Founds
Examination of the records maintained by the search engine employed on the website find that some searchers were probably unsuccessful: some attempt is made in this file to find some items. Numbers cannot be traced and this is a serious weakness of the search engine employed: thus if a locomotive has a name it is better to seek that, especially if the name is odd (e.g. Giggleswick, or Batchelors Button).
It should be noted that there must be many "failures" due to spelling errors: Blenkinsopp, for instance (only one terminal "p"). Sometimes, rapid modifications are made to ensure that the obvious has not been forgotten (Brassey, for instance). Wells (searcher clearly seeking next the Sea rather than Somerset) and Newport are clearly difficult concepts and require an index: the need is recognized. As I know where to find one genuine reference to the one next the Sea this has been appended.
With time some searches should be far simpler: thus when the pages relating to individual locomotive classes are complete then it will be far simpler to find items like the LNWR Claughton class or even the relatively obscure GWR 1101 class of 0-4-0STs
Some seek information on non-British (that is outwith Great Britain,
Ireland and the Channel Islands) railways: steamindex is unlikely to be able
to help except insofar as the odd article may have been extracted from the
Railway Magazine, but work on this journal is at a very early stage.
Casey Jones seems to attract a lot of searchers: there are two websites
with relevant pages:
Casey Jones
(1)
Casey Jones
(2)
Abington incident:
Broken crank axle: mentioned in John Thomas' Springburn story: see very incomplete Caledonian locomotive page for extract. Not in Nock's The Caledonian Railway, nor in Rolt's Red for Danger.
Brodsworth
There is a wealth of information about Brodsworth in Archive, notably Issue 3 (starts page 2). There is also follow-up information.
Connell Ferry Bridge
Perhaps it may come as a surprise but Gordon Biddle's Britain's historic railway buildings also includes structures and the Connell Ferry Bridge is listed (with two further references.. This was formerly on the Ballachulish branch, but also accommodated road traffic. Since the closure of the branch line road traffic has it to itself. KPJ saw it for the first time in July 2004: it is magnificent: a single span cantilever bridge wich leaps across the sea loch
Cromer High
This is my backyard type of request: suggest Stanley C. Jenkins (who is both prolific and reliable): The Cromer branch. Oakwood Press, 1989.
Devizes station
Ottley (17841) lists A Wiltshire remembered: the Devizes branch. 1984: otherwise search engine should have found material from BackTrack
Dickens, Charles & railway accidents
Searchers for Charles Dickens within a railway context might either be looking for the Webb record breaking locomotive named after the author, or the accident in which the famous writer was involved. This was the Staplehurst accident on 9 June 1865 which according to Rolt's Red for danger Dickens never fully recovered from: Dickens was travelling on the train, see postscipt in author's Our Mutual Friend. The Oxford Companion is singularly unhelpful on an event which deprived readers of the ending to the Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Ottley (entry 7535) whilst noting the postscript fails to give the full date for the Staplehurst accident (the key feature for establishing further information). It is worth noting that the answer was easy to find in an early (1971) edition of the Guinness book of rail facts and feats; edited by John Marshall.
Claughtons
The Claughton class is now examined with other LNWR locomotives.
Sentinel Y10 class for the Wisbech & Upwell Tramway
Someone used the search terms Y10 and Upwell recently, but the searcher
must have received a thin reply as BackTrack is limited to a view
of 8186 on Yarmouth Quay in 1947 in an article by
Middlemass in Volume 3 page 106.
Jones recorded the introduction of the class
in Locomotive Railway Carriage & Wagon Review 1930, 36,
401-2. Much better than these is an article by G. Fell in
Railway World, 1982, 43,
521: the references therein should be noted: this attempts to assess
why the Y10 locomotives were a failure at their intended destination..
Sea Eagle
Presuambly the A4 as both the original LNER Number (4487) and later British Railways Number were also sought: see P.N. Townend's The A4 Pacifics (1989) (p. 5 shows 4487 in garter blue at Glasgow Eastfield in July 1938 - credited to J.P. Mullett/Colour-Rail and Figure 120 of RCTS Locomotives of the LNER Part 2A shows the locomotive in the paint shop at Doncaster Works in March 1937 painted in apple green with black "smokebox" as non-streamlined locomotives.
30125
Picture of M7 30125 on the Seaton branch on 12 July 1962 (Chris Gammell) Backtrack, Vol. 17 page 424.
31922
W class: see Backtrack Vol. 18 p. 626 (at Waterloo)
45511 Isle of Man
"Certain" that illustrated in Backtrack, but there is an excellent R.C. Riley photograph taken of a somewhat dusty locomotive at Willesden on 29 August 1959: the nameplate and badge shows up well on p. 63 of Hugh Ballantyne's London Midland steam in colour. London, 1984.
Bellerophon
This could either be the name of a Jubilee class locomotive (excellent colour view: Backtrack, Vol. 8 page 200) or a type of locomotive see Backtrack Vol. 11 page 328.
Durham Light Infantry
Presuming that this is the V2 number 60964: this was not named until 29 April 1958 (at Durham Station by Col. K.M.W. Leather of the Regiment: RCTS Locomotives of the LNER Part 6C). There is a painting of the locomotive in Backtrack, Vol. 8 page 145. Presumably the naming ceremony was recorded in contemporary railway literature, e.g. Railway Gazette.
933/30933 Kings Canterbury
Assuming that the searcher wanted a photograph: there are two in
D.L. Bradley's Locomotives of the Southern
Railway (Vol. 1): fp 24 (lower) in April 1937 at Guildford on a
Portsmouth train and between pp 40 & 41 in lined-black livery at Eastleigh
in June 1951
Sandwich
A very difficult one: searcher had added "Kent" which does not help:
in fact there is a single "correct answer"
BackTrack vol. 8 p. 230
mentions Sandwich in its history of London & Dover Railway. The locomotive
(60039) Sandwich appeared twice:
BackTrack
16 p.210 and
7 p. 284. Presumably someone has
mentioned the "railway sandwich" and there are also sandwich frames.
Wells next the Sea
One approach to Wells namely that from the King's Lynn direction is
covered in the Great Eastern Journal in
Issue 109 page 2 et seq
This has been the main workhorse on the North Norfolk Railway in 2004: it is a WD 2-10-0 with a synthetic number, but the main characteristics of the class are outlined at this location within the website
See Gresley A4 class Michael Rutherford prepared a souvenir booklet: Mallard: the record breaker published by the Friends of the NRM in 1988 which KPJ has never seen (Ottley 18148)
Assumed to be 4P compound, although might be B1, if former then Brian Haresnape's Railway liveries: London Midland & Scottish Railway. London: Ian Allan, 1983. (rather jaded colour illustration). If B1 then Fig 207 RCTS Locomotives of the LNER. Part 2B.
64624
The Inverbervie branch goods. Michael Mensing
(phot.). Backtrack, 2000, 14,
132-3.
Pre-group 0-6-0s LNER style. Backtrack, 1992, 6,
84-5.
18100 (gas turbine locomotive)
Dymond, A.W.J. (Paper No. 521)
Operating experience with two gas turbine locomotives. J. Instn Loco. Engrs.,
1953, 43, 268-336.
Brown-Boveri gas turbine locomotive No. 18000 and Metropolitan Vickers
locomotive No. 18100. Discussion: Sir William Stanier (pp. 292-3) made pertinent
remarks on the gas turbine locomotives, and the difficulties encountered
with operating the steam turbine locomotive on the LMS
(reproduced in section on
Stanier)
Amended 2006-12-12