, as on the already very successful 'Royal Scots'. The resultant locomotives became what were at first affectionately known as the 'Baby Scots' and later more officially as the 'Patriot' Class.
The 50 others of the class out under William Stanier's time in office and became a modest success story.
The format of these volumes in the RCTS 'Locomotives of the LMSR Series' is well known by now and this one follows suit. Chapters cover Design and Construction, Tenders, Boilers, Livery and related details, Operation and Allocations and Performance on the Road. The 'Patriots' established presences on the West Coast and Midland routes, but the Stanier 'Jubilees' in the same power classification took many of their prime duties and so their performances on the road received less coverage than was deserved from the stopwatch brigade, so it is good to see their record given due credit. Logs from both main lines to the north show the 'Pats' could tackle sizeable loads and their 6ft 9in driving wheels could produce fast running.
Another chapter is devoted to the eighteen 'Patriots' rebuilt with the larger Stanier taper boilers in the manner in which all the 'Royal Scots' were 'converted'. The eighteen rebuilt 'Patriots' fulfilled the railway's operating needs and consideration was given to the fate of the other 34 as "they looked increasingly obsolescent when compared with the rebuilt engines". In the end the parallel boiler locomotives lasted until 1962, the final rebuilt ones in 1965. None of the 'Royal Scots' was set aside for official preservation as their rebuilt status ruled them out according to the criteria of the time. Perhaps an original 'Patriot' might have been selected, but that was not the case and their demise preceded the preservation boom. However, a project to remedy this omission is in hand with the construction of a new one and a chapter is therefore given over to 'No.5551 The Unknown Warrior'. It will become a 'National Memorial Engine' and we can look forward to seeing a 'Patriot' once again.
Another outstanding contribution to locomotive history from the RCTS and thoroughly recommended.

From the files, an artist looks at locomotive development. Robin Barnes. Camden Miniature Steam Services, 50 large (300mm x 300mm) colour plates. Reviewed by Miles Macnair *****
Readers of Backtrack will doubtless be familiar with the articles and delightful watercolour paintings by Robin Barnes, images used to illustrate and illuminate railway scenes and locomotives for which there is no photographic record. His first book Locomotives that never were Uane's, 1985) was followed by Broader than Broad (Locomotives International, 1998) and both are now prized collectors' items. His latest offering spans a lifetime of researching the more unusual aspects of locomotive design from around the world, some that that were indeed built and others that never progressed beyond the drawing board. It is a true Aladdin's cave of delights. Who, for example, ever knew that a 2-6-0 outside cylinder locomotive, originally meant for an overseas customer but destined for the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, would find itself rebuilt at Cowlairs for working over the lines of the North British Railway in 1916? And how about lan Hunter's proposed design for a powerful, compound 4-4-4-4 'Duplex' for the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch 15in. gauge railway in 1948? To be named Cinque Port of Romney it would have outwardly looked rather like a long, thin Bulleid Pacific, though with a lot more wheels.
The author's depth and breadth of knowledge is outstanding, here wrapped in an entertaining, personal travelogue to many obscure railway locations both in the UK and abroad. His publishers and printers have certainly done him proud in the quality of reproduction, though older readers may wish that the font size had been a little larger. It is, admittedly, quite expensive, but will surely become a classic - a five-star recommendation.

Henry Eoghan O'Brien — an engineer of nobility. Gerald M. Beesley, self-published, 2018, 241pp. Reviewed by Peter Tatlow ****
A biography of an interesting railway engineer who, but for his early retirement, might have had a marked effect on the development of the railways of Britain during the inter-war years. Born of a noble Irish landed gentry, earlier generations had served in the British Army, Indian Civil Service and the railways. Following an upper-class education and training with Kitson's of Leeds and the Dublin & Wexford Railway, he entered the service of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1898 as a pupil of Sir John Aspinall and rose to become Assistant Chief Mechanical Engineer in 1910. He undertook military service during World War I with the Royal Engineers and at the Ministry of Munitions, which saw him rise to the rank of Colonel, subsequently advising Government bodies. He was generally active in promoting electric railways; as well as the technical aspects he was equally aware of the financial viability of schemes. Upon the amalgamation of the LNWR and L YR in January 1922, he was appointed Electrical Engineer and a year later of the LMS.
Following O'Brien's presentation during 1924 of a couple of papers on the electrification of main line railways to professional bodies, however, it became apparent that he held views at odds with the board regarding long-term motive power policy and as a consequence he retired from the LMS at the end of January 1925 at the age of just 48. So died any thoughts of electrifying the West Coast Main line for 30 years and one wonders what Josiah Stamp might have made of him, had their careers on the LMS overlapped by just a few years. From semi-retirement, he continued to involve himself in electrification in Eire, airships and the Channel Tunnel, aided by his fluency in several languages.
All this, with the book's appendices and comprehensive index, might justly warrant five stars, but regrettably the quality of reproduction of admittedly a generous range of illustrations is, apart perhaps from the few rendered in colour, rather disappointing and well below that expected of current productions.

Morning has broken. Trevor Owen. rear cover

British Railways 'Warship' diesel-hydraulic No. D862 Viking on the turntable at Bristol Bath Road locomotive depot in May 1966. See also pages 352-3. Might be termed the turntable Issue: rare to see a diesel on a tuntable and few exist on heritage railways: the NRM makes its rumble on most days.

June 2019 (Number 338)

'Twas in the year of '55. Michael Blakemore. 323
Editorial: an article this month asserts that 1955 was steam's last great year on the railways of Britain. That in itself might not be enough to attribute any intrinsic greatness to 1955, but other things happened in that year which influenced the course of future events, in Britain at least. Then lists some of the external factors such as Winston Churchill's retirement as prime minister and Newcastle United winning the FA Cup and British classic films such as The Ladykillers with scenes filmed around King's Cross. Then wanders onto items in Trains Illustrated which KPJ missed as he was doing National Service mainly in Cyprus and the less said about that the better. There is a colourless colour photograph of one of BR's 174 new steam locomotives in 1955; namely Standard Class 4 No.75067 which entered traffic in September; seen on the turntable at Bournemouth shed, provided by Colour-Rail.

Mixed freight. David Idle. 324-6
Colour photo-feature: 9F 2-10-0 No. 92152 passing Bromsgrove station at foot of Lickey Incline with unfitted coal train on 1 August 1963; J27 No. 65879 at Ryhope Grange in County Durham on 18 July 1967; K1 No.  62002 moving wagons from coal staithes at North Blyth on 20 August 1965; BR Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75048 crossing viaduct over River Kent with freight which included empty oil tanks from Glaxo at Plumpton; Hall class No. 6932 without nameplates photographed from train near Taplow with coal train on 5 September 1965; Stanier Class 5 No. 45295 with northbound unfitted freight at Beattock Suummit on 26 March 1964; WD Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90417 with empty steel hopper wagons at Ryhope Grange on 20 July 1967.

Roger Griffiths and John Hooper. The varied history of a small North Eastern engine shed - Northallerton. Part one. 327-31
Situated at the point where the Leeds Northern Railway en route from Leeds to Stockton via Ripon interacted with the East Coast Main Line with a branch line to Leyburn later extended to Hawes. Rather surprisingly the Great Northern Railway had a working which reached Northallerton and may have been involved in milk traffic. There is considerable detail of the locomotive classes which were stationed there during the LNER period (as compiled by W.B. Yeadon): F8 2-4-2T; J21, J22, J24, J25 and J27 0-6-0 classes; G5 0-4-4T; J73 and J71 0-6-0T; Q6 0-8-0; D17 and D20 4-4-0; A6 4-6-2T and N8, N9 and N10 0-6-0T and Y3 Sentinel shunter (for milk traffic at Leyburn). See also article on Northallerton station in Volume 5 page 196. Part 2.

Peter Tatlow. Crane laying of prefabricated track. Part three. Relaying prefabricated switches and crossings by crane. 332-5
Series began on page 70. On the LMS and London Midland Region the manufacture and assemnly of points and crossings was contracted out to Taylor Bros. of Sandiacre near Nottingham. The Divisional Civil Engineer, Manchester used the former Carriage & Wagon Works at Newton Heath to pre-assemble points and crossings under cover. Bibliography including online sources and digital versions of former films. Illustrations: LNER J6 class 0-6-0 No.6591 on ballast train which included a 10-ton travelling steam crane in June 1932; LNER Cowans Sheldon steam bcrane lifting complex double diamond crossing during renewal of Waterworks crossing at York on 4 December 1949; Taylor & Hubbard travelling steam crane during renewal of double slip crossing at Waterloo throat with H15 4-6-0 No. 30522 beehind on 16 June 1957 (J.H. Ashton); Relaying gang using sleeper tongs at Guildford on 18 October 1970; Cowans Sheldon  renewing crossing under overhead catenary with 12-tonne diesel-hydraulic strut jib crane (colour: M.S. Welch); Dooble crossing with diamond crossing for Manchester Mayfield as pre-assembled at Newton Heath (M.S. Welch); Colas Rail Kirow 125-tonne diesel-hydraulic crane on Strathspey Railway during instaallation of bridge across River Dulrain on 2 February 2014 (colour: H. Pollock). Part 4 see page 474 et seq

George Watson. Rail-Roving in Scotland. 336-7
Colour photo-feature with extended captions: preserved No. 256 Glen Douglas and J37 No. 64632 taking water at Garelochhead on 1 June 1963 on disastrous farewell to steam railtour over West Highland Line; Caledonian 812 class No. 57581 at Brechin station on RCTS/SLS Scottish Rail Tour on 17 June 1962; Stanier Class 3 2-6-2T No. 40150 at Thurso with 17.00 to Georgemas Junction on 26 June 1961; Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42277 at Catrine on 20 June 1962 Scottish Rail Tour; NBR 0-6-0 No. 65345 {NOT as caption which states No. 57581) at Edzell on 17 June 1962: subsequently reported to be at Alva; BR Class 4 2-6-4T No. 80028 at Killin with 10.54 for Killin Junction on 29 August 1965

James Johnson. The Glasgow Central Railway and its rivals. 338-40
The North British Railway already had a partially underground railway through the centre of Glasgow with a Low Level station at Queen Street and two further City-centre stations at Charing Cross and at High Street and lines which went further west and east. The Caledonian Railway was irked by its dependence upon the North  British to access te Stobcross area of the City. The Glasgow Central Railway was promoted by the Caledonian Railway with Glasgow Central Low Level — a subterranean smoke-filled steam railway which survived into 1960, although the Caledonian had obtained powers to electrify in 1898. Illustrations: Maryhill station with passenger and freight trains, c1900; map; Kelvinhall station in BR period; Kelvin Bridge station; Botanic Gardens station with open-top electric trams passing. See also letter from John Macnab and from Author

Glen Kilday. Uninteresting places. 341-5
John Langley Baxter was the author of The illustrated official guide and tourist's hand book to the North Eastern Railway and its branches; published by M. & M.W. of Newcastle upon Tyne.(title page reproduced: Ottley 7129)

John C. Hughes. Fraudulent promotion on the Mersey Railway. 346-50
Illustrations: Mersey  steam ferry with ice flows in the River (engraving); top-hatted guests being pushed in wagon to February 1885 event in tunnel (engraving); share issue advertisement from St. James's Gazette 18 June 1885; stage and grandstand in centre of tunnel to mark end of gulf between Liverpool and Birkrenhead attended by both Mayors (engraving); Williamson Square station map; Royal party at grand opening in Jnuary 1886 (engraving);  0-6-4T The Major at Rock Ferry.

Trevor Owen and John Scholes. Pannier tank at Talywain. 351
Colour photo-feature: National Coal Board 0-6-0PT former GWR No, 7754 built by North British Locomotive Co. (WN 24042/1930) with coal wagons on 13 October 1959 (three views).

'Warships' of the Western Line. 352-3
Colour photo-feature of diesel hydraulics in original livery except where noted otherwise: D804 Avenger with westbound fitted freight passing Dawlish station in May 1966; No. D867 Zenith with freight at Plymouth North Road in June 1966; maroon No. D823 Heremes at Honiton with green carriages in July 1966, and No. D813 Diadem withengineers' train on Dawlish sea wall in June 1966. See also front cover

A.J. Mullay. 1955 — BR steam's last great year. 354-61.
See also Editorial. In 1955 a French electric locomotive had broken the 200 mph 'barrier', but British Railways still had 4-4-0s heading express passenger services. However, while technically outmoded, and with an announced modernisation plan which would take fifteen years to complete, at least BR still made a profit, eight years after nationalisation. But that was about to change, After 1955 British Railways went off a cliff — metaphorically. 1955 was the last when the largely steam-powered BR made a profit. How much of a profit was arguable. Bonavia's British Rail: the first 25 years. quotes a £14.8 million net income in 1954 down to £100,000 in the following year. One factor officially advanced to explain the fall in profit was industrial action by footplatemen in the summer, believed to have cost £12 million, equivalent to the overall decrease in net earnings.
Gourvish British Railways 1948-73: a business history.showed Regional differences, with the Southern having ceased to be BR's most profitable Region having tumbled from a profit of £5 million in 1954 to a deficit of nearly £3 million by the following year. At that time even the London Midland, regarded almost universally as being too large generated a net revenue of over £7 million, but. none could compare, with the North Eastern, which would continue to make profits into the 1960s.
In  Mullay's 'A diesel named Diesel' in Backtrack 2011, 25, 396, it was suggested that the size of BR's debt could be interpreted as "the funding of market reward", an impression underlined by Nicholas Devonport's Memoirs of a City Radical which asserts that the nationalisation of transport was "a bonanza for the Stock Exchange", underwritten, it seems, by British Railways purchasing the obsolete privately owned timber coal wagons.
The Modernisation Plan. costed at approximately £1,240 million, promised electrification, 2500 main line diesels, up to 4600 diesel multiple unit vehicles, new stations and marshalling yards, along with the elimination of steam traction within fifteen years. The logistical challenge involved in the last point was in no way trivial as there were nearly 19,000 steam locomotives operating on BR in 1954, despite the retraction in the system and piecemeal introduction of some DMUs, triggering an increase in steam engine withdrawals. The Plan had a predecessor, one which never saw fulfilment. By the dawn of the 1950s, the Railway Executive had prepared to approach Government with proposals for a £500 million improvement scheme built on extending electrification on the East and West Coast Main Lines and on the Southern. There would be new marshalling yards, stations, signalling and, curiously, helicopter terminals. Diesel multiple units featured, but not locomotives, implying that steam power would continue on those long-distance lines not selected for electrification.  No diesel locomotives were seen as necessary to complete the Railway Executive's plan and electrification was very much in line with the pre-war Weir Committee's recommendations for long-term conversion to electric traction, emphasising the use of lower-grade coal by power-stations.
Events overtook all this planning, when the 1953 Transport Act swept away all the transport executives except London's. This legislation was politically inspired, intended to free commercial road users, operating both passenger and freight from State controls.
Coal traffic was still very large, but too little attention was paid to modernising freight movements and thus made it vulnerable to road competition even before motorway construction began. The last part of the article is an attempt to assess the character of passenger services as recorded by C.J. Allen and O.S. Nock: puctuality was often poor and Mullay is rightly critical of the failure to provide adequate motive power north of Crewe on the London Midland: the 21.25 overnight train from Euston to Glasgow moved more slowly than fitted freights on the ECML.
Illustrations: Standard Class 5 4-6-0 No.7311 5 passing Bramshot with a Manchester-Bournemouth train on 2 March 1957 with train formed of older former LMS rolling stock in carmine & cream livery (Trevor Owen: colour; non-stop Elizabethan hauled by A4 No.60009 Union of South Africa at Monktonhall Junction on down service on 1 July1954. (Eric Bruton); Jubilee class 4-6-0s Nos.45639 Raleigh and 45622 Nyasaland await departure at St. Pancras in October 1956 (T.J. Edgington: colour); light-weight DMU for Bradford Exchange alongside A1 No. 60123 H.A. Ivatt at Leeds Central c1957; No. 46116 Irish Guardsman on down Palantyne leaving Wellingborough in 1958; 2P 4-4-0 No. 40692 with express headlamps leaving Liverpool Central for Manchester Central in 1952; 2P 4-4-0 No. 40682 and Class 5 No. 44856 leaving Derby om 12.40 Newcastle to Bristol service on 20 April 1956; Schools V class 4-4-0 No. 30929 Rugby at Waterloo East on 12.16 Charing Cross to Hastings(J.F. Davies); English Electric Type 1 No. D8027 at Devons Road shed on 13 April 1958; retarder in hump marshalling yard at Thornton with 16-ton coal wagon  See also letter from John P. Hitchen 

The Great Bear. 362-3.
Photo feature of Churchward's Great Western Pacific: Locomotive Publishing Co. card based on coloured photograph (in colour: remainder black & white); at Paddington with express for Bristol c1920; in roundhouse at Old Oak Common; leaving Paddington with Bristol express pre-1913; and as Castle replacement No. 111 Viscount Churchill at Nottingham Victoria returning from Railway Centenary celebration at Darlington.

Alistair F. Nisbet. Railway curiosities 364-9
The text begins with a tale from the Dundee, Perth & Cupar Advertiser for 28 September 1845 which repeats a snippet fron The Globe which reported that returning race goers from Doncaster to Manchester were treated to the sight of a fox racing their special near Wharncliife Wood which ended by the fox being killed by the train. The Dundee Advertiser of March 1881 reported that on a snowbound Inverness to Perth at Dava some pigs had eaten the corpses of their fellos. The Aberdeen P ress & Journal reported that lions had siezed control of a station on the Ugandan Railways until a locomotive arrrived and scared them away with its whistle. The  Weekly reported that a bantam strutting on the line held up a passenger train at Guisley. Caterpillars on the tracks were a cause of delay to trains reported in the Dundee Advertiser of 15 June 1908. The LNER Magazine for May 1944 shows that cats were respected and evenn had a Cat Inspector and Ministry of Food allocated them a ration of dried milk. Illustrations: Dava station; Garfield, the station cat at Blunsdon; Guisley station; 0-6-0PT at Watlington with auto (push & pull) trailer; Nottingham Midland station; Widdrington station; Baker Street station in 2016; Railway Air Services aeroplane at Croydon; Collessie station; D34 4-4-0 No. 62471 Glen Falloch at Galashiels with a railtour on 4 April 1959 (W.A.C. Smith); Tom Sayer (bare knuckle fighter; N class 2-6-0 No. 31862 near Farnborough North; Chalk Farm station (London Transport original tiled platform sign). See also letter from Andrew Kleissner on heliports

Jeffrey Wells. The Daisyfield Affair — 1850. 370-1.
"Physical confrontation, often involving armies of navvies, marked the intense rivalries following the Mania on 1845-7. They usually concerned disputes over interpretation of agreements or statutory powers permitting one company to use the lines of another, and generally had to be resolved by the courts." This definition is in Jack Simmons's entry in The Oxford Companion to British Railway History pp. 28-9 which incorporates several examples including that at Daisy Field [sic] Junction. The dispute was between the East Lancashire Railway and the Lancashire &Yorkshire Railway and this account is based on what was reported in the Preston Guardian, Blackburn Standard, Manchester Times and even The Times and included verbal contributions from C.W. Eborall, General Manager of the ELR and Captain Laws, Managing Director of the LYR. Illustrations: Daisyfield station in 1939 in a semi-derilict state with only an LMS name sign to indicate and Blackburn station in 1966 with only British Railways signage to indicate it was not earlier.

Jeffrey Wells. Northern viaducts in the news. 372-7
The distinction between bridges and viaducts is tortuous: certain bridges are never known as viaducts: notably the Forh Bridge. Some viaducts are never known as bridges, notably Digswell or Welwyn Viaduct. Some viaduct-like structures are known as bridges, notably the Royal Border Bridge. Several key works are cited. Stockport Viaduct crossed the River Mersey on the Manchester & Birmingham Railway and opened on 21 December 1840. The engineer was George Watson Buck. A second viaduct to the west was construced between 1877 and 1879; the engineer being Francis Stevenson. Note Wells states Francis Thompson, but correctly notes that viaduct was not widened in traditional sense, but was duplicated. The Cefn Viaduct on the Shrewsbuury & Chester Railway Crosses the Dee Valley near Llangollen: the engineer was Henry Robertson and the contractor was Brassey.
Illustrations: Stockport Viaduct during construction of second viaduct in 1887 or 1888; Cefn Viaduct across Vale of Llangollen with diesel locomotive hauled freight train crossing (colour); Ashton Viaduct (colour); Mytholmbridge Viaduct (colour); Denby Dale timber viaduct during demolition c1880; Tonge Viaduct (Bolton); Whalley Viaduct with ballast train hauled by 8F No. 4847 and banked by BR Standard 2-6-0 No. 76082 on 25 August 1962 (B.G. Barlow); Whalley Viaduct decorative arches near Cistercian Whalley Abbey (colour).

Nick Deacon. Snapshots of the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway. 378-9
Brief history of line including origin in colliery business of J. & J. Charlesworth Ltd. D.S. Hartmann is stated to have been in charge of locomotives and permanent way. Refers tp brief  train servicce from Newmarket Silkstone in Stanley to Leeds over running powers over Midland Railway which was killed by tramway competition: see letter from Robin Leleux. Illustrations of locomotives: there is also a map of the system: LNER  J85 No. 3114 possibly in 1929 in post-works condition; 0-6-2ST No. 5 in original condition; LNER N19 No. 3115 at Ardsley shed.

Steve Burdett. As it was at Walsall. 380
Colour photo-feature with extended captions: station frontage on 6 March 1975; Type 40 diesel electric No. 40 089 on unfitted freight; Class 25 No. 25 104 passing Platform 2 with a coal train with circular booking hall above.

Readers' Forum 381-2

Editorial April issue. John Macnab 
May I permit myself to be added to those who offer feedback as you mention in the Editorial of the above issue. There is always something catches my eye other than what is written and pronounced upon in articles.
Your reference to 'miniature railways' engendering interest when we were but youngsters is noted and in my case this was in Arbroath which is my native heath. On the seafront alongside the main railway line ran Kerr's Miniature Railway which had been established in 1935. Having been 'mothballed' during World War II, in the post-war years of the late 1940s it was a mecca for myself and like-minded school chums.
There were two locomotives used with one powered by a motor car engine, named Auld Reekie, numbered 9822, in LNER green livery, modelled on the NBR 4-4-2 Atlantics. The other was a 'steam' one, named King George V and based on the GWR 'King' Class. All very splendid with owner, Matthew Kerr, calling forth "Sheer joy for the kiddies, sheer pleasure for the grown-ups". Indeed it was.

Editorial April issue. Philip Shelton
The mention in the editorial of the April issue of cliff railways and nomenclature reminded me of something which occurred nearly 50 years ago.
For a few years in the 1970s between his retirement and a serious illness my father served as an independent member of the local three-man VAT tribunal, VAT having been introduced in 1973. He mentioned on a number of occasions until his death in 1989 that his most interesting case had involved the Cliff Railway at Lynton. The actual company name is the Lynton and Lynmouth lift Company and the case revolved around whether the means of travel was a railway or a lift, the latter claim relating not only to the name but also that it was water-powered. If my memory is correct (I am now 75), if it were a railway it attracted VAT, if it were a lift it didn't. I regret my memory doesn't extend to remembering the final outcome.

Signalling between Gilberdyke and Brough. Leonard Rogers. 381 
Re article in April issue about signalling on the Selby to Hull line. The semaphores are truly history now, with the colour lights having been finally put into operation in early December 2018. Firstly, the gates at Oxmardyke, while unusual, were not unique. Brough had similar gates before the installation of its motorised boom gates in the mid-1960s. See the attached photograph of an eastbound train [B1 61080? on cooridor train] aken from the signal box at Brough East by E.E. Smith in the late 1950s. The tracks over the four-track section were arranged, from south to north, as up slow, up fast, down fast and down slow. The gates at Brough were arranged in two sets, one for the fast lines and the other for the slow lines. In Brough East box there were two separate gate wheels, one for each set of four gates. It was possible for the signalman to close only one set of gates at a time and this is what they often did. So, if a fast line train was signalled, they would close only the fast line gates, as shown in the photograph, and leave the slow lines gates open to the road. Slightly more unusual-looking was when only the slow lines gates were closed to road traffic and the fast lines gates, in between the slow lines which were on the outside of the formation, were left shut to rail traffic.
Secondly, the article speaks about the four-track section eastwards from Gilberdyke "to the outskirts of Hull" and about its having lasted until 1988. This is slightly ambiguous for a couple of reasons. One is that the four tracks never extended any further east than Hessle Haven, where the slow lines parted company from the fast lines to enter the marshalling yards, leaving just two tracks for passenger traffic to continue eastwards to Hull Paragon station. (Admittedly, Hessle is just outside HulL) Another is that the dequadrification of the Gilberdyke to Hessle Haven section, with the removal of the slow lines that had been added to the original pair of tracks in 1904, was a piecemeal affair. The last major section to go was Gilberdyke to Broomfleet, which did indeed last until 1988, but the process started nearly twenty years previously. In 1969 and 1970 the down slow from Broomfleet to Hessle Haven, apart from a short loop through the slow line platform at Brough, along with the up slow from Hessle to Ferriby and from Brough West to Broomfleet, were removed. In 1976 the up slow from Ferriby was cut short at Melton Lane and the facing connection at Brough West into the down slow platform was removed, along with the connection there out of the up slow back into the up fast, and Brough West closed. This left the Brough slow line platforms as bays facing Hull. They were kept for evening peak-hour workings, mainly for BAe workers, to Hull and taken out of use in the mid- 'noughties'. Finally, the slow lines from Gilberdyke to Broomfleet were taken out of use in 1988. This left the up slow from Ferriby to Melton Lane still in use and it continues so to this day, having been duly resignalled in the recent scheme. That all of these changes took place I can vouch for, having witnessed them myself, but for confirmation of dates I am indebted to an article by David Allen in Rail Magazine, issue 848, March 2018.

Shropshire's railways. David J. Mitchell 
Re caption for the picture of No.41285 on p199 in the April issue. The train is indeed the Oswestry-Gobowen auto train but the picture is of it in the bay at Gobowen having just arrived from Oswestry.

Shropshire's railways. Stephen G. Abbott 381 
Shrewsbury has regained a limited London through service. Since December 2014 Virgin West Coast has operated two trains daily (one on Sundays) to and from Euston. In the illustration on p204 the LNWR Coal Tank' is at Coalport East station, closed in 1952 as mentioned in the text; three-platform Coalport West was on the Severn Valley line.

Shropshire's railways. David Jenkins
Top photograph on p. 201 is not an arrival scene, but a scene of the impending departure of the down 'CCE'. Fringford Monor has coupled on to the rear of the train brought in from London at the south end of Platform 4 and awaits the 'right away' for Aberystwyth/Pwllheli.

Shropshire's railways. Chris Magner 381
Henry Robertson was Engineer to the Shrewsbury & Chester, designing the magnificent viaducts at Cefn Mawr and Chirk. Wellington to Craven Arms closed to passengers on 31 December 1951. The last passenger was HM The Queen. When making her first visit to Wales on 23 October 1952 the Royal Train was stabled at Harton Road station overnight on 22nd and 23rd. She also enjoyed being hauled by two Castle Class locomotives, Nos.7030 and 7036, from Marsh Lane Junction to Llandrindod Wells.
Craven Arms sub-shed closed as from Monday 24 May 1965, its last duties being on Saturday 22nd. Friday 21rd was the last day of goods and steam-hauled trains over the Central Wales line. 8F No.48732 worked the final 'local' (so-called) freight service.

Streamlined colour. John Macnab 381
Re coloured photo-feature in April issue and especially that of the LMS Duchess of Gloucester departing Euston in 1938 had me thinking I have seen this before as, if I recall aright, it featured on the front cover of an issue of Railway Wonders of the World from that period of time. Perhaps others of my age group can verify this or otherwise.
Photo of the Silver Jubilee departing King's Cross in 1935 to much acclaim had him recalling the demise of the triple and twin [articulated] seating coaches that became Scottish stock, never returning to their heady pre-war days but used on the Fife Coast Express between Glasgow Queen Street and Leven/St. Andrews for a time being an only exception. In his employ with BR he saw them off for breaking up in Ardmore yard (between Cardross and Craigendoran) in December 1963/January 1964.

Kemble and its branches. A.M. Jervis. 381  
Further to Leleux's letter in the May issue, I can confirm from photographs that the lower panel of the enamel running-in board on Kemble's down platform read (on two lines and all in upper case) 'Change for Cirencester/and Tetbury'.lt was there on 7 March 1964, a month before closure of the branches, but had disappeared, leaving an empty frame below 'Kemble, by 27 June 1966.
'Beer Crate Halt' may have been responsible for an error on the local One-Inch 7th Series Ordnance Survey map when it was updated to show the new halts. One may postulate that the field surveyor sent out to locate the halts travelled by car and drove along Newnton Road, which crosses the first overbridge out of Tetbury, close to Larkhill Cottages. Peering over the bridge he would have noticed a length of bent piping serving as a makeshift handrail for Ms. Bracey's use and a steep but well-walked path climbing to the road by the bridge. Though there was no platform, he might have been told that the new halts were very primitive in form and that the rail buses had retractable steps that would reach towards the ground. Hence (unnamed Trouble House) 'Halt' appeared on the revised map as a red blob on the western side of Newnton Road bridge (map reference ST 948906) instead of at its true position (ST 914953) down a short field access track opposite the Trouble House Inn, half a mile to the east and not easily visible from the road past the inn. I do not know whether the map was ever corrected before the halt's closure.
I believe 'Beer Crate' became a mobile halt in later days, travelling to and fro on the railbus for use wherever necessary. On one trip I made from Tetbury a young man stepped out from behind a permanent way hut about 1¼ miles from Kemble and gave 'a clear hand signal to the driver', who duly stopped. The crate was placed at the foot of the steps, the man climbed aboard and the railbus proceeded on its way. Checking a map later I found that this location had been a short-lived official halt, Jackament's Bridge, opened in 1939 adjacent to Kemble aerodrome and an early closure by British Railways from 27 September 1948.

1,000 miles in 24 hours. Chris Hilsden. 381-2 
While unable to match the 1,600-plus miles in 24 hours proposed by your April correspondents, a few years ago I did actually travel well over 1,000 rail miles in 24 hours, including the entire length of Britain's longest through train journey 'just for fun'. A 21.15 departure from Euston got me to Aberdeen (523 miles) at 07.40 in comfortable time to catch the Cross Country 08.20 departure due into Penzance (another 718 miles) at 21.43. This gave me a total of 1,241 miles in 24 hours 28 minutes. Had I left the train atT ruro at 21.02 I would have covered 1,216 comfortably within the 24 hours. Aberdeen-Penzance does, of course, include five of Britain's finest viaducts: Tay Bridge, Forth Bridge, Royal Border Bridge, King Edward Vll Bridge and many hours later the Royal Albert Bridge. And I can report that the initial list of the 42 intermediate 'station stops' takes almost two minutes to relay to passengers. The journey was all part of a two- week All Line Rover which also included the Night Riviera from Paddington to Penzance, the Euston-Fort William sleeper followed by steam to Mallaig and a King's Cross, Glasgow, Euston day trip within which there was still time to squeeze in a Bletchley-Bedford return journey.

North Eastern survivors. Neil Sinclair. 382
The caption for the photograph of G5 0-4-4T No.67298 in the April issue implies that it is leaving Sunderland with a Middlesbrough to Newcastle working. It is in fact approaching Fawcett Street Junction in Sunderland with a train from Durham.

Animal matters. Stephen G. Abbott 382
In response to Bill Taylor's rhetorical question, during the 1960s British Railways progressively reduced the number of stations handling livestock from over 2500 to 32. They withdrew from this traffic altogether in 1972, in the final years loadings were mainly Irish cattle from ports to inland centres.

From Wrexham Central to New Brighton. Chris Magner 382
Re Readers' Forum, July 2017, letter re 'The Great Western in Wirral' in which I mentioned the 17.56 New Brighton to Wrexham on August Bank Holiday 1965 hauled by No.4683 driven by Driver Stokes of Croes Newydd MPD. At that time the depot had no steam-hauled passenger trains so having a trip out with a pannier tank gave the more enterprising crews a chance to 'have a go'. The reason for the steam turns on an all diesel car worked service was that certain trains were formed of two units so leaving three turns requiring locomotive hauling. Being the travelling tea trolley man (clearly satisfied steam enthusiast as depicted on p241) I was able to supply the necessary ingredient—high quality BR tea to ensure a suitable performance was given and No.4683 averaged nearly 42mph start to stop from Neston to Hawarden Bridge, taking a shade more than the normal diesel railcar timing and this for the double powered units because of the gradients on the route. Good locomotives those  Croes Newydd panniers, considering their daily tasks were shunting and slow-moving mineral trains.

Book review. 382

Pullman Profile No. 5 — The Golden Arrow. Anthony M. Ford. Crecy Publishing Ltd., 232pp, Reviewed by DT *****
Over the past two or three decades, many excellent books about railway history have been published, plus of course some indifferent ones. But every now and again, someone produces an absolute showstopper of a volume, or even a whole series of volumes, that sets the gold standard for others to aspire to. Anthony Ford's superlative history of the Pullman car in the twentieth century, now running to this latest fifth volume, is just such a series.
Previous volumes in the series, which is entitled Pullman Profile, have covered the twelve-wheeled cars, the standard 'K' cars, the all-steel 'K' cars and the Brighton Belle and Southern Electric cars (the cars that ran in the 6-PUL electric units). This latest volume covers the Golden Arrow, perhaps the most famous Pullman service of them all and which was introduced by the enterprising Southern Railway in 1929, although its origins lay in the South Eastern & Chatham Railway era ..
Even in its declining years, the 'Arrow' had an almost mystical status, with its romantic promise of onward luxury travel across France and beyond. Your reviewer vividly recalls that, when in 1970 he attended a course at the SR South Eastern Division's offices at Beckenham Junction, the passage through the station of the outbound train was still marked by a prolonged whistle from the approaching Class 71 electric locomotive hauling it and an almost 'Stand to attention!" response within the office building.
The 232 pages are divided into no fewer than 32 mini-chapters, each dealing with a key aspect of the history of the Golden Arrow. The first four chapters respectively cover the service's origins and history up to the fateful year of 1939, the revival of the service under the SR in 1946, the changes during the 1950s and the decline and final cessation of the service during the years 1960-72. Subsequent chapters deal with much more detailed aspects, including specific batches of first and third class cars, one-offs such as the famous 'Trianon Bar' car and the fascinating subject of internal car design, furnishings and marquetry. In a pre-jet, pre-Eurostar age, there are also references to the use of this famous train by celebrities and foreign statesmen, including Emperor Haile Salassi of Ethiopia, Winston and Clementina Churchill, King Faisal II of Iraq and the broadcaster Wynford Vaughan Thomas.
The story is not just confined to the London-Dover axis. One interesting story covers the long-forgotten experimental SECR service between Victoria and Queenborough Pier. Other chapters cover the Calais-Paris route, the cars built in Leeds for service in France, some of the shipping involved in the service and the little-recorded hush-hush wartime Pullman use for military chiefs between Victoria and Hurn or Bournemouth, when normal use through Kent of the Golden Arrow cars was for obvious reasons suspended. There is also coverage of the subsequent adventures of particular cars, such as those repainted green for military train buffet use, the car Pegasus, which became the Euston sleeper's Nightcap Bar and those converted at the end of service to humble camping coaches.
There are nearly 100 colour illustrations. Many of these are of publicity and menus, but 23 are external views of rolling stock, commendable given the relative scarcity of quality colour views from the 1950s or earlier. There are also nearly 200 black-and-white illustrations and 25 engineering drawings, invaluable to the modeller. Many of the illustrations are noteworthy. There are photographs of the newly-reintroduced post-World War II service, hauled by a sparkling No.21C1 Channel Packet, a very proud moment for the SR. A more embarrassing illustrated event is a low-speed collision between two unrebuilt Pacifics, light engine No.34085 (which had run through a signal) and No.34084 on the 'Golden Arrow', outside Victoria. There is also a rare illustration of the train being headed by Bulleid diesel No.10202.
One colour photograph that stood out was that of the by-then-unnamed car Carina coupled to the also-unnamed Cygnus in British Rail days, after both had been tastelessly repainted in corporate colours that were great for Mk IIs but looked awful on Pullmans. It shows Carina in monastral blue with pearl grey upper- quarters (as per the Brighton Belle in its own final form) but Cygnus with grey lower quarters and blue upper-quarters. Your reviewer well-recalls the latter livery on the East and West Coast cars, but not on the Southern, so this view was of particular interest. Why did the British Rail Southern Region have two completely different late-1960s liveries for its inherited cars? Another photograph shows restoration work on the preserved car Phoenix, with the traditional name being gradually uncovered beneath the plain BR corporate lettering Golden Arrow.
Coverage is not confined to rolling stock. As well as illustrations of publicity and ephemera, there are photographs of Pullman and other railway staff. The Pullman staff, including those employed at the Pullman works at Preston Park, were in some ways almost a family, with immense pride in the job. The book also records the often-undignified end of many unwanted Pullman cars, such as some of those finally dumped at Micheldever in 1967 and another, Aurora, sadly only quite recently scrapped at Marazion. Happily, quite a number have survived to be cherished. The book concludes with six pages of references, a bibliography and a useful index. The next volume in this definitive work is to be Volume 6, the 'Ocean liner Express Pullmans'. We look forward to it very eagerly.

Shunting at Port Penrhyn. rear cover
1ft 10¾in gauge Penrhyn Railway 0-4-0ST Blanche with BR Class 2 2-6-0 behind and two smart enthusiasts alongside

Vale of Rheidol Railway 2-6-2T No.7, still in Great Western Railway livery, at Aberystwyth on 1 September 1953; the carriages, though, were in BR canine & cream livery. Trevor Owen see also p.388 et seq

July 2019 (Number 339)

Michael Blakemore. Am I the only one who thinks that ..., 387
Editorial on letter writing both in general (declining), to  newspapers, and to Backtrack. Michael had some further thoughts on the true rejection rate in the Daily Telegraph (a somewhat similar one seems to apply in Modern Railways

Geoffrey Skelsey. The quest for 'economy and efficiency': some recollections on railway gauges. 388-94.
The standard or Stephenson gauge has become dominant. The globaal historical influence of the Festiniog Railwaw with the contributions of the Spooner family and Fairlie are noted. With the exception of Northern Spain and Switzerland most European narrow gauge systems have either disappeared or greatly declined in signifiicance. Cliff lifts are briefly mentioned and toy railways receive some attention. Illustrations (by Author unless specified otherwise): GWR broad gauge (mixed gauge at Uphill Junction with down express and train held on loop from Weston; metre gauge interurban tram on Belgian Vicinal Brussels to Leuven service (Yves-Lurent Hansart); Llanfair Caereinion terminus of Welshpool and Llanfair Caereinion 2ft 6in gauge railway with 0-6-0T on freight train in 1956 (Trevor Owen: colour); metre gauge at Unquera beteen Santander and Oviedo a west bound diesel multiple unit passes  a diesel locomotive hauling freight train carrying steel coil (colour); West Clare Railway at Ennistymon with diesel locomotive hauling mixed train in January 1961 (C.J. Gammell: colour); Doegal Town with railcars in September 1957 (C. Hogg: colour); Aigle in the Rhone Valley, Switzerland with metre gauge electric railcars (colour); Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway  15-inch gauge at New Romney with No. 1 Green Goddess on 28 May 1977 (colour); Ashover Light Railway with Baldwin locomotive hauling enthusiasts in open trucks in 1950 (colour); Prince on Festiniog Railway at Minffordd in 1958 (Robert H. Darlaston); Blaenau Ffestiniog station with Class 150 DMU and Festiniog Railway diesel locomotive on passenger train in 2009; ex-South African Beyer Garratt on Welsh Highland Railway entering Beddgellert in 2018 (Robert H. Darlaston: colour). See erratum page 510 and see letters from Tony Ollson (mainly on the Russian gauge and Rail Baltica) and from Bob and Rosemary Farmer on 15-inch gauge locomotive dimensions. See also long letter from Paul Blurton which is lacking in clarity, but does indicate military origins of main railway gauge.

Lost on the narrow gauge. 395-7.
Black & white photo-feature based on John Edgington Collection: 3ft gauge Southwold Railway Sharp Stewart 2-4-0T No. 1 Southwold on a mixed train see letter from Graham Smith; 2ft 3in gauge Campbeltown & Machrihanish Railway Barclay 0-6-2T Argyll at Machrihanish on with bogie saloons (built by Hurst Nelson?) c1906 see letter from Malcolm Pickering on caption claim; 60 cm gauge Ashover Light Railway using War Department surplus Baldwin 4-6-0T Hummy at Ashover in c1926; 2ft 4in gauge Snailbeach District Railways Kerr Stuart 0-4-2T No. 2 with train of hopper wagosn leaving Pontesbury on 14 June 1943; 3ft gauge Torrington & Marland Bagnall 0-6-0T No. 2 Marland prior to the line becoming part of the standard gauge North Devon & Cornwall Junction Light Railway; 3ft 6in gauge Jersey Railway Barclay 2-4-0T No. 4 St. Brelades at St. Helier in 1921; 2ft 4½ gauge Glyn Valley Tramway Beyer, Peacock 0-4-2T tram engine No. 2 Sir Theodore at the Glynceiriog terminus; Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway (3ft 6in gauge) open-top tramcar No. 13 in Mostyn Street Llandudno with advertisement for the Caitlin Follies on 11 August 1955; 2ft 3in gauge Corris Railway 0-4-2ST No. 4 crossing bridge over River Dovey near Machynlleth.

Rob Langham. The Weatherhill Incline and winding engine. 398-401.
The winding engine is preserved in the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum in York and is thus visible from the Search Engine (library and archive section} of this wonderful establishment. It was built in 1833  by Hawks & Co. of Gateshead and was part of the Stanhope & Tyne Railroad which opened in 1834. The main function of the railway was to move limestone from high in the Pennines down to the Tyne. Illustrations: railwaymen at Weatherhill including R. Wilson, the engineman from 1910 until 1925; replacement winding engine installed in 1919 (diagram); three wagons being hauled up c1921; view down incline after closure; Hetton Colliery lcomotive Lyons with Weatherhill engine behind at old Railway Museum in Queen Street and Weatherhill engine restored at the NRM. END of text missing see page 510

David J. Hayes. Remembering Connectrail, March 1995-November 1997. Part Two. 402-11.
Part 1. The Connectrail network served freight depots with sufficient Continental traffic to justify link services into the main Channel Tunnel freight services. based on Wembley Yard. Illustrations (all colour except Class 08 and all by Author unless specified otherwise): Class 31 Nos. 31 203 and 229 in Railfreight livery on delayed 13.50 Enterprise trip from Bloxwich to Bescot and Washwood Heath approaching Ryecroft Junction, Walsall on 1 May 1997; Class 87 No. 87 101 Stephenson in blue livery on 10.32 from Wembley to Bescot on 28 October 1997; Class 47 No. 47 365 Diamond Jubilee climbs towards Hare Park Junction with the 12.03 Wakefield (Cobra) to Bescot Yard Enterprise service (Neil Harvey);  Class 58 No. 58 005 in Mainline Freight livery comes off Suttoon Park at Ryecroft Junction with 15.13 Roundwood to Bescot on 25 May 1999 (Author); Class 08 No.08 905 at Birmingham Distribution Centre at Landore Street on 1 July 1999; Class 92 No. 92 002 H.G. Wells on Wembley Yard  to Dollands Moor on Enterprise Internatiional service passing Kensington Olympia on 9 September 2004 (Andy Williams); Class 92 No. 92 008 Julrs Verne on Wembley Yard  to Dollands Moor on Enterprise Internatiional service approaching Wansworth Road station on 7 June 2005 (Andy Williams); Class 92 017 Shakespeare on 00.39 Doncaster to Dollands Moor near Sellindge alongside HS1 (Christopher Wilson)

Cheshire choice. David Rodgers. 412-13
Colour photo-feature: Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42116 at Stockport Edgeley carriage sidings on evening of 5 November 1966; Jubilee class 4-6-0 No. 45647 Sturdee at Stockport Edgeley on 09.02 Leeds City to Llandudno on 20 August 1966; Stanier Class 5 4-6-0s Nos. 45110 and 44949 on enthusiasts' special climbing 1 in 60 gradient between Middlewood and Disley on Stockport to Buxton line on 20 April 1968; 8F 2-8-0 No. 48327 outside Heaton Mersey shed on 24 February 1968; Britannia No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell dropping its fire at Stockport Edgeley shed on 17 March 1968.. 

James Johnson. Winchester Chesil. 414-15
Originally known as Cheesehill; built by the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway and Chesil station and opened on 4 May 1885. Illustrations: 43XX No. 5397 at Winchester Chesil on stopping train c1950; engine shed in 1952; 2251 No. 3211 with train from Newbury on 2 January 1960 and tuunel portal.

To the Yorkshire Coast. 416-19
Colour photo-feature: B16/1 No. 61447 arriving Scarborough Central with a  long train in June 1957 (K.G.H. Fairey) see letter from Len Dowson who suggests reversal of movement; B1 No. 61276 departing Whitby Town with a train for Pickering and Malton in early 1960s (G. Parry); No. 80117 and D49/1 No. 62731 Selkirkshire on RCTS special at Whitby on 23 June 1957; Bridlington with three Stanier Class 5 4-6-0s, two of which were coupled together possibly for going to turn at Butlin's Filey; B1 4-6-0s Nos 61031 Reedbuck and 61018 Gnu on Larpool Viaduct Whitby with RCTS/SLS North Eastern railtour on 1 October 1963 (Trevor Owen); A8 No.69861 and B1 No. 61143 move carriages from sidings att Whitby in June 1953 (Tommy Tomalin); K1 No. 62005 at Butlin's Filey Holiday Camp when working Whitby Moors on 6 March 1965 (Trevor Owen); K3 No. 61954 on Bridlington Quay Road level crossing c1960; Bridlington engine shed with B1 Nos. 61338 and 61129 on 28 June 1964 (A. Ferguson). See also letter from Ray Wilkinson on the former glory days of Whitby before its neglect and loss of its through train services to York and Scarborough which the toy railway preservation movement has failed to restore

Edward Gibbins. The Bluebell Line closure. 420-6
Action brought by Miss Margery Bessemer and Colonel D.H. Bessemer which delayed the closure of the railway between East Grinstead and Lewes and the actions of the TUCC and the Ministry of Transport and the subsequent formation of the preserved railway. Illustrations: tinted postcard of Horstead Keynes station in LBSCR period (John Alsop Collection); Gladstone 0-4-2 No. 199 Samuel Laing at West Hoathly station c1907; Newick and Chailey station c1910; Gladstone 0-4-2 No. 185 George A. Wallis at Barcome heading for Lewes; Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42090 at Sheffield Park on 12.03 from Victoria on 22 March 1952 (T.J. Edgington); C2X 0-6-0 No. 32438 on 11.30 Lewes to East Grinstead leaving Newick on 14 August 1956 (John Head); BR Standard 2-6-4T No. 80033 with single coach on Sulky service to Lewes on 8 June 1957 (Stan Garth); C2X 0-6-0 No. 32438 on 14.28 Easat Grinstead to Lewes train near Sheffield Park on 14 August 1956 (John Head); No. 473 Birch Grove at Horstead Keynes with 14.25 to Sheffield Park on 6 August 1964 (T.J. Edgington)

Bruce Laws. Laxfield: accidental railway terminus; the Mid-Suffolk line and the engines based there. 427-33.
Mid-Suffolk Light Railway was intended to extend from Haughley on the Ipswich to Norwich main line to Halesworth on the East Suffolk line, with another line from Westerfield near Ipswich to a junction at Kenton; this last was opened, but the branch line only reached Debenham. The line was known locally as the Middy. Jeyes and Godden were the civil engineers and the Board included several local landowners including Lord Rendlesham. S. Pearson was the original contractor,, but got out when progress began to ebb and was replaced by S. Jackson & Co. John D. Cobbold of the banking arm of the brewing company provided financial advice. A grand inauguration ceremony took place at Westerfield presumably because of its proximity to Ipswich at which the Duke of Cambridge graced the proceedings. Work started in 1902, but finances failed in 1904 and construction ceased just beyond Laxfield at Cratfield. Three locomotives had been ordered from Hudswell, Clarke & Co.: 0-6-0Ts which were similar to the Philadelphia or Canal type supplied to the Manchester Ship Canal. They painted in crimson lake and lettered MSLR. They had to be thrashed to cope with the 1 in 42 bank out of  Haughley. The LNER which reluctantly took over the line in 1924 replaced them with J65 0-6-0Ts and these in turn were replaced by J15 0-6-0 tender locomotives which were adapted for tender-first running with arrangements to fix tarpaulin sheets. Passenger rolling stock consisted of ex-Metropolitan Railway four-wheel coaches; replaced by GER six-wheelers in 1924 and by redundant Shenfield bogie stock in 1951. The goods rolling stock was supplied by G.R. Turner of Langley Mill.  Illustrations: MSLR 0-6-0T No. 2 running as a 2-4-0T with No. 3; map; Laxfield station buildings in April 1949; Brockford station with station master; track layout at Laxfield station; J65 No. 8211 in  bay platform at Haughley with passenger train (S. Solomon); Great Eastern six-wheel stock at Laxfield on 18 April 1949 (T.J. Edgington); J15 No. 65447 outside Laxfield engine shed on 17 July 1952 (R.F. Roberts); J15 No. 5494 with two six-wheel coaches at Laxfield on 18 April 1949 (T.J. Edgington); J15 No. 65447 with footplate crew of Driver Joe Skinner and Fireman Jack Law; 65447 on last train from Laxfield on 26 July 1952 (H.N. James) and 65447 just before closure at Laxfield (G.W. Powell: colour)

Steve Leyland. The last summer of steam over Shap. 434-40.
The Author questions whether the most appropriate motive power was used for the passenger services worked over Shap, but does not question why steam rather than diesel power was used. Carlisle was not even a major source for locomotive coal. Only two classes were used: Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 and Britannia 4-6-2. Illustrations: No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell with Manchester Victoria to Glasgow express on 21 July (Author); No. 70004 under repair at Bolton shed on 9 June (Alan Gilbert); at south end of Carlisle station No. 70022 on Glasgow to Blackpool with No. 70010 Owen Glendower waiting to take over Dundee to Blackpool train; No. 70022 Totnado on Glasgow to Blackpool train at Thrimby Grange on 22 July 1967 (Alan Gilbert:: colour); No. 70012 on Dillicar troughs with  down freight on 26 Auguust (Vernon A. Sidlow: colour);; class 5 No.45038 on on Glasgow to Blackpool with No. 44878 waiting to take over Dundee to Blackpool train at Carlisle on 12 August (Vernon A. Sidlow); Britannia hauled "express" waiting for banker at Tebay on 1 September; No. 44682 speeds towards Tebay with five coach Carlisle portion off 11.55 ex-Euston on 12 August (Alan Gilbert); No. 70039 descending into Oxenholme with 14.00 Glasgow to Liverpool Exchange on 15 July (Alan Gilbert:: colour); Class 5 No. 45444 crossing new bridge at Penrith over motorway works at Penrith on 22 July with late running Blackpool to Glasgow (Alan Gilbert); No. 70047 on long fitted freight at Faringgton Junction on 26 May 1967; No. 70012 near Kent's Bank on 10.55 Euston to Barrow on 5 August. See also letter from Trevor Ermel..

Tony Robinson. Forgotten branches of North East Wales. Part Two. The Kinmel Camp and Foryd Harbour branch. 441-4
Part 1 see previous Volume page 748. In August 1914 the War Department decided to construct a large hutted transit camp  near the River Clwyd near Rhyl and adjacent to Bodelwyddan Castle on the Kinmel Park estate. A two foot gauge railway with Hudswell Clarke locomotives assisted in the construction (not illustrated), but there is a plan of the completed camp with zones named after Canadian Provinces and shows standard gauge railways within the camp. There were timetabled passsenger services between the camp and Rhyl during the War period and  these are shown. On 14 June 1917 Sir Pitcairn Campbell, the Commanding Officer of Western Command officially opened the passenger service. The camp normally had three WD locomotives, but the passenger and freight services to the camp were provided by the LNWR and were probably Caol Engines or DX 0-6-0 classes.
An exceptionally pure grade of limestone was discovered at Parc-y-Meirch and Limestone Products Ltd obtained quarrying rights and took over the camp railway to transport its output. The quarry was known as St. George's Quarry and it had an internal 2-foot gauge railway to feed the crusher. It also had two standard gauge Avonside 0-6-0ST between 1923 and 1961: Margaret and Eleanor. A Hudswell Clarke diesel mechanical locomotive replaced the latter in 1961 and lasted until the quarry closed in 1965.
The Foryd Harbour branch was officially known as the Foryd Pier line and was constructed by the LNWR in 1865. It had its own station building, but does not appear to have handled passenger traffic. Illustrations: start of Kinmel Camp branch and Foryd Junction station c1946 (J.M. Dunn); plan of Kinmel Park 1919; Bodelwyddan Road level crossing (P.G. Hindley); group of Royal Engineers working on Kinmel Camp Railway with WD 0-6-2T possibly Pyramus behind; Eleanor with quarry-bouund empty wagons c1950; quarry; Hudswell Clarke diesel mechanical locomotive; Floryd Quay station buuilding c1946 (J.M. Dunn). See also letter from Claude R. Hart on riot by Canadian troops.

Readers' Forum. 445

Into Ashford by the backdoor. Stephen Bacon,
I write on a Catford loop line train re Jeremy Clarke's interesting and informative article 'Into Ashford by the Back Door' (May 2019). My train will not proceed beyond London Blackfriars. The current timetable has introduced what is essentially a half-hourly shuttle service between Blackfriars and Sevenoaks.
As regards Eynsford, the railway company built a short terrace of three cottages and a public house mid-way between the station and the village for its staff. These were subsequently sold into private ownership, the pub being converted into a dwelling house. For four years I lived in one of the cottages. Jeremy answers something I have puzzled over — why Eynsford booking office has a bay window of later origin to the rest of the station buildings. There is a hole in the platform face, about a metre square, where presumably the rods or wires exited.

Into Ashford by the backdoor. Frankland Macdonald-Wood
A most useful and interesting overview (May) for the rail situation of Maidstone because of rejecting the original London-Dover main line
approaches and then of competition between two antagonistic rail companies. It now cries out for a coverage of the other line through the Medway Valley. The useful map provided in the article has a significant error in the siting of Maidstone Barracks to the left of Maidstone West whereas it was and is to the right and just downstream of the high level rail bridge conveying the line from Otford into Maidstone East. It has to be there to afford the connection up on to that bridge for passengers to connect between the two routes. Your map places Barracks station at the one-time location of the now closed Tovil station on the Medway line.
Near that point there was a crossing on the Medway on a substantial bridge into the yards of the Tovil Paper Mills. It was to have been the entry of a subsidiary line from Maidstone through Loose and Boughton Monchelsea to join both the Mid-Kent main line and the Kent & East Sussex at Headcorn. One of those wonderful nearly 'might have been' routes to dream on!
This article could have materially benefited by having more detail and some photographss of the Ashford Terminal arrangements and buildings and more detail of the freight position and frequency of traffic.
When I 'was a 'wrong-way' commuter from Maidstone East on the line to Ashford, under steam in the early 1960s, I recall seeing the Wagon-Lits Night Sleeper, up from the Channel Ports, passing through on the bi-directional centre line with lucky people enjoying a breakfast as they passed through.

'Place on Rail'. John Macnab
The Caledonian Railway had from 1871 approved the conveyance of the corpses of company servants and family members at given rates although the means of doing so is not clear. A 'corpse box' (a van of sorts) was used by the CR from the late 1880s but no evidence exists of its appearance. Used for this purpose were others of their kind, one supposes, by other British railway companies and variously named as 'corpse vans/wagons'. The North British Railway had around six 'corpse vans' some years later in the 1890s but again, as with the CR, details are somewhat lacking. As is evident, the Victorians did not baulk at such descriptive wording especially if applied in lettering to the rolling stock concerned. From a later Scottish perspective and railway employ whilst working at the Stirlingshire station of Denny in 1959, the somewhat unique experience of a morning among the parcels traffic arriving was the frequent sight of hessian wrapped coffins (empty, for the use of, as I referred to them) for local funeral undertakers. As they had come from wherever it was and more than likely transhipped at a few locales, I oft wondered what passengers on a station platform made of them reposing on trolleys amongst the other parcels. After all, it was hard to disguise the shape! Come 19611 found myself in the District Operating Superintendent's office of Glasgow North and came upon colleagues in what could be broadly termed as the passenger trains section who had in their remit the conveyance of corpses by passenger services. This had its own place in the BR telegraphic code, VANCO, which was so evident in meaning 'van containing a corpse'. How prosaic.
The background to this was that a large proportion of policemen in Glasgow in the, mainly, inter-war years been big strapping men from the west coast of Scotland and its islands. Their physical appearance and demeanour had quelled many a disturbance either pending or on-going! Retirement years living in Glasgow and its environs brought about the inevitable and many professed a wish that their remains be taken back to ancestral homelands. This is where a service so used was that of the West Highland line to Fort William and Mallaig. It would appear that the early morning service from Glasgow Queen Street was a preference — not many passengers around to take note of the proceedings. I myself never witnessed this but assume the coffin would have been placed in the brake end of one of the passenger coaches.
All such quite frequent movements passed off without incident except one journey that took place in the dreadful winter weather of January 1963. The train service given mention became stuck fast in snowdrifts in the wilds of Rannoch Moor and could proceed no further. The passengers and train crew were got off successfully but had to leave behind one occupant — the deceased. Nothing else but to await a betterment in the weather and the train released to allow the deceased complete his final journey.
As the article explains this particular traffic would appear to have ceased in and around the mid-1960s. It certainly did as far as I am aware as regards the one accounted by me.

'Place on Rail'. P. Snape.
When I worked in the booking office at Kidsgrove Central station in the early 1960s, on at least two occasions on early turn there were coffins waiting to be collected. At least one was covered in a black material. The coffins were always for the Co-operative Funeral Services. I travelled from Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig in the mid-'60s and on the train was draped in a black material and travelled in the guard's van. The guard told me the dead man had lived on the mainland and was being buried on the Isle of Skye.

Glasgow Central Railway. John Macnab 
Re paragraph (p340) that comments on the Singer sewing machine works having provision of its own station. In this particular area a station named Kilbowie Road on the Caledonian Railway line of route was opened in October 1896, the 'Road' part of its name deleted in April 1908. On the North British route a station named Kilbowie for Clydebank had come into being in January 1879, but in 1906/7 a deviation to accommodate expansion of the works in question made for a new station named Singer opening in November 1907, in consequence of all this. The station of 1879 now lay within the works complex but its site was resurrected c1942 during WW2 becoming known as Singer Workers' Platform, being used exclusively, so I believe, by unadvertised Singer worker's trains.
The change of name of the CR Kilbowie station and the new NBR Singer one in the years 1907/8 would appear to have been co-incidental to the developments concerning Singer works so described and it is likely that Singer workers used both stations according to their travel needs. Kilbowie was closed in October 1964, as were others on the Glasgow Central LL line but Singer remains open as stated. In passing, in photographic captions (p339) Kelvin Hall (two words) was renamed from Partick Central in 1959, closing five years later per the route closure of 1964. Kelvin Bridge was closed in August 1952, not 1942.
Incidentally, a recently published Glasgow Connectivity Commission report gives nascent consideration to re-open rail lines on parts of the routes given mention, including that of Botanic Gardens station and the tunnels thereat. See also latter from John Macnab on page 573

Edward Thompson. Don Rowland 
Not only did Thompson have a never publicity-shy predecessor in Sir Nigel Gresley but he did so during wartime, working for a company which — even today — few enthusiasts realise was financially the weakest of the 'Big Four'. I think he did a great job. Let me give you an example. From 1949 to 1955 I lived in the Roseburn district of Edinburgh in sight and sound of the former North British/LNER line to Glasgow and Aberdeen. My abiding memory of that period is that for trains worked by Thompson B1s you got a nice, even, One, Two, Three, Four beat but with, say, the V2 it was best described as One, Two, Two-and-a-half, Three! In later years I got to know a locomotive engineer who had been shedmaster at Aberdeeen Ferryhill in steam days where one of the principal duties was to provide one of their V2s to work the heavily loaded Aberdeen-King's Cross fish train. Amongst local enginemen apparently he became known as 'the man who could set V2s'. That was fine until a works visit when they returned with valve gear 'corrected'. He was later promoted to Haymarket shed in Edinburgh and decided to settle the problem once and for all (any health & safety officers are invited to skip this next bit) and spent part of an afternoon lying on the footplate of a V2 observing the workings of the inside cylinder whilst it trundled back and forth in the shed yard. From these observations he came to the conclusion there was a dimensional error in the valve gear. All the details were fully written up and forwarded to the design authority who, for reason known to themselves, took no action.
Now, having said that I must add that I have had some excellent runs behind V2s including one on an Edinburgh to King's Cross train one Whit Monday when No.60800 Green Arrow, no less, took over at Grantham from a very sick and ailing A2. We were still horribly late into King's Cross but Green Arrow, together with its driver and fireman, showed just what a V2 was capable of. See also leteere from Arnold Tortorella.

Edward Thompson. Bill Dickinson
I read with interest your articles on Edward Thompson. Like many stories, things are not as simple as they might first appear. As a class of engines, I had a soft spot for the rebuilt P2s, possibly because they were different, indeed we used to call them 'Baby Blinkers' as they did not have full-sized smoke deflectors (blinkers). Living at Harrogate, a heap day return would take me to York where most were shedded" so they were the first class of which I saw all the examples.
I can confirm they were light on their feet,and gave me one of my most abiding memories of steam in operation. NO.60505 Thane of Fife pulled into York on a heavy northbound express. It was a grey damp day and when the driver opened the regulator, the wheels slipped and he was clearly unable to close the regulator as it continued to slip for over a minute with a towering column of steam and smoke rising straight up into the sky and the rails under the wheel starting to glow red. Eventually the driver regained control and brought the wheels to a halt. At the second attempt, the train pulled quietly away. I went across to the other platform and sure enough there were six flats on the rails. No doubt Permanent Way Dept. was less than pleased.

Britain's railways in World War 1. John Buhby. 445-6.
The two-part article (Vols.32/11 and 33/1) by Edward Gibbins contains much of value. It is perhaps not generally appreciated how strongly the colliery proprietors felt, rightly or wrongly, that they had to have total control their own wagon supply in order to safeguard coal production. This was, with a few exceptions, an article of faith throughout the industry. The South Wales Coal Annual, for example, the recognised handbook of the industry in that region. from its first edition of 1903 explicitly stated that the colliery owners' policy was to use their own wagons and, failing that, to use wagons hired from the private wagon firms rather than using railway company wagons. The intensity of this belief is difficult to appreciate in retrospect. Any change, it was argued, would be detrimental to coal production. The intensity of this belief is very evident when reading contemporary documents. Using their own wagons was also cheaper, an important factor in an age of unrestrained competition.
Wagon owners, particularly those in the coal trade, were well organised through their trade associations and had effective lobbying process, in Parliament and elsewhere, in an age when private property, war or no war, was considered sacrosanct. This attitude persisted after the war. A short-lived 1930 proposal for compulsory 'pools' of private owner coal wagons brought forth all the old arguments and raised all the established interests against it including the Mining Association of Great Britain and the Federation of British Industry, basically interests that the Government listened to. The north east England coalfield was one exception where the North Eastern Railway supplied, and controlled the supply of, wagons for the coal shipping trade. However, the NER exercised an almost total monopoly in the region. Consequently it was able to impose its will on colliery companies, Elsewhere competition prevented the railways dictating matters although the Central Scotland coalfield was a partial exception. In this instance, the railway companies provided 'thirled wagons', ie railway-owned mineral wagons dedicated solely to specific collieries.
Combined with the above was the traditional attritional attitude of the owners towards any attempt to impose regulations on their wagons and their use. Many owners seem to have regarded these as unjustified interference be it on the part of the railway companies and/ or Government. In 1914 regulations were making headway but it was a long process and, it must be said, the railway companies could be just as obstructive. On 21st November 1903, for example, notice was given that dumb buffers on wagons would be no longer permitted on and after 1 January 1910. Lobbying secured an extension until 31 December 1914, ie a period of over ten years was thereby permitted to make the changes. Even than the Association of Private Owners of Railway Rolling Stock requested, unsuccessfully, another extension until 31st December 1915. On this occasion they sanctimoniously blamed an upsurge in traffic caused by the war! The saga of providing brakes on both sides of a wagon was even more protracted in spite of the very obvious safety benefits as was the case with dumb buffers.
This hard-nosed attitude, combined with a tradition of delay as the default position when threated with change, as well as the prospect of spending money before absolutely necessary, seems to have continued through the war. The 10,000 wagons that eventually were loaned to the railway companies were hired, not requisitioned without compensation. There were many reasons for the failure to make greater use of private owners' wagons, which accounted for about 43% of the wagon fleet in 1914, not least the lack of standardisation. However, whilst valid, it seems to have been all too easy to find reasons why things should not change rather than identifying the need for change and then making it happen. Whilst a national scheme would have been impractical without major modifications to wagons and infrastructure, a non- starter given the attitudes at the time. more could probably have been. done at a regional level where individual private owner wagon fleets were broadly compatible. Even the 'backloading' of empty private owner wagons en route to their home locations did not come into force until January 1917. At a local level the, Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway had initiated a scheme in December 1915 to 'back load' private owners' wagons returning to owners served by its system. This was reportedly successful and built upon a predecessor scheme on the LYR organised in 1912 in response to wagon supply issues in the Liverpool district. Again, the seeming lack of urgency seems astonishing in retrospect.
In summary it can be said that prevailing attitudes on the part of the economic and political establishments, well entrenched obdurate attitudes on the part of the owners, well organised lobbying, a distrust of Government and an all too easy temptation to see reasons why nothing could be done, combined with a basic lack of will to bring about change, all contributed to the situation. Other factors could also be mentioned but, in conclusion, it should be noted that the first accurate total of private owner wagons running in Britain was not obtained until the results of the August 1918 compulsory 'wagon census' were published the following November. At least the census had teeth; failure to supply an accurate return was decreed to be an offence under the Defence of the Realm Act which was not to be taken lightly.

Book reviews. 446

Lesser railways around Darlington. Robin B. Couthard and John G. Teasdale with co-authors John P. McCrickard and Richard V. Webster. North Eastern Railway Association. 2018, 72pp. Reviewed by GK [Glen Kilday?].*****
This adds to an already impressive list of publications by the North Eastern Railway Association. For any enthusiast seeking to learn more of the fascinating railway history of the North East of England this enhances the body of knowledge and will not disappoint. It is likely also to appeal to those studying the local history of the Darlington area where the latter years of the twentieth century saw great change. The Association's members have done well in bringing together a wealth of information, no doubt gathered from many different sources, to record what would otherwise to be lost to the passage of time.
Four branch lines: to Fighting Cocks, Croft Depot, Forcett and Merrybent, are subjected to close scrutiny and meticulously researched detail which spans the history and development of each line, including an appropriate measure of the wider historical, social and industrial context which brought about their construction. There are mile-by-mile descriptions of the routes that include such fine detail about working the lines, sometimes quoting the General Rules and Regulations and their Sectional Appendices of the period. The authors' careful study of maps from the time record many changes that happened through a line's history. There are carefully hand-drawn maps telling of businesses occupying adjacent land and relying on the railway. Throughout, the book's 72 pages are richly illustrated with archive photos, line drawings and facsimile posters and notices. Alongside all of that the authors have looked out contemporary writings drawn from newspapers and periodicals, sometimes just snippets, that pique the reader's interest and enhance what might otherwise be seen as a very technical document. Thus we learn about, for instance, an accident at the point where the Stockton & Darlington Railway crossed the East Coast Main Line. The Northern Echo published this on 27 October 1891, recording it as "another brake failure", suggesting there might have been many. In the Northern Despatch of 23 February 1948, and in an altogether more cheerful style, an un-named contributor recounts "a Trip on the 'Merrybent"'.
No doubt recognising that many of their readers will be serious students of railway history, the writers have not neglected to include a properly referenced series of endnotes to record their source materials for each of the four branches. They also acknowledge, as part of their introduction, the extent that this book has been a collaborative effort, naming the many from within the Association and elsewhere who have assisted bringing about its publication. This book is a serious work of reference but, for the right audience, is thoroughly readable too.

Sheffield towards Manchester (The Woodhead Route). Paul Shannon, Middleton Press, 96pp. Reviewed by DWM **
And in this case 'towards Manchester' means following the former Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway route as far as Guide Bridge which perhaps leaves the author a fine opportunity for a second, concentrated, volume covering Gorton and Manchester London Road? Those familiar with the publications of the Middleton Press will need no reminding of the format of this book. A brief geographical and historical introduction, supported by copies of nineteenth century timetables and a splendidly-graphic gradient profile leads into a catholic selection of pictures, ancient and modern. These images, which are supported by extended captions and a generous use of the Ordnance Survey map extracts, illustrate trains, stations, junctions and the like. As indicated the book is laid out as a journey westwards from Sheffield Victoria as far as Guide Bridge. The pictures cover both the steam age and the electrified heyday of the line but, until the Cheshire panhandle is reached, your reviewer found them a rather uninspired and repetitive selection. The section of the book covering the line from Crowden and Hadfield to Guide Bridge and including the branch to Glossop is a different matter. Perhaps it is because that this part of the route is less remarked than the infamous tunnel and the line up to it from Sheffield but this part of the book, and especially those pictures dealing with the more modern railway, did seem to make a significant contribution to the store of railway knowledge. The coverage of Guide Bridge particularly, ancient and modern, is a delight. To your reviewer this is very much of a curate's egg of a book, good in a few parts, but in others perhaps only going over already well-travelled ground. From the publisher's point of view it certainly finds a place in 'evolving the ultimate rail encyclopedia (sic)' - although, being encyclopaedic, No.61964, photographed at Sheffield Victoria is surely a K3 rather than a K2? However, priced at £18.95 it is surely getting towards the top end of the range for what is, by now, an addition to a well-tried, standard format?

LMS locomotive design & development: the life and works of Tom Coleman. Tim Hillier-Graves. Pen & Sword Transport. 291pp. Reviewed by MR [Michael Ruthrford?] *****
This is a hugely interesting book: despite its high price you do get a heavy, high-quality work. It's printed on high quality paper and includes a large number of illustrations (some in colour) but many family and personal pictures and also a few sketches from Tom's work.
The book was written by a family member who has spent a considerable time in his retirement cataloging a mass of family records (especially of railway material ,of course). He has also quoted some events from Tom's private writings and used many of his photographs in the book.
Although the book's title may suggest otherwise, the book goes to the beginning of Tom's life and covers his railway work from the beginning and in some detail. His family life is also covered including his sporting interests and his playing (as an amateur) for Port Vale at Burslem and cricket also whilst at Stoke Works.
It has been suggested that because Coleman joined no engineering institutions or attended their meetings he was somehow less 'educated' in some way and more reliant on some 'intuitive' skills. This book demolishes that sort of nonsense; he was in close contact with many good engineers and studied and read new material throughout his career and was able to apply it where necessary.
Because of the page size of this book, good-sized photographs can be included on almost all pages whilst still including plenty of readable text (ie with a clear typeface). Even though Tom Coleman is not unknown, this book gives us a real human and details of his family and liking for fast sports cars. It also goes into his friendships with others in the railway work both on LMS and in other companies.
Fortunately the records of the LMS, in particular the mechanical engineering records, have survived in comprehensive quantities and many biographies have been produced by some of the people mentioned in this volume as well as very many works on the steam locomotives of the company. This volume links some of that work together and is at last, the full biography of the man charged with the design of the 'Black 5' 4-6-0, the 8F 2-8-0, the rebuilt 'Royal Scots' and many other types. From the smallest — the 0-6-0 Dock Tanks of 1928 to the largest — the mighty 'Princess Coronation' Class 4-6-2s.
Anyone interested in steam locomotives and the men who designed them should seek out this book and enjoy the life and work of a little-known but very important locomotive engineer.

Past Derbyshire rooftops. rear cover
Jubilee No. 45622 Nyasaland on a stopping train from Manchester via the Peak Forest route leaving the tunnel at New Mills and crssing the viaduct over the River Sett.

SR N15X 4-6-0 No.32331 Beattie at Windsor & Eton Riverside after working the 'Riverside Special' from London Bridge on 23 June 1957. (Trevor Owen). See also p. 485 & letter from Nick Stanbury on page 637.

August 2019 Number 341)

Alastair F. Nisbet. The colour of railways. 451.
Guest Editorial.

Odd moments on the Great Eastern Line. John D. Mann. 452-3
Colour photo-feature: Class 47 No. 47 170 County of Norfolk with podium valence showing name after naming ceremony at Norwich station on 24 August 1979; Hastings diesel electric multiple unit No. 1001 in original livery on loan to Anglia Railways at Ipswich on 10.05 ex-Norwich on 11 May 1999; Class 60 No. 60 081 Isambard Kingdom Brunel in "Great Western livery" passing Manningtree with 12.48 Harwich to Acton monster box empties on 27 May 2002; Class 33 No. 33 025 in freight livery hauled by Class 37 No. 37 431 in InterCity livery heading for tunnel at Ipswich en route back to Southern; Class 121 No. 55031 in Network SouthEast livery at Clacton-on-Sea on 25 September 1997. 

Mike Fenton. First in the field. Part One. 454-9.
LNER camping coaches: recollections and high quality snaps of camping coach holidays. Long quote from Styan family holiday memories, notably when they stayed at Ravenscar where they observed long excursion trains with two locomotives pulling them and they were informed by the drivers that there was so much smoke that they had to put their heads in buckets of water. Illustrations (see also Gremlinia): CC.20 (former GNR six-wheel coach) at Sandsend with ladies on roof with clockwork gramophone and tea cups and North Sea behind in 1934 (LNER Publicity); standard LNER camping coach in 1935 (plan); ex-GNR No. 4221 at Pateley Bridge in 1933 with Ainscow family from Southport with Roy standing on solebat step;  former GNR six-wheel coach at Kildale in 1933 with occupants in deck chairs; CC.25 camping coach based on ex-MSLR six-wheel coach No. 5186 with "CAMPING" on side in 1934; CC.12 at Forge Valley with campers hard at work that thety cleaning the exterior in 1934; CC..66 Touring Camping Coach (bogie vehicle which was based in York but made stops at Pateley Bridge, Aysgarth, Barnard Cas\tle, Glaisdale and Coxwold in 1935); letter from Passenger Manager, York to Miss W.M. Atkinson of Whitby concerning Camping Coach and Camping Accommodation; CC.50 at Ravenscar in green & cream livery (ex-MSLR six-wheel coach No. 5338) with Styan family from Stockton in residence; Winnie Knaggs and friends at Forge Valley in September 1936. Part 2. See also letters from Peter Woodroffe, Robin Leleux and Arnold Tortorella on page 637

Miles Macnair. The locomotive designs of William Charles Werry (1861-1948) — and some of his other ingenious inventions. 460-4
Aim for perfect balance in the reciprocating mechanism: see also same Author's series beginning in previous volume on page 564. Werry was born in the State of Victoria, in Australia, the son of Cornish emigrants. He worked as an engine minder at a mine in Bendigo. In 1901 he was granted Patent GB 6151/1901 for a vibration-free steam engine. A prototype was built by Ferguson Engineering in Melbourne in 1904. The Werry Engine Co. was set up to advance the invention and a pinnace was constructed by the Thames Ironworks & Engineering Co. and demonstrated to the Admiralty, but it had been decided that internal combustion engines would power such vessels. Patent GB 25,562/1906 was for a perfect balance high speed locomotive with a very low centre of gravity and opposed pistons. This concept had already been invented by Bodmer see p. 564 in previous volume. The low centre of gravity was only achieved through a long, but thin boiler. The Author has searched the Science Museum Reserve Collection for ducuments relating to Werry designs for steam locomotives and other engines and some of the information is tabulated. In 1912 was drawn up for a North Eastern Railway modified 4-4-2 with the coupled wheels replaced by double acting inside cylinders driving on each driving wheel (Patent GB 6786/1912).

Roger Griffiths and John Hooper. The varied history of a small North Eastern Railway engine shed — Northallerton. Part Two. 465-70.
Part 1 see page 327 et seq. Illustrations: Standard Class 2 2-6-0 No. 78014 on 1 August 1955 (the class was liked by the men for their comfort, haulage power and speed); D49 No. 62733 Northumberland on 27 February 1954; A2 No. 60526 Sugar Palm and Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 No. 46471 outside the shed on unknown date (J.W. Armstrong); Drewry diesel mechanical shunter No. D2242 in September 1962 (J.W. Armstrong); A3 No. 60084 Trigo on a Liverpool to Newcastle express passing throuugh low level platforms in early 1950s (J.W. Armstrong); Leyburn engine shed on 1 June 1963 long after closure (W.T. Stubbs); Hawes Junction 1918 engine shed on 21 May 1937 (W.A. Camwell); Leyburn engine shed plan; Hawes Junction engine shed LMS plan; Raven A2 Pacific No. 2401 City of Kingston upon Hull on Wiske Moor water troughs in late 1920s (J.W. Armstrong) caption explians how water was taken from the River Wiske and fed to tanks serving the troughs.

Jeffrey Wells. The impact of the railway on Alderley Edge in the nineteenth century. 471-3.
New red sandstone outcrop whic gives commanding views across Manchester to the Pennines and towards the hills of North Wales. The station opened with the Manchester & Birmingham Railway as Alderley on 10 May 1842. In 1853 "and Chorley" was added and in 1876 the name was changed to "Alderley Edge" (the confusing Chorley was dropped.. Excursion traffic was encouraged.  The local landowner Sir Humphrey de Trafford of Chorley Hall encouraged residential development, Reports from Manchester Courier and Manchester Times. Illustrations (all from (John Alsop Collection); : Alderley Edge station and Queen's Hotel pre-1918 ; Alderley Edge station looking towards Crewe; Wilmslow station with Webb compound 0-8-0 on freight c1905; Chelford station on 22 December 1894 when a Crewe-bound double-headed train ran into trucks blown into its path leading to 14 deaths and 48 injuies

Peter Tatlow. Crane laying of prefabricated track. Part Four — twin-jib track relayers. 474-7.
Series began on page 70. The Southern Railway realised that the technique would be of great advantage when relaying track in tunnels and J.D. West sought a crane capable of working in tunnels. WW"2 interupted development, but the Southern Region rapidly implemented the twin jib crane to solve the problem of relaying track in the wet Polhill Tunnel where the drainage had become clogged with silt. Work on the Sevenoaks Tunnel followed. In 1948 the London Midland Region borrowed the machine for urgent work in Standedge Tunnel. With a large backlog of relaying British Railways constructed five machines. Extensive bibliiography. Illustrations (all by M.S. Welch unless stated otherwise): London Midland Region Track Layer Machine No. TL3 working under the wires at Handforth on 19 August 1960; Plasser track relayer at work in a tunnel; ex-Midland Railway 3F 0-6-0 with early LMR track layer converted from a 50 ton Warwell bogie wagon working under a bridge; Western Region track layer W1404 built from redundant 6-ton hand cranes with pannier tank and men working in dangerous conditions (B.K. Blencowe Collection); pair of Coles crane units mounted on Warwell No. DM 721234 (A.E. West); self-propelled heavy duty track relayer working under the wires at Chelford in 1979; Cowans Sheldon twin jib track relayer at Chapel-en-Frith on 2 September 1984; pair of Donelli portal cranes carrying panel of concrete sleepered track at Cheadle following a derailment on 27 August 1988.

Tim Edmonds and Bernard Edmonds (photographs). Glimpses of Mid-Wales steam in the 1920s and 1930s. 478-9.
Author is son of photographer who lived from 1910 to 2003 and whose family had a holiday cottage at Arsog. He was an ordained Anglican minister and his photographic collection was damaged during WW2, but the son has attrempted to caption some which appeared to be of interest: 517 class 0-4-2T No. 846 on the Dinas Mawddwy branch near Cemmes Road with two non-bogie coches and goods brake van; ex-Cambrian Railways Aston 61 class 4-4-0 as GWR No. 1091 at Machynlleth; ex-Cambrian Railways 15 class 0-6-0 as GWR No. 892 at Towyn with passenger train (leading vehicle CR bogie corridor coach); down passenger t rain at Machynlleth header by Duke class 4-4-0 Mo. 3259 Merlin c1930; 43XX 2-6-0 crossing Afon Wnion Viaduct with freight on approach to Drws-y-Nant station in early 1930s:  date disputed by T. McCarthy; 36XX 2-4-2T No. 3603 at Bont Newydd wth up passenger train c1832.

The Caprotti class 5s. 480-4.
Colour photo-feature: (both Ivatt on LMS and BR Standard types): No. 44744 with Timken roller bearings leaving Halifax with 17.10 Leeds/Bradford to Liverpool Exchange express on 6 July 1961 (Gavin Morrison); No. 44752 passing Chinley North Junction with train of limestone hoppers off Peak Forest line (P.J. Hughes); No. 44687 with high running plate entering Orrell station with a local passenger train on 3 May 1963; No. 44755 with double chimney at Leeds Holbeck motive power depot on 21 September 1960 (Gavin Morrison); No. 44743 climbing Lickey Incline with express formed of LMS coaches in carmine & cream livery in 1956; No. 73151 at Oban in 1960; No. 73139 on freight train alongside Patricroft shed on 5 March 1965 (G. Parry);

Moments of Remembrance. 485
Photo-feature: N15X and L.B. Billinton 4-6-4T: No. 232 in umber livery approaching Honor Oak Park on London Btidge to Brighton express (Bernard Whicher); N15X No, 2333 Remembrance at Bournemouth Central in Bulleid sunshine livery; No.32331 Beattie at Windsor & Eton Riverside after working the 'Riverside Special' from London Bridge on 23 June 1957. (Trevor Owen): see also front cover

Mike G. Fell. The railway at Tutbury. Part One, 486-92.
Tutbury was a centre for mining alabaster and gypsum and for the production of condensed  milk based on the dairy farms in the Dove Valley. Nestlé owned the factory. The closure of the service to Burton is covered in depth. Extensive bibliography. Illustrations: map prepared by Roger Hateley of North Staffordshire and Great Northern Railways in the Tutbury/Burton area which also Midland Railway lines; NSR 2-2-2ST No.2 which was rebuilt from Sharp Bros. No.7 WN 484/1848; Tutbury station in NSR period; Claass B 2-4-0T No. 2 at Tutbury having arrived from Burton; former NSR brake third converted into control vehicle (motor coach) for push & pull working at Tutbury on 16 March 1949; former Midland Railway 0-4-4T No. 1429 at Tutbury Nestlé factory with two chimney stacks; 0-4-4T No. 58058 with BRITISH RAILWAYS on tank sides passing closed Stretton & Clay Mills with Jenny on 10 June 1950; No. 58080 propels Jenny past Tutbury Crossing signal box (Tim Shuttleworth); Sentinel Cammell steam raicar No. 4154 at Tutbury on 29 September 1932 (E.H.C. Sholto); Ivatt5 2-6-2T No. 41328 crossing Tutbury level crossing  propelling Jenny on 24 June 1959; No. 41277 propelling Jenny past closed Stretton & Clay Mills with Jenny on 11 June 1960. Part 2 see page 614 and letter from David Stanier on Tutbury Jenny or Jinny. See also letter from David Allen on behalf of Robert Pateman on page 765 and further photograph.

Anthony Dawson. The first railway strike. 493-6.
A prequel for the Author's Locomotives of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to be published by Pen & Sword Transport. The early drivers on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway came from North East England and had gained experience on the early railways including the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the involvement of the Stephensons. The management of the railway sought to reduce the remuneration and number of its drivers and this led to a strike; as strikes were illegal at that time some of the drivers were treated as criminals and sentenced to hard labour at Kirkdale Gaol which meant long periods on the treadmill, but the chaplin intervened on their behalf and the rest of their sentence was spent in less harsh conditions. Edward Woods, a Quaker achieved better working conditions. Illustrations (all colour): North Star (Robert Stephenson, 1830) driven by Thomas George); Planet class 2-2-0 Fury built by Fenton, Murray & Jackson in 1831 (Ackerman print); Samson class where Ackerman probably intended to portray 0-4-0 Samson (No. 13), but locomotive depicted named Jupiter; Planet passing under skew bridge at Rainhill (fireman blowing horn); Replica Planet with Author acting as fireman in Manchester.    

Chris Lilley. The building of Ironbridge Power Station. 497-9
Author was civil engineer for the coal reception plant at the new Ironbridge B electricity generating station built alongside the Severn Valley line. He photographed work on this and other activity at his place of work including the arrival of the boiler drums weighing 240 tons by special trains from Sheffield. Illustrations: Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No. 46037 on train of coal empties passing site of new coal handling plant with workers sstanding on waybeams in March 1966 (colour); 8F No. 48724 passing Buildwas Abbey with boiler drum on special wagons in March 1966; and boiler on its wagons alongside Ironbridge A power station; 8F No. 48474 on approach to Albert Edward Bridge with Ironbridge B cooling towers and chimney under construction in March 1966 (colour); Peckett 0-4-0ST owned CEGB at Ironbridge A shunting coal wagons (colour); Class 5 4-6-0 No. 44680 on Birkenhead to Birmingham Stephenson Locomotive Society special on 5 March 1967. See also letter from Bob Yate on page 368

The Swindon scene. 500-3
Colour photo-feature: No. 1021 County of Montgomery in ex-Works condition on 1 November 1959 (R. Patterson); Castle class No. 5080 Defiant departing with a down express in October 1959; 72XX 2-8-2T No. 7240 ex-Works in black paint with no brass work on 17 June 1962 (P. Moffat); ex-Cardiff Railway Kitson & Co. 0-4-0ST No. 1338 in 1955; 8F No. 48412 on coal train passing Swindon station on 28 February 1958; No. 6018 King Henry VI with double chimney at Swindon on 28 April 1963 having arrived on railtour from Birmingham; inside erecting shop with No. 6018 (D.H. Ballantyne); No. 5018 St. Mawes Castle at coaling stage on 11 December 1960 with line black tender (Trevor Owen); 43XX 2-6-0 No. 5385 on local freight on 28 January 1959; lined green Modified Hall No. 7902 Eaton Mascot Hall with Hymek No. D7044 behind in March 1962.

Jim Lloyd as related to Paul Joyce. Sent to work on the railway. 504-9
Worked at Guildford locomotive depot as a cleaner then as a fireman. Most of thr duties were light: rural branch lines and cross country Reading to Readhill line and a few main line turns. Most of the drivers were older men and the majority were kind. Illustrations: Guildford engine shed (Roger Holmes); Adams G6 0-6-0T No. 30227 (actually 30277 see photograph and Gremlinia) with coal wagon next to coaling stage at Guildford on 2 February 1955 (Norman Simmons); B4 0-4-0T No. 30089 in Guildford shed (David Lawrence); Drummond 700 class Black Motor No. 325; S15 No. 30510 near Woking on freight in July 1955 (Brian Connelll); M7 class No. 30047 leaving Rogate with a Petersfield to Midhurst train on 10 September 1950 (E.C. Griffith); Adams 0395 0-6-0 No. 30566 on freight (Les Elsey); L12 4-4-0 No. 30420 arriives Privett on Meon Valley line with an up freight on 24 June 1949 (E.C. Griffith); E4 Class 0-6-2T No. 32505 at Guildford station in 1950s (Paul Joyce); T9 4-4-0 No. 30708 with an up freight at West Meon on 9 June 1949 (E.C. Griffith).

Readers' forum. 510

Rail-Roving in Scotland. Editor
The photographer, George Watson, points out that the mddle photograph of the colour feature on p337 of the June issue is of J37 No. 65345 at Alva (terminus of the branch from Cambus) and not at Edzell as described.

Editorial 33/7. Editor 
I am sure I'm not the only one who noticed that in referring to the number of letters submitted to The Daily Telegraph, I should have written " ... but it seems that only 5% of those received ever see light of day ... "

The Weatherhill lncline. Editor 
A computer gremlin launched an injury-time attack on the end of this article on p401 of the July issue and decided to miss off the end of the concluding sentence. It was all there on the page proof! The full sentence reads: "Until the last decade, some of the 1919 engine house was still standing as part of the buildings of the sand quarry, but they have since been obliterated, a reminder that it is still possible in this day and age for important railway and other heritage sites to be destroyed."

The Quest for 'Economy and Efficiency' . Geoffrey Skelsey
My abject apologies to readers for a transcription error in my reference to the Belgian 'vicinal' Ouly p392). The correct figure for route length should have read "155.3 metres per square kilometre".

Railway curiosities. Andrew Kleissner
Re article in June issue Alistair Nisbet states that London's Battersea Heliport "did not last too long". This is incorrect as it opened in 1959 and remains in use not only for commercial activity but as a base for the London Air Ambulance. Since the closure of the Trigg Lane floating helipad in 1985, Battersea Heliport has been the only CAA licensed heliport serving the city of London.

Place on rail. Russell Jackson 
Re article by Brian Parsons 'Place on Rail- the transport of the dead by train in the UK' (Backtrack, May 2019), it's perhaps worth noting that the loading of a coffin on to a passenger train is shown in John Schlesinger's 1961 award-winning documentary Terminus. A discreet container is wheeled along the platform at Waterloo, looking rather like a stage magician's prop, and the coffin is extracted from it with due care by the undertaker's assistants and loaded into the brake van. The film also shows the detraining of troops arriving by a boat train and the entraining of a group of prisoners, in civilian clothes but handcuffed together and under police escort. And at the end of the day, the morning newspapers, newly arrived from Fleet Street, are loaded into what I assume to be a parcels van for despatch to country destinations. One of the most vivid images in the last part of this famous film is the once-familiar sight of a long string of parcels trolleys snaking across the almost empty concourse. Terminus can be viewed free via the BFl's website.

Glasgow Central Railway. James Johnson. 510
Clarifications and corrections to article in June issue: stated that locomotives were stored at a depot at Partick due to restrictions placed on the Caledonian by the North British. This was not a motive power depot proper, but the large goods depot at Partick Central, later Kelvin Hall. The site is now a park and car park. Locomotives were temporarily stabled there during their daily duties, rather than fully maintained and disposed of there.
A mistake crept into the article in the form of a shed allocation: British Railways Standard 4s were not allocated i n 1949, but in 19S7. The former year was prior to their construction! The early expansion of railways in central Glasgow was a complex and at times deeply confusing time, with a number of competing projects resulting in many failed, short-lived and redundant ventures in a tiny area. I hope that despite the errors, my article is still enjoyable and informative to readers [KPJ: Glasgow Central Low Level in days of steam was smoke-filled beyond belief]

The East and West Yorkshire Union Railway. Robin Leleux
Re Nick Deacon's notes on the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway (May NO June Issue) where he opines that the passenger service introduced on the Newmarket [Silkstone] branch to Leeds in 1904, withdrawn after only nine months, was "possibly the shortest-ever passenger service to run on British metal"'. This dubious honour probably lies with the grandiosely named Easton Neston Mineral & Towcester, Roade & Olney Junction Railway. Although authorised in 1879 it was 1891 before it opened for goods as the Stratford-upon-Avon, Towcester and Midland Junction Railway, running from Towcester eastwards to a remote junction with the Northampton-Bedford line at Ravenstone Wood, west of Olney. Passenger trains were introduced in December 1892 and ran until March 1893, just four months, bring in revenue of £5 weekly; some trains had no passengers. However, the line was a useful freight link for the Midland Railway which had running powers; it ran banana specials from Avonmouth Docks to London that way, as later did the LMS. Otherwise passenger traffic was confined to the Easter Monday Grafton Hunt Steeplechases at Towcester when 7,000 8,000 racegoers might arrive in special trains, many from London via Ravenstone Wood Junction. These lasted until 1939 and the line finally closed in 1958, being then used for storing condemned carriages and wagons. I recall seeing an ex-LNWR twelve-wheel diner on the railway bridge over the main road near Stoke Bruerne.
As an aside, the ashes of Ravenstone Wood Junction signal box were regularly fought over in twice-yearly quizzes by Northampton RCTS and Bedford LCGB branches.

Animal matters. John Brown 
The carriage of livestock by rail (April issue) was subject to regulations which were far stricter than the regulations for the carriage of livestock by road. There is published evidence that livestock was regularly transported by road from Edinburgh to Kent in 1970 without unloading for feeding and watering.
In 1956 a farmer in the South West moved 'lock, stock and barrel' to north eastern England. The movement regulations and the contract with British Railways required the livestock to be unloaded in the Birmingham area, fed and watered and then reloaded for their onward journey. This contract included the requirement that during the layover the two house cows were to be milked by British Railways.

The Kinmel Camp and Forydd Harbour branch. Claude R. Hart,  510 
One must not forget that Kinmel Camp (BT July) was the site of one of the most serious mutinies (or, more correctly, riots) in British (Canadian) military history. It took place between 4 and 5 March 1919. This was mainly caused by the Canadians at the camp not being repatriated as soon as they had hoped. They had hoped to be sent back to Canada directly from France but the ships allocated for this were used to repatriate the American troops!
At some stage in the riots shots were fired, with three rioters and two guards being killed. Many more were injured. 78 rioters were arrested. 25 ioters/mutineers were convicted — with the maximum sentences being ten years' penal servitude. There had been a rumour that some of the rioters were shot, but this has been dismissed by the Canadian authorities. The entire episode appears to have been 'hushed up', ending up with the Canadians eventually being sent home by the end of March 1919. The Marble Church (St. Margaret's nearby, just off the A55) contains the graves of over 80 Canadians who died at the camp and includes those killed in the riot.

1955 — BR steam's last great year. John P. Hitchen 
Re A.J. Mullay article '1955— BR steam's last great year': the marshalling yards modernisation programme was of course a mistake in hindsight but as late as 1968 69% of BR freight was wagonload according to Paul Shannon's book Rail freight since 1968: wagonload. freight was always the main money-maker so it seemed reasonable to invest to make it more efficient. They just did not consider that unrestricted road competition would make wagonload freight completely unviable whatever they did.
Surely as big a mistake was R.A. Riddles's refusal to consider main line diesels. If BR had invested in a small fleet (like the LMS 'twins') with their own depot working a complete service, say out of St. Pancras, it would have shown what diesels could do and given invaluable experience. Riddles was all for electrification but when it finally came with the West Coast it went well over budget, was very disruptive and nearly got cancelled. Events today show that such problems are still with us. Steam was dirtier, more polluting, required more units, depots and staff (with increasing problems of recruitment and affordability) and provided poorer working conditions than diesels. Also from the safety angle signal sighting was more difficult with steam. Despite steam's lower first cost, surely diesels should have been given a proper trial at the earliest opportunity. Steam could be built in BR workshops but the large number of workshops, built by the pre-grouping companies, must have been a very costly overhead. All those works, all that plant and all that staff — did anyone even know how much it all cost? Maybe steam wasn't as cheap as it appeared.

Book review. 510

St. Pancras — A journey through 150 years of history. 58 pp. New Journal Enterprises, Reviewed by DWM *
With a strap line of 'where dining, shopping & culture meets travel: all under one iconic room' this glossy magazine is probably going to be more at home on the table in the dentist's waiting room rather than on the Backtrack reader's bookshelf. Produced as a series of articles, including some by well-known transport authors such as Simon Bradley, Christian Wolmar and John Scott-Morgan, it is hard to dispel the impression that shopping and eating are the real focus of the publication with transport, as with the current 'Midland' station at St. Pancras, pushed firmly to the margins.
Commemorating 150 years since the opening of the magnificent station and leaving aside the articles previously mentioned, there are but a few overtly railway items in the publication. One such is an atmospheric reproduction of a fine painting of a characteristically double-headed express leaving the station in the early years of last century - but surely No. 672 is a 'Spinner', not a Johnson 4-4-0 as indicated?
To your reviewer this publication comes very much in the category of 'for people who like this sort of thing then this is the sort of thing they like'. It is an interesting publication but not really a 'railway' one and, hand on heart, your reviewer could not recommend that Backtrack readers rush out and buy a copy. But perhaps worth a look if one crossed your path ... ? KPJ sort of thing one might find in a charity shop

Last sittings on the 'Belle'. David Idle. rear cover
Up Bournemouth Belle passing under semaphore gantry at Byfleet hauled by grubby Class 47  No. D1922 followed by luminous green full brake and third class Pullman car No. 73 on 7 July 1967 with passengers clearly visible

LNER Class J50 0-6-0T No.68984 shunting vans at Leeds Central on 2 October 1962. Gavin Morrison. see also page 516 front cover

September 2019 (Number 342)

Evacuees by rail —  forty years on. A.J. Mullay. 515.
Guest Editorial (Kevin to buck the trend was taken by Ford 8 from Bexleyheath to Dorset during the night and "thinks" he was delivered to a relative's pub in West Bay where to the horror of his Mother enjoyed fraternising with the locals (the Lobster in Sheringham reminds of this brief sojourn. He was then moved to "Radipole" to the home of Great Aunt Lizzie where there were oil lamps and a privy at the bottom of the garden surrounded by herbs. When and how he returned to Bexleyheath in time for the Battle of Britain remains forever lost. He later moved to Edinburgh, a place he still loves, but was unaware about its lads and lassies being deposited in the Highlands until Sandy's observations like "not only did the planners err in terms of timing, there was also a failure in geographical terms" —  looking forward to Hellish Halloween?

For shunting the LNER. 516-17.
Colour photo-feature: J50 0-6-0T: No. 68984 on station pilot duty at Leeds Central on 13 August 1962; No. 68988 at Leeds Central on 28 February 1960 (Gavin Morrison); No. 68981 at King's Cros with A1 No. 60122 Curlew behind in servicing area on 20 June 1960 (D.L. Dott); No. 68911 on empty stock at Copley Hill carriage shed in Leeds on 23 A ugust 1959 and No. 68978 on transfer freight near Harringay in 1955 (Bruce Champion). See also front cover

Gillian Mawson. Taken away by train — the evacuees' stories. 518-23.
1 September 2019 marks the eightieth anniversary of the outbreak of WW2 and Operation Pied Piper which organised the evacuation of millions of schoolchildren, teachers, mothers and infants due the fear of German bombing and the majority were conveyed in steam trains. Local authorities were involved and in Ilford a diary was kept by Wilshere who noted that he with Dinmore and Bryce were the local officials in charge of displaying posters showing details of the special trains, A surviving example from Newcastle upon Tyne shows trains and their destinations and the schools involved. In some cases parents were unaware of where their children had gone. Great Yarmouth children were evacuated to Derbyshire. Folkestone children were sent to Merthyr Tydfil where the kindness of the Welsh was noted, but the journeys were long and refreshments and toilet facilities were often inadequte, Ronald Brash at Kelvinside Academy was evacuated to the Island of Arran and noted that the train from Crosshill used the Caledonian route to Ardrossan. Jean Gore en route to Downham Market remembers stopping at Bishops Stortford where the engine and children received water and the kindness of the WRVS and Salvation Army people who met them at their destination. In May 1940 the Channel Islands were evacuated and the evacuees had to face long journeys to places like Oldham, Rochade and Glasgow and Lowestoft. Gibraltar was also evacuated and the women and children had to face a long sea passage to Swansea and difficult railway journeys with many changes. The Author interviewed 500 evacuees. Illustrations: London evacuees arriving at Wolverhampton station and boarding bus; evacuation notice from Newcastle upon Tyne showing trains and their destinations and the schools involved; arrival by train of evacuees from Guernsey; evacuees from London arriving at Moor Street station, Birmingham; Southern Railway poster; evacuees leving Yarmouth for Derbyshire on LNER corridor train; Channel Islands refugees at Crewe station; Peter Hopper with Willis family in Skegness;  Guernsey evacuees at Stockport Edgeley; blue plaque at Stockport station marking arrival of Channel Island evacuees (colour).

Clive Carter. Oil gas manufacture and its demise on British Railways. 524-7.
Gas lighting for coaches began on the Metropolitan Railway and was followed by the Great Eastern in 1878. Two manufacturing processes for oil gas were available: that by the Pope process was used by the GWR and LNWR (described by Lewis in Great Western J. 2016 (99), 177-9) whereas the North Eastern used the Pintsch process invented in Germany. Most of the pre-grouping companies had their own oil gas plants (e.g. Cambrian Railways at Oswestry) and Table 1 lists extant plants in 1930, but some closed before Nationalization. The Southern Railway ceased using it as illuminant in 1938, but most dining cars still used it for cooking, although Gresley on the LNER adopted electricity for this. British Railways sought to rid itself of oil gas and its transport and it  part replaced it by propane or butane. Table 3 shows gas tank wagon workings on the Western Region in 1961. Illustraations: ex-North Eastern Railway gas wagon at Leyburn replenishing sspecial trains run for Total Eclipse on 28 June 1927 (H.C. Casserley); GWR buffet car No. 9632 with three oil gas cylinders; GWR first class sleeping car No. 9091 built in 1914 with oil gas cylinder. See also letter from John Macnab

Mike Fenton. First in the field. Part Two. 528-31
Part 1 see page 454. LNER camping coaches: recollections and high quality snaps of camping coach holidays. Long quote from a Dutch family (van Herrikhuisen) who had holidayed at Glaisdale in the Esk Valley and at Aysgarth where the care received from the LNER staff was recorded in a Dutch magazine (this information was provided by Mrs Hazel Short whose father, Harry Noble, had been station master at Aysgarth. This also gave a glimpse of the illussive touring camping coach. The Seabrook family from Southall enjoyed two holidays at Hopton-on-Sea, but were not happy with one at Seacroft near Skegness where the journey from Liverpool Street was in a dirty M&GNR vehicle and the camping coach was plagued by the odour of potato blight (from Joan Brooks). Graham Vincent provided much information on the camping coach at Arrochar & Tarbet. Illustrations: LNER poster with green & cream camping coach (colour); van Herrikhuisen family alongside CC.8 at Glaisdale; CC.84 (former MSLR six-wheel barke No. 5220) at St. John's  Chapel in Weardale with Mackenzie family from Redcar; V1 class No. 2901 which worked between Arrochar & Tarbet and Craigendoran upon which boy Graham Vincent had been given a footplate trip in 1939; Seabrook family from Southall at Hopton-on-Sea on CC.36 (former GNR brake third No. 4726); Y5 0-4-0ST No, 7230 with CC.14 (ex-MSLR six-wheel coach and Gresley Pacific at Romford in 1936 (colour); Joseph Seabrook on steps of Hopton on Sea signal box; CC.119 twelve wheel clerestory camping coach ex ECJS No. 292 at or for Mundesley-on-Sea.

David Brandon. 'Much in Little' — the railways of Rutland and Stamford. Part One. 532-40
Rutland is the smallest English county and has managed to achieve a sense of local identity in a period which has tended to airbrush such eccentrities out. Stamford is in Lincolnshire and outwith the County. It used to be on the Great North Road, but this now bypasses it to the west. It is a beautiful stone-built town with a superb hotel and a well-known and excellent railway bookshop. It currently lacks a through train service from Norwich thanks to privatisation. The Midland Railway provided the main services, but the Great Northern and London & North Western made fleeting appearnces which the former still does at Essendine. In 1825 the London Northern Railroad Company sought to link London to Manchester by two routes, one of which would have passed through Oakham, the County Town. In 1830 an attempt was made to develop a railway from Stamford to Oakham to link with the Oakham Canal as this might have reduced the price of coal mined in the Leicestershire coalfield. The Midland Counties Railway proposed lines in Rutland and this encouraged a Norwich & Leicester Railway in 1836, but this  failed to emerge. The Midland Counties Railway hoped to connect Northampton to Market Harborough and onto Stamford to feed into the stagecoaches serving thereat. Ywo other failed attempts were the Northampton, Lincoln and Hull Railway and the Hull, Great Grimsby and Southampton Direct Railway which actually made preliminary surveys in the Oakham area. A similar fate awaited the Lynn and Leicester Railway and a Kettering to Syston Railway. George Hudson entered the picture with his battle aginst the Great Northern Railway. On 30 June 1845 the Midland Railway obtained Parliamentary approval for the Syston & Peterborough Railway which followed a circuitous route via Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Manton and Stamford. The Oakham Canal became part of the trackbed. The route impinged upon Stapleford Park, the residence of the Earl of Harborough and this led to a very sharp curve near Saxby, later eased with the consent of a successor Earl. Illustrations: Fowler Class 4 2-6-4T No. 42331 with carmine & cream Stanier coaches on ordinary passenger train leaving Stamford Town in September 1956 (P.H. Wells: colour); Manton Junction viewed from north-west with route to Stamford on left and to Kettering on right in Midland period?; ex-MSLR 0-6-2T No. 69292 at Stamford East in late 1950s actually Stamford Town see Gremlinia. (David Lawrence: colour); map of Rutland railways; Ashwell staation looking north; 4P compound 4-4-0 No.41104 departing Oakham station towards Manton on stopping train with signal box and jnteresting buses including Albion single decker?; Ryhall & Belmisthorpe station and level crossing on 25 June 1958 (R.C. Riley: colour); Ketton level crossing and station c1905 (John Alsop Collectiion); former LNWR 2-4-2T No, 46604 at Luffenham with push & pull coach for Seaton on 10 April 1954 (John P. Wilson); Morcott station viewed from train; D16/3 No. 62535 at Manton with train for Peterborough c1950 (T.G. Hepburn); Uppingham station in early LMS period (John Alsop Collectiion); Stamford East locomotive shed on 29 June 1958 (colour: R.C. Riley); C12 4-4-2T No. 67357 at Essendine with Stamford East train (T.J. Edgington); Metropolitan Cammell DMU at Seaton with ex-LTSR 4-4-2T No. 41975 on Uppingham train on 28 March 1959 (T.G. Hepburn);  4-4-2T No. 41975 on Uppingham train on 12 May 1959 (D.M.C. Hepburne Scott); A4 No. 2509 Silver Link dashes through Rutland on up Silver Jubilee on 10 May 1937 (T.G. Hepburn). Part 2 see page 681 See also corrections in letter from Stephen G. Abbott..

 East station forecourt;

Alistair F. Nisbet. Brunel the hospital builder. 541-3
The War Office seriously mishandled the care of wounded troops during the Crimean War in 1855 and Isambard Kingdom Brunel became involved in an attempt to mitigate this by designing prefabricated and flexible hospital units which could be manufactured in Britain and exported to Turkey. They were erected an absurdly long way from the casulaties at Renkioi where railways were laid to move the injured from the quay to the hospitals. The Author discovered this unusual aspect of Brunel in a book describing the teaching hospital in Ninewells, Dundee. Sir Benjamin Hawes (apologies for those looking for the junction) was the inept politician; and W.H. Russell (an investigative journalist of The Times) and Florence Nighingale were those who led to his downfall and indirectly to Brunel's involvement. Illustrations: Brunel with chains behind; map of hospital and railways at Renkioi; extract from Report on existing hospitals; photograph of transport ships alongside quay in Crimea taken by Francis Fenton; photograph of buildings at Renkioi; memorial tablet at North Cowton for Captain Augustus Webb of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade who died at Scutari. See also letter from Ken Harrison on page 702 

Waverley Station. 544-6
Colour photo-feature: filthy Stanier Class 5 No. 44956 departing from west end with train for Stirling? Mound Tunneels and National Galleries of Scotland behind on 18 April 1965 (G. Parry); J37 No. 64624 on passenger train on 16 August 1961; Jubilee No. 45673 Keppel on express for Perth (Princes Street and North British Hotel visible in March 1960 (J.G. Wallace); No. 80026 on station pilot duty on 6 August 1965 (Inter-City DMU behind); A3 No. 60099 Call Boy with an express for Aberdeen in Princes Street Gardens with Inter-City DMU alongside (Scotrt Monument just visible) in July 1959; J83 No, 68474 in fully lined black with gleaming brasss at East end in August 1955 (J.G. Wallace); No. 72005 Clan Macgregor on express for Parth in June 1963 (Scots lady fed on porridge on platform)

Bill Taylor. Serious crime against the railway: the 1861 legislation. 547-51.
Offences Against the Persom Act of 1861 has three sections which specifically relate to damage to railways which may endanger the safety of passengers or staff/. As originally enacted, section 32 reads as follows: "Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously put or throw upon or across any railway any wood stone or other matter or thing or shall unlawfully and maliciously take-up remove or displace any rail sleeper or other matter or thing belonging to any railway or shall unlawfully and maliciously turn move or divert any points or other machinery belonging to any railway or shall unlawfully and maliciously make or show hide or remove any signal or light upon or near to any railway or shall unlawfully and maliciously do or cause to be done any other matter or thing with intent in any of the cases aforesaid to endanger the safety of any person travelling or being upon the railway shall be guilty of felony and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the court to be kept in penal servitude for life or for any term not less than three years or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years with or without hard labour and if a male under the age of 16 years with or without whipping." The section was altered in 1892 to amend the maximum sentence to imprisonment for life. It will be noted that four specific criminal acts are set out in full followed by what is effectively a 'catch all' provision. The words put in italics are important for to secure a conviction the jury must be satisfied that the specific intention to endanger safety was in the mind of the offender at the time the unlawful deed was carried out
The wording of section 34 is much shorter and merely requires an unlawful act or a wilful omission or neglect which endangers the safety of a person conveyed or being in or upon the railway. At first sight this might seem to be another way of saying exactly the same as section 32 but there are two important differences.  Firstly it is used where the safety of persons is put at risk as a consequence of an act or omission by a person whose intention was unlike that expressed in section 32. Second, when enacted this section was classified as a misdemeanour (ie less serious than a felony) with a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment. By way of illustration, suppose a trespasser moved a set of points as a passenger train approached at speed, that would be an unlawful act which might well result in derailment and passengers being injured. Here the intention to endanger someone, even if not admitted, is likely to be presumed. If, however, the same unlawful act were done by a youth as a joke to divert a goods wagon towards the wrong siding just to see what happens, that would clearly satisfy section 34 but not section 32.
Finally, under the OAPA section 33 should be mentioned although it is only rarely used these days. That section requires the same specific intent of endangering safety as was seen in section 32 but the unlawful act was narrowly identified as being to throw at against or into any engine tender carriage or truck any wood stone or other item. The maximum sentence is still imprisonment for life.
The other statute to consider is the Malicious Damage Act 1861 (MDA) which in sections 35 and 36 contains provisions intended to protect locomotives and rolling stock from being damaged or obstructed. The first of these sections corresponds closely with the wording of section 32 of the OAPA in that the same four unlawful actions together with the 'catch all' clause are repeated and the maximum sentence is also identical. Additionally, contravening this provision also constituted a felony. The difference, however, is to be seen in the intention of the offender at the time of committing the act which in this case is "with intent to obstruct upset overthrow injure or destroy any engine tender carriage or truck using the railway". It will be noted that there is no reference to injury to any person, only injury or damage to property or obstruction of any vehicle on the line. In practice it is often found that the facts of the criminal act committed could also amount to contravention of section 34 of the OAPA discussed above, thus giving prosecutors a choice. Finally, section 36 requires no specific intention, merely an unlawful act or wilful omission or neglect causing any engine or carriage to be obstructed. The maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment Having introduced the relevant provisions of the 1861 legislation, all still good law today, and attempted (and hopefully succeeded) to explain their meaning, it is now necessary to go on and examine how these laws were applied by the courts in six cases mainly from the nineteenth century and with occasional references to more recent events. Each statutory provision will be considered separately.
Section .32 OAPA 1861: case of R v Bradford and others, 1860, was brought under an earlier statute which contained almost exactly the same wording as section 32 of the OAP A. John Bradford and six other boys were accused of committing four offences relating to their actions in the precinct of Norwood in the County of Middlesex, in that they had placed a truck known as a trolley upon and across the line of the Great Western & Brentford Railway in such a manner as to obstruct a locomotive steam engine. The boys all pleaded guilty to each of the four charges but judgement was held back until the Court of Criminal Appeal considered whether or not those pleas were correct. On the date when the trolley was placed across the line, the railway had been completed but had not been opened for public use and the only traffic on the line was confined to the carriage in trucks of materials and of workmen employed in its construction. The trolley was safely removed before any collision occurred The indictment accused the boys of doing the act in such a manner as to endanger the safety of persons conveyed upon the railway. On their behalf a barrister said that no offence had been committed as the railway was not open, but Chief Justice Cock burn assessed that the guilty pleas were correct. No record of the sentence imposed remains.
In the case of the Crown versus Gilmore at Worcester Assizes in April 1882 Gilmour was indicted under Section 32 for throwing poles onto the railway at Tintern, but was acquitted by the jury, but he was also charged under Section 35 of MDA 1861 and found guilty..
Section 34 OAPA 1861: James Momaghan and Samuel Granger were playing with a cart in a field near the LNWR line near Stafford when the cart ran out of control through a hedge and over a ditch onto the railway track. The boys were found guilty, but the judge recommendedd mercy as the boys did not Contemplate the consequences of their act. Other cases involved theft of wire; placing objects on the track leading to derailments and altering signals.
Illustrations: scenes of crimes, but in some cases no longer railways: Woodside & South Norwood station with 0-6-0 and brake van; Tintern station, double-headed 4P compound 4-4-0 No.40907 and Jubilee 4-6-0 No.45607 Fiji, at Leagrave on an evening express to Sheffield. in May 1958; class 60 078 with train of tank wagons at Stenson Junction on 20 May 1999 (Ian Cuthbertson: colour) this is the exception in that the thieves of diesel fuel from tank wagons were caught in a British Transport Police operation at this location on 18 June 2003; Patriot class 4-6-0 No. 45547 passing Rugby on long fitted freight on 18 August 1959 (P.H. Groom); LNWR 19-inch goods 4-6-0 No. 724 at Guide Bridge (R.S. Carpenter); signal gantry at Stirling with smoke from No. 73007 in May 1965 (J. Spencer Gilks: colour).  

Taunton and thereabouts.Tom Heavyside. 552-3
Colour photo-feature: Class 47 No. 47 561 departs Taunton on down express passing Taunton Station West signal box and semaphore signal gantry on 26 April 1983; Class 46 No. 46 025 emerges from Whiteball Tunnel on 21 June 1977; Class 47 No. 47 511 Thames passing Creech St. Michael on 26 April 1983; No. 45012 at Whiteball Summit with westbound express on 29 October 1980; No. 47 507 on up Bristol line with express at Cogload Junction on 26 April 1983.

Exercising 'Greyhounds'. 554-5
Black & white photo-feature: Drummond T9 4-4-0: No.716 in Southern Railway green livery with Southern Railway Royal train approaching Havant on Victoria to Portsmouth working on 19 May 1937 (Fleet Review on following day); No. 312 on 09.09 Victoria to Tunbridge Wells West on Whit Monday, 7 June 1949; No. 30119 in sunshine green livery but lettered BRITISH RAILWAYS at Bournemouth Central on 17 September 1952 (T.J. Edgington); Ex-Works No. 30313 at Swaythling with a Southampton Terminus to Andover train on 9 September 1954; No. 30286 converted for oil burning out of seervice at Eastleigh on 2 September 1950; No. 30313 at Padstow on train for Exeter Central on 15 August 1960.

Raymond Vickers. The London Midland & Scottish Railway Class 3 2-6-2 tanks. 556-62.
Both Fowler and Stanier varieties. Derby Works was responsible for both the very successful and always sworn-by 2-6-4T Class 4 series from 1927 and the not so successful, and often sworn at, 2-6-2T 3P series from 1930. Both sets of locomotives had many dimensions in common, including wheel sizes and the wheelbase. The 3P LMS 2-6-2Ts were produced in two variants, designed by Fowler and Stanier. The parallel boiler Fowler series were Nos.1-70, produced from 1930. The taper-boilered Stanier series were Nos.71-209. Everyone who mentions them is agreed that both series were cast iron lame ducks. Essery and Jenkinson (1989 pl77) write "by any truly objective criteria they were probably the least successful of the LMS standard types to be built in such numbers". They further stated "we do wonder whether there was any cogent reason for introducing the type at all". (p. 177). Romans Locomotives Illustrated No. 58 (1988 p6) was especially scathing about the 3Ps, stating that were only useful if everything was in optimum condition. E.S. Cox Locomotive panorama (1965/1974 p66) wrote "For loads under 200 tons, or double headed under 350 tons it at least ran the railway, but there was no sting about its performance". However, he did concede that "their simple and robust construction in relation to their usually light duties produced the lowest average repair cost in pence per mile of any of the passenger types." (ibid p67). Stanier's version of the 3P had long lap, long travel valves — and was still a dud. The long wheelbase has been blamed both for the engines' unwieldy appearance and poor performance. So why did the LMS design a poor locomotive, why did they last so long — for around 30 years — and why did the class fail to meet expectations? The 3Ps were constructed at Derby where the LMS had concentrated the building of tank engines. The experienced staff had no intention of designing a dud, but they worked under some constraints. There were two major constraints, namely the Derby Works equipment and the former Midland Railway loading gauge. Derby Works produced locomotives of 8ft + 8ft 6in wheelbase — these dimensions were applied from the 1860s onwards. Tests conducted in 1941 between Derby and Darley Dale sought to improve steaming with both 6A and 6B boilered locomotives and recommended fitting a short blastpipe with a 4½-inch orifice. Some of Fowler version were modified with outside steampipes and some were fitted for motor (push & pull) operation. Illustrations: No. 40024 with condensing apparatus at Farringdon station on 29 June 1960 (colour); No. 15537 with condensing apparatus at St. Pancras in 1932 on train for Barking; No. 91 ex-Derby Works in July 1938 (colour);No. 6 in MSJ&A platforms in Manchester London Road probably in 1930s; No. 49 with outside steampipes in Birminham New Street station on 8 September 1949; No. 40025 with condensing apparatus at Napsbury with 19.00 St. Pancras to St. Albans service on 21 July 1950; No. 40061 without outside steampipes, but with pump at front for lubrication? at Wellinborough probably in April 1957; No. 141 in final stages of consstruction in Derby Works on 20 October 1935 (T.J. Edgington Collection); Nos. 160 and M161 at St. Pancras on 10 June 1948; No. 40152 at Dumfries with 13.53 arrival from Kirkcudbright on 24 September 1060 (D.F. Tee); No. 133 at Glasgow Central in 1930s; No. 185 fitted with snowplough at Grantown-on-Spey in April 1938 (Gavin Wilson); No. 142 at Manchester Central in May 1937;  No. 40118 at Wennington station with Morecambe portion of ex-Leeds service (Alan Tyson). See also highly damnning comments by Tudor Hughes on these inferior locomotives.

Stephen Duffell. Nasmyth Gaskell, Edward Bury and locomotives for the London & Southampton Railway. 563-5
Partly based on J.A. Cantrell book on James Nasmyth of 1984 and partly on otherr sources which extend our knowledge of the Bridgewater Foundry at Patricroft. Also quotes from Bradley whom Duffell notes as "authorative". The history of the London & South Western locomotives, Locomotive Mag., 1903, 8, 120-2.  notes that a Bury engine worked as a contractor's locomotive during construction of the London & Sothampton Railway and that two of its directors (Richard Garnett and Thomas Cooke) placed orders for two further Bury engines: Tramp and Lark.. Fig. 1 shows 2-2-0 Lark built by E. Bury & Co. in 1835 (WN 24) with 5ft 6in driving wheels and 12 x 18in inside cylinders. Letter from Harry Jack (page 765) shows that illustration is false due to the malignant influence of Clement Stretton. When withdrawn it provided power for pumping at Micheldever staion. In 1838 three very similar engines followed from Nasmyth & Co. WN 2-4 and were named Hawk, Raven and Falcon. Hawk and Falcon broken up c1843.

Turn-of-the-century Paddington. 566-7
Black & white photo-feature from the Brian Davis Collection with notes by Paul Joyce: 2-4-0 No. 3201 Stella (naame on cabside); Achilles class 4-2-2 No. 3072 Bulkeley on express at platform with milk churns stacked awaiting return; Duke class 4-4-0 No. 3267 St. Michael as rebuilt with domeless boiler and raised Belpaire firebox c1910?; Flower class 4-4-0 No. 4168 Stephanotis on arrival side in 1900s; No. 4104 Calendula with superheated conical boiler and possibly retaining red/brown outside frames; French compound No. 104 Alliance as fitted with long come Swindon Standard No. 1 boiler at country end of No. 1 platform

Riichard Foster. The Great Western's Cornwall Main Line (Signalling spotlight:). 568-9.
Colour photo-feature: Par signal box built c1879 and extended in 1893 photographed in June 1989 (Paul Joyce); Par signals viewed from No. 3 platform with train of two single unit railcars arriving from Newquay photographed as previous; St. Austell signal box (No. 7 design of 1906) photographed in July 1979; Liskeard signal box built of timber in 1915 (Type 27C) photographed on 13 August 1993 (Paul Joyce); Bodmin Road signal box built c1887 but modified probably in 1912 photographed on 7 July 1975; Lostwithiel Crossing Signal Box opened in 1893 with cast iron nameboard no date for .photograph

Peter Butler. Harpenden and the Midland Railway. 570-2.
Photographs taken by Author on 10 July 1978. Text notes that Harpenden was the junction for the steeply graded Hemel Hempstead line (now an excellent cycleway and footpath). When operational its motive power included Midland & Great Northern 4-4-0T No. 8 which hauled an American Pullman car. The main line was part of the Midland London extension and the sparse steam service had been replaced by fiery diesel multiple units which in turn were to be replaced by BedPan electrics which sported tartan moquette which had been intended for the APT. Mentioned, but not illustrated was the then closed Hatfield to Dunstable branch which KPJ managed to traverse just before its closure to passenger traffic and was very aware of the refuge trains run from  Finsbury Park to the former gravel pits in the Lea Valley as they climbed through Welwyn Garden City. Illustrations: Harpenden Central island platform looking south; stationmaster's house and semaphor signal on downside; Charrington's fuel office on approach road; departure indicator (very pre-IBM) and crude notice of electrification; LMS designed signal box;; down fast platform with newsagent's shop; and up express hauled by Peak class passing Junction signal box and junction with Hemel branch. See also letter from Stephen Abbott

Readers' Forum. 573.

Lost on the narrow gauge . Graham Smith.
The Southwold Railway photograph at the top of p395 in the July issue of was probably taken at Blythburgh station, showing a Southwold-based train, some time in the late 1890s or 1900s. The locomotive is the second No. l Southwold, a Sharp, Stewart 2-4-2T. When the line opened in 1879 it leased three Sharp, Stewart 2-4-0Ts but, operating almost entirely on 'one engine in steam', could not justify the three locomotives and the original No.l was returned to Sharp, Stewart in 1883. It was subsequently resold to South America. Subsequently, traffic improved — but not substantially — and it was necessary to have two engines in steam at times, making a third engine desirable as a maintenance spare, hence the appearance of a second No.1. The addition of a trailing axle was to improve riding when running bunker first and enable the bunker to be located outside the cab to facilitate easier coaling. The coaches are in the 'brighter' cream livery introduced in the mid-1890s to replace the earlier dark red but, not surprisingly, it did not wear well and a dark red livery for the coaches was restored around 1909-1911.

Edward Thompson — a revisionist view. Arnold Tortorella
I see that a letter from Don Rowland has been published on p445 of the July issue, dealing with LNER matters. However, I can identify the unnamed locomotive engineer mentioned within the text as being Duncan Burton, who was, in fact, a member of the LMS Society. Duncan had been appointed Running Shed Foreman at Aberdeen Ferryhill, appropriately enough, on former CR then LMS metals. He was later appointed Shed master at Haymarket on former NBR/LNER metals.

Derby School of Transport. John Pearse 
Re article ion Derby School of Transport and ensuing comments? The article mentioned the carved stone reliefs depicting LMS engineering, but there was more of note in my recollections of visits between 1965 and 1974. Inside the main entrance, there was (and he hopes still is) an interesting mural or montage commemorating trains departing from Euston from the LNWR era, through early LMS years, to the streamlined Coronation Scot. In those years, it did not do for an ambitious junior to show too much interest in history, but he quietly enjoyed it. Overhead, there was a carved Latin motto 'Stet fortuna domus', which Billy Bunter would perhaps have translated as 'With luck, the house stands up', but Mr. Quelch probably hoped for something like 'May our house prosper'. It would be good to hear that the mural and perhaps the motto have survived the years. Does anyone know?

The Glasgow Central Railway. John Macnab
The allusion in his letter that the Singer Workers' Platform station came into being c1942 is taken from The Directory of Railway Stations by R.V.J. Butt, published by Patrick Stephens, 1995, and it has also been noted thus in other railway references. He now imagines this is somewhat in error, that it was not used for unadvertised workers' trains from 1907 over the next 35 years before the mid-WW2 pronouncement. Increased war work (presumably that would not just involve sewing machines!) allied to an increase in train services for shift workers may well have given rise to 1942 given specific mention.
He was aware that it was electrified under the Glasgow North Electrification of 1959/60 with Class 303s doing the necessary, these self-same workings reverting to steam locomotive haulage during the crisis period of the 'Blue Trains.' He had also since noted from photographs that what had been the original station of 1879 had blossomed into a six-platform terminal that might have dated back to, may he say it tongue in cheek, c1907? Perhaps others more well informed than I can verify or enlarge upon my statements. From a personal level in my employ with BR dealing with the movement of coaching stock from spring 1961, he ought to have been more aware of just what was concerning Singer and its workers' trains at that time and apologise for that particular lapse in knowledge.

The quest for economy and efficiency. Tony Olsson
Re the informative article by Geoffrey Skelsey the briefest mention is made of 'The Russian Empire', repeating the commonly-held theory that the 1,524mm (5ft precisely) gauge of the vast Imperial Russian Empire was chosen to hinder invasion by rail-borne armies from neighbouring countries which in the main use standard gauge for their railways. If that was the reason for choosing 'Russian gauge', it didn't work, for during both World Wars Germany and Russia/the Soviet Union repeatedly moved the rails closer together or wider apart as their armies gained or lost ground.
Not only that, but standard gauge incursions into Russian gauge territory were common, particularly between Poland and Germany into Königsberg, an area of Bavaria, part of Germany which is now known as Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia bordered by Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea.
It is not widely known that when the fledgling USSR withdrew from fighting in WWI, the Baltic States countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, plus Finland) gained their independence from what had been Imperial Russia. Until reoccupation by the Soviet Union in 1941, the Baltic States railways were standard gauge. After the Soviet Union regained control of the Baltic States (countries it considered, and still does, to be its territory) the railways were rapidly converted to 1,524mm gauge, the entire stock of standard gauge locomotives was scrapped and replaced by Soviet-built trains. Consequently no locomotives from the era of Baltic States independence between WWI and WWII exist. It's a different story in Finland (another former Russian country) where hundreds of old 1,524mm steam locomotives still exist, some restored to steam.
Note the '1,1524mm gauge'. Because Finland (apart from the area known as Karelia) escaped occupation by the USSR during WWII, its railways were not reduced to l520mm gauge in the 1960s in an attempt to increase the stability of Soviet trains by tightening the relationship between wheels and rails to reduce sideways movement and wobble. The ironic outcome is that Finland is the only country which has genuine Russian gauge; 1,520mm really ought to be known as 'Soviet gauge'.
By joining the European Union, the Baltic States caused the EU's rulers a major headache in that it is not possible to run standard gauge trains from central Europe into the Baltic States other than on short branch lines specially built for the purpose. The interoperability of railway systems is a founding principle of the European Union. To try and overcome this problem, EU politicians proposed Rail Baltica, a high speed standard gauge line (some new track, some added alongside existing Russian gauge lines) running from Berlin, through Poland and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and via a train ferry or new tunnel to Helsinki. This in my view is a bureaucratic fudge which doesn't solve the problem that once they arrive in the Baltic States and Finland, the standard gauge trains can't go anywhere. Transhipment facilities are being built along the new line to transfer freight between the gauges or road. Traditionally, bogies would be exchanged under long-distance passenger trains to enable them to continue their journey — it still happens, though less often. Following Lithuanian independence, passenger trains between Poland and Lithuania were stopped at Sestokai where passengers had to cross the platform to board a train of different gauge. Hopefully Rail Baltica will enable passengers to travel through the Baltic States between the capital cities, something which was possible in Soviet times, but which the independent countries refused to countenance. For more than 28 years it has been a source of frustration to locals and tourists alike that it is possible to travel by train from Britain, through Europe and into Lithuania, but once there you cannot progress into Latvia and Estonia except by car, coach or bus. You think Russian gauge is complicated? It pales into insignificance against the confusions of H0, OO, EM, P4, 54, H0e, OO9 gauges and 3.5 and 4mm scales, for long the bane of railway modeller's lives. Not to ignore running models of Russian gauge trains on track made for standard gauge models. Like the person who invented Russian gauge, Frank Hornby has a lot to answer for.

The quest for economy and efficiency. Bob and Rosemary Farmer
In the article on gauges (July p388) mention is made of two 15in gauge railways, namely the Ravenglass & Eskdale and the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch, both of which use locomotives modelled on Gresley LNER designs. What is not often reported that although this information is basically correct, if you took an RHDR 'Gresley' locomotive and enlarged it to the size of an LNER locomotive, it would only have a gauge of 3ft 6in. The locomotives of 'Ratty' are apparently more true to scale.

The last summer of steam over Shap. Trevor Ermel
Re article in the July issue. As one of the 'host of younger enthusiasts' (he was sixteen at the time) he spent most of his summer Saturdays that year with a camera either at Carlisle or in the Shap area and saw many of the trains listed. He also managed to do the Carlisle to Penrith return trip several times (out on 1M38 and return on 1L27, with steam both ways) plus a couple of steam-hauled journeys northbound over Shap (all with valid tickets). To add to the database, he points out that the double-header on 19 August, mentioned in the article, was not the only time an assisting locomotive was attached ahead of the train engine. On  15 July he saw and photographed No.75032 coupled ahead of No.44948 hammering north through Tebay station with lS40. He sometimes felt that steam's 'last hurrah' over Shap was overshadowed a little in the contemporary railway press by the end of steam out of Waterloo that summer, so it was good to see Mr. Leyland redress the balance somewhat.

Four Yorkshire stations. Kevin Tattersley 
Re picture on p278 of the May issue: Skipton only had six platforms, four of which are currently in use:
1 - Up Bay (this was brought back into use for the electrification).
2 - Up main — the one on the left of the picture.
3 - Down Main.
4 - Down Back Platform — the one in the middle of the picture.
There were also the two platforms on the IIkley line, on the right in the picture. These are still in place although only a single track now runs between them on the way to Rylstone.

To the Yorkshire Coast. Ray Wilkinson 
Re colour pictures of the Yorkshire Coast, an area dear to writer's heart whose father's family came from Whitby and Loftus and he was born at Guisborough, although he lived many years near London. The views of Whitby when the railway was so busy, brought back many memories. He remembered travelling a couple of times in the early 1950s on a steam train, behind one of those lovely chunky A8s which ran many of the services in the area, from Loftus to Scarborough and back along that wonderful, and sadly missed, coast line.
He has a couple of family connections with the railways of Whitby. His great great grandfather, William Wilkinson the younger, was in charge of the police in Whitby: his gravestone on the windswept east cliff says his title was 'High Constable of Whitby Strand', and as such he was among the VIP guests at the opening of the Whitby & Pickering Railway in 1836, taking part in the inaugural procession around the town, before the party boarded the horse-drawn train for the ride to Pickering. The contemporary account states that the procession consisted of "Four constables; Some of the railway workmen; The flag of the Whitby & Pickering Railway; Mr Wilkinson, Chief Police Officer; The Band; Robt. Campion Esq; Thos. Fishburn Esq; and the remainder of the directors; The Engineers and Solicitors; Flags; Gentlemen three abreast; The remainder of the workmen; Constables."
In the 1950s the station master at Whitby, in charge of both Town and West Cliff, was Horace Wise. His wife, Doris, was a cousin of writer's father and he remembers visiting Horace and Doris at their house on West Cliff station, a house which now forms part of a group of luxury apartments. Latterly, the line north towards Loftus was closed as was the station and, together with Horace's youngest twin sons, he walked along the track bed towards (but out of sight of) Prospect Hill signal box, which was still in use for the Scarborough line. After a long career on the railways at many stations in the north east, this was to be Horace's last appointment. He and Doris had bought a bungalow at Sleights in which to spend their retirement, but Horace died shortly before he was due to retire. Incidentally, one of Horace and Doris's grandchildren is the actor Greg Wise.

Book reviews. 574

England's railway heritage from the air. Peter Waller. Historic England. 304pp with 150 black & white and colour illustrations. Reviewed by CH. *****
Founded in 1919 by Francis Wills and Claude Graham White, Aerofilms was the United Kingdom's first commercial aerial photographic company. For nearly a century the business originally operating out of an office and bathroom (for developing films) in Hendon became synonymous with recording the changing face of the country from the air. The legacy is an archive consisting of 1.26 million images of Britain from a unique viewpoint. It features countryside, industrial and urban landscapes, archaeological sites, historic buildings and most importantly for this book, railways. This is not Waller's first foray into the resource; in fact he has considerable experience of the collection. He originally worked with it when it was in private hands where he produced four books for lan AIIan. Once the archive was placed in the custody of Historic England (and the equivalent bodies in Scotland and Wales) he renewed his contact with the photographs and has produced England's Maritime Heritage from the Air, quickly followed by this volume.
What is so striking on first opening the book is the high quality reproduction of the images, 150 in all, both black and white and colour. One could argue that it is in the price range where excellence of print is guaranteed. However, this is not the case, for even today when printing techniques have never been bettered, expensive publications containing poor quality image reproduction are still reaching the market. The layout is simple but effective. The photographs are bled to the edge of the verso page whilst the recto contains the information text in up to three columns. The pictures are grouped into eight chapters, Major stations, Minor stations, Locomotive and other works, Viaducts, bridges and tunnels, Locomotive sheds and depots, Goods yards and other freight traffic, Railway offices and hotels and finally Preservation. On a positive note with the northern reader in mind, there is a good spread of locations throughout the country with little or no southern bias. Waller freely admits that he has had to include a number of pictures of important buildings that have already graced the pages of his earlier books' but this does no harm to the book. To include views of London's King's Cross and St. Pancras stations alongside those of Sandsend Viaduct, the yard at Vane Tempest Colliery and Blisworth station effectively illustrates the absolute range and depth of the collection.
It is evident that in taking some of the images the photographer has concentrated on the railway itself; in others the inclusion has been quite accidental. However, such is the richness and diversity of the railway surrounds in each photograph that it doesn't detract from the subject at all. I found it most beneficial when studying the volume to have at hand an iPad (other tablets are available) with the Google Earth app installed. The text records the life and fate of each subject from construction until the present day; consequently the reader deprived of the benefit of an up to date view of the location may find it a frustrating experience. However, that aside, Waller has produced a very interesting, entertaining and informative book — a fitting tribute to the work of the Aerofilms Company and its photographers, a 'must have' for every bookshelf.

Rails to Ashbourne. Howard Sprenger, Kestrel Railway Books, softback, 170pp, Reviewed by DWM. *****
The quiet, except, of course on Shrove Tuesday, when a game of the boisterous local version of football is played, Derbyshire market town of Ashbourne was reached by the North Staffordshire Railway's branch from Uttoxeter via Rocester Junction as early as 1852. This state of affairs persisted until 1899 when the London & North Western opened a line south from Buxton, using for the central part of the route, the tracks of the venerable Cromford & High Peak Railway. This new through route, which now provided a direct LNWR connection from Euston to Buxton, became much-loved by ramblers heading for Dovedale and other delights of the Derbyshire Peak and was a lifeline when winter storms beset the area. It was also short-lived, closing in 1964 with the section between Ashbourne and Hurdlow, two-thirds of the way towards Buxton, eventually metamorphosing in a walking and cycle track whilst the northernmost part does remain in railway use serving the limestone quarries to the south ofthe spa town. This splendidly produced book provides an excellent, if traditional - but no worse for that - 'line history'. The author first considers the development of the North Staffordshire branch and its subsequent history in 'splendid isolation'. The southern drive by the North Western is then documented and is illustrated by some remarkable pictures, in both senses of the word, from the National Railway Museum collection. The story continues through LMS days, on into nationalisation and eventual closure.
Two splendidly-detailed and illustrated chapters then describe the course of the line from south to north and three appendices detail the industrial locomotives to be found at the various quarries and sites along the route. the contractors' locomotives used on the Ashbourne to Buxton section and the buildings at Clifton station, the first south of Ashbourne, as a series of charming line drawings. Throughout the book is lavishly and pertinently illustrated both in black and white and in colour.
Motive power ranging from North Staffordshire and 'Lanky' tanks features alongside a Midland 2-4-0, an LNWR 'Prince of Wales', Super Ds, Fowler and Stanier 2-6-4Ts; from the modern era a Class 60 and even two GWR railcars, a long way from home on special workings from the West Midlands. Stations, structures and the social scene are given a prominent place with a number of the colour pictures being used to show what remains.
The illustration of two jet engines being trialled for snow shifting is remarkable but flags up the lifeline aspect of the railway in severe Peak District winters.
There is an excellent selection of Ordnance survey maps and signal box diagrams to enhance the 'route described' chapters.
Your reviewer felt that this was almost a 'model' line history. It draws together the available material and presents it in a stylish and cogent fashion. It adds significantly to the store of published railway knowledge and comes highly recommended.

Lines into Nottingham Victoria. Bill Taylor, Book Law Publications, Softback, 96pp Reviewed by Phil Atkins *****
The reviewer shares the author's fond memories of Nottingham Victoria, not least because several of his childhood holidays, particularly to Scarborough, began there and where his father also took many photographs pre-war, on one such occasion even glimpsing Albert Einstein awaiting a London train. It was literally a great cavern of a place, hewn out of the local sandstone at enormous cost to the Great Central and Great Northern Railways. It was not exclusively a Great Central station, although situated on the GCR's new London Extension. Along with the latter it therefore came and went within the space of a human lifetime, being operational from 1900 until 1967, although the once proud clock tower has survived the wrecker's ball. This book essentially covers its latter-day rather down at heel years, partly due to the happy availability of a particular photograph archive, although there are a few rather earlier views. Locomotive-wise it was particularly cosmopolitan, although dominated by GN, GC and later LNER classes. GWR 4-6-0s, usually 'Halls', sometimes worked through from Leicester, even until as late as 1964, exceptionally rounding off with a 'Grange' which then famously proceeded as far as Huddersfield! Although not mentioned a Southern 'King Arthur' even put in an appearance on a football special in 1956. However, its cousin, a 'Schools' 4-4-0 (illustrated) also materialised six years later on one of the memorable RCTS East Midlander excursions of the early 1960s period. Surprisingly, perhaps, the superb apparition in similar circumstances of Stanier 4-6-2 No.46251 City of Nottingham, on a fine spring morning just two years later, is absent. However, the book adequately records the always grimy Annesley-based single chimney BR Standard 9F 2-10-0s that finally dominated the local scene, although in reality for merely just nine years. Also the BR 'Britannias' cascaded down from elsewhere, which included the comparatively rarely photographed final ten with their handsome large BR lE tenders. There is a photograph of four Gresley three-cylinder O2 2-8-0s awaiting cutting up near Daybrook in 1964. The reviewer recalls that at one stage there were at least six of these, which between them covered every permutation of boiler, tender and cab type that was applicable to this handsome and then newly extinct class.
Lines into Nottingham Victoria is an excellent evocation of a major railway station and its approaches in its final years, and is thoroughly recommended.

Ireland's largest industrial railway — the Guinness system. Hugh Oram, Stenlake Publishing Limited, softback, 48 pp. Reviewed by DWM. *****
Reviewer recalls, on a visit to Dublin many years ago, being told that the production of the raw materials for, the brewing of and the distribution and consumption of Guinness accounted for about a third of the total economy of the Republic of Ireland. Whatever the truth of this statement, the fact remains that the 'works' at St. James' Gate continue, to this day, to be a mighty enterprise and an Ireland without Guinness would be inconceivable!
Quite whether the claim of the Guinness system to be the 'largest industrial railway' on the Island stands up in the face of the extensive peat lines of the Bord na Mona however may be open to question? But, nit-picking aside, this is a splendid book. Produced in the 'standard' Stenlake style, it manages to be much more than a pictorial album although the pictures are the 'meat' of the publication. As well as the locomotives, steam and diesel, broad gauge and narrow, other railway activities and equipment receive prominence. These include the remarkable 'convertor trucks' which allowed the unique narrow gauge locomotives to be let loose on the broad gauge as required, the spiral tunnel which overcame a 40ft difference of height in the working levels in the brewery and various incarnations of the 'tourist' train which carried visitors around the site long before the present-day 'Storehouse' became a tourist attraction in its own right.
In addition wider aspects of the operation are featured, the interchange to the main line at Kingsbridge, the cooperage, the Guinness wharves on the Liffey, narrow gauge trains to and from the hopstores, even the wages safe which took its way around the site on a flat truck every payday.
All the pictures are accompanied by the most detailed captions; there is a useful map of the site and an introduction which outlines the history of the system. Particularly interesting is a 'where are they now?' section which gives the location of the, surprising large, amount of hardware which has survived since the system closed in 1975. Thus, no fewer than seven of the idiosyncratic Spence locomotives for gauges both broad and narrow are still with us, No.3BG, a Hudswell Clark 0-4-0ST is in the care of the RPSI at Whitehead, a couple of the 'tourist train' coaches survive at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra and it is a delight to read that the wages safe wagon and even a snowplough are still extant at the brewery.
The reader will have gathered that the reviewer enjoyed this book very much. It is an excellent publication which does justice to a fascinating piece of railway activity and comes well recommended  — as does the liquid which was the raison d'etre of the whole enterprise!

Leaving Brymbo. David Idle. rear cover
8F 2-8-0 Np. 48697 running tender-fitst with RCTS railtour returning to Wrexham on 29 April 1967.

LMS Coronation 4-6-2 No.46245 City of London prepares to depart from Euston station with the Caledonian express to Glasgow on 17 September 1959. front cover

October 2019 Number 343)

Old, far-off, forgotten things. Michael Blakemore. 579.
Editorial preamble: return to his old school where he sat his O levels in 1964 and a retun to the Vale of Rheidol Railway, first visited in 1966: snapshot of first and digital image of second

Nicholas Daunt. Return to Mugby Junction. 580 -7
Begins by examining Charles Dickens's Mugby Junction and its derivation from its author's iinvolvement in the Staplehurst Accident on the South Eastern Railway which greatly affected him and probably shortened his life. This interwoven with the actual history of railways at Rugby: both the original London & Birmingham Railway and the much later Great Central Railway mainly as perceived in the 1960s are described, and with his own experiences as an engine spotter Until the Great Western Railway opened its direct route to Birmingham, the LNWR used to provide through carriages from Euston to Leamington. The Beeching follies caused Rugby to lose its useful connections to the East Midlands (Leicester and Nottingham) and to the East (Peterborough has grown into a major city and onwards to the forgotten Norwich, etc).  Illustrations: Coronation Pacific No. 46345 City of London (red llivery) at Rugby with an up express on 8 August 1963 (R. Tibbits: colour); ex LNWR G2A 0-8-0 No. 48952 on up freight in February 1953 (John G. Click: colour); Princess Royal Pacific No. 46204 Princess Louise with up Merseyside Express during winter of 1954/5 (T.J. Edgington);  No. 45500 Patriot at Rugby engine shed decorated with poppies for Remembrance Sunday 1956 (Bruce Chapman Collection: colour); Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No. 35022 Holland America Line fitted with Farnborough indicators att Rugby Test Plant (John G. Click: colour); Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42673 on 18.57 Rugby to Bletchley and 80038 waiting on 15 August 1958 (T.J. Edgington);  Class 5 No. 45147 passes on down express freight on 1 August 1963 (R. Tibbits: colour); LNWR official postcard of vast signal gantry at Rugby funded by Great Central intrusion; V2 No. 60961 at head of York to Woodford fitted freight leaving girder bridge (D. Smith: colour); Clan Pacific No. 72005 Clan MacGregor coming under Creat Central bridge with up parcels train in October 1954 (J.B. McCann: colour); Robinson GCR O4 2-8-0 No. 63664 at Annesley shed on 23 March 1957 (Roger Carpenter); BR class 5 4-6-0 No. 73066 with Nottingham to Marylebone semi-slow in March 1963 at Rugby Central (Paul Riley: colour); modified Hall No. 6931 Aldborough Hall approaches Leicester Central with Bournemough to Sheffield train in June 1962 (D.W. Webb: colour). See also letter from Michael Pearson

Rob Langham. Early locomotives on the Stanhope & Tyne Railway. 588-92
Railway is remembered for its severe financial mismanagement which nearly ruined Robert Stephenson and for its inclines especially the one at Weatherhill above Stanhope where its engine is preserved at the National Railway Museun and another Nanny Mayer's Incline named after a landlady at a public house. This was replaced by Hownes Gill Viaduct. The locomotives operated by the Pontop & South Shield Railway included some of those from the Stanhope & Tyne. Several fatal accidents are described: John Lawson (Hellfire Jack) when driving a mail train on 9 October 1849 near West Boldon collided with a carriage containing workmen and killed three of them and injured others which led to Lawson drowning himself. On 12 July 1851 No. 119 carrying six men and running tender first derailed and crushed four of them whilst the other two jumped clear.  George Hardy considered that the Stanhope & Tyne Railway had been over engineered.

Illustrations: cover of ledger belonging to Stanhopr & Tyne Railroad showing 0-2-2 Northumbrian type (there is  no evidence that type worked on railway (possibly the ledger manufacturer's imagination); 0-4-2 Large Samson type as used by Stanhope & Tyne Railway (drawing & diagram — side elevation); Stockton & Darlington Railway 0-6-0 Wilberforce which worked at Waskerley in 1847; Hownes Gill Viaduct with Tory class locomotive on it; Water column between Weatherhill and Parkhead erected by the Stockton & Darlington Railway. (Beamish Museum); Stockton & Darlington Railway locomotive No.25 Derwent which was based at Waskerley in the 1850s.

Jeffrey Wells. The Taff Vale Railway in the news 1836-1922. 593-9.
Opposed by canal interests, a 24½ mile railway received the Royal Assent on 21 June 1836 to build a railway from Merthyr to Cardiff. Contract advertisements appeared in the Bristol Mercury on 11 February 1831. Much of the capital had been raised in Bristol. The article is based upon newspaper reports. The Bristol Mercury  commented on laying the foundation stone by Charlotte Guest on the bridge across the River Rhondda at Newbridge in August 1837 (a handsome collation followed). The Reading Mercury in November 1839 reported on several brifges and viaducts being completed near Quaker's Yard. The Bristol Mercury reported on the opening day 8 October 1840 when Cardiff was en fete with church bells ringing and the directors treated themselves to dinner at the Cardiff Arms Hotel. The dispute between the railway and the Marquis of Bute over the tolls demanded for access to Bute Docks were reported in the Bristol Mercury and in Aris' Birmingham Gazette. In January 1848 a report on an attempt to throw a passenger train over a precipice concerned a young man tampering with the permanent way in December 1847. The Strike of 1900 is covered in depth, especially the hostile attitufde of Ammon Beasley, the General Manager, towards the strikers and trade unionism in general and this led to The Times taking an interest in a small Welsh railway. Illustrations {majority from John Alsop Collection): TVR 0-6-0 Newbridge at Cardiff Docks in 1849 (photograph claimed to be earliest of a locomotive); Abercynon station (coloured postcard;) Radyr station panorama c1912; Taff's Well station; Pontypridd station during reconstruction c1913; Merthyr Vale station;; Ammon Beasley, General Manager (portrrai); Porth station c1900; Ferndale station looking north; Ferndale station looking south; Maerdy station with corrugated iron structure to accommodate auto-trains; Treorchy station down platform with train, milk churns, Wooden crates and police constable c1912; Treherbert station with trains c1900;  Pontypridd station on 31 July 1931 with corridor train and TVR M class 0-6-2T on Caerphiily railmotor. See also letter from Peter Rance on page 765 and in Volume 34 from John Bushby.

Jeremy Clarke. The Tonbridge to Ashford Line of the South Eastern Railway. 600-7
The South Eastern Railway's original route was almost dead straight from what is now Redhill, but was then Reigate Junction to Ashford. That was straight, but the route to London was convoluted, but a cut-off from Tonbridge to London greatly reduced the distance. Two other earlier proposed routes are mentionned: one was by Thomas Telford London was to be linked to Dover via Woolwich, Chatham and Canterbury. This was proposed in 1824 and in 1832 Henry Palmer proposed a route from Limehouse to Dover which relied upon ferries to cross the Thames and Medway. Railways were proposed to link somewhere dowanstream from Woolwich to Upnor Castle and Chatham to Canterbury from whence existing roads were to be used. The use of the route as Boat Train 1 and as the initial exit for Eurostar (when the trains switched from progress at U2 battery operation to TGV rates of accelaration before diving under the sea is oonly mentioned 1ike its effect upon sleepy old Ashford. The illustrations are nice rather than informative: SECR L class 4-4-0 No.31762 with a pink birdcage set setting out from Tonbridge for Ashford in October 1957 (Ken Wightman: colour); map; SECR D1 class 4-4-0  No. 31489 at Ashford with 07.24 London Bridge to Ramsgate formed of elderly Maunsell coaches on 14 May 1960 (R.C. Riley: colour); L1 class 4-4-0 No. 1755 probably on a down boat train passing Tonbridge in 1930; SECR E1 class 4-4-0  No. 31019 on a ballast train at Tonbridge on 22 April 1961 (David Clark: colour); page 602 lower: H class 0-4-4T arriving Paddock Wood with two vans and two ancient coaches from Maidstone West to Tonbridge train on 15 June 1959 (A.E. Bennett) see Gremlinia; Q1 0-6-0 No. 33040 passing Paddock Wood with a train of mineral wagon empties (H.P. White); H class 0-4-4T No. 31278 with a pink two coach set setting out from Tonbridge for Maidstone West in October 1957 (Ken Wightman: colour); BR Standard class 5 4-6-0 passing Headcorn with a relief up boat train (caption notes wagon storage on former KESR line) (H.P. White); Marden station with goods shed & oil lamps and down train approaching; N class 2-6-0 heads up heavy mineral train through Pluckley in 1958 (Peter Hay); Ashford station looking east in 1900s; Schools class No. 30908 Westminster light engine and light Pacific No. 34100 Appledore taking water with train for Dover on 18 July 1957 (A.E. Bennett); Ashford D signal box; Ashford station post electrification looking west in 1962. See also letter from Peter Tatlow on page 785. and from James Evans on same page.

Pacific Power on the West Coast Main Line. 608-11
Colour photo-feature (all locomotives in dull green livery unless stated otherwise): No. 46221 Queen Elizabeth has just come off up down (see Editor page 765) Mid-day Scot at Carlisle in May 1958 (D.B. Swale); No. 46227 Duchess of Devonshire setting off from Preston northbound in July 1961; No. 46251 City of Nottingham (crimson lake livery) waiting to leave Crewe on 1 October 1962; No. 46255 City of St. Albans on Dillicar water troughs with northbound express in July 1958 (J.G. Wallace); No. 46228 Duchess of Rutland (crimson lake livery) heading north through Lichfield Trent Valley on 23 May 1959; No. 46257 City of Salford at country end of Euston station in May 1956 (J. Harrison); No. 46251 City of Nottingham (crimson lake livery) climbing Camden Bank in August 1964 with second rank express (J.B. Snell); No. 46249 City of Sheffield (very dark green livery) on up Postal at Aberdeen in September 1963 (D.M.C. Hepburne-Scott); No. 46243 City of Lancaster arriving Manchester London Road with No. 220 in midst of electrification works of 1960 (R.J. Maxwell); No. 46235 City of Birmingham backing out of Euston on 7 September 1962 (M.W. Gill)

An electric train set. 612-13
Black & white photo-feature: 3500V dc overhead electric multiple unit on Tottington viaduct on Holcombe Brook branch in 1917; 1500V dc overhead Shenfield electric when new with destination stated to be Ilford and oil tail lamp at Stratford?; Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham 6600V 50 cycles ac at Morecambe in 1953?; Class 501 multiple unit on North London four rail electric at Camden Road with a Broad Street to Richmond service in 1968; 1500V dc overhead multiple unit at Glossop presumably on test with indicator stating "DEPOT"and oil tail lamp; Class AM10 at Leighton Buzzard with Euston bound train: only the LNER derived units had sliding doors — remainder slam doors.

Mike Fell. The railway at Tutbury. Part Two. 614-21.
Part 1 see page 486. Station masters: John Jones was probably the first: he was born in Liverpool and was living in Hatton in 1851. In 1861 John Birkley Long was station master. He was succeeded by John Tranter who moved on to the MSLR at Oughty Bridge in 1873. William Sherratt, baptised in Burslem on 8 October 1848 and died at Uttoxeter in 1920 weas station master in 1879, but had retired by 1911, Albert Frederick Ellerton, born in Goldenhill on 7 January 1858 and died at Stockton Brook on 5 November 1927. He was a nineteen year old station master at Clifton on the Ashbourne barnch. By 1889 he had moved to Blythe Bridge. In about 1902 he was moved to Tutbury, but moved on to become goods agent at Hanley and retired in 1918. By July 1906 Edward George Wain was station master at Tutbury. He was born in 1865 at Uttoxeter and died in Portsmouth on 16 December 1933. He joined the NSR when young and was still in that position at the Amalgamation in 1923. The Great Northern Railway connected with the NSR at Egginton in 1878 and by 1881 had reached Stafford by acquiring the Stafford & Uttoxeter Railway. The London & North Western possessed running powers over virtually the entire North Staffordshire network and its train served Tutbury and provided through coaches from Burton to Euston via Tutbury. Freight traffic had included grain and cotton and then gypsum which was mined at Fauld and taken by a 3-foot gauge railway to Scropton for transfer to standard gauge wagons for movement to Tutbury yard and onto a private siding to the mill (a map by Roger Hateley shows these links). Part 1 mentioned the evaporated milk business owned by Nestlé. This generated traffic for steam wagons to collect milk from farms in the Etwall district and for rail freight to inland destinations and ports. This activity ceased entirely in 1959 when the plant was redesined to produce Nescafé. The passenger station closed in 1966, but was restored at a slightly different site in 1989. Illustrations: group photograph at Tutbury station including Edward George Wain; NSR Class K 4-4-2T No. 8 passing Nestlé factory with passenger train for Crewe; GMR 2-4-0 No. 818  at Tutbury with Stafford to Derby train in 1911; alabaster blocks on J.C. Staton & Co. wagons for J.K. Vanderbilt New York Palace in 1906; Peckett R4 0-4-0ST WN 2112 crossing River Dove on 30 March 1968; Leyland B Type coke-fired steam wagon owned by Nestlé outside factory at Tutbury; ex-LNWR Jubilee class foour-cyliner compound 4-4-0 Agamemnon on Lowestoft tto Liverpool and Manchester Eastern Counties Express passing Nestlé factory in 1923; ex-NSR 0-6-9 No. 122 as LMS No. 2338 at Tutbury on 12 May 1933; Ivatt 4-4-0 in LNER ownership at Tutbury; Staniier 2-6-4T No. 42561 on Crewe to Derby passenger train at Tutbury on 26 March 1949; Tutbury station on 30 March 1968 with Yorkshire Engine Co.  WN 2895/1963 diesel hydraulic shunter owned by contractors Shakespeare, Simpson & Cook (Tutbury) Ltd which was handling British Gypsum traffic. See also letter from David Allen on behalf of Robert Pateman on page 765 and further photograph. . See also letter from Michael Pearson

Alan Taylor. Trans-Pennine transformation. 622-31.
The period of transition from steam haulage to diesel multiple units and diesel traction on the Standedge and Calder Valley routes in the early 1960s.  Eastbound the gradients were more sevre and began with Miles Platting bank. Expresses from Manchester Exchange were banked by a 2P 4-4-0 which tended to charge the bank and were impressive to watch from Victoria. The author fails to mention the whistles sounded at both ends at the start from Exchange. Some trains were piloted usually by a Stanier Class 5. The author is very appreciative of the Trans-Pennine diesel multiple units which were "stylish and modern"; had buckeye couplers and buffets with griddles. They were relatively highly powered, and much more so than the Type 40 used to "power" the Liverpool to Newcastle trains. The Calder Valley services enjoyed Rolls-Royce engined multiple units which tended to burn thgeir way into ones memory through their distinct sound. Illustrations (all by  Gavin Morrison unless stated otherwise): Trans-Pennine multiple unit approaching Milnsbridge with Hull to Liverpool service on 9 July 1966 (colour); Patriot No. 45517 on 10.30 Liverpool Exchange to Newcastle express on Luddendenfoot water troughs (colour); rebuilt Patriot No. 45531 garriving at Huddersfield on 09.00 Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle express on 28 September 1959; English Electric Type 4 No. D276 passing Mirfield on a Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street express on 4 June 1966 (colour); B1 No. 61337 and Hughes Crab 2-6-0 No. 42845 on Newcastle to Manchester Red Bank empty van train on 15 May 1964 (David Rodgers: colour); headlamp code states "ordinary passenger train" caption states afternoon York to Liverpool Exchange express hauled by Class 5 No. 44823 viewed from top of Sowerby Bridge Tunnel showing engine shed therat on 15 June 1961; English Electric Type 4 No. D244 passing Ripon signal box on a Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street express on 3 April 1965 (colour); Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 No. 46437 in banking siding at Manchester Victoria on 30 October 1960 (Alan Tyson); Jubilee class No. 45717 Dauntless at Brighouse with 10.30 Liverpool Exchange to Newcastle express on 12 July 1960 (colour); Jubilee class No. 45617 Sturdee on 09.20 Leeds City to Llandudno on 20 August 1966 (David Rodgers: colour); Austerity 2-8-0 No. 90650 with express passenger headlamps leaving Sowerby Bridge with Wakefield portion of a summer extra on 10 August 1958; two Calder Valley Class 110 three-car diesel multiple units passing Eastwood between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden on 11 June 1976 (colour); Jubilee class No. 45593 Kolhapur  on 09.20 Leeds City to Llandudno on Lonwood Viaduct on climb to Stadedge on 8 July 1967 (David Rodgers: colour); Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42116 leaving Bradford Exchange with last Stockport service on 5 November 1966 (David Rodgers: colour); Jubilee class No. 45600 Bermuda in Paddock cutting,  Huddersfield on 4 July 1959 with a Hull to Liverpool express. See also further transformation or was it? 

Jeffrey Wells. The Wooton Bridge Accident on the London & North Western Railway. 632-4.
On 11 June 1861 situated between Leamington and Kenilworth the bridge collapsed killing the engienmen on LNWR 0-6-0 No. 282. Based on report in Coventry Herald & Observer of 14 June. The cast iron girder had a crack and failed under the weight of the locomotive. The Deputy Coroner, W.J. Poole held the inquest at which Captain Tyler (Board of Trade), W. Cawkwell incorrectly entered as Caukwell (LNWR General Manager), H. Woodhouse (Permanent Way Manager) and J,C. McConnell (Locomotive Department) were present. who was made the scapegoat, although it was the unsound charcter of the girder. Later reports in the Leamington Spa Courier and Coventry Herald express unease with LNWR. Illustrations: locomotive underneath broken ironwork and timber (three views),

Glen Kilday. South of Chester: a brief glance in the summer of 1964. 634-6.
The Shrewsbury, Oswestry & Chester Junvtion Railway opened in 1848, but failed to serve Oswestry leaving it to an pout-station at Gobowen. It did however serve to coalfield centred around Wrexham and Ruabon. The line used to service through trains from Paddington to Birkenhead, but now passengers for London are expected to do battle with Birmingham New Street. Illustrations (all by Author): Ivatt class 2 2-6-0 No. 46442 at Bala with single coach for Bala Junction; No. 6870 Bodicote Grange at Chester General having arrived with a stopping train from Shrewsbury; 28XX No. 3865 at Croes Newydd bridge with coal train probably for Brymbo steelworks; Class 5 4-6-0 No. 45277 on fitted freight climbing Gresford bank; Hughes Crab 2-6-0 No. 42892 passing Wrexham General with a northbound mineral train; 56XX 0-6-2T No. 6604  passing under Church Street bridge Wrexham with a northbound mineral train; No. 4962 Ragley Hall with a northbound parcels train passing through Wrexham station. See page 765 for editorial grovel to Welsh senitivities

Readers' Forum. 637

Numerical gremlinia
In the August issue the camping coach in the top photograph is No.42221 and the LSWR G6 0-6-0T on p504 is No.30277. Ed.

'Much in Little'
The colour photograph on p533 of the September issue is at Stamford Town, not as stated - at the other end of the station to that shown on the opposite page. Ed.

Lost on the narrow gauge. Malcolm Pickering 
May I suggest that the Campbeltown & Machrihanish Railway was not Scotland's only public narrow gauge railway? Nor the first. There is in Glasgow to this very day the well-known Glasgow Subway which has been of four feet gauge since 1896. This should qualify it as narrow gauge . just because its trains aren't steam hauled. KPJ: there were also narrow gauge electric light railways in Fife and on the Island of Bute.

The quest for economy and efficiency. Paul Blurton.
Re 7ft gauge which is 7 feet and ¼ inch in imperial measurement or 2.14 metres in metric. I.K. Brunel received the majority of his technical education in France, his father's birthplace. The metric system of measurement was firmly established by this time. It is not difficult to appreciate that this should be the system of measurement that Brunel should adapt. So where did the strange figure of 2.140mm come from? pi, the ratio between the diameter and circumference of a circle has a value of (to 3 places of decimal) 3.140 (or 22/7). Make rt a metric dimension and you have 3,140mm (or 3.14m). From this dimension deduct l,000mm (1m) and you obtain 2,140mm.
Therefore 2140mm is far from a nondescript figure. This type of thinking can be seen from all the structural work of Brunel, the value of pi a value to make a metric dimension. Reference the work of Lyndon Elias of Didcot. See various papers published by the Friends of Swindon Railway museum. (http://www.railwatch. org.uk/backtrack/rw73/lett.html) to find him (WARNING not easy to find). The standard gauge promulgated by George Stephenson had been predetermined in 1763-4, when 4ft 8in was adopted as the gauge of the first section of the Willington waggon way system, the system which subsequently included the Killingworth line on which Stephenson gained his early experience'
However, K. Thurston Hoskins has recently drawn attention to a book by John Muller, Professor of Artillery and Fortification at the Royal Academy of Artillery, A treatise of artillery [lst ed. 1757), which shows that 4ft 8in had already been adopted by the British army as the standard gauge of its gun carriages. The relevant paragraph reads:
"The Span, or interval between the wheels varies in different countries; even every county in England observes a different width, which is very inconvenient for those who travel in carriages. Artillery ones are made like those in Flanders, which is four feet eight inches; but as the fellows [wheel rims] are not of the same breadth in all wheels, we shall make the distance between the middle of the fellows five feet in all the carriages used by land [as distinct from the small gun carriages used on board ship].'
This certainly adds further weight to Charles Lee's theory that the standard gauge is about the optimum for a one-horse vehicle. But one might also conjecture that Muller's book, published only six years previously, had a direct influence on the selection of 4ft 8in for the Willington waggonway. References
1. Charles E. Lee, The evolution of railways (1st edn., 1937) p54;  (see Ottley 216)
M.J.T. Lewis, Early wooden railways (1970) pp114, 183 3.
Letter in Railnews, June 1982
4. John Muller, op cit, page 177
Grahame Boyes Railway & Canal Historical Soc .Joumal March 1983.

The above article is something I do not on the whole agree with as the recent excavation of the Willington tramway suggests that a gauge of 4ft 8½ inch is the more probable gauge.
And again the above article can be questioned. Huntington Beaumont, working in mines in Rutland in the late 1500s and the early 1600s (then moving to the Newcastle upon Tyne area), would have used the 'fathom' (6ft) as a unit of measurement. He built some of the first wagon ways for use in the mining areas. If using one fathom as the diameter of a circle, then the circumference is 18.85ft: one quarter of this dimension is 4ft 8½in and would consider this to be the more logical reason for what is now known as the Stephenson gauge. Ref. the Willington Tramway as reported in the Stephenson Loco. Soc. Magazine for March/April 2018, p50.
It is well known that the Liverpool and Manchester line was built to 4ft 8in gauge, but had to be made 4ft 8½in to allow the wheels spaced at 4ft 8in to fit between the rails.½,

The railway at Tutbury. David Stanier 
Re the local Burton-Tutbury railway service, known by some perhaps as the the 'Tutbury Jenny', but as a one-time Stretton resident from 1957 to 1982, writer only knew it as the Tutbury Jinny (or Jinnie)' and only ever heard this version spoken by locals. He remembers even now hearing the constant whistling from the train as it traversed the line for the final time on 11 June 1960. He cannot offer a definitive explanation for the different nicknames for this service, but would proffer the possibility that in the North Staffs area, the local dialect can alter pronunciations quite significantly and would suggest an example might be the word 'cricket' becoming 'creckit' in the North Staffs/Stoke on Trent area, and in that context, 'Jinny' could become 'Jenny' quite easily! That dialect, however, did not normally extend beyond, say, the Uttoxeter area and would not usually be heard in Burton on Trent.
The overbridge location in Bridge Street, Stretton, used by the photographers for the images of pages 489 and 492 was well known to him — and although the bridge has long been replaced and the area relandscaped, the arches of the bridge itself were not fully demolished, but buried by infill for the 'Jinny Trail' some years ago.
Writer also believes that Rolleston station was altered to Rolleston-on-Dove so as not to be confused with another Rolleston station in the Nottinghamshire area, near Newark.

The 'Riverside Special'. Nick Stanbury 
The pictures in the August issue of No.32331 Beattie at Windsor & Eton Riverside on 23rd June 1957, having worked the 'Riverside Special' from London Bridge, made me wonder what route had been taken for this unusual working. The obvious and direct route from London would have been from Waterloo (via Richmond), so I initially assumed that some of the potential rambler patrons were also railway enthusiasts (and why not?). A possibility was via Redhill, Guildford, Woking and the Staines West Curve — circuitous, yes, but not inconceivable, given that well into BR days there was a 'rush hour' service between London Bridge and Reading using this route as far as Guildford.
However, it would appear that the actual route from London Bridge (Low Level) was via Peckham Rye, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Wimbledon, Surbiton (at all of which the train called to pick up), Chertsey (set down) and the Staines West Curve. The likeliest explanation is that the intention was to attract business from those stations, none of which normally had a direct service to Windsor, together with the opportunity to transfer to a river steamer at Chertsey for those so inclined to go on to Windsor that way. The time available in Windsor was almost nine hours and the return journey was via the same route, the scheduled journey time in both directions being just under 90 minutes. The Staines West Curve saw no regular passenger trains and was taken out of use in 1965.

First in the field, Peter Woodroffe 
Re LNER Camping Coaches: it reminded him of his Aunt and Uncle's holiday taken in a camping coach at Seascale in what is now Cumbria in the very early 1960s. His family was living about five miles from Seascale and recalled spending a couple of days with them. Although only about ten years old, he remembers thinking how exciting it was for my cousins to be able to access rooms by ladder! No doubt we would have been given the 'stately tour' of the living accommodation though remembers nothing about it now. It was ideally situated, just a three-minute walk to beach, giving perfect freedom. How exciting for my cousins to be holidaying in what was, in effect, a railway carriage! For them, living in the heart of Birmingham, the opportunity to travel by train to, and stay in, what we considered to be a fascinating area — despite the looming presence of Sellafield — must have been exciting. Writer can find nothing in print about the Seascale camping coach; perhaps a reader might be able to help.

First in the field. Robin Leleux;
Re camping coaches: and childhood holidays: the one in a B&B in Dymchurch in 1957 being a disaster, with rain driving them off the beach every day to seek shelter under shop awnings. Only once did he recall were they able to return to the guest house and his Mother nearly went frantic. The next year they tried the camping coaches in the North Wales, at Aber and Bettws-y-Coed. Even the oil burners for cooking and gas mantles were part of the excitement. With five children, eldest brother Sydney slept in a hike tent outside. We had the run of the stations after hours and as boys our nightly trip was to the gents and then to clean teeth in a sink in an outbuilding between huge carboys of disinfectant used for washing down cattle trucks (this saved us fetching more water in huge cans!). He quotes the LNER promotional material — dry floor, sound roof, wind and weatherproof walls — which reminds me of Bank Holiday Monday 1958 at Silloth, in one of four coaches there. The usual crowds came past heading for the beach in the morning, only to wander disconsolately back after lunch as the rain set in, watched by Mother and the younger children from the warmth of the camping coach (Sydney and I spent a dry day on Carlisle station). Great holidays, to include Ravenscar in 1960, Llwyngwril1961 and Blue Anchor 1962.

First in the field, Arnold Tortorella.
Re camping coaches: See also British Railway Journal, No. 23, autumn 1988, for article written by C.S. Carter and A.A. Maclean. Similarly, the two-volume work entitled British Railway Camping Coach Holidays, Vols. 1 and 2" by Andrew McRae (Fox line Publishing, 1997 and 1998), provides an overall survey from the 1930s through to the post=nationalisation years and the 1960s. A brief survey of the involvement of the LMS in this service may be found within LMS Magazine, March 1935. KPJ: Arnold's letter led back to further McRae material in Backtrack: Camping coaches om the Scottish Region, 1996, 10, 4 and 101;  and letters onWestern Region camping coaches Backtrack, 1997, 11, 460 and 1998, 12, 60. There are also two artcles in Backtrack, 1994, 8, 62 and 172: many of these generated further letters; some from now deceased readers.

Steam to the Yorkshire Coast . Len Dowson
Re photograph at the top of page 416 suggests that B16/1 No.61447 is not "easing in", nor is its train unusually "lengthy". The drift of exhaust from the chimney and the direction of the crewman's intent gaze from the footplate suggest that the locomotive is propelling its train out of Scarborough station. The locomotive and the two coaches nearest the tender are indeed on the down line which brought trains into the station, but the rest of the train has diverged on to the bi-directionally signalled line that runs adjacent to the down line and extends out to Scarborough's steam shed and down carriage sidings.
It is unlikely to be propelling as far as the down carriage sidings beyond the steam shed, as that would involve passing through tracks controlled by three different signal boxes, Falsgrave, Washbeck and Gasworks. It is likelier that once it is behind the more distant signal gantry, it will stop, then be signalled forward, behind the running-in board, and through Falsgrave Tunnel and on to Gallows Close excursion sidings which were alongside the line to Whitby.
The six coaches in the far distance that initially seem to be part of this train are actually on the Platform 1 line of Londesborough Road excursion station, the canopy of which can be seen above the second coach of the B16/l's train. Although they could just be stabled there, they might actually be offioading there prior to running forward through Falsgrave Tunnel and on to Gallows Close excursion sidings.
Trains to/from Whitby used either the Londesborough Platform 1 road, or the bi-directional line that this train is reversing on to, in order to reverse into (or out of) Scarborough Central station, thus excursion stock would not normally be stabled there. They also used Scarborough's Platform lA, the face of which is to the right of the B16/1 to avoid having to cross the busy lines into/out of Scarborough Central. Because of the distance of this platform from the station entrance, working departure times were at least three minutes later than the public timetable.

Place on rail. Stephen G. Abbott
To add to the comments following the article by Brian Parsons on transport of the dead, his understanding is that, at least in later years, coffins were always carried in a brake compartment or separate vehicle apart from other traffic and to which passengers did not have access. He recalls c1960 seeing Norwich-Birmingham through train arrive at Market Harborough with an additional bogie brake van on the rear, from which a coffin was removed by a local undertaker.

Glimpses of Mid-Wales steam. T. McCarthy
Re photographs by Bernard Edmonds there is a detail, though, in the evocative picture of a freight train crossing the Afon Wnion that raises an issue on the dating of this photograph. The LMS goods van behind the engine shows very clean lines compared with, for instance, the open wagon that follows it, where the planking joints can be clearly discerned. This fact, together with the vertical battens visible on the door, leads him to think the van is an all plywood-bodied vehicle to LMS diagram 2103. However, these vans were not built until 1945/46, considerably later then the early 1930's date the caption attributes to the photograph. Whatever the date, it remains a very fine record of the steam locomotive hard at work. (Reference: Essery R.J. An illustrated history of LMS wagons, Volume 1, Oxford Publishing Company 1981/p58)

The building of Ironbridge Power Station. Bob Yate
Re Chris Lilley's article: writer had prepared an article 'Iron bridge Power Stations' that was published in the Industrial Railway Record (No.199, December 2009) detailing the history of the site and its railway connections. He had hitherto been unaware of some of the detail surrounding the enlargement of the power station during 1965-67, but can provide further detail: for example, the coal was supplied from Granville Colliery, being transferred by NCB locomotives to Donnington exchange sidings, then by BR train loads via Wellington (reverse) and Madley Junction (reverse). Granville closed in May 1979, but the last working actually ran on 2 October 1979. Over the years, the practice varied so that some of the workings involved coal being sent from Donnington to Wellington, where it remained for a separate working to Ironbridge. Writer has photographic evidence that other steam locomotive types involved also included LNWR 0-8-0s, Fowler 2-6-4Ts and 'Jubilee'and 'Manor' 4-6-0s. Subsequently, coal was sourced from Littleton Colliery, near Cannock, and was always sent as a block train load from Penkridge Sidings via Bushbury Junction, then the Oxley Curve to join the Shrewsbury line and directly via Madeley Junction. Diesels took over from c1967 and many types were seen in action - Classes 20, 25, 31, 37, 40, 47, 56, 58 and even latterly 66. The photo of a CEGB Peckett 0-4-0ST states that there were two such engines at Ironbridge — actually there were three, all Peckett 'W6' Class engines, numbered 1, 2, and 3 (works numbers 1803/1933, 1893/1936 and 1990/1940), all of which have been preserved. A fourth very similar engine, by Bagnall, named No.l Anne (2828/1945) was used from 1964 until 1967 when it went for scrap. The photograph of 'Black Five' No.44680 states that it is passing the site of Admaston Halt, but it is actually some distance to the west of that former station, which was located in a cutting. ,

Book reviews 638

Narrow gauge in the Somme Sector — before, during and after the First World War. Martin J. B. Farebrother and Joan S. Farebrother. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Transport, 256 pp, Reviewed by DWM *****
The commemoration of the centenary of the Great War over the last few years has brought forth a veritable battalion of books with a notable few involving themselves with the role of the railway, in all shapes and sizes, in the conflict. It has been your reviewer's pleasure to comment on some of these books for this column but it may well be that your editor has saved passing on the best until last for consideration!
This new volume, under a general heading of 'Allied Railways of the Western Front', is a follow-up to Narrow Gauge in the Arras Sector which was written by the same authors and published in 2015. It is beautifully produced, obviously meticulously researched, appropriately illustrated and furnished with the most excellent maps and diagrams; it is a veritable encyclopaedia and should, with its companion on the Arras Sector, become the definitive work on this particularly area of railway operation.
The book's twelve chapters fall comfortably into four sections — albeit unofficially. The first section introduces the area and covers the metre gauge lines of the deportements of the Somme, Oise and Aisne from the 1880s until the outbreak of the War. Appropriately illustrated and backed up with excellent maps, plans and timetables, this section forms a most serviceable outline of the development of narrow gauge, rural railways in this tranquil part of France before hostilities began.
The five chapters of the book's second section deal with the light and metre gauge lines which supported the Allied Forces' efforts on this part of the Western Front from 1915 onwards. A general introduction covers items such as chains of command, motive power and rolling stock before subsequent chapters deal with the individual lines behind the lines.
The illustrations and maps are superb throughout as is the detail provided concerning construction and operation and all is put into military context by continuing reference to the status of the various advances and retreats. What comes over through the detail is what a splendid method of transport a narrow gauge railway was for bringing up men and material to a static front line — just as long as that front line did remain static!
A third section of the book deals with 'clearing up afterwards' and the fates of the various lines in the Somme. Oise and Aisne départements — as might have been expected, mainly a quiet decline and eventual closure in the 1950s.
The final section/chapter is a masterpiece. The authors have a cottage in the Pas de Calais département and so it is perhaps not surprising that the last section of the book is 'things to see and do now'; so not only is the reader given the most superb background into this aspect of railway history but a contemporary travel guide, with suggestions of what to see and walks to follow, is provided as well. The book has a detailed bibliography and a comprehensive index and the reader will gather that your reviewer was mightily impressed!

Southern Railway Maunsell moguls & tank locomotive classes. David Maidment. Pen & Sword Books l.td., 235pp. Reviewed by JC ****
In common with previous monographs in this series this book can be truly described as comprehensive. Beginning with a short biography of Maunsell himself it continues in separate chapters from the prototype N Class Mogul NO.810 produced for the SECR in 1917 right through to the Southern W Class 2-6-4T of 1931 as well as the rebuilds of the E'O-6-0T to E1R for work in the West Country in 1927.
The design and construction of each class is covered in detail and that includes the experiments to which members of the N were subjected as well the engines put together from parts supplied by Woolwich Arsenal that went to Maunsell's native Ireland and to the Metropolitan Railway. In the same way the N1 and K1 engines equipped with Holcroft's valve gear are discussed in some detail
Allocations over time are also noted and there are a few logs of general day-to-day work illustrating the engines' expected capabilities. Of note maybe is one in 1925 of the notorious(sic!) 'River' Class, the engine being No.A799 River Test on an Eastbourne express non-stop between Victoria and Lewes. Speeds into the seventies are shown which would suggest Brighton men had no compunction about letting the engines of this class run where the opportunity was there. Given that they would have been used to handling large tank engines with DWM confidence for years that may not have astonished. But that attitude would still indicate the standard of the Brighton's main lines provides a contrast to the poorly-ballasted ones of the SECR on which two of the class derailed before the serious derailment of River Cray at Sevenoaks in August 1927 saw them swiftly rebuilt as tender engines.
Note is made of the Moguls in preservation as well as the author's personal reflections and reminiscences of each, covering sites as far apart as London and North Devon. Perhaps also as a matter of his personal interest a chapter is devoted to 'The Successors', namely the Brighton-built Fairburn and later Standard 2-6-4T and no less perhaps the Standard 4MT 2-6-0s. As the LNER- trained but Southern-influenced C.S. Cocks went from Brighton to Derby to oversee design of the BR classes perhaps the connection is less tenuous than might appear at first.
The very detailed Appendix covers — for each class — dimensions, a weight diagram, building and withdrawal dates and, in some instances, mileage in service. The work is concluded with a bibliography and a comprehensive index ..
Copiously illustrated throughout with examples from the earliest days in service, there lies perhaps the book's one weakness. The reproduction of a fair number of the coloured pictures is too dark, which is a pity as some of the detail is thus difficult to see. Other than that this is a book that will surely appeal to Southern enthusiasts, particularly those having an interest in Maunsell's work, especially for these secondary classes which inevitably escaped the limelight.

Last Post from Kingsbridge. Ray Oakley. rear cover
Caption suggests that 45XX is about to attempt a  TGV journey rate to covar "112½-mile" journey in around 35 minitutes in a Hawksworth compartment coach with its load of Royal Mail being loaded into the brake compartment: is that why the lady in the first compartment is looking back with her slam door still open? Confirmed in Gremlinia

British Railways Standard Class 3 2-6-0 No.77016 at Ardrossan Town station in August 1960.. front cover

November (Number 344)

Signalling in all its variety, Mike Peart. 643.
Guest Editorial.

The 77XXX' Standard Class 3s. 644-5
Colour photo-feature: No. 77000 shunting at Calverley & Rodley pon 19 August 1966 (Gavin Morrison); No. 77019 on coal train at Polquhap in May 1964 (J.B. Snell); two highly polishhed 2-6-0s Nos. 77003 with small snowplough nnd Class 4 76049 at Kirby Stephen East on a farewell tour on 20 January 1962; No. 77015 on passenger train near Glenbuck in March 1961 (Derek Cross); No. 77014 on turntable at Guildford shed in July 1967 (A. Gray).

A.J. Ludham. The Middleton-in-Teesdale Branch. 646-51
Posthumous article which begins with longish quotation from LNER Holiday Handbook from the 1930s on the beauty of Teesdale. The Tees Valley Railway was nominally independent and was built under an Act of  19 June 1865 and formally opened on 12 May 1868. It had been  intended to extend the line to Alston, but this proved too difficult. The TVR left the railway from Barnard Castle to Kirkby Stephen from a junction near the former and had intermediate stations at Cotherstone and Romaldkirk. Stone, including ironstone was the main freight traffic, but duing the construction of the reservoirs at Baldersdale and Grassholme the railway carried large quantities of materials. The branch closed on 9 September 1964. Illustrations:. Middleton-in-Teesdale station with G5 0-4-4T No. 67272 on train from Darlington on 25 October 1952; map; G5 0-4-4T No. 67284 with push & pull set leaving Barnard Castle for Middleton-in-Teesdale on 23 August 1952; DMU at Cotherstone with service for Darlington on 28 May 1960; G5 No. 67258 at Middleton-in-Teesdale with 11.40 for Darlington on 29 July 1957; ex-NER H class 0-4-0T shunting at Ord & Mattison's sidings; A8 4-6-2T No. 69863 approaching Romaldkirk with 17.53 mto Sunderland on 27 July 1957 (Ian S. Carr); train at Middleton station having arrived from Darlington on 25 October 1952; BR Class 2 2-6-2T No. 84028 working a push & pull to Darlington in May 1957; B1 No. 61237 on return excursion to Sunderland and South Shields on 1 May 1962.

Ed Schoon. A West Coast racing train of 1888. 652-4
Reports of railway races both in comporary newspapers (The Times 7 August 1888: longish quotation) and retrospective (Nock Railway race to the north and Wrottesley Great Northern Railway) The Author of the article questions whether Waverley or No. 667 Marmion was the locomotive south of Crewe, but states that Precedent No. 275 Vulcan was the lcomotive from thence to Carlisle, and No. 123 from  thence. Illustrations: LNWR 2-2-2 No.806 Waverley: engraving from The Engineer 14 September 1888; photograph at Bletchley station (in company of two females and two horses at close quarters); photograph at Manchester on a turntable; plans of brake third and lavatory composite (lavatory only for first class passengers), Caledonian Railway 4-2-2 No. 123 coupled to inspection saloon).

Jeffrey Wells. The last four Bass day trips 1911·1914. 655-9.
To Blackpool in 1911; to Liverpool and New Brighton in 1912; to Yarmouth [Great Yarmouth] in 1913 and to Scarborough in 1914. The first had been in August 1865 wzs to Liverpool. The growth of the brewing industry in Burton and the place of Bass & Co. is briefly traced and accompanied by a statistical table wihich shows  growth in terms of number of breweries, output in barrels and number employed. Illustrations: Bass employees having arrived at Blackpool Talbot Road station walking along Queen Street on 21 July 1911; Train No. 15 arriving on same day as previous; Train No. 10 arriving on same day as previous; Burton-on-Trent station post rebuilding (John Alsop Collection); passenger train in Burton-on-Trent station and wagons loaded with barrels for/of beer; Liverpool Central station forecourt; Train No. 4 having arrived at Scarborogh Londesborough Road on 22 July 1910; Fiat charabanc on excursion to Forge Valley during 1910 excursion; 1910 return excursion trains at Blackpool Talbot Road station.

John Jarvis. The Southern in Devon through the 1970s. 660-6.
Includes notes on Beeching cuts and Barbara Castle rationaliztions leading to the tidal service to Plymouth (of no strategic importance: a British South Georgia). Colour illustrations: Calstock Viaduct with DMU No, 319 crossing it; Class25 on Barnstaple to Exeter St. David's passenger train; DMU No. C319 at Bere Alston in July 1976; map Southern Region in Devon; DMU No. P583 at Crediton with service for Barnstaple in June 1976; Type 45 with single wagin and brake van at Crediton in July 1975; Class 25 and four Mk1 coaches on Barnstaple to Exeter working at Morchard Road in July 976; Class 42 Warship diesel hydraulic No. 831 Monarch on freight passing Exeter Central en route to Exeter Riverside in July 1969; Hastings Class 203 (6B) unit No. 1033 at rear of twelve coach set at Exeter St. David's on Brighton service in April 1977; DMU No. P 582 entering Lympstone station on Exmouth service in June 1976; Class 31 and Mk1 coaches passes Cowley Bridge Junction with line to Crediton visible behind; map of Plymouth area. See also letter from Roger Merry-Price..   

Odd 'Princess' out [turbine locomotive]. 667-9
Black & white photo-feature of Turbomotive No. 6702 and its brief replacement as No. 46202 Priness Anne caption notes how former emitted a singing sound leading to the nickname Gracie Fields: No. 6702 entering Euston without smoke deflectors; and as revious entering Euston (Colling Turner); in Crewe Works in 1936; with smoke deflectors at Camden in post-war LMS livery; and as previoua but location not identified on long train; with cycling lion device on tender and BR mixed traffic livery at Liverpool Edge Hill; No. 46202 Priness Anne on shed at Liverpool Edge Hill (Eric Treacy); No. 46202 Priness Anne at Euston at head of 08.30 express for Liverpool. See letter from Allan C. Baker

Metropolitan & Great Central Line stopping trains. 670-1
Colour photo-feature from Rail-Online Collection: Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42089 awaiting departure from Aylesbury Town for Rickmansworth and onward on Metropolitan line; Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42134 awaiting departure from Stoke Mandeville with another Metropolitan Line set; Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42281 awaiting departure from Amersham with Metropolitan Line set(electrification works visible which would kill these remarkable workings; view north from footbridge at Wendover station; B1 4-6-0 No. 61380 on very ordinary passenger train presumably at Wendover en route for Marylebone. See also letter from David Hibbert on London Transport paper signage north of Amersham and Metropolitan sempaphore signal at Wendover..

Wanderings in the North East. John Spencer Gilks. 672-4
Colour photo-feature: K1 2-6-0 at Leamside on train of tank wagons at Leamside on Leamside Line on 13 August 1961; J27 0-6-0 inside Tyne Dock shed wwith V1 and V3 2-6-2Ts on 28 September 1963; Q6 0-8-0s Nos. 63377 and 63363 pass at Tyne Dock on 28 September 1963; Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42085 at Saltburn with parcels vans on 6 June 1965; polished J27 0-6-0 No. 65842 at Woodburn in Wansbeck Valley with branch goods on 22 September 1966; B1 4-6-0 No. 61275 arriving Whitby with a local passenger train from Malton and York on 5 June 1964.

Alistair F. Nisbet. Bodies on the railway. 675-80
Corpses, including headless ones: murders and suicides presumably may be excused for the season of All Souls. On 6 November 2004 a car deliberately halted on a level crossing at Ufton Nervet and was struck by an HST causing the deaths seven including the drivers of the car, and the train. In October 1883 the headless body of a shepherd was found on the platform at Bogside station near Dunfermline: it is presumed that he was drunk, lain on the platform and struck by a passing train, In May 1884 a headless body was found on the line at Margaretting. Thiis was Arthur Pannifer who had lost both money and documents and committed suicide. A story of drunks on a St. Pamcras to Glasgow train in 1888 led to a report of an inquest on a body found in Haverstock Hill Tunnel and the strange story that had been related to Hugh Meikle about James Mackill who had said that he had been drunk when sharing a compartment with the deceased. Female passengers receiving unwanted attention included Emily Lister who was shot by a lunatic om a train near Devizes in June 1889. The Surrey Herald on 29 October 1898 reported on a man found unconscious with a tourniquet round his neck at Woking: a telephone message to Virginia  Water found his assailant on the train where he was apprehended and identified by the man left unconscious. Nurse Shore was attacked on a train From London Victotia to Hastings and was cfound at Bexhill and susequently died: here inquest was reported in the St. Leonards Gazette. The body of Wiklhelmina Whitfield was found on the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway at Lightcliffe as reported in the Halifax Daily Courier on 220 September 1920: her assailant does not appear to have been found, The Dundee Evening Telegraph of 2 January 1965 reported on the death of Alexander Cockburn Townsend whose body was found on the line between Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City: he had been travelling on a train terminating at at WGC and may have stepped from his compartment during a signal stop and been hit by another train. In 1894 Lieutenant Charles Wheeler of the Berkshire Yeomanry had visited friends near Wantage, and was found dead a few days later on a LNWR local train to Watford: he had shot himself. Similar incidents happened on a train from Hatfield to King's Cross and at Merchiston on a Euston to Edinburgh train where Lieutenant Learoyd of the Norfolk Regiment was found dead with a revolver and cartridges. In 1902 a couple were found shot in a compartment at Woking where she had shot her lover then killed herself (the train and couple were from Portsmouth).

David Brandon. 'Much in Little' — The railways of Rutland and Stamford.  Part Two. 681-7
Part 1 see page 532. Illustrations: N5 0-6-2T shunting at Stamford East and leaving Ryhall & Belmisthorpe station with passenger train for Essendine on 25 June 1958 (R.C. Riley: colour); Jubilee class No. 45667 Jellicoe approaching Manton with Robin Hood 08.25 Nottingham Midland to St. Pancras on 16 March 1959 (T.G. Hepburn); northern portal of Manton Tunnel (John Alsop Collection); Class 66 No. 66 726 at Oakham level crossing with train of roadstone in July 2017 (Ed Brandon: colour); C12 4-4-2T No. 67357 at Stamford East with 16.55 to Essendine on 28 April 1956 (T.J. Edgington); Harringworth Viaduct (David Brandon: colour); Stamford station (Rd Brandon: colour). See also letter from Stephen G. Abbott

Peter Butler. The Railway at Shireoaks, Worksop and Rhodesia. 688-9.
Triangular junction bounded by Shireoaks West, Shireoaks East and Woodend was constructed by the Midland Railway with the assistance of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway. The passenger timetable for MSLR trains in 1895 is reproduced and photographs of the former layouts are reproduced: Woodend Junction signal box exterior and interior on 25 July 1979; milepost (55 miles from Manchester); modern panel at Shireoaks on 23 April 1992; Great Central "beware of trains notice; Two Class 08 shunters known as Pinky an d perky propel brake van past Woodend Junction signal box towards Shireoaks East Junction in 1979. Rhodesia was a small mining village built by the chairman of the mining company: Preston Rhodes.   

Michael H.C. Baker. Electrifying Merseyside. 690-3.
Personal memories of electric services in Liverpool in the post-WW2 period by someone from a sheltered southern background who appeared not to have known the East London Line. The Liverpool Overhead Railway, the Mersey Railway and the main line to Southport were all extremely early electric railways, and in the case of the first two retained their original timber-bodied stock with noisy resistances popping in and out. The Southport Line enjoyed new rolling stock with sliding doors and other features far in advance of anything on the Southern. Illustrations: Liverpool Overhead Railway poster showing train, railway and ships (colour); ex-Mersey Railway electric train at Birkenhead North (BFO No. 28410)  an 23 September 1956 (T.J. Edgington); Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway multiple unit at Blundellsands & Crosby station on service from Southport to Liverpool Exchange; Green Goddess Liverpool  tram No. 958 in Lime Street in 1957; Liverpool Overhead Railway Pier Head station  an 26 October 1956 (T.J. Edgington); Liverpool Overhead Railway motor car No. 9 at Seaforth Sands (see letter from Trefor Davies: NOT Seaforth Sands, but Seaforth and Litherland); new LMS multiple unit (rear car No. 28315) passing feeder station; 1956 built EMU at Rock Ferry in 1985; Class 502 leaving Liverpool Exchange for Southport in March 1974 (colour). See also letter from David Greening

Highland  moments. David Rodgers. 694-5
Colour photo-feature: Lairg station with arrival of 14.23 to Inverness hauled by Class 26 on 14 September 1973; two Class 26 haul a train for Kyle of Lochalsh along side of Loch Dughaill; Class 26 leaves Strathcarron on early morning train for Inverness on 15 September 1973 (with down train alongside); unloading parcels and milk at Strathcarron and Calmac Loch Arkaig with ferry from Skye via Lochalsh to Mallaig.

Miles Macnair. From road unto rail — exercises in technology transfer. Part One. The steam pioneers. 696-9.
Richard Trevithick's early locomotives were for use on the public highway initially in Cornwall and then as a steam carriage which ran on London streets in 1803. A full scale working version was built by Tom Brogden in 2003. Trevithick's attempts to transfer his invention to railways or tramroads is well known and this took place at Penydarren, probably via Coalbrookdale, and in London although in the case of the latter there are some doubts about what actually took place., For a short period around 1830 Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and Walter Hancock operated steam carriage services as commercial ventures: Charles Dance operated a commercial service by steam carriage four time per day between Gloucester and Cheltenham. Notes that Thomas Telfotd was an ardent supporter of steam carriages. William Fletcher's Steam on common roads (1891 reprinted by David & Charles in 1972) is cited. Illustrations: Trevithick road locomotive of 1801 (diagram: Trevithick Society); working replica of Puffin Devil built by Trevithick Society inaction in Camborne in 2001 (colour photograph); Trevithick's London carriage (drawing); cartoon chaos in London streets caused by steam carriage congestion (colour cartoon); Gurney steam carriage with flash watertube boiler (diagram); Gurneyroad tug converted for use on Hirwain Tramroad (diagram); Brunton's mechanical horse (diagram); L. Pendred's proposed modification of previous (diagram); Brunton's mechanical horse (Robin Barnes painting: colour) (error in cylinder position). Part 2. See also letter (from Australia) by Bob Baird on Trevithick road/rail locomotive.

Roger Jermy. Thomas Grey: Tweedmouth's railwayman poet. 700-1
Grey was born in Shoreswood on 16 September 1863 and died in Tweedmouth on 14 August 1928. He was an engine driver until forced to retire through ill health, a poet, and local worthy: raised funds for the War Memorial in Tweedmouth (illustrated), Other illustrations: Thomas Grey (portrait c1899), title page of Musings on the footplate. (1906); Tweedmouth engine shed in 1930s. Letter from Mrs Jan Grey, his great granddaughter, seeking support for memorial to Thomas Grey.

Readers' Forum. 702

Gremlinia. Editor
The Tonbridge-Ashford line lower photograph on p.602 is, printed back to front. The original photograph from which the scan was made is the same but unfortunately it passed through the system from author to printer without that being spotted.
Back cover - October issue The caption is in error in suggesting the Kingsbridge branch from Brent in Devon is my, miles in distance; it is, of course, just 12½, miles!

Oil gas manufacture. John Macnab
The gas holder wagons referred to and illustrated (p524) were known as 'Rectank' in his involvement in coaching stock matters in the early 1960s and was, presumably, a telegraphic code word of either company or BR origin. This 'naming' was perhaps not universal throughout BR and neither did he know the background of these particular wagons but they are likely to have been company build. Several were in the Eastfield depotjCowlairs carriage sidings in Glasgow, obviously used in connection with such former LNER restaurant cars requiring this provision. In passing, Table 2 giving the BR Catering Car fleet as of 31 December 1949 would contain whatever types ran in the Scottish Region on that date, a separate Scottish allocation of coaching stock not coming into being until 1953. In the summer of 1963 he noted four 'Rectank'" amongst withdrawn and condemned coaching stock in Ardmore yards (between Cardross and Craigendoran) that included, somewhat co-incidentaly in an adjacent siding, seven ScR allocated LNER-type restaurant cars, RF 9022, RC 9157/9,9186/7, RU 9192/3, several of which had been displaced by new-build BR Standard types on the West Highland line services.

LMS 2-6-2Ts. Tudor Hughes
In his informative article Raymond Vickers discusses the various reasons why these locomotives were often very poor performers but no mention is made of one fact which to me stands out like a sore thumb. The evaporative heating surface, particularly of the Fowler locomotives, is extraordinarily small for an engine of this size. The figure is 795 ft² which is markedly less than the 953 ft²  of a GWR 14XX 0-4-2T, just about the smallest passenger locomotive of the later steam era. One wonders what the length and diameter of the tubes were. So it is no surprise that one LMS man was quoted as saying that these locomotives "couldn't make enough steam to mash tea in a decent refreshment room". It is therefore equally no surprise that the Stanier locomotives, with very little increase in steam-raising capacity, were also not well regarded.

Harpenden. Stephen Abbott
The wording of Peter Butler's article (September) suggests that the goods lines between Harpenden Junction and Bedford were upgraded to slow lines for passenger use after his visit in 1978. This work was carried out for the St. Pancras-Bedford diesel service which commenced on 11 January 1960. New platforms on the slow lines were built at Luton, Leagrave, Harlington and Flitwick; the cost of similar work at Ampthill — only 1½, miles north of Flitwick and lightly used — could not be justified and this station was closed in May 1959. Ahead of the 1983 'Bed-Pan' electrification Harpenden Junction was relocated from north to just south of the station in the form of single leads linking all lines in either direction.

The railways of Rutland and Stamford. Stephen G. Abbott
After the Seaton engine shed was fire damaged in 1957 the locomotive based at Seaton stood overnight in the open on the shed road, going to Market Harborough at weekends, but from June 1964 it ran to Market Harborough each night. The second locomotive needed came out daily from Peterborough Spital Bridge until that shed closed in 1959, then for the last few months until the demise of the Uppingham service it was provided by Leicester/Market Harborough. The DMU used from October 1965 on the Stamford service ran empty daily from Leicester via Market Harborough; it was usually M50358 + 56113, the sole Gloucester C&W Co. unit based at Leicester. The Seaton-Wansford (Yarwell Junction) line opened on 1 November 1879, not in 1859. The Leicester-Peterborough line was deleted from the Beeching Plan closures when the Oxford-Cambridge line was added, presumably to ensure that one east-west line remained within 100 miles of London.

Brunel the hospital builder. Ken Harrison
There maybe still one of the buildings in existence. Over the years he had occasionally visited the club house of the North Fambridge Yacht Club located on the northern bank of the river to the west of Burnham-on-Crouch.  He was told the building was acquired when sold off, erected on piles and used as a boathouse for a gentleman's steam yacht. later being converted into their club house in the late 1890s. [KPJ: Lytton Strachey in Eminent Victorians was damning in his comments on the huts].

Book reviews. 702

Ikeston to Chesterfield including many collieries (part of Midland Main Line series).Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith. Middleton Press. Hardback, 96pp. Reviewed by DWM ***
Regular readers of this column will be aware that this particular reviewer doesn't quite know what to make of this on-going, impressive and uniform output from the Middleton Press. He is pleased to be able to report that he finds this volume a little bit 'perkier' than the previous two offered to him by your Editor for review — but that might be simply because he has been able to locate his father's birthplace and his Uncle Wilfred's last home, at Doe Lea, on two of the well-deployed maps!
The book is laid out, in the standard 'house style' of Middleton Press productions, as a journey up the Erewash Valley line as far as Chesterfield Midland. The pictures used emphasise the overwhelmingly industrial nature of this vital Midland artery and serve to remind us of just how much of the railway has vanished over recent years. It is good to be able to report the revitalisation of 'new' stations along this stretch of line at Langley Mill, IIkeston, Alfreton and, to a certain extent Chesterfield. Signal boxes, collieries and infrastructure are well represented although your reviewer was surprised to find only scant reference to the line which now forms the main axis of the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. The book contains a brief geographical and historical introduction, supported by copies of timetables from 1870 through to 1966, a gradient profile — up from IIkeston to Morton then down to Chesterfield — and a particularly well-selected and sharply-produced selection of maps at an impressively large scale. As indicated there is an extensive selection of pictures, ancient and modern but your reviewer was disappointed by the captions some of which are brief to the point of shorthand whilst others are nicely cryptic!
Although your reviewer is a committed East Midlander he couldn't see himself buying this book, it doesn't 'fly off the shelves at him', in spite of the local interest. To those who are devoted to this impressive series, in the region of 400 titles listed on the last page of the book, then this particular volume might well be one that they will want to add to their collection.

LBSCR carriages. Volume 3: Bogie stock 1879-1907. Ian White. 230 pp. Historical Model Railway Society. Reviewed by Barry C. Lane. *****
This is the first of two volumes following on from on from two earlier volumes of which lan White was the joint author. The first chapters cover the eight-wheeled carriages from the Stroudley era and the main line and suburban stock constructed between 1894 and 1905, plus the motor trains, steam and petrol of the period. Supplementary information is included covering the two earlier volumes.
The book is extremely well illustrated with photographs, diagrams and drawings making use of the extensive HMRS collection where the author is a volunteer. A listing of cited engineering drawings and specifications and a comprehensive listing of running numbers complete the publication. Would that all carriage books were up to this same standard! The forthcoming final voluime will complete the series covering all the remaining stock, both electric, saloons and ambulance trains plus the Pullman cars that were an integral part of the LBSCR passenger services. All royalies will be donated to the Bluebell Stroudley Coach fund.
lan White has set a very high standard in this publication which reminds this writer how far such publications have come through the last 50 years of books on carriage stock. Any future such books will have a high standard to beat this volume.

British Railways Pre-Nationalisation coaching stock .Volume 1 GWR  & LNER Hugh Longworth, Crecy Publishing Ltd., 2018, 480pp, Reviewed by Peter Tatlow. ***
This is Volume 1 of two that sets out to catalogue all the coaches inherited by British Railways in 1948, in this case from the Great Western and LNER, including surviving pre-group stock and vehicles subsequently completed to pre-nationalisation designs. Volume 2 will deal with the Southern and LMS railways. Both passenger carrying and non-passenger carrying coaching stock is covered.
For each railway, the content is divided into two parts, the first listing each individual coach's number, dates of being taken into and withdrawn from revenue- earning stock and its diagram number. By following the diagram number, the rest of the book, dealing with each company in turn, is devoted to a very small-scale diagram of consistent style of each type, below which are listed: the numbers to each lot, builder, overall plan dimensions, weight, seats and/or toilets, the dates in and out of stock, any further known running numbers and in some cases departmental service and disposal. A substantial bibliography to direct readers to further information on their chosen coaches and a representative, but far from comprehensive, selection of photographs are included.
The author is to be congratulated on assembling such a comprehensive set of data, which will no doubt prove useful to those who, for such as modelling or restoration purposes, may wish to identify a particular individual or group of coaches. Such a work will be a 'God send' to, say, company stewards of the HMRS in answering enquirer's questions, but whether this will justify the commercial risk of publishing this nearly 500-page tome, weighing in at 2.2kg, may be a moot point. One might have thought that the availability of an electronic database, which presumably already exists, would have adequately served the purpose at a great deal less cost.

Rowntree's secret. Chris Hogg. rear cover
Rownree's chocolate factory had its ow private halt: in May 1984 a three-car diesel multiple unit was waiting to depart for Doncaster

Great Western Railway '47XX' Class 2-8-0 No.4706 heads through West Ealing on 22nd November 1963. (M. Smith) . front cover

December  2019 (Number 345)

Gardener's question time. Michael Blakemore. 707
Weed growth (vegetation) on contemporary railway at King's Cross, Manchester Piccadilly and [not in Editorial] growing up to reach the A149 where the too infrequently open Bittern line passes beneath en route to Sheringham

Edward Gibbins. The survival of the 'Far North' Line 708-14
In 1959 it was proposed that the railway from Inverness to Wick and Thurso should be closed. At the same time the line to Kyle of Lochalsh came under scrutiny. A local MP, Sir David Robertson, suggested that the railway tio Wick shouuld be converted into a road and had sought the advice of Balfour Beatty & Co. but Gibbins can find no trace of any formal survey. Like HS2 this was to be very cheap (mere millions of pounds) and no provision was made for the diufficulties of road overbridges. Later Robertson argued that the railway should be retained  due to the primitive nature of bus travel for long joourneys, the needs of staff at Dounreay nuclear facility and tourism. Illustrations: Class 5 No. 44783 at Wick station with passenger train awaitng departure and fish vans at adjacent platform on 9 September 1959 (colour); Georgemas Junction with garden display; BRCW Type 2 diesel in green livery on through coaches to Georgemas Junction with Royal Mail van on platform (colour); Dunrobin Castle private station; Kyle of Lochalsh station circa 1900 with many fish barrels; Clan Goods 4-6-0 No. 17953 at Inverness with 20.45 to Tain on 2 July 1947 (T.J. Edginton Collection); class 5 No. 45483 and Brush Type 2 diesel electric No. D5511 at Tain on a freight on 5 August 1958; Delny station; Georgemas Junction with 439 class 0-4-4T with carmine & cream Stanier coaches forming 08.40 Thurso portion of southbound train from Wick; Fearn station; BRCW Type 2 diesel electric at Kyle of Lochalsh with train for Inverness on 25 May 1973 (T.J. Edginton); Class 26 on 17.00 Inverness to Wick crossing  Caledonian Canal at Clachnaharry on 27 May 1973 (T.J. Edginton)    

Alistair F. Nisbet. Marylebone collisions. 715-19.
An examination of collisions which happened on 28 March 1913 when the 13.15 from Leicester was hit by the 16.50 to Princes Risborough. There was one fatality and several severe injuries to passengers on the trains. The cause was the failure of the driver of the ougoing train hauled by a 4-6-2T (not a 2-2-2T as stated in the text) to obey a signal, but the signalling system was partly to blame. On 26 April 1914 a train became stuck in the tunnel exit from Marylebone near Canfield Place signal box and the locomotive despatched to bank the train failed to approach the stalled train at an appropriate speed leading to damage to the train and injuries to passengers: these were due to faults in communication. On 26 April 1914 there was a further accident due to stalling near Canfield Place and the assisting engine (a Class 8F 4-6-0) hitting the rear of the stalled train too hard. Major Pringle investigated and was critical of lax communication. On 30 March 1923 there was a collision between a passenger train from High Wycombe and a light engine waiting at Platform 3 to take a train out, There were some relatively minor injuries to passengers and the driver of the incoming train. The signalman could not see the light engine and the LNER installed track circuits to prevennt further mishaps. On 31 August 1924 the 23.52 from Wembley Hill to Marylebone  hauled by an A5 tank No. 451 collided with a light engine B7 No. 458 mrar Canfield Place which was signalled with automatic colour light signals. Colonel Pringle blamed the driver of the passenger train. On 16 January 1933 there was another collision at Canfield Place when a train of empty stock was hit by a following A5-hauled passenger train due to smoke in Hampstead Tunnel he missed the signal. The guard of the empty stock train was seriously injured. On 2 April 1934 a special from Nottingham was run into by  an A5 light engine No. 5156. Colonel A.C. Trech blamed the driver of the light engine for moving at excessive speed.  Illustrations: Marylebone view from concourse to platform ends shortly after station opened; upper  and lower quadrant signs at platform ends on 15 September 1962; C4 4-4-2 No. 6091 on short nilk train (tank wagon and bogie parcels van) en route for Amersham on 16 January 1933 (locomotive that had stalled in tunnel); Wembley Hill station frontage; A5 4-6-2T No. 5024; Class 115 DMU alongside B1 on semi-fast to Nottingham Victoria at Marylebone; B1 No. 61008 Kudu at Marylebone in early 1962; Class 5 No. 44936 on Nottingham semi-fast on 10 May 1966 (H.C. Casserley). See also letters from Chris Mills and Doug Landau.

At Peterbcrouqh. 720-3.
Colour photo-feature:: Stirling 4-2-2 single No. 1 having arrived at Peterborough North from King's Cross on 11 September 1938 on an RCTS Special (L. Hanson);; No. 60103 Flying Scotsman (without smoke deflectors) on an up express at Peterborough North on 30 September 1960 (G. Parry); B1 No.61362 and BT Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75043 at Peterborough East on 10 September 1960 (G. Parry); A3 No. 60047 Donovan (with double chimney and German smoke deflectors)  about to leave Peterborough North in June 1962 on down express (G. Parry);  V2 No. 60800 Green Arrow leaving Peterborough with an up express freight on 22 August 1958 (Trevor Owen); condenser-fitted N2/4 0-6-2T No. 69571 at North signal box on station pilot duty; A4 Pacifics Nos. 60010 Dominion of Canada on up express and 60013 Dominion of New Zealand passing under Crescent Bridge with Scotch Goods in June 1962 (D.W. Webb); A4 No. 60003 Andrew K. McCosh on down Tees-Tyne Pullman passing under Crescent Bridge in August 1961 (K.C.H. Fairey); Class 5 4-6-0 No. 45308 with 4F 0-6-0 behind at Peterborough East in April 1963 (C.R. Gordon-Stuart)

John C. Hughes. The Iron Horse. 724-7
R,M. Ballantyne's The Iron Horse or Life on the Line is a work of fiction which Ottley (4017) classifies under labour and is "based mainly on facts". Hughes concludes a rather long article with The Iron Horse turns out to be a compendium of three books. There is a fictional story based on John Marrot and his family and involving some improbable lost treasure. There is a series oof essays expllaining how the railways work. and ther is a strong plea for the railways to be relieved of the excessive burden of compensation payments following accidents, which seems to be the author's main purpose in writing it. Ballantyne also wrote The Coral Island. Illustrations taken from The Iron Horse (engravings): frontispiece (cornucopia of railway earnings); encounter between railway detective and ticketless passenger in first class compartment; catching thief stealing apples; silly old woman with umbrella threatening narrow gauge locomotive; too busy to eat signalman; footplate scene. See addenda from author which notes that Edward Whymper was the illustrator. And from Linda Death on e-book

David P. Wiilliams. The Midland compounds — myth or marvel? 728-35.
The text is a basic history from Samuel Johnson's initial batch of three-cylinder compounds using the Walter Smith system; through the changes introduced by Deeley through to their mass introduction on the LMS where t heir reception by footplate crews was extremely mixed. The text is accompanied by black & white photographs and coloured photographs using the author's computational skills: latter shown in italics in the folllowing: No. 1119 outside Crewe North shed in May 1937; No. 1000 passing Armathwaite station c1910 (locomotive in almost original condition, but with six-wheel tender; No. 1169 leaving Rugby with a down extra in 1938 (dirty crimson lake); No. 1191 assisting LNWR Claughton No. 6014 on down West Coast route express near Kenton; No. 1121 on 14.20 to Euston leaving Manchester London Road on 28 September 1934 (with B17 pulling out of LNER siide was a B17 with superior-looking Gresley stock for Sheffield and train of ancient four or six-wheel coaches in between); No. 1091 approaching St. Pancras with stopping train from Bedford; No. 1023 at Bristol Temple Meads with express for Birmingham c1935; No. 40921 in BR lined black livery at Perth with train for Dundee (insufficiently coloured photgraph see letter from Jim Dorward on orientation; No. 1138 in early LMS livery (number on tender, crest on cab) inside double-headed express for Carlisle on main deparrture platform at Glasgow St. Enoch c1926; No. 1050 with splash deflector plates heading a down express past Halesowen Junction; No, 1118 passing golf course at Maesdu with 16.15 ex-Liverpool Lime Street to Llandudno on 8 June 1948 (with very smart set of Stanier corridor coaches); No. 41176 and Class 5 No. 44999 (both tenders lettered BRITISH RAILWAYS and train formed of experimental livery stock) at Stonehave with Aberdeen to Glasgow express on 6 September 1948; No. 41090 assisting rebuilt Patriot No. 45522 Prestatyn with up 13.55 Wolverhampton to Euston passing Tring on 3 October 1953; No. 41139 passing Bellahouston on Glasgow College goods depot to Ardrossan freight on 22 July 1954; No. 41096 leaving Lincoln St. Mark's for Derby on 23 February 1952 (mainly T.J. Edgington Collection)

The nine Bright Shiners [47XX 2-8-0]. 736-7.
Colour photo-feature:: No. 4704 at Old Oak Common depot on 27 October 1957 (R.C. Riley); No. 4707 (unlined black livery with cycling lion logo on tender: remainder green livery with later logo) leaving Swindon with Southern Region green Maunsell coach at front on 25 April 1954; No.  4705 with chocolate & cream rolling stock on 13.25 for Kingswear leaving Paddington on 27 August 1960 (R.C. Riley); No. 4704 at Newton Abbot with 13.20 from Paddington to  Kingswear on 15 July 1961 (R.C. Riley); No. 4700 on express freight  passing Warwick on 15 August 1962 (R. Tibbits). See also front cover and rear cover

Spencer Jackson. Thoughts from inside and outside the box. 738-43.
See also Author's visits toWhitmore signal box and his friendship with one of the signalmen, Jack Woodcock; and an account of  the Author starting work as goods guards' clerk at Brent (Cricklewood). When Jack went on holiday he arranged for the relief signalman to permit the Author's visits to continue. Other places mentioned include Chatterley Junction where he made contact with the signalman and Kidsgrove booking office wheere he started work in September 1958. Whilst there he saw a Duchess Pacific No. 46224 Princess Alexandra go through on the down Roral Scot as there had been a serious accident on the main line. Special precautions had to be taken for the Pacific to eork through Harecastle Tunnel: he reported this in Trains Illustrated (1959 January issue). Illustrations: Class 5 No. 44680 on a down freight approaching Harecastle Tunnel on 16 May 1966 (colour); rebuilt Scot No. 46142 The York & Lancaster Regiment on Whitmore troughs on up fast line express; Standard Class 5 No. 75035 running tender-first on coal train climbing from Longport to Harecastle South Tunnel (colour); 8F No. 48766 passes over troughs near Whitmore as Royal Scot on down fast approaches from south; Alsager East signal box; Class 5 No. 45224 with freight which included dead D2519 at head (colour); Coronation class Pacific No. 46223 Princess Alice on Whitmore troughs with up Royal Scot; Kidgrove Central station in October 1957; Class 304 electric multiple unit leaves Kidgrove for Stoke on 7 September 2008. See letter from Stephemn G. Abbott who suggests that the date is more than slightly incorrect.

Sean Yates. The Great Central Railway and London & North Eastern Railway on the Mid-Wirral  Line. 744-9
The North Wales & Liverpool Railway was a collaboration between the MSLR and the Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened in March 1890, but extensions nortward over the Wirral Railawy to Seacombe & Egremont to provide a link to the Wallasey ferry service to Liverpool from Seacombe Pier and southwards over the Hawarden Bridge to Wrexham and Chester Northgate. Train services between  Seacombe & Egremont and Wrexham and their motive power are considered. The latter included 4-4-2T and 2-4-2T from the Great Central Railway; their gradual replacement by British Railways by slightly improved steam types and eventually by diesel multiple units. No mention is made of paper proposals for less carbon intensive forms of traction. Illustrations: Bidston station in 1939 with third rail electric installation in place; map; Upton station on 18 April 1960 (M.J. Lewis); C13 4-4-2T No. 5191 near Neston & Parkgate station in late 1930s (Ian C. Allen); F1 2-4-2T at Bidston shed c1939 and LMS 3F 0-6-0T (D.W. Allen) C13 4-4-2T No. 7429 at Seacombe & Egremont station waiting departure on 22 Februarry 1948 (W.A. Camwell); C13 4-4-2T No. 67412 on 09.35 service from Wrexham at Seacombe on 10 August 1953 (H.C. Casserley); N5 0-6-2T on train for Seacombe at Burton Point in August 1954 (colour: J. McCann); C14 4-4-2T No. 67442 on route for Upton with train for Wrexham Central in 1955 (G.D. Hawkins);  N5 0-6-2T  No. 69339 outside Bidston shed on 19 July 1955.

Sir Brian inspects. 750-3.
Black & white photo-feature: Sir Brian Robertson, Chairman of the British Transport Commission and former General with a distinguished career in both WW1 and WW2: with H.S. Turrell, station master at Euston in top hat and tails seeing Sir Brian into his saloon at rear of 08.15 departure; with W.R. Headley, London Midland Region Architect examining model of new Coventry station; chatting to Mrs. Megan Cork, clerk in railway enquiry bureau at Crewe station; chatting to Driver Arthur Wheildon and fireman James Devaney on Jinty Class 3 0-6-0T at Liverpool Lime Street station; exit via ladder from Derby Lightweight diesel unit at Stoke Freight Terminal hands behind backs Sir Brian and underlings march through Stoke Freight Terminal (crates and barrels arranged like mess tins and bed packs); on to Manchester Central to greet the station master John Balmer and the Line Traffic Manager G.E. Lambert; at Manchester Piccadilly to visit the new power signal box and being shown console by R.F. Shute, Divisional Signals & Telecommunications Engineer; with C. Millard, District Freight Manager at Huskisson Freight Terminal in Liverpool;

The 'Marquess' goes out. 754.
Colour photo-feature: preserved by Viscount Garnock K4 2-6-0 No. 3442 The Great Marquess on RCTS 4 May 1964 on Dalesman railtour at Grassington (George Watson); at Bishop Auckland on RCTS railtour North Eastern No. 2 with tender being replenished via water crane (designed for double-headed trains) on 10 April 1965 (David Idle); at Norwood Junction on 12 March 1967 taking water on route from Victoria to Brighton (electro-diesel in blue livery in background) (David Idle) 

Jeffrey Wells. A Lincolnshire country junction:  the railways around Firsby. 755-9
East Lincolnshire Railway; also branch line to Spilsby: cites  East Lincolnshire Railway Oakwood Press book by Ludlam and quotes from contemporary newspapers: mainly the Lincolnshire Mercury. Photographs by G.H. Brown from the A.J. Ludlam Collection: Firsby station and level crossing on 25 May 1970; maps; interior of Firsby station signal box on 4 June 1964; lattice girder construction signal with two sets of home & distant somersault signals on 31 August 1967; D2 class 4-4-0 No. 2154  on mixed freight c1947; B1 4-6-0 on down stopping train on 12 August 1960; B1 4-6-0 No. 61210 passes Firsby East Junction signal box with Skegness to Derby Friargate train on 29 July 1964; B1 4-6-0 No. 61107 passing Firsby North signal box on 2 August 1963.

Anthony Dawson. Sans Pareil: after Rainhill. 760-1
Timothy Hackworth's Sans Pareil had been built with faults to the boiler and one cylinder and was not allowed to compete, but was later permitted to be tested on part of the route and Hargreaves the lessee of the Bolton & Leigh Railway sought to hire the locomotive. It was purchased by the B&L and worked on iy until 1844 and used as a stationary engine at Coppull Colliery near Chorley. John Hick purchased the remains in 1863 and partally restored it and presented it to the Science Museum in 1864. Illustrations: Sans Pareil as incorrectly depicted in the Mechanics Magazine of 31 October 1829; Timothy Hackworth portrait; Sans Pareil on display at NRM, Shildon; replicas of Sans Pareil and Rocket at Manchester Liverpool Road in 2005 (colour: David Boydell)

Another way to LiverpooL 762
Black & white photo-feature: the Lymm Line, or the slow service from Mannchester London Road (MSJA platform) to Liverpool Lime Streey via Timperley and Ditton: Fowler Class 3 2-6-2T No. 2 starting from Timperley on 16.58 Manchester to Warrington Bank Quay (Low Level) on 26 April 1948 (W.A. Camwell); push & pull train at Dunham Massey en route for Warrington; Lymm station look east in 1847.

David P. Wiilliams. 'The Eastern Belle'. 763
The Eastrern Belle was a Pullman car excursion train which was started by the Great Eastern Railway during the summer of 1922, The LNER continued the service and gradually extended its range both in terms of running on more days and to more destinations including Cromer rather than just to tawdry Clacton. Coloured photograph using the author's computational skill showing the train running to Clacton on 15 June 1930 hauled by B12 No. 8552.:

Rolling Stock Focus. 764
Colour photo-feature: six-wheel flat wagon for carrying two four-wheel tank road trailers to convey cooking oil from Selby to Scotland: the railway wagon was provided with a carriage lighting dynamo to provide electricity ror keeping the oil warm (notes by Peter Tatlow). North Wales Radio Cruise Train at Aberdovey in 1959: all coaches visible in carmine & cream livery: ex-Coronation Scot North American train rear vehicle without gangwat connection No. M823M; Midland Railway Royal Saloon No. 1910 with clerestory roof built for King George V in 1912 which became LMS No. 2795 theb No, 809. Routes taken by lan cruise train are noted. Colour phtograph by Ray Oakley, Notes by Martin Welch and David Stirling.

Readers' Forum 765

Gremlinia. Editor
Pacific power on the WCML
Consensus seems to be that the opening photograph on p608 of this colour feature in the October issue is at the north end of Carlisle Citadel station and the train is therefore the down Mid-Day Scot.
South of Chester
On p. 635, the Denbighshire coalfield is, of course, in Wales, not England! Ed.

Thomas Cook — save the archive. Mike Esbester 
An unusual one this, but important. You'll have seen the bad news about Thomas Cook going under — obviously awful for employees and travellers and those whose livelihoods are affected. There's a less visible issue — the archives of this nearly 180·year-old firm are potentially at risk. If they're dispersed or sold off it would represent a huge loss to the history of transport and mobility.
To that end, Mike Anson, Chair of the Business Archives Council, is coordinating a response to try to preserve the archive. He's asked that if anyone who has used the archive or who has an interest in it would be able to write a letter of support, outlining the importance of the archive, it would help strengthen the case.
Please could I encourage everyone to do this? It isn't often that this sort of thing happens, or that you're called to arms — but today is that day. Mike's email is available here: http://www.abh-net.org/ AnsonM.html Fingers crossed we can secure a positive outcome for the archives at least. Dr. , by email

Shortly before we went to press, news came in that a buyer had emerged for the Thomas Cook shops. The matter of the archive is presumably still to be resolved. Ed.

The Tonbridge to Ashford line. Peter Tatlow
The photograph at the foot of page  607 appears to have misled the author into stating on the previous page that the bridge in the distance, carrying Beaver Road, was single span. In fact it was a three-span bridge with four lines through the centre span and a loop line through each side span. The superstructure consisted of a pair of propped cantilevers with a drop in centre span, constructed of a number of varying depth steel girders acting compositely with a reinforced concrete deck.
In the late 1980s, this was found to be understrength when checked for 44- tonne lorries and, as Beaver Road was due to be widened as part of highway improvements in connection with the Channel Tunnel international station to be provided at Ashford, the existing bridge was replaced and widened in the early nineties, adopting a similar form of construction, but continuous girders. Unfortunately, no-one thought to advise the designers that an increased headroom would be required for future overhead line equipment, leading to further disruption when the deck was raised.

The Tonbridge to Ashford line. James Evans.
Writer started 48-year railway career at Paddock Wood in September 1957, then served as junior Booking Clerk at Marden before making way up the railway ladder on the Southern Region in operations and eventually on the HST project and International services, before ending up as Railway Services Director of the Channel Tunnel.
He had a lively first week. An escaped prisoner from the local detention centre was arrested before his very eyes and led away by the local police constable, prisoner in one hand, his bicycle in the other! Then the special school train for Cranbrook and Benenden Schools was run down the Hawkhurst branch under Royal Train conditions as the Crown Princess of Denmark was a pupil at the latter school. What a start!
Hop picking time was quite an experience, when normally peaceful villages turned into something of a Wild West scene, much partying, noise and music in the pubs, which were cleared of all breakable furniture; transporting the families and their friends (usually in the oldest rolling stock imaginable) required firm but jovial control!
He learned signalling 'rules and regs' at Marden, on Walkers Open Block instruments, requiring detailed attention to the train register completed by the signalman. Once a train was accepted and entered section, the display on the Walkers instrument showed the same display as before the train had been 'offered on', meaning that the train register was your only safeguard. A competent Walkers signalman was one you could trust. One other memory. At Pluckley, the booking office doubled up as the village Post Office. If sent there to cover, one had to mug up on postal as well as railway accountancy!

The Taff Vale Railway in the news. Peter Rance. 
Re'Taff Vale Railway Strike, Ammon Beasley's influential role and the industrial relations consequences arising from the House of Lords ruling. Through the generous bequest of Eric Mountford, the Great Western Trust at Didcot Railway Centre has in our archive the original bound book detailing the list of Provisions for Feeding Strike breakers and other related TVR documents. Food was even independently donated to add to those provisions! They were very well fed! Showing such gestures are nothing new in our present age, the Trust also holds a hardbound, gold edged presentation copy to 'A. Beasley Esq' of the First Volume of the Railway & Travel Monthly of May-December 1910. Did he ever read it, I wonder? Perhaps not, as he is not in the series of articles 'Men of the Moment' and the first principal article devoted to 'Twentieth Century Railway Development' was of The Great Western Railway' and its General Manager James C. Inglis!

Nasmyth Gaskell, Edward Bury and locomotives for the London & Southampton Railway. Harry Jack
The drawing of the London & Southampton Railway engine Lark (p563, September) should be ignored completely. Although, as stated, it appeared in The Locomotive Magazine in 1903, it is the earlier work of Clement Edwin Stretton (1850-1915). He produced a number of locomotive drawings, wrote and published an enormous amount about railway history including many builders' works lists, all of it very convincing at the time, but most of it was merely concocted from his vivid imagination. In other words, lies. Why he did all this, I cannot say (I am not a psychiatrist) but my article exposing a few details from his vast nonsensical output for the benefit of the unwary, may be found on the website of the London & North Western Railway History Group: lnwrhg.com Sadly, Stretton's work lives on and his fake 'works lists' are quoted to the present day.

The railway at Tutbury. David Allen, on behalf of Robert Pateman 
My friend Robert Pateman really enjoyed your two articles about the railways in Tutbury, because his uncle, Leonard Abbiss, was station master there from early in 1960, just before the 'Tutbury Jinny' pull-push to Burton-on-Trent ceased in June that year. Leonard Abbiss retired as station master some while before the closure of T utbury station to passengers in November 1966. Perhaps other readers will be able to recall the name of the final Tutbury station master. The station master's house in Tutbury was a large house at 1 Scropton Lane, Hatton, just a short walk from the station which now bears the name of Tutbury & Hatton. The station master's house still stands, with the addition of a brick porch.
Leonard had previously been station master at Woburn Sands. His wife Phyllis was a porter at Tutbury. Robert enjoyed a couple of his summer school holidays at Tutbury with his uncle and aunt, and as readers can see in the accompanying photograph, Robert had a BR porter's cap. The photograph shows Leonard Abbiss (left), his wife Phyllis, Robert and, on the right, an inspector from Derby named Wally. Robert recalls that there was another porter working there at that time; Robert thinks her name was Kath Pearson. Robert proudly keeps a maroon BR T utbury totem in his collection.

Book Review. 765

The Ramsey East branch. Peter Paye. Catrine: Oakwood Press, 184pp. Reviewed by GBS [Geoffrey Skelsey] ****
A feature of some of our earlier trunk railways was their lofty disregard for towns which layoff the direct routes between major cities, leaving them to be served by spurs from the main lines. In Eastern England amongst the by-passed settlements was the pleasant town of Ramsey in the former County of Huntingdon, once enjoying a status derived from its great Abbey, one of the premier monastic sites in England. It lies in fen country, about midway between the GNR main line and the GER line from St.lves to March. A glance at the plan at the start of Peter Paye's interesting new book seems to show a typical competitive pattern, with nearly straight branches stretching from each main line, ending at opposite edges of Ramsey. But appearances are deceptive and what ended up as two quiet branches began with the intention of a through link between GER and GNR.
As Mr. Paye describes it, disentangling a contorted history, it was intended to start from the east but this plan foundered on legislative and financial set backs. Instead Ramsey's first railway was the westerly branch from a junction at Holme on the GN main line, completed in 1863, and Iater owned by the GER despite being isolated from the rest of its system. The corresponding approach from Somersham to Ramsey High Street (later East) took four Acts of Parliament spread over fourteen years to materialise. It was built by a local company, the Ramsey & Somersham junction Railway, but worked by the GER from opening in 1889. In the event Ramsey's two stations were never linked and in yet a further complication the eastern branch was incorporated into the GE & GN joint Committee in 1897. Seldom can there have been quite so much ado about so little and as with many such lines the branch lived out a humdrum existence, but helped to develop local industry including brickmaking.
By 1928 Ramsey East handled fewer than 200 passengers each week and in the pruning of branches forced on the unfortunate LNER by the Depression the passenger service was withdrawn in September 1930, by when bus services, including those associated with the railway company, were firmly established. Goods traffic at Ramsey East continued until 1956 and on the stump of the line as far as the intermediate station at Warboys until July 1964.
The book follows the author's established and effective format, covering the branch's remarkably complex origins and history, a route description, signalling, timetables and traffic, and details of locomotives and rolling stock associated with the line. Reproductions of documents, track layouts and a wealth of illustrations make this a comprehensive and attractive record of a short-lived railway most traces of which have disappeared.

The years go by at Newcastle. Steven Dyke
The selection of Gavin Morrison's photographs featured in the September issue invoked memories of my 1960s childhood in north east England. Although many years have indeed gone by, I recall clearly the overhead wiring seen when passing Manors (Trafalgar Yard). With that in mind, the caption to the shot of V3 NO.67684 hauling parcels stock immediately struck me as incorrect. Unless it was an out-of-course propelling movement, the train would have been heading north, away from Newcastle Central and towards Heaton, approaching the New Bridge Street overbridge. The building with the distinctive bay window was to remain essentially unchanged over half a century later.

From road unto rail. Brian Rumary. 606
In the September issue there is an error in the article by Miles Macnair. In the final paragraph he describes the 'Unilok' road/ rail machines made by the German firm Hugo Aeckerle of Hamburg. However, the photograph at the bottom of p487, which he describes as a Unilokomotiv, is in fact a Unimog - a quite different beast! The Unimog is primally a 4x4 pick-up truck built by Mercedes-Benz and is much used by farmers, construction works and other companies who need a tough, all-terrain vehicle.
However, Mercedes don't actually sell road/rail Unimogs themselves - they leave other, smaller companies to carry out the road/rail conversions. These companies include Zagro, Zweiweg and Beilhack, of which Zagro seems to be the biggest - note the sign at the front of the machine in the photograph. These machines all have small, flanged guide wheels, sometimes made of plastic, at both front and back, which are raised and lowered by hydraulics. The vehicle's normal pneumatic tyres run on the rail heads and provide the traction. Transition between road and rail takes place anywhere the rail track is inset into the ground, level with the rail heads.
Although most of these machines are supplied as road/rail units from new,l know that some have been retro conversions from Unimogs already owned by the customer. Also some others have had their road/rail gear stripped off if the customer no longer has need of a rail shunter. These road/rail Unimogs are now very common in Germany for light shunting, especially as they are not subject to the same stringent safety standards as 'proper' locomotives, being classed as road vehicles.

Index to Volume 33 766

Change here for Tiverton and Hemyock. R.C. Riley. rear cover
47XX 2-8-0 No. 4705 at Tiverton Junction on stopping train from Exeter to Taunton 15 June 1962 viewed from footbridge