Briefly in Bangkok

The 'River of Kings' in Bangkok, adjacent to the Oriental Hotel.

My flight from Dubai made a straight-in approach to runway 19R, landing at about 12.30 in the afternoon on Monday 8th. It took about ten minutes to taxi to the terminal but, as soon as we stopped, two air bridges coupled up to let us off. I was in the 'first wave' and passport control was a breeze. It took about ten minutes for my bag to turn up, then it was through customs to find my 'Meeter and Greeter', Julie. She then went off to track down the car and driver and we were soon on the elevated toll road heading for Bangkok and the Oriental Hotel. I'd stayed at the Oriental once before. This time, they'd put me in the 'Garden Wing' which, although modern and multi-storey, is on a more intimate scale than the 'River Wing'. All the staff will 'Wei' to you (the Thai version of bowing) and wish you good-day with 'Saswadee ka'. They get through a lot of flowers - on arrival I was presented with the wrist-sized Thai equivalent to the Hawaiin 'Lei', the 'Welcome Drink' (fruit juice) was accompanied by a tiny basket of flowers. In fact, most transactions come decorated with a flower somewhere. The room had a lounge area overlooking the 'River of Kings' and seven steps leading up to the sleeping area, with a small window looking out across the city on the landward side. A well-appointed bathroom led off the sleeping area. Hotel pictures.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I decided to make a brief trip out. The Oriental has its own landing stage and a private ferry shuttles from the hotel to more facilities on the opposite bank and downstream a few hundred yards to Taksin Bridge. Taksin is, currently, the final station on the elevated mass-transit 'Skytrain' (My 'Skytrain' pictures). Just three stops takes me to Sala Daeng station, with directions from my hotel on finding a nearby bookshop in Thaniya Plaza. First, I walk to Rama IV Road to watch the build-up of traffic and admire the statue of King Rama VI set in the corner of Lumphini Park. (My Bangkok pictures). After a little walking, I spot Thaniya Plaza and its shopping mall. The specialities seem to be reproduction antiques and golf equipment but there's also a branch of Asia Books where I buy a 'Lonely Planet' Guide Book (I won't say where to - that would spoil the surprise). I'm surprised to be asked "Do you want a plastic cover?" At no extra cost, the bookseller takes a piece of clear plastic and expertly makes a slip cover secured with 'Sellotape'.

By the time I'm back outside with my purchase, there's a furious tropical downpour so I make my way back to the Skytrain station and return to Taksin. By the time we arrive at Taksin, the rain has abated. The hotel ferry has just brought some guests from the hotel, so I'm able to jump straight on for the short journey back to the hotel. I can't resist going to the Authors' Lobby for English-style afternoon tea and scones with clotted cream and a selection of jams. It's almost six p.m. as I get back to my room (we're six hours ahead of the U.K.) and rapidly getting dark, as it does in these latitudes. I'm fairly tired at this stage so, with an early start tomorrow, I relax in my room and prepare this report, using my Notebook Computer and the hotel's (chargeable) broadband facilities.

There's time for a walk around the hotel to remind myself of some of the facilities. The string quartet still play in the main reception in the evening, largely ignored by the people hurrying in and out of the hotel. Dinner on the terrace is still accompanied by jazz from a trio of keyboard, electric guitar and female vocalist. There's music, too, in the 'Bamboo Bar', but not 'till later. Over the river, the hotel's 'Sala Rim Nam' restaurant offers Thai cuisine with Thai music and dance. The 'China House' (where I dined on my last visit) offers Chinese-style food in a preserved colonial-era villa. The 'Verandah' is more coffee-shop casual dining. Then there's 'Le Normandie' for French cuisine and 'Lord Jim's' for international cuisine and seafood. Or, of course, you can eat in your room.

The mynah birds still live in a large aviary outside the authors' wing and chatter to the passing guests - they've been in residence for 11 years now. I think the hotel's tradition goes back almost 150 years, right to the start of the opening of Siam to the Western World. But, alas, Bangkok is just a staging-post on this trip for tomorrow I'm due to fly to Yangon.

The Game's Afoot!

Here we go again! It’s one o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and I’m at Birmingham Airport. I haven’t flown from Birmingham since my almost-disastrous departure to the Ukraine a few years ago (I’ll tell you about it, one day). The amount of new building at the airport is amazing, but it remains a very cramped site. Sunday lunchtime seems a very popular time to travel and the Check-in Hall is seriously crowded. Fortunately, things are a little quieter in the ‘Emirates’ zone and there are a couple of desks for business passengers, so I’m checked in within a few minutes.

But next, a brief railway interlude (bet that surprises you). The ill-fated ‘Maglev’ train which formerly linked Terminal 1 with the Network Rail Station at Birmingham International has been rebuilt as a cable-hauled ‘Air-Train’. I take the opportunity to make a round trip on the driverless 2-car trains. I’m intrigued that what’s basically very old technology (similar to the San Francisco Cable Cars) can still offer a practical solution.

Back at Terminal 1, Departures Level, there is an amazing queue of passengers snaking back and forth, blocking access to the shops and generally creating the sort of mayhem that I associate with Heathrow. Fortunately, my boarding card is stamped for ‘Priority Access’ so, once I can find the entrance to the lane, things move rather faster for me and I’m soon looking for the ‘Servisair’ lounge which deals with Emirates Business Passengers. It’s a fairly small lounge and quite crowded, but it represents a relative haven of tranquility compared with the scrum outside. Modern air travel has become so stressful that one of the main advantages of a business ticket is the partial reduction in the hassle involved in passing through airports.

I’ve never flown with Emirates before, but they get some good ratings. When my agents were looking for a decent fare to the Far East for this trip, Emirates had a reasonable offer, so I agreed to try them. The first flight takes me to Dubai, then a second flight should take me on to Bangkok. If you’ve read my posts on my last major trip (‘RTW5’) you’ll know that I was very taken with Myanmar and the river cruise on the ‘Road to Mandalay’. In fact, I’d booked to take a different cruise on the same ship in September (that is, now), and the Emirates flights were intended to get me to Bangkok in connection with the cruise. But then Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, causing chaos that was only partly reported by the Western Media. The ‘Road to Mandalay’ was in dry dock at Yangon at the time and was seriously damaged, resulting in the whole of the 2008 cruise programme being cancelled. The down side of special air fares is that there may be restrictions on altering or cancelling flights. I had the choice of forfeiting the fare I’d paid or building another trip around the Emirates flights already booked.

In connection with my agents, Wexas, we designed a different trip and that’s what I’m about to start. Wexas, based in London, bill themselves as a ‘Travel Club’. They cater for ‘serious travellers’ and all their consultants are personally committed to travel. Once I come up with some idea of what I’d like to do, they will do the research to put some flesh on it and advise what’s possible. There’s then a period of refinement where they make suggestions and I make counter suggestions until we end up with a plan which is both appealing and possible. Working with the same consultants over a number of years means that I don’t have to explain my preferences and usually any suggestions they make will be attractive. It’s a relationship that’s produced some fairly amazing trips.

Greetings from Dubai, where I'm transiting on my way to Bangkok. I left Birmingham on Sunday afternoon about 3.0 p.m. (about 45 minutes late on schedule) on an Emirates 777-300-ER, and arrived Dubai about 1.0 a.m. local time. I'll add more details as possible. Dubai airport proved a mixed experience. On landing, we taxied for about ten minutes before finding our stand way out on the apron. Four modern buses were waiting to transfer passengers. Business class was offloaded first through the front stairs and we had a rather uncomfortable stop-and-start progress past the Cargo Centre, the In-flight Catering Centre, finally arriving at the terminal after a good 15 minutes in the bus. The terminal doors admit us to a noisy mass of people off various flights all trying to get through the security procedures before being let loose in the terminal. I'd been given printed transit instructions at Birmingham which proved useless because they've re-numbered all the gates. Apparently, this intelligence has not yet filtered through to Birmingham. After wandering round aimlessly for a while, I went to a KLM Lounge, where a charming girl phoned to check my gate number and then gave me directions to the Emirates Business Lounge nearest that gate. I've always had a soft spot for KLM. The Emirates lounge was busy but well-appointed. I couldn't get my computer to connect to any of the Wi-Fi but found a bank of (rather slow) internet computers which allowed me to get the first version of this post onto Blogger.

I got to the departure gate in good time but, the process of getting another bus back to the new flight meant that it was about an hour before we started to taxi to the runway. Around six hours flying would take us to Bangkok's huge relatively-new Suvarnabhumi airport. The seating layout in business is 2-3-2, which I'm not keen on. Birmingham to Dubai, I was stuck in the middle one of three but Dubai to Bangkok I had 2A window seat. Mind you, they pulled the shades for most of the flight to Bangkok and kept the cabin lighting dim to encourage people to sleep. Service and food was fairly good but the most impressive feature was probably the On-Demand entertainment system boasting over 600 channels of films, television, music and audio. On the two legs I watched three films - the latest Indiana Jones (I wasn't very impressed), 'The Bank Job' which did impress and the recent 'St. Trinians' (some OK moments but totally lacking the charm of the originals).

Ivor: The best laid plans...

'Dai Station' reads the local paper's report on 'Ivor'.

In my previous 'Ivor' post in 2008, I described how we spent the day giving shuttle rides with one car of the 2-car diesel railcar. A similar operation was planned for the following Saturday, 23rd August, but plans don't always work out as intended.

This time, I was 'marked' as driver on the Diesel Multiple Unit (back to a two-car formation with the brakes repaired). Preparing the DMU for service isn't quite as simple as 'turn the key and go' but it's much quicker than on steam, so I had the luxury of signing-on around 08:30, instead of a couple of hours earlier for steam. Before running passenger trains, an inspection run is normally carried out along the length of the line, visually checking that the track and route is safe. My arrival time allowed for the DMU to carry out this inspection.

'Mayflower' was to operate the service train. On arrival at the shed I found the '02' diesel mechanical shunter next to 'Yvonne' not in steam, then 'Ivor', wreathed in smoke and finally 'Mayflower', with its crew completing preparation. There was no driver present for 'Ivor' and the trainee fireman had 'blacked-out' the fire so as to produce plenty of acrid smoke but not a lot of heat. So my thought of having a nice, clean day went out of the window as we set about improving matters in Ivor's firebox. It was clearly going to be some time before 'Ivor' would be in steam, so I made my way to the DMU siding to get the 2-car unit ready. Gerald said that the '02' would not start and I knew that, if the worst came to the worst, we could shunt with the DMU. However, Gerald had located a battery charger, allowing the '02' to be put on charge for a while. Eventually, the '02' started-up so I moved the DMU to the north end of platform 1. This allowed the '02' to drag 'Yvonne', 'Ivor' and 'Mayflower' into the south end of platform 1. 'Mayflower' was uncoupled and made her way to platform 2, ready to take the first Shenton service at 10:55. The '02' propelled 'Yvonne' and 'Ivor' to the outside pit. 'Ivor' was still struggling to make steam but I had to leave again to make the inspection run to Shenton with the DMU. On my return, 'Ivor' was 'off the mark' but steam pressure was rising only slowly. It had been suggested that the smoke tubes were blocked and, although I was dubious, we carried out a quick 'tubing', after the '02' had returned to the shed road with 'Yvonne'. The 'tubing' dislodged very little soot but, at long last, we had a decent, bright fire and pressure started to rise.

Now it was time to "oil-round" 'Ivor'. Most of this was carried out by the trainee under instruction as, once 'Mayflower' returned from Shenton, I was scheduled to take the DMU on a shuttle trip up the line to Headley's Crossing. After the shuttle trip, the DMU was 'stabled' in platform 1 and I returned to a much happier 'Ivor'. Once the second Shenton service had left, 'Ivor' was able to move into platform 1, where all available hands made the locomotive a bit more presentable. Before 'Mayflower' returned, 'Ivor' had to be parked out of the way, allowing 'Mayflower' to run round whilst the DMU was on its second shuttle trip to Headley's.

So, for the rest of the day, this pattern repeated, with the DMU dashing up to Headley's each time 'Mayflower' arrived back and 'Ivor' standing in the platform (or steaming up and down the platform) but moving out of platform 1 when 'Mayflower' returned. When 'out of the way' was the north end sidings, the coal bunker on 'Ivor' was replenished. There was a variation when the service train arrived back after the fourth trip. This time, the DMU had been positioned in platform 2 so that 'Mayflower' could arrive in platform 1. Once the DMU had disappeared up the line on the fourth (and last) shuttle, 'Mayflower' could run round, pausing at the water column at the south end of platform 2 to take water. Whilst 'Mayflower' was down the line on the fifth run, the DMU was disposed in the DMU siding. Finally, 'Ivor' made a final appearance in platform 1 before heading for the outside pit for disposal. Disposal of a steam locomotive is always rather hot and dirty work, particuarly at the end of a shift when everyone is getting tired. Once the job was done, it only remained for the '02' (still coupled to 'Yvonne') to pick up 'Ivor' and put 'Yvonne' and 'Ivor' in the shed for the night. The '02' was stabled just outside the shed.

After working on 'Ivor' and the DMU on Saturday, I was happy to have a day off on Sunday. But I was 'marked' as DMU driver again on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August. The weather was kind and we had lots of visitors. This time, 'Ivor' had a driver, so I was able to stick to my rostered 'diagram', doing a line inspection trip and four Shuttles to Headley's Crossing, coupled to 'Ivor', who pulled the train back to Shackerstone each time.

My pictures in 2008 of 'Ivor'.

My post on the 2007 'Ivor' events.

Ivor the Engine: 2008

Rob, Sam, Andy and Dai Station chatting before the shuttle departs.

Following a succesful visit to the Battlefield Line in July and August 2007 (See post), 'Ivor the Engine' returned to Shackerstone in August 2008.

Out of the two famous engines, 'Ivor' and 'Thomas', it must be admitted that 'Thomas' is the better-known locomotive. Thomas's originator, the Reverend Awdry, sold the rights to Britt Allcroft, who developed the 'Thomas' television programmes and a range of tie-in products. Having created a successful international 'brand', the rights were disposed of to Hit International, which zealously guards its investment. Licenses issued to preserved railways to operate Thomas Events involve significant costs to the railway and require compliance with arduous and detailed conditions. I can't help wondering what the Reverend Awdry would make of the commercial empire his stories have spawned. In contrast, 'Ivor the Engine' remains a rather more innocent creation. Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate produced a series of relatively unsophisticated but charming animated stories for television which still have appeal.

The idea of creating a real, working steam locomotive with the rather improbable outline of the original animated 'Ivor' is delightful. Steve, the owner of the working 'Ivor', has succeeded admirably in implementing the idea. So, purist that I am in most matters of railway restoration, I was nevertheless happy to have an opportunity to drive 'Ivor' again.

On Sunday, 17th August Sam and I prepared the locomotive and trundled down to the station nice and early. This left the inspection pit free for 'Sir Gomer' to use. 'Sir Gomer' was to operate the 5-coach service train during the day. Willing as 'Ivor' is, handling the service train is a little beyond his capabilities. But 'Ivor' was allowed to operate a one-coach diesel shuttle during the day.

Normally, 'Ivor' would have been coupled to the 2-car Diesel Multiple Unit, but there was a problem with the brake cylinders on the one coach. So, when Rob the DMU driver arrived, 'Ivor' helped out with shunting the defective coach to the siding for repair. Then 'Ivor' was coupled to the good DMU coach and stood in platform 1 to await passengers. Each time 'Sir Gomer' arrived in platform 2 with the train from Shenton, Rob took the train to Hedley's Crossing, about a mile out of Shackerstone, with 'Ivor' being pulled backwards. Then it was the turn of 'Ivor' to do some work and pull the coach back to Shackerstone. Meanwhile, 'Sir Gomer' had run round the train and was ready to set off for Shenton.

On our last trip of the day, 'Dai Station' accompanied us on the footplate of 'Ivor' and you can watch his splendid video by clicking below.

To see more still pictures of Ivor's visit, Click Here.

Hotels of the World

It's never been so easy to travel, for which many of us are grateful. But I can't help feeling that a certain elegance and excitement that attended travel in the past has been lost. Wouldn't you have liked to do the 'Grand Tour', learning about the past glories of Europe? Or, more recently, travelled on the great liners, staying in a succession of classic hotels? Perhaps I'm just a romantic. Certainly, these pleasures were restricted to a much smaller group of people than today.

When I'm on one of my jaunts, I try to seek out Hotels with a bit of history so as to learn a little about what travel once represented, before all remnants of the past are eliminated in the uniformity of modernity. My collection of photographs is fairly undiscriminating, and I've included a number of unremittingly modern hotels, but my preference is always for somewhere with a little history attached.

Bristol Hotel, Panama City, Panama: This is a modern hotel with fairly classic styling situated in the hotel district of downtown Panama City. The staff are friendly and helpful. Pictures

Santa Isabel Hotel, Havana, Cuba: The Santa Isabel is a long-established hotel in a Spanish-style building, overlooking the Plaza des Armas and a few minutes from Havana Bay. Many of the original fittings have been retained, giving a genteel charm which, combined with the friendly service, gave me an enjoyable (if brief) stay. Pictures

Iberostar Grand Hotel, Trinidad, Cuba: The building, in Spanish Colonial style, has been thoroughly modernised and is an excellent base for exploring Trinidad and the surrounding area. Pictures

Saratoga Hotel, Havana, Cuba: The Saratoga Hotel is a 'classic' hotel with a city centre location adjacent to the Capitol and Parque Central. It has been extensively modernised and has a rooftop open-air swimming pool and cafe commanding stunning views of the city. Pictures

Mayaland, Chichen Itsa, Yukatan, Mexico: The Hacienda which included the Chichen Itza site has been developed into three resort hotels. 'Mayaland' adjoins the World Heritage Site and has a private entrance to the site. Pictures

The Wynn, Las Vegas: A large Casino with Golf Course, Theatres, Restaurants and accommodation attached. Pictures

Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand: I spent one night at the Shangri-La in March 2008, en route from Yangon (Myanmar) to Las Vegas. I'd stayed there once before (Round The World One, I think). Pictures

Trader's Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar: Trader's Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar is housed in one of the relatively few high rise buildings in the city. Pictures

Strand Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar: The Strand is the famous hotel established by two Armenian brothers, the Sarkies, in what was then known as Rangoon. Pictures

Park Hyatt, Tokyo: The Park Hyatt is a modern hotel in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Pictures

Iwaso Ryokan, Miyajima, Japan: The Iwaso is a Japanese-style hotel ('ryokan') with a long history. I was able to stay in one of the 'cottages' adjacent to the main buildings. Pictures

The Brighton Hotel, Kyoto, Japan: A modern hotel in a quiet part of Kyoto, near the Palace. Pictures

Marriott Hotel, Nagoya, Japan: A modern, well-appointed hotel in a tower block above Nagoya railway station offering excellent service. Pictures

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan: This is the second building occupied by this classic hotel, preserving its reputation for excellent service. The Reception of the original building is preserved at Meiji Mura building museum! Pictures

Duxton Hotel, Perth, Western Australia: Modern but friendly, like much of the city it serves. Pictures

Heritage Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand: The former Farmer's Department Store has been fairly sensitively converted into a comfortable and friendly hotel near the centre of the city. Pictures

Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York: A classic hotel now in its second building. Pictures

Imperial Hotel, New Delhi: Nowhere is more evocative of the British Rule in India than this elegant 1920s hotel. Pictures

Cecil Hotel, Shimla, India: Another 'classic' hotel, originally favoured by the British in India, recently refurbished by the present owners, the Oberoi Group. Pictures

Heritage Hotel, Christchurch, New Zealand: Most of the accommodation is in the well-appointed but characterless new building. However, the hotel incorporates the Old Courthouse building, somewhat better. Pictures

Glenfern Villas, Franz Josef, New Zealand: The long-distance bus from Greymouth will deliver you to these well-appointed self-catering villas, a couple of miles North of Franz Josef itself. Pictures

Mena House, Giza, Egypt: Who could resist a hotel room with a view of the Pyramids at Giza? The old part of the hotel is a former palace with an impressive list of past guests. The modern enlargement of the hotel is less satisfactory. Pictures

Raffles Hotel, Singapore: Traditional hospitality, Singapore Slings, Afternoon Tiffin and "I'll see you again" played at 8.00pm. A treasure, indeed. Pictures

Windsor Hotel, Melbourne, Australia: Facilities excellent, helpful staff, and a bit of history - my kind of hotel. Pictures

Radisson Hotel, Tahiti: The facilities were good but I'm afraid I didn't feel as welcome here as some places. Could it be the French management? Pictures

Hotel San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador: A fairly sensitive conversion and extension, preserving the facade and many Spanish Colonial features. Pictures

Hotel Casa Vieja, Mexico City: A boutique hotel which really seemed like home-from-home. Pictures

Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur, India: This gets my award for the Most Romantic Hotel in the World. Excellent accommodation, friendly staff. The marble-clad hotel, originally built as a summer palace, occupies a small island on an artificial lake, appearing to float on the water. Outstanding. You may remember it from the James Bond film 'Octopussy', with Roger Moore. Pictures

Oriental, Bangkok: A classic hotel with a distinguished history. Pictures

Copacobana Palace, Rio de Janeiro: One of the world's classic hotels and the first hotel to be built on Rio's Copacabana Beach. Pictures

Anantara Resort, Golden Triangle, Thailand: The one where I did my Mahout elephant course. Pictures

Luangsay Lodge, Pakbeng, Laos: An overnight stay on my cruise down the Mekong in Laos. Pictures

La Residence, Louang Prabang, Laos: An Orient Express hotel set on a hillside a few minutes drive from downtown Luang Prabang. Pictures

Settha Palace Hotel, Vientiane, Laos: A pleasant two-storey hotel right in the city. Pictures

I haven't included links to the individual hotel websites, but you should be able to find them easily. Many sites include fairly eleborate photographs or virtual tours. My list of hotels will be expanded as I deal with the backlog of photographs and also, hopefully, as I continue to travel!

You can browse all my hotel pictures by going to the Hotels of the World Collection Page.

Jean Martyn Organathon

What is an 'Organathon'? It's an organ marathon. Brewood Parish Church, Saint Mary and Saint Chad, has an electrically-operated pipe organ which is in need of major maintenance. A fund-raising programme is currently under way. As part of this programme, the Church's Director of Music, Jean Martyn, performed a 12-hour organ marathon on Thursday 14th August 2008. She played both the church organ and her own electronic organ which she uses for commercial concerts at various venues around the country.

The Organathon was divided into different music styles:- Big Band Era, Childrens' Hour, Classical, 60s Juke Box Jury, Music from the Movies, Ivor Novello and Opera, Classic FM, Music of the 20s-30s-40s, Requests and Dedications, Blackpool, Favourites, Grand Finale Concert. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the church with plenty of audience partcipation on the familiar numbers. Refreshments were provided so that visitors were able to stay for as long as they were able and children were welcome.

The video clip below shows Jean Martyn playing 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' on the church organ. Everybody rated the day a great success and thanks are due to all those involved in the organisation of this unusual event, particularly to Jean Martyn herself, who demonstrated not only her musicianship but also her stamina!

Peak Rail 1940s Weekend: 2008

The Peak Rail 1940s Weekend has become a very important feature of the year. Not everybody is in favour of re-creating scenes from wartime. My own view is that the educational benefits to people like me, who didn't experience the Second World War first hand, justifies the attempt.

This year, just a few days before the event, the coaching stock suffered a graffiti attack, the second such attack this year (see report), creating even more work in the already-major build-up to the weekend.

The poster above shows all the attractions but, since I was the driver on Sunday 3rd August, I saw very little of these other activities. An intensive service of seven round trips during the day left the loco crew with little free time. The battle re-enactment was deliberately scheduled to occur when the passenger train was safely out of the way 'down the line'. Peak Rail stalwart 'Royal Pioneer' (click for lots of detail pictures of this locomotive) was to work the service train throughout the day. Because of the heavy expected loading on this weekend, we were to run with a seven-coach train (the maximum that the run-round loop at Matlock Riverside can accommodate). Arrival at 7.45 a.m. gave me time to 'oil round' and examine the engine, so as to be ready to come off shed at 9.30 a.m., although the morning fireman, Robin, had to make an earlier start to prepare the fire. We travelled 'light engine' to Rowsley to pick up the stock and were ready to leave with the first 'Up' service at 10.15 a.m. A stop was made at Darley Dale in the 'Up' direction but all 'Down' trains ran through non-stop. We ran very close to right time all day. At lunchtime, Robin was relieved by Chris, who fired during the afternoon.

Jan models the ubiquitous 'tin helmet' - rather heavy and uncomfortable after a while. It's sobering to consider the privations that civilians, let alone service personnel, endured during the war. Uncomfortable protective equipment was the least of the problems. Because of food rationing, many people were permanently hungry but were still required to work long hours. Additional work, like Fire Watching, was commonplace. Because of air raids, there was the continual worry of eventually returning home to find your house destroyed and family injured or dead. All this, on top of families being torn apart to provide the fighting forces overseas and left with only sparse and intermittent communications.

Chris, who was fireman in the afternoon, wearing a respirator similar to those issued to railwaymen. It was thought that there was a real risk of gas attack and the civilian population was issued with a simple design of gas mask. Servicemen and workers like railwaymen were provided with a slightly more sophisicated form of protection. Imagine the problems of carrying out your duties encumbered like this. In the event, gas was not used - fortunate, as the effectiveness of the respirators, particularly the civilian version, has been seriously questioned.

It was a satisfying day, but I always find the war weekends very thought-provoking (as, indeed, they should be).

I took a few pictures. Click to view them.

In 2007, I took a few pictures of the battle re-enactment. Click to view them.

There are more pictures from the 2006 event. Click to view them.

Day Out With Thomas 2008

The 'Day Out With Thomas' events at the Battlefield Line form an important part of the railway calendar. On the 13th and 19th July, I was booked as the Driver on 'Thomas'. He was a little poorly, some concern having been raised about the condition of his springs, so he was generally confined to pottering about the station at Shackerstone and being admired by all the children. An extension to the whistle chain allowed children to actually sound Thomas's whistle from the safety of the platform! This was very popular (except with the loco crew).

From time to time, there were little 'playlets'. In one, Thomas appears to be poorly until the Conductor uses a fishing rod to catch and remove a fish from his water tank. Thomas cheers up considerably after the removal of the fish (no letters of protest, please - real fish are not used). In another playlet, children bring real water in small plastic buckets to fill Thomas's tank. The enthusiasm of the children is wonderful to watch, although the conclusion is usually that the unfortunate loco crew get water thrown at them.

There were also 'Races', with two locomotives running parallel along platforms 1 and 2 (whilst the main train was safely out of the way down the line). Both 'Fast Races' and 'Slow Races' were undertaken, involving 'Thomas', 'Percy' (a.k.a. 'Sir Gomer') and 'Yvonne' (the Cockerill Tram Engine). At other times during the day, 'Fergus' (the Aveling Barford) clanged up and down giving brake van rides.

The first and last trains of the day to Shenton were hauled by a Class 47 (I'm not sure what part of the 'Thomas' Canon that represented) and 'Mayflower' (as the 'Big Green Engine') handled the other departures.

In addition to all this activity, 'Daisy' the Diesel Multiple Unit was giving passenger shuttle rides from Shackerstone to Hedley's Crossing and back (a round trip of about two miles). On the 19th of July, it was agreed that 'Thomas' could accompany 'Daisy' on one of her shuttle trips. 'Thomas' was 'tied on' and 'Daisy' hauled 'Thomas' down to Hedley's Crossing. 'Thomas' then pulled 'Daisy' back to Shackerstone, greatly enjoying the opportunity to do some useful work.

I was booked on again on the 20th July, this time as the driver on 'Daisy'. On some of the shuttle trips, the 2-car DMU was filled to capacity and we had to turn people away.

The July events had been advertised on television to try to improve the numbers attending - there certainly seemed to be lots of people there. All the visitors I spoke to thought the event good value, with a ride on the main train, a brake van ride, a trip on 'Daisy', engine races, playlets, face painting and a 'Thomas' bouncy castle all included in the ticket price.

Pictures of 'Day out with Thomas'.

Detailed pictures of the locomotives:

'Thomas'
'Fergus'
'Mayflower'
'Daisy'

'Percy'
'Yvonne'

Graffiti

In June 2008, Peak Rail's normal passenger rake was the target of graffiti 'artists'. To enable the vehicles to be returned to service (Peak Rail does not enjoy the luxury of a spare rake of coaches), the graffiti has been removed professionally, but the necessarily aggressive nature of the cleaning process has resulted in large areas now showing the original blue British Railways livery. It will cost over £25,000 to reinstate the lined-out maroon preservation liveries.

Tragically, there has been a second attack, at the end of July, just before the popular 'Warring Forties' weekend. Apparently, the same 'Tag' was used in both attacks.

It's hard not to become dispirited or angry at the wanton destruction of an attempt to preserve the past so as to inform the future. It would appear that 'the future', as represented by the vandals responsible for the damage, have no interest in the past. A gloomy prospect for us all.

The police are seeking any information which would allow them to identify the miscreants - call 0845 123 33 33.

Peak Rail's Pictures of damage.

Hamlet

On Monday, 21st July, I accompanied my niece, Ann, to see the R.S.C. production of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. This production had received excellent reviews and the casting of David Tennant in the title role, fresh from his success as 'Doctor Who' on television, ensured that every performance was sold out. The final accolade, a few days before my visit, was the presence in the audience of Britain's embattled Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. So what did I think of the production?

Well, you may realise that I am inclined to be rather old-fashioned in my outlook and a production in modern dress was starting at something of a disadvantage. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, although my approval was not without certain reservations about the production.

For me, The Courtyard Theatre is something of a "Curate's Egg". The 1,000 seat venue was opened in 2006 and appears rather temporary with lots of bare plywood and apparently temporary arrangements. A rectangular stage projects into the auditorium with seating on three sides and three levels. The fourth side is closed off by five huge, reflective, rotating 'doors' in place of a conventional proscenium arch. Runways allow the cast to enter and leave using all four corners of the projecting stage, necessitating props and make-up areas behind the stalls seating in the area through which the audience enters and leaves. All this leads to a sense of involvement which is not unhelpful. I didn't find the acoustics of The Courtyard Theatre ideal.

I've always held that the thing that counts in Shakespeare is the words - respect the text and other aspects of the production, whilst important, are secondary. It's some time since I'd read the text but, as far as I remembered, the author was well-served. The re-arrangements which have been made have been carefully considered. There are plenty of places on the Internet where you can access the full text of Shakespeare's works - I quite like the simplicity of Jeremy Hylton's Site. As you'd expect from a top-notch company, the phrasing and timing was effective. I haven't previously seen a production of 'Hamlet' which played the humour right up to the hilt, as this one does. Oddly, it didn't grate with me, leavening the general sense of despair which can descend on this play and throwing into relief the major tragic moments.

David Tennant

David Tennant certainly takes hold of the role of Hamlet. Although he has a distinguished career as a 'serious' actor, one might uncharitably characterise his portrayal here as 'Doctor Who reprised' - there was a lot of running about the stage with arms outstretched in a manic way. Yet I found the result fairly convincing - the veering between comedy and tragedy suggesting Hamlet's distraught state of mind. It was certainly a refreshing interpretation and seemed to meet with the approval of the audience.

Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart is impressive in the role of Claudius (doubling as the Ghost of Claudius's dead brother). He, of course, has also combined the classics with a populist career - 'Star Trek' and blockbusters like 'X-Men' are to his credit. I last saw him give a mesmerising performance in 'The Tempest' so his commanding presence in Hamlet was no surprise.

The rest of the cast were experienced and supportive, contributing to a sense of competence throughout the performance.

I didn't particularly like the modern dress and some characters retained dated costumes or uniforms, giving a rather uneven effect. The actors in the play-within-a-play (where Hamlet seeks to portray the death of his father and precipitate re-marriage of his mother) employ sumptuous gold-decorated costumes presumably deliberately contrasted with the relatively restrained dress of the main characters. There were a number of scenes where modernity added nothing for me and jarred with the progress of the story. The most egregious moment was Hamlet's meeting with Fortinbras's army, accompanied by soldiers abseiling from very audible but invisible helicopters above whilst ground marshals signalled the 'choppers' with illuminated batons.

But, at the end of the play, I felt I'd witnessed a production of some moment and this view seemed to be shared by the audience generally, judging by the acclamation. Whilst 'Trekkies' were not in evidence, some of the audience members (mainly female) appeared to be 'Who-ies'.

In December, the production transfers to the Novello Theatre in London for a short season. I have no doubt that tickets will be changing hands at a premium.

Lionsmeet 2008

Lionsmeet 2008 was held at Butterley Park Miniature Railway on Saturday, 26-Jul-2008. The railway is within the Midland Railway Centre site in Derbyshire. It was hot for most of the day, with only brief showers.

We were, as usual, made very welcome by the host club and it was a most successful gathering. The format followed the usual pattern, as outlined in the poster for the event reproduced above.

An official report on the proceedings will be published in the Old Locomotive Committee's official organ 'Lionsheart' in due course but, in the meantime, these notes may furnish limited information.

The writer was, once again, 'volunteered' to be the official observer of the dynamometer car readings and enforcer of the competition rules. Alan Bibby proposed the title 'Dynamometrist' for this role, but I rather prefer 'Dynamometrix'. This year, we had seven contestants on six 5-inch 'Lion' models. By convention, the previous year's winner runs first; the order of the remaining contestants is determined by drawing lots.

Jon Swindlehurst: Jon elected to haul three bogie coaches in addition to the obligatory dynamometer car (once again, kindly loaned for the occasion by Guildford Club, through the good offices of David Neish). In addition to the Driver and Dynamometrix, he decided to take four adults and two young people as load. In 10 minutes, he ran 6,410 feet, producing a Work Done figure of 52,500 ft/lbs.

Richard (Southport Club): Richard took the same three bogie coaches and five adults (plus Driver and Dynamometrix) as load. This was the first outing of the locomotive for some time following boiler repairs, but Richard's Work Done was within 5% of Jon's figure. In 10 minutes, he ran 5,620 feet, producing a work done figure of 50,480 ft/lbs.

Martin Reeve (from the Host Club): Martin agreed to substitute a 4-wheel driving trolley for the leading bogie coach (to provide a more effective train brake), giving a load of 2.5 bogie coaches and five adults (plus Driver and Dynamometrix) as load. In 10 minutes, Martin ran 4,530 feet, producing a work done figure of 41,200 ft/lbs.

David Neish: David ran with the same 2.5 bogie coaches and a load of 3 adults and a young man (plus Driver and Dynamometrix). The young man was David's grandson, Douglas, giving three generations of the Neish family in attendance. In 10 minutes, David ran 5,460 feet, producing a work done figure of 46,100 ft/lbs.

Andrew Neish: Andrew then took over his father's engine (permitted by the rules provided no other competitor objects). He added a coach to give 3.5 bogie coaches and a load of 4 adults and Douglas (plus Driver and Dynamometrix). In 10 minutes, Andrew ran 5,500 feet, producing a work done figure of 49,000 ft/lbs.

John Mills: As John started his practice run, the bumping and boring between locomotive and train indicated that all was not well. Observing the locomotive from the side, there seemed to be a serious valve timing problem. John returned to the steaming bays to see if repairs could quickly be effected (again, permitted by the rules provided no other competitor objects). Sadly, as we all rather feared, repairs would require some disassembly and John retired from the competition.

Bill Stubbs: Bill took just 1.5 bogie coaches and an initial load of 1 adult (plus Driver and Dynamometrix). However, suffering some adhesion problems, Bill 'dropped' the adult and carried out his competition run with Driver and Dynamometrix. The locomotive became 'winded' a couple of times, each time necessitating a pause for a 'blow-up'. In 10 minutes, Bill ran a distance of 2,520 feet, producing a work done figure of 8,200 ft/lbs.

Alan Bibby verified and announced the results then Alan from Butterley Park formally returned the Winner's Cup to Jon Swindlehurst, who will thus be required to polish the Cup for a further year! And so, another most enjoyable event came to a close, thanks to the efforts of Alan Bibby and the excellent arrangements made by all the members from Butterley Park.

My pictures of Lionsmeet 2008.

Crewe North Junction History

The signal box at Crewe North Junction always seemed a magical place to me during my early visits in the 1950s. In the 1970s, I finally got to visit the box whilst it was still in service, in connection with work my firm was doing for the railways. The box is now preserved, in situ, as part of Crewe Heritage Centre. The preserved box was, in fact, the fifth generation of signal box on the site. This brief history is based on displays at Crewe Heritage Centre, with grateful acknowledgment.

1863: In 1863, the first signal box to control Crewe North Junction was erected in the angle between the lines to Liverpool and Manchester. This photograph, taken around 1867, shows the signal box towards the left of the picture, with three signal posts carrying both Up and Down signal arms towering above the building. This was the style of the time, where signals were integrated with the box itself, following the style of semaphore telegraph stations. Later, the remote operation of signals by wire allowed signals to be placed at the actual clearance point where drivers were expected to stop. The view is looking south from the Works area and the foreground is filled with a marvellous assortment of locomotives. The silhouette of Crewe Arms Hotel is visible in the background, with Nantwich Road crossing the lines on a bridge. Both of these features remain today. The locomotive sheds are on the right.

My photograph-of-a-photograph only hints at the wonderful quality of these early glass-plate negatives. I presume the original is from the collection managed by the National Railway Museum.

1868: Just five years after construction, the first signal box was replaced by two signal boxes, both supplied by Saxby and Farmer. The first was immediately north of the station platforms, the second was in the angle between the lines to Liverpool and Chester.

This photograph was presumably taken to show the construction of the 'Spider Bridge' which was to link the station to the Works. Note the use of wooden scaffolding. The station signal box is on the left; the Junction signal box is on the right.

1879: As part of major alterations to the station, the two signal boxes were replaced by a single signal box of fairly standard L&NWR design with a Tumbler interlocking frame of 144 levers. This was situated in the middle of the junctions between the lines to Liverpool and Chester, with access from the now-completed 'Spider Bridge'.

This is the view looking south-east from the 1879 signal box. The bracket signal is based on the Saxby and Farmer design, the straight-post signal to the left is the evolving L&NWR design. The rural area around Tommy's Lane and Crewe Arms Hotel are visible in the background.

This is the view looking south-west from the 1879 signal box. Notice the tall L&NWR signal on the goods lines and the Nantwich Road bridge in the background. The No.1 Locomotive Shed is on the right. This was demolished in the early 1900s to allow the construction of the Chester Independent goods lines.

This is the view looking north-west from the 1879 signal box, showing the Chester Deviation main line. The original Chester line is on the right, going through Crewe Works. Note Crewe North Engine Shed on the left, the Up Chester bracket signal and the numerous chimneys within the Works.

1906: Between 1896 and 1907 Crewe was completely remodelled again. A large L&NWR power box, using a variant of the 'Crewe' All Electric System was constructed in the angle between the lines to Liverpool and Chester. The narrow gauge line over 'Spider Bridge' joining the Works to the Station passed through the lower storey of the box.

A splendid view from 'Spider Bridge' looking towards the Works showing the 18-inch gauge line carried by the bridge and the 'Crewe' All-electric system box of 1906. Note the Up Chester bracket signal to the left of the box and the Up Liverpool bracket signal to the right of the box.

1940: In 1938, with the threat of war and aerial attack looming, it was decided that certain strategic signal boxes should be replaced by an 'ARP' ('Air Raid Precautions') design, better able to withstand blast damage. Accordingly, Crewe North Junction was rebuilt and the new box, immediately in front of the previous box, was introduced in 1940. The signalling equipment was the Westinghouse 'Style L' all-electric power frame with miniature levers, electric points and multiple-aspect colour light signals. The 1906 signal box was demolished, except for the lower floor, which was converted into a Linemans' Hut. When a.c. electrification was introduced in 1959, additional equipment was required to immunise the signalling apparatus. Two brick-built equipment rooms were built in front of the 1940 signal box to house this extra equipment.

1985: Crewe Station was remodelled and control of the whole Crewe area was transferred to a signalling centre in the area originally occupied by Crewe North Shed, on the Down Side of the Chester Line. The 1940 Crewe North signal box, the Linemans' Hut and the 1959 equipment rooms were retained and became part of Crewe Heritage Centre.

Railways at Crewe in the '50s

When I was young, Crewe was the Mecca for railway enthusiasts. My own interest was in signalling and general railway operation, so I spent some time trying to compile my own track and signalling diagrams of the area. The immediate station area was one thing, but the extensive yards were very difficult to survey and my own sketches remained incomplete. However, I learnt a lot during the attempt!

The original line South to Birmingham was, of course, extended to London and the Trent Valley line gave a more direct route from Stafford to Rugby. The original line north to Earlestown (on the L&MR) extended through to Carlisle and Scotland, with a major branch to Liverpool. In addition, four other lines diverged at Crewe:

- The line to Chester, North Wales and Holyhead headed North West.
- The line to Stockport and Manchester headed North East.
- The line to Shrewbury, Hereford and South Wales headed South West
- The line to Kidsgrove and Stoke-on-Trent headed South East.

The sketch above is one of the many rough diagrams I did at the time and shows the area immediately south of the station in simplified form (Crewe South M.P.D. is barely represented at all). The four-track main line from Stafford appears on the lower left edge (top to bottom: Down Slow, Up Slow, Down Fast, Up Fast). The diagram commences near the small signal box called Basford Wood. In the middle at the bottom is the double track line diverging to Stoke. In the middle at the top of the diagram is the double track line to Shrewsbury, in the vicinity of Gresty Lane No. 1 box. Towards the bottom right of the diagram, the Stoke, Stafford and Shrewsbury Lines converge at Crewe South Junction and then fan out into the various lines passing through the station, shown lower right edge (principal roads, top to bottom: No. 1 Down Through, No. 1 Platform, Bays 1 & 2 usually used by Shrewsbury line trains, No. 2 Platform, No. 2 Down Through, Platform 3 (reversible), Bays 3 & 4, No. 4 Up Platform, Up Through, No. 5 Up Platform, Bays 5 & 6, No. 6 Up Platform).

Because Crewe was a major freight interchange point, it was well-served by 'Independent' goods lines. The four tracks appearing on the middle left edge are the Goods Independent Lines (top to bottom: Down Fast Independent, Down Slow Independent, Up Slow Goods, Up Fast Independent). These diverged from the main line further South at Basford Hall Junction, diverged to embrace the massive fan of sidings past Sorting Sidings South box and Sorting Sidings Middle box and re-combined as four roads paired by direction adjacent to Sortings Sidings North Box, which also controlled the junctions allowing freight trains access to and from the Shrewsbury line at Gresty Lane No. 1 box. Near the middle right edge of the diagram is Salop Goods Junction. Here the four Independent Lines paired by direction from Sorting Sidings North are transposed to paired by use (top to bottom: Down Liverpool Independent, Up Liverpool Independent, Down Manchester Independent, Up Manchester Independent). A branching pair of lines formed the Chester Independents. Salop Goods Junction box also controlled connections allowing freight trains access to and from the Shrewsbury line at Gresty Lane No. 1 box.

When I started visiting Crewe, the junctions of the Stoke, Stafford and Shrewsbury lines were controlled by the 'Air Raid Precautions' style power box at Crewe South Junction and colour light signals. I would have loved to have seen the earlier Webb box with the 'Crewe' All-electric system miniature lever frame and electrically-operated semaphore signals. A few of these early frames were still in use. When invited into Gresty Lane No. 1 by a kindly railwayman, I was amazed to find, instead of the 'Webb' mechanical frame I had expected, a two-tier 'Crewe' All-electric system miniature lever frame. There were three Station Boxes which I think also had the Webb miniature lever frame. Crewe Station 'A' box controlled the crossovers in the middle of the old platform 1, Crewe Station 'B' box controlled the crossovers in the middle of the old platform 2 and Crewe No. 3 (a bridge structure, astride the Up Through) controlled the crossovers between the Up Through and the old platforms 4 and 5. Crewe Station 'A' Box has been rebuilt in Crewe Heritage Centre, complete with its frame. Pictures of Crewe Station 'A' Box.

The footbridge at the North End of the platforms provided a safe walking route for enginemen between different platforms and between platforms and the legendary Crewe North Shed. This bridge was usually thronged with 'spotters' who would periodically be shooed away by staff, only to return later. The number of movements can be judged from the following snippets:-

10.53 a.m.: 'Black 5' 45042 passes on the Up Liverpool Independent with a 17-wagon freight.
10.54 a.m.: 'Jubilee' 45587 'Baroda' leaves Platform 1 with ten bogies for the Manchester Line.
10.56 a.m.: 'Scot' 46101 'Royal Scots Grey' leaves Platform 2 with 7 bogies for the Down Fast.
11.00 a.m.: 'Black 5' 44711 shunts light engine.
11.00 a.m.: 'Black 5' 44941 leaves via No. 2 Down Through Road with 5 bogies for the Manchester line.
11.02 a.m.: 'Jubilee' 45633 'Aden' arrives Platform 2 with the 6.40 to Barrow and Workington.

Although I didn't realise at the time, those passenger departures at 10.56 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. look very much like a single arrival from Euston which had split in Platform 2.

Things are no more sedate later on when I noted:-

1.30 p.m.: '8F' 48550 from Up Chester to the Up Chester Independent with a freight.
1.32 p.m.: 2-6-4T with 2 bogies from Bay 8 to the Down Chester (calling-on signal).
1.34 p.m.: 'Black 5' 44679 light engine from Up Chester to Bay 10.
1.34 p.m.: 2-6-4T 42575 light engine from Up to Bay 8.
1.35 p.m.: 'Austerity' 2-8-0 90342 passes on the Up Liverpool Independent with an empty wagon train and is detained at Salop Goods Junction.

Whilst the trackwork through the station has now been almost totally remodelled, much of the massive network of overall roofing and platform canopies I remember from the '50s survives. See Crewe Station.

References:
For more detailed layouts of Crewe in the 1950s, refer to the series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.
Crewe (Main Lines) are in 'Volume 1: ex-LNWR main line, Euston to Crewe' (ISBN: 1 873228 00 7).
Crewe (Goods Lines & Loco Sheds) are in 'Volume 11: LNWR Lines in the West Midlands' (ISBN: 1 873228 13 9).

For details of the remodelled layout of Crewe in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1). The First Edition of this book was published by Quail in 1988.

Crewe Station

Introduction

As I commented in another post, Crewe was the Mecca for railway enthusiasts when I was young and I made a number of visits. Writing about an excursion to Blackpool ('Halfex to Blackpool') triggered a flood of memories of Crewe as I remember it in steam days. I started to wonder just how much of the station I knew still survives and decided to make a visit to take some pictures, through the eyes of someone who remembers it from (gulp!) half a century ago. The result is the collection Crewe Station Buildings. Of course, whilst in Crewe, I had to visit Crewe Heritage Centre, so that provided material for more posts, as time permits.

The railways were already Nationalised when I first visited Crewe, but the legacy of the London & North Western Railway was still omnipresent and the 'Nor-Wessie', as some railwaymen called it, became my favourite railway. See also the 'Wikipedia' entry for Crewe.

Brief History

The Grand Junction railway (opened 1837) linked the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (opened 1830) and the London & Birmingham Railway (opened 1838). The Grand Junction line passed through a country area around what is now Crewe, where land was cheap, so the railway determined to site their new locomotive works here. By 1846, the Grand Junction Railway had merged with the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and the London & Birmingham Railway to form the London & North Western Railway, which enjoyed the soubriquet 'The Premier Line' (Wikipedia on L&NWR). Much of the development at Crewe, railway, works and town, was carried out by the L&NWR. In 1861 the station was rebuilt. In addition to becoming an important interchange for passengers, large flows of goods and mineral traffic developed and substantial marshalling yards were required. Two major Running Sheds (motive power depots) supported the operation - Crewe North (for passenger locomotives) and Crewe South (for freight). In addition, the Great Western had a small sub-shed at Gresty Lane. By the 1890s, in addition to about 500 passenger trains a day, Crewe was handling a similar number of freight trains. This justified the construction of an elaborate network of 'Independent' lines, to keep most of the freight traffic away from the station. Further expansion to handle passenger and parcels traffic was carried out on the west side of the station around 1900.

In 1923, the 'Grouping' of railways merged the L&NWR into the London Midland & Scottish Railway (Wikipedia on LM&SR). In 1948, the post-war nationalisation of railways placed the LM&SR in Government ownership. British Railways eventually became British Rail (when the railways lost their way). The disastrous attempt to 'privatise' the railways placed the infrastructure under the control of the abysmal Railtrack to be succeeded by the astonishingly even more abysmal Network Rail.

Suggested architectural development

When the station was rebuilt in 1861, it's believed the four through tracks flanked by the present platforms 5 and 6 (platforms 5 and 4 before the 1985 remodelling) were provided with the buildings which survive today. The frontages of the station buildings on the present platforms 5 and 6 (5 and 4 before 1985) are probably the grandest on the station with elegant windows (including some large bay windows) and carved stonework. Despite the various commercially-inspired ravages apparent in my photographs, I think these buildings still posess appeal.

I suspect that these two platforms became islands at a somewhat later date: platforms 1 and 5 (5 and 6 before 1985) form one island whilst 5 and 11 (5 and 3 before 1985) form the second. Each island was provided with an elaborate overall roof over the middle portion of the platforms where a series of roof trusses were carried over the adjacent platform tracks, supported on brick walls on the 'outside' of the station.

Where the two islands platforms faced one another, a series of cast columns supported the roof trusses. The roof trusses at Crewe were not very high above the platforms, so there was insufficient headroom under the overall roof for the passenger footbridge. The photograph shows how, in the vicinity of the footbridge, the roof is carried at a higher level, as a sort of 'clearstory', to provide sufficient space. Although the roof trusses appear original, the glazing has been altered. The glass, which was in fairly poor condition when I first went to Crewe, has been replaced by plastic roof cladding, but I'm not sure that the translucent area is as large as it was originally. During electrification, the cast columns supporting the roof were externally clad for strength and some of the columns were given a second role as anchor points for the Overhead Line Equipment.

Only the middle portion of the platforms was covered by the main overall roofing, so a variety of additional roofing styles provided protection for the platform extremities. The photograph shows another style of roofing (in this case for the old platform 5 and 6 and the Stoke Bays) using straight, cross-braced roof trusses. This style of truss was used by the L&NWR at a number of locations.

In 1902, a new island platform with substantial railway offices was built. This provided two platform lines and two Through lines on the West of the station to handle Down trains, together with North and South bays. The new facilities were provided with an elaborate overall roof over the middle portion of the platforms where a series of roof trusses were carried over the adjacent platform tracks. On the East side, the roof trusses were supported on the existing brick wall. On the West side, columns supported the roof trusses and the spaces between the columns were filled by glazed screens. These screens could be found at other locations on the L&NWR - one which springs to mind is Colwyn Bay on the North Wales coast.

Crewe Station survived in this form until the 1985 rebuilding when the 1902 additions were abandoned, apart from the office block and the old platform 2, which, renumbered as 12, sees occasional use. The overall roof over this section of the station was removed, and modern canopies provided over the new platform 12. The photograph shows the office block, exposed to view now the overall roof has gone. More pictures.

'Crewe' All Electric System, LNWR

You may have noticed my admiration for all things connected with the London & North Western Railway, particularly in the signalling area. But I was slow to discover how early the L&NWR was in developing power-operated signalling. This was called the 'Crewe' All Electric system and it was aimed at complex and busy installations. This brief outline is based on displays at Crewe Heritage Centre with grateful acknowledgment.

The miniature lever signalling frame developed for the All Electric system was patented by F. W. Webb (Chief Mechanical Engineer) and A. M. Thompson (Signal Engineer). The equipment was built in the L&NWR workshops at Crewe. In addition to conventional mechanical interlocking between the levers, electrical locks could be provided at mid-stroke, so that lever movement could only be completed once points had operated to the correct position. Movement of the lever operated electrical switches which used large carbon blocks. These switches could be arranged to be closed in the unoperated (Normal), operated (Reverse) and Midstroke ('C') positions. Where space was limited, all this equipment could be mounted within the frame on the operating floor of the box. The photograph shows the 'two tier' lever frame at Gresty Lane No. 1 in 1899. This type of equipment was installed at various signal boxes around Crewe. Similar installations were made at Euston No. 3 and Camden No. 1 in 1905.

In 1908/1909, Manchester London Road was re-signalled with an improved version of the 'Crewe' All Electric system installed in three signal boxes. The picture shows the No. 2 box in 1957. In addition to the miniature lever frame, notice the L&NWR Block Instruments and L&NWR Train Describers still in use. The L&NWR built things to last! These boxes survived until electrification of the line.

In the 'Crewe' All Electric system, points were operated by motors (although early installations may have used solenoids). This picture shows a pilot point installation within Crewe Works. The large cast cover on the left is where the point motor was installed: electrical detection was under the smaller cover on the right. Both 110 volts d.c. and 220 volts d.c. were used at different installations. Around 15 Amps was required to drive the motor at 220 volt d.c.

Signals for the 'Crewe' All Electric system were lower-quadrant semaphore, using many of the standard parts for mechanically-operated signals. The sketch is derived from a fairly well-known drawing (which I'm sure must have been produced by J. K. Nelson). The solenoid to operate the arm (visible in 'cutaway' on the sketch) was mounted on the post a few feet below the arm. Energising the solenoid pulled the left end of the weight bar up so that the push rod turned the arm to the 'off' position. The balance weight at the right end of the weight bar was arranged to assist the solenoid in pushing the arm off - this, of course, is opposite to normal practice with mechanical wire-operated semaphores. At 220 volt d.c. operation, around 8 Amps was required to move the arm to 'off'. Once the arm was 'off', an electrical contact operated to reduce the solenoid current to about 2 Amps, sufficient to hold the arm 'off' but significantly economising on the electrical power required.

This picture (apologies for poor quality) shows a gantry of solenoid-operated semaphores at Euston Carriage sidings. Note the vitreous-enamelled 'VIROL' advertisement on the retaining wall. As far as I can make out, the locomotive in the left background is one of the ubiquitous 0-6-0T 'Standard Shunt', frequently used on empty stock and banking duties at Euston.

The first signal boxes I saw which used the Crewe 'All Electric' system were Crewe Station 'A' (halfway along the old platform 1) and Crewe Station 'B' (halfway along the old platform 2, now platform 12). Crewe Station 'A' box survives (heavily modified by both the L.M.S. and British Railways), now triumphantly rebuilt in Crewe Heritage Centre. There are more pictures of the rebuilt box here.

Forthcoming Events

I'm often writing about railway events 50 years ago but, after an enquiry about this year's 'Lionsmeet', I thought I'd do a quick 'Forthcoming Events'.

Day out with Thomas at the Battlefield Line

All being well, I'll be helping out on the 13th, 19th and 20th July. Rosters for October are not yet arranged.

Lionsmeet 2008

This is the OLCO Annual Competition, this year at the Midland Railway Centre. I hope to be there.

Crewe Heritage Centre 21st Anniversary

This isn't a site I'm involved with but I was made so welcome on a recent visit, I thought the event deserved a mention. If you're interested in signalling, a visit is essential with Crewe Station 'A' Box, Exeter West Box and Crewe North Junction Box all open for visits.

Peak Rail 1940s Weekend

I should be driving on Sunday, with tin helmet and respirator.