Sugar Loaf to Pontardulais in colour

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:51 Page 1

Rail-Roving in and around Hampshire

Remembering 1966 – Fifty years on
Footplate days at Stratford depot
‘Castle’ Class naming policy
ISSN 0269−0020
05

May 2016 £4.40 9 770269 002183

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:51 Page 2

May 2016
No 321

Managing Editor: Rex Kennedy 3 Trains of Thought

Editorial Team: Andrew Kennedy and Andrew Wilson
Design: Ian Kennedy
Editorial: PO Box 2471, Bournemouth BH7 7WF
Telephone/Fax: 01202 304849
5 Rail-Roving in and around Hampshire – 1958
e-mail: red.gauntlett@btconnect.com
Looking back to September 1958, Peter Foster
recollects Holiday Runabout adventures in
Advertising Manager: Sam Clark
Tel: 01780 755131 Mob: 07876 898074

Hampshire and east Dorset.

E-mail: sam.clark@keypublishing.com
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57
this publication.

© KEY PUBLISHING 2015 With Hither Green yard the destination of many cross-London transfer freights,
‘foreign’ engines were constantly attending its engine shed for servicing. This
All rights reserved. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced or 21 February 1960 scene records two Eastern Region visitors, Stratford-allocated ‘J19’ 0-6-0
transmitted in any form or by any means, No 64664 and Hornsey’s ‘J50/2’ 0-6-0T No 68928, keeping company with locally-allocated ‘W’
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, class 2-6-4T No 31916. R.C. Riley
recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the
copyright owners. Multiple copying of the contents of
this magazine without prior written approval is not
13 Remembering 1966 – Fifty Years On
permitted. Frederick Rogers recalls the year when England
Published by: Key Publishing Ltd,
PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs. PE91XP
won the football World Cup, the last LNER
Repro: pkmediaworks@mac.com
Print: Precision Colour Printing Ltd, Haldane,
Pacifics were taken out of traffic, and closures
Halesfield 1, Telford, Shropshire TF7 4QQ
Distribution: Seymour Distribution Ltd,
included the Somerset & Dorset routes and
2 Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PP the Great Central main line.
2 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:52 Page 3
33
Having just emerged from the 1,001 yard Sugar Loaf tunnel to
enter Carmarthenshire, Shrewsbury-allocated BR Standard
‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 73026 speeds the 11.45am Shrewsbury to Swansea
(Victoria) service downhill towards Cynghordy and Llandovery on
Saturday, 9 May 1964, five weeks before the end of steam on Central
Wales passenger duties. Brian Miles
33 STEAM DAYS in Colour
No 137: The Central Wales Line
Sugar Loaf to Pontardulais
From the high point of the route at Sugar Loaf,
on to Llandovery, and then Pontardulais.
42 Steam Days Subscriptions
44 ‘Castle’ Class naming policy
The evolution of the GWR’s locomotive naming
policy and its complex application to the ‘Castle’
class is explained by Ian Appleyard.
57 Footplate days at Stratford depot:
The last years of steam
David Ducker completes his reminiscences from
this East London shed, from the mid-1950s to
the end of steam in September 1962.
66 Tail Lamp – Readers’ Letters
Next Month...
Bristol’s ex-GWR locomotive depots 1959-1965
Blackpool – May Bank Holiday 1967
Poole traffic survey – 11 August 1962
Robinson’s Butler Henderson and 2-8-0 No 102
Scottish rail tours in colour
On sale Thursday 19th May
MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
TRAINS of thought
T
his month in Steam Days, in our on-going series of articles
looking back 50 years, we take a look at the railway scene in the
United Kingdom in 1966. For me, this was the year that my
slightly dormant interest in the railway scene was rekindled, having got
married in 1957 and with two young children to bring up after that
date. Inspired by sighting a Bulleid Pacific in Worcester, a subsequent
conversation with work colleague Roy Daniel led to a visit to
Woodham’s scrap yard in Barry Docks in May 1966, where 169 steam
engines were on the scrap lines. Then, on 22 May, we drove up to
Crewe to go around Crewe South shed and the works, and called at
Stafford and Bescot on the way home, the day providing us with the
sight of 119 steam locomotives. At Crewe Works in those days you
could turn up at the gate and purchase a ticket to go around with a
guided party, as enthusiasts congregated at the gate.
We returned to South Wales on 17 July 1966, and in the August
also visited Machynlleth, Exmouth Junction and Newton Abbot sheds,
and on 17 September of that year we visited a scrap yard at Long
Marston, near Honeybourne, where there were five steam engines
awaiting cutting up, amongst the many London Transport tube trains,
one of these being Thompson ‘B1’ class 4-6-0 No 61024 Addax.
Both Roy and I became members of the Worcester Locomotive
Society (WLS) in 1966. Sadly all steam on the Western Region, where
Worcester was once a major shed, had ended by then. As my young
son, Ian, who was only eight years old at that time, joined us on our
trips to South Wales, taking numbers down in his notebook, I asked if
he could also join the WLS, and permission was granted, but due to his
age the committee said that he could only go on trips if accompanied
by me, and I was certainly not going to complain about that.
As the WLS generally took in a vast amount of depots on its one-
day coach trips, this usually entailed a very early start from Worcester,
normally around 4.00am, and our first trip with them, on Sunday,
2 October 1966, was one that incorporated visits to engine sheds at
Gloucester, Swindon (including the works), Salisbury, Eastleigh,
Southampton Docks, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Marsh Junction (Bristol)
and Bristol (Bath Road). A total of 351 engines were seen that day, of
which 92 were steam. However, it was a long day, and we did not get
back home until 2.00am, with school for Ian the next day, but he still
got to school on time.
After a visit to relatives near Manchester on 9 October 1966, when
we took in Stockport and Reddish sheds, with 36 steam engines at
Stockport, we ended our ‘railway’ year on 22 October with a visit to
Bristol (Bath Road) shed’s open day, also calling in at Gloucester shed.
My son, Ian, is now 58 years of age, so from joining me with his
notebook and pencil on 2 May 1966 at the age of eight, who would
have thought that he would go on to now design Steam Days magazine
each month, with his younger brother, Andrew, born in 1965, as editor
– a real family affair! As I look back to 1966 – oh yes, I remember it
well. Enjoy your read and your own special memories.
Sugar Loaf to Pontardul
ais in colour
Cover: Unlike other GWR
classes where a naming
theme ran seamlessly
through the fleet, the
alphabetical listing of
‘Castles’ was often reset
with each new lot – Windsor
Castle of Lot 224 being
followed by Abbotsbury
Castle of Lot 232. On
12 August 1961 No 4087 Rail-Roving in and aro
und Hampshire
Cardigan Castle, of Lot 232,
climbs to Dainton summit
Remembering 1966 –
Footplate days at Str
Fifty years on
atford depot
with a Wolverhampton ‘Castle’ Class naming
policy
service, assisted by 2-6-2T
No 5164. Peter W. Gray
05
May 2016 £4.40
9 770269 002183
Steam Days
Magazine
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Rail-Roving in and around Hampshire – 1958

Peter Foster recalls September
1958 when he purchased a Holiday
Runabout ticket covering lines in
east Dorset and Hampshire. He
started from his home in Wimborne
and experienced a week of most
interesting journeys, detailing, in full,
Day 6 of his rail-roving travels that
week.

Day 2 of Peter Foster’s local rail-roving journeys in and around Hampshire and
east Dorset in September 1958 involved a short journey from his home in
Wimborne to Bournemouth (West) station, where there were plenty of
interesting sights to witness. In this 1957 scene at Oakley Crossing, near
Wimborne, Maunsell ‘Q’ class 0-6-0 No 30542 is in charge of a three-coach
train from Wimborne, almost certainly the 11.12am to Bournemouth (West).
No 30542 was one of seven ‘Q’ class engines based at Eastleigh shed at the
time. C.L. Caddy

fading pencil entry in the yellowing travel by Southern Vectis bus on the island. trip in March 1996, in a splendid preserved

A pages of my 1958 railway diary, or

spotting book, as we affectionately
remember it, proclaims ‘Probably, for the next
twelve pages will be a Holiday Runabout
Special; look out for the thrills!’ Well it
certainly was a week of variety armed with the
Area 9 Holiday Runabout ticket, the limits of
which, the British Railways 1958 Holiday
Haunts reminds me, were Wimborne, Poole,
Lymington, Fawley, Romsey, Netley and
Winchester.
My parents and I set off from our
Wimborne base on Day 1, Monday,
1 September 1958, for the Isle of Wight, via
the ‘Old Road’ to Brockenhurst and the
Lymington to Yarmouth ferry, with additional
Day 2 entailed a local trip to Bournemouth
(West), with plenty of railway delights to see.
Southampton Docks was our destination on
Day 3, where there were nine USA tank
engines on duty and ‘Lord Nelson’ 4-6-0
No 30860 Lord Hawke on an up Ocean Liner
boat express, and much, much more. Day 4
was a local trip to Poole and Bournemouth
(West), where ‘King Arthur’ class 4-6-0
No 30790 Sir Villiars was noted on a
Weymouth train, and Somerset & Dorset LMS
4-4-0 No 40601 was seen on Branksome shed
at 10.55am.
On Day 5 we took a trip along the former
Salisbury & Dorset Junction line to the
cathedral city of New Sarum, but it was on a
King Alfred bus from Winchester (City)
station to Alresford, for a day out on the Mid-
Hants line to sample the delights of Sir Nigel
Gresley’s fine Pacific locomotive bearing his
name, and all the other ‘Watercress’
attractions, that prompted me to put pen to
paper (so to speak) and recall Day 6, covering
a journey from Wimborne to Hampshire’s
capital, Winchester, taking in both of its
railway stations.
After some summer Saturday train
observations from the garden of Briarlea, my
grandmother’s house beside the line at
Wimborne, we set off for the station, about a
mile’s walk from Briarlea, and caught the
12.40pm Bournemouth (West) to
Brockenhurst rail-motor service, which was in
the charge of ex-London & South Western
Railway ‘M7’ class 0-4-4T No 30060. We
swept round the east curve from Wimborne,
back past Briarlea, and on to West Moors,
Ashley Heath, Ringwood, Holmsley and
Brockenhurst. This important New Forest
railway junction was reached at 1.15pm and it
was where we saw ‘Lord Nelson’ class 4-6-0

Southampton Docks was Peter’s destination on

Day 3, where Ocean Liner boat trains were
seen together with nine of the USA 0-6-0Ts
that shunted the docks area. The entire class of
15 of these tank engines was allocated to
Southampton Docks shed at that time,
although after October 1962 they became
more widespread. This circa 1958 view records
USA tank No 30065 passing Southampton’s
Town Quay with coaching stock, including a
Pullman car, en route to the New Docks.
Meanwhile, a Southampton Corporation rear-
entrance double-deck bus picks up passengers.
RAILWAYIMAGESUK

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 12:45 Page 6

Day 4 involved another trip to Bournemouth (West). A terminus station located just inside Hampshire, Bournemouth (West) was a hub of branch
lines services to the seaside town, but it also provided a final destination for Somerset & Dorset line trains, and for some main line services that
terminated in Bournemouth, notably Inter-Regional trains and the ‘Bournemouth Belle’. This early 1960s scene records a late afternoon Ringwood and
Brockenhurst train departing Bournemouth (West) behind Drummond ‘M7’ No 30036, while a Waterloo train also looks set to leave behind a rebuilt
Bulleid Pacific. J. Read

No 30855 Robert Blake on a down train at
2.00pm, and ‘700’ class ‘Black Motor’
No 30695 performing shunting duties.
We were away from Brockenhurst behind
4-6-0 No 30850 Lord Nelson, aboard the
1.05pm Bournemouth (West) to London
(Waterloo) train. Lord Nelson provided us
with a good sprint through the lush New
Forest, past one of my favourite locations,
Woodfidley Crossing. Then it was on through
Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst Road (now re-
named Ashurst), and Totton (for Eling), with
the Fawley branch trailing in on our right. It
wasn’t long before we were clear of Totton
causeway and passing the sleeper and
permanent way depot at Redbridge where, at
2.15pm, I caught a glimpse of one of the ex-
L&SWR Adams ‘O2’ class 0-4-4Ts, No 30192.
At Southampton (Central), down trains,
hauled respectively by ‘West Country’ class
Pacific No 34006 Bude and ‘Lord Nelson’ class

Peter’s journey from Brockenhurst to Winchester on Day 6 was on a Bournemouth (West) to Waterloo train hauled by No 30850 Lord Nelson. All but
three of Maunsell’s ‘Lord Nelson’ class 4-6-0s were allocated to Eastleigh at the time, with Nos 30860, 30864 and 30865 based at Bournemouth, but
from November 1959 all 16 of the class were at Eastleigh, the Ocean Liner trains to and from the nearby Southampton Docks being their primary
use. On 3 September 1960 No 30850 Lord Nelson calls at Southampton (Central) station with the 11.16am Bournemouth (West) to Waterloo service.
L.W. Rowe/Colour-Rail.com/97068

6 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:52 Page 7

Northam yard provided the author with the

sight of ex-L&SWR Adams ‘B4’ 0-4-0T
No 30096, one of five Eastleigh-based ‘B4s’ at
this time. This diminutive locomotive is
pictured at Eastleigh shed on 21 July 1959, but
it was at Northam that it later found fame,
while working on Dibles Wharf as Corrall Queen
once sold off by BR in December 1963 to
PD Fuels Ltd. The veteran of 1893 went on to
outlive main line steam in the area, and it was
subsequently preserved and returned to its
original identity as Normandy.

4-6-0 No 30860 Lord Hawke and a green

‘Hampshire’ diesel unit, No 1103, were all
noted. Old and new forms of shunting engines
were to be found at Northam yard in the
shape of ex-L&SWR ‘B4’ class 0-4-0T
No 30096 and diesel shunter No D3013.
Until recently, whenever one travelled by
train through the ‘Swindon’ of the London & The next entry of the day in my railway ‘Royal Wessex’, the two trains booked after
South Western Railway, Eastleigh, clusters of diary, for 6 September 1958, advises that we our 5.44pm arrival at Eastleigh from
locomotives were always on view. Usually, it had progressed from Winchester’s magnificent Winchester (Chesil).
was my experience to speed through on the cathedral, past the statue of King Alfred, no BR Standard ‘4MT’ Mogul No 76029 and
fast lines, making number identification and doubt observing examples of the local bus diesel shunter No 15234 (second sighting)
rapid noting almost impossible, but on fleet that carried his name, and had found were ‘on duties at Eastleigh’, as my diary
Saturday, 6 September 1958 we were not to be ourselves at Winchester’s Great Western records, and BR Mogul No 76027 ran through
disappointed. Our train, the 1.05pm station – Winchester (Chesil). Waiting to light-engine in the down direction. A
Bournemouth (West) to Waterloo service, was depart on the 5.32pm train for Newbury procession of up trains provided interesting
booked to stop at Eastleigh, so Lord Nelson (5.15pm ex-Eastleigh), was GWR Collett observing – British Railways Standard ‘5MT’
eased us to a halt at just after 2.00pm. Old and ‘2251’ class 0-6-0 No 2252, after it had crossed 4-6-0 No 73115 on the 4.34pm service from
new forms of motive power the train we awaited, the 2.56pm Bournemouth (Central) at 6.11pm. The up
were to be seen, so some from Oxford (3.35pm ex-Didcot), ‘Normandy Express’ – Southampton to
quick writing was necessary
‘Lord Nelson hauled by BR Standard ‘4MT’ London (Waterloo), complete with buffet car,
in my spotting book. What a provided us with a 2-6-0 No 76019 and made up of a went through at 6.17pm hauled by ‘N15’ class
marvellous mixture was on good sprint through three-coach load. ‘King Arthur’ 4-6-0 No 30765 Sir Gareth.
Another BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-0, No 76026, worked
display at Eastleigh – Great the lush New Forest, We were now away from the
north-eastern extremity of the the 5.16pm Portsmouth & Southsea to
Western Mogul No 6307, BR-
built ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 No 76012, past one of my Area 9 Holiday Runabout Ticket Basingstoke train, and ‘M7’ class 0-4-4T
Southern ‘Q1’ 0-6-0 favourite locations, map, at 5.40pm, and we soon No 30479 arrived at 6.20pm with the 5.12pm
No 33001, BR-built diesel Woodfidley joined the Waterloo to Weymouth service from Fawley. Connecting with all
shunters Nos No 15234 and main line at Shawford Junction. these services was the 3.50pm train from
13014, and ‘Hampshire’ diesel
Crossing’ We changed at Eastleigh station on Weymouth to Waterloo, arriving at 6.22pm
units Nos 1115 and 1116. to the 8.35am ex-Newcastle and departing one minute later, hauled by
My faithful summer 1958 BR Southern (Central) train, running to Bournemouth ‘Lord Nelson’ class No 30853 Sir Richard
Region Public Timetable, ever at my elbow, (West) with ex-GWR ‘Modified Hall’ No 6970 Grenville. That train was away at 6.24pm,
reminds me that our arrival at Winchester Whaddon Hall in charge. This train was some of its passengers, no doubt, taking first
(City) station was at 2.51pm. Then it was all obviously running late and thus we were able sitting for dinner in the restaurant car, which
the way on foot from City station, with its to make the connection from our incoming was provided throughout the journey from
impressive façade dominating Station Hill, Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line train Weymouth.
which sloped away towards the main road. My instead of waiting for the 12.10pm Sheffield We then departed on the next stage of our
diary shows that we spent a couple of hours in (Victoria) to Bournemouth (Central) train, Area 9 Runabout Ticket journey, from
the ancient capital of Wessex, and, I think, we scheduled to follow the 4.20pm Waterloo to Eastleigh to Bournemouth (West), aboard the
visited the cathedral, one of my favourites. Bournemouth (West) service and the down 8.35am train from Newcastle. A BR Standard
‘3MT’ 2-6-2T, No 82012, was observed in the
Eastleigh area on a breakdown train duty.
Drummond ‘M7’ class 0-4-4T No 30481,
sister engine to No 30479, seen earlier, was on

One of the regular ‘B4’ duties from the

Eastleigh allocation was in the yard beside
Winchester (City) station, where the sharp
radius curves precluded the use of longer-
wheelbase engines. This 11 May 1956 view at
Winchester (City) station records Bulleid ‘West
Country’ Light Pacific No 34107 Blandford
Forum on an up express, and in the background
can be seen the small single-road engine shed
built for, and occupied by, the regular ‘B4’
0-4-0T out-stationed here. Originally named
just Blandford, No 34107 was completed at
Brighton Works in April 1950, it was never
rebuilt and only remained in service until
September 1964. RAILWAYIMAGESUK

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 7

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:52 Page 8

At the former GWR station of Winchester (Chesil), Collett ‘2251’ class 0-6-0 No 2221 enters the station with a Southampton (Terminus) to Didcot
train on 14 September 1958, the same month as the author’s visit. As the train arrives, the locomotive’s fireman leans out to collect the tablet for the
single-line section of railway to the north of here, the erstwhile Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway. L. Elsey

At Winchester (Chesil) station, from where the author would catch his train for Eastleigh, Didcot-allocated Collett 0-6-0 No 2252 was noted on the
5.15pm train for Newbury, and this engine is pictured passing Eastleigh West box as it makes for Southampton (Terminus) with another Didcot,
Newbury & Southampton line service, a morning train from Didcot on 6 October 1956. One of five ‘2251s’ based at Didcot shed at the time, No 2252
was withdrawn from Didcot in December 1959. L. Elsey

8 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:52 Page 9

On arrival at Eastleigh station from Winchester

on Day 6 of his Hampshire rail-roving
adventure, Peter recorded BR Standard ‘4MT’
2-6-0 No 76029 on duty. This circa 1958 scene
finds this Mogul nearing Eastleigh, the airfield is
just out of view to the left, as the locomotive
makes good progress with a loaded train of
bananas from Southampton Docks to Nine
Elms goods, regular workings at this time. New
to Eastleigh shed in November 1953, No 76029
would serve until October 1964, a one month
allocation to Salisbury in the summer of 1955
being its only allocation break from Eastleigh
shed. RAILWAYIMAGESUK

Another circa 1958 scene captures

Bournemouth-allocated ‘N15’ or ‘King Arthur’
class 4-6-0 No 30782 Sir Brian passing through
Eastleigh station with an up passenger service
for London (Waterloo). Amongst the many
trains recorded by Peter as he waited on
Eastleigh station for his Bournemouth (West)
train was the up ‘Normandy Express’ hauled by
‘King Arthur’ class No 30765 Sir Gareth, which
was also Bournemouth-based at the time.
RAILWAYIMAGESUK

Arriving at Eastleigh from Fawley soon after 6.00pm during Peter’s visit was former L&SWR
Drummond ‘M7’ class 0-4-4T No 30479, which is seen at Eastleigh in October 1960, while fitted
Lymington branch duties when we reached
with a snowplough. Fourteen engines of this class were allocated to Eastleigh shed at the time of
Brockenhurst.
While waiting at Bournemouth (Central), Peter’s visit in September 1958, with No 30479 eventually being taken out of service from
which we reached at around 7.40pm, Eastleigh shed in April 1961. Colour-Rail.com/17463
Maunsell ‘U’ class Mogul No 31618 and ‘G6’
class 0-6-0T No 30260, to be withdrawn in the
following November, were on station pilot
duties. Feltham-based ‘S15’ class 4-6-0
No 30508 came into the station in the up
direction, light engine, at 7.45pm.
On shed, as we departed from
Bournemouth (Central), I noted two Bulleid
Pacifics, Nos 34050 Royal Observer Corps and
34020 Seaton (seen earlier in the day at
Winchester (City) on a down working), three
‘King Arthur class 4-6-0s – Nos 30773
Sir Lavaine, 30764 Sir Gawain and 30782
Sir Brian – ‘M7’ 0-4-4T No 30127, and two ‘T9’
class 4-4-0s, Nos 30310 and 30117, the latter
formerly shedded at Dorchester – a feast of
delights! Again, rapid diary writing is indicated
by the sloping figures, so we were on the move!
As we rounded the curve from the Bourne
Valley viaduct, Bath (Green Park) shed’s BR
Standard ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 73050 was noted on
Branksome shed, before it returned home
over the Somerset & Dorset route. We were
obviously running very late because the

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 9

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:52 Page 10

While awaiting his train home at Eastleigh,

Peter noticed that some trains were awaiting a
connecting Weymouth to London service,
which arrived at 6.22pm behind ‘N15’ or ‘Lord
Nelson’ class 4-6-0 No 30853 Sir Richard
Grenville. Here we see this Maunsell-designed
4-6-0 in about 1957, while easing a Waterloo-
bound boat train past Southampton (Terminus)
station; it has just crossed Canute Road upon
leaving Southampton’s Old Docks.
RAILWAYIMAGESUK

7.58pm Bournemouth (West) to Salisbury

train, hauled by BR Standard ‘4MT’ Mogul
No 76006, did not depart until 8.08pm – it
was held to make a connection with the
8.35am train from Newcastle, our train from
Eastleigh, which should have arrived at
6.53pm; we made that connection. My final
observations of that day were from the ‘M7’ 0-4-4T No 30111 and ‘H15’ class 4-6-0 rail roving with an Area 9 Runabout ticket. I
carriage window of the 7.58pm Bournemouth No 30486 were in the yard. had 46 locomotives numbers to mark off in my
(West) to Salisbury train as we left Poole for It was one those really exciting railway days Ian Allan abc Combined Volume – not bad
Wimborne, no doubt in the fading light – out, coming, as it did, at the end of a week of going for a day’s trainspotting. Happy days!

On arriving at Brockenhurst, on his journey

home from Eastleigh, the author saw a
Drummond ‘M7’-worked Lymington branch
train, similar to the one shown here in the early
1960s. No 30480 hauls a three-coach train as it
joins the main line at Lymington Junction, just
west of Brockenhurst, the signal box being at
the junction where the Lymington branch goes
off to the left. The main line via Sway to
Bournemouth is seen continuing straight ahead,
and to the right is the so-called ‘Old Road’ via
Ringwood and Wimborne to Poole and
Bournemouth (West). J. Read

Two ex-L&SWR ‘T9’ class 4-4-0s were on shed at Bournemouth when the author was on his way back to Poole, Eastleigh’s
No 30117 and Bournemouth’s own No 30310, although it too was Eastleigh-allocated until September 1957. This April 1958
view finds No 30117 near the shed exit at Eastleigh. At the time of Peter’s visit, there were still 26 of these classic turn of
the century-built Drummond 4-4-0s still in service. Frank Hardy/Colour-Rail.com/99553

10 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
Hattons F_P.indd 1 17/02/2016 14:42
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Remembering 1966 –
Fifty years on
Frederick Rogers recalls the year While the nation was pre-occupied by the World Cup Final at Wembley, with an attendance of
96,234 fans and another 32.3 million viewers glued to television sets (making it the most watched
when England won the football World television event in British history), the railway still needed to operate on Saturday, 30 July 1966.

Cup, the last LNER Pacifics were

This view at Carlisle (Citadel) station on that day records mail awaiting clearance from the north
end of the main down platform, and Holbeck-allocated Stanier ‘Jubilee’ class 4-6-0 No 45675 Hardy

taken out of traffic, the Somerset &

Dorset and Great Central main lines
were closed, and the Isle of Man
being watered. Presumably it has arrived from the Settle & Carlisle route, as that was the domain
for Holbeck’s by then fluid stud of ‘Jubilees’ – eight of these engines were on the books at the
Leeds shed at some point in 1966, fresh ‘Jubilees’ being transferred in as other classmates fell by
the wayside. At 30 July the Holbeck fleet was Nos 45593 Kolhapur, 45675 Hardy, and 45697 Achilles.
D. Forsyth/Colour-Rail.com/g45202

Railway lay dormant.

‘KC-135’ tanker over Spain, dropping three Mediterranean. On 29 June, Barclays Bank
H-bombs close to Palomares, near Almeria, introduced the first credit card, the
he year 1966 was iconic in that it has and one in the Mediterranean Sea. Two days Barclaycard, while in Indo-China the Vietnam

T never dimmed in the memory, perhaps

because England won the Jules Rimet
World Cup for the first and only time, or was
it because, as a teenager, pop culture became a
defining way of looking at the world? For me,
it was also the year of ‘O-Levels’, receiving the
Ian Allan book Bill Hoole Engineman
Extraordinary as a school prize,
photographing the Bulleid Pacifics on the
Southern Region, a first taste of volunteering
on the Festiniog Railway – helping wash
carriage windows at Harbour station before
the first train of the day or chasing the British
Railways Standard ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s and 2-6-0s
between Machynlleth and Pwllheli, and the
withdrawal of the last Swindon-designed
standard gauge steam locomotives by the
London Midland Region. With the benefit of
hindsight, it was also the year when the penny
dropped that British Rail, as it was now
known, really was intent on getting rid of
steam as quickly as possible.
Perhaps more significant than teenagers
abandoning the dress of their parents was the
ever ready fear of nuclear armageddon,
personified on 17 January when a USAAF
‘B-52’ bomber collided in mid-air with a
later in India, Mrs Indira Gandhi became the
country’s first female Prime Minister. Space
exploration was still the focus of a race
between the USA and Soviet Union and on
3 February this intensified when the Soviet
‘Luna 9’ spacecraft landed on the moon. The
status quo in Britain was rocked on 4 March
when John Lennon claimed in an interview
that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus,
a comment he would later apologise for, but
the hitherto untarnished image of the group
had been damaged. The general election of
31 March saw Harold Wilson returned as
Prime Minister, with a majority of 96 seats.
On 8 April Leonid Brezhnev became
leader of the Soviet Union, while on 21 of the
month the state opening of Parliament was
televised for the first time. Nine days later,
regular hovercraft services began across the
English Channel. May saw the Moors
Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley,
jailed for life, and British Guiana achieve
independence from Britain on 26 May as
Guyana. On 14 June the Vatican abolished its
list of banned books, and during the month
Freddie Laker launched Laker Airways,
offering cheap package holidays to the
War continued to escalate, with the USA
doubling its number of troops engaged in the
conflict.
In July, England hosted the football World
Cup, and Saturday, 30 July saw the host
nation’s team play West Germany in the final
at Wembley and win 4-2. On the 13 August,
Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the cultural
revolution in China, and on the same day in
Turkey an earthquake in Varto killed 2,394
people and injured an estimated 10,000. At
the end of the month, on the 29th, the Beatles
played their final live concert, at a windy and
wet Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Just over
a week later, NBC-TV broadcast the first
episode of Star Trek on 8 September.
The Montreal Metro system was opened
on 14 October, while a week later the village
of Aberfan was in the news when a coal-tip
slid down the hillside from Mynydd Merthyr
into the town’s Pantglas primary school,
killing 116 children and 48 adults. The
following day, 22 October, saw spy George
Blake escape from Wormwood Scrubs prison
and flee to Moscow. Storms and floods in Italy
between 4 and 9 November saw Florence
inundated and major works of art were

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:53 Page 14

damaged. The broadcasting of the film Cathy
Come Home by the BBC on 16 November
brought about the creation of the charity
Shelter. On 1 December Harold Wilson had
talks with Ian Smith, the Rhodesian premier,
on HMS Tiger, over the unilateral declaration
of independence from Britain by Rhodesia.
Walt Disney died on 15 December, while
producing ‘The Jungle Book’.
In sport, the summer was dominated by
the World Cup, but elsewhere Yorkshire won
cricket’s County Championship while
Warwickshire won the Gillette Cup at Lords.
The summer’s test matches saw England lose
to the West Indies 3-1, with one game drawn.
In football, the First Division champions were
Liverpool, with Leeds United and Burnley
close runners-up; Manchester City was the
Second Division’s top team. In the FA Cup
Final, Everton beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2,
and West Bromwich Albion won the League
Cup. In Scotland, Celtic won the First
Division Championship, Glasgow Rangers the
Scottish Cup, and Celtic the Scottish League
Cup. In the Home Championship, England
came out top, with Wales second.
In rugby league, St. Helens were
champions, league leaders and Challenge Cup
Final winners. In rugby union, Wales were
again the Five Nations Champions. The
Epsom Derby was won by Australian Scobbie
Breasley riding Charlottown, while Anglo,
ridden by Tim Norman, was victorious in the
Grand National at Aintree. On the River
Thames, between Putney Bridge and
Mortlake, Oxford beat Cambridge. The two
Wimbledon singles champions were Manolo
Santana and Billie Jean King. The Open Golf
Championship at Muirfield was won by Jack
Nicklaus, and the Formula One champion was
Jack Brabham.
In popular music, the best selling singles
were Green Green Grass of Home by Tom
Jones, Distant Drums by Jim Reeves, and
Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby by the
Beatles. The top albums of the year were
Revolver by the Beatles, Sound of Silence by
Simon and Garfunkel and the eponymous
Best of the Beach Boys. The best selling cars –
the Austin/Morris 1100, the Ford Cortina, the
Austin/Morris Mini, and the Ford Anglia
105E – were unchanged from 1965. Some of
the most popular films of the year were Carry
On Screaming, A Man For All Seasons, Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly. In the theatre, must see
shows included There’s a Girl in My Soup and
The Lion in Winter. Among the most read
books were Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead, Jacqueline Susann’s
Valley of the Dolls, and Fantastic Voyage by
Isaac Asimov.
Four trolleybus systems were closed
during the year, leaving just a dozen operating
– Nottingham’s last trolleybuses ran on
30 June, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s on 1 October,
and the Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyne
systems both closed on 30 December.
New construction
On 1 January 1966 there were 3,003 steam
locomotives in British Rail stock, a decrease of
1,987 over the previous year, and by
31 December this number would be further
reduced by 1,305. Seven diesels were also
withdrawn – Nos 10001, 12011, 12029,
D2955, D2550, D1571 Thor and D6983. The
last two in the list were from classes with a
long-term future – Brush ‘Type 4’ and English
Electric ‘Type 3’ – but they suffered a serious
collision at Bridgend on 6 March. A total of
233 new main line locomotives were put into
traffic, 113 fewer than in 1965. These
comprised 57 English Electric ‘Type 1’ Bo-Bos
(Nos D8128-84), 52 Sulzer ‘Type 2’ Bo-Bos
(Nos D7598-D7623 and D7660-66 from
Derby Works, and Nos D7641-59 from Beyer,
Peacock & Co Ltd), 61 Brush ‘Type 4’ Co-Cos
– Nos D1100-6 and D1984-99 for the North
Eastern Region, Nos D1919-37 for the
Western Region, and Nos 1938-44 for the
London Midland Region – 35 electro-diesel
Bo-Bos for the Southern Region
(Nos E6007-13 and E6014-48), and 28 ‘AL6’
25Kw 4,000hp electrics – Nos E3135 and
E3137-40 from Doncaster Works, and
Nos E3141-60 and E3198-3200 from the
Vulcan Foundry.
Withdrawals
Following on from the withdrawal of the one-
off Duke of Gloucester in 1962, a second
British Railways Standard class became
extinct in 1966 with the withdrawal of the last
two remaining ‘Clans’ – Nos 72006 and 72008.
The ‘Britannias’ had contrasting fortunes,
with 11 engines condemned, including
Nos 70000 and No 70054, but the year also
saw 13 of these Pacifics overhauled at Crewe
Works, and another was overhauled at
Doncaster. The ranks of the ‘5MT’ 4-6-0s
were reduced by 39, and amongst these were
nine of the Southern Region’s named engines
– Nos 73080-83/86-89 and 73114. In addition,
a further 21 ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s were condemned,
along with 52 ‘4MT’ 2-6-0s, which included
No 76114 – the last steam locomotive built at
Doncaster Works. The loss of 16 ‘3MT’ 2-6-0s
only left No 77014, on the Southern Region,
and two at York, while other casualties were
31 ‘2MT’ 2-6-0s, 54 of the ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts,
including No 80000, 12 ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts, with
No 82000 among the withdrawals, and 45 ‘9F’
2-10-0s. Finally, the list of Riddles-designed
engines withdrawn concludes with 104 WD
2-8-0s taken out of traffic.
Western Region steam lingered on until
3 January at Oxford, when ‘Modified Hall’
No 6998 worked the 14.10 Oxford to Banbury
passenger train and then returned light engine
to Oxford, while the following day saw ‘8750’
class 0-6-0PT No 9773 steamed to shunt
withdrawn engines at the shed. However,
despite the end of Western Region steam three
Swindon classes – the ‘1600’ 0-6-0PTs, ‘5600’
0-6-2Ts, and ‘5700’/‘8750’ 0-6-0PTs –
remained active from London Midland
Region sheds well into 1966, with ‘8750’
pannier tanks Nos 4646 and 4696 not

Crewe Works was still overhauling steam

locomotives in 1966 – BR Standard ‘Britannia’
Pacifics, ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s, ‘9F’ 2-10-0s and Stanier
‘Black Five’ 4-6-0s and ‘8F’ 2-8-0s amongst
others. On 3 April ‘Britannia’ No 70038, minus
its Robin Hood nameplates, stands in the works
yard after receiving a heavy intermediate
repair and repaint, and now waits to return to
Kingmoor. By this date classes that once
merited lined livery were turned out in plain
green or black. No 70038 was one of 13
members of the class overhauled at Crewe in
1966. Colour-Rail.com/71409

14 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:53 Page 15

On Monday, 3 January 1966 Oxford shed turned out ‘Modified Hall’ No 6998 Burton Agnes Hall in superb external condition to work the last Western
Region steam-hauled Oxford to Banbury service, the 14.10 departure, before returning light engine. No 6998 is seen making a rousing departure from
Oxford, at the head of a rake of predominantly Southern Region stock. Reckoned to be the best of Oxford’s ‘Modified Halls’, Burton Agnes Hall was
subsequently saved from the scrap yard by the Great Western Society and initially kept at Totnes Quay, but it is now to be found at Didcot.
R. Denison/Colour-Rail.com/321235

dropping their fires for the last time until the after a period of store, along with the last five oldest of which was No 48002, conclude the
November. The National Coal Board, Johnson ‘1F’ 0-6-0Ts. The ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T fleet count.
however, continued to use Swindon-built saw 48 Fairburn, 11 Stanier and 2 Fowler- The numbers of ex-LNER locomotives
Nos 7714/54 and 9600/92 beyond 1966. designed engines taken out of traffic, while declined by 195 with, for the second year
The Southern Region condemned 41 the Hughes/Fowler 2-6-0s were reduced by 25, running, the Thompson ‘B1s’ losing most, 70
locomotives of Southern Railway origin, plus including No 42700, along with 15 Stanier examples, including six in departmental use.
a number of LMS and Standard designs. Moguls and 34 Ivatt ‘4MT’ 2-6-0s, the latter The last six ‘A4’ Pacifics – Nos 60004, 60007,
These were made up of four Isle of Wight- including 21 locomotives allocated to North 60009, 60019, 60024 and 60034 – were
based ‘O2’ class 0-4-4Ts (Nos W21, W26, Eastern Region sheds. Other reductions to the withdrawn, along with the last ‘A3’, No 60052,
W29 and W35), four ‘U’ and six ‘N’ class steam fleet included 11 LMS ‘4Fs’, 171 ‘Black the last two ‘A1s’ – Nos 60124 and 60145 –
2-6-0s, three ‘Q1’ 0-6-0s, 18 Light Pacifics, of Fives’ and seven ‘Jubilees’ – the oldest being and the last three ‘A2s’ – Nos 60528, 60530
which seven were modified, and six ‘Merchant No 45574 and the youngest No 45660. There and 60532. The final 14 ‘V2s’ were also
Navy’ Pacifics. Notable among the were six Scottish Region-based Ivatt ‘2MT’ withdrawn, along with seven ‘K1s’, 23 ‘Q6s’, 13
withdrawals was the first modified Light 2-6-0s amongst the 40 that were withdrawn, ‘O4s’, 13 ‘J37s’, five ‘J36s’, including No 65243,
Pacific, No 34005 Barnstaple, and the while three Midland ‘3F’ 0-6-0Ts, 77 LMS ‘3F’ 18 ‘J27s’, 18 ‘J38s’, ‘J94’ No 69079 and
penultimate ‘Merchant Navy’ to enter service, 0-6-0Ts and no less than 162 Stanier ‘8Fs’, the departmental ‘J72’ No 59 (No 69023).
No 35029 Ellerman Lines.
The number of ex-LMS and Midland
locomotives withdrawn totalled 650, 18 fewer
than in 1965. Fourteen of the 31 Ivatt ‘2MT’
2-6-2Ts taken out of traffic came from the
Southern Region shed of Eastleigh and the ex-
Southern shed at Templecombe on the
Somerset & Dorset route, which had become
part of the Western Region in 1958. The last
Midland and Stanier 0-4-0STs – Nos 41528/33
and 47000/1/5/6 – were officially condemned

Bulleid ‘West Country’ Pacific No 34005

Barnstaple passes Vauxhall station with the
10.30 London (Waterloo) to Bournemouth
(Central) service on Thursday, 25 August 1966.
Well up to speed, although only just out from
Waterloo, Barnstaple had been the first Light
Pacific to lose it air-smooth casing, in June
1957, when half of the ‘Merchant Navy’ fleet
had still to be modified, and in October 1966 it
proved to be the first modified Light Pacific to
be withdrawn. Tom Boustead

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:53 Page 16

Canklow shed, Masborough was used to store

the withdrawn tank engines that had operated
at Staveley Ironworks under the 100-year
agreement drawn up between the Midland
Railway and the ironworks in 1866. Once the
agreement terminated, the engines were set
aside and withdrawn. On Saturday, 30 April the
line up included Kitson 0-4-0ST No 47001 and
Deeley 0-4-0Ts Nos 41528 and 41533, along
with Johnson 0-6-0Ts Nos 417337 and 41708.
The latter was bought for preservation and in
June 1967 it arrived at Haworth on the Keighley
& Worth Valley Railway. It is now at Barrow Hill
roundhouse. Paul Hatherley

London Transport
It was not only the London Midland Region
and NCB that continued to operate
ex-Western Region pannier ranks in 1966, as
London Transport’s fleet of 11 ‘5700’ class
0-6-0PTs, Nos L89-99, were kept busy on
engineering and permanent way workings.
Early in the year the first stage of the
£12million modernisation of Lots Road power
station, which supplied the underground and
tube network, was begun. Work on the
Victoria Line twin tunnels was completed on
20 September, after 35 months of work.
Minor railways
The 1758 Middleton Railway Trust in Leeds
took delivery of Mersey Docks & Harbour
Board 0-6-0T No 31 (Avonside Engine Co Ltd
No 1671 of 1913) on 28 June; in poor
condition, the engine would be scrapped in
1970. A little further north, the Derwent
Valley Light Railway was struggling to make
ends meet after British Railways closed the
Selby to Driffield line – with services run
from the Layerthorpe end of the line, the £378
surplus made in 1965 was not maintained in
1966.
The Festiniog Railway carried 174,000
passengers between Portmadoc and
Tan-y-Bwlch, an increase of 23,498 over 1965.
The majority of trains were hauled by Linda,
Blanche and Prince, with Merddin Emrys only
returning to service for two weeks in
September. On 23 March Beyer-Garratt
No K1, the first of its genre, was delivered to
the railway and it spent the summer months

The 1 June withdrawal of No 60009 meant only four Gresley ‘A4’ Pacifics – Nos 60004, 60019, 60024 and 60034 – remained active, all from Aberdeen’s
Ferryhill shed. This view records No 60034 Lord Faringdon departing from Aberdeen on 3 June, making a vigorous climb of the 1 in 96 bank to Ferryhill
as it gets away with the 13.30 service to Glasgow (Buchanan Street). No 60004 would be condemned on 17 July, and No 60034 on 24 August, leaving
No 60019 Bittern, considered to be in the best mechanical and boiler condition, and No 60024 Kingfisher to bring down the curtain for the class on
3 September, when both were used on rail tours. Les Nixon

16
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:53 Page 17

on display at Harbour station. The company

also announced that services would be
extended to Dduallt in 1968. Further south,
the Talyllyn Railway enjoyed another year of
improved passenger numbers, with 103,472
tickets sold, an increase of 6,436 over 1965.
On the busiest days, relief trains had to be run
to accommodate the crowds at Towyn’s Wharf
station – the 100,000th passenger of the
season was carried on 18 September. Talyllyn,
Edward Thomas and Douglas saw most use,
with support from Dolgoch once valve gear
problems were solved. The year’s total steam
locomotive mileage was estimated to be 8,157.
Elsewhere on the Welsh narrow gauge lines,
the Vale of Rheidol’s ticket sales rose to 46,471
and those of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light
Railway to 17,140. In May the W&LLR
purchased W.G. Bagnall Ltd 0-4-4-0T
Monarch (Works No 3024 of 1953) from
paper manufacturer Bowater of Sittingbourne,
Kent.
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch
Railway continued to prosper, making a profit
of £3,703. Up £667 on 1965, the company was
able to declare a 4% dividend on ordinary
shares. Hurricane was stored awaiting
overhaul, and Green Goddess was receiving
boiler repairs during the August. Traffic on
the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway was
buoyant and in the December the company
took delivery of a new locomotive, 2-8-2 River
Mite. Costing £8,000, it was built in York by
H. Clarkson & Son, with the boiler supplied
by Gower of Bedford. On the Isle of Man, the
steam railway was closed after making a loss
of over £8,000 in 1965, despite the company’s

York shed’s last active Gresley ‘V2’ class 2-6-2,

No 60831, is seen in light steam at its home
depot on 3 October. Although in fairly clean
condition, the paintwork has seen better days.
By this date No 60831 was regularly used for
passing out drivers and firemen on three-
cylinder locomotives, usually on the Newcastle
to York part of the Newcastle to Manchester,
Red Bank parcels duty. When withdrawn on
6 December 1966, No 60831 was superseded
on this job by one of Holbeck’s ‘Jubilees’, usually
No 45675 Hardy. Barry Mounsey

All the Welsh narrow gauge railways enjoyed

increased passenger figures during the year,
with the Festiniog and Talyllyn leading the way.
On 17 July the Talyllyn Railway’s re-gauged ex-
RAF Calshot 0-4-0WT, No 6 Douglas (Andrew
Barclay, Sons & Co Ltd No 1431 of 1918),
prepares to leave the line’s upper terminal at
Abergynolwyn with a well-loaded train for
Towyn (Wharf). With the Cambrian Coast main
line passing through Towyn and still featuring
steam-hauled trains, the seaside town was a
popular holiday destination for railway
enthusiasts in 1966. J.C. Beckett

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:53 Page 18

During the year the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway organised a number of open days at Haworth, as the society made steady progress towards
acquiring a Light Railway Order. On Saturday, 28 May ex-Great Northern Railway Ivatt ‘J13’ (LNER ‘J52’) class 0-6-0ST No 1247 hauls ex-Southern Railway
‘Matchboard’ brake third corridor coach No 3554, painted in the society’s then house colours of primrose and blue, along Haworth loop. The railway’s
ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 0-4-0ST No 51218 was also in steam and was alternating with No 1247 on the trains. Paul Hatherley

investments making more than the losses. On
24 June, however, No 8 Fenella was steamed to
shunt stock at St. Johns before returning to
store at Peel. The Manx Electric Railway,
however, enjoyed a very successful year.
For the third year running the Bluebell
Railway carried a record number of visitors.
Apart from ex-GWR 4-4-0 No 3217, all the
serviceable passenger engines were in traffic
and ‘P’ class 0-6-0T No 323 Bluebell was
outshopped in lined blue livery on
4 September. As it awaited its Light Railway
Order, the Keighley & Worth Valley Light
Railway held a number of successful open
days at Haworth, and new stock arrived in the
shape of English Electric 500hp 0-6-0DE
shunter No D0226 on 19 March, along with
LNER buffet car No 1852, and ex-Lancashire
& Yorkshire Railway director’s saloon
No Sc45038. On 11 August ‘Royal Scot’ class
4-6-0 No 46115 Scots Guardsman was
delivered from Carlisle and during the
summer the NCB donated Haydock Foundry
0-6-0WT Bellerophon to the railway. By
August the Dart Valley Railway was home to
eight locomotives – Nos 1369, 1420, 1466,
3205, 4555, 6412, 6430 and 6435 – which were
all stored at Buckfastleigh. On 22 October
1966 No 4555 was steamed to work two
specials from Buckfastleigh to Ashburton and
back for members of the Dart Valley Railway
Association.
General railway events
Saturday, 1 January saw the closure of the
ex-Midland Railway 9½ mile Lancaster,
Morecambe & Heysham electrified branch
after the departure of the 23.10 working from
Morecambe (Promenade) to Lancaster – the
stock used was a former London & North
Western Railway electric-multiple-unit
designed for the Willesden to Earl’s Court
service. In March the English Electric gas
turbine 4-6-0 No GT3 was cut up in the
Salford yard of Thomas Ward & Co Ltd.
A number of new wagons were
introduced in the first months of the year and
these included 90 ton bogie tank wagons for
Shell-Mex and BP – they began block working
between Thames Haven and Royston. High
capacity four-wheel grain, petroleum, and
chemical wagons were also put into traffic,
while a new design of air-sprung bogie was
tested on Freightliner wagons. Construction
of the ‘AM10’ electric-multiple-units was such
that there would be insufficient to operate the
new Euston outer-suburban services to be
inaugurated on 18 April.
On 29 March, Blackpool Corporation paid
£950,000 for 24 acres of railway property,
including Central station and the old steam
shed, which it planned to turn into a car park.
By the start of the new timetables on 18 April,
Derby Works had completed the delivery of 29
new Pullmans, parlours, parlour brakes and
parlour kitchens, painted in grey and blue livery
for the new Manchester and Liverpool electric-
hauled Pullman trains. Three days later, the first
phase of the National Freight Train Plan was
brought into operation, which would see the
rationalisation of services, improved loadings
and reduced line occupation.
Restored Stanier ‘Coronation’ class Pacific
No 46235 City of Birmingham was presented
to the City of Birmingham Science Museum
on 22 May, arriving at Newhall Street on a
low-loader. Glasgow (St. Enoch) station closed
on 27 June, and on 6 July the Manchester Ship

Passage over the castellated City of Union bridge across the River Clyde brings Stanier ‘Black Five’ No 45061 to Clyde Junction, where it swings west
with the 06.00 Carlisle to Glasgow parcels service to enter Glasgow (St. Enoch) station on 6 June. Passenger activities at the former G&SWR
terminus was to be withdrawn from 27 June 1966, but parcels operations seem to have continued until 5 June 1967. The photographer is standing in a
triangle of lines off the City of Glasgow Union line (to the left), which linked rails to the south of the river with the Airdrie route – the north spur,
Saltmarket Junction to St. Enoch, was immediately deemed superfluous from 27 June 1966, leaving the link from Clyde Junction into St. Enoch for the
last trains. Today, the City of Glasgow Union line still crosses the river, but the site of St. Enoch is a shopping centre. Robin Nelson

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Fresh from refurbishment at Stewarts Lane

depot, ‘4-VEC’ electric-multiple-unit No 043
leads a ‘VEC-TIS’ formation of ex-London
Underground 1923-31 Standard stock into
Woking station on 15 July 1966 while on test
before their use by British Railways on the Isle
of Wight. Vectis, the Roman name for the
island, inspired the new three-letter
classifications. Having already served for around
40 years in London, six four-car, and six three-
car sets were purchased by BR to work the
Ryde Pier Head to Shankin route. No other
part of the island’s once large railway network
was deemed worthy of retention. The low-
height units replaced Adams ‘O2’ 0-4-4Ts and
Victorian coaching stock. Electrified services on
the island began on 20 March 1967.
John H. Bird/RAILWAYIMAGESUK

Canal railway took delivery of six Sentinel
0-4-0DH locomotives, allowing its conversion
from steam to diesel traction to be completed.
A week later, on 14 July, test running between
Wimbledon and Woking began with the
refurbished ex-London Transport 1923-31
Northern, City and Piccadilly lines tube stock,
now classified as ‘4VEC’ and ‘3TIS’ – it was
destined for the electrified rump of the Isle of
Wight railways, between Ryde and Shanklin.
The Swanage branch was dieselised on
5 September, when steam-hauled trains were
replaced by ‘Hampshire’ diesel-electric-
multiple-units.
During the year new power signalling
centres were commissioned across the
country. Among the new installations were
those at Guildford, Cardiff, Birmingham,
Walsall and Stoke-on-Trent. Another Glasgow
station to close during the year was Buchanan
Street on 7 November.
Closures
During the year 47 engine sheds were closed
to steam, 11 fewer than in 1965. The London
Midland Region shut Tyseley, Nuneaton,
Stourbridge, Banbury, Bescot, Mold Junction,
Machynlleth, Llandudno Junction, Holyhead,
Barrow, Carlisle Upperby, Wellingborough,
Leicester Midland, Annesley, Kirkby-in-
Ashfield, Burton, Westhouses, Lancaster,
Lower Darwen, Agecroft, Bank Hall,
Southport and Fleetwood. On the Eastern
Region, Doncaster, Frodingham, Colwick,
Immingham and Langwith Junction were all
made redundant, along with Neville Hill,
Darlington, Tweedmouth and Farnley
Junction on the North Eastern Region.
The Scottish Region lost its steam
servicing facilities at Stirling shed, Carstairs,
Bathgate, Hawick, Glasgow Eastfield,
St. Rollox, Greenock, Hurlford, Ayr, Dumfries
and Stranraer. The Western Region oversaw
the demise of Oxford shed, and brought about
the closure of the Somerset & Dorset line
sheds it gained from the Southern Region
thanks to regional boundary changes in 1958
– Bath Green Park, Templecombe and
Highbridge.
During 1966 line closures continued
unabated. In January, passenger services were
withdrawn between Morecambe (Promenade)
and Lancaster (Castle), Wennington and
Lancaster (Green Ayre), and Leighton
Buzzard and Dunstable (North). Totton to
Fawley followed in February, along with
Cowes to Smallbrook Junction and Aberdeen
to Ballater. In March, the remaining Somerset
& Dorset lines lost their trains, along with
those between Seaton Junction and Seaton,
Shoreham and Christ’s Hospital, and Connel
Ferry and Ballachulish.
The passenger services were withdrawn
between Workington and Keswick in April, as

Anybody visiting Stourbridge Junction shed on Saturday, 2 July could be forgiven for thinking that Western Region steam hadn’t yet been eliminated
from the national network. However, by this date Stourbridge was a LMR depot, having been transferred from the Western Region in September 1963.
On view in the roundhouse are no less than seven ‘8750’ class 0-6-0PTs, of which only Nos 4696 and 9614 can be identified. When the shed closed a
few days later, these pannier tanks were all condemned. R. Siviter/Colour-Rail.com/94679

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well as those between Wyre Dock and

Fleetwood, Chippenham and Trowbridge,
Shanklin and Ventnor, Glasgow (St. Enoch)
and Kilmarnock and Patney and Devizes. The
Newport to Tayport services went in May, and
in June the trains between Cheltenham Spa
(Malvern Road) and Cheltenham Spa
(St. James) were withdrawn, along with those
between St. Denys and the nearby
Southampton (Terminus), Bushey to Croxley
Green, Melton Mowbray to Nottingham
(Midland), Seaton Junction to Stamford,
Rugby to Leicester, Peterborough to Rugby
and Glasgow (St. Enoch) to Shields Junction.
In September, services were lost between
Southampton (Terminus) and Southampton
(Central), Aylesbury and Rugby, Banbury and
Woodford Halse, Nottingham (Victoria) and
Sheffield (Victoria), Sheffield (Victoria) to
York and Doncaster and Saxmundham to
Aldeburgh. October saw the Halwill to Bude
and Wadebridge services go, along with those
between Barnstaple and Taunton, Yatton and
Clevedon, and Yeovil (Town) and Yeovil
Junction. The Gunnislake to Callington trains
went in November, as well as those between
Gobowen and Oswestry, Kilmarnock and
Barrhead and Glasgow (Buchanan Street) and
Cumbernauld. Finally, December saw the end
of passenger trains between Bletchley and
Buckingham, Manchester (Victoria) and
Accrington and Ramsbottom and Leeds and
Morley.

Western Region
Steam on the region bowed out at Oxford on
3 January 1966, although the Somerset &
Dorset remained open until 7 March and on
its lines steam remained the motive power of
choice to the end. However, even beyond that
date there were still some steam-hauled
workings on the region as the York to Poole
inter-regional trains were diagrammed for

At Evercreech Junction two Somerset & Dorset line staff pose with a milk churn near the
steam-haulage between Poole and Banbury
smokebox of Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41283 on the last day of normal operations – Saturday, 5 March 1966.
using ‘Black Fives’ and Bulleid Light Pacifics.
The S&D line as far south as Cole became part of the Western Region in 1950, and it was not long Two steam locomotives managed to reach
before the routes to Burnham, Bridgwater and Wells had all been eliminated from the passenger London (Paddington) on 22 January, when
network. However, Beeching proposals to close the rest of this railway from Bath through to Nos 44760 and 45436 provided steam heating
Broadstone Junction, and Evercreech Junction to Highbridge, had faltered at the end of 1965 when
a bus operator pulled out of running the replacement service, so an emergency timetable of
on the up ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ and the
steam-hauled services had to soldier on until the first weekend in March. No 41283, a
11.40 service from Birkenhead respectively;
Templecombe engine, would not find work again. John H. Bird/RAILWAYIMAGESUK the train engines were Brush ‘Type 4s’

Continued rationalisation of main line routes

around Glasgow led to the loss of two major
termini in 1966, this view at the buffer stops of
Buchanan Street station being recorded on
29 October, its demise coming from Monday,
7 November. In attendance is Thompson ‘B1’
class 4-6-0 No 61140 – since nationalisation, the
former Caledonian Railway and LMS terminus
had increasingly been visited by more ‘Eastern’
motive power. The station had opened on
1 November 1849, when the former Garnkirk &
Glasgow Railway terminus at Townhead was
superseded as the terminus for trains from the
Perth and Carlisle routes, but since August
1879 Central station had taken over as the CR’s
primary Anglo-Scottish terminus, leaving
Buchanan Street to serve Dundee, Perth,
Aberdeen and the Highland line. Robin Nelson

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Western Region steam just hung on into 1966 at Oxford, with the last rites being administered during the first week of January. This scene at Oxford
shed on Monday, 3 January records three rows of withdrawn ex-Swindon Works-built steam locomotives, predominantly ‘Modified Halls’ and ‘Granges’
minus their name and number plates, awaiting their last journey to the scrap yard. The closure of Oxford shed meant that the Western Region
became the first part of BR to rely wholly on diesel traction, except for the temporary emergency operation on the S&D, although some through
workings from Banbury to the Southern Region continued for a number of months. Les Nixon
Nos D1923 and D1688. In February, Saltley
sent Thompson ‘B1s’ Nos 61013 and 61035
down the Honeybourne to Cheltenham line,
where Stanier ‘8Fs’ and BR Standard ‘9Fs’
were still in use. The last rites on the Somerset
& Dorset on 5 March saw Ivatt ‘2MT’
No 41307 and BR Standard ‘4MTs’ Nos 76026,
80041 and 80043 in use. Ivatt 2-6-2T
No 41283 was still in steam on 14 March at
Bath (Green Park) shunting withdrawn
locomotives, but eventually an embargo on
steam was enforced and the only movements
were of withdrawn locomotives being hauled
to South Wales for scrapping.
London Midland Region
During the year the concentration of steam on
the LMR moved inexorably towards the
north-west of England, despite Banbury and
Tyseley sheds remaining open until October
and November respectively, and Oxley into
1967. On 3 January two Birkenhead-allocated
‘Crabs’, Nos 42782 and 42812, were employed
respectively on the Bidston to Dee Marsh and
Hooton to Ellesmere Port pick-up freights.
Five days later, ‘B1’ No 61121, of Doncaster
shed, worked over the Settle & Carlisle line in
charge of the 17.45 Carlisle to Leeds freight.
‘Black Five’ No 45024 was noted at the head of
the 08.15 Carlisle to Crewe parcels, made up
of 24 bogie parcel vans. With the ‘Peak’ diesel-
electrics cleared to work over the River Ouse
bridge at Bedford, steam was still appearing
on the Wellingborough to Goldington coal
trains early in the year, and on 16 January BR
Standard ‘5MT’ No 73155, Stanier ‘8F’
No 48177 and WD No 90395 were all seen on
the workings.
An unusual choice of motive power for an
afternoon Manchester to Rhyl parcels service
on 3 February was ‘K1’ No 62005. On 15 and
17 February, the ICI Northwich to
Whitehaven trains were hauled respectively by
MAY 2016
‘7MT’ Pacific No 70006, and ‘Black Five’ noted on the 19.00 St. Helens to Carlisle
No 44685 piloting BR Standard ‘9F’ No 92092. freight.
‘Jubilee’ No 45647 was pressed into service on The summer ‘Cambrian Coast Express’
the 14.30 Chester to Paddington service on was worked by BR Standard ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s and
19 February, working as far as Shrewsbury. 2-6-0s to and from Shrewsbury, with double-
BR Standard ‘Clan’ No 72008 was noted heading on the heavier Saturday trains.
passing through Warrington in charge of a ‘Jubilee’ No 45647 was used on the 09.15
freight working on 24 February. Two ‘B1s’ Leeds to Llandudno service on 25 June. The
penetrated the North Wales Coast main line summer Saturday 02.25, 10.15 and down relief
on 4 and 5 March when Nos 61017 and 61306 ‘Thames-Clyde Express’ were all booked for
respectively worked the 16.45 Holyhead to ‘Jubilee’ haulage, but as Holbeck shed had
Manchester and the 13.00 Rhyl to Mold only three serviceable members of the class –
Junction empties. Saturday, 26 March saw Nos 45593, 45675 and 45697 – there were
‘Black Fives’ Nos 44837, 45376 and 45069, occasions when diesel power was substituted.
along with ‘7MTs’ Nos 70025 and 70031, work On 1 July the 07.00 Liverpool (Lime Street) to
Grand National specials into Liverpool. Manchester (Exchange) service, normally a
The last week of the Bradford (Forster diesel-multiple-unit turn, was worked by
Square) to Carlisle steam-hauled local services ‘Black Five’ No 45156. The daily Grassington
in April used six ‘Black Fives’ – Nos 44674, line freight from Skipton was still booked for
44675, 45138, 44933, 44725 and 45442 – along BR Standard ‘4MT’ 4-6-0 haulage, while on
with ‘7MTs’ Nos 70050, 70008 and 70006, 27 July no less than 50 steam locomotives
while ‘Jubilee’ No 45660 was turned out for were seen on Carnforth shed.
the final day. Easter weekend saw six of the A visit to Blackpool on Tuesday, 2 August
remaining 13 ‘Jubilees’ – Nos 45562, 45565, found steam still working in, with ‘Black
45647, 45694, 45697 and Fives’ Nos 44759, 44808, 45070,
45739 – work into ‘the Great Central 45076 and 45191, ‘Jubilees’ Nos 45565
Blackpool. The FA Cup main line ceased to and 45581, ‘B1’ No 61131, BR
semi-final at Bolton on
23 April, played between
be a through route Standard ‘5MT’ No 73009 and WDs
Nos 90339 and 90651 all recorded.
Manchester United and after the passage of August Bank Holiday Monday saw
Everton, brought nine ‘Black two mail trains ‘Crab’ No 42942 put to work on the
Five’ hauled specials into early on the 10.06 Rock Ferry to Llandudno
Bolton, with Nos 45203 and excursion. After the last passenger
45420 arriving from morning of services ran on 5 September, the
Manchester and 4 September’ Great Central main line ceased to be a
Nos 44659/806, through route after the passage of two
45034/133/147/228/412 from Liverpool. The mail trains early on the morning of
Rugby League Cup Final saw eight specials 4 September.
depart from St. Helens behind ‘Black Fives’ At the beginning of September steam was
Nos 44863+45105, 44678+44842, still used on the Glasgow to Liverpool trains,
44837+44838, 45041+45187, 44772+45374, with No 70052 in charge of the 14.00
44713+45412, 44662 and 44679+45278. On ex-Glasgow on 2 September, while on the
11 May the last ‘Clan’ in traffic, No 72006, was same day ‘Jubilee’ No 45627 worked the 12.27
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In April 1966 BR Standard ‘Britannia’

Pacific No 70051 leaves Bradford (Forster
Square) station with the 15.40 service to
Carlisle. With its Firth of Forth nameplates
removed, No 70051makes a defiant sight as
steam in the north of England was confined
to ever smaller areas of the London
Midland and North Eastern regions.
No 70051 remained in service until
16 December 1967. John Whiteley

Liverpool to Blackpool and the 19.00 return
duty. When ‘Peak’ No D32 failed on the down
‘Thames-Clyde express’ between Settle
Junction and Settle on 8 September, ‘7MT’
No 70031 came to the rescue – despite some
fast running it arrived in Carlisle 138 minutes
late. The September Glasgow Fair weekend
saw ‘7MTs’ Nos 70008, 70009, 70013, 70029,
70031, 70034, 70049 and 70054 work in and
out of Blackpool. When the diesel-multiple-
unit failed on the 08.35 Carlisle to Skipton
service, it was seen passing Horton-in-
Ribblesdale behind ‘9F’ No 92233, running
100 minutes late.
On 13 October Oxley shed housed six ‘Black
Fives’, eight ‘8Fs’ and three BR Standard ‘4MT’
2-6-0s, along with Nos 78008, 92114, 92139,
5605, 4644 and 47272. Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 46431 was
seen passing Garsdale with an inspection saloon,
and nine days later ‘B1’ No 61021 was at
Kingmoor. Preston saw an upsurge in steam
workings in the run-up to Christmas – on
23 December No 45277 passed in charge of 1X46
from Crewe to Glasgow, No 44713 on 1T90 from
Stoke to Windermere, No 44915 on 1A87 from
Windermere to Euston, No 70020 on the 16.15
Windermere to Euston and No 70027 on the
18.55 Birmingham to Heysham.
Southern Region
On New Year’s Day 1966 the Southern Region
had 212 serviceable steam locomotives, 89 of
Southern Railway heritage, including 70
Bulleid Pacifics, 13 Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2Ts and
110 British Railways Standards – nine ‘3MT’
2-6-2Ts, 33 ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts, 26 ‘4MT’ 2-6-0s,
11 ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s and 31 ‘5MT’ 4-6-0s. In
addition, there were two ‘C’ class 0-6-0s in
departmental use, Nos 31271 and 31592,
along with two ‘USA’ 0-6-0Ts, one at
Redbridge sleeper depot and the other at
Meldon Quarry. By New Year’s Eve this total
had fallen to 130 locomotives.

A brace of BR Standard ‘4MT’ 2-6-0s work a down Saturdays-only holiday express for Pwllheli near Tonfannau, between Towyn and Fairbourne on
16 July. The pilot engine is No 76045, while the train engine is so filthy that its number is illegible. The 2-6-0s were hardly in the best of condition when
they arrived on the Cambrian lines in June 1966, and by the end of the summer timetable they had disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Judging
from the smoke screen being produced, both firemen are struggling to build their fires for the sharp climb to Friog. J.C. Beckett

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Although the Skipton to Grassington branch

lost its passenger trains in September 1930
there was still a daily pick-up freight that
traversed the line in 1966, which also served
the limestone quarry at Swinden. On Friday,
29 July one of Skipton shed’s BR Standard
‘4MT’ 4-6-0s, No 75011, is seen shunting at the
Grassington terminus, before running back to
the quarry to collect the day’s loaded hopper
wagons. Mike Mitchell/Transport Treasury

On the first weekday of the new year, Stanier

‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 45000, officially
allocated to Chester (Midland) shed at the
time, stands at Leicester (Central) station at
the head of the 16.38 London (Marylebone) to
Nottingham (Victoria) working on Monday,
3 January. By this date passenger services over
the ex-Great Central main line were invariably
in the hands of a ‘Black Five’ on desultory
timings, as British Railways ensured the run
down of the line went to plan ready for its
September 1966 closure as a through route.
Mike Mitchell/Transport Treasury

The failure of the booked ‘Type 3’ diesels

saw Stanier ‘8F’ No 48287 working the 07.49
Bromford Bridge to Fawley empty oil tank
train on New Year’s Day, while ‘Black Five’
No 45198 arrived at Southampton (Central) in
charge of the 10.08 York to Poole train, a
service that would remain steam-hauled until
September. An unusual duty for ‘USA’ tank
No 30071 on 12 January was taking a boat
train from Southampton (Central) into the
Eastern Docks. Four days later, Eastleigh On 18 February, Light Pacific No 34052 No W14. Despite being officially withdrawn,
Works was giving intermediate repairs to worked the 09.00 Waterloo to Exeter service ‘Q1’ 0-6-0s Nos 33006, 33020 and 33027 were
Light Pacifics Nos 34006, 34025, 34071 and from Salisbury after the failure of ‘Warship’ steamed regularly in February to work ballast
34077, and ‘Merchant Navy’ No 35013, while diesel-hydraulic No D815. Two days later, the and permanent way trains.
now-preserved GWR Churchward ‘2800’ class last passenger train to and from Cowes was in A train of empty banana vans bound for
No 2818 was awaiting cosmetic restoration. the charge of Adams ‘O2’ class 0-4-4T Southampton Docks arrived at Basingstoke

Bulleid’s ‘Q1’ 0-6-0s were down to just three at the start of 1966 – Nos 33006, 33020 and 33027 – and none would see the summer. In fact, records
suggest that No 33006 was withdrawn at the end of January, but it seems that Guildford shed kept it in store after that, awaiting suitable use. One
such occasion was the LCGB’s ‘New Forester Rail Tour’ on 19 March, the reprieved engine hauling the train from Eastleigh to Gosport, and from there
to Southern (Terminus), from where a pair of ‘USA’ tanks took the train to Fawley. Then the ‘Q1’ took over for the run from Totton from Lymington
Pier and back to Brockenhurst, where the tour ended. This scene at Brockenhurst preceded the trip down the branch. A tour on 3 April seems to have
concluded activities for No 33006 and the class. John H. Bird/RAILWAYIMAGESUK

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:54 Page 24
behind Riddles ‘9F’ No 92151 on 3 March.
Sunday engineering work in preparation for
the electrification of the main line to
Bournemouth brought the Alton and Mid
Hants lines into use as the principal
diversionary route. Pilots had to be provided
for the heaviest trains to avoid problems on
Medstead bank but, even so, some stalling
caused delays when a pilot was unavailable.
On 23 March, ‘A4’ No 60024 Kingfisher
powered the 11.10 Banbury to Eastleigh
Class 6 freight when en route from Aberdeen
to Nine Elms for rail tour duties. A surprise
transfer to Guildford came in the last week of
March when ‘3MT’ 2-6-0 No 77014 arrived
from Northwich, and it was soon in use,
appearing at Waterloo station on empty stock
trains on 4 and 5 April. At the end of April, at
the end of the train-heating season, the
Brighton to Plymouth passenger trains were
booked to revert to diesel haulage.
On 11 May a Royal Navy special from
Elgin to Portsmouth brought ‘7MT’ No 70002
to the South Coast, and it then worked the
empty stock to Willesden Junction, running
via Eastleigh, East Putney, and the West
London Extension Line, before running light
engine to Nine Elms for servicing. It was then
used on the 09.20 London (Waterloo) to
Southampton Eastern Docks working on
12 May, returning to Clapham Junction with
the empty stock. It returned to the LMR, via
Basingstoke, on 19 May.
Steam reappeared on the Woking to New
Cross Gate ballast train on 2 June when BR
Standard ‘5MT’ No 73082 was used. Three
weeks later, on 24 June, the last ‘Q1’ in
service, No 33006, was at Nine Elms in steam,
The last day of steam working on the Isle of
Wight was Saturday, 31 December 1966. The
trains that day were full of locals enjoying a last
steam-hauled journey, along with a huge
number of enthusiasts who flocked across the
Solent for the occasion, their numbers
augmented by the arrival of the LCGB’s ‘Isle of
Wight Farewell Rail Tour’. Here ex-L&SWR
‘O2’ class 0-4-4T No W16, minus its Ventnor
nameplates, enters Brading with the 13.45
Shanklin to Ryde (Esplanade) train. J.C. Beckett
24
the same day that Stanier ‘5MT’ No 45349
again appeared at Waterloo, having worked
the 09.30 to Bournemouth two days earlier,
and on 12 July it was noted in charge of the
08.30 Newcastle to Poole service. The last two
Maunsell Moguls, Nos 31408 and 31639, were
noted at Guildford shed on 26 June with their
motion dismantled as they awaited dispatch to
scrap yards, their former duties being
undertaken by BR Standard ‘3MT’ Mogul
No 77014. Dwindling numbers of Ivatt ‘2MTs’
and Standard tank engines at Nine Elms were
still in everyday use on the Waterloo pilots
turns, the Clapham Junction to Kensington
Olympia rush-hour passenger trains and
parcels turns throughout the summer, and
then into the winter timetable period. On
1 July, Gresley ‘V2’ No 60919 was on
Basingstoke shed before working light engine
to Nine Elms for rail tour duty.
‘Britannia’ Pacific No 70004 powered the
07.05 Basingstoke to Waterloo service on
11 August, but its stay on the region was brief
as it immediately returned north with a banana
van train from Southampton. On 12 August,
Peppercorn ‘A2’ No 60532 Blue Peter arrived
from Scotland to work a rail tour, while eight
days later ‘9F’ No 92002 was in charge of the
11-coach 10.54 Poole to Newcastle service. The
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
BR Standard ‘3MT’ Mogul No 77014 was
transferred from Northwich shed to make a
new home on the Southern Region at Guildford
in March 1966. It is seen passing Woolston with
an early morning Bevois Park to Fareham
parcels working on 29 July. Withdrawal for 17 of
the other 19 class members – from Stourton,
Goole, Hurlford, Motherwell, Northwich and
Stourton sheds – made this LMR escapee
notable and it would go on to be used on
Southern Region rail tours and even haul the
very last Southern Region revenue earning
steam-hauled working, in July 1967.
John H. Bird/RAILWAYIMAGESUK
Friday evening rush hour was becoming the
best time to see steam at Waterloo, with up to
ten departures between 17.30 and 19.30, and
the bonus of the up ‘Bournemouth Belle’
arriving. Light Pacific No 34036 was on
breakdown crane duty at Clapham Junction on
20 September, after nearly new electro-diesel
No E6037 derailed. Another Stanier ‘5MT’ seen
at Waterloo was No 45222, which worked the
08.35 to Basingstoke on 19, 22 and
23 September. It was then kept at Eastleigh
shed from 1 to 17 October, before returning to
the London Midland Region.
The lack of pilots over the Mid Hants line
was highlighted again on 2 October when
Bulleid Light Pacific No 34108 stalled on
Medstead bank with the 10.30 Waterloo to
Weymouth service. The nearest assistance was
‘Type 3’ No D6539 at Guildford, which
resulted in an appreciable delay. On
18 November ‘Merchant Navy’ No 35014 was
in charge of the down ‘Royal Wessex’ after the
failure of the booked Brush ‘Type 4’. Another
Light Pacific to stall on Medstead bank was
No 34025, when working the 02.25 Waterloo
to Poole newspaper train. The reduction in
the number of serviceable Pacifics saw more
and more use of the BR Standard ‘4MT’
4-6-0s and 2-6-0s on main line passenger
trains – on 23 November No 76064 worked
the 11-coach 18.09 ex-Waterloo, while on
11 December ‘5MT’ No 73020 was pressed
into service on the up ‘Bournemouth Belle’.
The increase in parcels traffic during the
pre-Christmas period saw a marked increase
in steam activity. The last steam-hauled trains
ran on the Isle of Wight on New Year’s Eve.
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:54 Page 25
Eastern Region
January saw the region’s remaining steam
locomotives concentrated in the Doncaster to
Scunthorpe area. On New Year’s Day 1966 BR
Standard ‘4MT’ No 75061 worked the 08.40
Doncaster to Hemsworth duty, while three
days later Stanier ‘5MT’ No 45182 was seen
passing through Sheffield on a banana train to
York. The 23.13 Grimsby to Doncaster
working on 5 January was in the charge of
‘5MT’ No 44882, and No 45095 powered the
03.43 Scunthorpe to Healey Mills working five
days later. By this date Frodingham shed was
in a poor state, with three of the five roads
closed because of concerns about the safety of
the roof. Eleven WDs – Nos 90013, 90024,
90032, 90035, 90178, 90241, 90456, 90471,
90493, 90498 and 90517 – were on shed on
30 January. Langwith Junction was shut on
2 February and Frodingham closed on
27 February, when the new diesel- servicing
depot was commissioned.
By the end of March the last Eastern
Region steam shed was Doncaster and its
allocation comprised seven ‘B1s’, five ‘O4/8s’,
19 WDs and five ‘9Fs’. Closure came on
18 April, but Holbeck ‘5MTs’ and ‘Jubilees’
continued to work in for a number of months.
Steam was still penetrating as far east as
Frodingham and on 27 April Stanier ‘8F’
No 48339 arrived; it was sent light engine to
Canklow for servicing. One steam turn to
Scunthorpe survived until July – the 08.20
ballast empties ex-Wakefield. It generally
provided employment for a WD 2-8-0,
although ‘B1s’ Nos 61013 and 61131 were also
noted.
North Eastern Region
At the beginning of the year steam was to be
found at work across most of the North
Eastern Region and on 3 January a new
Newton Heath ‘Black Five’ diagram saw the
Preston mail arriving at Huddersfield at 00.45,
with the locomotive working the 18.53 Leeds
One of the two Peppercorn ‘A1’ Pacifics to remain in service into 1966 was No 60145 Saint Mungo, by then primarily used as a standby engine
for ailing diesels on main line workings, but in order to keep it in reasonable mechanical condition it also saw some activity on fitted goods and
parcels traffic from Gateshead and Darlington. On an unrecorded date, it is seen, without nameplates, passing Gateshead motive power depot
on a fitted freight. Its withdrawal would come in June, while the other long-lived ‘A1’, No 60124 Kenilworth, was withdrawn at the end of March.
Barry Mounsey
MAY 2016
parcels duty later in the day – after a long
sequence of 4-6-0s, ‘7MT’ Pacific No 70017
appeared in 1 February. When the diesel
hauling the 02.15 Manchester to Leeds
newspaper train failed, the only available
locomotive was Stanier ‘8F’ No 48557, which
brought the stock into Huddersfield three
hours late where Ivatt ‘4MT’ No 43134 was
waiting to take the train to Leeds. During
January, Farnley Junction’s surviving ‘Jubilees’
were used on the shed’s parcel workings, while
those at Holbeck were employed on carriage
pilot duties between Leeds (Central) and
Copley Hill sidings. ‘B1’ No 61250 was used
on the 08.52 Hull to King’s Cross service, as
far as Doncaster, from 3 to 5 February. On
12 February a Manchester parcels train passed
through Mirfield hauled by ‘7MT’ No 70002
piloting ‘B1’ No 61360. During February the
last two ‘A1’ Pacifics, Nos 60124 and 60145,
were acting as standby pilots at York and
Darlington respectively.
A surprise visitor to Bradford (Forster
Square) on 9 March was ‘A2’ No 60532, which
had worked a special from Millerhill. Once
released from its train, No 60532 made its way
light engine to York. The two surviving ‘Clan’
Pacifics were still making regular visits to
Leeds and Bradford and No 72008 was noted
on Manningham shed on 13 March, and it
was in charge of the 15.40 Bradford to Carlisle
service on 26 March. Five days earlier, ‘A4’
No 60024 passed through Hellifield hauling a
dead ‘Peak’ diesel as it made its way from
Aberdeen to the Southern Region for rail tour
duty. Thought to be the longest single steam
run by March was the overnight Edinburgh,
Joppa to Hornsey stock train, which in March
and April was invariably powered by a ‘V2’ as
far as York, a distance of over 200 miles.
The Tyne Dock to Consett ore trains were
still hauled by BR Standard ‘9Fs’ in April, but
they were now banked by English Electric
‘Type 4’ diesels. On 12 April ‘A4’ No 60019
arrived at Newcastle in charge of a Millerhill
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
to Tyne Yard fitted freight, and it returned
north with the 17.45 ex-Tyne Yard. The last
official steam-hauled passenger train from
Hull was worked by ‘B1’ No 61406 on
16 April. An unusual working occurred on
26 May when ex-Crosti ‘9F’ No 92021
powered the 20.15 Leeds (City) to Stockport
(Edgeley) parcels duty. The following day,
‘7MT’ No 70021 had to take over the 09.42
ex-Newcastle at Farnley Junction, after the
failure of the booked diesel, with ‘5MTs’
Nos 73073 and 45005 prepared for the return
working.
To mark the end of passenger trains on the
Alnmouth to Anwick branch line, Riddles ‘9F’
No 92099 was used on 18 June, the last day of
passenger services. ‘Type 4’ diesel No D386
failed inside Standedge tunnel on 22 June,
while working the 15.10 Crewe to Healy Mills
Class 8 freight, so ‘4MT’ No 42271 was sent
from Millhouses shed. Unfortunately, it was
unable to move the train, so WD 2-8-0
No 90482 was then despatched, and it managed
to move the stricken train by 22.50. ‘V2’
No 60919 was noted on Holbeck shed early on
1 July, while en route to the Southern Region to
work a special. The summer Saturday Leeds to
Llandudno trains were worked by pairs of
‘5MTs’ in August, with Nos 45046 and 73157 in
use on 6 August and Nos 45200 and 73125
employed three weeks later. ‘Black Fives’ and
‘Jubilees’ were used throughout the summer on
the Bradford and Leeds Saturday-only
workings, to the East Coast as well as to
Blackpool.
The Blackpool Illuminations saw the
running of a regular Friday evening train from
Leeds and Bradford from 2 September; the
regular motive power into October was
Nos 45562 or 45647. During the autumn, Low
Moor’s ‘B1s’ and ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts were still
finding employment on the Bradford
(Exchange) to King’s Cross expresses as far as
Wakefield. On 5 November, ‘4MT’ No 42116
worked the last Bradford (Exchange) to
25
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:54 Page 26

In the West Riding of Yorkshire, steam survived as the chosen motive power for the holiday period
seaside extras from the majority of the Woollen District towns and cities – the local ‘Jubilees’
Stockport service, and on the same day
tended to head for the West Coast, Blackpool and Llandudno, while ‘B1s’ were amongst classes
No 42574 was in charge of the 22.00
sent to the East Coast. This 13 April scene finds York-allocated Thompson ‘B1’ No 61337 borrowed Huddersfield mail, which loaded to one coach
to work the 16.10 Leeds (Central) to Cleethorpes service. It is making hard work of the climb out and a van. The 16.05 Glasgow to Leeds service
of Central, past Copley Hill, with just four coaches in tow, some 135 tons, although it is possible passed Bingley behind ‘Type 4’ No D1609 and
that the smoke effects were for the benefit of the photographer. No 61337 would be withdrawn
from Low Moor shed at the end of September 1967. Les Nixon
‘5MT’ No 44675. The 22.00 Huddersfield mail
on 16 December stalled while climbing towards
The remaining steam sheds in the West Riding ensured that some King’s Cross passenger services Bowling tunnel in the charge of ‘5MT’
still enjoyed steam-haulage, albeit only between Bradford (Exchange) and Wakefield (Westgate).
Here Low Moor-allocated Fairburn ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No 42142 works the Bradford portion of the 10.20
No 44892, so ‘Jubilee’ No 45694 was called
King’s Cross express through the Leeds suburbs at Bramley on Monday, 30 May. No 42124 was
from Low Moor to bank the 160 ton train. This
withdrawn within two months of this photograph being taken, a factor that no doubt explains its train ran for the last time on 31 December,
forlorn external appearance. Mike Mitchell/Transport Treasury when ‘5MT’ No 44990 had a load of one coach.

26 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 14:16 Page 27

The last steam-worked 15.20 Bradford

(Exchange) to Stockport service, or the
‘Palethorpes’ as the locals called it, was in the
charge of Low Moor-allocated Fairburn ‘4MT’
2-6-4T No 42116 on 5 November. As can be
seen, No 42116 worked bunker-first out of
Bradford, returning chimney-first on the
balancing 19.35 ex-Stockport. To mark the
occasion, No 42116 carried a hand-made
headboard. Barry Mounsey

The remaining ‘Jubilees’ were still working

Scottish Region
At the beginning of January the Glasgow to
Gourock trains were still steam-hauled, with
‘5MTs’ Nos 44982, 45061, 73059 and 73072,
along with ‘4MTs’ Nos 80007, 80086, 80117
and 80130 all in use, and on 15 January ‘4MT’
No 42264 was noted on the 12.35 Glasgow to
Wemyss Bay service. Also during January the
‘7MT’ Pacifics were still finding employment
on the Carlisle to Perth trains. ‘Clan’
No 72008 was in charge of the 17.50 Glasgow
(Buchanan Street) to Stirling service on
1 February, and ‘7MT’ No 70053 was seen
passing southwards through Motherwell on
15 February at the head of a dozen newly
painted green & cream camping coaches. The
remaining ‘A4’ and ‘A2’ Pacifics were still
being used on the Glasgow to Perth and
Aberdeen passenger trains, while the usual
2-6-4Ts acting as Beattock bankers were
supplemented by ‘4MTs’ Nos 76090, 76103
and 76113 in March. The Dundee ‘A2s’ were
also active covering diesel failures between
Edinburgh and Dundee. By the middle of
April the only serviceable ‘A4s’ were
Nos 60019, 60024 and 60034.
through to Glasgow, for example on 14 April
No 45629 brought a football special into
Glasgow (Central) from Liverpool. The
following day, the last steam worked train to
East Kilbride departed Glasgow (St. Enoch)
behind BR Standard ‘4MT’ No 80121. On
5 May, five steam-hauled football specials
were run from Liverpool to Glasgow in the
charge of Stanier 4-6-0s Nos 44659, 44806,
45065, 45542 and 45627.
Gresley ‘V2’ No 60919 worked the 05.53
Class 4 freight from Edinburgh’s Millerhill
yard to Carlisle on 17 and 24 May. ‘9Fs’ were
not that common over the Waverley route, but
on 20 June No 92233 worked a down empty
stock train over the line. Throughout the year,
steam was still employed regularly in the Fife
area on freights, with ‘B1s’, WDs, ‘J37s’ and
‘J38s’ in use.

As the year progressed, scenes such as this were becoming harder to find as steam contracted on the national network with alarming speed. However,
in August 1966 modernisation and the incursions of the omnipresent diesel can be briefly forgotten at Dundee (Tay Bridge) as a locally-allocated
ex-NBR ‘J37’ 0-6-0 works a pick-up goods in from Dundee West and passes Peppercorn ‘A2’ Pacific No 60532 Blue Peter under Tay Bridge shed’s coaling
tower. No 60532 proved to be the longest-lived of the Dundee ‘A2s’, lasting until December, while Nos 60528 Tudor Minstrel and 60530 Sayajirao served
here until the April (when transferred to Aberdeen) and November respectively, generally covering East Coast fitted freight work or being on standby,
the latter resulting in numerous runs into Glasgow (Buchanan Street). Les Nixon

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 27

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:54 Page 28
During the summer, the 11.05 Glasgow to
Blackpool train was steam-hauled in the main,
and double-heading was required due to the
gradients over the ex-Glasgow & South
Western Railway main line – ‘Black Fives’ and
BR Standard ‘5MTs’ were used as both the
train engines and as pilots, although on 23
and 29 July BR Standard ‘4MTs’ Nos 80004
and 80046 were respectively pressed into
service.
On 29 August the ‘Northern Irishman’
titled train was powered by ‘7MT’ Pacific
No 70045 from Carlisle to Stranraer. The last
steam overhaul at Cowlairs Works saw
Peppercorn ‘K1’ No 62059 emerge in
resplendent condition on 22 September. A
week later, BR Standard ‘3MT’ No 77007 was
in use on the Kilmarnock to Ayr trains. The
Glasgow autumn holiday weekend saw no less
than 13 steam-hauled trains run to Blackpool
on the Friday, returning during the following
Monday.
The last Ayr-allocated ‘Crab’, No 42803,
departed on 8 October. The only ‘V2’ in
service, No 60836, made its last public run on
5 November from Edinburgh to Aberdeen via
Forfar, and then back over the Tay and Forth
bridges. ‘B1s’ were still active in the
Carnoustie area in November, with three –
Nos 61029, 61102 and 61263 – seen on goods
turns on 25 November. Four days later,
‘Britannia’ Pacific No 70042 worked the 16.02
Glasgow to Leeds service following a diesel
Against the unmistakable backdrop of the slate
tips at Blaenau Ffestiniog, Stanier ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts
No 42574 and 42644 have arrived with the
LCGB’s ‘Conway Valley Rail Tour’, which ran
from London (Euston) on 24 September.
Electric No E3110 powered the train to Crewe,
the organisers using the new-found speed on
the West Coast main line to take their tours
further afield, where ‘Britannia’ Pacific
No 70004 took over as far as Llandudno
Junction. The two 2-6-4Ts then worked the
train to Blaenau Ffestiniog and back to
Llandudno. No 70004 worked the Llandudno to
Rhyl leg, and ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 No 42942 took the
train to Denbigh and back. No 70004 then
concluded the steam operation with a run to
Crewe, where No E3026 was waiting for the
return run to Euston. A.R. Butcher
28
failure. On Christmas Eve, rundown Caprotti
‘5MT’ No 73146 lost 1½ hours to Symington
on the 12.05 London (Euston) to Perth, where
it was failed and replaced by Stanier ‘5MT’
No 44887.
Rail tours
No less than 112 rail tours were sponsored by
various societies during the year, three of the
most prolific operators being the Locomotive
Club of Great Britain, running 29, the Railway
Correspondence & Travel Society, operating
14 tours, and the Stephenson Locomotive
Society, running 10 trains. Bulleid Pacifics
featured on many rail tours, with 13
appearances by a ‘Merchant Navy’ and 26 by
Light Pacifics, while 17 ex-LNER 4-6-2s were
used and eight BR Standard ‘7MTs’. The
lengths that British Railways went to please
the enthusiast market was quite extraordinary,
with Aberdeen (Ferryhill) shed sending ‘A4’
No 60024 Kingfisher and ‘A2’ No 60532 Blue
Peter south to the Southern Region, while
Dundee (Tay Bridge) shed despatched Gresley
‘V2’ class 2-6-2 No 60919 to Nine Elms. In the
opposite direction, ‘Merchant Navy’ No 35026
Lamport & Holt Line was moved north to
work between York and Newcastle. Alan
Pegler’s privately-owned ‘A3’ No 4472 Flying
Scotsman was in action on a number of
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
By the beginning of November only one
Gresley ‘V2’ class 2-6-2, No 60836, remained in
service on British Railways, at Dundee shed, so
on 5 November the Scottish Region operated a
last public service run for No 60836, from
Edinburgh to Aberdeen via Forfar, and then
back over the Tay and Forth bridges. The well-
turned-out 2-6-2 is seen at Aberdeen station
waiting time before setting off south for
Edinburgh. By the end of the year the ‘V2s’ had
joined the ranks of extinct classes, apart from
the preserved No 60800 Green Arrow.
Stuart Sellar
occasions, and there was a proliferation of the
‘last of class’ tours, ranging from ex-GWR
pannier tanks, Maunsell ‘S15’, ‘N’ and ‘U’
classes to Bulleid ‘Q1s’, Hughes/Fowler ‘Crabs’,
and Gresley and Peppercorn Pacifics.
Some of the author’s favourites, in no
particular order of preference, include the
Festiniog Railway Society’s AGM special on
30 April – it ran from London (Paddington)
to Banbury behind Brush ‘Type 4’ No D1744,
and it then used Stanier ‘5MT’ No 44872 to
Shrewsbury, where BR Standard ‘4MTs’
Nos 75020 and 75021 came on to work to
Portmadoc. The Talyllyn Railway’s AGM
special on 24 September was to a similar
pattern – haulage from Paddington to
Banbury with Brush ‘Type 4’ No D1733,
No 7029 Clun Castle hauled it to Shrewsbury,
where ‘4MTs’ Nos 75002 and 75029 took over
for the run to Towyn. Both AGM trains were
the last to feature steam-haulage on the main
line.
Living in south-west London, the author
eagerly awaited the appearance of the ‘A4’, ‘A2’
and ‘V2’ trips out of Waterloo. The running of
No 60024 Kingfisher on 26 March went well,
but disappointment followed as No 60919 was
failed on the morning of 3 July and replaced
by Bulleid Light Pacific No 34002 Salisbury,
which then managed to set fire to Clapham
cutting as it was opened up after the Clapham
Junction station speed restriction. Finally,
No 60532 Blue Peter turned in a poor
performance on 14 August. The debut of BR
Standard ‘3MT’ No 77014 on the Southern
Region on 16 April was somewhat
unexpected, and it created a lot of local
interest.
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:54 Page 29

Gresley ‘A4’ Pacific No 60024 Kingfisher powers out of York in charge of the ‘A4 Preservation Society’ special to Edinburgh on 21 May. En route north it
would pass the last two Peppercorn ‘A1’ Pacifics, Nos 60145 Saint Mungo and 60124 Kenilworth, on York shed, already redundant and soon to meet the
cutter’s torch. During 1966 No 60024 was probably the widest travelled of the surviving ‘A4s’ as it worked two specials on the Southern Region, in
addition to ones on the North Eastern, Eastern, and Scottish regions. Barry Mounsey

The RCTS marked the impending end of through passenger workings over the Great Central London extension with a tour on Saturday, 13 August.
Starting from London (Waterloo), it was on ex-GC territory from Neasden through to Nottingham (Victoria), where its Bulleid Pacific, No 34002
Salisbury, was relieved by Stanier ‘8F’ No 48197. The 2-8-0 is seen surrounded by young enthusiasts as it awaits the arrival of the incoming train, the
driver even signing autographs. From here the ‘Great Central Rail Tour’ worked its way through to Clipstone and Sheffield, and even experienced DC
electric haulage from Elsecar Junction to Penistone and back to Sheffield (Victoria). Ultimately, a ‘B1’ handed the train back to No 34002 for the
concluding run from Nottingham (Victoria) to London (Marylebone). Tom Boustead

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 29

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:55 Page 30

The slow rundown of the Somerset & Dorset route eventually came to an end in March 1966 with the complete closure of this once important cross-
country route, an event marked by a flurry of rail tours. On Sunday, 6 March we find Stanier ‘8F’ class 2-8-0 No 48706 piloting BR Standard ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T
No 80043 near Wincanton on the SLS special that was in fact the very last passenger train to run from Bath (Green Park) through to Broadstone and
Bournemouth.The same day the RCTS also ran a commemorative S&D special, while the LCGB had visited on the Saturday. J.C. Beckett

Tours to mark the closure of the Somerset &
Dorset route were over subscribed and featured
Bulleid Pacifics, Standard tanks and Ivatt ‘2MTs’.
Specials to the Longmoor Military Railway saw
WD No AD600 Gordon venturing out on the
main line resplendent in its blue army livery. The
Waverley and Settle & Carlisle lines saw their fair
share of rail tour activity, while many lesser lines
were traversed for the last time by steam. Some
tours were tests of stamina, an example being the
3/4 September ‘Granite City’, which ran from
London (Euston) to Aberdeen, via Crewe,
Carlisle and the Waverley route to Edinburgh.
The journey south was via Edinburgh and York
to King’s Cross and the special used seven
locomotives: Nos E3136, 45593, 60019, 60024,
60836, 70032 and a Brush ‘Type 4’. The year
ended with the LCGB’s ‘Isle of Wight Steam
Farewell’, which was powered by Adams 0-4-4Ts
Nos W24 and W31 on the island, and
Nos 34013, 73043 and 75065 on the mainland.
Author’s note – This article would have been
impossible to prepare without reference to issues
of the RCTS’ Railway Observer, as well as to
Railway World, Modern Railways and the
Railway Magazine.

The LCGB’s ‘S15 Commemorative Rail Tour’ was oversubscribed, so a ‘repeat’ tour was booked to run one week earlier – it enters Alresford behind
Maunsell ‘S15’ 4-6-0 No 30837 on 9 January. Note the disconnected trackwork to the up yard, and the fireman poised to give up the single-line token.
No 30837 worked from Waterloo to Bentley, where Maunsell ‘U’ class Mogul No 31639 took over for an out-and-back trip to Bordon. Once back at
Bentley, the ‘S15’ travelled ‘Over the Alps’, as seen, to reach Eastleigh station. Later, a ‘USA’ tank took the train into Eastleigh Works and back before
the ‘S15’ returned the tour to Waterloo via the Portsmouth Direct line. The second running differed in that the two Maunsell engines double-headed
from Alton to Eastleigh. John H. Bird/RAILWAYIMAGESUK

30 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
 DIDCOT RAILWAY CENTRE
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Email: info@didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk

STEAM GALA

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In Colour
137: The Central Wales line
Sugar Loaf to Pontardulais
Sugar Loaf is where the ex-L&NWR route from Craven Arms through to Llandilo and Carmarthen reached a
watershed, footplate crews of southbound trains that had climbed from near Builth Road had a break from their
labours, with those heading north from Llandovery now bearing the brunt of the terrain. South of Llandovery, the
meeting point of the Central Wales Railway from the north and the Vale of Towy Joint line from Llandilo, other
change was apparent, the railway now running in the open expanse of a valley, this coming with extra activity in the
form of short-workings linking Llandovery with the south, the use of Swindon-designed pannier tanks on these
offering a complete contrast to the LMS-feel of the northern section of the line. Our 1960s scenes conclude at the
junction town of Pontardulais, where the route from Swansea (Victoria) met the oldest section of the Central Wales
route, the line from Llanelly.

On Friday, 30 August 1963 a northbound Central Wales line goods train hauled by an ex-LMS Stanier ‘8F’ class 2-8-0 is well into the final four mile
slog at 1 in 60 to Sugar Loaf tunnel, the line twisting and turning to navigate the valley as it narrows between the photographer’s view point and
the 1,276ft Bryn Nichol before plunging into the 1,001 yard long Sugar Loaf tunnel at 1 in 70. Another member of the same class provides
banking assistance on the rear. Bill Potter/Kidderminster Railway Museum

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 33

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:55 Page 34

An unidentified Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 trundles

downhill from Sugar Loaf tunnel with the
9.10am Shrewsbury to Llandilo Junction goods
service on Tuesday, 4 June 1963. The mixed
goods includes a varied selection of tank
wagons and looks more like a Hornby Dublo
train on a scenic model railway, with only a
wisp of escaping steam to give the game away.
Between here and Llandovery was the 18-arch
viaduct at Cynghordy, immediately followed by
the passing loop and station, albeit only a single
platform on the down side so no passenger
trains were timetabled to use the loop itself,
instead freight trains would be held there so as
not to delay the smooth running of the public
timetable. Brian Miles

On the final approach to Sugar Loaf tunnel,

Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 45283 heads
the 12.10 ex-Swansea (Victoria) to Shrewsbury
service on Saturday, 9 May 1964. This
locomotive was serving from Mold Junction
shed in the months leading up to 5 May 1945,
when it was loaned out to Shrewsbury shed;
the loan became permanent transfer two
weeks later, so it would not be until
19 September 1964 that Mold Junction shed
got its engine back! Brian Miles

34 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:55 Page 35

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 35

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:55 Page 36

Collett ‘8750’ class 0-6-0PT No 3796 departs Llandovery station with the 12.25pm (Saturdays-only) service to Swansea (Victoria) on 15 June 1963.
Completed in November 1938, this locomotive served until March 1965. The 11 mile Vale of Towy Joint line between here and Llandilo was jointly run
by the GWR and L&NWR, so Llandovery was home to two locomotive depots. The L&NWR four-road shed, dating from 1901, is behind the
photographer on the down side, together with a 42ft turntable, while a single-road GWR shed was on the up side. The historic meeting point also
means that even today the station is recorded as being exactly 29½ miles from Llandilo Junction, east of Llanelly, and 59 miles and 14 chains from the
junction at Craven Arms. R. Patterson/Colour-rail.com/314530

On Whitsun Bank Monday, 18 May 1964, when numerous seaside resorts around the country were unwilling hosts to clashes between Mods and
Rockers, a Hawksworth-designed ‘9400’ class 0-6-0PT pulls away from Llanwrda station with the 5pm Llanelly to Llandovery service. The platforms
here were staggered either side of a level crossing, the missing former southbound platform road in this view illustrating economies made when the
loop was removed. Brian Miles

36 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:55 Page 37

Opened as Llangadock station in 1858, this quiet scene looks north at Llangadog on Saturday, 15 June 1963. On the jointly-operated Vale of Towy line
the style of buildings reflected the maintenance division in the pre-nationalisation era, with the five miles from Llandovery to here, including Llanwrda
station, maintained by the L&NWR/LMS, and the six miles beyond, including stations at Glanrhyd, Talley Road, and Llandilo in the care of the Great
Western Railway. Goods facilities at Llangadog included access to a Co-operative Wholesale Society creamery, and traffic served this beyond the
everyday loss of general goods in June 1965. R. Patterson/Colour-Rail.com/112679

The signalman looks out of his modern BR-built signal box at Llandilo, opened on 20 March 1955 to replace a pair of Victorian boxes, on Saturday,
13 June 1964 as BR Standard ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 73025 calls with the 12.10pm Swansea (Victoria) to Shrewsbury service. With no Sunday service, this was
not only the last day of regular steam over the route but also the last day of all passenger services using Swansea (Victoria), as the Central Wales line
timetable was re-cast from the Monday. The loop and sidings were retained at Llandilo and at Llandovery No 1, but both signal boxes were reduced to
groundframes from 14 March 1966, when all the other signal boxes between Llandovery and Pantyffynnon South, where double-track commenced,
were either closed or converted to crossing boxes. Electric train token operation was replaced by a modified train staff and ticket arrangement.
Brian Miles

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 37

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:56 Page 38

Surrounded by GWR architecture at Llandilo, ex-LMS Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 45406 calls with the 11.45am Shrewsbury to Swansea
(Victoria) service on Saturday, 13 June 1964. This locomotive would later return with the last northbound York mails – the 6.25pm departure from
Swansea (Victoria). On the other platform, further travel options once described on the station nameboard have been somewhat crudely wiped out
after the L&NWR Carmarthen line closed the previous year. A long-term Shrewsbury engine, this ‘Black Five’ was transferred from Crewe shed on
24 May 1941, and it would not find a new home until transferred to Annesley on 4 October 1964. Brian Miles

On Saturday 9 May 1964 a Hawksworth ‘9400’ 0-6-0PT departs Llandilo and crosses the River Towy bridge with the 9.45am Llandilo to Pontardulais
service. This location, known as Carmarthen Valley Junction, marked the divergence of the former Great Western and L&NWR lines, the latter line to
Carmarthen having closed from 9 September 1963. The passenger service over that railway had been sparse, with just four eastbound and five
westbound passenger trains a day, except on Saturdays. Brian Miles

38 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:56 Page 39

BR Standard ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 73095 heads the 11.45am Shrewsbury to Swansea (Victoria) service past Ffairfach Halt on Tuesday, 4 June 1963. Although
timetabled to call as most stations, Ffairfach Halt was not one of them, and perhaps surprisingly the forlorn looking halt is still open today. The
Llanelly Railway & Dock Company reached Llandilo as long ago as 1840, with rails extended on to Llandovery by the Vale of Towy Railway from 1 April
1858, and leased to the Llanelly company. Renewal of the lease ten years later coincided with the opening of the 26 mile Central Wales extension
from Llandrindod Wells, so the L&NWR got a toe in from the north on 8 October 1868. The Llanelly Railway became GWR property in 1873.
Brian Miles

A decade after the station here closed to passengers on 3 May 1954, although retained for general goods traffic until 14 March 1966, a Hawksworth
‘9400’ class 0-6-0PT leaves Derwydd Road with the 8.40am Pontardulais to Llandilo service on 9 May 1964. This would soon return south through here
as the 9.45am service from Llandilo to Pontardulais. At 230ft above sea level, this was the third highest summit on the line. South of Derwydd Road
was Cilyrychen Crossing, which was a crossing point with no station but was the junction for a branch to limestone quarries, and Llandebie platform
followed that, on the up side, with sidings on the down. Brian Miles

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 39

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:56 Page 40

South of Llandebie the now GWR line enters a colliery district, through Ammanford & Tirydail and Pantyffynnon, from where a line to Brynamman
opened in October 1886; its passenger service was lost in August 1958. The L&NWR and GWR owned joint facilities at Pontardulais Junction, this view
being taken looking north from the station footbridge on Thursday, 26 March 1964. Thanks to running rights, L&NWR/LMS trains could travel over the
Llandilo to Pontardulais Junction section of line, the physical junction being seen at the end of the platform in this view, where pure-L&NWR metals
restarted for Swansea. Collett 0-6-0PT No 3672 is in the ex-L&NWR platforms, the Swansea side of the station, while the left-hand platform is the
route through to Llanelly, in effect the GWR platforms. The pannier is shunting stock off the 4.15pm ex-Swansea (Victoria), ready to work the 5.20pm
return service, these services being timed to connect with the 5pm from Llanelly. Brian Miles

Shortly afterwards, ‘7400’ class 0-6-0PT No 7446 runs into the ex-GWR platforms with the 5pm Llanelly to Llandovery service. Completed at Swindon
Works in March 1950, this engine’s short career would conclude at Llanelly shed in July 1964. Brian Miles

40 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
 B
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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:56 Page 44
‘Castle’ Class naming policy
Ian Appleyard describes the
evolution of the Great Western
Railway’s locomotive naming policy,
and its complex application to the
‘Castle’ class.
nly 112 of the 171 ‘Castle’ class
O locomotives carried castle names
throughout their existence – this was
virtually unique among the Collett classes that
received names. The ‘Halls’, ‘Granges’ and
‘Manors’ were, like the ‘Castles’, named after
notable buildings; the only exception was the
‘King’ class, and at one time it was believed
that they would carry cathedral names. With
all these classes the names kept to the chosen
theme with just one exception, the pioneering
‘Hall’, Saint Martin, which was rebuilt from a
‘Saint’ and kept its original name.
The naming of the ‘Castles’ was initially a
very logical system, but it was to become
extremely complex and convoluted. The
locomotives were all given provisional names,
produced as lists at the time that each ‘Lot’
was approved for production by the directors.
In the vast majority of cases these provisional
names translated into the names actually
carried, but some were not. Indeed in a small
number of cases they were never carried at all.
As far as can be ascertained, provisional
names that did not become permanent were
either not carried at all or may have, at best,
been temporarily applied within Swindon
Works. Once names had been definitively
applied that was far from the end of the story
too, as many, for a variety of reasons, were to
have these changed.
History of GWR locomotive names
Although notable buildings received names, it
was the development of inventions that led to
a proliferation of naming. Ships and stage
coaches led the way, and it was natural that
44
Double-chimney ‘Castle’ No 7036 Taunton Castle passes Southall shed with the 12.30pm London
(Paddington) to Weston-super-Mare express on 27 September 1959.This 4-6-0 was earmarked to
receive the Ogmore Castle nameplates removed from No 7007 when it became Great Western in
January 1948, but instead No 7035 received those rather than using the ‘Liddington Castle’ name,
which would never be used. No 7037 ran from August 1950 until September 1963.
K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson
Inset, above: The standard ‘Castle’ nameplate is illustrated by that carried by No 7036 Taunton
Castle, the last of the 171-strong class to carry a ‘Castle’ name. The plates themselves were sheet
steel, but the individual 3½in high letters were hollow cast brass. The beading surrounding the
name was also in brass, while steel angle brackets were used to fit the curved nameplates on to
the middle driving wheel splashers of each locomotive. R.C. Riley/Transport Treasury
railway locomotives, when they appeared in ‘convertibles’. There was at this time a review
the early 19th century, should follow suit. It of the naming policy, resulting in a decision
was not just for embellishment, but the that any locomotive likely to be found on a
practical need to keep track of locomotives, passenger train of any significance, express or
their whereabouts and their state of repair and semi-fast should receive a name – this policy
maintenance, that demanded the need for continued right through until the building of
individual identification. It was, however, by the last GWR-designed locomotives in 1953.
no means universal practice to use names for
identification – the alternative was to use Implementing the GWR naming policy
numbers. From the early days, policy varied A greater proportion of GWR locomotives were
between the different companies, some named than of any other pre-Grouping railway
preferred to identify locomotives by number, company, or for that matter any of the other
giving names additionally to selected ‘Big Four’ companies after 1923. In fact, the
examples. The Midland Railway absolute number with names was
was the extreme among these, ‘The naming of greater than any of the other three,
in its entire existence naming even though the London, Midland
just one locomotive. the ‘Castles’ was & Scottish Railway and London &
The early broad gauge Great initially a very North Eastern Railway locomotive
Western Railway locomotives logical system, but fleets were both significantly larger
were all were given names,
it was to become than that of the GWR.
Another implication was the need
numbers not being used at all.
The same policy was applied to extremely complex to decide exactly how such large
locomotives coming into GWR and convoluted’ numbers of names were to be
ownership as a result of sourced. To achieve this, a small
amalgamations, absorptions or take-overs. section was established within the Locomotive
When the GWR was forced to build standard Superintendent’s, later Chief Mechanical
and mixed gauge tracks the company began to Engineer’s department. Lists of potential
use its Wolverhampton Works for building names were drawn up, using a variety of
ever increasing numbers of standard gauge themes. For the allocation of names to
locomotives, and these were identified by locomotives, systems were fairly quickly
number only. developed. Within each batch of locomotives,
With the abandonment of the broad gauge the names were generally in alphabetical order
in 1892, the GWR was left with no named and the names of small groups of locomotives
locomotives, save a small number of quite often followed a common theme. Within
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:56 Page 45
The brand new No 5069 Isambard Kingdom Brunel is seen at Old Oak Common engine shed in July or August 1938, while carrying the first version of
the long nameplate required to accommodate the 21 letters and two spaces of the great man’s name. As can be seen, the plate was ugly and ill-suited
to the lines of the ‘Castle’. This error of judgement was quickly rectified – new plates were made, and the original plates were quietly disposed of at
Swindon Works. R.C. Riley/The Transport Treasury
larger classes several themes would be found,
but smaller classes could be embraced by a
single theme. This policy was developed from
the early 1890s and it was applied to the
double-framed 4-2-2s and 4-4-0s of William
Dean. The 4-4-0s continued to be built until
1910, by which time G.J. Churchward had
succeeded Dean in 1902 as Chief Mechanical
Engineer. The naming policy is well
exemplified by the later batches of these
locomotives. Each batch was authorized by
the Directors and allocated a ‘Lot’ number. In
1903, Lot 141 was for ten locomotives of the
‘City’ class, named alphabetically, with one
exception. Then, in 1908, 20 ‘Flower’ class
locomotives were authorized in two Lots of
ten, and again these were named
alphabetically. In 1909/10, the last of the 150
strong ‘Bulldog’ class were built as Lot 177,
with 15 locomotives carrying names
alphabetically from Blackbird to Starling.
Churchward lost no time in progressing a
policy for the development of a whole range of
standard designs, plans for which he had begun
to prepare while he was still Dean’s deputy. For
main line passenger trains, after a series of
comparative trials, he determined on two
classes of 4-6-0 – a four-cylinder locomotive for
longer distance non-stop or limited stop trains,
and a two-cylinder design for intermediate
stopping expresses and semi-fast services. The
two-cylinder 4-6-0s had a protracted evolution
beginning in 1902, following which 76
locomotives were produced up to 1913, in ten
lots; different name themes were applied to the
various lots. The early locomotives received
names of GWR directors and Walter Scott
This is the second version of the nameplates
carried by No 5069, having replaced the rather
ugly non-standard large radius curve variant
with the same name. Photographed at Bristol
(Temple Meads) on 19 September 1955, this
was the longest ‘Castle’ name other than the
regimental plates on Nos 4016 and 5017, and
No 4016’s original ‘Star’ class name.
R.C. Riley/Transport Treasury
MAY 2016
novels, somewhat haphazardly, reflecting the
piecemeal development of the class in its early
years. There followed a settled phase when the
themes were ‘Ladies’ and then ‘Saints’, and
finally ‘Courts’. Only the latter two were applied
alphabetically. Of note is that the name adopted
for the class was ‘Saint’, despite the fact that this
was the fourth theme used and the first ‘Saint’
was the 33rd member of the class to be built!
The four-cylinder 4-6-0s began in 1906
with a prototype that first appeared as an
Atlantic, as part of Churchward’s comparative
development work, but it was not too long
before it was converted to a 4-6-0 – it was
given the name North Star. Following this
were six lots between 1908 and 1914, totalling
60 locomotives. A final lot of 12 locomotives
was built in 1922/23, after Churchward had
retired. The first lot after the prototype, made
up of ten locomotives, also received ‘Star’
names, these being applied alphabetically.
There then followed ‘Knights’, ‘Kings’,
‘Queens’, ‘Princes’ and ‘Princesses’, and the
final 12 were named after ‘Abbeys’. The
naming department for some reason
abandoned its usual alphabetical policy with
all of these lots. The class name, this time
much more logically, was ‘Star’, and the
number sequence was 4000-4072.
The GWR’s only Pacific locomotive, built
in 1908, was in effect a ‘Super Star’ and so it
received the name of a constellation – The
Great Bear. Restricted to the Bristol to
London (Paddington) main line, in 1923 its
inner firebox needed replacing but this was
deemed uneconomic, so the one-off 4-6-2 was
‘laid up’ at Swindon.
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
Nameplates
From the earliest days, bold serif lettering was
used, the nameplates being cast. The style
varied from straight to curved, and even to an
oval, the latter incorporating both the
locomotive name and number. From the late
1890s, Clarendon Bold lettering was adopted;
each letter was individually cast in brass, 3½
inches high and hollow. The letters were
riveted to sheet steel plates of standard design.
The entire plate was crescent-shaped to fit on
the middle splasher of 4-6-0s or the leading
splasher on 4-4-0s. The upper part of the
plate, on which the letters were mounted, was
painted black and surrounded by brass
beading, rounded at each end, while the part
below the lettering was painted mid-chrome
green.
Most plates were of a standard size, the
spacing of the letters varied according to the
length of the name, and these were fixed to
the splasher by three or four right-angle
brackets. This style of plate was much more
versatile than the cast option, as if a name was
no longer required the letters could be
removed and the plate reused using new
letters. A few longer names did required larger
customised plates, see Isambard Kingdom
Brunel.
A significant number of the ‘Castle’ class
locomotives acquired non-castle names and
many of these were given a small
supplementary plate denoting ‘Castle Class’,
mounted just below the main name. This,
however, did not apply to No 100 Lloyds, the
three named after regiments, and the 21
‘Earls’.
45
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:57 Page 46

The first of Collett’s ‘Castle’ class, No 4073

Table One Caerphilly Castle, nears Iver with a Paddington
to the west of England express on 21 June 1930.
Having undergone three heavy, and one general
Lot 224 – The first ten ‘Castles’
repair since entering traffic, and already
running with its sixth tender, No 4073 is not in
No 4073 Caerphilly Castle
No 4074 Caldicot Castle original condition, but its overall appearance is
No 4075 Cardiff Castle still close to that when first built.The GWR
No 4076 Carmarthen Castle chose not to follow its usual alphabetical
No 4077 Chepstow Castle naming sequence with the first members of the
class, which would have seen No 4073 become
Abbotsbury Castle or Aberystwyth Castle. Instead
No 4078 Pembroke Castle

it selected the name of the more impressive

No 4079 Pendennis Castle

Welsh fortification at Caerphilly to adorn the

No 4080 Powderham Castle
first of the class.
No 4081 Warwick Castle
George R. Grigs/Rail Archive Stephenson
No 4082 Windsor Castle

When No 4037 Queen Philippa was renamed

The South Wales Borderers in March 1937, with
the official ceremony taking place on 14 April,
it received non-standard style nameplates, as
used on the two other ‘Castles’ named after
regiments, and was fitted with regimental
insignia. The name is seen on 10 June 1956 at
Old Oak Common, the gentleman posing for
the photographer being Mr Coles, the
shedmaster. R.C. Riley/Transport Treasury

Development of the ‘Castles’

G.J. Churchward retired at the end of 1921
and he was succeeded by Charles Collett, his
assistant since 1919. Although a batch of 12
‘Stars’ was under production as he took over,
Collett knew that with passenger trains
getting ever heavier and with faster schedules of ‘Saints’ and ‘Stars’ had carried the names of The immediate success of the ‘Castles’ led
being required, there was a need for a more significant buildings, ‘Courts’ and Abbeys’, Collett to a solution to his problem as to what
powerful locomotive. He set the design team and if the theme of buildings was to be used to do with The Great Bear – in January 1924
to work using the ‘Star’ as the basis, and the again then something more outstanding was he ordered the GWR’s only Pacific to be
principal developments were lengthened required – what is more striking than a castle? dismantled. The frames were cut behind the
frames, increased cylinder diameter and a So the new locomotives became the ‘4073 trailing driving axle and a new rear section
side-window cab. A larger boiler, the Standard Castle Class.’ The naming department was was welded on to create a ‘Castle’ frame.
No 7, as fitted to the ‘4700’ class, was asked to produce ten castle names, and it Re-using salvageable parts, it was rebuilt as a
incorporated, but as designed the locomotive came up with six fortresses from across South ‘Castle’, emerging as a 4-6-0 in September
was too heavy for all but the three major Wales and one each from Cornwall, Devon, 1924. Although the rebuild retained its
routes – the solution was to compromise by the Midlands and the Home Counties. original running number, No 111, it had a
designing a new, smaller boiler, which became The pioneer locomotive emerged from new name, Viscount Churchill, after the
known as the Standard No 8. Swindon Works in August 1923 and it was GWR’s Chairman.
With the design now acceptable to the Caerphilly Castle. It was an instant success, As a means of getting more ‘Castles’ in
Civil Engineer, authority for construction was more than living up to expectations. The traffic, Collett obtained agreement to convert
sought. The directors approved Lot 224, remaining nine locomotives appeared some of the ‘Stars’ as they became due for
comprising ten locomotives. It was decided to between December 1923 and April 1924. The heavy overhauls. Four were rebuilt in 1925/26,
continue the number sequence from the names, shown in Table One, were applied in followed by the pioneering North Star in 1929.
‘Stars’, beginning with No 4073. The last lots alphabetical order. All kept their original names and although
three were subsequently re-named, none ever
carried a ‘Castle’ name (Table Two).
Table Two
Rebuilding and renaming dates – The Great Bear and selected ‘Stars’ The ‘Castle’ names
In early 1925 the directors approved the
Original No and name Rebuilt Renamed
111 The Great Bear 9/1924 to No 111 Viscount Churchill 9/1924
construction of another ten ‘Castles’ as
4000 North Star 11/1929 Lot 232. The section responsible for names
4009 Shooting Star 4/1925 to No 100 A1 Lloyds 1/1936 was advised that the long-term plan was to
4016 Knight of the Golden Fleece 10/1925 to The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s) 1/1938 construct a large number of ‘Castles’ and their
4032 Queen Alexandra 4/1926 researches soon revealed what a rich source of
4037 Queen Philippa 6/1926 to The South Wales Borderers 3/1937
names the castle theme offered – they were

46 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:57 Page 47

No 111 Viscount Churchill passes Nottingham (Victoria) with a special train of the latest GWR stock for the Stockton & Darlington Railway Centenary
Exhibition in June 1925, just nine months after it first emerged from Swindon Works as a 4-6-0. The 11th ‘Castle’ to enter traffic, it was regarded as a
conversion from Churchward’s only Pacific, No 111 The Great Bear. Retaining the Pacific’s number, it was named after the GWR’s Chairman, and so
became the first of the class to carry a non-castle name. T.G. Hepburn/Rail Archive Stephenson

able to produce a list, which ran to 210. About
two-thirds of these were within GWR
territory, which gave reasonable prospect of
covering the class, unless it ultimately became
very numerous – castles in GWR territory
indeed became the policy. Their researches
were clearly not exhaustive, because in Wales
alone there are records of some 400 castles,
with some remnant of around 100 still in
existence.
Some castles started as ancient hill forts,
while the greatest era of castle building began
with the Normans and went on into the
medieval period. Siege warfare gave way to
more mobile tactics, so fortress building
ceased after about 1400. By Tudor times there
was little internal strife, the enemy now being
overseas to the south. King Henry VIII
responded by building a series of coastal
artillery forts from Essex to Cornwall. From
Elizabethan times to the 1800s, many manor
houses were built, some of them fortified to
varying degrees, but as time passed, more and
more were simply built as grand houses. A
significant number of these were given the
title ‘castle’. Architectural styles varied, some
incorporating features from castles of earlier
eras. To complicate matters, additions and
rebuilding were common, so that many castles
have features of some or all of the above.
Others have fallen into disrepair or were
slighted by Cromwell’s Parliamentarian forces
in the Civil Wars of the 17th century. Among
the names selected for the ‘Castle’ class are
examples of all the castle types already
described.
Names from the 1925 list
The 1925 list was compiled mainly in
alphabetical order. As the list was developed it
became necessary to add other names, again
mainly in alphabetical sub-batches. The list
included the names carried by the original ten
locomotives in 1923/24. The second lot, 232,
comprised ten locomotives and all were
completed between May and August 1925 –
Nos 4083-92 were named from Abbotsbury
Castle to Dunraven Castle.

The second ‘Star’ to ‘Castle’ conversion was No 4016 Knight of the Golden Fleece, which was released from Swindon Works in October 1925 and is seen
alongside the Wolverhampton (Stafford Road) coal stage circa 1932, while coupled to a Collett 4,000 gallon high-sided tender. On 18 February 1938
this locomotive would be renamed The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s), complete with regimental crests on its centre driving wheel splashers.
The resultant three-line nameplates would only be matched by one other class member, No 5017 after its April 1954 renaming as The Gloucestershire
Regiment 28th 61st. C.R. Gordon Stuart/Rail Archive Stephenson

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The names of the Lot 234 ‘Castles’ continued the alphabetical sequence of the Lot 232 engines, and here we see the third of the Lot 234 batch,
No 4095 Harlech Castle, named after one of the great North Wales castles built on the orders of King Edward I. No 4095 was released to traffic in June
1926 and it is seen circa 1932, while departing Exeter (St. David’s) station with a down express. It was withdrawn from Reading shed during the second
week of December 1962. C.R. Gordon Stuart/Rail Archive Stephenson

The next ‘Castles’ authorized were under
Lot 234, which comprised 20 locomotives, but
they were completed in two batches. The first
ten, completed in 1926, were Nos 4093-5002. A
design modification was the use of straight
frames, ‘dished’ to allow clearance for the
leading bogie wheels to swing under the front
of the frame. When out-shopped, No 5000 was
coupled to a new style 4,000-gallon capacity
tender, and similar tenders soon appeared on
Nos 4093 and 5002; subsequently they became
standard with all locomotives from No 5013
onwards. By 1930 the 4,000-gallon tenders had
also been fitted to all the earlier locomotives.
The naming department, in its methodical
style, duly supplied the names Dunster Castle
to Ludlow Castle, following on from Dunraven
Castle. Some notable names in the sequence
were No 4095 Harlech Castle, King Edward I’s
fortress on the coast of north-west Wales,
No 4096 Highclere Castle, in north Hampshire
and famous in modern times as ‘Downton
Abbey’, and No 4097 Kenilworth Castle, the
setting for Sir Walter Scott’s romantic novel.
The second ten locomotives of Lot 234
were built more or less in parallel with the first
‘Kings’. They all appeared from the works in
summer 1927. The proposed names ran in
alphabetical sequence following the previous
batch, running from Lulworth Castle to
Wallingford Castle. However, there were
immediately problems with these, as Collett, on
seeing the provisional list, declared that some
of the names were unsuitable. He took
particular exception to Oystermouth Castle and
Wallingford Castle, and the naming department

The original intention had been to name No 5007 Oystermouth Castle, after the fortification standing at The Mumbles, near Swansea, but on
13 September 1926 this was dropped in favour of Rougemont Castle, Collett himself deciding that Oystermouth Castle was inappropriate. Known locally
as Exeter Castle, the choice of Rougemont confused many observers not conversant with Devon castle nomenclature. No 5007 is seen taking water
from Goring troughs in 1938. Colling Turner/Rail Archive Stephenson

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:57 Page 49
The short-lived streamlined ‘Castle’, No 5005 Manorbier Castle, stands at Old Oak Common shed not long after receiving its pseudo-air smoothed
alterations in March 1935. The use of a straight driving wheel splasher necessitated the provision of a non-standard straight nameplate. However,
No 5005’s reversion to its original appearance by May 1937 would see the original style of curved nameplate reinstated.
J.H.L. Adams/Rail Archive Stephenson/OTA
was asked to revise the list. In doing so they
drew more names from the ‘master list’ but
seem to have lost their usual composure with
respect to an alphabetical sequence, and in this
respect they ended up with a degree of chaos.
In two instances a second provisional name
was suggested before all was finally agreed
(Table Three). This batch was fitted with
automatic train control (ATC) from new.
Lulworth, although near GWR territory,
was nearer the Southern Railway, while
Tregenna, near St. Ives, was an 18th century
manor house that became a hotel, and
following a visit by Daniel Gooch it was
leased and then bought by the GWR,
becoming the first railway holiday hotel.
Raglan was the last medieval fortress castle,
completed in the 1480s, and Tintagel is
among those claiming to be the legendary
King Arthur’s castle. No 5005 Manorbier
Castle was selected for ‘streamlining’ in 1935
and the curved nameplate had to be removed,
as the three individual splashers were replaced
by a single straight one on which was
mounted the straight nameplate that was
unique among the ‘Castle’ class.
The construction of the 30 ‘Kings’ meant
that the next ten ‘Castles’ did not appear until
1932. They had a modified firebox, with a
wider water space and reduced grate area, to
facilitate boiler washouts, which was achieved
without reducing boiler efficiency, while the
front valve covers were squared off. Nos 5013
to 5022 were named in alphabetical sequence
from Abergavenny Castle to Wigmore Castle.
Among these was No 5018 St Mawes Castle,
one of King Henry VIII’s artillery forts on the
east side of Carrick Road and opposite
Pendennis Castle, of similar origin, sitting
above Falmouth.
The year 1934 saw the production of
another ten ‘Castles’, Lot 295, again with a
self-contained alphabetical list of names –
Nos 5023 to 5032, named Brecon Castle to Usk
Castle. There was one problem, however,
when it was realised that Exeter Castle was
one and the same as Rougemont Castle, which
was already allocated to No 5007. A slight
MAY 2016
adjustment corrected this, while keeping all in
alphabetical order – the name Exeter Castle
was dropped and No 5027 instead became
Farleigh Castle, the proposed name for
No 5028, which then became Llantilio Castle.
Lot 296 was completed in 1935, with
Nos 5033 to 5042 becoming Broughton Castle
to Winchester Castle. A small error occurred
in that No 5034 Corfe Castle and No 5035
Coity Castle are alphabetically reversed. This
appears to have been a genuine error on the
original ‘master list’. Corfe Castle was some
distance from GWR territory and it actually
overlooked the ex-London & South Western
Railway Swanage branch. Today the castle
fully exemplifies the terrible results of
slighting by Parliament in the Civil Wars.
Re-writing of the ‘master list’
It seems certain that the master list was
re-written around 1936; probably simply
copied out in its original form. The evidence
for this is that all names used up to No 5042
have a single number against them, with no
indication of the changes described. On the
other hand, all the changes that took place
onwards from No 5043 are fully detailed.
Nos 5043 to 5097 – ‘Castles’, ‘Earls’, and
‘Abbeys’
The largest batch of ‘Castles’ authorized was
Lot 303, for 25 locomotives, Nos 5043 to 5067.
Completed in 1936/37, some of these received
a smaller, neater chimney, which later became
Table Three
Lot 234 – The second batch
No. Provisional name
5003 Lulworth Castle
5004 Manorbier Castle
5005 Newport Castle
5006 Ogmore Castle or Nunney Castle
5007 Oystermouth Castle
5008 Raglan Castle
5009 Shrewsbury Castle
5010 Swansea Castle
5011 Tintagel Castle
5012 Wallingford Castle or Whittington Castle
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
general to the class, and the proposal was to
name them Barbury Castle through to Wilton
Castle. However, problems soon arose when
Sir Thomas Bazley, owner of Hatherop Castle,
the name intended for No 5053, refused to
allow its use, and Picton Castle, proposed for
No 5058, was also dropped. Forgetting
alphabetical convention, Bishop’s Castle and
Newport Castle were substituted respectively.
At about the same time, to meet the need
for a lightweight but reasonably powerful
locomotive for central Wales lines, Collett hit
on the idea of putting ‘Duke’ class boilers on
‘Bulldog’ frames. He was also aware that some
directors, who he regarded as rather pompous,
were agitating to have their names applied to
locomotives. Many of these and their associates
carried the title ‘Earl’, and Collett had ‘Earl’
names applied to the hybrid locomotives. At
the naming ceremony, the earls were not
amused at being associated with such ancient
looking, diminutive 4-4-0 locomotives. Collett
had made his point and the earls had to live
with it, until July 1937 that is, when a decision
was made to change the name of No 5063
Thornbury Castle to Earl Baldwin. This was to
honour Stanley Baldwin, a former GWR
director who had recently retired from being
Prime Minister after sorting out the abdication
crisis. Although a ‘commoner’, he had been
created an earl. This led to further agitation
that the ‘Earl’ names should be transferred to
‘Castles’ – this was done by renaming the 20
locomotives ahead of Earl Baldwin, thus
Name carried
Lulworth Castle
Llanstephan Castle
Manorbier Castle
Tregenna Castle
Rougemont Castle
Raglan Castle
Shrewsbury Castle
Restormel Castle
Tintagel Castle
Berry Pomeroy Castle
49
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:57 Page 50

Newly-built No 5050 Devizes Castle is seen at

Swindon in May 1936 – it was destined to carry
its original name for just 15 months before
becoming Earl of St Germans, one of the names
originally allotted to the ‘Earl’ class 4-4-0s. As
was generally the case with the original names
from the Lot 303 engines, the displaced
nameplates were reused, in the case of Devizes
Castle on No 5075 between August 1938 and
August 1940, when it was renamed Wellington.
In June 1946 the Devizes Castle plates were used
for a third time, on No 7002, which carried
them until its withdrawal in March 1964.
Rail Archive Stephenson

Barbury Castle to Tenby Castle took the names

from the 4-4-0s in the same order that they had
appeared on those locomotives. The displaced
‘Castle’ nameplates were stored for re-use later
(Table Four).
The removal of ‘Castle’ names to make
way for the ‘Earls’ was somewhat overzealous
and it resulted in Tretower Castle and Upton
Castle, Nos 5064 and 5065, losing their ‘Castle’ name being used on the same A decision was taken in 1937 to rebuild
nameplates unnecessarily. ‘Castle’ names were locomotives. The changes to Lot 303 were still the last ten ‘Stars’ to ‘Castles’, Nos 4063 to
reinstated, but for an undiscovered reason not over, for the last member, No 5067 Wilton 4072 becoming Nos 5083 to 5092, but this
Bishop’s Castle and Newport Castle, previously Castle, never carried this name, but instead would be done randomly as the ‘Stars’ became
used on Nos 5053 and 5058 and then usurped became St Fagans Castle, possibly a further due for heavy overhauls. The first was
by Earl Cairns and Earl of Clancarty sop to the Earl of Plymouth, whose residence completed in April 1937, but the whole
respectively, took the place of the originals – it was. Thus only No 5066 Wardour Castle process took four years. As the locomotives
these are the only examples of more than one retained its intended name in the GWR era. were stripped down completely and rebuilt

A close-up of the ‘Earl’ series nameplate of

‘Castle’ class 4-6-0 No 5058. The locomotive
was completed as Newport Castle in May 1937
but it became Earl of Clancarty in the
September. The first of the new-build ‘Castle’
batches not to carry ‘castle’ names, the ‘Earl’
series had no reference to the class on their
nameplates, unlike the later ‘Aircraft’ and
‘Abbey’ (ex-‘Star’) batches of locomotives.
M. Roberts/Kidderminster Railway Museum

A circa 1957 view at Kensington Olympia

records ‘Castle’ class 4-6-0 No 5058 Earl of
Clancarty with a train of milk tankers. The
Newport Castle plates removed from this
locomotive in September 1937 immediately
usurped the Upton Castle plates on No 5065.
These in turn went into store until required for
No 5093 of Lot 324, which went on to carry the
name Upton Castle throughout its career – June
1939 to September 1963.
A. Linakar/Kidderminster Railway Museum

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Table Four
‘Castle’ names first given to Lot 303 locomotives, Nos 5043 to 5067, and their later re-use

Original name Superseded by Re-used on Superseded by Re-used on Superseded by Re-used on

No 5043 Barbury Castle Earl of Mount Edgcumbe 5095
No 5044 Beverston Castle Earl of Dunraven 5068
No 5045 Bridgwater Castle Earl of Dudley 5096
No 5046 Clifford Castle Earl Cawdor 5071 Spitfire 5098
No 5047 Compton Castle Earl of Dartmouth 5072 Hurricane 5099
No 5048 Cranbrook Castle Earl of Devon 5073 Blenheim 7030
No 5049 Denbigh Castle Earl of Plymouth 5074 Hampden 7001 Sir James Milne 7032
No 5050 Devizes Castle Earl of St Germans 5075 Wellington 7002
No 5051 Drysllwyn Castle Earl Bathurst 5076 Gladiator 7018
No 5052 Eastnor Castle Earl of Radnor 5077 Fairey Battle 7004
No 5053 Bishop’s Castle Earl Cairns 5064*
No 5054 Lamphey Castle Earl of Ducie 5078 Beaufort 7005
No 5055 Lydford Castle Earl of Eldon 5079 Lysander 7006
No 5056 Ogmore Castle Earl of Powis 5080 Defiant 7007 Great Western 7035
No 5057 Penrice Castle Earl Waldegrave 5081 Lockheed Hudson 7023
No 5058 Newport Castle Earl of Clancarty 5065†
No 5059 Powis Castle Earl St Aldwyn 5082 Swordfish 7024
No 5060 Sarum Castle Earl of Berkeley 5097
No 5061 Sudeley Castle Earl of Birkenhead 7025
No 5062 Tenby Castle Earl of Shaftesbury 7026
No 5063 Thornbury Castle Earl Baldwin 7027
No 5064 Tretower Castle Bishop’s Castle 5094
No 5065 Upton Castle Newport Castle 5093
No 5066 Wardour Castle Sir Felix Pole#
No 5067 St Fagans Castle§

* Name reused in September 1937, replacing Tretower Castle on No 5064

† Name reused in September 1937, replacing Upton Castle on No 5065
# Re-named in 1956
§ To traffic in July 1937 as St Fagans Castle, although initially proposed as ‘Wilton Castle’.

using recoverable parts, the project was
designated Lot 317. Keeping their original
names, all the locomotives were named after
Abbeys, except No 5086 Viscount Horne,
named after the Chairman of the GWR from
1934 through to 1940, and they were not in
alphabetical order.
The 1938/39 period saw the construction
of Lot 310, 15 locomotives, and Lot 324, ten
locomotives, although in the event the last five
of Lot 324 – Nos 5098, 5099, 7000, 7001 and
7002 – were cancelled due to the outbreak of
war.
The names removed in 1937 from
Nos 5043 to 5063, in favour of the ‘Earl’ series,
were all to be re-used, with two of the 21
names eventually being used on no less than
four locomotives each. The Lot 310
locomotives, Nos 5068 to 5082, were initially
allocated names from Barbury Castle through
to Powis Castle – all previously used on
Lot 303 engines – but there were immediate
changes when Barbury Castle and Beverston
Castle got switched around, probably because
locomotives under construction are not
necessarily placed in numerical order on the
shop floor – thus No 5068 became Beverston

Former Churchward ‘Star’ class 4-6-0 No 4067 Tintern Abbey is seen at Swindon Works, without its tender, on 8 October 1950. One of the ten ‘Stars’
rebuilt as ‘Castles’ under Lot 317, Tintern Abbey entered service in January 1923 as a ‘Star’, but its November 1940 rebuild under Collett, complete
with re-numbering as ‘Castle’ No 5087, ensured its continued use through to August 1963. Its first shed as a ‘Castle’ was Old Oak Common, while its
last proved to be Llanelly. P.M. Alexander/Kidderminster Railway Museum

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Table Five Table Six

Lot 324 Lot 357 of 1946
Nos and names originally allocated,
Named Proposed name Re-named
including cancelled locomotives No 5098 Clifford Castle
No 5099 Compton Castle
No and name Name first No 7000 Viscount Portal Cranbrook Castle
as applied allocated loco No No 7001 Denbigh Castle Sir James Milne#
No 5093 Upton Castle No 5065 No 7002 Devizes Castle
No 5094 Tretower Castle No 5064 No 7003 Elmley Castle Drysllwyn Castle
No 5095 Barbury Castle No 5043 No 7004 Eastnor Castle
No 5096 Bridgwater Castle No 5044* No 7005 Lamphey Castle
No 5097 Sarum Castle No 5060 No 7006 Lydford Castle
No 5098 Sudeley Castle† No 5061* No 7007 Ogmore Castle Great Western*
No 5099 Tenby Castle† No 5062*
No 7000 Thornbury Castle† No 5063* * Re-named in 1948
No 7001 Chester Castle†
No 7002 Hereford Castle†
No 7007 was completed by the GWR in July 1946 and named Ogmore Castle, re-using the name
* No 5044 in fact became Beverston Castle from previously displaced from Nos 5056 and 5080, when respectively renamed Earl of Powis and Defiant.
new, with No 5045 instead becoming However, with no new ‘Castles’ completed before the birth of British Railways, No 7007 was
Bridgwater Castle. notable as the last ‘Castle’ built by the GWR and so it was decided to rename it Great Western in
† The 1939 order for Nos 5098 to 7002 was January 1948. This, of course, led to the Ogmore Castle nameplates being once again put to one
cancelled; they would be built in 1946 as part of side, before being re-used by No 7035 in August 1950. This scene records Great Western passing
Lot 357. High Wycombe with the 4.10pm Paddington to Birmingham service in August 1948.
H.K. Harman/Rail Archive Stephenson

Castle. It was then decided to name No 5069 Post-war ‘Castles’

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and No 5070 Sir The post-war ‘Castles’ were built in three lots, in
Daniel Gooch to mark the GWR centenary. 1946, 1948/49 and 1950, respectively Lot 357
The result was that the Barbury Castle and (Table Six), Lot 367 (Table Seven), and Lot 375
Bridgwater Castle nameplates were put in (Table Eight). Collett had retired in 1941, to be
store without ever being carried by these succeeded by Hawksworth, and the most
engines. The last of Lot 310, No 5082 Powis obvious modification to the post-war ‘Castles’
Castle, appeared in June 1939, and it was was the straight-sided tender. With respect to
rapidly followed by the first five locomotives names, although there were some changes from
of Lot 324. Although the residual eight stored provisional intentions, compared to what had
nameplates were re-used, the first two were gone before, these were relatively minor. All the
not in logical order and the last two required names displaced by the ‘Earl’ and ‘Aircraft’
new names, which were drawn from the
master list (Table Five).
Table Seven
Backtracking to Lot 310, further changes of
Lot 367
names occurred in 1940/41. This was brought
Name in service Proposed name
about by the ‘buy a Spitfire’ campaign, when
7008 Swansea Castle
many factories invited employees to contribute 7009 Athelney Castle
money to the war effort. The GWR went a step 7010 Avondale Castle
further and decided to rename 12 ‘Castles’ after 7011 Barry Castle
7012 Banbury Castle
warplanes of the era – Table Four shows the
7013 Bristol Castle
changes made. The removed nameplates had all 7014 Caerhays Castle
previously been usurped by the ‘Earl’ re- 7015 Carn Brae Castle
namings, and they were again put in store for 7016 Chester Castle
7017 G.J. Churchward Cranbrook Castle
re-use (Table Four).
7018 Drysllwyn Castle
The aircraft names, although having a 7019 Fowey Castle
considerable ring to them, represented quite a 7020 Gloucester Castle
mixed bunch. The Spitfire, Hurricane, 7021 Haverfordwest Castle
7022 Hereford Castle
Wellington, Lockheed Hudson and Swordfish
7023 Penrice Castle
were truly iconic and front-line throughout 7024 Powis Castle
most of the war, but the others were at best 7025 Sudeley Castle
second line and some were obsolete. 7027 Thornbury Castle

No 5080 entered traffic in May 1939 with Ogmore Castle nameplates, but in January 1941 it was
renamed Defiant after the Boulton Paul Aircraft Co single-engine turret fighter used by the RAF in
the Battle of Britain.The main part of the nameplate was standard but, as can be seen from this
13 March 1955 view, a small supplementary plate carried the words ‘Castle Class’. The original
Ogmore Castle plates were next used on No 7007. T.B. Owen/Colour-Rail.com/391619

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series ultimately found placement on a
locomotive. Provisional names never carried by
a particular locomotive are shown in brackets,
and re-namings appear after the original name.
Compton Castle was also known as
Compton Manor, the latter name being applied
to ‘Manor’ class No 7807 in 1938 – thus the
same building was commemorated on two
locomotives. Viscount Portal was the last GWR
Chairman, 1945-1948, and Sir James Milne was
General Manager from 1929 to 1947. There is
an annotation on the master list indicating that
a letter from a Mr Grant prompted the change
in name of No 7003, which disturbed the
alphabetical sequence. No 7007 was the last
express passenger locomotive built by the
GWR, hence its change of name to Great
Western – it also carried the company coat of
arms below the name.
It is also worth noting that No 7010
Avondale Castle may be regarded as ‘the one
that got away’, in that, despite the policy, it was
MAY 2016
the only castle that was nowhere near GWR saw No 5017 re-named to commemorate the
territory. This was an error, as the master list valiant service in the Korean War of the
contains a note that it is in Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire Regiment 28th 61st. In April
whereas the only Avondale castle in Britain is 1956 No 5066 became Sir Felix Pole after the
in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Other death of the erstwhile General Manager, who
post-war namings of note include held the position from 1921 to 1929 – the
G.J. Churchward, commemorated on No 7017, selection of No 5066 resulted in every
and when the borough of Swindon celebrated locomotive of Lot 303 losing its original
its jubilee in 1950, the last ‘Castle’ took its
name. This naming also marking the birthplace
of all the ‘Castle’ class; ‘Liddington Castle’ lost Table Eight
out to accommodate this latter change. Lot 375
Late re-namings Name in service Proposed name
7028 Cadbury Castle
Table Nine (page 54) details the re-namings 7029 Clun Castle
undertaken in the 1950s, which entailed one 7030 Cranbrook Castle
exchange of identities and the loss of three 7031 Cromwell’s Castle
‘Castle’ names. In February 1952 No 4082 7032 Denbigh Castle
7033 Hartlebury Castle
Windsor Castle changed identity with No 7013 7034 Ince Castle
Bristol Castle for King George VI’s funeral 7035 Ogmore Castle Liddington Castle
train, and these engines never reverted to 7036 Taunton Castle Ogmore Castle
their original names and numbers. April 1954 7037 Swindon Taunton Castle
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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:57 Page 54
planned name (Table Four). In 1957 the Elgar
Society lobbied for a locomotive naming to
commemorate the centenary of the birth of
the composer. As he was born and lived in the
Worcester area, the next locomotive from that
depot, due for overhaul, was selected – it
proved to be No 7005 Lamphey Castle.
Summary
The ‘Castles’ were a remarkable class, very
successful right from the start, not at all
surprising, as they were part of a very
successful evolutionary line. Other ‘Big Four’
companies borrowed either locomotives or
drawings and based design features on them.
The 171 locomotives built were spread over 27
years, probably unique in British practice. As
a result, the design steadily evolved, both
mechanically and aesthetically, to greater
levels of success and efficiency.
All new-build ‘Castles’ were allocated a
castle name, but five new-builds never carried
a castle name. None of the rebuilds ever
carried a castle name, but 40 new-builds
underwent a change of name, although none
more than once. No less than 38 of the class
lost their castle name, while two lost their first
castle name but later received a different castle
When No 5066 was put into traffic in July 1937, as the penultimate engine of Lot 303, it carried the name Wardour Castle. However the death in 1956
of Sir Felix Pole, the GWR’s General Manager from 1921 to 1929, prompted the Western Region to rename a ‘Castle’ class 4-6-0 after him, and
No 5066 was selected. Here No 5066 Sir Felix Pole, now fitted with a high-superheat boiler and double chimney, passes Burlescombe at the head of the
down ‘Royal Duchy’ on 2 September 1960. K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson
54
Completed in August 1950, the last ‘Castle’ to
be built was No 7037, and so it was
appropriately named Swindon and was also
adorned with the town’s coat of arms on the
centre driving wheel splashers. However, the
short name did not fill the backplate, leaving an
expanse of bare plate either side of the first
and seventh letters. No 7037 was officially
named by Princess Elizabeth on 13 November
1950, at Swindon Works to mark the borough
of Swindon’s jubilee.
D. Preston/Colour-Rail.com/94594
Table Nine
British Railways (Western Region) re-namings
Locomotives Year
No 4082 Windsor Castle transferred to/swapped with No 7013 Bristol Castle 1952
No 7013 Bristol Castle transferred to/swapped with No 4082 Windsor Castle 1952
No 5017 St Donats Castle to No 5017 The Gloucestershire Regiment 28th 61st 1954
No 5066 Wardour Castle to No 5066 Sir Felix Pole 1956
No 7005 Lamphey Castle to No 7005 Sir Edward Elgar 1957
name. In contrast, 112 locomotives carried a
castle name throughout their working lives.
As a result of the re-namings 11 castle names
REFERENCES
were used twice, nine names were used three
times, and two were used four times: Denbigh Castles at Work – Michael Rutherford –
Castle on Nos 5049, 5074, 7001 and 7032, and Ian Allan (1982)
Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Swindon
Railway Works, Documents entitled
Ogmore Castle on Nos 5056, 5080, 7007 and
‘Naming of Engines’, circa 1936
7035. The latter name was also proposed but
not used on Nos 5006 and 7036! Great Western Railway Magazine
Eight ‘Castles’ have been preserved, six of The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway –
RCTS
The Railway Observer, Steam Days magazine
which have been returned to steam after
preservation, the exceptions being Nos 4073
ACkNoWLEDGEMENtS
Caerphilly Castle and 7027 Thornbury Castle.
The extant locomotives are: Nos 4073 National Railway Museum for making available
Caerphilly Castle, 4079 Pendennis Castle, 5029 the GWR CME’s ‘Naming of Engines’ lists and
issues of Great Western Railway Magazine, and
Andrew Wilson for supplying various
Nunney Castle, 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe,
information.
5051 Earl Bathurst, 5080 Defiant, 7027
Thornbury Castle and 7029 Clun Castle.
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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 57

Footplate days at Stratford depot:

The last years of steam

David Ducker completes his story Displaying its early British Railways livery applied after a general repair and repaint at Gorton
Works between February and early April 1948, Stratford-allocated ‘J39/1’ No 64777 passes
of life on the footplate from Romford with a goods working on 13 August 1949. A Great Eastern Section member of the class

Stratford motive power depot in East

for all its working life, between entering traffic as LNER No 2714 in April 1929 and being
withdrawn from Stratford shed in January 1960, across its career this Gresley 0-6-0 was allocated

London, this time covering the period

to four sheds – Ipswich, Parkestone (twice), Colchester and Stratford (twice). H.C. Casserley

from the mid-1950s into the early bus to Millwall Docks. We had to pay our bus link concerned the Southern Region, and it

1960s and the end of steam at the

fares, and our tickets had to be pinned to our was nearly all night work. Starting around

depot.
driver’s time sheets for reimbursement. We
would relieve the morning shift about mid-
day, and the engine would be a small ‘J69’
t Stratford depot promotion was quick class 0-6-0T known as a ‘Buckjumper’, a Great
7.00pm, you got the engine ready, usually a
‘J17’ class 0-6-0, No 65564 or 65567 – the
latter, I believe, is now in the National Railway
Museum at York.

A in the mid- to late-1950s and early-

1960s, but we had a set back when the
Midland & Great Northern Joint line closed,
because some of its men came to Stratford to
retain their seniority – I came off the
expresses after just twelve months, and my
mate Dick Brock came off eight months later.
He opted for Temple Mills with a 350hp diesel
shunter for company, and I was put in the
Hither Green link with another good old-
timer, Ted Bragg. Ted and I always worked
days about – driving one day, and firing the
next.
Apart from doing your job, you had to get
stuck into learning the mechanics of the
engine and further rules and regulations, in
readiness for your days with the locomotive
inspector appointed by the Transport
Commission of the day. You were expected to
know what fault there was inside a cylinder by
watching the steam emitted from the cylinder
cocks and the chimney. My understanding of
these things was helped by me having taken
up model engineering, and I was busy at that
time building a 2½in gauge steam locomotive.
Another chap I knew was building a larger
gauge model, and while he was silver
soldering, the boiler and firebox collapsed –
all part of the learning curve.
The work in my new link was similar to
that in the Junior Goods link, going back and
forth to Victoria Docks, and to Thames
Wharf, which was a smaller yard next to the
docks. One job we had entailed us going by
Eastern design of the 19th century. We would
finish the shunting, then clean the fire and
build the fire up behind the firebox door, shut
the damper, and have our refreshments. This
left us with two hours to kill, which was the
most boring part of the job, so Ted would test
my knowledge of the rulebook.
When it was time to leave, the fire would
be just right and, with a full head of steam
and a train of 35-40 box vans, we would set
off up the bank to Bow station on the London,
Tilbury & Southend (LT&S) line. You went
like hell to get up this bank, but then came a
tricky bit because as you went round a right-
hand curve there was a set of trap-points and
a signal that was usually at danger. So it was a
matter of precision judgment as to where to
stop, as you only had the engine brake and the
hand-brake in the guard’s van.
When you got on to the LT&S Fenchurch
Street to Shoeburyness route you then went
off at Gas Factory Junction to Bow Junction,
where you would wait again for a path
through the busy electric traffic that was
building up for the evening rush-hour from
Liverpool Street station. You would then cross
the electric and main lines on to the carriage
lines, past Carpenters Road, and turn north
through Stratford station on to the Lea Valley
lines and on into Temple Mills. There was no
waiting about here on this train because they
wanted to get it sorted for the evening
departures for the north, or for the Western
and Southern regions. The main work in this
Our destination would be either Hither
Green or Norwood. We would start our
journey from the north end of Temple Mills,
heading north through Tottenham South
Junction and South Tottenham station, where
we picked up the old Midland line from
Barking, off the LT&S line, then under the
Enfield Town line up to Harringay, and then
under the Great Northern lines to Junction
Road. Going left here took you to Kentish
Town, but we would go up the steep incline to
Gospel Oak, where you were held until a path
was found for you, and where you carried out
the obligatory Rule 55. There was always a
friendly signalman here.
When you got a clear road, you went on
to the main line from Broad Street station to
Richmond, past Hampstead Heath and
through various stations until you came to
Willesden Junction, where you passed over
the main line out of Euston. Then you were
down among smelly factories with different
colours of smoke coming from various pipes
and chimneys, and on to Mitre Bridge,
overlooking the Great Western main line, and
here you might be held again until a path was
available. Even if you had left Temple Mills
right time, you would almost always be losing
your path by Gospel Oak. Away you would go
again, down North Pole bank, past the BBC
Television Centre at White City, down into
Kensington Olympia, then up the climb to the
River Thames at Fulham. You would cross
over the river, and pass on to the Southern

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 58

The route due south of Stratford, through to the docks and wharves on the north side of the Thames, provided regular work for the author, this scene
recording Hill ‘J20’ class 0-6-0 No 64692 crossing Thames Wharf Junction with a Temple Mills-bound freight on 28 August 1961, as seen from the
junction signal box. To the left is Victoria Dock Road, which runs all the way from Canning Town to Royal Albert Dock, with Silvertown Way crossing
the tracks to Custom House in the distance. Beyond there it served Beckton, Silvertown and North Woolwich. The lines to the right lead to Thames
Wharf and the Silvertown Tramway, with its rail-served industries and wharves, and to the distant right are the chimneys of East Greenwich gasworks,
south of the river. The same location is radically different today, the Jubilee Line taking the junction to the right, while the Docklands Light Railway
crosses the site on a flyover as it makes for Custom House and Beckton. K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson

Region proper near Clapham Junction, then
over Stewarts Lane locomotive depot, around
Longhedge, then on viaducts to Brixton and
Lewisham and so into Hither Green.
One Friday evening Ted and I booked on
and it was snowing steadily. By some
premonition we had both brought extra food
with us. We were given a larger engine than
usual, a ‘J20’ class 0-6-0, No 64690, known as
a ‘Knocko’. Luckily for me it didn’t have the
normal lubricator on the fireman’s seat. By the
time we left the shed it was snowing heavily,
and we arrived three hours late at Hither
Green. We had lost our path back to Temple
Mills, and traffic on the inter-regional goods
route was always heavy. We left Hither Green
four hours late, and it was still snowing. After
further delays we got as far as Kensington,
where we were told everything was at a
standstill, and we were shunted into a siding.
The location was surrounded by tall
buildings, and all night long a fire alarm bell
was ringing, and no amount of snowballing
would stop it. We slept on and off, and at
1.30pm we were told we would be going, so
steam up, and we then moved signal-to-signal
to Willesden Junction. Through snow and sun
we moved on and arrived back at Temple Mills
completely shattered. We were eventually
released and arrived back on Stratford shed

Also passing Thames Wharf Junction box on 28 August 1961 is Stratford-allocated ‘J19’ 0-6-0 No 64667 on an up freight. Another Hill-designed engine,
it emerged from Stratford Works as Great Eastern Railway ‘T77’ No 1267 in December 1918 and it is seen in its last days of use; it would be
withdrawn during the September.The line to the right of the box is emerging from Thames Wharf, while those at a slightly higher level on the far
right serve Bow Creek Wharf. K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 59

A general view of Temple Mills marshalling yard, seen looking north from Ruckholt Road bridge on 1 April 1963, shows the magnitude of the site.
Opened by the GER in 1896, 1950s investment saw it become the most modern marshalling yard in the country, including hump facilities. The British
Thompson-Houston/Clayton ‘Type 1’ seen leaving on a trip freight is a pilot scheme design; 44 of these Paxman-powered Bo-Bos were built from 1957
and the last of them were withdrawn in March 1971. Sadly, the steam years at the yard had just ended when this view was recorded, the nearby
Stratford depot closing to steam on 9 September 1962. Today the Temple Mills site, to the north of the Olympic Park, houses a £402 million Eurostar
depot. Brian Morrison

23 hours after booking on duty. We were due
back again at 8.00pm for a ballast train job, but
were given the night off with pay.
The sugar-beet season was another busy
time. You had a train of new 16 ton steel
wagons, all doors sealed, and filled with
sugar-beet pulp; the maximum load was 20
wagons for a WD ‘Austerity’ 2-8-0. You left
Temple Mills, circled Stratford locomotive
depot via a loop that went under the main
lines, and continued past Stratford Market,
Canning Town, Custom House, and then
down under the waterway that links Royal
Victoria Dock to Royal Albert Dock through
the Connaught tunnel, into pitch darkness.
The engine would pitch and roll, and the only
daylight was from a ventilation hole in the
tunnel roof, which was also the indication that
the gradient was levelling out. You waited for
the couplings to stretch, giving the engine a
jerk, and then went like hell to get out of the
tunnel and up into Silvertown, right by Tate &
Lyle’s sugar factory. You would wait for the
guard’s signal, and then push the train into
the factory. If there were any empties you
would take them back to Temple Mills.
Another job was the Kentish Town parcels
duty: Ted and I were on the 3.45am early
morning turn and we had one of Thompson’s
‘L1’ class 2-6-4Ts. It was just before
Christmas, I was doing the driving and we
were running bunker-first to Kentish Town.
We had been held at Lea Bridge station for a
freight train to clear, but then had a clear road
at Copper Mill Junction. The freight had been
put into the loop there, and it was just coming
to a stop. As we were passing it, Ted stuck his
head out to see if our injector was picking up
water, when there was a thump, and Ted

Stratford-allocated Holden ‘J17’ class 0-6-0 No 65546 brings a goods train towards Factory Junction and ultimately Hither Green on 30 August 1958.
South of the Thames, it has just passed Longhedge Junction and the tall coaling stage at Stewarts Lane shed, crossing over the shed area itself. The
low-level white building seen behind the base of the signal is Stewarts Lane’s brand-new electric depot, and beyond that is a depository. Going away to
the right is the low level ex-South Eastern & Chatham Railway line into Victoria station via Stewarts Lane Junction, and on the far right are the
chimneys of Battersea power station. No 65546 would serve until January 1960. R.C. Riley/Transport Treasury

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 59

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 60

Just one month before steam ended at

Stratford depot and on the Great Eastern lines,
this unexpected sight was captured on film on
West Norwood Junction on 21 August 1962.
This transfer freight from Temple Mills to
Norwood yard via the West London Extension
line, hauled by Stratford-allocated ‘J19’ 0-6-0
No 64664, has come via Clapham Junction and
Balham. The locomotive would be withdrawn
when steam finished at Stratford shed.
Brian Stephenson

Situated just south of Lower Abbey Mills

Junction was the access to Cohen’s scrap yard,
this 25 November 1961 view recording
Stratford-allocated S.D. Holden era ‘J15’ class
No 65476 shunting empty 16 ton mineral
wagons at the exit to the yard, with part of
West Ham power station visible in the
distance. The view is taken looking south from
the footbridge seen in the view of Abbey Mills
(top right), which crossed the North Woolwich
line from the corner of Star Lane and Manor
Road on the east side, and linked to
Stephenson Street and Cody Road on the west
side. K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 61

The Abbey Mills junctions were situated just north of Canning Town station, Upper Abbey Mills Junction being on the former LT&S line between
Bromley and Barking, with a spur from this descending to Lower junction on the ex-GER line from Temple Mills to Canning Town. Heading north and
passing the Lower Abbey Mills Junction with a freight for Temple Mills is Thompson ‘B1’ class 4-6-0 No 61048 on 25 November 1961. Using 16 ton
mineral wagons with cut-outs to limited the weight of the heaviest loads, the train will have started out from the docks.
K.L. Cook/Rail Archive Stephenson

stepped back, holding his nose, which was
bleeding heavily. Thieves had apparently got
on to one of the wagons, a ‘Conflat’, which is a
flat wagon that carries a small container, and
left the container door swinging open – the
door had caught poor old Ted in the face, and
there was blood everywhere. We had a towel
that Ted held over his face and I drove to
Tottenham East signal box and asked the
signalman to arrange for an ambulance to be
sent to Tottenham South station, from where
Ted was taken to hospital. I then reversed the
train into a siding to wait for a relief driver.
When we got back to Stratford I was ordered
to go and see Inspector Weaver, who was a
severe looking man who could command respect
by just looking at you. I explained what had
happened and said I had moved the train to
avoid blocking the main line. I expected to be
reprimanded for doing so, because the practice
of firemen driving the train was officially
frowned upon. Instead, I was congratulated for
my presence of mind, so I made out an official
report and went home with a spring in my step.
Fortunately, Ted made a good recovery and he
returned to work after three weeks off.
At this time I, and three others, were up in
front of Inspector Theobald for our driver’s
test. On the first day we were questioned on
rules and regulations, and the rest of the week
on the locomotive and rules mixed. Then we
were taken on to the Chingford line for our
practical test and the use of the Westinghouse
brake – strangely, we were never tested on the
vacuum brake, as we used that when on
empty coaching stock. As there were four of
us, the test didn’t seem quite so daunting, but
even so it was a serious milestone in the life of
footplate staff.

This instrument in Custom House signal box A 24 August 1957 view of Custom House signal box, looking east with the station behind the
informed the signalman when Silvertown photographer, records Stratford shed’s ‘J69’ 0-6-0T No 68563 passing light engine, away from
tunnel was flooded – the tunnel passed beneath Silvertown or Beckton.The box is ex-GER, a timber on brick structure with a gabled-roof and
the waterway that linked Royal Victoria Dock external stairs. A bracket signal with lower-quadrant arms protects the multiple junction just east
with Royal Albert Dock – and it was probably of here, where the lines to Beckton diverged left, and gave access to Connaught Road for Port of
coupled with an audible alarm. Special London Authority lines serving Royal Albert Dock, while the right-hand route was for the tunnel
instructions directed the signalman towards through to Silvertown and North Woolwich. H.C. Casserley
appropriate action, whether to stop the job,
caution trains, or inform the coastguard. When
the tunnel was blocked it was also possible to
divert trains over the high level route, using
Royal Albert Dock swing bridge and the Port of
London Authority railways. David Holden

MAY 2016 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 61

MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:58 Page 62

On the first day of David’s driver test he was taken to the Chingford line to carry out Westinghouse brake tests, and on 5 December 1959 Stratford
shed’s Hill-designed and LNER-built ‘N7/5’ class 0-6-2T No 69646 is seen at Walthamstow (Hoe Street) station with a Chingford train, the locomotive
clearly showing its Westinghouse brake system. E. Wilmshurst

I was now a ‘Passed Fireman’ as I

continued in the Hither Green link, but now
and again I got a driving turn, mainly
preparing or disposing of locomotives on
shed. Being on that side of the spectrum gave
you a funny feeling – when you are the one
responsible for the train and the fireman or
passed cleaner who is with you, the sense of
responsibility is brought home to you. By this
time we were getting men from overseas on
the job, mainly West Indians, and some were
very good at the job. I only once refused to
take one off shed, I felt sorry for him but we
were preparing a ‘J69’ class ‘Buckjumper’ and
it was obvious that he didn’t have a clue. I was
only a novice myself, and felt that I couldn’t
take the risk of having to do his job as well as
my own. As a passed fireman we would
sometimes be on the Liverpool Street pilot,
either with ‘J69’ class 0-6-0T No 68619 or ‘N7’
0-6-2T No 69614. Both these engines were in
Great Eastern blue livery and were in
immaculate polished condition; you got a
little extra remuneration for keeping them
clean.
One evening the fireman for the New
Cross run was taken ill, and I was put on his
job. I had never been to New Cross Gate
before and it entailed running over the
London Underground lines that were reached
from East London Junction, off Bishopsgate at
the bottom of Bethnal Green bank. The
wagons came into Liverpool Street’s
Platform 16, and there we coupled on our
‘J69’ 0-6-0T. We departed over what is now
the down electric line, and diverted at East
London Junction on to the Underground;
some excursion trains to the south coast used
to go this way. My driver told me to try not to
let the safety valves lift when we got to
Wapping, where the train usually got stopped, The 3 August 1956 letter to David Ducker confirming that he was now a ‘Passed Fireman’.
but I didn’t know where Wapping was! We got Author’s Collection

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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:59 Page 63
stopped there as was usual, and the safety
valves did lift. We were out in the open
surrounded by tenement flats, and next thing
the contents of a chamber pot descended
upon us. An ironical thing is that New Cross
Gate is only a couple of miles from Hither
Green, a 20-minute journey from Liverpool
Street compared to the hours taken on the
route we usually went round north and west
London from Temple Mills.
In 1957 I was promoted to driver. We had
some decent running foremen, and Arthur
Davy, nicknamed ‘Jake’, was mine. The other
two, Charlie Smith and Doug Pope, I usually
saw at the end of a shift. I got on well with Jake,
and I never took advantage, as some did. On
my first day as a fully-fledged driver I was on
the 6.00am spare turn, and me and my mate
got the job of oiling up a former London,
Tilbury & Southend Railway engine outside the
new shed, a locomotive that was going on some
LT&S celebrations. Puzzled, we went round
there, and there in all its bulled-up glory was
Thundersley. Once more it was a strange engine
to me, so again it was a case of finding as many
oiling holes as I could. Anyway, it got to
Shoeburyness without any problems, so my
first official day as driver had gone well.
One morning we were preparing an ‘L1’
2-6-4T, and the top of the screw-down clack
valve in the cab started to blow badly as steam
pressure rose – the fitters were called and
immediately failed the engine. Jake, being the
great kind of man he was, wasn’t having that, so
he got a hammer and gently tapped the flange
of the valve cover until he got it steam tight, and
another engine went off shed on time!
A bad habit by some fire-lighters at
Stratford shed when they were looking after
engines in steam, was to fill the boilers to full
capacity. This could be a problem during
preparation, when you needed to set the
engine for oiling. When you opened the
regulator, water in the boiler would surge and
be carried into the cylinders along with the
David had the opportunity as a passed fireman to work on the two regular Liverpool Street pilot locomotives – Holden ‘J69’ 0-6-0T No 68619 and Hill ‘N7’
0-6-2T No 69614.These were cherished engines that were always spotless and they received GER royal blue livery in 1960. We see these two engines in
their BR mixed traffic liveries over the pits at Liverpool Street station’s coaling stage on 11 May 1957. R.C. Riley
MAY 2016
steam, and hydraulic propulsion would be Manningtree and Ipswich; they must have had
started. You would then be going backwards very little time in Yarmouth! We came off at
and forwards with the cylinder cocks open Ipswich and went light engine to Ipswich
until you had drained all the unwanted water depot, walked back to the station, and went
from the cylinders. This was an experience home ‘on the cushions.’
that happened to me once as a fireman and I had a good fireman in the Acton link –
again as a driver. he could do the job well, and as he was
My route knowledge was quite good, and coming up for his driver’s exam we would
this helped me to get in my 313 turns that work days about. We were both on the
qualified me for an increased rate of pay. Saturday 12.01am spare turn when Jake came
Promotion was quite rapid at in and asked if we were all right for
this time and I ended up in the ‘I had route Cambridge. As I was OK, we worked a
Acton link that proved special down goods train. When we got
disappointing at first, but I
knowledge to to Cambridge, Control asked us to work
soon got to like it. I had route Hither Green another one back, and on the up goods
knowledge to Hither Green and Norwood, road came the only ‘K5’ class Mogul,
and Norwood, and now I and now I No 61863, a two-cylinder engine
added Acton as well, and also modified by Thompson from a
Ferme Park. This was on the added Acton three-cylinder ‘K3’ class 2-6-0. Thank
ex-Great Northern main line as well’ goodness it was the only one, I say,
between Finsbury Park and because the rebuilds Thompson did of
Wood Green – not one of my favourite routes Gresley engines always became rough-riders
as there were signals everywhere! halfway between overhauls.
One Saturday afternoon I was given a After taking water, we got moving for
fireman who had left and then been Temple Mills. It was a nice frosty morning
re-employed, so he was an experienced man and we had clear signals all the way. We had
but had lost his previous seniority. We were passed Tottenham and were approaching
given a ‘K3’ class 2-6-0, No 61849, to prepare, Copper Mill Junction when both signals went
and had to go light engine to Thornton Fields back to danger on us. I immediately closed
carriage sidings, where we were to pick up a the couplings up, trying not to injure the
train and run empty stock to Parkeston Quay, guard in the process, and hadn’t noticed that
then return loaded. A pilotman was provided we were sliding. Then the home and distant
from Manningtree to Parkeston and back, and signals came ‘off ’ again almost at once, and,
we had a good trip, arriving in London on having released the brake, it was apparent that
time. The engine rode and steamed we had developed ‘flats’ on the driving wheels.
comfortably for a run-down machine, so it We gave the signalman, who had obviously
had obviously had some repairs done. made an error, an angry look as we passed,
A week later, on a Sunday, I was booked and carried on over the last couple of miles to
on a Yarmouth excursion as far as Ipswich. Temple Mills with the wheels ‘lumping’. When
We had ‘B17’ 4-6-0 No 61672 West Ham we got into the east yard I told my mate, Tony,
United, which was just back from Darlington to put some oil on the rails. When we got the
Works after a general overhaul. We left signal to go I put the brake on and opened the
Liverpool Street at 9.45am and were booked regulator, then I released the brake and let the
to stop at Stratford, Ilford, Romford, locomotive’s wheels develop a nice gentle slip.
Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, After that, the ‘lumping’ sounded a lot better.
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk 63
MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:59 Page 64

The Great Eastern Section was often short of motive power for holiday, weekend and special workings, and when more locomotives were required
resort was often made to using March-based Moguls, which were normally confined to goods and fitted freights, while crews from across the Stratford
links also stepped in to fill the void. On 7 October 1958 one of March shed’s Gresley three-cylinder ‘K3s’, No 61801, passes Stratford with a Liverpool
Street to Ipswich passenger train. The ‘K3s’ were notoriously rough riders at speed, but firemen such as David Ducker would accept this as part and
parcel of the job, providing the boiler was steaming freely. Ken Wightman/Rodney Lissenden Collection

Steam by this time was disappearing fast,
and I, along with others, was sent to Ilford
(Aldersbrook) to learn about ‘oil cans’ (diesel
locomotives), first the Brush 1,250hp engines,
and then with conversion to other classes. In
the meantime Plaistow shed had closed, and
we got a couple of their BR Standard ‘4MT’
2-6-4Ts. Of all the British Railways Standard
classes these tank engines were my favourite, a
nice sturdy piece of machinery. I had one of
he passed his driver’s test and became a driver.
I did further courses on diesel locomotives
but I didn’t like the smell of their breath, so I
learned the electrics and finished up at Gidea
Park. I left the railway in 1971 after 25 years,
and moved to North Devon and ran a sweet
shop for a further 24 years. It was like serving
a prison sentence after all my other
adventures on the railway. The memories and
smells of steam never leave you, and I hope
Olympic stadium and other venues stand on
land that was formerly occupied by the works,
Jubilee shed, and Thornton Fields. I wonder if
the site will get the use in future that matches
the intense activity and endeavour of its days
in the steam era of the railways!

these engines on the morning paper train to
Liverpool Street and had the pleasure of Joe
Brown firing for me – Joe subsequently went
on to become famous in his own right as a
pop musician.
Tony and I enjoyed our time together on
both steam and diesel locomotives. Ultimately
FURTHER READING
anyone reading this, and my previous two
‘Firing days at Stratford depot, East London’ –
articles of my days on the footplate, will get as
much enjoyment reading about them as I have David Ducker – Steam Days, December
had remembering them. 2015
‘More firing days at Stratford depot: The
1950s – David Ducker – Steam Days,
Stratford locomotive depot and works
February 2016
were demolished completely after London was
awarded the 2012 Olympic Games, and the

Stratford shed’s repair shop on 7 May 1961, sixteen months prior to the depot’s closure to steam. Locomotives in for repair include Holden ‘J69’
0-6-0T No 68649, Holden ‘J15’ 0-6-0 No 65460 and Hill ‘J20’ 0-6-0 No 64676 – all three would end their service days from Stratford, with the ‘J69’ and
‘J20’ only remaining in service until September 1961, while the ‘J15’, a veteran of 1912, would end its days a year later, when Stratford closed its doors
to steam. Sadly, all evidence of the shed has now disappeared, following the acquisition of the land for the 2012 London Olympics. R.C. Riley

64 www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
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MAY FINAL 1_Make-up (July 05) 07/04/2016 10:59 Page 66
Tail Lamp
Readers’ Letters
Oil spill at Brentwood shed
Sir: My sincere thanks for the very excellent
presentation of part one of my footplate article in
your December issue. I have never seen the
photos before in the lots of books that I have, but
your magazine is known for the way that your
team delve into the depths of history, and
produce the magazine that everyone looks
forward to each month. Well done. As a matter of
interest, in the photo of the ‘V3’ standing at
Brentwood shed, above the loco is the building
that was the oil stores, where I had my
misfortune with the oil over-spilling.
David Ducker,
South Molton, Devon
Rowntree’s double-header
Sir: Thank you for the article on the Foss Islands
branch at York in the June 2015 issue. I used to
pass Rowntree’s at York to and from work, and I
remember seeing a wide variety of engines on the
trains serving Rowntree’s. On one occasion I saw
a ‘B1’ backing down to Rowntree’s Halt with a set
of four articulated non-corridor coaches. The
Rowntree’s train formed the all-stops service to
Doncaster. On Fridays Rowntree’s finished for the
day early, and the train got to Platform 8N at
about half-past four. At this time of day York had a
spare ‘V2’, which usually ran light engine to
Doncaster, but on Friday it double-headed back
on the Rowntree’s train.
John Grey,
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Crianlarich West signal box
Sir: You may have already been inundated by
readers’ corrective comments, but just in case
everyone has assumed that someone else will be
writing in, may I remark that the otherwise
excellent article on the Callander & Oban line
and its branches – Steam Days: November 2015 –
the photograph at the bottom of page 49 depicts
Crianlarich West, not East Junction signal box.
Rae Montgomery,
Carlops, Peeblesshire
‘Mishap before and after’
Sir: Further to the publication of my letter
regarding the 1958 BTF film Mishap, which you
kindly published in the March 2015 edition of
Steam Days, and a reply from Bryan Townsend
published in the October 2015 issue. If the reader
cares to look on YouTube, on the internet, type in
‘Mishap before and after’, this should bring up a
before and after film showing many of the
locations used in both the Cheltenham and
Gloucester areas. I offer a re-worked synopsis the
uploader has written accompanying the video:
BTF film Mishap – This British Railways training
film was mainly filmed on a section of the old
Midland & South Western Junction Railway
between Cheltenham and Andoversford Junction.
The line closed in 1962, with the line being
dismantled by the mid-1960s. In the film the
fictional station names ‘Aybury’ was in reality
Cheltenham Leckhampton, whereas ‘Beaton’ was
Andoversford Junction. Most of the film was shot
at or between these locations. Other identifiable
locations include; Cheltenham Malvern Road
engine shed (the shed still survives as part of a
Travis Perkins builders merchants), Hatherley
66
loop, and most notably, rare but brief shots of
both Gloucester stations – Eastgate (now the site
of an Asda supermarket) and Central, itself rebuilt
in 1976 where the buses are.
The video itself is very well produced, fading
in and out the then and now views. If the reader
is feeling adventurous, the same uploader has also
produced a video, on YouTube, outlining a number
of locations used for the classic Ealing comedy
film The Titfield Thunderbolt, also produced to a
similar high standard.
Stuart Russell,
Corsham, Wiltshire
Stainmore and the CK&P
Sir: Having read ‘Farewell to Stainmore’ in your
November edition of Steam Days, may I
congratulate Mr Pallister on his fascinating trip on
what was a great line. Never will it happen again,
with all the enthusiasts waiting in the black of night
for this last train on such a demanding route. I
never travelled the Stainmore line, but mum used
to take me on the Cockermouth, Keswick &
Penrith line quite regularly, and do the costal trip
to Barrow via Grange and return. Barrow was a
trainspotters’ paradise, with the steelworks in full
swing at Workington also. Yes, we now walk what is
now a bridleway from Threlkeld to Keswick.
Although I believe two of the bridges are down
with the recent floods. Getting back to the
Stainmore line, the East station and yard at Kirkby
Stephen are well on their way to railway
preservation, due to sheer hard graft by Mike and
his staff and volunteers. I take a car load to
Kirkby ‘S’ for the slide shows from October to
April – yes, lovely memories. It is a pity that the
bridges and viaducts were demolished, but some
are still present at Warcop on the Eden Valley
Railway, and the old station house survives at
Appleby (East), which is now a scrap yard. I believe
the old line has been tarmaced, with the crossing
gates removed – yes, small parts still exist.
Yours in steam,
Marsden N. Cross,
Penrith, Cumbria
Salisbury tunnel
Sirs: Just a brief note to let you know that the
caption for my photo of No 76062 on page 37 of
the November issue of Steam Days is incorrect.
The train is in fact arriving at Salisbury on the
same day that the SLS ‘Southern Pacifics’ rail tour
took place, a view of No 34051 arriving being
taken at the same point.
Some confusion might have arisen from the
fact that a large concrete link road bridge was
subsequently built across the line in the
foreground, roughly across the area occupied by
the second coach, thereby preventing any similar
shots in later years; I hope my own slide caption
didn’t add to this confusion!
Roy Hobbs
Herefordshire
Manchester to Bournemouth trains
post-September 1962
Sir: I would like to correct some points made by
Bob Yate in the November edition regarding the
routing of the ‘Pines Express’. This train only ran
via Market Drayton from September 1962 until
June 1963, from when it was routed via
Shrewsbury, calling there at 11.32am southbound
and 3.30pm northbound. However, on summer
Saturdays in 1963 it may still have run via Market
Drayton as it was non-stop from Stockport to
Wellington southbound, and Wellington to
Wilmslow northbound, and was probably sent
that way to avoid the congestion that occurred at
Shrewsbury on summer Saturdays. From
www.steamdaysmag.co.uk
September 1963, as stated, it went via Shrewsbury
until the 4 March 1967.
I am afraid that Bob is totally wrong in what
he says about it after March 1967 – the ‘Pines’
ceased to exist after 4 March 1967. In fact there
were no through train at all between Manchester
and Bournemouth after then, except on summer
Saturdays, when there was one train each way. In
1967 this was non-stop between Wilmslow and
Oxford in both directions, its route being Crewe,
Bushbury, Walsall, Sutton Park, Saltley and Solihull
to Leamington. I have public timetables covering
up to May 1978 and during those years there
were never any through trains between
Manchester and Bournemouth except on summer
Saturdays, and none ever went via Coventry to
Leamington. It was not until May 1977 that there
were any booked services over that line, and even
then not all trains on the Birmingham to Banbury
line went that way, some continuing to go via
Solihull.
Thanks for a great magazine, keep up the
good work.
Steve Horner,
Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire
Recalling my time at Bletchley
Sir: The picture at the top of page 49 of your
December issue, depicting Stanier ‘Black Five’
No 45020 piloting a Stanier ‘Princess Coronation’
at Bletchley, kindled many memories for me. I was
an apprentice locomotive fitter at Bletchley in
1958 and can with some certainty explain the
unusual occurrence of a ‘Black Five’ double-
heading a ‘Princess Coronation’. Both ‘Black Five’
No 45020 and the Standard tank No 80042 were
allocated to Bletchley motive power depot in
1958. I believe the crew of the Pacific had
requested assistance to continue its journey to
Euston, therefore No 45020 was turned off
Bletchley MPD to assist the train forward.
Looking closely at the ‘Black Five’, it is in full
forward gear, indicating the train is pulling away
from the signals above the train, and to the left of
the picture is the motive power depot and its
breakdown train.
The person in the picture looks very much
like me, but my memory on this is not so certain.
I hope this is of some help to you and your
readers.
S. Daniels,
Banbury, Oxon
Wimborne to Salisbury goods
In the article on ‘Southern Standards’, Steam Days:
January 2016, the caption for the bottom
photograph on page 55 is wrong, in 1963 there
was no 3.45pm Wimborne to Salisbury goods.
The goods working for that line was as follows:
7.55am Salisbury to Wimborne arrive 1.25pm,
calling at all stations; 2.55pm light engine via
Hamworthy and Poole to turn; 4.00pm arrive
back at Wimborne; 5.35pm depart Wimborne for
Salisbury East yard, calling at all stations.
This information was taken from the working
timetable for freight trains from 17 June 1963
until further notice, for which I have the original.
Keith Pfrangley (by email)
Opinions expressed in letters are not those of
Redgauntlet Publications Ltd or Key Publishing Ltd (or
any Group Company).
Please send any letters to Tail Lamp,
Steam Days Magazine,
Redgauntlet Publications,
P.O. Box 2471,
Bournemouth, BH7 7WF
Email: taillamp@keypublishing.com
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