Brewood Village Road Re-surfacing

The road which passes the side of my garden, Sandy Lane, carries a formidable volume and variety of traffic so road 'patching' by the Council's contractor is frequent.

In November 2012, the junction between Sandy Lane and its continuation (The Pavement) was properly 're-surfaced', actually taking off the old tarmac and relaying. I was quite impressed by the massive Cold Milling Machine used in this process, which I described in the post here. The surface on this section of road has lasted quite well.

In May 2020, temporary road signs indicated that road works were to be carried out and on the afternoon of Monday, 18th May 19th May, there was activity in the afternoon as 'surface dressing' was carried out on Sandy Lane, from a starting-point beyond the junction re-surfaced in 2012 (which was left untouched) up to the village square. 'Surface dressing' is claimed to be a cost-effective way of restoring the road surface, sealing it and improving skid resistance. If you are interested, I found an interesting video by Dumfries and Galloway Council here which shows the whole process (including an ingenious method of confirming that the specified thickness of bitumen had been applied).

I viewed some of the proceedings from my garden and took a few pictures. There were a number of large vehicles, all painted canary yellow and carrying the logo 'RMS' in red, together with a number of workers, all wearing orange overalls with white 'hard hats'.


L-R: Chipping spreader, 8-wheel lorry with road chippings, road roller (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

The contractors were Road Maintenance Services Limited, apparently in partnership with Staffordshire County Council and Amey. Road Maintenance Services Limited were set-up in 1947 by the Barlow family and remain family-owned. Their website is here and they claim to be 'innovators in surface treatments'. They are members of The Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA), which was set up in 2008 and has its own website here.

A large, articulated tanker was marked as carrying 'Bitumen Emulsion'. This had a platform at the back for an operator to control machinery clearly provided to apply bitumen to the road being treated. A little internet research revealed that the manufacturers were a French company called Acmar, founded in 1946. Their English website is here and this type of vehicle is usually called a Bitumen Sprayer.


Articulated Bitumen Sprayer made by Acmar, showing adjustable spray bars and operator's platform (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

There were two unfamiliar-looking four-wheeled rubber-tyred vehicles whose function seemed fairly clear. Chippings in a low-level hopper at the rear of the vehicle were transferred via an inclined conveyor to a second, smaller hopper behind the driving cab. The second hopper was then provided with a discharge mechanism to drop chippings onto the hot bitumen applied to the road surface by a Bitumen Sprayer. Following a bit more internet research later, I discovered the vehicles were called Chipping Spreaders. They were made by The Phoenix Engineering Co Ltd in Chard (website here). The machines appeared to be model MK7, now superceded by similar, later models but still available second hand. This company was originally formed in 1891 by a group of Londoners who acquired the Phoenix Iron Foundry which had traded since 1839. In 1891 Thomas John Jennings was company secretary and his descendants still manage the company.


Phoenix MK7 Chipping Spreader (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

A little more research showed that what I call a 'road roller' was, more correctly, a 'VM75 Single Drum Soil Compactor' from the JCB 'Vibromax' range. Although the VM75 isn't manufactured now, there still seems to be a healthy second-hand market. One end of the machine is supported on the familiar wide drum but the other end is supported on two large, rubber-tyred wheels.


JCB VM75 Single Drum Soil Compactor (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

By the time I observed the proceedings from my garden, they had already re-surfaced the downhill side of the road, so I watched as they treated the uphill side. First, the Bitumen Sprayer drove slowly uphill, laying down a ribbon of hot bitumen alongside the completed downhill strip.


Bitumen Sprayer at work (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

One of the Chipping Spreaders lined up and one of the 8-wheel lorries was backed up to the rear of the Chipping spreader and coupled to it, allowing the low-level hopper on the Chipping Spreader to be continuously replenished from the lorry. The odd-looking combination then carefully followed the Bitumen Sprayer, laying down an even layer of small, grey chippings.


Chipping Spreader about to follow the Bitumen Sprayer (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

The second Chipping Spreader appeared and waited as the second 8-wheel lorry of chippings was handsignalled to reverse up to the Chipping Spreader, after which these two vehicles slowly followed the first two.


Second lorry handsignalled towards the second Chipping Spreader (Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing)

Finally, the 'VM75' Road Roller slowly followed the other vehicles. I didn't stop to watch it performing but I'd found the whole operation very interesting.

My Pictures

Brewood Village: Road re-surfacing

Train Movements at Euston (2)

At the time of writing, the world is suffering from the serious, new respiratory disease Covid-19 and the U.K. is currently in 'Lockdown'. Only essential travel is permitted, resulting in train passenger numbers collapsing and revised timetables.

In the post Train Movements at Euston, I documented a few evening departures on 16th April 2020.

I've documented more incomplete fragments of arrivals and departures during the restricted Covid-19 timetable below.

I'm sorry the information is fragmentary. This is partly due to the internet becoming notoriously unreliable in these strange times, despite having a 'fibre to the cabinet' feed which on a good day produces at least 40 MBPS. With most people at home during 'Lockdown', at present internet speed is sometimes as poor as 0.2 MBPS with a 'ping' of 2 seconds, or it even becomes totally unresponsive.

Note 'VT' is the TOC code for Avanti, 'LM' is the TOC code for West Midland Trains.

Evening movements on 15th May 2020

Plat	Nbr	Dep	Destination	Nbr	Arr	From	TOC
1	1F27	19:44	Liverpool	1M14	18:48	Crewe	VT
2	1P06	19:18	Preston	1M13	17:58	Crewe	VT
3	9G42	19:28	Wolverhampton	1B24	18:55	Wolverhampton	VT
4				1B22	17:54	Wolverhampton
5	5D91
6	1H05	19:08	Manchester	1A52	18:19	Liverpool	VT
7	1H07		Manchester	1A54	18:41	Manchester	VT
9	2D46	19:15	Watford
			.... Later ....
1	9G47	21:28	Wolverhampton	1M15	19:57	Crewe	VT
3	9G45	20:44	Wolverhampton	1A59	19:49	Manchester	VT

Lunchtime movements on 16th May 2020

Plat	Nbr	Dep	Destination	Nbr	Arr	From	TOC
1	1H11	13:08	Manchester	1A02	10:54	Manchester	VT
2	1H08	12:08	Manchester	1A05	11:43	Liverpool	VT
3	1F15	12:51	Liverpool	1A06	11:59	Preston	VT
4	1S63	12:12	Crewe	5S63	11:49	Wembley CS	VT
5	9G50	12:31	Wolverhampton	1B04	11:28	Wolverhampton	VT

Engineer's Trains on 16th May 2020

In the evening, three engineer's trains from Bescot arrived. The first was 6G50, a train of bogie ballast hoppers top-and-tailed by a pair of GB Railfreight Class 66. This continued to Euston before re-appearing on the Down Fast and slowly making its way to the work site which, as far as I could determine, was north of Primrose Hill Tunnels. Later, 7G52 arrived. This was hauled by another GB Railfreight Class 66. As it slowly passed the Railcam UK camera at Camden, also heading towards Euston, I could see it was an assortment of engineering materials with a number of bogie open wagons at the rear. I didn't follow matters but on Sunday morning these trains, together with Colas Yellow plant vehicle and 6G51 which appeared to be another ballast train were all showing up in describer berths apparently north of Primrose Hill Tunnels, surrounded by more berths displaying '****' in red, probably as a signalman's reminder of the work in progress.

Morning movements on 20th May 2020

At the time I wrote this, the Government were encouraging our railway system to increase services to help get the country back to work so just after 08:30 on Wednesday, 20th May 2020 I made another quick 'snapshot' of long-distance trains at Euston

Plat	Nbr	Dep	Destination	Nbr	Arr	From	TOC
1				1R04		W'ton 05:45	VT
2	1H15	09:20	Manchester	1R12	11:43	W'ton 06:45	VT
3	1H63	09:40	Manchester	1R06		W'ton 06:04	VT
4				5H12	0741	Wembley CS	VT
5	9P54	08:43	Preston	1R07	08:10	Lancaster	VT
6	1F13	09:07	Liverpool	1R08	08:20	Manchester	VT
7	1U27	08:46	Crewe	1U00	08:06	Crewe	LM
8				1Y32	19:32	Birmingham	LM
9			Local
10			Local
11			Local
12	5R11	09:12	Wembley CS	1R11	08:39/td>	Liverpool	VT
13				1Y08	08:13	Northampton	LM
14	1S48	09:10	Glasgow	1R10	08:23	Manchester	VT
15				0M16		Off sleeper?
16	1Y09	09:13	Birmingham	2B14	07:39	Bletchley	lm

The Mersey Railway: Historical Notes

In the post Early Days of the Mersey Railway I outlined the construction of the tunnel and, in 1886, the opening of the line using steam traction.

Initially, there was only one station on the Liverpool side of the river, underground at James Street, accessed from street level by three large hydraulic lifts. From here, the railway line descended on a gradient of 1 in 27 under the river before climbing at a gradient of 1 in 30 to Birkenhead Hamilton Square station. Like James Street, this station was underground, accessed from street level by three large hydraulic lifts. The line continued south in a tunnel to the railway's headquarters at Birkenhead Central which was located in a cutting with retaining walls. The line extended south in cutting and tunnel to the final, sub-surface station at Green Lane.

At Shore Road, Birkenhead and Mann Island, Liverpool huge, steam-powered pumps were provided to keep the tunnel free of water.

At the time of the railway's opening, extensions to the line were already in hand. In 1888, the first to open was a branch in a tunnel from Birkenhead Hamilton Square to Birkenhead Park, to make an end-on connection with the relocated terminus of what became the Wirral Railway. This allowed through-running of Mersey Railway trains to and from locations on the Wirral, although locomotives were exchanged at Birkenhead Park. The extension from Green Park via cutting and tunnel to the surface station Rock Ferry and, on the Liverpool side, from James Street by tunnel (on a gradient varying between 1 in 31 and 1 in 34) to an underground station below the Liverpool Central station of the Cheshire Lines Committee were both opened in 1891.

Beyer Peacock supplied eight 0-6-4 and ten 2-6-2 condensing tank locomotives to operate the line.


Beyer Peacock 0-6-4 condensing tank for Mersey Railway (The Engineer)


Beyer Peacock 2-6-2 condensing tank for Mersey Railway (Railway Archive)

The condensing feature was used when travelling in tunnels. On arrival at Liverpool Central, a second locomotive was attached to the rear to form the departing train whilst the incoming engine uncoupled, 'dumped' the heated tank water, refilled with cold (conventional boiler feed injectors fail to operate reliably with hot water) and prepared to take out the next arrival.

Trains comprised eight 4-wheel passenger and one 4-wheel brake coach, each 27 feet in length.

With the extensions to the line in place, the railway offered good connections and a faster crossing than the ferries but using steam operation, conditions in the tunnels were foul, despite the massive fans provided, and revenue decreased, forcing the railway to continue operations in receivership.

Salvation came in 1903 in the form of an American, George Westinghouse, who was able to propose conversion to electric traction, using a fourth rail system operating at 650 volts d.c. Power was provided by three 1,650 h.p. generators driven by steam located in the pumping station at Shore Road, Birkenhead. Two, smaller 300 h.p. generators were also provided for lighting and other purposes.

Spacious bogie coaches to American design formed the replacement electric trains and these became popular with passengers, although no heating was provided. Air brakes were fitted but without compressors on the train, so periodically crews had to re-charge the train air receivers from an 'air main' at stations. All through-running at Birkenhead Park ceased.

At the railway 'Grouping', the Mersey Railway remained independent but the Wirral Railway became part of the L.M.S. empire. The Mersey Railway continued its role unchanged until 1938 when the L.M.S. electrified the Wirral lines (using the third-rail system). Running rights for the new L.M.S. electric multiple unit trains to operate to Liverpool Central and for the Mersey Railway electrics to serve the Wirral were established. The elderly Mersey Railway electrics required refurbishment to serve this extended role. Facilities to change between third-rail and fourth-rail current collection were provided, together with heaters and on-board electric compressors for the brake system.

Railway Nationalisation in 1948 finally brought an end to the Mersey Railway's independence and it became part of British Railways London Midland Region. But, repainted and renumbered, the Mersey Railway's electric trains carried on until 1956 when LMS-design electric multiple units started to replace the elderly vehicles. The last was withdrawn in 1957.

In 1977, the ambitious 'Liverpool Loop' scheme was opened by British Rail. This extended the line beyond Liverpool Central station so as to serve Liverpool Lime Street station by a reversing loop.

In recent years, I've looked at stations on the original Mersey Railway as part of a study of the modern Merseyrail system and there are notes below on three of those stations.

Birkenhead Central

The railway's headquarters at Birkenhead Central were fitted into a cramped location below ground level bounded by a cutting on one side and retaining walls abutting the gas works on the other. The station provided two through platforms, a south-facing bay, the 3-road steam locomotive shed and a carriage shed, as shown on the fragment of the 1912 Ordnance Survey map below. The right hand edge of the map shows the LNWR/GWR joint line which ran from Birkenhead (Woodside) to Chester (General). The large Engine Shed in the lower half is actually two engine sheds side-by-side for the LNWR and GWR.


Birkenhead Central station 1912: Birkenhead 25 inches to 1 mile map (National Library of Scotland)


The modern satellite view below shows what has survived. The platforms and station buildings are still there but the bay platform has become a siding. The carriage shed has been re-roofed and, in a different form, extended. The Mersey Railway steam locomotive shed has gone, as has the adjacent gas works (although some of my pictures from 2014 reveal abandoned steelwork which formed part of one of the access stairs to a rolling lift gasholder which I believe replaced the column-supported designs shown on the 1912 map). The large LNWR/GWR locomotive shed has gone and the area is overgrown.


Birkenhead Central station: satellite view (Google Maps)

Below, a few illustrations of Birkenhead Central over the years.


Birkenhead central in steam days, drawn by T. Raffles Davison (Mersey Railway)


Birkenhead Central, 1961 (Photo: Ben Brooksbank CC BY-SA2.0)



Merseyrail: Birkenhead Central in 2014, showing former carriage sidings.

Green Lane

The railway is below street level with a tunnel to the north leading towards Birkenhead Central and a short tunnel to the south, leading towards Rock Ferry. There are two platforms, set in a rectangular excavation with the retaining walls beautifully-executed stonework. A series of plate girders span the station and the spaces between these girders are partially infilled by brick arcading but only above the southbound track, giving the station a rather 'lopsided' appearance. I presume this was to support trackwork leading to the LNWR/GWR steam locomotive sheds serving the joint Line from Chester to Birkenhead Woodside which ran slightly to one side of Green Lane above ground level. Quite generous station buildings were provided at street level.


Birkenhead Green Lane station 1912: Birkenhead 25 inches to 1 mile map(National Library of Scotland)

The modern satellite view below shows that the railway is little changed. The multiple plate girders bridging the station are clearly visible. The whole of the area where the joint line once ran is abandoned andvery overgrown with vegetation. The station buildings with their wedge-shaped plan remain.


Green Lane station: satellite view (Google Maps)

Below, pictures illustrating changes at Green Lane over the years.


Green Lane station in steam days, looking north, drawn by T. Raffles Davison (Mersey Railway)


Green Lane station, Merseyrail in 2020, looking south, showing stonework, overhead plate girders, partially infilled by brick arcading, and short tunnel towards Rock Ferry.

Rock Ferry

The 1891 southwards extension of the Mersey Railway to the surface station at Rock Ferry offered platform-to-platform interchange with the through platforms on the LNWR/GWR Joint Line which ran from Birkenhead (Woodside) to Chester (General). Mersey Railway trains ran to two terminal platforms provided with a middle engine release siding. North of Rock Ferry Station, at Union Street, connections were provided between the Mersey Railway and the Joint Line but I believe these were originally not much used.


Rockferry station 1912: Birkenhead 25 inches to 1 mile map (National Library of Scotland)

The modern satellite view below shows the major changes to the railway. The two terminal platforms of the Mersey Railway survive but the engine release road is now removed. The four tracks of the Joint Line have gone, but the Mersey Railway route has been slewed to occupy the trackbed of the Western pair of Joint Lines. The trackbed of the Eastern pair of joint lines was retained for a time to provide connections to the Birkenhead Docks railway system, but these are out of use. The island platform serving one terminal platform and the northbound through platform is re-roofed but not much changed. The southbound through platform is modernised and the associated access footbridge is new.


Rockferry station: satellite view (Google Maps)


Rock Ferry station in 2016 - terminal platforms 4 and 3, looking north. There was originally a 'middle siding'.


Rock Ferry station in 2016, view looking north from footbridge.

Thomas Raffles Davison

The pencil sketches of Birkenhead North and Green Lane above are the work of Thomas Raffles Davison (1853-1937), a prolific architectural illustrator, journalist, editor and occasional architect. There's a Wikipedia article about him here.

Books

[1] ‘The Line Beneath The Liners: A hundred years of Mersey Railway sights and sounds’ by John W. Gahan, published by Countyvise (ISBN 0 907768 40 7 and Avon AngliA Publications (0 905466 57 8).
[2] ‘Chester to Birkenhead including the Helsby Branch’ by Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith (Middleton Press 2012) ISBN 978 1 908174 21 5.

Posts on this website referring to Merseyrail

Early Days of the Mersey Railway 8-Oct-2013.
Day Trip to Liverpool 24-May-2010.
By rail to Liverpool (Part 2) 24-Mar-2014.
Birkenhead and New Brighton by train (Part 1) 19-Feb-2014.
Birkenhead and New Brighton by train (Part 3) 24-Feb-2014.
Railways around Birkenhead 28-Feb-2014.
More Merseyrail 21-Oct-2014.
Return to Liverpool 19-Mar-2020.

Quite a few of my posts relate to Merseyside. Your can display all these posts, in reverse date-of-posting order, by selecting Label 'Merseyside' or click here).

My pictures on the Merseyrail network

Where necessary, clicking on an image above will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums below:-

Albums showing stations discussed in this post:-
Birkenhead Central Station
Green Lane
Rock Ferry

Merseyrail.
Profile - 'Cecil Raikes' (The locomotive).

Glenbrook Vintage Railway

At the end of 2001, I made my first Round the World Trip, cryptically referred to as 'RTW1'. I hadn't started 'blogging' then, so I'd written very little about the trip. The pictures I'd taken were 35mm and scanning has proceeded very slowly. But (only 18 years later) I decided to add the following description of my afternoon at a preserved railway.

During my time in Auckland on that trip, I travelled by car to Glenbrook Station on the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. In the run-up to the New Year, they were operating their large 'Ja' class locomotive. New Zealand built in 1949, this 3 foot 6 inch gauge 4-8-2 has many American features, including a Vanderbilt tender.


Ja1250 preserved at Glenbrook Vintage Railway (Photo: G.V.R.).

A board, displayed at Glenbrook Station, gave a brief specification of Ja1250.


Brief specification of Ja1250 (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

I purchased a ticket at the booking office and enquired about the possibility of a footplate ride. "Ask the driver" I was told. When I explained to the driver and fireman my involvement in steam preservation in England, I was immediately welcomed aboard. There was also a young trainee firing. I offered to "work my passage" by firing and thought, for a moment, I'd offended some protocol by the vehemence of the driver's refusal. But then he explained "It's all downhill this way - you can have the shovel on the way back!".

The driver (the locomotive is right-hand drive) kept a look-out for the guard's 'right away', given by whistle and green flag, just like the U.K. I noticed the Australian-made Westinghouse brake stand incorporating driver's brake valve for both the air brakes on the train and 'straight air' brake on the locomotive.


Waiting for the guard's 'right away' (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

The boiler backhead had a number of interesting features. The Steam Fountain was placed on the fireman's side of the cab, so both injector steam cocks were that side - a convenient feature that I don't think appeared in British practice until Bulleid. The most of the exposed steam pipes were lagged. The boiler pressure gauge was dual-faced, electrically-fit and mounted on a bracket perpendicular to the backhead to improve viewing by both driver and fireman. Below the pressure gauge were dual gauge glasses and an electric gauge lamp. A large oil feeder sat on the warming tray above the 'Ajax' firedoors, with their manual operating handle. These are often called 'butterfly' firedoors because of the pivoting action of the doors. At high level in front of the driver a large 'Detroit' 5-feed hydrostatic (sight-feed) lubricator was fitted. A large hoop hooked onto the filler plug of the lubricator carried the single line tablet for the line we were about to travel from Glenbrook to Pukeoware. To the right of the lubricator, a pull-out regulator hung from the roof. A trigger lever worked a catch in a toothed quadrant to hold the regulator in the position set. Immediately in front of the driver was the brake gauge, also fitted with an electric lamp. To the right, the reversing lever which American's call the 'Johnson Bar', was miniature and fitted with a trigger lever working a catch in a toothed quadrant implying power operation.


Ja1250 boiler backhead (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

Electricity is provided by a generator which feeds the large headlamps provided front and rear and the various other lamps. I spotted a Train Recorder mounted on the the inside of the cab side sheet on the driver's side. I didn't have time to absorb all the other details in the cab (including what appeared to be another lubricator with 4-feeds) before we set off, with the engine working tender-first. Easy steam was sufficient to give a reasonable speed downhill and the trainee fireman was firing lightly. 'Ajax' firedoors are intended for power operation and I was impressed that this feature was working on Ja1250, foot pressure on a small floor-mounted treadle swinging the doors open as the loaded shovel blade approached the firehole. A small air cylinder on the backhead above the firehole provided the power to operate the firedoors.

In the U.K., Bullied fitted 'Ajax' firedoors to his 'Pacifics', powered by a small steam cylinder. I've worked on two preserved Bulleid 'Pacifics' ('Canadian Pacific' and 'Taw Valley') but the power operated firedoors weren't in use on either and a former British Rail fireman told me that was not uncommon during his time on the Southern Region.


Ja1250 cab view with 'Ajax' firedoors bottom left (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

The line led through attractive, wooded farmland, not unlike England. Whistling, we passed over a minor road crossing, no barriers, just warning signs on the road.


Approaching Morley Road level crossing (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

All too soon, we arrived at what was then the end of the line. I climbed down to watch the locomotive being uncoupled - flexible hoses on the air brakes isolated and the palm couplings separated, then the Norwegian-pattern 'chopper' coupling disconnected.


Ja1250 being uncoupled from its train (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

The locomotive was then set-back into the headshunt, points reversed, and run forwards along the run-round loop, closely watched by the passengers, particularly those in the end vehicle - an open, converted bogie freight wagon.


Ja1250 setting back into headshunt (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)


The train included an open, converted bogie freight wagon (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

During the run-round, the locomotive stopped to take coal from an adjacent coal heap, using a small jib crane fitted with a grab. The crane was air operated by connecting a long hose to the brake hose on the locomotive and using the compressor on the locomotive to power the crane. I'd come across locomotive turntables using an air motor powered from the engine being turned (in the U.K., because of the original predominance of vacuum brakes, vacuum tractors were the norm) but I'd not encountered other equipment powered in this way. The 'Ja' then completed the run-round and was coupled-up for the return journey.

I'd been invited to see if I could make the 'Ja' steam on the way back to Glenbrook, where the gradient was reported as 1 in 50. The fire looked in good shape, but I decided to thicken it a little in the hope of bringing the pressure near to 'blowing-off' by the time we set off. There was plenty of 'Strongman' hard coal in the tender, in a convenient size for shovelling, so the challenge was to synchronise operation of the foot treadle so that the firedoors opened before the shovel blade tried to enter the firehole and keep pressure on the treadle until the shovel blade was completely withdrawn. Quite quickly, I managed to get a reasonable rhythm and found the experience delightful, musing that it was a distinct improvement on the usual arrangements in my country! I was gratified to see the boiler pressure respond to my treatment and, on the ascent back to Glenbrook, my usual 'little and often' treatment produced satisfactory results. The trainee decided to deal with the live steam injector, so I didn't get a chance to master setting the unfamiliar pattern in use. We arrived back at Glenbrook and I let the trainee have the fire back, thankful that I'd not disgraced myself.


The 'Ja' class had a good supply of 'Strongman' coal in the tender (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

I stayed on the footplate as the crew ran Ja1250 round its train, ready to take the next service, then I thanked them for their kindness and reluctantly returned to the platform.


The crew on Ja1250 during my visit (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)


Ja1250 leaving Glenbrook (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

Ja1250 leaving Glenbrook. Note the design of the Guard's ducket window (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

Whilst the service train was down the line, two motorised inspection trollies were raising funds for the railway by offering rides the length of the station. I was tempted, but declined.


Motorised Inspection Trolley (Glenbrook Vintage Railway, 2001)

Only much later did I discover that, in 1967, the original Strongman deep mine, near Greymouth on New Zealand's South Island, had suffered a disaster which killed 19 miners. It was replaced by the Strongman 2 mine which operated from 1994 to 2003.

My pictures

Glenbrook Vintage Railway

Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry

At the end of 2001, I made my first Round the World Trip, cryptically referred to as 'RTW1'. I started blogging at the end of 2006 and produced a very short post on 'RTW1' which you can find here. My pictures from that trip existed as prints which I intended to scan but work has proceeded very slowly. In 2020, I finally scanned the pictures from my trip to Rangitoto Island when I was in Auckland back in 2001 and decided to add the following description.

I was staying in the Heritage Hotel, Auckland, a conversion of Farmers Department Store built in the 1930s which appealed to me. Farmers are still trading but in a different location in Auckland. My room had a view of Auckland Harbour Bridge which I would have found impressive, had I not a couple of days earlier completed the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb experience.

View of Auckland Harbour Bridge from The Heritage Hotel (Auckland, 2002)

But what I had found impressive was the brooding presence of Rangitoto Island, with its symmetrical, conical volcano rising 260 metres above the sea, around 10 km away. Rangitoto erupted 600 years ago and is regarded as 'dormant'. Before 9.00 a.m., I was aboard a modern, catamaran Fullers ferry in the shadow of Auckland's Ferry Building for the 30 minute trip to the Wharf on Rangitoto Island to get a closer view.


Ferry Building and HSBC building: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

As the ferry powered away from the dock, it started to rain, quite seriously. I was travelling on the upper, open deck so I sheltered under the section with a canvas sun roof above, but cold rain was sluicing in from the sides. This was not quite how I had imagined Auckland.


Auckland in the rain: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

We called briefly at Devonport Pier and then continued to the wharf at Rangitoto. The rain ceased as quickly as it had started, so I felt quite cheerful as I disembarked.

I followed the single track away from the wharf to a junction, where a signpost pointed inland to a 'Summit Track'. With no obvious alternatives and nowhere to make enquiries, I set off to the summit on a decent track which ascended through lush, green bush. Periodically, I'd turn to check the view towards the mainland. The skies over the mainland still looked troubled but I was dry and the cooler temperature was helpful as I continued upwards. Eventually I reached a viewpoint, with a neat boardwalk, seats and fences around a central, wooden pylon. There was also a derelict, blockwork hut which might have once been a shop but had been daubed 'Danger - Keep Out'. The area clearly allowed for a number of visitors to take their ease, but I was quite alone (the camera's self timer allowed me to record my first volcano ascent).


Jan at summit of Rangitoto: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)


View of Cheltenham and Auckland from summit of Rangitoto: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

The crater rim path led me all around the top of the volcano before I started to descend. A sign to 'Lava Caves' led to a a different path bringing me to a series of fissures in the volcanic rock but I didn't explore far into the darkness within.


Crater rim path, Rangitoto summit: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)


Lava Caves, Rangitoto: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

I completed my descent the area near the wharf and found the 'Rangitoto Volcanic Explorer' - a tractor hauling a passenger coach which gets visitors near the summit. It was not running during my visit but might have run later. I was happy that I'd made the ascent unaided.


The Rangitoto Volcanic Explorer was not running during my visit: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

There seemed nothing further to detain me on the island so I decided to board the next ferry to arrive and travel on to Motuihe Island. Before we departed, I managed to snatch a picture of the bridge.


Bridge of modern catamaran ferry: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

As we sailed around Rangitoto to reach Motuihe, I proudly surveyed my achievement from afar.


Rangitoto Volcano viewed from ferry: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

Motuihe is a small island (179 hectares in area). It was first settled by the Maori, then farmed by Europeans for a century before becoming a quarantine station for Auckland in 1872. In the first World War it became a prisoner of war camp, in the second World War it was used as a naval training base. Boasting some of the finest beaches in the area, it is now a recreation reserve for day trips or camping controlled by the Department of Conservation.


Arriving astern at Motuihe Wharf: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

The ferry was booked to wait for a while at Motuihe before returning to Auckland so I decided to just explore the beach nearby and then rejoin the same ferry, rather than spending some hours on the island before catching a later ferry. The sun was strong and all signs of the morning rain had disappeared.


Ferry waiting at Rangitoto Wharf: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

On the return journey, we stopped at Devonport Pier and I was able to admire the preserved steam tug 'William C Daldy'. There's more information on their website here.


Devonport Pier with preserved steam tug 'William C Daldy': Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

As we left the pier, we passed a large catamaran ferry arriving.


Leaving Devonport Pier for Auckland, showing a catamaran ferry arriving: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

Within ten minutes, we were docking at Auckland, after a marvellous trip.

Arriving back at Auckland's ferry terminal: Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry (Auckland, 2002)

Related posts on this website

Selecting label 'RTW1' or clicking here displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.

My pictures

Rangitoto and Motuihe Islands by ferry, 2002