On To Tibet – 11th July 2013

Buffet Breakfast was served in the lobby restaurant at the hotel. The array of food on offer was remarkable – mainly Chinese-style but I managed to put together a reasonable meal to suit my rather conservative taste. I contemplated exploring more of the city but decided to concentrate on getting ready for my train journey – the weather was very overcast and none-too-warm so I sorted out my photographs and backed them up and managed to send an e-mail about yesterday.

A small part of the extensive breakfast buffet.

Then I received a phone call. It was Eric who had met me at Beijing airport the previous day with "bad news". The sleeping cabins are 4-berth so to avoid sleeping with strangers, they'd purchased four tickets to give me a private cabin. But the Government, he said, had required him to surrender the tickets at short notice for a Government Official and no other cabin was available. With commendable restraint, I asked him to continue to make what efforts he could to make an alternative booking and mildly said "I'm not happy". I gloomily looked out of my window at what I'd described as 'a park' but is actually called 'Central Square' and tried to keep calm.

Later in the morning, Eric phoned again and said he had four new tickets which had to be exchanged at the station so I might have to leave earlier. I didn't quite understand this business of ticket exchange but it was decided that the previously agreed meeting time with the guide, Co-Co, would be satisfactory. I thanked Eric for resolving the problem.

I checked out at the hotel's standard noon check-out and waited for Co-Co. She suggested I had lunch whilst we waited for the car pick-up which had been arranged for 1.30 p.m. Co-Co had already had lunch so I just had a hot chocolate and a slice of apple pie in the lobby restaurant before we were driven through the city to a fairly unprepossessing area to the west of the centre where we unloaded in a car park adjacent to an electrified railway but with no station in view. We then walked for a few hundred yards along a broad avenue which had been pedestrianised by erecting a motley selection of barriers. We passed a row of grocery shops which suggested to me that we might be nearing a station and, indeed, there were a number of pedestrians heading our way with luggage and what could have been refreshments for a long train journey.

We arrived at a large but singularly unimpressive building which Co-Co confirmed was 'Xining West' station. There are a few pictures of this station at the beginning of the set here. Apparently, it's a temporary affair, opened about two years ago, whilst a new station is built at Xining East. Police were checking the documents of arriving passengers but when Co-Co and I joined the queue, we were denied entry to the station building. I wasn't clear why but Co-Co made a number of phone calls, approached another official and, accompanied by the official, we tried again, meeting the same refusal. This, of course, was the trigger for more phone calls whilst I copied the local practice of sitting on a long line of welded tube barriers which made reasonable seats. We then tried again, this time with only the minor glitch that Co-Co presented my passport to the puzzled policeman open at a page showing a Myanmar visa including my photograph. When I realised the error and opened the document at the proper photograph page, it was smiles all round and we were waved inside. I never found out the reason for the initial reluctance to admit us. We entered a large waiting room with hundreds of passengers waiting on plastic seats, reminding me of my visit to Hanoi Station earlier in the year.

A view of the waiting room at Xining West Station.

Co-Co said that we now had to wait for the replacement tickets to arrive before we went onto the platform. A train arrived a few minutes later and we went onto the platform. Co-Co had engaged a porter for my large case and one of the friendly group of porters spoke reasonable English which he was keen to try out.

On the platform, Co-Co met a business-like woman who appeared to have just got off the train and she had the four replacement tickets. These were collected by one of a group of ladies in railway uniform after my 'Special Visa' for Tibet had been checked. I was waved on board and Co-Co and the lady who'd brought the tickets came to show me the cabin. They then asked me for the tickets and thought I was confused in saying that they had been collected already. They insisted on my emptying my purse and the bag I was carrying. Only after they'd each searched the contents did they go back to the platform and find the official who'd actually got the tickets. Well, I'd finally got my cabin for sole use so I thanked Co-Co and the lady who'd brought the tickets and we said our goodbyes.

At five past three, my train quietly departed for the 24-hour trip to Lhasa.

My Pictures

Yinlong Hotel, Xining.
QingHai - Tibet Railway.

Into China – 10th July 2013

As we started our descent into Beijing, there were signs of major building work – mainly very tall apartment blocks. The weather was very overcast and, as we landed, the cabin windows showed that it had started to rain. After we landed, the aircraft was braked quite hard so as to enter the complex system of taxiways. It was clear that the airport was huge.

The rather odd design of the international terminals at Beijing.

After passing numerous terminals, apparently laid out in a linear fashion, we pulled up at our gate and two air bridges started to move towards our aircraft – the front one for First and Club World passengers, the other for the remaining passengers. I was off the aircraft pretty smartly and I arrived at immigration whilst it was relatively quiet.

Very soon, I was following the signs for 'Baggage Reclaim' which, to my surprise, instructed passengers to catch a driverless train to another location. The station was the usual island platform with Platform Edge Doors, similar to the arrangement I'd seen at Heathrow. There was a train in the right hand platform, out of use. Presently another train arrived on the left hand platform and all the waiting passengers piled in. This line was overground and it was definitely raining. After a minute or two we arrived at a Domestic Terminal where the train waited while a prerecorded voice told us (in Chinese and English) to stay on the train. After another rapid journey, we arrived at our destination and I followed the signs (and the other passengers) to a huge Baggage Hall. We waited (at carousel 37, I think) and after a few minutes, bags started to appear intermittently. Fortunately, it wasn't long before my bag popped out. I walked straight through the Green Channel at Customs and into the Arrivals Hall. There, amongst the long row of 'meeters and greeters' was a young man holding up a printed 'Jan Ford' sign. The young man said that I was booked on the domestic flight to Xining and that we would take a car a few kilometres to the domestic terminal. Outside, there was a car and driver waiting. The rain had stopped but everyone appeared to be clutching umbrellas.

In the car, I was presented with my 'Special Permit' for Tibet. I was now officially the sole member of Travel Group Number TRZ130710.

The essential 'Special Permit' allowing travel to Tibet.

We were soon at the terminal and I was glad of my guide, Eric, who led us through crowds of passengers to the carpeted upper class check-in lounge for the China Southern airline. I'm still confused – they seem to have both 'VIP Class' and 'First Class' but, apparently, I was travelling first class. After checking in one bag, we went back to the main check in hall, with my checked bag being taken by a young porter. Once he'd left the bag at a normal check-in desk, my guide directed me to security and said goodbye. Of course, all my hand baggage was X-rayed and I passed through a metal detector arch leading to a very thorough, but not unfriendly, 'frisking' by a young lady with a hand-held 'wand'. I made my way towards the departure gate, clutching my invitation to the VIP lounge. When I got to the lounge, my boarding pass told them I was actually first class and they directed me to a second lounge nearby. I'd had to remove my computer from my shoulder bag for X-ray and I was still carrying it separately, so I went into the washroom intending to re-pack it. However, somehow the computer got left behind in the washroom. Fortunately, within a minute or two, one of the young ladies on the reception desk came to me, enquiring about a computer. "Yes", I replied confidently, "I have one in my bag here". I opened the bag – oops! No computer. I still can't believe I was confused enough to leave it behind but the computer and I were re-united so it was smiles all round.

Very soon, one of the girls in the lounge prompted me to make my way to gate 25H for China Southern flight CZ6994 to Xining (XNN). There were only half a dozen people waiting and I was asked to join them. After a minute or two, my small group was ushered outside onto a 'VIP Bus' and we were each presented with a credit card sized Boarding Pass Confirmation Card. We had quite a long drive across the airport until we found our A319/A320 aircraft (I'm not sure which – even the safety instructions on board listed both types). The 'front cabin' was arranged 2+2 for just eight passengers, with curtains dividing it from the economy seats arranged 3+3 behind. I was in aisle seat 2H. It appeared that we were first to board – the remaining passengers arrived later and we took off a little after noon. I hadn't realised the flight to Xining would be over two hours. Apparently, Xining is about 2,000 km from Beijing and Lhasa a further 2,000 km beyond Xining. The two lady cabin attendants looked after us well and by mid-afternoon we crossed a fairly mountainous region and came into the airport at Xining.

Coming in on a domestic flight, there were no formalities so it was straight into the Baggage Hall – a more modest affair with just two belts. Whilst waiting for the bag, I could see the row of 'meeters and greeters' so I located the young girl displaying my name and, by signalling, indicated I'd just be a short while. The bag arrived, I met my guide, Co-Co, and we went outside to join my car and lady driver. It was quite warm, but very overcast. We set off for what I was told would be a 40 minute drive to my hotel. The area was quite hilly, with numerous excavations revealing a sandy soil. Building work seemed to be going on everywhere, either roads perched on delicate concrete bridges criss-crossing the area or skyscraper apartment blocks. We were running parallel to an electrified railway line and we seemed to pass frequent freight trains.

Traffic grew heavier as we came to Xining city. The centre was a riot of tower blocks in strange, contrasting styles. My guide said the population was around two million but, looking at the scale of  things, it was hard not to imagine it was higher. We pulled up at the multi-storey Yinlong Hotel. This claims to be the first 5-star hotel in Qinghai Province. There was a slight hiccup as I was not expected at Reception. I sat on a sofa in the lounge whilst my guide pursued earnest discussions with the reception staff and numerous telephone calls on her mobile. As you might have guessed, almost everyone (it appears) has some sort of I-phone lookalike almost permanently stuck to their ear. Eventually, matters were resolved and I was presented with a credit-card shaped electronic 'key' for room 519. My guide directed me to the lifts and we said 'goodbye' until the following day.

The room was of a good standard such as you can find all over the world. My room overlooked a park with the tall buildings of the city centre just on the other side of the park. After a rest, I decided to have a walk to see a little more. In an hour, I'd collected a bewildering array of impressions, some of which I tried to capture with my camera. I was also exhausted and returned to the hotel where I took a simple evening meal in the lobby restaurant – the 'Paris-time Western Restaurant'. This restaurant had the nearest menu to Western-style but the hotel had seven other restaurants, including the 'Xing Yue Islamic Restaurant' (I'd noticed at least three mosques on the way in from the airport).

I managed to get some internet connectivity in the evening but it was very selective in what it would let me look at. And so ended my first day in China. The next day, I was to travel on to Tibet by train.

My Pictures

Beijing Airport.
Xining Airport.
Railways around Xining, China.
Xining, China.
Yinlong Hotel, Xining, China.

Beijing by Breakfast Time

It wasn't as hard as I feared to get to my gate. The  rectangular main building at terminal 5 had the Departure (upper) and Arrival (lower) halls along one long side, served by roads. Air bridges for aircraft are located on the other long side. There are two further buildings, similar in style but with facilities for aircraft on both sides - satellite B is a few hundred yards east of the main building, satellite C is further east again.

An underground 'railway' links the three buildings. Technically, as it appears to be rubber-tyred with a central rail for guidance, we should call it a 'Guided System'. There are some pictures here. Two 8-coach driverless trains shuttle up and down two parallel tracks between the main building and satellite C, stopping at an intermediate station at satellite B.

Long escalators took me up to departure level and a short walk took me to gate C55. Large windows gave a good view of the activities outside and the massive bulk of our 747-400 gleamed in the sunshine.

Within a few minutes, I was on the aircraft and located my seat in Club Class on the Upper Deck, which I reached by an internal staircase.

As we settled-in, the Pilot and Co-Pilot discussed our departure with Ground Staff. Access to the Cockpit is at the front of Business Class on this aircraft type.

My 'pod' was just next to the stairs and opposite a toilet so I found it quite convenient. I say 'pod' because the seating was arranged with twin-seat units on either side of a central aisle. Each pair of seats had the aisle seat facing forward and the window seat facing aft. A vaguely S-shaped wall embraces each pair of seats providing high seat backs and location for video screen, tray table and other paraphernalia. The wall is cut-away so that the two passengers are facing one another and can talk. Alternately, the cut-away can  be blocked by an electrically-operated privacy screen if preferred. The aisle seat next to my window seat remained unoccupied during my flight, giving my window seat better access to the aisle, a boon on a long flight. My seat and the one opposite were the most rearwards in the cabin so there's no seatback for the next pod, just extra space. Because of my location above the head of the stairs, there was a bit more space on my side – not very useful but contributing to a pleasing sense of spaciousness. There was a drop-down table on the rear cabin bulkhead so I assume the seat I occupied is allocated to mother and baby, when necessary.

We pushed-back on time at 16:40 and slowly taxied towards the departure runway, Zero Nine Right (09R). Quite a few other aircraft had the same idea so we made a stop-go progress, finally reaching the runway threshold and taking off at about 17:10. We made a rapid climb away from the airport and headed across North London on our Great Circle route to China.

The two friendly ladies (Australian?) serving the Club Class came round with drinks and (unusually for me) I risked a glass of champagne, since it was Taittinger. A little later, they served Dinner, with a selection for starter, main course and desert.

After the meal, I decided to try the video on demand. Spoilt by the state-of-the-art installations customary on Emirates aircraft, I found the technical quality rather poor and the selection a bit limited. I settled for Bruce Willis in 'A Good Day to Die Hard' which, near the beginning, features a remarkable "smash 'em up" vehicle chase through Moscow.

Having reset my watch to Beijing time (currently 7 hours ahead of London, I think), it was the middle of the night where I was, so I decided to try to sleep for a while. The electric seat could be adjusted to 'lie-flat' but needed to be augmented by a strange, toadstool-like 'footstool' whose main function seems to be to obstruct access to and from the gangway, even when hinged out-of-the-way into its 'stowed' position.

I slept for a couple of hours or so and then decided to revive myself with a quick all-over wash and a change of clothes. I got out the computer to write this text and then they served quite a decent breakfast (but who thinks that hash browns are part of a 'Full English breakfast'?). As I write this, we're at 39,000 feet travelling at 585 miles a hour with an outside temperature a rather chilly minus 45 degrees Celsius. We're due to arrive Beijing in a little under an hour from now at 09:30 local time.

My Pictures

Pictures taken on various visits to Heathrow (including this one) are here.
Pictures of the 'Driverless Trains' are here.
Pictures taken on aircraft (including this one) are here.

A Single Step

"The journey of a Thousand Miles starts with a Single Step" is a Chinese Proverb. Particularly appropriate today, I thought because I'm off to China.

The 'Single Step' (or a few of them) took me to John's car for the journey to Heathrow Terminal 5. Since the weather in the U.K. improved in time for the recent Brewood Vintage Garden Party a few days ago, we've enjoyed a heatwave so the journey was a bit warm but, fortunately, uneventful.

Arriving shortly after 2.00 p.m., I found the huge Terminal 5 quite empty. I had a fair walk to the correct Check-In Desk but the actual process was both prompt and painless and the British Airways lady polite and friendly. Even Security (which usually can be relied upon to worsen my mood) was pretty quiet and the only member of staff I spoke to was friendly.

Another walk took me to the Gallery South Lounge. Signage at airports is sometimes more artistic than informative so I initially managed to get to the wrong lounge but a bit more walking took me to the right place.

View from the Gallery South Lounge looking towards Satellite 'B' with the Control Tower in the background.

Whilst the lounge was quite busy, it was reasonably quiet so I relaxed a little. I found a spare computer (a rather tired Dell running an Internet Explorer so old that Google kept complaining about it. I'd got my Notebook Computer with me but didn't want to faff about setting it up) and prepared this Blog Post.

I'm leaving on the BA39 to Beijing at 16:40. This route still uses Boeing 747 'Jumbos' which have been one of my favourite aircraft types for years. I'd been warned it would take me twenty minutes or so to reach Gate C55 from the lounge - I believe it must be in the 'Satellite' terminal accessed by a driverless train.

The non-stop flight to Beijing is, of course, considerably more than "a Thousand Miles" but is planned to take less than eleven hours, such are the marvels of modern international air travel. Wish me 'Bon Voyage', Gentle Reader and be assured I will post updates when I'm able.

My Pictures

Pictures taken on various visits to Heathrow (including this one) are here.

Brewood Vintage Garden Party 2013

A view from the Tea Tent during the afternoon.

A Vintage Garden Party was held on Saturday 6th July 2013, in glorious weather. This was a joint initiative by the Parish Church and the Brewood Scouts. Until a few years ago, a Church Fete was held annually in Brewood, but it was discontinued. In 2013 members of the Church and the Brewood Scouts decided to re-commence the event in the form of a Vintage Garden Party and Jan Ford agreed to provide the garden at Brewood Hall as a venue.

An event such as this requires a lot of time in planning beforehand and a lot of effort on the day. My pictures (here) include these 'behind the scenes' activities which the visitors to the event don't usually see.

The superb weather helped to make the day a memorable event and Brewood Hall seemed to work its usual 'magic' on over 300 guests. The modest admission fee included refreshments (tea, coffee and an amazing variety of home-made cakes) and two marquees were provided: in the first the volunteers were kept busy dispensing the refreshments whilst the second was furnished with tables and chairs. More tables and chairs were provided outside although many people were happy to just relax on the grass.

There were a number of stalls - White Elephant, Plants, Books, Jewellery, Handicrafts, Face Painting and the Staffordshire Corps of Drums. There were various games - 'Play Your Cards Right', 'Spin the Wheel', 'Hook-a-Duck', 'Splat the Rat', 'Ping-Pong Ball in Jam Jar', a Coconut Shy and a 9-pin skittle alley.

Everybody appeared to enjoy their afternoon and before closing at 5.00 p.m., the raffle winners were drawn. Jane thanked Jan Ford for making the venue available and Jan reminded people of the efforts put in by the Church Members and the Brewood Scouts in creating such a successful event. Jan was presented with chocolates and flowers before being made an 'Honorary Scout' by Ian.

My Pictures

Vintage Garden Party at Brewood Hall.

'Flying Scotsman'

Click here for other sizes
The drawing of the locomotive included in the British Empire Exhibition publication [reference 5]

The railway locomotive 'Flying Scotsman' is the one locomotive (perhaps together with 'Rocket') which almost everybody seems to have heard of, although there's often confusion between 'Flying Scotsman' (the Named Express Service from King's Cross to Edinburgh) and 'Flying Scotsman (the locomotive - one member of the class which frequently hauled the Named Express).

The L.N.E.R. period

The prototype 'Pacific' locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley was built during the Great Northern Railway's last year of existence in 1922 and, appropriately, was named 'Great Northern'. The 1921 Railways Act created the 'Big Four' (L.M.S., G.W.R., L.N.E.R. and S.R.) from the end of 1922 so the first production batch of the 'Pacific' design (including 'Flying Scotsman') was ordered in 1922 by the Great Northern Railway and completed in 1923 by the newly-formed London and North Eastern Railway. After comparative trials against the Raven-designed 'Pacific' of the North Easter Railway in 1923, the Gresley design was chosen as the L.N.E.R's main express passenger class and building continued until 1935 by which time 79 locomotives had been constructed.

'Flying Scotsman' was selected to appear at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924-1925 held at Wembley, where the engine became a favorite with the crowds. Other major railways also displayed locomotives and the Great Western railway had 'Pendennis Castle' on display, claiming that it was the most powerful locomotive in Britain. However, with its tapered boiler, relatively small diameter smokebox and copper-topped chimney, the crowds found it difficult to accept that this elegant locomotive could be more powerful than 'Flying Scotsman' with its massive boiler suggesting raw power.

The Publicity Department of the L.N.E.R. were particularly active and, partly through them, the 1925 locomotive exchanges took place, with a Gresley 'Pacific' operating on the G.W.R. and a 'Castle' running out of King's Cross.


4079 "Pendennis Castle" GWR and 4475 "Flying Fox" LNER at King's Cross during the 1925 locomotive exchanges (From 'The Steel Highway' [reference 2]).

The results were not to the L.N.E.R's satisfaction. Gresley complained to one of the Locomotive Inspectors involved in the trials who dared to tell Gresley that the Great Western "have a better valve than us". The steam valve (which controls the admission and exhaust of steam from the cylinders) is crucial to the efficiency of a steam locomotive. Some twenty years before, G. J. Churchward of the Great Western had realised the significance of 'long lap, long travel' valves and these became standard on his piston-valved engines. Finally, Gresley realised importance of this innovation and 'long lap, long travel' valves were then fitted to his 'Pacifics' giving notable improvement in performance. Gresley also introduced a programme which changed the original 180 p.s.i. boilers for 220 p.s.i. boilers (changing the class designation from 'A1' to 'A3').

This led to perhaps the zenith of express train running in the steam era, in terms of speed, punctuality and comfort. An idea of this period can be gained from the reprint of a 1930s article about the 'Flying Scotsman' train on the EngRailHistory site. The Second World War brought an end to that period of railway history. During the War, all locomotives, including Gresley's, were required to undertake prodigious tasks of haulage under difficult conditions. When Peace came, British railways were thoroughly run-down and were Nationalised by the incoming Labour government.

The British Railways period

After Nationalisation of the railways in 1948, British Railways modified the class, substituting a double-chimney with Kylchap exhaust for the original single chimney. The modification also added rather small smoke deflectors, very much in the Continental tradition, which were invariably and appropriately referred to as "blinkers". A new livery was applied and 'Flying Scotsman's' running number became 60103.

Alan Pegler's ownership

Alan Pegler (born 16th April 1920) was a member of the Family which owned the Northern Rubber Company, based in Retford. He had been a lifelong railway enthusiast and at one time organised enthusiast excursions, such as the double-headed steam trip from Retford to Liverpool on 4th September 1954. In 1963, when British Railways were aggressively withdrawing steam traction, Alan Pegler purchased 'Flying Scotsman' from British Railways for three thousand pounds, using some of his proceeds from the sale of the Northern Rubber Company to Pegler's Valves (a company which had been started by his Grandfather). Alan Pegler was also closely involved in the Festiniog Railway and, in April 1963, 'Flying Scotsman' hauled a special train from Paddington in connection with the Annual General Meeting of the Festiniog Railway. 'Flying Scotsman' undertook a number of charters in the following years, culminating in a re-creation of the first London to Edinburgh non-stop run forty years after the first.

In 1969, with Government Assistance, Alan Pegler took 'Flying Scotsman' to the United States of America to haul an Exhibition Train promoting Britain. Encouraged by the interest in this iconic locomotive, Alan Pegler continued to operate the locomotive in North America after the Government funding expired, first in Canada and then in San Francisco but, sadly, this was not a commercial success, resulting in bankruptcy for Alan Pegler. The locomotive was sold to Sir William McAlpine who managed to return the locomotive to England. Alan Pegler's involvement with railway preservation continued and, in 2006, he was made an O.B.E. for "services to rail heritage". He died on 18th March 2012.

Sir William McAlpine's ownership

On its return from North America in 1973, Sir William McAlpine commissioned light repairs and repainting at BREL Derby. The British Rail modifications had been reversed prior to the visit to the U.S.A. but BREL fully restored her appearance to what I call "As God and Gresley intended" - apple green, numbered 4472, with conventional drafting and the rather tiny single chimney which, surmounting the massive boiler, contributed to the impression of raw power. 'Flying Scotsman' then undertook a season on the Torbay Steam Railway followed by various main line trips. In 1974, Steamtown at Carnforth became the locomotive's new base from where a number of main line charter workings were undertaken. An appearance was made at the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1975. More charter work followed until 'Flying Scotsman' went to the Vickers Works in Barrow-in-Furness for heavy repairs at the end of 1977. A variety of main-line trips followed until another major overhaul at Carnforth in 1985. 'Flying Scotsman' was then moved to Marylebone for a series of 'Shakespeare Limited' luncheon trains with Roland Kennington in charge of maintenance.

In 1988, Roland Kennington accompanied the locomotive to Australia for a very successful programme of special trains, after which both he and his charge returned safely to England.

'Flying Scotsman' resumed an intensive programme of main line runs, with the last on 25th October 1992, just two days before the locomotive's 'Main Line Ticket' expired. The plan was for the locomotive to work out the rest of its 'Boiler Ticket' on preserved railways, starting with the first of what was to prove a number of visits to Birmingham Railway Museum. I've described 'Flying Scotsman' at Birmingham Railway Museum in a post here.

The 'Learn to be a Driver' scheme at Birmingham Railway Museum had attracted considerable interest and on the 26th October 1992 the world-famous 4472 'Flying Scotsman' became the star attraction, giving enthusiasts the chance to actually drive and fire the locomotive. It was during this period that I first became intimately acquainted with 'Flying Scotsman', since I was an Instructor Driver at the Museum. The Autumn Gala on the weekend of 28th and 29th November 1992, featured locomotives from three of the 'Big Four' railways with 4472 'Flying Scotsman', 7029 'Defiant', 6024 'King Edward I' and 46203 'Princess Margaret Rose' all in steam. 46203 was away most of the Saturday on a Main Line Railtour.

On 1st December 1992, 'Flying Scotsman' left Birmingham Railway Museum for visits to the Great Central Railway, the East Lancashire Railway and Llangollen where an inspection on 4th March 1993 found 29 defective boiler tubes and other defects, resulting in the locomotive being 'stopped'. 'Flying Scotsman' was moved by road to the works of FKI Babcock Robey in Oldbury for them to carry out the necessary repairs, assisted by Roland Kennington and others. When the locomotive emerged from FKI Babcock Robey on 22nd July 1993 the British Railways modifications had been re-applied so the locomotive appeared in British Railways green, numbered 60103, with Continental smoke deflectors, double chimney and dual 'Kylchap' exhaust. I accept that the revised drafting improved the steaming, but I never liked the appearance and it proved controversial with the enthusiast community.

In September 1993, Pete Waterman acquired a 50% interest in the locomotive from Sir William McAlpine. After stints at the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway and the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway, 'Flying Scotsman', in its new guise as 60103, returned to Birmingham Railway Museum on 3rd November 1993 for more 'Learn to be a Driver' work. There were still lots of people keen to drive 'Flying Scotsman' and I remember it as a very busy period with courses carrying on well after dark each evening. The locomotive returned to Llangollen on 17th February 1994 for a triumphant season, followed by an equally successful time at the Nene Valley. Then it was onto the Severn Valley and back to Birmingham Railway Museum from 18th November 1994 to 11th January 1995. During another visit to Llangollen, the locomotive became derailed. Although passed as 'fit' after re-railing, the following day (24th April 1995) a crack appeared in the boiler backhead neccessitating withdrawal from service and return to Southall for heavy repairs.

Tony Marchington's ownership

Tony Marchington (born 1955 at Buxton) purchased 'Flying Scotsman' from Sir William McAlpine on 23rd February 1996 for a reported one and a half million pounds, expending a further one million in order to restore her to steam in 1999. I may not have liked the locomotive's appearance as '60103' but at least it was historically correct. What emerged from the works in 1999 was a confection combining 'Kylchap' exhaust and double chimney, LNER livery, the running number 4472, no smoke deflectors (at least initially) and air brakes. A Polish steam-driven air compressor had been mounted between the frames. Whilst the compressor was not visually intrusive, it produced a very foreign-sounding slow, repetitive 'thump - chuck - thump - chuck'.

In 2000, the locomotive appeared at Peak Rail during a 9-day 'extravaganza'. I was rostered for seven of these days, either as Conductor Driver or Driver on 'Flying Scotsman' or Driver on the 0-6-0T 'Austerity' which 'top and tailed' the passenger trains with 'Flying Scotsman'. It was a pretty hectic period, with unprecedented crowds, and my recollections are here. Alan Pegler was re-united with 'Flying Scotsman' on one of the days and this was the only time I met him.

'Flying Scotsman' became a regular performer on the British Pullman trains operated by Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE). It was only recently that I had an opportunity to inspect the luxurious restored Pullman train - there's a brief description here.

Flying Scotsman plc was floated in 2002, with ambitious plans by Tony Marchington for a 'Flying Scotsman Village' near Edinburgh. The plans fell through and Tony Marchington was declared bankrupt in September 2003. He later died of cancer in 2011. Peter Butler, the Chief Executive Officer of Flying Scotsman plc, revealed a serious position in October 2003 and dealing in the Company's shares was suspended.


'Flying Scotsman' at the 2003 Doncaster 'Open Day' (Photo: Rich@rd).

National Railway Museum ownership

Following the collapse of Flying Scotsman plc, sealed bids were invited for the purchase of 'Flying Scotsman'. A public appeal was launched to prevent what was called "The People's Engine" from probably going abroad. The public appeal raised 365,000 Pounds Sterling which was matched matched by a donation from Sir Richard Branson on behalf of the Virgin Group. Together with a grant of 1.8 million Pounds Sterling from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, a successful bid was made and 'Flying Scotsman' was purchased by the National Railway Museum, becoming part of the 'National Collection' at the National Railway Museum, York.

After various repairs, a number of Steam Charters were operated before a series of failures prompted withdrawal for another overhaul in 2005. This overhaul was completed in 2009 but there remained serious concerns over reliability. As repair work continued, the affair turned into a full-blown scandal, resulting in a review by 'First Class Partnerships' who are 'Rail Consultants'. A heavily-redacted version of this report is now in the public domain here. NRM states that the redacted text is "either because they are commercially sensitive or to protect the privacy of individuals". I found the report to the Trustees of the Science Museum Group by Bob Meanley far more informative. You can find it here. It appears that this saga will 'run and run'.

Book References

There are many, many books about this famous locomotive, her designer or her exploits. I list a few books below, including some describing the L.N.E.R. and the working of the East Coast Main Line in steam days.

[1] 'The World's Most Famous Locomotive' complied by David Clifford published by Finial Publishing in collaboration with the Flying Scotsman Associated in 1997 (ISBN 1 900467 02 X).
[2] 'The Steel Highway' by Cecil J. Allen, published Longmans, Green and Co. in 1928.
[3] 'Flying Scotsman: On Tour: Australia' published by Chapmans in 1990.
[4] 'The Flying Scotsman 1862 - 1962: Portrait of a Train' by C. Hamilton Ellis published George Allen & Unwin 1962.
[5] 'The London and North Easter Railway Company: Three-Cylinder Superheated 4-6-2 PACIFIC TYPE Express Tender Locomotive exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition Wembley 1924' reprinted in 2000 by the Pleasaunce Press (ISBN: 0 902372 12 2).
[6] 'The Gresley Pacifics' by O. S. Nock, omnibus edition with parts 1 and 2 published by Book Club Associates 1985.
[7] 'Gresley Locomotives - A Pictorial History by Brian Haresnape' reprinted by Ian Allen 1993 (ISBN 0 7110 0892 2).
[8] 'The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley' by O. S. Nock; second expanded and re-illustrated edition published by Patrick Stephens 1991 (ISBN 1-85260-336-4).
[9] 'East Coast Pacifics at work' by P. N. Townend published by Ian Allen 1982 (ISBN 0 7110 1170 2).
[10] 'The Gresley Influence' by Geoffrey Hughes published by Ian Allen 1983 (ISBN 0 7110 1272 5).
[11] 'The Gresley Legacy: A Celebration of Innovation' by Martin Smith published by Argus Books 1992 (ISBN 1 85486 079 8).
[12] 'Nigel Gresley: Locomotive Engineer' by F. A. S. Brown, first published 1961, 1975 edition published by Ian Allen (ISBN 07110 0591 5).
[13] 'Non-Stop!: London to Scotland Steam' by A. J. Mullay published by Alan Sutton 1989 (ISBN: 0-86299-600-7).
[14] 'LNER Steam' by O. S. Nock, first published 1969 by David & Charles, paperback edition 1971 by Pan Books (ISBN 0 330 02680 1).
[15} 'Great Northern Locomotives: 1847 - 1947' by R. A. H. Weight, second edition published 1970 by The Gresley Society.

Related posts on this Website

'Flying Scotsman' at Birmingham Railway Museum.
'Flying Scotsman' at Peak Rail.

External Websites

'Flying Scotsman' (Wikipedia).
Nigel Gresley (Wikipedia).
British Empire Exhibition (Wikipedia).
G. J. Churchward (Wikipedia).
EngRailHistory site.
Alan Pegler (Wikipedia).
Sir William McAlpine (Wikipedia).
Tony Marchington (Wikipedia).


[Link to post 'Flying Scotsman' at Birmingham Railway Museum added: 29-Jul-2015]
[Link to post 'Flying Scotsman' at Peak Rail added: 8-Oct-2016]

Battlefield Line 1940s Weekend (June 2013)

The DMU waiting for 'Sir Gomer' to clear the single line.

The Battlefield Line ran a '1940s weekend' on the weekend of 15th/16th June 2013. 'Sir Gomer' operated the 4-coach service train, providing five round trips between Shackerstone and Shenton, stopping at Market Bosworth each way. Departures from Shackerstone were timed for 10.30 a.m., 12.00 noon, 1.30 p.m., 3.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. During the 35 minutes allowed at Shackerstone to run round and take water the single line section was available, allowing the DMU to make a trip to Market Bosworth and back. The DMU was scheduled to depart Shackerstone at 10.00 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 1.00 p.m. 2.30 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. This was the second year that the Battlefield Line arranged a '1940s weekend' - my report on the 2012 event is here.

On Saturday 15th June 2013 I was booked to drive the diesel railcar. I'm afraid a 1960s DMU (particularly in blue and grey livery) is the wrong period for a 1940s Weekend but it seemed to offend me more than anyone else. The plan was to use the single-unit DMU 55005 (at the north end) coupled to half of the 2-car DMU (at the south end). I found the set, as expected, on the railcar siding.

The Technical Stuff

I completed my 'Daily Exam' and successfully started all four engines. There was a slight delay while I allowed the compressors to build up control air pressure in the air receivers - ideally 75 p.s.i. is required for correct operation of the Electro-Pneumatic (E.P.) valves controlling gear change on the epicyclic gearboxes and selecting direction on the final drives.

I 'opened' the southern cab with the master key and engaged the final drive, correctly obtaining six blue lights on the engine monitoring panel (left hand engine, air and axle, right hand engine lit for both power cars). With the "Dead Man's Handle" depressed, I 'blew-up' the vacuum brake (having ensured the handbrake was applied in the north end cab), then released the "Dead Man's Handle" and waited for the vacuum to collapse and automatically re-apply the brakes. This, of course, is the original method of ensuring that a train with only one person in the cab will be brought to a stand if that person becomes incapacitated.

I also tested the running lights at that end. There are two lamp clusters which can each show white or red.

Detail of a Red/White lamp cluster on a Diesel Multiple Unit.

Satisfied, I 'closed' the cab and repeated these checks from the cab at the northern end.

There was still some time before our first booked departure at 10.00 a.m. but John, the Signalman, "gave us the road" and I moved the 2-car train down to platform 1. A little later, I was standing in the south end cab when there was a loud 'bang' under the cab floor, followed by a loud hissing. The control air gauge was 'heading south' rapidly. I quickly dropped down onto the track to look at the various air connections under the cab and found a white-painted air main just venting the last of our control air. A little later, I confirmed that the connection between a reinforced plastic pipe and the metallic air main (secured by a jubilee clip) had become detached. We quickly concluded that we'd not be able to work our first train but the flexibility of the design of these multiple units offered the possibility of 'ditching' the failed vehicle and operating with just the single car. Of course, if I'd been confident we could repair the failed connection in a reasonable time, we might have been able to run with both vehicles but we agreed that the more certain solution was to operate with the single car. We judged that we'd have sufficient passenger capacity with the single car and so it proved. Later in the day, I attempted a repair on the reinforced plastic pipe and satisfied myself we'd made the correct decision in not trying to fix the problem earlier.

The control air main is continuous along the train, passing through flexible couplings provided with isolation cocks between vehicles, so we had no control air in the single car DMU at the northern end, either. We closed the isolation cock between the vehicles and I restarted the engines in the single car DMU at the north end (I'd shut down all engines whilst we agreed what to do). Control air was restored in the single car DMU. I opened the south end cab (with the 'failed' car in front of me) and created the vacuum brake, which still controlled both vehicles. With the Guard in the leading cab of the failed vehicle and Martin 'on the ground', I slowly drove back to the DMU siding, propelling the failed vehicle. The Guard applied the handbrake on the failed vehicle and I 'eased up' so as to slacken the coupling before applying the brakes on the 'good' car. Martin then uncoupled the 'dead' vehicle.

Click for larger image
Details of the interconnections between vehicles.

The picture above shows that it's a bit more involved than on ordinary coaching stock and, of course, there's not much room to work. Referring to the picture above, starting nearest the camera, you have:-

1. Jumper cable on left vehicle ('black') attached to multipole connector on right vehicle.
2. Jumper cable on left vehicle ('white')attached to multipole connector on right vehicle.
3. Control air hoses, joined with 'palm' coupling.
4. Vacuum brake train pipe corrugated hoses, joined with standard vacuum connection ('red').
5. Vacuum brake 'quick release' corrugated hoses, joined with 'reversed' vacuum connection ('blue').
6. Standard screw coupling on left vehicle, attached to right vehicle and tightened.
7. Standard screw coupling on right vehicle, not used and suspended from hook on underframe.
8. Jumper cable on right vehicle ('white') attached to multipole connector on left vehicle.
9. Jumper cable on right vehicle ('black') attached to multipole connector on left vehicle.
10. The round buffer heads nearer the camera are visible at the top of the picture.

Jumper cables not in use are 'stowed' in a receptacle adjacent to the jumper cable. 'Palm' couplings are standard on railways for air lines and they are mated and de-mated with an action similar to rubbing your hands together, hence the name. To avoid confusion between the two vacuum brake hoses, the fittings on the 'quick release' hoses are the mirror image of the standard coupling. 'Quick release' relates to the speed at which the driver can create vacuum compared with a traditional one-pipe vacuum brake - desirable on some suburban workings with frequent stops.

. I've gone into a little detail in order to highlight what I think are some of the design strengths of the 'Modernisation' DMUs. The technology used was well-proven and fairly simple, making it easier for "dyed-in-the-wool" steam drivers to make the transition from steam to diesel. Not all accepted the new traction - the lack of a 'mate' in the cab made the job too solitary for some but, in general, the equipment was well-received. A certain amount of fault-finding was within the scope of a driver (without the use of now-universal computers to monitor and identify problems).The 'Multiple Unit' concept with Electro Pneumatic control meant that trains could readily be made longer or shorter to cater for different duties. I think the design of these DMUs stands up well, particularly compared with the later abyssmal 'Pacers' (which still plague some areas of our railways).

For more information, see my post Diesel Multiple Units which has links to 'Lecture Notes and Drawings' by the British Railways Diesel Training School and four black and white sound films on YouTube.

In Traffic

Having dealt with the failure of one vehicle described above, we were "back in business" with a one car unit, ready for our 11.30 a.m. departure. The weather wasn't too good - intermittent rain and a cold wind. The sun would start to appear, only to be covered by cloud. Passenger numbers weren't brilliant - a great pity after the efforts made organising the event but I enjoyed meeting the re-enactors travelling with us.

Re-enacters on the train. The Australian Sergeant on the left really is from Sydney

In addition to the normal attractions at Shackerstone - the Victorian Tea Room, Shops on both Platform 1 and Platform and the Museum, an old radio in the Waiting Room was playing wartime programmes.

Although the Main Train hauled by 'Sir Gomer' went to Shenton, the diesel railcar only went as far as the intermediate station at Market Bosworth. This was where the main displays were held but the DMU had a very quick turn-around each time it was at Market Bosworth so I didn't get to see them.

Re-enacters on Market Bosworth Station.

We completed our 'diagram' without further incident and I stabled our single car unit on the railcar siding, ready for the following day.

My Pictures

Saturday 15th June 2013.
Shackerstone DMU Group.
Bubble Car.

Railway Group Session at Brewood

Another in the series of 'occasional sessions' was held on Wednesday, 12th June 2013. In addition to the 'regulars' Phil, Keith, Ian, Mike and the writer, David (Mike's father) joined us.

Clockwise from front: Keith, Phil, Mike, David, Ian.

Ian showed us some of his recent research on Norton Junction and the South Stafford Line - he has built up very comprehensive information including photographs, maps, old drawings, old documents together with drawings and documents Ian has produced.

Mike had been busy scanning David's photographs from the steam era and 'Photoshopping' them for best results. They were displayed using a laptop, computer projector and projection screen. There's only limited information on dates and locations so the team tried to assist. We didn't see all the pictures this time, so we look forward to meeting again before too long.

Keith had brought his presentation 'Black Country Railways from the Air' and took us through it. The photographs are taken from The English Heritage Archive and the quality of some of these shots - the earlier ones taken hand-held from biplanes - is remarkable. The archive is now based at Swindon and forms a significant resource for historians and modellers.

A screenshot from Keith's presentation 'Black Country Railways from the Air', showing Walsall station.

Previous meetings have been held:

Sunday, 14 February 2010
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Monday, 6 February 2012

A few pictures from these meetings are here.

Edge Hill, Liverpool

Introduction

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 with the original passenger terminus at Crown Street, Edge Hill. First Class passengers were provided with a horse-drawn carriage service between Crown Street and Dale Street, near the commercial centre of the city. From Edge Hill, there was also an inclined tunnel just over 2 km long cut through sandstone, shale and clay to Park Lane Depot near Wapping Dock. Locomotives were initially prohibited from this tunnel so passenger and goods trains descended to Park Lane by gravity, controlled by Brakemen on the train. Trains were hauled back up to Edge Hill by rope, using stationary steam winding engines.

The success of the railway meant that the initial arrangements proved inadequate and in 1837 another tunnel was cut from Edge Hill to a new station in Lime Street. Crown Street was retained as a goods depot. The tunnel to Lime Street was just over 2 km long, inclined at a gradient of around 1 in 93 and principally through sandstone. Further winding engines were provided at Edge Hill (together with a new station) and the approach to Lime Street was rope worked from 1837 until 1879 when locomotives started working through to Lime Street.

After a short period of locomotive working, the tunnel was opened-out into a deep rock cutting, spanned by numerous bridges to carry the various roads - see my post here.

Edge Hill Station

When the original Liverpool and Manchester line was extended from Edge Hill to Lime Street station in 1837 a new station was built at Edge Hill, initially with two platform faces, later with four. The buildings survive to the present and are discussed in book reference [9]. Oddly enough, the modern Edge Hill Power Signal Box is also covered in this architectural book.

A modern view of Edge Hill station, looking towards Liverpool Lime Street,

Edge Hill Grid Iron

By 1873, the volume of freight being dealt with was becoming embarrassing. 'Outwards' traffic passing through Edge Hill had risen from a quarter of a million tons in 1850 to over a million tons in 1873 but, in the same period, siding capacity had only increased from 1,782 wagons to 3,215 wagons leading to severe congestion. Mr. H. Footner of the L.N.W.R. prepared an ambitious scheme for marshalling freight trains using gravitation which was implemented and brought into use in 1882. In 1889 Sir George Finlay described the arrangements in his book 'The Working and Management of an English Railway' (this interesting book is available to read online here). His description reads:-

"In addition to the want of room, the main passenger lines had to be crossed every time wagons were moved from one group of sidings to another (and there were a great many groups), so that there were serious obstacles to be encountered in carrying on the working, and as the safety of passenger trains always had to be the first consideration, the goods traffic often had to suffer delay. The company had, at that time, about 70 acres of spare land on the north side of the railway, and available for extension, but to reduce this to the level of the main lines would have involved a stupendous amount of excavation, and the fact that the surface of the land rose from West to East, and that, for a comparatively reasonable outlay, sidings could be laid upon it on an uniform which would enable them to pass over the branch line running round to the docks, which branch line intersected the land, suggested to Mr. Footner a scheme for marshalling by gravitation. In considering a scheme of this kind two things appeared to be essential - first, that in the passage of the trucks from the top to the bottom of the incline, all the necessary changes in their relative positions should be effected, so that when they reached the bottom they should be ready to go away as properly marshalled; and secondly, that there should be some means of stopping, without injury to them or their loads, any trucks which might get beyond the control of the shunters. The mere principle of shunting by gravitation was no new thing, as it had already been successfully adopted for coaling ships on the Tyne and for sorting mineral trains at Darlington on the North-Eastern Railway; but Mr. Footner claims as his own the idea of an inclined plane specially constructed in such a way as to sort and marshal a mixed goods train by gravitation alone, without any assistance from locomotive or horse power. The sidings consist of, the six upper reception lines at the summit of the incline, holding 294 wagons; secondly, the sorting sidings, 24 in number, capable of holding 1,065 wagons, into which the wagons, when separated, first run, each siding receiving the wagons for a particular train; thirdly, two groups of marshalling sidings, which, owing to their peculiar formation, have been christened 'grid-irons', through which the trucks are filtered so as to make them take their proper order of precedence in the train; and fourthly, the lower reception and departure lines, which receive the trains in their complete state, and where the engines are attached to take them away. The modus operandi is as follows:- On the arrival of a set of wagons in the upper reception lines, the rear brakes are put on, the engine is detached, and then on each wagon is chalked the number of the sorting siding it has to enter. One man carefully inspects the brakes of each wagon, and calls out the chalked number to the second man standing below him, who has to regulate the speed of the descending wagons; this second man passes the number on by hand signal to the shunter lower down who has charge of the points, and who, by moving a lever, turns the wagon into its proper siding. The shunters are provided with brake sticks, which they insert between between the wheel and the wagon frame to steady the wagons in going down, and they also use these implements for letting down the brake levers when required. By the process thus described, each sorting siding now holds a separate train, although the wagons composing it are in indiscriminate order, but by a repetition of the operation the wagons of each train are separated in the gridirons and are lowered, one by one, in to the departure lines, in the precise order in which they are required to be sent away."

There is a 1:1800 scale model of the Edge Hill Gridiron in the National Railway Museum (NRM object 1975 8107). The model is mounted in a glazed oak desk case and originally formed part of the LNWR exhibition collection.


The model of the Edge Hill Gridiron. The line from Liverpool to Manchester runs (l-r) across the middle of the photograph, with the blue-roofed Edge Hill Engine Shed on the left and the rock cutting at Olive Mount on the right (Photo: Roger Henry).

By the 1890s, the complex of lines around Edge Hill had more-or-less reached their zenith and they survived, remarkably intact, until the wholesale destruction of the facilities in the 1960s, for which we can largely thank the cargo-handling revolution brought about by the containerisation of ships' cargoes.

Book reference [7] includes various maps of Liverpool's railways and a diagram showing the layout of the Grid Iron. There's also a diagram of the Grid Iron (including gradient information) in book reference [4].

Edge Hill around 1890

Here's an incomplete, simplified, not-to-scale sketch of the lines around Edge Hill below. An explanation of the letter references on the sketch is given in the table below the sketch.

Click for larger image..
Simplified sketch of Edge Hill and the Grid Iron around 1890.

Ref	Description
A	Wapping Up and Down Goods (the original route to the Docks, initially cable worked. Bank Head Signal Box [not shown] stood adjacent to the Edge Hill tunnel entrance).
B	Crown Street Up and Down Goods (this later double-track route replaced the original single-track approach).
C	Lime Street Down Slow, Down Fast, Up Fast, Up Slow.
D	Waterloo Up and Down Goods (this second route gave access to the 'downstream' docks as the port expanded).
E	Spekeland Road Coal Wharf.
F	Down Sidings.
G	Carriage Shed.
H	Edge Hill Station.
J	Waterloo Tunnel Mouth Signal Box.
K	Edge Hill Goods Depot.
L	Warehouse.
M	Edge Hill No. 2 Signal Box (Edge Hill No. 1 [not shown] stood on a bridge structure over the Up Slow at the Lime Street end of Edge Hill station until 1947).
N	Edge Hill No. 16 (Picton Road) Signal Box.
P	Edge Hill No. 14 Signal Box.
Q	Edge Hill No. 10 Signal Box.
S	Park Sidings (No. 20) Frame.
T	Exhibition Junction (No. 13) Signal Box.
U	Lower North Grid Sidings.
V	Upper North Grid Sidings.
W	North Grid.
X	Lower South Grid Sidings.
Y	Upper South Grid Sidings.
Z	South Grid.
AA	Wagon Shop.
AB	Edge Hill No. 3 Signal Box.
AC	Edge Hill No. 4 Signal Box.
AD	Edge Hill No. 12 Signal Box.
AE	Edge Hill No. 11 Signal Box (Engine Shed Junction).
AF	60-foot Turntable.
AG	40-foot Turntable.
AH	Tuebrook Sidings.
AJ	Edge Hill No. 5 Signal Box.
AK	Edge Hill Engine Shed.
AL	Rathbone Road Yard.
AM	Up and Down Circular Goods.
AN	Up and Down North Lines (to Manchester).
AP	Up and Down South Lines (to Manchester).
AQ	Olive Mount Junction Signal Box.
AR	Up and Down Bootle Lines.
AS	Gridiron Feed Lines.
AT	Top of Grid Frame (No. 19).
AU	Pighue Lane Signal Box.
AV	Edge Lane Junction Signal Box (to Bootle, serving the most downstream docks).
AW	Upper Reception Sidings.
AX	Tunnel Road.
AY	Picton Road overbridge.
AZ	Wavertree Junction Signal Box (to Ditton, Runcorn and Crewe).

Edge Hill Engine Shed

Whilst much of the freight infrastructure around Edge Hill remained tantalisingly inaccessible, the locomotive depot at Edge Hill, squeezed into the angle between the Manchester and Crewe Lines, was clearly visible from passenger trains passing on either route. The book 'LMS Engine Sheds: Vol 1 The L&NWR' [reference 6] has detailed information on the shed and its allocation of locomotives. A new coaling plant was built in 1914, with three 40-ton bunkers, using the 'Hennibrique System' of ferro-concrete construction.


The coaling plant at Edge Hill. The inclined line on the extreme left goes to Engine Shed Junction and formed one of two ways on and off shed (Photo: Edge Hill Archive).

Signalling

My earlier post Liverpool Lime Street Station discusses the power box introduced at Lime Street with colour light signalling. Around Edge Hill manual signal boxes remained, as indicated on the sketch above. Edge Hill No. 1 (at the Lime Street end of Edge Hill station, on a bridge structure over the Up Slow) was abolished in 1947. The signal boxes were London and North Western pattern (although Exhibition Junction appears to have been an L.M.S. composite pattern with a hipped roof). There were some upper-quadrant L.M.S. signals but an amazing number of London and North Western lower-quadrants survived into the 1960s. The section 'Track Diagrams' below has details of the Signalling Record Society publication including these signal boxes. The 'NX' signalling panel at Edge Hill, introduced in the 1960s, abolished a number of the Edge Hill manual boxes, but some lasted until the 1970s.

The Power Signal Box at Edge Hill.

External links

Liverpool and Manchester Railway (Wikipedia).
London and North Western Railway (Wikipedia).
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Wikipedia).
Pictures of Exhibition Junction by edgehillsignalman.
Edge Hill Archive

Book References

[1] 'The Style L Power Frame' written and published by J. D. Francis 1989 (ISBN 0 9514636 0 8).
[2] 'Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830-1980' by Frank Ferneyhough published by Book Club Associates.
[3] 'A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain': Volume 10 The North West by G. O. Holt, Second Edition published by David & Charles (ISBN 0946537 34 8).
[4] 'North Western: A Saga of the Premier Line of Great Britain: 1846-1922' by O.S. Nock published by Ian Allen in 1968 (SBN 7110 0016 6).
[5] 'The History of the London and North Western Railway' by Wilfred L. Steel published by "The Railway and Travel Monthly" in 1914.
[6] 'LMS Engine Sheds: Vol 1 The L&NWR' by Hawkins and Reeve published by Wild Swan Publications (ISBN 0 906867 02 9).
[7] 'An Illustrated History of Liverpool's Railways' by Paul Anderson, published Irwell Press (ISBN 1-871608-68-6).
[8] 'Pre-Grouping Railway Junction Diagrams 1914', published by Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1256 3).
[9] 'The Buildings of England - Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West' by Richard Pollard and Nikolaus Pevsner, published by Yale University Press (ISBN 0 300 10910 5). This book may be previewed here.

Track Diagrams

You can find detailed signal box diagrams for the numerous signal boxes around Edge Hill in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Edge Hill area is included in 'Volume 9: LNW Lines Crewe to Euxton Junction, Liverpool to Manchester (and associated branches)' (ISBN: 1 873228 11 2).

For details of what remained around Edge Hill in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).

Related articles in this Blog

Edge Hill Cutting.
Liverpool Lime Street Station.
'Black 5' to Birmingham.

My Pictures

Liverpool: The City.
Liverpool Area Railways.

A Sunday in the Peak District

On Sunday 9th June 2013 I was rostered as Steam Driver at Peak Rail. The operation was the customary top-and-tail with D8 diesel-electric (brief description here) at the north end and the six-coupled 'Austerity' named 'Lord Phil' at the south end. Chris was Fireman and Dave was Cleaner. Unusually, we had no 'Driving Experience' candidates prior to the first train at 11:15, so the steam locomotive was not needed until later than normal.

A Craft Fair was being held at Rowsley and, this time, the weather was kind so the stall holders had a much better time in the marquee at Peak Park - earlier in the year, the winds were so severe, the outdoor stalls became impractical and the Fair had to be squeezed into the station buildings. On the 9th June, the Derbyshire Dales Narrow Gauge Railway was running as a further attraction.

Chris standing beside 'Lord Phil' on arrival at Matlock Town.

We had no difficulties during the day although we were running with a seven-coach train. The 'Exhibition Coach' (a converted 'BG' bogie brake) had been added to the usual rake of six. This coach has an attractive display of photographs giving information about volunteer activities at the railway in order to encourage passengers to consider becoming members.

I was told that the new signalling at Matlock Riverside had been completed and it was only a matter of completing staff training before the facilities could be commissioned.

Matlock Riverside Signal Box. The lever frame is just visible through the windows.

A professionally-built wooden Waiting Room had been installed on our platform at Matlock Town and, although as yet unpainted, everybody agreed that it was a handsome addition.

New Waiting Room at Matlock Town.

'The Usual Suspects' try out the new Waiting Room.

My pictures

New Station Building at Peak Rail.
'Lord Phil'.
Resignalling at Matlock Riverside.

A Saturday in Manchester

On Saturday 8th June 2013 I was rostered as Operating Officer on the steam railway at the Museum Of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. I took the 06:49 'Voyager' train from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly operated by Cross Country but decided to 'bail out' at Stockport to take a few pictures (I wanted a shot of the 'Platform 0' sign).

Platform 0 at Stockport with two '0' signs visible.

Then, I continued on a local service to Piccadilly, took the Metrolink tram to the Deansgate-Castlefield stop and walked to the Museum.

The 'Planet' replica was 'on its holidays', with its blue coaches), visiting Shildon (the 'Locomotion' Museum, more details here). At Manchester, we were using 'Agecroft No. 1' (described here) with the 'North London' coach and the Guard's Brake Van. This was similar to our Easter service, which I described here but with the Guard's Brake Van substituting for a blue coach.

We had four volunteers rostered to run the live steam operation - Peter (Driver), Richard (Fireman), David (Guard) with Jan as Operating Officer. We started off by retrieving the 'North London' coach from the Power Hall with with the Battery Electric Shunter (my pictures of the Battery Electric Shunter are here. We secured the coach just inside the railway 'compound' (the operating railway is fenced-off from the public areas). I then parked 'The Battery' (as its usually called) further down the running line, temporarily out of the way. 'Agecroft No. 1' had been left outside on the pit so Peter and Richard started locomotive preparation whilst I carried out a permanent way inspection. The 'North London' coach we were using was prohibited from our 'Pineapple Line' (which forms a 'Y' with our 'Main Line') so I had less track to examine. I also had to open and secure the gates adjacent to the Water Street bridge.

By the time I'd completed these inspections (and taken some photographs around the running line), 'Agecroft No. 1' was in steam. Peter picked up the 'North London' coach and set back to the platform, attaching the Guard's Brake Van which was standing at the buffer stop. I then moved 'The Battery' to the spot where the 'North London' coach had been parked and 'tied it down' for the day, clear of the running line. I secured the final set of handpoints, with the open switch scotched and the closed switch clipped and locked with a Point Clip.

For the next four hours, in glorious sunshine, we provided train rides to the public. Since we couldn't use the 'Pineapple Line', each trip comprised two runs from the station to the limit of our line, adjacent to the Network Rail Line. Part of the time, I 'rode the brake' with the Guard, part of the time I fired and I also drove a few trips. Our reversal at the far end of the line frequently coincided with one (or sometimes two - one in each direction) diesel multiple units passing on the busy main line. We usually exchanged whistles with these trains.

At the end of passenger operations, the brake van was left at the buffer stop and 'Agecroft No. 1' and the coach were drawn forward to the 'Disposal Point' where the fire was 'knocked out' and the ashpan cleared. The Battery Electric Shunter was attached in front of the steam locomotive and used to shunt all three vehicles into the Power Hall.

The popular steam train rides may not be able to continue - two distinct threats exist, outlined below.

The Ordsall Chord

Computer Generated Image of the proposed Ordsall Chord

Network Rail have an ambition to build a new line - the 'Ordsall Chord' - allowing trains to go directly from Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly. As you can see from the above view, their proposed route would 'chop' the existing demonstration line just beyond the Water Street Bridge, isolating the present connection to the main line and and the Museum's 'Pineapple Line' over Stephenson's original bridge across the River Irwell.

MOSI and the Science Museum Group

In February 2012, MOSI became part of the Science Museum Group, which now comprises the Science Museum (London), the Museum of Science and Industry (Manchester), the National Railway Museum (York), the National Media Museum (Bradford) and the National Railway Museum (Shildon). The Group modestly claims to be "The most significant group of museums of science and innovation worldwide". However, Director of Science Museum Group Ian Blatchford is reported recently as saying that the prospect of a further 10% cut in funding in the next round of government spending proposals meant that one of the three northern museums in the group almost certainly would have to close.

External websites

Ordsall Curve (Network Rail).
Ordsall Chord (Wikipedia).

My pictures

Manchester Area Rail.
Museum Of Science & Industry, Manchester.
Agecroft No. 1.
Battery Electric Shunter.

The Liverpool Overhead Railway

In 2009 I wrote briefly about the long-gone Liverpool Overhead Railway in the post Liverpool.

This panorama from the Liverpool Overhead Railway 'Map and Guide of the Railway and Docks' shows the route of the railway and the stations. Click on the image for a larger view.

In the 1980s, I came across the preserved intermediate trailer coach of the pattern rebuilt by the Liverpool Overhead Railway at 'Steamport', which occupied the disused steam shed at Southport. The 'Steamport' operation subsequently relocated to Preston as The Ribble Steam Railway and I don't believe this coach survived.

Liverpool Museums originally had the preserved Driving/Motor car displayed in the Transport Gallery of the former museum but, when this closed, the coach was placed in storage. I caught up with this coach in 2010, described in my post here, whilst museum staff were preparing the vehicle for display in the new Museum of Liverpool. I was allowed to take a series of pictures.

I finally saw the Driving/Motor car displayed on 1st December 2011 when I was invited to attend the Official Opening of the new Museum of Liverpool, described in my post here. There are a few pictures of the car on display here.


The preserved Liverpool Overhead Railway driving motor car is displayed in the Museum of Liverpool in a setting representing the supporting girder structure and a station.

One bogie of each Driving/Motor car had a single 60 h.p. electric motor. Formation was normally 3-car with two Driving/Motor cars and a single Trailer car but, of course, 2-car operation was possible.

Liverpool Overhead Railway coach: view of the driving compartment with (dummy) driver.

Top view of the Controller for the Traction Motors fitted in the driving compartment.

The controller now fitted appears to be more modern than that originally fitted. The cast brass top plate of the controller carries the name 'The English Electric Mfg. Co. Ltd', together with 'Dick Kerr & Co. Ltd, Sole Agents, London' and a cryptic reference to 'The Short System'. The type of the Controller is also marked on the top plate - Type Q4, Form D.

The Controller has two controls - the speed regulator is provided with a large, fixed handle whilst the master controller has a removeable handle which was moved from cab to cab when the driver 'changed ends' at the end of the line.

The speed regulator rotates from the one o'clock position (Off) through a number of 'Series' notches to five o'clock. Movement from five o'clock to eight o'clock places the motors in parallel and further notching up is possible, until the stop at eleven o'clock which should produce the maximum design speed of 30 m.p.h.

The master controller has a number of positions - Forward, No. 2, No. 1, Off, No. 1, No. 2, Reverse. I believe the 'No. 1' and 'No. 2' positions are to allow the set to continue with only one serviceable motor.

Dick, Kerr & Company were taken over by English Electric in 1919 (see the Wikipedia articles on Dick, Kerr and Company and English Electric).

When first built, the trains had no air compressor and a trainborne air receiver was re-charged at the terminus. But later electric compressors were added. A 2-pipe system is fitted and the driver was provided with two air pressure gauges. The brake application valve was placed at the top of an upright branch pipe in the cab, in what I should think was a fairly inconvenient position. The driver was required to stand whilst driving.

The Museum of Liverpool display allows visitors to enter part of the coach and sound effects are provided. Additional information on the Liverpool Overhead Railway is presented adjacent to the coach and there is a splendid model of the route, where white lights (representing trains) move up and down the route, pausing briefly at each station.


The large model of the Liverpool Overhead Railway viewed from the Seaforth Sands end. The River Mersey is on the right.

Book References

[1] 'The Liverpool Overhead Railway 1893-1956' by Charles E. Box, revised by Adrian Jarvis, published Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1183 4).
[2] 'The Docker's Umbrella: A History of the Liverpool Overhead Railway' by Paul Bolger, published by the Bluecoat Press (ISBN 1 872568 05 X).
[3] 'An Illustrated History of Liverpool's Railways' by Paul Anderson, published Irwell Press (ISBN 1-871608-68-6).

My pictures

Liverpool Overhead Railway Driving/Motor Car.
Royal Visit to the Museum of Liverpool.

Day Trip to Ely

On Saturday 1st June 2013, I made a day trip to Ely by rail to attend the Open University Degree Ceremony in Ely Cathedral (where Ann was "being presented" having graduated). It's a little surprising that such a cross-country journey is feasible these days but there's a regular Birmingham - Stansted Airport service which calls at Ely.

I reached Birmingham using the Virgin service from Wolverhampton. This was more than I could easily have done the previous (Bank Holiday) weekend when Wolverhampton was closed to trains and all departures were by bus. It continues to appall me that chunks of our railway system close down every holiday period for engineering works of one sort or another. This is such a contrast with matters when I was young when the railway put on extra trains and virtually every vehicle that could 'turn a wheel' was pressed into service (there's a flavour of this sort of activity in my post Excursions at Sedgeley Junction). The idea of the railway excursion is credited to Thomas Cook who organised the first known major excursion from Leicester to Loughborough in 1841.


Statue outside Leicester station of Thomas Cook.

Executing the change at Birmingham New Street meant negotiating the recently-changed arrangements there. Birmingham New Street station is being modernised. There's a website here about the project which modestly describes itself as "transforming Birmingham's New Street station to create a stunning 21st century transport hub". Halfway through the project, the first half of the new concourse was opened on the 28th April 2013 so it's all a bit incomplete and unfamiliar.

A class 170 from Leicester arriving at Birmingham New Street in 2009.

However, the 3-car class 170 diesel multiple unit was already waiting in the platform and we slowly set off 'right time'. Once we'd untangled ourselves from what I still think of as the "new" arrangements around Proof House Junction and established ourselves on the Up Derby, speed picked up. We passed Saltley Power Signal Box and then the futuristic-looking West Coast Control Centre.

Each time I travel by rail now, I'm reminded of just how difficult is is to observe the 'passing scene' from a train since most trains have air conditioning and no opening windows at all. Seats appear to be carefully aligned in relation to the available windows so as to minimise the number of seats with a decent view outside. This makes taking pictures from a moving train - the "drive by shooting" - difficult and the results disappointing. One of the attractive features of the early 'Modernisation' series of diesel multiple units was the window at the end of the passenger compartments allowing passengers to look through the driving compartment to the track ahead (or behind). Of course, that sort of nonsense has been stamped out. In modern diesel-powered trains, the noise and vibration from the underfloor engines is often too high for comfort, as well.

Our train continued on the former Midland Railway route. Approaching Nuneaton, you struggle to spot signs of the former Abbey Street station which I remember, with its all-wood 'Midland' signal box. From here, trains are routed to a new island platform tacked on to the Up side of the largely London and North Western station which serves the West Coast route. Originally, there was a freight avoiding line here which, I think, was sometimes used by passenger excursions.

Nuneaton: View from the new island platform looking south, with the old station on the right.

We made good time to Leicester. I'm always amazed at just how simplified the railway layout is, compared with what I remember from steam days. After a wait of a few minutes, we set off northwards, passing the very spartan-design of the Power Signal Box.

Leicester station, looking north. Click above for an uncropped picture showing the Power Signal Box on the right.

At Syston, we turned right for the Midland Railway line to Peterborough. As we made our way along the branch, I was pleased to see semaphore signals. I spotted the elderly Midland-origin mechanical signalboxes at Market Harborough and Oakham - I'm not sure what others survive.

The Midland route approaches Peterborough from the north, meeting the electrified East Coast Main Line about six miles north of the city and then running parallel to it to Peterborough station. There was quite a lot of alteration work in hand around the station. Quite a few passengers alighted or boarded here. Leaving the station, the Midland route diverged from the electrified route to Kings Cross on a falling grade before taking a broad sweep to the left and crossing the River Nene. On the right, I could see 'Railworld', a rather curious amalgam of Transport Centre and Wildlife Haven, "promoting sustainable travel and development". The trackbed of the London and North Western Railway route can be seen. This originally converged with the Midland route here. A few yards to the west I could see the Nene Valley Railway's eastern terminus (called, appropriately enough, 'Peterborough Nene Valley') which is built on that redundant trackbed. We then passed under the impressive girder bridge carrying the electrified lines and, after about a mile and a half, left the control area of Peterborough Power Box. We returned to semaphore signalling, initially controlled by a delightful mechanical signal box at Kings Dyke. We were now in Great Eastern Railway territory and the signal boxes provided a suitable reminder.

The next large town was March, about 15 miles from Peterborough, and we crossed fifteen level crossings (plus a couple of Accommodation Crossings) before arriving at March. I first visited March with my mother when I was about ten years old. She had a visit to make in the area and we travelled by train. I remember an impressive station with elaborate umbrella roofing over the platforms and a selection of unfamiliar Eastern region steam locomotives. Returning in 2013, only two platforms remain in use and the rest of the station is semi-derelict with tracks removed. I think there were originally four through platforms and a couple of bays.

March was famous for its automated hump marshalling yard at Whitemoor, built by the L.N.E.R. in 1929 and well-described in 'Mike's Railway History here.

Whitemoor Hump Yard (from a British Rail Film Strip produced in 1950).

I never saw the hump yard and it was completely removed by the mid 1980s. However, a new yard has been built, principally to serve as one of the ugly 'Virtual Quarries' now used for ballast storage.

There are still two mechanical signal boxes at March - March East Junction and March South Junction - controlling a pleasing array of mechanical signals. Beyond March, I didn't spot the boxes at Stonea and Manea but I think they survive, Manea serving as a 'Fringe Box' to the Power Box at Cambridge. Fourteen miles beyond March, the overhead electrified line from Kings Lynn joined on our left at Ely North Junction. This is remotely controlled from Cambridge, as is Ely station itself, two miles further on, where I left the train. The train then continued 'under the wires' to Cambridge and then Stansted Airport.

I had an interesting day as Ann's guest at the Degree Ceremony in Ely Cathedral. Ann and Dean are involved in the Sealed Knot as members of Sir Gilbert Hoghton's Companie of Foote and a number of members of this Royalist regiment attended in costume and posed for photographs, by arrangement, before the Degree Ceremony. This created quite a bit of interest!

Hoghton's in the Nave of Ely Cathedral.

The ceremony itself started at 2.30 p.m. and almost 300 graduates were presented to the Chancellor of the Open University, Lord Puttnam of Queensgate CBE. In the evening, a further group of graduates were to be presented at a similar ceremony.

A graduate being presented to Lord Puttnam.

Later, John, Ann, Dean and I enjoyed an excellent meal (as John's guests) at 'The Boathouse' riverside restaurant. Then, a short walk took me back to Ely station, where I had time to take a few pictures before catching the 20:15 to Birmingham. At Birmingham, I'd just time to catch a 'Virgin' Pendolino service back to Wolverhampton.

Ely station in the evening: A Class 365 for King's Lynn on the Down Main passes a freight waiting in the Down Goods Loop.

Map References

There are historic signal box diagrams for some of the route I travelled in the Signalling Record Society publications 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Wolverhampton to Birmingham is included in 'Volume 11: LNW Lines in the West Midlands' (ISBN: 1 873228 13 9).
Saltley to Nuneaton Abbey Street is included in 'Volume 16: ex-MR lines Derby (excl) to Barnt Green, Burton to Leicester (excl), and branches' (ISBN: 1 873228 22 8).


For details of the route in the 21st century, refer to:-

'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).
'Railway Track Diagrams Book 2: Eastern', Third Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-2-8).

My pictures

West Midland Railways.
Nuneaton.
Leicester area.
Ely Station.
Ely & the Degree Ceremony.