Steam Railways in Preservation in the 1990s – December 1993 Including Littleton Colliery

Steam Railways in Preservation In the 1990s

Including Littleton Colliery

December 1993

Work begins on the removal of the shuttering at the ‘Bahamas’ Locomotive Society’s new purpose built workshops at Ingrow on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Revealed underneath them is the inspection pit which has taken the summer and autumn to complete. The ex-LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 was recently passed for 75mph running (when track and timing permits, of course) in a complicated procedure which included having the loco’s speedometer re-calibrated at Crewe Heritage Centre, its resting place between North Wales Coast excursion duties at the weekend. She returned to Keighley on Monday but will be out again on the main line, Rail Tours organiser Tom Cozens reminds enthusiasts, double-heading with Black Five ‘George Stephenson’ over the Settle & Carlisle Railway on December 18 1993 and January 1 1994. (Photo: John Fairclough

Littleton Colliery

Whiston & Wimblebury in the yard – Melville Holley

The staging of the most ambitious photographers’ charter steam train event ever – over the three day period November 12-14 1993 – became even more poignant in the light of subsequent events.
Within 48 hours of the event, British Coal announced that Littleton Colliery in Staffordshire firstly under review, was to close following losses of £2.9 m since April.
And that effectively means that the sight of working steam within a working colliery environment is unlikely to be repeated.
Over 140 of the country’s leading railway photographers were invited to the three-day event, organised by Railway Magazine Assistant Editor Chris Milner and photographer Robin Stewart-Smith, together with Steve Turner and other members of the nearby Foxfield Railway. Following the success of a similar one-day event at Littleton last year, it was proposed that the event be repeated but this time using two locomotives over the full length of the pit system.
Motive power came from Foxfield, appropriately in the shape of two ex-NCB 1950s-built Hunslet 0-6-0STs, ‘Whiston’ (ex-Bold Colliery) and ‘Wimblebury’ (ex-Cannock Wood Colliery). Foxfield also brought along their recently-acquired ex-LMS brake van, appropriately out-shopped in NCB blue and yellow livery.

Wimblebury and the Foxfield Railway’s brake van beside Littleton’s loading bunker – Robin Stewart-Smith

Llangollen Railway

Chemicals giant ICI have swapped Llangollen Railway more than three-quarters of a mile of 95lb bull-head line worth at least £25,000… for hundreds of seats for disabled and under-privileged children on their renowned ‘Santa’ services along the Dee Valley!
Imperial Chemical Industries say the site of redundant sidings is now wanted for further development at their sprawling Castner Kellner Works on the mouth of the Mersey estuary at Runcorn – and when the giant firm named their price, the North Wales line were more than delighted to oblige.
This special deal was arranged by ICI chief and Llangollen member Mr. John Rutter, who was anxious to ensure that the metals weren’t simply cut up for scrap.

Swanage Railway

Thousands of excited children and their parents from throughout Dorset and Hampshire are expected to deluge the volunteer-run Swanage Railway every weekend this December and the annual fund-raising ‘Santa Special’ steam trains on the relaid Purbeck Line.
And rail passengers can beat the traffic this year because volunteers are laying on a special vintage bus service from Weymouth and Christchurch – and many points in between – to the Swanage Railway. A rare 1961 double-decker Bristol Lodekka bus. ‘Nelly’ will be transporting passengers from Weymouth, Dorchester, Wareham, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch.

A preserved Bristol Lodekka FS6G/ECW at the Fleetwood Tram Sunday 2006. It was previous operated by Cumberland Motor Services, whose successor is Stagecoach North West. Bristol Lodekka F56G – 1961 – reg 109 DRMCC BY 2.0view termsTerry Wha from Bolton, UK
License details  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Some Local Railways this Easter

Don’t forget – Chasewater Railway details on the ‘Home’ page!

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

Sunny day at Wirksworth Station

Easter Weekend
Fri 18th, Sat 19th, Sun 20th, Mon 21st April 2014
Our normal timetable will operate on the Wirksworth and Duffield line. The Wirksworth and Ravenstor line will be operating an increased timetable also.
There will be an Egg Trail on Saturday, Sunday and Monday around the station at Wirksworth.
Day Rover Fares
Tickets are valid for all day travel on both the Duffield and Ravenstor lines.
Adults Concessions Children Family (2+3)
£12.00 £11.00 £6.00 £29.00

Churnet Valley

Kids Go Free This Easter

Posted in Contributors Blog on 7th Apr 2014
“Kids Go Free” this Easter at the Churnet Valley Railway with its Steam hauled Easter “Eggspress” trains….
Plus on Easter Sunday Children can enjoy complimenatry Easter Activities which will include an Easter Egg Hunt, Egg Painting, Hunt the Rabbit and Make & Take Children’s Activity Tables.
Trains will be running over the Easter weekend, Saturday, Easter Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday and Wednesday 23rd April. Our “Kids Go Free” offer which allows one Child to travel FREE with each full fare paying adult is valid every day over the Easter holiday. Trains depart each day at 11:32, 12:57 & 14:22 from Cheddleton Station and 12:10, 13:35 & 15:00 from Kingsley & Froghall Station. No booking is required just come along.
As usual our “Goods Shed” tea room at Cheddleton Station and our award winning traditional tea rooms at Kingsley & Froghall Station will be open on all running days providing snacks, hot meals and a huge selection of homemade cakes. And don’t forget to visit one of the best railway souvenir shops around.
Happy Easter!

Amerton Railway

Running daily throughout the Easter Holidays, mainly diesel hauled but with steam on Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Fares (held for 2014): Children £1.50, Concessions £1.70, Adults £2.20

Peak Rail

19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd & 23rd April – Easter Treasure Hunt
Fun for all the family with clues on the train and at Rowsley South and Matlock Platform 2 Stations. Plus your chance to win tickets for our hugely popular Santa Specials.
For a Easter treat every child bringing along a teddy bear can travel free over this five day event.
Normal timetable and fares will apply for this event.
Please contact 01629 580381 for further information.

Severn Valley Railway

During the school Easter holidays, timetable B operates from April 14th – 27th excepting April 19th – 21st when timetable C is in operation.

With timetable B, 3 steam hauled trains are in operation throughout the day. An additional train, which is not shown here, operates on Sunday and is available for pre-booked diners only.

Why not try one of our suggestions below and get the most out of your day?

For the Kids: Collect an entry form and a FREE pack of crayons when you arrive, and take part in our ‘Chicks & Bunnies’ observation competition all the way along the line. Prizes for the best entries!
There will also be fun art and craft activities (Decopatch) by Crocodile Creations at The Engine House on April 19th, 20th & 21st (additional charge applies).

Fantastic Fares: Our Fantastic Fares discount offer is available on April 18th & 25th. Prebook your tickets now and save up to 30% off the normal fare

Great Central Railway

Foxfield Railway

Foxey’s Easter Specials 2014

18th – 21st April
Spring is not just great for seeing rows of daffodils but also a great chance to explore the great British countryside and what better chance to do it by steam train.
With Easter to look forward to Foxfield will be providing plenty of steam hauled trains so that more people can see how glorious the surrounding Staffordshire countryside really is.

Throughout the Easter weekend visitors will be able to take part in Face Painting, Egg hunt and also our much loved activity carriage where everyone can get can to grips with games.Commenting on the busy weekends “Richard Barnett” said, “Spring is always a great start to the season for us, people just want to get out, especially after the extremely cold winter period we have had”.
Over the weekend Foxfield’s great facilities will be open with the buffet offering cold and hot refreshments and our very own award winning real ale bar offering a fine selection of beers.

 

Telford Steam Railway

Welcome to Telford Steam Railway

2014  Our railway will be open on Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter 2014

Forthcoming Attractions – a busy April

Forthcoming Attractions

A Busy April!

New Arrival at Chasewater Railway for the Spring Gala March 17-18

Bagnall 2842/1946 0-4-0ST at Chasewater – Pic by oakparkrunner

 No. 2  2842 1946 0-4-0ST 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) built for the Kent Electric Power Company at Littlebrook Power Station, near Dartford.

One of the firm’s 14″ saddle tanks, weighing 27 tons in working order, it was delivered new to the Kent Electric Power Company at Littlebrook Power Station, near Dartford on 31 July 1946. Number 2 was later moved to Croydon “A” Power Station during the mid 1950s. There it shunted coal wagons until purchased privately for preservation in November 1972. During July 1973 it was moved by road to Alresford, becoming the first locomotive to arrive at the new Mid Hants Railway preservation scheme. It received minor repairs, but with boiler repairs also needed it remained a static exhibit. In May 1980 number 2 was named “Hampshire” immediately prior to a period of loan to Tucktonia, a model village in Christchurch, Dorset. The locomotive returned to the Mid Hants Railway in autumn 1982 and later moved on to spend several years at the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton, latterly on display at Warmley. It is basically complete but suffered some vandalism, and was eventually purchased privately by three members of the same family for restoration to working order at the Foxfield Railway. Number 2 arrived at Foxfield, complete with a graffiti livery, on 23 September 2003.

At Chasewater Railway for the Spring Gala March 17-18 2012.

Info – Foxfield Railway  http://www.foxfieldrailway.co.ukPic by oakparkrunner – with many thanks.

88 Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces Nov 1978 – 1

88 Chasewater Railway Museum Bits & Pieces

Chasewater News No.25 – November 1978 – 1

Editorial

This Newsletter is somewhat late but is somewhat lengthy, reflecting the great progress being made these days at Chasewater.  Unfortunately to progress one has to be somewhat ruthless and differences of opinion result in some people opting out of active roles and it is extremely unfortunate that several people have resigned this year as the railway is, after all, primarily a leisure activity (though I’m beginning to wonder!) but that’s life, I suppose.

However, the end of 1978 finds the Society in perhaps its strongest position ever, especially with regard to finance.  The money for the line is at present in the building society, earning interest, as the sale of the land and track to Walsall Council has been held up by technicalities, again, purchase not being likely until the New Year.

1979 promises to be a year of great strides forward, especially with the STEPS scheme and the realisation of re-opening the railway, if all goes to plan.

The Committee and the Board are all firmly convinced that the Chasewater Light Railway has got great potential and the past two years, and the resultant changes, have been essential to enable that potential to be tapped.  There is now a greater degree of professionalism about the railway which is essential as the railway expands – you cannot ’play trains’ on two miles of standard gauge railway.  Despite all these changes the railway is still great fun and the active members amongst us derive a great deal of pleasure from it and that alone justifies its continued existence.  I am sure that the amount of fun will increase along with the size of the railway.

Dave Ives

It was with a good deal of sadness that Dave Ives stepped down as President of the Society at the recent Annual General Meeting.Dave Ives on the left – in front of one of the Worthington diesel locos, early days at Chasewater.

Dave was present at the inaugural meeting of the Railway Preservation Society at the Station Hotel, Stafford, in October 1959 and holds membership number 2.

He was Secretary of the Society from 1959 till 1968 and has been on the Committee until his recent resignation.

In recent years he has been in disagreement with certain policies, notably the sale of the ‘E1’, which others have seen as being essential to the continued progress of the railway.  I personally feel that this is in part due to a change in emphasis on the railway – away from the original static museum concept and towards a fully operational Light Railway.

Having only been in the Society since 1972, I scarcely feel qualified to comment on Dave’s contribution to the Society and to the preservation movement as a whole.  Perhaps it is sufficient to say that the Chasewater Light Railway is testimony to the belief of those people present at Stafford in 1959 that Standard Gauge railway preservation was possible and that ‘the man in the street’ could play an active role – provided he had the necessary enthusiasm.

Dave’s presence at Committee meetings and Board meetings will be missed and I am sure that everyone involved with the railway wishes him the best of health in his ‘retirement’ from the preservation movement.

Ian Patterson.

News from the Line

The past months have seen a series of comings and goings with a vast amount of work getting done in the meantime.

On Friday August 4^th the Peckett locomotive from Albright & Wilson Ltd. was moved from Oldbury to the railway, transported by Messrs. Brackmills of Northampton who handled the move with their customary efficiency.  This was the start of a somewhat hectic weekend as the next day we moved the ex Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Crane from Victoria Docks (South Side) Birkenhead to Chasewater.  This was a somewhat tricky operation as there was a good 25 feet of the jib overhanging the rear of the low-loader, which caused one or two motorists anxious moments, especially the idiotic ones who tried to drive underneath the jib.  However the move was completed successfully and the next day the crane was put through its paces, lifting the side tanks off S100.

The crane was built by Messrs. Smith and Rodley of Leeds in 1947 as a vertical boilered steam crane.  In 1968 it was completely rebuilt with a new Perkins diesel engine fitted with a torque converter.  The crane is self-propelled, weighs 24 tons, has a jib 45 feet long and has a maximum lift of five tons.  It has already proved its worth and by the end of the year it will have paid for itself by the amount of work it is performing at present.  Needless to say it is in excellent condition and has been little used since 1968.

Thanks are due to Mr. J.C.James for spotting the crane and to Messrs. John Moores Lid. of Hixon for the transport.

Monday 11^th September saw the departure of the ‘E1’ locomotive to Cranmore.  The move was quite involved and beset by difficulties.

At Chasewater ‘Alfred Paget’ was in steam to push the loco onto the low-loader, which was achieved after much effort.  On the journey down the low-loader was subject to a blowout which caused much delay, the loco being offloaded at 10.30 pm, assisted by Cranmore’s Dubs crane tank locomotive. Dubs steam crane at East Somerset – pic by R.P.Wiesham, 1981, now at Foxfield Railway, Staffs.

The locomotive was unloaded in a neighbouring field and temporary track was laid to the loco shed as their site is somewhat restricted and British Rail would not allow the loco over their lines.

The Lord Fisher Loco Group plan to start work on the loco soon and it will be turned out as BR No.32110 which will no doubt shock many purists, but this is the number the loco would have carried had it lasted into British Rail ownership.

Saturday 28^th October saw the arrival of a box van body from Cashmore’s Ltd. of Great Bridge.  During the winter the body will be turned out as a waiting room cum refreshment room and it is at present situated on the platform.  Thanks are due to Bassett Roadways of Tittensor for the transport of the van body.

Florence No.2 arrives from Foxfield for the Gala 11th 12th September.

If you haven’t been to Chasewater Railway for a while, you won’t have seen either of these locos in action.  They will both be running this weekend, 11th & 12th September, at our Industrial Gala – come and see!

The Bagnall Engine 0-6-0ST 3059/1954 Florence No.2 arrived at Chasewater Railway today, Tuesday 7th September at lunchtime from Foxfield Railway.

Lowering the trailer ready for off-loading.

Nearly ready!

Almost down

Easy when you know how!

Looks smart!

The Narrow gauge is getting ready too!Trains running from 10.00am Saturday and Sunday.

Coming for the Industrial Gala 11th & 12th September

Photo: Kieran H.

Wm Bagnall 3059/1954

0-6-0ST  Florence No.2

A product of William Bagnall, Stafford, this 0-6-0ST works number 3059 of 1954 is one of the four preserved survivors of this standard design of which eighteen were built.  Nine were supplied to the National Coal Board, North Staffs Area, seven to Preston Docks, one to Birchenwood Coking Plant, Kidsgrove and one to the National Coal Board, Leicestershire Area.

The loco has two outside cylinders 16” dia x 24” stroke, has 3’ 6½” wheels and weighs 34 tons.  Three of the North Staffs locos were later fitted with Giesel ejectors (including Florence No.2).

In 1975 the loco was transferred from Florence Colliery to Cadley Hill Colliery, South Derbyshire where she remained until entering preservation in 1978 at the Battlefield Line, Shackerstone.  Sale to a member of the Foxfield railway followed in 1999 and the loco has since been returned to steam and is a regular performer on the 2½ mile Foxfield Railway, near Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire.