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2020 has been an apocalyptic year for the whole world. Life has been dominated by the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic so I hope this report doesn't appear too self-indulgent. This is the 15th annual review since I started this blog
OVERSEAS TRAVEL
In 2018, despite the limitations brought-on by ageing, I'd booked an expedition cruise with Noble Caledonia called 'Across the Tropic of Capricorn’ from Auckland (New Zealand) to Rabaul (Papua New Guinea). The itinerary included a number of days in the Solomon Islands which appealed to me and nobody had heard of Covid-19 at that time. By the time I set off on Saturday 8th February 2020, I had some misgivings but information about the new infection which had appeared in Wuhan, China was sparse. I'd finished the trip and been safely home again for a couple of weeks before the World Health Organisation finally declared a pandemic. It was a good trip, marred by being denied landing firstly in French-controlled New Caledonia, secondly in the Solomon Islands, which allowed us to spend extra time in friendly Vanuatu, and finally (and, we were assured, illegally) we were prohibited from landing in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. This last refusal neccessitated unscheduled cruising to Port Moresby, also in Papua New Guinea where we left the ship in time to fly to Cairns, Australia, for a one-night hotel stay concluding the trip.
Elaborately-masked ‘devils’ in the Rom Dance: Ambrym, Vanuatu.
That was my only overseas trip in 2020. I'd already booked airline tickets to revisit my many friends in Myanmar (formerly called Burma) in April but, by that time, international travel had become impractical. At least the airline refunded the air fare, although it took a while.
To find more about overseas visits I've made in previous years, see:-
Jan Ford's Travels (2001 onwards).
Jan Ford's Travels - The early trips (before 2001).
Jan Ford's Travels: Around the World in pictures
(alphabetic list of countries with links to pictures).
TRAVEL IN THE UK
In a normal year, I would expect to make a number of trips (mainly by rail) to various destinations in the UK but this didn't happen in 2020. There was very little local travel either, apart from a small number of business trips for survey work. The most exotic UK journey was a rail trip to North Wales in connection with my work, which did produce an album of indifferent pictures titled Wolverhampton-Hawarden Bridge.
Borderlands Line Up Side (Hawarden Bridge): View from the swing bridge (now fixed) over the River Dee looking downstream
RAILWAYS AND PRESERVATION
All preserved railways were seriously affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. I continued as a member of the Old Locomotive Committee and remained a volunteer at The Battlefield Line but, with reluctance, resigned as a working volunteer at Peak Rail after many years on the footplate there.
The Old Locomotive Committee
The Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO) usually organises two events each year: the Annual General Meeting, normally held at the Museum of Liverpool where the locomotive 'Lion' is on public display and the 'Lionsmeet' event. 'Lionsmeet' enables live-steam models of 'Lion' to be run and members to meet up. This event is hosted at the running track of a different Society of Model Engineers track each time. In 2020, Coronavirus legislation led to both events being cancelled so OLCO's periodic newsletter called 'Lionsheart' has been particularly important in 2020.
All my posts about the Old Locomotive Committee are here and you can find more information (including how to become a member) on OLCO's website here.
The Battlefield Line
Services at the Battlefield Line in the previous year, 2019, had been quite intensive, including the 'Last Train Monmouth-Chepstow Re-enactment' at the beginning of the year, steam-hauled and DMU services throughout the season, the '50th Anniversary Gala' featuring three steam locomotives, Santa Specials using 'Wightwick Hall' and a 'Light Prairie', finally finishing the year with Mince pie Specials with the 'Hall'. On 28th December2019, I was on the 'Hall' (I didn't write-up the day until 2020, so I've included the link to this post in the list below.
The year 2020 started well enough, operating a winter gala in January with 'Wightwick Hall' and a shuttle service using the DMU and 'Light Prairie'. For some reason, the name of this gala was changed from 'Winter Warmer Gala' to 'Cold Turkey Gala', which was to prove prophetic. Following this gala, there was a planned closure of the line until Easter. However, because of the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions, the line was not able to re-open, with reduced services, until August. Volunteers and supporters were thus deprived of their 'steam fix' at the Battlefield Line for over six months, rendering the title of the earlier winter gala strangely appropriate ("Cold turkey" refers to the abrupt cessation of a dependence and the resulting unpleasant experience). Government pandemic restrictions changed frequently during 2020 but the Battlefield Line persevered with a modified and reduced service of 'Santa Specials' although I wasn't involved this year. On 30th December, a DMU 'Mince Pie Special' was run but, that afternoon, the government announced tightened pandemic restrictions effective at midnight that day, resulting in the remaining 'Mince Pie Specials' being cancelled, so I lost my booked DMU turn on 31st December.
My, rather limited, activities in the year (with links to my pictures) are listed below:-
A Day on the DMU 11-Oct-2020
Operations at the Battlefield Line in 2020
'Cold Turkey Gala' at the Battlefield Line 4-Jan-2020/5-Jan-2020
Mince Pie Specials at the Battlefield Line 2019 28-Dec-2019
6989 'Whitwick Hall' ready to leave Shackerstone with a 'Mince Pie Special', 28-Dec-2019.
Jan, pleased to be back on the footplate at the Battlefield Line, 16-Aug-2020 (Photo: D. Mould)
You can find all my posts about the Battlefield Line here.
Incidentally, you can find all my posts about Diesel Multiple Units here (or refer to the 'Index' here).
Peak Rail
In July 2020, in view of the limitations brought on by ageing and the travelling involved to and from Peak Rail, I reluctantly decided to step back from an active operating role at Peak Rail whilst remaining supportive of Peak Rail's objectives. Operations at Peak Rail were severely impacted by the pandemic and 'Santa Special' operations in 2020, whilst initially marketed, were eventually abandoned.
You can find all my earlier posts about Peak Rail here with links to my pictures.
Myanma Railways
Because of the pandemic, I was unable to visit Myanmar in 2020 so I've added little about Myanma Railways, although there are three new posts describing events during the 2019 visit:-
A trip to Bago - Technical Notes 6-Dec-20
Power Signal Box, Togyaunggalay 24-Jun-2020
Railway Operation Control Center, Yangon 05-Feb-2020
You can find all my posts about Myanma Railways (in reverse date-of-posting order) here or refer to the 'Index' here.
BREWOOD HALL
The committee which organises the Brewood Garden Party, held in the gardens at Brewood Hall, met at the beginning of the year to plan the 2020 event but after the Coronavirus pandemic was declared and an array of legal restrictions were imposed, it was clear that the event in 2020 would have to be abondoned - a decision reached with great sadness.
There's an album of pictures showing the 1-acre garden through the seasons in 2020 here. There's a separate album (covering a number of years) showing the fungi which appear annually, which is here.
During the year, as always, various repairs were carried out around the property but none, as yet, has spawned a blog post.
You can find all my posts about Brewood Hall (in reverse date-of-posting order) here.
TY GWYN
Ty Gwyn is a small commercial woodland around 27 hectares in area near Corwen in Wales. I made a visit on 29th September 2020 with Dean to meet Will Tomkins from Fountains Forestry who manage the woodland. We inspected the condition of the plantation and agreed the future maintenance programme. Both before and after the visit, Dean and I made the traditional stop at the excellent 'Country Cooks' restaurant at Ty Nant. The owners had experienced a difficult 2020 because of changing Coronavirus regulations and lockdowns. Just a few days after our visit, they had to close again.
There's a report on the visit to the woodland here
Jan at the Pool: Ty Gwyn 2020 (Photo: D. Mould)
To see all my posts on Ty Gwyn, click here.
'ROAD TO MANDALAY' SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION
For a number of years, I've supported the charitable initiatives operated under the above name in Burma. I'm also currently a trustee of the Belmond Myanmar Foundation in the U.K. which also provides support to this work. Educational Support is provided to a wide range of schools and orphanages (including the Orphans & Vulnerable Children Project in Mon State) and Medical Treatment to all ages (centred on the wonderful Bagan Medical Clinic). When I visit Burma, I try to see as much as possible of the projects in hand but, in 2020 this has not been possible.
Like the rest of the world, Burma has been badly effected by the pandemic. Local restrictions on travelling and social distancing resulted in severe limitation on educational support in 2020 and the Bagan Medical Clinic has had to close until the situation improves.
You can find all my earlier posts on Educational Support here.
You can find all my earlier posts on Medical Support here.
OTHER BLOG POSTS IN THE YEAR
This review covers trips and events during the year but doesn't always include other types of post such as:-
Technical articles;
Historical articles;
Work-related topics;
Recollections of past events;
PREVIOUS ANNUAL REVIEWS
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Christmas in Brewood during the Coronavirus Pandemic has been like no other. Following a period of pre-Christmas 'lockdown', the area was placed in the government's Tier 3 regulations ('Very High Alert'). At least we avoided Tier 4 ('Stay at Home'). Most areas of life are covered by these regulations to try to control the spread of infection including hygiene, self-isolation (if typical symptoms of the virus appear), meeting people, travel, work, shopping, education, sport and religious services. In peacetime, there have never previously been such restrictions on the population.
The first vaccine for Covid-19 approved in the UK, made by Pfizer, gained emergency certification in December 2020 and the government programme for mass inoculation, starting with the most vulnerable groups, started just before Christmas. A second vaccine, from AstraZeneca, is expected to receive emergency certification imminently.
Although Christmas Lights were erected in Brewood Village as usual, the normal public festivities around the switching on of these lights had to be cancelled.
The start of December 2020 was cold but, when the sun shone, quite pleasant, as you can see from this drone picture my friend took on the 2nd December.
Brewood Hall: Picture from a quadcopter drone
Then the weather became very wet, causing flooding in many parts of the country. I noted the rise in level of the Brewood Stream, which runs just outside my home, on the opposite side of Sparrows End Line. Brewood Stream discharges into the River Penk just over half a mile away at Stone Bridge.
Brewood Stream at high level
Part of the flow coming down the Brewood Stream finds its way underground into a parallel system of sinks and issues in the field opposite Brewood Hall. In dry weather, this parallel watercourse is largely hidden but after heavy rainfall, a pond appears temporarily.
Temporary Pond viewed from the Holloway
Brewood Stream at high level, passing under Brewood Hall Bridge
There are a few more pictures of Brewood Stream during this period in the album Brewood: Around & About.
Although the ground has been very sodden, I've not heard of serious flooding locally affecting homes. Brewood Hall is situated at the foot of the hill on which the village centre is built so the elevation of the Hall is around 45 feet less than the village centre. During heavy rainfall, the cellars at the Hall become very wet with water finding its way from the hill to a lower level but the traditional building methods incorporating sumps to drain away this water naturally are effective and I've never actually seen the cellars flooded (so far!).
During December, I've usually participated in the operation of 'Santa Special' trains. Operation of preserved railways in the UK has been very difficult in 2020 because of Coronavirus and some railways (like Peak Rail) abandoned their Christmas programme of trains altogether. The Battlefield Line persevered with a modified and reduced service which was fully booked throughout but I wasn't involved this year. There's a post on the effect of Coronavirus on the Battlefield Line prior to the 'Santa Special' operations here.
There were different, complicated rules just applying to Christmas day making small groupings of people from up to three households legal. The Parish Church did have Christmas Services, but not in the normal format because of Social Distancing measures. Whilst some churches decided to issue tickets to the popular services, Brewood Parish Church decided to avoid the need for tickets by holding two 'Midnight Mass' services on Christmas Eve, spaced apart earlier in the evening, plus an 'on-line' version for those unable to attend in person.
Some parts of the UK had snow in time for Christmas Day but not Brewood where it was frosty morning and the local temperature was minus one Celsius. There was a weak sun, so I braved the cold as far as the garden to record the conditions.
Christmas Day at Brewood, 2020
My own Christmas was very low-key but we were able to observe the tradition of a Christmas Meal at Brewood Hall with Ann and Dean.
Ann celebrates Christmas
Dean celebrates Christmas
However, a few days later I awoke to find that it had snowed overnight so I was encouraged to don wellington boots and take a few pictures.
Snow at Brewood Hall, 28th Dec 2020
I then took a short walk up the ancient tree-lined footpath opposite the Hall. This formerly was a more significant thoroughfare which I've always believed was a 'sunken lane' or 'holloway'. There's a Wikipedia article here and an Atlas Obscura article here about holloways. The snow really emphasised the appearance of a holloway. I'm told that, years ago, locals called it 'The Dingle'.
Snow in the Holloway, Brewood (view looking south-east), 28th Dec 2020
Snow in the Holloway (looking north-west), Brewood, 28th Dec 2020
The final picture shows the 'temporary pond' (mentioned above) in the snow.
Snow and temporary pond, Brewood, 28th Dec 2020
Doctor Hla Tun had arranged an official visit to view the signalling arrangements at Bago on 9th May 2018 and this post adds some technical comments to the post A trip to Bago which describes that visit.
Bago is an important station on the double-track route from Yangon via Naypyitaw to Mandalay. It is also the junction for the single line to the south of Myanmar. Originally, this single line line terminated at Mottama but, with the opening of the Thanlwin Bridge, there is now a continuous railway to Mawlamyine and beyond.
At Bago there are two fully-interlocked mechanical signal cabins, one at each end of the station (South Cabin at Yangon end, North Cabin at Mandalay end) and a number of parallel loops through the station. I had previously seen a similar arrangement in use at Kyee Myin Daing (see the report of my visit to Kyee Myin Daing on 10th May 2017 here.
The Doctor and I arrived at Bago station at 1.00 p.m. and were ushered into the spacious meeting room. After introductions to Yin Min Oo, the Assistant Divisional Manager, the Signal Officer and two others who would accompany us on our tour, one of whom was an English speaker, we set off on our tour.
On the platform, we passed a particularly battered specimen of an Arrivals and Departures board. This board helps passengers find their correct coach, by showing the make-up of major passenger trains. Each coach is represented by a disc with vehicle details inscribed. The appropriate discs are hung on a horizontal series of small hooks so that the composition of each train is readily visible. Three trains are shown - I assume the apparent gaps in the train formation indicated are because of broken or missing hooks.
A particularly battered Arrivals and Departures board at Bago
Station Master's Office
The office which directs and authorises traffic movements in the Bago area they referred to as the 'Station Master's Office'. I think Myanma Railways may also use the term 'Sub-Control' for the more important locations.
Bago track diagram in Stationmaster's Office
Click for larger image
The Sub-controller (as I will provisionally call him) updates the train register book and writes out and issues the paper 'Line Clear' forms authorising train movements. The Sub-controller also has a radio, which links him with the Control Office in Yangon, and an impressive array of desk telephones. There's a hand-cranked magneto telephone which I think communicates with the Bago Signal Cabins and five auto telephones whose function I didn't discover.
The 'Sub-controller' in the Station Master's Office at Bago
At the 'Sub-controller' desks at Bago, there are two elderly items of electrical signalling equipment similar to those I'd seen on an official visit to Kyee Myin Daing in 2017 (described here). I assumed that, as at Kyee Myin Daing, they are used to instruct the two local signal boxes regarding the route through the station area to be taken by trains. There's also a third, similar instrument which I think is not in use.
Route Indicating Signalling Equipment, Bago (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Each instrument is housed in a substantial, cast housing rather similar to some designs of electric token instrument, with the cast cover secured with a padlock. All indications and controls are on the front face. There are two 2-position galvanometers towards the top; one a lower-quadrant semaphore stop signal indicator, the other displaying text in a slot (ON/OFF, as far as I can determine). Below this is a window showing part of a rotating disc revealing different numbers, according to the angular position of the disc which is controlled by turning a commutator knob below the window. I've found displays of 'N', '1' and '3' so I assume this is how the desired road is selected. Near the bottom of the front is a substantial pull-out slide (rather similar to that on certain electric tablet machines). To the left of the slide, is a push-button (possibly to reset for the next route).
These instruments are connected electrically to the appropriate signal cabin, where the required route is visually indicated.
These 'GIVE CONTROL FOR' filamentary indicators in the signal cabin show the required route (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018).
Time didn't allow me to get to the bottom of this tantalising puzzle, so I'm afraid I still have only a hazy understanding of the set-up as our hosts were anxious to move on to the signal cabin at the Mandalay end of the station, Bago North.
I was keen to see the mechanical signalling at Bago at close quarters as it's to be abolished and all the delightful semaphore signals removed as part of the railway modernisation. My interest had been whetted travelling through Bago by train on 8th September 2012 during an uncomfortable journey from Yangon to Kyaikto, described in two posts here and here. Three days later, I returned to Yangon by road, stopping at Bago to add more photographs of the railway.
As we walked across the multiple tracks from the main platform to reach Bago North Signal Cabin, I kept stopping to take pictures of items of signalling equipment, including an example of one of the rather elegant ground disc signals.
One of the rather simple yet elegant ground disc signals at Bago (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Bago North Signal Cabin
We entered the mechanical signal cabin of Bago North where, on the operating floor, two signalmen were on duty.
Bago North Cabin, overall view (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Track Diagram, Bago North Cabin (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Click for larger version
I photographed everything in sight for later study and the young signalman set up a route to demonstrate the operation of the levers (but I didn't ask to try myself). I asked to see the locking room and, again, took a number of photographs.
Bago North Signal Cabin: General view of locking room (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Bago North Signal Cabin: Locking room, showing drive from levers to inclined locking tray (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Bago North Signal Cabin: Locking room, showing detail of inclined locking tray (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
For more information on the control of trains in Myanmar, see the post here Alternately, there's an index of all my Myanma Railways posts (which may not always be up-to-date) here.
Bago Locomotive Depot
On 6th May 2015, I'd made a visit to Insein Locomotive Works in Yangon (described here) and was excited to find them restoring a couple of steam locomotives with the intention of using them to operate tourist trains. That didn't happen but the German travel firm FarRail Tours stepped in to support the costs and use the locomotives for photographic charters. I took a few pictures of the restoration work in progress which you can find here.
I knew from following the interesting FarRail Trip Reports that the three serviceable steam locomotives were normally kept in the shed at Bago. During the 2018 Bago visit being described, our hosts offered a visit to the locomotive shed so, of course, I quickly agreed. Any loco depot is full of interest and I quickly took a few pictures showing the office block with the sign for the Loco Ispector's Office (in English and Myanmar languages), a couple of Japanese 'RBE' diesel railcars, a single-ended Very Lightweight Diesel Railcar carrying the running number LRBE66, locomotive DF1205 (a 1200 h.p. Bo-Bo-Bo diesel electric but with single cab and very worn paint finish). There was a 'graveyard' of dismantled steam locomotives including a number of main frames with cylinders attached, a bogie, coupled wheelsets in two sizes and I don't know what else was hidden in the undergrowth.
Japanese diesel railcar and 'graveyard' of dismantled steam locomotives (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
The original massive water tower survives. There are also three modern elevated, rectangular tanks. I think the left one is water - the others may be diesel fuel which I didn't confirm but they are ajjacent to three 3,500 gallon cylindrical fuel tanks, silver-painted and mounted horizontally. Nearby are two of the original inspection pits and a water column supplied by J. Blakeborough and Sons, Brighouse in 1904.
DF1205, original water tower, storage tanks, inspection pits and water column (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
I'd previously tracked down various non-operational examples of steam in Burma at various locations (there's a post here) but this was my first sighting of engines still steamable so I clambered onto the footplate of each of the three locomotives in turn, grabbing as many pictures as I could before our hosts became too restless.
The three locomotives are from two classes produced after World War II to allow Burma Railways to recover from severe war damage (at different stages during the war, Burma was bombed by both the the U.K. and Japan). Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows was involved in the building of these classes. There's a splendid website chronicling the history of Vulcan Foundry here.
One 'YB' class 4-6-2 for passenger service is preserved and two 'YD' class 2-8-2 mixed traffic locomotives. All three are oil-fired although, when withdrawn, some examples of these classes remained coal-fired.
The solitary 'Pacific' type, 'YB629' was standing outside the north end of the shed, coupled head-to-head onto 2-8-2 'YD964' which was the engine I'd identified under heavy repair at Insein back in 2015. At Bago, 'YD964' was standing over the Wheel Drop with the motion partly taken-down, presumably in need of running repairs. The second 2-8-2 was standing outside the south end of the shed. My pictures of these three survivors are in the album here, and I apologise for the poor quality of some of them in my haste to record as much as possible.
'YB629' 4-6-2 outside Bago Shed (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
YD 964': View of driver's side showing partly-dismantled motion. Wood between the slidebars prevents the crosshead from moving. The locomotive is standing over the Wheel Drop (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
'YD967' 2-8-2 at Bago: For once, Jan looks quite happy (The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018)
Bago to Yangon by Train
When our hosts managed to prise me away from the steam locomotives, I was all set for a visit to Bago South cabin but they said there was not enough time, so we made our way back to the station, this time using a public footbridge. However, they did suggest that I might like to return to Yangon by train, a suggestion I readily accepted. Train 32 from Naypyitaw (from where it departed at 08:00) was due to arrive, they said, at 15:00. They also suggested that my photographic opportunities might be better in an Ordinary Class coach, where all the windows were sure to be fully open, rather than an Upper Class coach. I agreed with their reasoning and a ticket was issued. Then they said the train was 15 minutes late and it actually arrived about 15:20. According to the rail travel website 'The Man in Seat 61' here, the train was not due in until 15:20 and was due to depart at 15:23, arriving Yangon at 17:00. Well, we left about 15:23 and cracked along at what, for a Burmese train, was a a very good speed. We made just one stop and arrived at Yangon Central Station at 17:00. The journey is described in some detail in the post Bago - Yangon by train.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing Myanma Railways.
Selecting label 'Myanma-Railways' or clicking here displays all the posts with this label in reverse date-of-posting order.
Alternately, there is an Index here (but it may not be always quite up-to-date).
My pictures
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:-
Bago Station (earlier pictures).
The Railway at Bago, 9th May 2018.
Bago to Yangon by Train, 9th May 2018.
All my Myanma Railways pictures.
