Table of contents for Vol 35 No 10 - October 2021 in Backtrack

BR MOTORAIL TRAINS FORMATIONS AND FINANCES PART TWO BY CLIVE CARTER (Gavin Morrison) Hybrid services Combination of car sleeper and car carrier vehicles produced a hybrid set. Basically, one or more corridor coaches, usually first class, replaced a similar number of sleeping cars in a car sleeper set, or vice versa in a car-carrier set. This gave two benefits. An operator gained flexibility, getting a car-carrier for day operation and a combined car sleeper/car-carrier overnight; in other words 24/7 availability. The second was that customers could be offered a choice of accommodation (and price) at night. Thus in 1969 British Rail advertised “Choice of Sleeper or reserved compartment available at attractive family rates on [three] overnight services”; the attraction of a compartment had gone by the mid-1970s, only seats (not…

THE LNER L1 2-6-4 TANKS Although the London Midland & Scottish Railway had extensively provided itself with 2-6-4 tank locomotives for shorter-distance passenger work, the London & North Eastern Railway only had a small number, inherited from the Great Central and Metropolitan Railways, until 1945 when the first of a new 2-6-4T, the L1 Class, appeared under the regime of Edward Thompson. A prototype was built at Doncaster and put through an extensive programme of trials on a wide range of duties around the LNER and then a further 99 of the class were built after nationalisation between 1948 and 1950: 29 from Darlington Works and 35 each from the North British Loco. Co. and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn’s. Used widely in the Eastern and North Eastern Regions, the potential…

Readers’ Forum Letters intended for publication should ideally add extra detail to our articles (or offer corrections of course!) and not be too long, consistent with the detail they offer. As always, we are sorry that space and time prevent us from printing them all or sending personal replies. ED. Summer Saturdays to the Coast I read with rapt interest Philip Benham’s two-part article’, in particular the second part referring to the events in the South West on Saturday 27th. July 1957. I too have been researching that day with the help of the referred-to Summer Saturdays in the West authored by David St. John Thomas and Simon Rocksborough-Smith. The beginnings of this book, according to DStJ’s introduction, originated in the late Peter Gray’s approach to David & Charles to…

TIME TRAVELS ON THE SOMERSET & DORSET The Somerset & Dorset Joint line between Bath and Bournemouth endures as one of the treasures of railway lore, beloved of enthusiasts for its leisurely local trains, heavy holiday trains and loaded freights toiling over the Mendips gradients, miles of rolling countryside and rural stations with poetic names. Its drawn-out closure in 1966 remains lamented, though an article in this magazine in 2016 took a hard-nosed look at the case for the S&D’s survival. Fortunately the Somerset & Dorset remains captured in time by the many photographers drawn to it; these are from the camera of ALAN REEVE. Notes are by Michael S. Welch.…

CRUISING BY TRAIN AND CIRCULAR TOURS BY ALISTAIR F. NISBET (A. N. B. Harris Collection/Stephenson Locomotive Society) In the nineteenth century, and indeed well into the twentieth, holidays such as we have become accustomed to taking nowadays were not something normally available to those of limited means and so it would have been a rare treat indeed to be able to indulge in even a day away from home. The advent of the railways helped to make it possible for those who were slightly better off, such as clerks and their families, to consider taking time away and advertisements began to appear in publications, including the railway companies’ own timetables, which sought to exploit the possibilities of tempting them into their trains. We have seen in a number of articles…

WIGHT SUMMERS The Isle of Wight, a holiday haunt of long standing, once had a railway system of just over 55 miles, though some of the branches fell to closures in the 1950s. The remainder lasted with pre-grouping steam locomotives and carriages until 1966 when the inevitable closures came about, apart from the section between Ryde and Shanklin which was retained and electrified to be operated with ex-London Transport Tube stock. GAVIN MORRISON was among those drawn to the island in the ’60s.…

FROM THE PENDRAGON ARCHIVES TYSON TAKES TO THE HILLS This month we delve into the ALAN TYSON Collection and follow some of his ventures up into the fell country of the West Coast Main Line around Shap and on the Settle–Carlisle line.…

AT RISK ON THE PERMANENT WAY 1890-1922 BY JEFFREY WELLS (Pendragon Collection) The author was prompted to put pen to paper on reading the sad news of the deaths of two permanent way workers near Port Talbot, South Wales (July 2019). Both men were wearing ear-defenders and did not hear the approach of the 9.29am service from Swansea to Paddington. The Daily Mail, 4th July, noted that “The tragedy comes after the Rail Accident Investigation Branch warned of ‘too many near misses in which workers have to jump clear for their lives’.” During the nineteenth century, the necessity to keep a close eye on the permanent way was essential, and deaths and serious injuries to track men were frequent. The subject is broached by Frederick Williams, author of the classic…

Back Track FROM THE MERSEY RAILWAY TO MERSEYRAIL: HOW LIVERPOOL GOT ITS MODERN METRO BY GEOFFREY SKELSEY LVO Author Today’s metro serving the Liverpool city region is centred on an underground section below the city, largely built in the 1970s. As in other similar systems this now links with older surface railways. Its progress was crucially aided by the existence of established electrified lines and in this article we shall look at the origins and development of the present network and the characteristics which led directly to ‘Merseyrail’, a branding introduced by British Rail in 1971. The previous electric lines provided a sound basis for more recent developments, and other relevant factors were local ownership and management, along with established interconnection between the different undertakings. Let’s begin with an outline…

THE FLOCKTON WAGGONWAY RICHARD LEE delves into some early industrial railway history in the West Riding of Yorkshire coalfield. (E. Raper) Introduction In the Pennine foothills between Huddersfield and Wakefield lie the substantial remains of a waggonway viaduct and Grade 2 listed colliery railway tunnel. These structures, built by the 1790s, were part of the Flockton colliery waggonway, carrying high quality coal for nearly 100 years before a lack of main line access and industrial action brought about its demise. Flockton village lies in the shadow of the modern Emley Moor transmission mast, some 600ft above sea level, between the Rivers Holme, Calder and Dearne. Flockton sits astride the Barnsley-Huddersfield road and is only a short distance from the Wakefield-Huddersfield highway and the neighbouring villages of Over Shitlington (modern Overton)…

BATTLING BEECHING IN THE HIGH PEAK PART TWO THE CAMPAIGN TO RETAIL BUXTON’S RAIL SERVICE BY STEPHEN G. ABBOTT (Author) The TUCC hearing The Transport Users Consultative Committee’s hearing into the proposed withdrawal of passenger train services between Manchester and Buxton took place on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th May 1964 at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, starting at 10.30am. The main hall used was crowded. The Buxton Advertiser & Herald gave a report on the initial proceedings in its edition on Friday 29th May, following-up with a full-page report a week later. (T. J. Edgington Collection) The meeting was chaired by Sir Patrick Hamilton, the Chairman of the TUCC, sitting with sixteen members, none of whom was local. Their report to the Minister of Transport would not be made until…