23-27 church street, ripley, derbyshire de5 3bu

Contents
Midland Railway Trust Limited
A Charitable Trust (Reg No. 502278) and non-profit making company (Reg No. 109382) whose purpose is to commemorate
the former Midland Railway, its predecessors and successors through static and working museums. Midland Railway
Enterprises PLC is a funding body controlled by the Trust. The Wyvern, free to members is the Trust’s magazine.
Vice-President:
BRIAN RADFORD, CEng, MIMechE, 21 Cobthorne Drive, Allestree, Derby. DE22 2SY
Tel: 01332 552019 Fax: 01332 552019
Chairman:
CHRIS DEETH, BSc PhD, 44 Dawson Close, Newthorpe, Nottingham. NG16 2ES
Tel: 01773 787919
Vice-Chairman:
ALEX GIBSON, BEng, CEng, MICE, MCIHT, 25 John Gold Avenue, Newark-on-Trent,
Notts. NG24 1RU Tel: 01636 700221
IAN SHARP, c/o Midland Railway - Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. DE6 3QZ
Membership Secretary:
Tel: 01773 747674
Number 140 Summer 2013
Editorial
Page 4
Headlines
Page 5
Obituary
Page 6
All Change!
Pages 6- 7
Notice Board
Page 7
From the Museum
Page 8
Traction & Rolling Stock
Pages 8- 9
Midland Road Transport Group
Pages 10 - 11
Historic Carriage and Wagon
Page 12
Narrow Lines
Pages 13 - 14
Trackside
Pages 15 - 16
News from the archives
Pages 16 - 17
AERPS Coach Restoration
Page 17
Indietracks 2013 Hailed as the Best Ever!
Pages 18 - 19
Vintage Event
Pages 20 - 21
1960’s Gala
Pages 22 - 23
A Tribute to the late David Berry
Page 24
Development Officer:
ALAN CALLADINE, 36 Elm Tree Avenue, Kilburn, Derbyshire. DE5 0NL
Tel: 01773 747674 (day) 01332 880903 (home)
Locomotive Superintendent:
ERIC RILEY, 39 Pennine Avenue, Riddings, Derbyshire. DE55 4AE Tel: 01773 603343
Operating Carriage Superintendent:
POSITION VACANT
S&T Engineering Manager
and DMU Superintendent:
ALEX GIBSON, BEng, CEng, MICE, MCIHT, 25 John Gold Avenue, Newark-on-Trent, Notts. NG24 1RU Tel: 01636 700221
Curatorial Advisor and Archivist:
DUDLEY FOWKES, MA, PhD, FSA, 11 Sidings Way, Westhouses, Alfreton,
Derbyshire. DE55 5AS Tel: 01773 546626
Photographic Officer:
JOHN EGGLESHAW, 59 Crescent Road, Selston, Nottingham. NG16 6DT
Tel: 01773 581056
Curator and Head of HC&W Department:
SIMON EVANS, BSc, MSc, 143 Ilkeston Road, Marpool, Heanor, Derbyshire. DE75 7LX
Tel: 01773 769074
Midland Diesel Group Chairman:
MICHAEL KERRY, 30 Newstead Drive, West Bridgford, Nottingham. NG2 6LG
Tel: 0115 982 0702 email: [email protected]
Dynamometer Cars
Page 25
Midland Road Transport Group:
JOHN PECK, 37 Park Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield, Nottingham NG19 8RG
Tel: 01623 629136
TERRY BROCKHOUSE, c/o Midland Railway - Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. DE6 3QZ
Gallery
Pages 26 - 27
MR-B Quiz
Page28
Mishap Exercise
Page30
Spotlight
Pages31 -32
Reflections
Page33
Bookends
Pages34 -35
Volunteer Liaison Officer:
Wyvern Editor:
Tel: 01773 747674
STUART SMITH, c/o Midland Railway - Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. DE6 3QZ
Tel: 01773 747674
Wyvern Magazine Editorial Team:
JOHN EGGLESHAW, DUDLEY FOWKES, STUART SMITH
Midland Railway Enterprises plc:
JAMES A. BRINDLEY, BSc, 22 Maple Drive, Alvaston, Derby. DE21 0FT.
Tel: 01332 751943
The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust:
P.O. Box 6233, The West Shed, Ripley. DE5 4AD. Tel: 01773 743986
Historical Model Railway Society:
TONY STRAW, 11 Gorse Close, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3NS
Study centre Tel: 01773 745959 email: [email protected]
Butterley Narrow Gauge Railway Association: PAUL SHARPE, 9 Roehampton Drive, Trowell, Nottingham. NG9 3QY
Tel: 0115 917 0570
Butterley Park Miniature Railway:
Secretary; MR M. REEVE, 42 Ordish Avenue, Chaddesden, Derby. DE21 6QF
Butterley Garden Railway Association:
NORMAN AUSTIN, 85 Locko Road, Spondon, Derby. DE21 7AP
Tel: 01332 670291
Editorial Office
Butterley Station, Ripley, Derbyshire DE5 3QZ
Tel: 01773 747674, Fax: 01773 570721
All contributions to be addressed to the
EDITORIAL OFFICE and clearly marked as such.
COPY DEADLINE FOR ISSUE 141: 31st October 2013
©Copyright Midland Railway Trust Limited and contributors 2013
Produced by Atkinson Publications Ltd., PO Box 688, Preston, Lancashire PR3 8AX
Front Cover:47401 with the freight crossing the Butterley reservoir during the 1960’s Gala. Photo: Tom Soar
Back Cover: Two volunteers on the railway, Annette Gammon and Neville Peat, pose themselves in the charactures as part of the ‘Trains to the Seaside’ event. Photo: Phil Moore
STEEL
STOCK
SERVICE
HAWS METALS LTD.
STEEL
STRUCTURAL
HARTLAND WORKS, HAYDOCK PARK ROAD.,
OSMASTON PARK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, DERBY DE2 8HW
Telephones: 01332 362836 (3 lines) Fax: 01332 294085
SHEARING 10’ x 1/2” capacity
PROFILE CUTTING
PRESS BRAKE: 13’ x 400 Ton Maximum
STUCTURAL STEELWORK
CHEMICAL PIPEWORK
PLATES AND SHEETS
ROUND, FLAT AND SQUARE BARS
R.S. JOISTS, CHANNELS
ANGLES AND TEES
COLD SAWING
WE ALSO RENT, SELL AND STORE CONTAINERS
Editorial
HEADLINES: From the Chairman
How may times have you heard that the volunteer is the
lifeblood of a charity or other similar organisation across
countless and diverse bodies across the width and breadth
of the country including the heritage railway movement.
Whenever visiting a heritage railway in particular you
are almost certainly to be faced with an appeal for more
volunteers to help run the organisation and this is likely to
become an ever greater problem in the future. At no time
since the movement began in the early 1960’s has the need for
more hands become so important not only to the day to day
running of the railway but also its long term future.
The impetus and enthusiasm that first greeted the
opportunity to own and operate your own private railway
with the beginning of the railway heritage preservation movement has
been slowly eroded through the ageing process and a seemingly lack
of interest by the vast majority of the younger population on which
the future of our movement depends. The lure of technology seems
to have a far greater appeal than getting dirty in running a heritage
railway! This situation faces all within the railway heritage movement
and it will be a very clever and resourceful person who can effectively
bring about a revolution and create the appeal for younger people to
get involved - our very future depends upon it !
The development of heritage railways came about due to a desire to
hold onto something that could have been lost forever, a considered
uniqueness or enthusiasm to a particular line or location or just a
desire to preserve something.
At one stage there were considerable swathes of the country in which
no heritage railway, however large or small, was to be seen but over
the years the country has become vested with numerous. For whatever
their reason for becoming established from the public’s perception
they must surely rank as similar as they, unlike enthusiasts, are not
particularly interested in their origins or significance as to them are
perceived as tourist attractions. Therefore it can easily be understood
that one railway looks very much like another and all basically offering
the same facilities and services. The Midland Railway-Butterley is
fortunate in the diversity and range of activities other than a ‘ride on
the train’ and this must be built upon on for our future wellbeing and
prosperity.
At the recent Trust AGM I may have appeared
to have a serious ‘downer’ on the activities of
the Trust. This is, in part, correct. There is now
a very small core number of people (some
have referred to this as a clique but I would
seriously deny this) who are prepared to run
the operation of the Trust. Please note I say
the operation of the Trust, NOT the operation
of the railway. In the early days of the Trust’s
development activities were largely centred
on Butterley Station. This has not be the
case for quite some time. In the case of Day
Managers, nearly all of those performing this
role are either from those early days, or started
volunteering at the Butterley end of the line,
or are now paid staff. Significantly for the
operation of the Trust, there is virtually zero
practical support coming from what is now the
vast bulk of the active membership and groups
who are based at Swanwick Junction.
It is too easy to just turn up to enjoy your
hobby (and I am assuming you do enjoy your
hobby) and turn the lights and the kettle on, or
fuel up and go, without ever thinking of where
the funds come from to enable this to happen. I
said at the AGM that Butterley and Swanwick
Junction are on two different planets and I
meant it.
Another area that as a whole the Trust and it
wider membership have not come to realise or
get to grips with is the practical tasks that used
to be performed by people from the various
training schemes that used to operate across
the whole operation. These schemes just do not
exist any more and yet as we build more and
more and what is there gets older and older
the maintenance tasks increase. This has been
particularly obvious this year when you look at
the state of the vegetation (OK I mean weeds).
I appeal to members and groups alike to take
a look at their immediate environment and do
something to improve its appearance. If you
don’t, then it is unlikely anyone else will. By
the way, I will grant the GVLR an honourable
exception to the majority of my comments
above as they continue to provide significant
support for activities across Swanwick
Junction. Thanks guys and girls.
Enough of the downside navel gazing!
Coming to the end of summer running and
major events we have seen further significant
progress. The ‘seaside’ beach has been a
marvellous hit with our visitors, and whilst we
haven’t conducted a true visitor survey, there
is strong support for the view that this has
increased our numbers over the summer. The
two major events of Indietracks and Midland
RailEx have continued the success story
with the latter having benefited greatly from
the opening of the footbridge at Swanwick
Junction Station. I would like to express my
gratitude to the organisers of these two events,
who largely come from outside the core body
of those trying to keep the lights on. This just
goes to prove what can be achieved when more
people get ‘stuck in’.
Obituary
All Change! (continued)
JULIE VALLANCE
AN APPRECIATION
Julie came to the railway as part of the ‘Open loved a good laugh and never failed to bring a
Door Scheme’ which was based at Butterley. smile to your face.
Along with several friends she started
We always knew that Julie was happy in her
working in Johnsons Buffet washing pots and work, with her querky little habits like rubbing
clearing tables during the week. When the her hands together and every morning on
scheme finished Julie continued working as arrival at the buffet she would ask the ladies
a volunteer and became a dedicated member what they had been thinking of her. Julie
of the catering team working nearly every was very sociable and loved nothing more
weekend and bank holiday.
than a visit to Ripley fair or out for lunch or
Julie soon won the hearts of all the working afternoon tea with the buffet ladies. She also
members enjoying a joke and being teased liked to dress up as a Victorian or Edwardian
by the buffet ladies hiding her lunch box and lady on special weekends. Julie was a much
if we forgot should would remind us! The loved friend and will be sadly missed.
Guards pretending she could not board the
In Julie’s words “I am your number one girl and
train as she had not got a ticket or that we run what would you do without me” Yes - she was
out of her favourite drink – hot chocolate. She our number one girl.
This tribute to Julie was prepared by Audrey Siggins
All Change!
Progress towards our bid to the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF) for the ‘All Change!’
Project has been largely dependent on other
bodies since the last update in the Wyvern.
During this period we have entertained
Anthony Coulls from the National Railway
Museum (NRM) and latterly our contact at the
HLF East Midlands office, Lesley Owen-Jones.
Also, in the meantime, we have met with Derby
Museums Trust (DMT), who have taken over
the Derby City Council administration of the
items we have on loan. All of these meetings
have been extremely encouraging and the
outcome is now our intention to submit a
formal bid in the spring/summer period of
2014.
Considerable work with HMRS has enabled
us to identify the best potential solution to the
sharing of facilities in the new build extension
to the Matthew Kirtley Building (MKB) for
archives, quarantined acquisition space,
researcher reading room(s), digitising and
reprographic facilities and, most importantly,
toilets and education/seminar room(s). One
aspect that is becoming clear is the need to
coordinate the activities of ourselves, HMRS,
NRM, DMT and the Midland Railway Society
in the storage and cataloguing of the archive
material to make the best use of resources and
access. Lesley Owen-Jones could clearly see
that we have been able to organise and monitor
our archive successfully but that the physical
conditions under which it is kept are far from
ideal or appropriate. Similar factors also apply
the HMRS where the volume of material is
much greater.
As we have found many times over the years,
outside observers often fail to appreciate just
what sort of beast we are. Clearly we are not
solely a railway and neither are we just a
railway museum. This issue also applies to
HMRS in that having the word ‘Model’ in their
title can lead to the wrong impression and fails
to convey the amount of information, research
and publication that they perform. Both
bodies, therefore, have to succinctly convey
their unique nature to the HLF panel that will
judge the bid application.
The need to provide major improvements in
the facilities we have available has now been
recognised. Therefore, a crucial next step is
to produce an outline design that covers our
requirements. The HLF now also recognise
that a joint bid with HMRS is a win-win for
both bodies and increases the HLF view of
value for money in the project overall. We can
then proceed to firm up our capital costs for
the project. This is particularly important as
there is a break point at the £2m in the decision
making process used by HLF. Interestingly,
staying just under this mark is not seen as
being particularly appropriate.
So far there has been a positive response to
the ideas of completing the surfacing from
Swanwick Junction Station to the existing road
and the stretch from the bottom of the hill at
Johnson’s Buffet, alongside the Fork Truck
Gallery and along the south side of the MKB.
Completion of the forecourt to the MKB also
comes into this plan. Environmental aspects of
the project such as rainwater recovery, drainage
and photo-voltaic electricity generation have
also been encouraged.
One area that remains to be discussed in detail
is the provision of a secure ‘steaming bay’.
A number of options have been suggested,
some of which require demolition and resiting of existing facilities, like the compressor
house and bolt store. The provision of suitable
viewing facilities that fully address the
disability provision requirements also remain
to be tackled.
We have so far been restricted on developing
our ideas for the increase in education activities
due to the governments decision to radically
overhaul the National Curriculum. The
changes to the History curriculum in particular
are very significant to us, especially at the age
range that we find most school visits are based
on. Preliminary details have only just been
released and are yet to be confirmed, however,
there appears to be sufficient information for us
to start to create a sustainable education project
within ‘All Change!’ This will be absolutely
vital to the success of the bid.
Not only do we have to get our plans for ‘All
Change!’ in order but we also have to address
the ideas that we have for the future. Simply
this starts with where do we move up to 11
containers that are currently sitting in the
spaces that the project is expecting to use.
It extends to how do we see projects like the
extension(s) to the Diesel Depot, the street
scenes, the turntable, a possible Midland style
Goods Shed, undercover carriage storage and
any developments to the GVLR. A successful
conclusion to ‘All Change!’ can easily lead to
one or more of these ideas advancing in the
foreseeable future.
I would hope to report in more detail our
progress in the next Wyvern when firmer plans
will be available for comment.
Notice Board
The AGM of the Midland Railway Trust took place in St Saviour’s Church at Swanwick Junction
on Friday 19th July. Approximately 30 members attended the meeting and the general business
was undertaken with only the following changes:
•Jim Brindley has stepped down as Vice Chairman after many years of dedicated service to the
post. The Board has elected Alex Gibson to be the new Vice Chairman
•Richard Ward was formally elected as a Director having been co-opted onto the board earlier
this year.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO STEAM?
This project is devoted to the re-examination
of “What really happened to steam?” and for
many years authors and magazine writers
have unwittingly perpetuated errors with the
regard to the withdrawal and scrapping of
many BR steam locomotives and now a major
project spearheaded by Roger Butcher has been
launched to set the record straight. This project
has the support of the Railway Magazine and
a special project team of individuals assisting
with the research. Much work has been done
but one area lacking on detailed records relates
to the former Midland Railway.
The Wyvem is therefore assisting the project
team by giving some publicity to the project and
an appeal for anyone who has any information
or records of the steam locomotives that were
scrapped at Derby Locomotive Works. Such
information would be an invaluable aid to the
research and complete a notable gap and in the
first instance should be sent to your editor at
Butterley.
From the Museum
Since our last report we have been able to
undertake a number of maintenance tasks
within the Museum and also put on two
displays/activities. The major presentation
was over the weekend of the 1st and 2nd June
when, in conjunction with PRCLT, the focus
was again on the Royal Coaches to celebrate the
60th Anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.
This year Royals on Rails took a slightly wider
view of royal travel by rail and 45000 remained
in the West Shed for the event. A big thanks to
those who loaned items from the Coronation
itself, as they added new talking points to
the displays and the tours of the coaches
themselves. Starting in early August a display
based around the TPO to acknowledge the 50th
anniversary of the Great Train Robbery has
also been a popular feature.
All of the above came after a major spring
clean of the building and exhibits. It is now
clear that not only do we have a dust issue,
largely from dirt dragged in on feet, but there
is a constant rain of rust from the rafters. All
of these issue are to be addressed as part of
the All Change! project discussed elsewhere in
Traction & Rolling Stock (continued)
this issue. Further items were recovered from
the former Allport’s Emporium and some put
into store whilst other items, including useable
display cases, have been cleaned up and placed
on display. This has involved additional work
in the stores to accommodate the surplus
material.
We have been fortunate to host the Talyllyn
Railway’s No. 3 “Sir Haydn” 0-4-2ST
locomotive on it’s national tour. It does make
a very interesting comparison against the
normal standard gauge stock and attracts much
attention and admiration from our visitors.
Technical tweaks have seen the CCTV system
return to full operating condition, the lighting
in the Cl 250 cab restored and the touch screen
information system renewed together with an
extended presentation that now includes the
details from the on-line stock book. Conditions
in the building preclude much further work
and the problems with water ingress make
the development of other displays and
presentations unlikely as they would only be
at risk from the conditions.
Traction & Rolling Stock
Steam Locomotive Report
Caprotti 73129 has returned to traffic after
receiving a new set of superheater tubes and a
nice shiny coat of varnish. This has enabled the
Midland Diesel Group
The September Diesel event saw the return to
traffic of 45108 after a considerable time out
of use due to long term repair and overhaul.
The locomotive was last in service way back in
1997 and time is perhaps right to reflect on the
locomotives history.
45108 was originally numbered D120 and
entered traffic in September 1961. The
locomotive was associated with the Midland
main line for virtually all of its life and later the
locomotive was fitted with electric train heating
Jinty to be taken out of service for a brake valve
overhaul. Class 7F 13809 has had the wheels
re-united with the frames.
(ETH) and re-numbered 45108 emerging
from Derby works in June 1973. In July 1987
the locomotive sustained a derailment at
Cricklewood and was sent to Stratford for
evaluation but resulting from the withdrawal
of the class as a whole the repair was not
sanctioned and 45108 was withdrawn in 1987.
Its return to traffic in September this year
was much welcomed and worked alongside
stablemates 08590, D8001, 20048, 31290, 45133
and 474501.
Midland Diesel Group Fleet Update
D8001 Unserviceable – bodywork and wiring
work at an advanced stage.
D8048 Serviceable.
20205 Stored Unserviceable.
20227 Serviceable at Ruislip Depot(LUL).
31108 Serviceable at Nene Valley Railway.
31162 Serviceable at Great Central Railway (N).
31418 Awaiting return to Diesel Shed after
Railex, currently in C Bay.
37190 Heat exchanger repairs and repaint,
expected to run at the September Gala.
40012 Bogie repairs at Barrow Hill.
D4 Unserviceable, investigation into worn
synchronizing gears.
45041 Serviceable at Great Central Railway.
45108 Unserviceable, repairs to allow it to enter
service.
D182 Unserviceable – body work repairs
continue.
47401 Serviceable, running on 4 motors still
(awaiting replacement arc-chutes to get the
new motor into use).
47417 Unserviceable, restoration continues.
50007 Needs fresh batteries and a repaint
MR-B loco fleet
08590 No report.
12077 No report.
25321 replacement compression fitted (removed
from 47761) and repainted green.
Class 02 Unserviceable (No technical report).
Class 03 Unserviceable.
Barclay 441 Quill shaft removed, clutch to
come off next.
Ruston 0-4-0 DE Body work repairs largely
complete, awaiting return to Diesel Shed.
Railcar Groups
Class 100 Contract bodywork repairs are
planned.
Class 108 No progress since last report.
Class 114
50019; Cab dome refitted. Slow progress
56006; Available for traffic if required.
Class 114/1 Stored awaiting repairs.
Class 127 Available for traffic. The unit didn’t
really get the rest hoped for in the spring, and
by the end of the summer will have operated
on 53 days since the start of 2013 - an average
of once every 4.5 days! One engine on 51591
shut down in service during June and further
investigations are required to establish how
serious the damage is.
Derby Lightweight No progress since last
report though plans are being made to progress
the work to the trailer car.
Class 141 Available for traffic.
Hawksworth Auto Trailer Number W233W
The Hawksworth designed auto trailer Number W233W which has been stored at Swanwick
Junction has been sold by the current owners the 7F Preservation Group to Locomotive 5542
Limited and will be moving to its new home on the South Devon Railway, a very appropriate
GWR location for its restoration and eventual use.
The coach was latterly in use by the BR Research department at Derby before being sold to the
owning group of S&DJR 13809. The coach was modified under BR ownership by the fitment of
dual brakes, Oleo buffers and B4 bogies but many of the original features still remain.
Locomotive moves
The class 40 D212 has recently left the railway and moved by rail to Barrow Hill Roundhouse
where the locomotive will receive attention to cracked frames.The future of the locomotive after
the remedial work has been done is not yet known.
Another recent diesel move was 45133 which paid a brief visit to the North Norfolk Railway but
has since returned.
Midland Road Transport Group
On Site
After last year’s success our road rally this
year was again developed into a 1960s themed
weekend. The sun shone on us. Last year
our vehicle attendance was higher as, due to
the prevalent wet weather, we were the only
rally on dry land. This year we had a total of
74 guest vehicles attending, in addition to our
resident collection.
They comprised :• Motor bikes 8
• Motor cars pre 1950
14
• Motor cars post 1950 38
• Single deck buses
1
• Commercial vehicles 13
Midland Road Transport Group (continued)
Our own collection provided double deck
buses and a steam roller, giving a good variety
for people to look at. It would be relatively easy
to increase the number of entrants, but we feel
what we have is manageable with the staff and
space available, while still putting on a good
show. There is a core of people who attend
regularly together with fresh people each year.
This gives us stability plus a changing and
attractive display,
The grass area was dry and available for park
and picnic. Such was the day that we were
concerned that a larger than usual proportion
were happy where they were and in no hurry
to go home.
Help comes in
different ways!
1892 Aveling &
Porter steam roller
1946 Leyland
Interim
Beaver flat
bed lorry
1959 Ford Anglia police car
Off site
Steady drizzle in early March did not
dampen the spirits of the passengers
on two bus excursions from Willersley
Castle. The forecast had predicted
steady rain.
The castle / house was home to the
Arkwright family from 1792 until 1922.
During the war it was converted into
a maternity hospital when the one in
London was bombed. The mothers to be
were evacuated to Derbyshire, some by
bus. It was therefore considered fitting
that a period bus ride would form one
novelty activity as part of a reunion
weekend held there for some of the
people who were born in a castle. We
provided the 1949 ex Midland General A
E C Regal which worked the local route.
The two round trips from Cromford to Matlock
and back in the period bus were well enjoyed
by the guests.
Several cups of excellent warming coffee were
equally enjoyed by the crew.
Such was the success that later in the year, and
in better weather, an excursion to the Midland
Railway was included in the itinerary for
their guests, with around site transport being
provided by one of our buses.
On Sunday 26th May Trentbarton held an open
day at their Langley Mill depot to celebrate the
100th anniversary of the formation of their
company. They gathered together many of
the preserved vehicles from their derivative
companies, such as Trent, Barton and Midland
General. We were represented by the recently
restored 1974 Bristol VR series 2 ex Midland
General no. 780, 1975 Bristol VR series 3 ex
Midland General no 801 and 1949 A E C Regal
3 ex Midland General 175. Simon Robertson
courageously operated on the voluntary
service into Nottingham with 1972 Bristol
VR series 2 ex Trent no. 767. Here he had the
challenge of getting a 2013 over width en suite
baby buggy onto a normal width 1972 bus.
In June the 1936 Brough Superior car of Peter
Keating made a rare excursion on the public
highway. He took it on a run to Belper Steam
rally. It has an eight cylinder petrol engine in
excess of four litres capacity which potentially
accelerates from 0 to 60 m p h in 10 seconds. The
long wheelbase tourer style puts constraints on
Willersley Castle guests plus manager and
conductress
the turning circle. Peter’s technical assessment
of the performance characteristics is “animal”
Our two matched right and left hand A E C
regal 3 buses, ex Midland General and Carris
Lisbon travelled together to the Peak Park bus
rally organized by the Cheserfield group who
share accommodation with us.
Press coverage showed that the novelty was
appreciated. Together with the red Bristol VR
of Richard Waterhouse the home run through
Matlock Bath with five different coloured
buses visibly amused the tourists. One person
at a bus stop looked at his watch and shouted
“You’re five years late”.
Meanwhile back at Swanwick Junction
restoration work progresses. The engine on
the Foden lorry was successfully fired up and
runs cleanly. New shaft couplings have been
fitted to the engine on the ex Mansfield District
double decker and that is also in running order.
Events
A forthcoming event is the Limestone Run
which is a day excursion around Derbyshire for
the owners of preserved lorries. They terminate
at Swanwick Junction for afternoon tea before
dispersing for home. This is in late afternoon
on Sunday 29th September. The weather at this
time of year is unpredictable. There has been
sunshine and at least one absolute deluge,
resulting in a sensible exodus for home.
Operations
Historic Carriage and Wagon
We have managed to keep up progress
despite the cold Easter and Spring.
LMS Stove R No. 2884 (built Wolverton 1932)
continues to have the underframe scratched
over with wire brushes and extra coats of rust
treatment applied. This has to be done before
the weather gets too cold as the treatment
stops working at low temperatures and
damp conditions. This will then be painted
ready for re-wheeling over the winter period.
Some work is still required on the axleguards
(sometimes called ‘W’ irons, that locate the
axleboxes) as these have been removed for
cleaning and painting separately. Also, there
is plenty to do on the axleboxes themselves
to get them fit for painting and reassembling;
these can wait till the colder weather in the
autumn and winter.
The vacuum brake valve removed in
the winter has had its body stripped and
shotblasted to remove 80 years of old paint.
This and the replacement vacuum pipes to the
brake standard will be finished in the (heated)
workshop and re-fitted in the colder weather.
Some of the cast iron axlebox covers have bits
broken off and we don’t have many spares of
this type so it is intended to repair them by
attaching new material with special brazing
rods designed for the purpose. This worked
successfully on the vacuum cylinder of No. 78
in the vintage set that lost one of the tabs used
to bolt it together.
LMS open third No. 16553 (built Derby
1925) is looking more complete as the
one saloon with the panel repairs coming
towards a conclusion. To summarise, all the
lower panels below the windows have been
made new from recovered mahogany, plus
the few usable parts of the originals. Of the
upper panels, these have required variously
complete replacement, repairs to missing or
broken parts or adjusting to fit. There seem
to be panels from several different coaches
fitted at random! Once all the panels have
been repaired, remade and fitted properly in
to place, we can think about varnishing them.
United Dairies milk tank 44018 is currently
being rubbed down and filled ready for
painting. As much mechanical repair work
as is necessary has now been carried out and
Operations
the vehicle is reassembled to running order
(excluding the buffer heads to save space).
Once painted, the tank will need re-lettering
and the map repainting on it.
Midland Party Saloon 1260 of 1890 has
received a lot of work to the interior. The
calico linings to the ceilings have been stapled
in (with stainless staples) and painted to make
them go tight. This is the same as was done in
MR 253 in the vintage set way back in 1989/90.
The beadings that finish them off have been
filled and primed ready. Also, the interior
of the luggage compartment has been filled,
primed and painted into undercoat ready for
graining. The lower interior boards on the
main saloon doors have also been prepared
for graining, but the rest of the interior has a
satin paint finish that needs to be applied.
Moving to the outside, the roof has been
cleared, sanded filled and primed ready
for canvas to be applied, hopefully in mid
September. The outer edges of the roof
boards had warped upwards, so the roof
looked like a pagoda! These were cut off and
replaced with new material, and fixed to
prevent a re-occurrence. We have installed
the extra rubbers and discs in the secondary
suspension, so the coach is now sitting at the
correct height.
The current job involves rubbing down the
outside panelling and beading and applying
primer coats and several coats of brush-filling.
The brush-filling goes on thickly and fills any
small imperfections in the surface, and flats
down easily to a smooth velvety surface. Any
larger blemishes have to be filled with filler.
The work plan for the next few weeks/
months is to complete painting the Stove R
underframe so it can be re-wheeled, paint
the milk tank, and canvas the roof of Saloon
1260. That said, as I write, the next priority is
getting the vintage set ready for August bank
holiday. It takes a lot of time to clean the train
inside and out, plus oiling it up and carrying
out a fitness to run examination.
Narrow Lines
The track gang has now completed the
work on the Newlands deviation. The PW
supervisor is now having another look at
installing the Berry Hill foot-bridge. There was
an initial installation assessment carried out on
the foot-bridge, but it was temporarily shelved
when overtaken by the Newlands deviation
and point replacement. In the meantime
work has been carried out on getting more
sleepers treated in creosote and a review and
re-stacking of rail stocks, which has included
some scrub clearance to get at them. A short
spell between the snow showers has allowed
the track gang to carry on with some hedging
before the bird nesting season starts. During
the early spring Simon Waller has been busy
constructing a small, but full sized diorama
built round a wagon turntable. Hopefully
this will turn into a little demonstration piece
using a small colliery tub, (Ex Pentrich). This
type of set-up was well used in local adit coal
mining, especially by the colliers Hartshornes’
of Crich. Hartshornes’ had a succession of adit
mines in the Amber Valley, at Furnace Hill,
Shrewsbury Cottage, Wingfield Manor and
Stretton. Furnace Hill was the first of their
ventures and the company took the name of
‘Furnace Hill Collieries’. All the mines used
narrow gauge tracks and tubs to haul the coal
from the coal face, and then to process the coal,
and I can honestly say that a young boy found
them completely fascinating. Hartshornes
used electrically operated cable winches to
and from the adits and manual labour on the
tipplers. Time wise this would have been in
the 1940’s/50’s. The last one I can remember
was near Pentrich, in the corner of the field
between the B6013 and Riley Lane. Coal was
transported from their sites to customers in
small Bedford 5 ton tippers.
In the workshop all the passenger vehicles
have been checked out over the pit and any
necessary adjustments made. Campbells’ has
also received its winter service, but the 40 horse
Simplex is currently awaiting a replacement
starter motor, or as may well be the eventual
case, repairs to the existing one by a specialist
repairer. Since writing this the motor has been
sorted and the loco is back in the operating
stud.
Work is proceeding well on the O&K. The
frames are being cleaned up and all the
appendages removed. The well-tanks look in
quite reasonable condition, much easier to see
when the frames are upside-down! One pair of
wheel treads and flanges have been skimmed,
but the other pair has a slight wobble. Ed has
tried to improve the concentricity with a dose
of pressing, but although initially successful
the deformity later returned. So, I think Ed is
contemplating turning up new axles. This will
mean pressing the wheels off the old axles
and pressing them back on the new axles.
Whilst that is a relatively simple operation,
just some heavy press work, a complication is
the necessity to make sure the crank pins are
quartered at 90˚ on re-fitting, otherwise the
coupling rods will bind. This press work will
most likely go to an outside contract. Since
the superstructure has been dismantled, (cab,
bunkers etc.), Pat has taken this in hand, and
is giving it all a good wire-brushing/grinding,
followed by Red Oxide paint and undercoat.
The couplers are also being investigated, as to
match existing GVLR stock they will need to be
Allen colliery couplers. Ed has been working
on some drag boxes for the same. Axle-boxes
and springs are also receiving some TLC.
Brakes have also reared their heads. These
need to be air operated to match the existing
GVLR system.
As mentioned in the last report on the Ashover
carriage, the cold weather has held up seat
work and painting work on the body. However
as sufficient seat fittings were available for
the small saloon they were trial fitted and
look OK. This means that the central partition
and its sliding door now need bringing up to
a state of readiness. The door handles have
required some special fittings making up and
they have been trial fitted. There was also
some form of latch which retained the door
in its’ closed position. This is unfortunately
missing, (the bowling club hung the door on
hinges). So it has been necessary to design and
manufacture a replacement, and this has now
been fabricated in brass. A test fit of this and
the floor rail have proved satisfactory. I am sure
that the door was fitted originally with a piece
of glass. Bearing in mind the current health and
Operations
Narrow Lines (continued)
safety strictures, I think the replacement will be
upgraded to a piece of Lexan, (polycarbonate
plastic). With the slight increase in temperature
it has been possible to continue with the seat
varnishing. Work has also commenced on
fixing the varnished ply panels into their
frames. This is quite a slow job as we only have
enough clamps to do one at a time, and it really
takes around five days to set properly. I am
then finally fixing with pins.
The roof covering has eventually come down
on the side of canvas. After all, the original
vehicles were canvas covered and spent the
whole of their working life in this condition,
so in that respect its suitability was proved,
even with the use of steam locomotives.
Dennis is currently investigating suppliers of
this commodity. He has also been fitting the
entrance footboards.
Trackside
Swanwick Junction Footbridge
When the weather took up at the end of May,
I had a walk down the track to have a look at
preparations for the footbridge. The Track Gang
have dug out the pits for the foundations and
the PW supervisor has ordered the necessary
reinforcing bar for this. Work is under way to
prefabricate the re-bar assemblies ready for
transporting to site. I can feel a cement mixer
coming on! Fortunately we had a mixer when
we were constructing the new Running Shed
and it is still with us. It has been put back into
running order and the first mixings for the
initial foundations have been satisfactorily
prepared and laid. Shuttering is currently
being prepared for the built up sections. Whilst
walking down there I noticed that Simon’s
diorama is progressing very well and he is now
looking at providing a false adit opening.
The Butterley Park Miniature Railway
Photo: Chris Deeth
After many years of the footbridge saga at Swanwick Junction which following its acquisition
from Belle Vue some years ago the structure was finished just in time for the Midland Railex event
over the weekend of 17/18 August. All that is now needed to formally complete it to paint it
black. The credit for the sterling work is attributed to Eddie Foden, Dave Hallam, Richard Smith,
Kevin Adams, Chris & Anne Deeth and Malcolm Butler to whom we express our sincere thanks.
The next major structure to be completed is the former Loughborough footbridge at Butterley
station. The completion of the bridge at Swanwick Junction provides for a new vista over the
surrounding countryside and new photograpic opportunities.
Signal and Telegraph
The Butterley Park Miniature Railway plays
host to a Midland Railway designed class
2P in blue. Photos: John Eggleshaw
The period from March to July has been a busy
one for the department. Routine maintenance,
of both high and low frequencies, has
been interspersed with renewals and fault
resolution.
Routine work has included the visible oiling
and greasing of equipment, but also cleaning
and lubrication of the frames and electrical
contacts. Thanks to a generous donation from
the big railway renewals have included the
main 12v box battery at Butterley and the 36v
motor points battery at Swanwick Junction.
Annoyingly following battery renewal we have
been faced with occasional, and seemingly
inexplicable, points failures, eventually
tracked down to a poor connection between
cells, which was able to carry charging current
but was intermittent when carrying operating
currents.
Other renewals have included the arm of no
5 signal at Butterley (signal into the North
platform in the Up direction), and yet more
replacement of treads on the steps leading
into Butterley GF. On the building side the
work to lineside buildings has continued
with manufacturing of new glazing bars
and replacement of glass in the hut next to
Swanwick Junction box and preservative
treatment of bare timbers. Of course, as soon
as we had replaced the roof felt, the wind
decided to blow, and some of this work has to
be repeated.
Fault resolution has included a couple of
telephones, the track circuit between Butterley
and Swanwick Junction, and occasional
tablet instrument issues. We are still suffering
Trackside
Signal and Telegraph (continued)
following the theft of the lineside cable
between Butterley and Swanwick Junction
some 18 months or so ago, and will shortly
have to bite the bullet and buy and lay almost
1000m of new cable. Even allowing for using
budget telecomms cable instead of ‘proper’
lineside cable the costs before any labour will
exceed £3k, and 1000m is a lot of trench to dig.
We have also contributed new display boards
in the demonstration signal box, and boards
giving the history of both Butterley Ground
Frame and Swanwick Junction signal box, all
of which adds to the visitor experience.
There is, of course, a list longer than your
arm of work that needs to be done, and within
the last few weeks the department was asked
whether departures & arrivals from Swanwick
Junction platform 4 to the Ironville section
were yet possible. The answer was “no” but
the completion of this project is on the list, and
the more people we have in the department
the sooner it will be done. We have work
days every other Saturday, and at other times
to do specific tasks, so please either contact
us beforehand or collar us when you see us
around, and regardless of current skills or
knowledge a job can be found for you!
diagrams of MR wagons of special construction
emanating from Derby Carriage and Wagon
Works in 1898 [RPYMR 2013/4].
Finally, whilst all this basic cataloguing work
on new material has been in progress, David
Mellors has continued producing his index of
items of Midland Railway and predeccessor
companies interest in the early editions of
Herepath, Railway News and Railway Gazette.
This excellent series of early railway periodicals
forms part of the former Derby Railway
Institute Library. Ed Mollon, meanwhile, has
completed his cataloguing of the Frank Ashley
photograph albums and this information has
been incorporated into the master index of
the Ashley Collection. He has now turned his
attention to indexing the photograph album of
the late Frank Allen [RPYMR 2012/5] which
largely features named express passenger
locomotives in the later years of BR steam.
Needless to say, the lack of space both for
new accessions and accommodating users,
remains the big issue and we can only hope
that the current initiative to produce a purpose
built archive facility succeeds before we
find ourselves unable to get into any of our
storage areas. They are seriously overloaded
and simple movement around them becomes
increasingly difficult.
Dudley Fowkes
AERPS Coach Restoration
News from the archives
Apart from major accruals of material from
the late Alan Rimmer and the family of Pat
Larkam which are too extensive to have been
processed as yet, most of the recent accessions
have been single items or small collections of
Midland Railway interest.
Apart from cataloguing these items, much
of the work that has been carried out has
been on a significant addition to the archive
of John Gardner of Totley [RPYMR 2012/10]
which basically updates the earlier accession
of his photographs. John had a relatively small
number of favoured lineside locations, Dore
& Totley, Peak Forest, Barnetby, Knottingley,
Barrow Hill, Doncaster and York stations
amongst them, and many of the photographs
feature freight trains at these locations in the
days of Main Line, Load Haul and Transrail
in the 1990s. The movement of limestone
from Tunstead to the Yorkshire and Trent
Valley power stations using National Power’s
dedicated Class 59 fleet was a subject of
particular interest to John. The collection also
covers the early days of EWS with photographs
from the same range of locations up to early
2000.
Among the specific items of Midland interest
is the small photographic collection of Stanley
Crisp of Aldridge [RPYMR 2012/14]. It includes
photographs of most of the standard Midland
Railway types mainly in LMSR days but with
the occasional earlier photo such as 2-2-2
No.35 at Market Bosworth in the 1880s. Also
News from the archives (continued)
featured are a number of the excellent Raphael
Tuck ‘Oilette’ series of postcards featuring
railway subjects such as a Midland Railway
4-4-0 Compound on a Manchester express near
Bakewell in about 1930. Although outside our
normal scope of collecting, a systematic set of
views along the line of the Southwold Railway
in Suffolk between about 1900 and 1929 is of
more than passing interest.
We continue to receive photographs of our
own site in its formative years that bring
home to our newer members the sort of
desolate ‘moonscape’ we inherited when
we first took over the Swanwick site in the
1970s. An anonymous donation [RPYMR
2013/1] contains some particularly evocative
aerial views from this era that very much
complement our existing material particularly
the two contemporary very atmospheric oil
paintings. Among the more offbeat items in the
collection is a photograph of ‘Ossie the Owl’ at
Butterley in December 1981.
Individual items of MR origin we have
received include a way bill for Nottingham to
Hereford, 7th September 1867 [RPYMR 2013/3]
which supplements the considerable amount
of ephemera of this type that was recovered
from Mansfield Station before its closure. This
item was donated by Don Sharpe of Suttonin-Ashfield. Of the same period is a MR share
certificate of 21st February 1868, the subscriber
being James Alexander of Doncaster. The
MR items are completed by photocopies of
We are pleased to report that the partial/external restoration of MSJ&A carriage 117 (M29670M)
being undertaken by Midland Railway-Butterley has commenced.
Our carriage was propelled by diesel shunter from the Matthew Kirtley seven road Museum
Building at Swanwick Junction down to the Carriage Workshop adjacent to Butterley Station.
Phase 1 will consist of replacement of the carriage roof cladding and preparation for painting,
preparation of the carriage end panelling and fittings for painting, and replacement of the running
boards and painting including the visible underframe.
The first part of Phase 1 is under way and MR-B are busy drilling the roof sheets which is a major
task on its own and preparing them for fitting. Consideration is being given as to whether we
wish to have reinstated the vacuum brake piping and we are awaiting the cost of doing so from
MR-B. This was installed by the late David Walton and Jonathan Rowse back in 1980 when both
our carriages were at the then named Yorkshire Dales Railway.
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Indietracks 2013 Hailed as the Best Ever!
Indietracks saw an increased number of festival goers and an accompanying increase in takings. The atmosphere
was convivial as ever with everyone appearing to have been delighted by the music they heard. Yet again the
on train sets were played to packed houses – just how many can you squeeze into a BG? Is there some sort of
world record we can claim?
The good weather helped of course an even the tremendous thunder storm on Saturday night didn’t seem to
dampen the spirits too much. Sadly it did force the closure of the main stage and the headliners had to be moved
to the indoor stage, but with the conversion of some of our own staff into roadies, this was achieved with the
minimum of fuss. Ed Foden has observed that every time the headliners have the word ‘Camera’ in their name we
have had to close the main stage (last time was 2 years ago following a generator failure), so he has suggested
a ban on such acts in future!
By Sunday morning all was calm again and by the evening, as the inevitable dash for more supplies of alcohol
was underway, some of the Indietrackers gathered on the beach for a singalong, exercising great care not to
damage the sandcastle that had been built earlier in the day. But what do we expect? That’s just the sort of
people they are. As one of the stage crew put it, he’s never been to a festival where drunk festival goers bend
down to pick up litter and put it in a bin!
Photos: Chris Deeth & Eddie Draper
Vintage Event
Whitehead with short freight
departs Swanwick Junction
for Riddings.
Photo: Eugine Wheelwright
SDJR No.23 departs
Swanwick Junction.
Photo: Eugine Wheelwright
Whitehead and SDJJR No.23 stand
on Swanwick Junction shed.
Photo: Eugine Wheelwright
1960’s Gala
Class 25 No. D7671
stands at Butterley
during test running.
Photo: Tom Soar
Class 47 47401 with a short
freight takes its turn to
cross Butterley reservoir.
Photo: Tom Soar
D182 stands
inside the Matthew
Kirtley Museum building
in undercoat
Photo: Tom Soar
46233 and train viewed
crossing Butterley
reservoir.
Photo: Tom Soar
A Tribute to the late David Berry
As a valued member of the Project Group formed
in December, 1969 to assist Arthur Thorpe, then
Curator of Derby Museum, with his Midland
Railway Project, David was not only a valued
member but also one of the core of volunteers
who went out on various working parties which
included not only work on the main site at
Butterley but also recovering items of trackwork,
signal boxes and signaling equipment and other
such items from a large variety of locations in the
region.
From 30th June, 1973, when the original
Project Group became the Midland Railway
Company which took over control of project
itself, volunteers like David had to take on
even more aspects of the work involved. The
photograph shows David at Pwllheli, complete
with his regular engine driver’s hat, posing at the
centre of the first working party group on 22nd
February, 1975 at that Butlin’s camp after a loan
agreement with that company for Stanier 4-6-2
No. 6203 ‘Princess Margaret Rose.’ This was a
huge challenge that required temporary rails to
be laid through the camp and a 180 degree turn
to enable the locomotive to travel engine first on
its own wheels all the way to Derby Carriage
Works – a major and most memorable task
indeed undertaken on 11th/12th May.
Another change from 1st January, 1977 saw the
M.R.Co. become the Midland Railway Trust Ltd.
Robert ‘Bob’ Clegg initially took on the role of
Secretary, but in 1980 it was David who offered
to take over that onerous role from Bob, the latter
becoming Editor of ‘The Wyvern.’
With the Trust now on its own managing the
project, as its Secretary David inherited a huge
workload including that emanating from the
continuing negotiations with the Derby Borough
Council for a Loan Agreement for the locomotives
and rolling stock, signal boxes and the massive
collection of signal and telegraph items, etc.
originally acquired by them plus agreeing a 99
year lease with the Derbyshire County Council
for the operating line itself. Other vital work
involved obtaining the essential Light Railway
Order to enable the trust to run passenger trains
over the line.
The L.R.O. became effective from 28th July,
1981, the first service train departing from
Butterley station at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday, 22nd
August hauled by the Class 3F 0-6-0T 16440
in crimson lake livery, headed for the then
terminus at Swanwick Junction, returning via
Hammersmith and thence back to Butterley.
Saturday, 29th May, 1982 was to see the operating
line extended further as far as Ironville, the final
section to use the loop on the north side of the
triangular junction being yet to be opened. As
Trust Secretary, David efficiently dealt with a
much of the paper work that this entailed as well
as coping with the regular correspondence from
all and sundry. He continued to carry out these
duties for the Midland Railway Company Ltd.
during its brief life and continued as Secretary for
the Midland Railway Trust Ltd. as it developed
further.
David finally retired from the office of Secretary
to the Midland Railway Trust Ltd. in the autumn
of 1996, after the Midland Railway Enterprises
p.l.c. had been formed as a separate funding
body. The Trust remains very indebted to him for
all of the work that he undertook so cheerfully
and in such a timely fashion for a period of some
16 years, especially during the Trust’s formative
years. I personally will always remember him
with affection for the vital part he played in our
development.
Sadly David passed away suddenly after
a short illness, bravely fought, on the 9th of
August last at the age of 70 years, and we send
our sympathies to his wife Annette and his sons
Kieran and Glynn. His significant contribution
to the formative years of the Midland Railway Butterley is evident in the huge success that the
popular railway centre has now become, evident
during recent events which have attracted people
not only from this country but also abroad.
Brian Radford.
Dynamometer Cars
The Railway is indeed fortunate in having
TWO Dynamometer Cars; the first being Test
Car 3 owned by the National Railway Museum
and housed in the Matthew Kirtley Building.
This vehicle was constructed at Derby in 1939
but it was not completed until a decade later
soon after the formation of British Railways
in 1948. Initial trails were made in 1949 and
between then and 1975 undertook 1,085
scheduled test runs covering an estimated
147,616miles. Its prime role was the evaluation
of steam locomotives as well as the prototype
high speed train in June 1973. During its life
it carried several liveries including ‘blood and
custard’, maroon and research department
red and blue. The coach was moved to the
Midland Railway Trust in June 2011 and the
long term plan is to restore it.
Its counterpart is owned and displayed
in the West Shed of the Princess Royal
Class Locomotive Trust and is the former
Dynamometer Car built by the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway in 1912. The vehicle ran its
first trials in February 1913 and celebrates its
centenary this year. This historic vehicle was
built by the L&Y at their Horwich works and
was used to test such locomotives as Fowler’s
Royal Scot class, Stanier Princess Royal and
Princess Coronation types and also took part
in the 1948 locomotive exchanges. In 1948 it
was also used to test the first main line electric
locomotives numbers 10000 and 10001 built
at Derby. The vehicle was last used on riding
tests between Derby and South Wigston in
August 1967 and finally withdrawn in 1970.
In 1975 the vehicle was moved to the Midland
Railway Trust and in 2002 the ownership of the
vehicle passed from the Trust to The Princess
Royal Class Locomotive Trust where it is now
housed in a fully restored condition in the
West Shed.
Having two examples of similar vehicles in
one location is unique and both worthy of a
visit.
L.M.S.
Dynamometer
Car No.3, 45059
Photo: MR-B
L.M.S.
Dynamometer
Car No.1, 45050
Photo: Paul Wood
Gallery
S&DJR No.23 approaches
Riddings Junction.
Photo: John Eggleshaw
Interior of the Fork Lift
Truck Museum.
Photo: John Eggleshaw
Class 127 DMU passes
through Golden Valley.
Photo: John Eggleshaw
Class 101 stands in the
north siding at Butterley.
Photo: John Eggleshaw
?
MR-B Quiz
For our newer members, you might like to test your knowledge:
1. Where did the station buildings at Butterley originally come from?
2. Codnor Park reservoir originally supplied water to which canal?
3. What is the name of the main museum building at Swanwick Junction?
4. Where, and in what year, was steam locomotive 73129 originally built?
5. The signalbox at Butterley was moved to its present home from where?
AVAmber Value
PRICES TO SUIT
EVERYONE’S POCKET
6. How many operational signalboxes are situated on the line?
7. What was the name of the village at the eastern end of the line which the
Butterley Company built for its workers?
8. Who is the main buffet at Swanwick Junction named after?
9. St. Saviour’s railwaymans church served which local village?
10. The branch line from the junction station went to where?
11. What is the name of the main engineering workshop at Swanwick Junction?
12. In what year was locomotive 158A rebuilt?
13. What do the abbreviations ‘GVLR’ stand for?
P P P
23-27 CHURCH STREET,
RIPLEY,
DERBYSHIRE DE5 3BU
TELEPHONE: RIPLEY 747454
14. What is the oldest vintage railway coach on display in the museum?
15. What was the original use of the Matthew Kirtley Museum building?
16. The site of the former branch line from Hammersmith Junction went to
where?
17. Who does the monument between Swanwick and Riddings commemorate?
18. The demonstration signalbox from Linby was opened in 1994 to celebrate an
anniversary of which railway company?
19. What was the prime use for the line originally being built?
20. What was the original purpose for the construction of Butterley Reservoir?
Answers in issue 141 of the Wyvern.
P P P
HOUSEHOLD GOODS,
TOILETRIES
AND
HARDWARE
Mishap Exercise
A level crossing incident involving the
DMU and two cars was staged by the
Green Watch of the Alfreton Station of
the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service
on the evening of Tuesday 13th August.
With large numbers of volunteer
casualties from both the Trust and other
organisations, made up with a selection
of injuries and in place, and a smoke
generator in the DMU, Alan Calladine
was asked to make the emergency call as
if it were “for real”.
The first crews who responded to
the “shout” had no idea that it was an
exercise until they actually arrived on
site. However, they were then expected
to respond as if it were a real emergency
and accordingly they called in for
further support. By the completion of
Spotlight
A Lost Route
the exercise, there were seventeen
Fire and Rescue vehicles on site, with
crews from across the county, plus
four paramedic vehicles.
Certainly Derbyshire Fire and
Rescue Service found the exercise
to be very helpful in honing their
skills for managing major incidents.
It has also raised awareness for the
Trust of the role that it would have in
providing railway specific advice and
support in the event of an incident at
the MR – B.
It is truly amazing how times flies; it seems
like only yesterday when you could travel
between Derby and Manchester Central via
the beautiful line through the Peak District and
yet we have not had this facility for 45 years
since the line beyond Matlock closed. The
only remnant we have is the Matlock branch,
a short section between Matlock and Rowsley
as a heritage railway: beyond there it is the
Monsal Trail and beyond Chee Dale, still an
operational freight railway.
The year 2013 marks the 150th anniversary
of the opening of the core section of the route
between Hassop and Buxton; this was part
of the development by the Midland Railway
to establish a route to Manchester, the
springboard being an extension of the former
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland
Junction Railway that built the line between
Ambergate and Rowsley and opened in 1849.
In 1867 the line was further extended from
Great Rocks north of Millers Dale through
to Chinley and by 1880 with the opening of
Manchester Central the Midland had their own
line between that city and St Pancras.
The route was always a primarily freight
railway with limited stopping services
alongside the expresses. Being constructed
through the Peak District it was magnificently
engineered forcing its way through the
landscape by way of viaducts and tunnels.
It gave the passenger unrivalled views of the
landscape and the Midland Railway took
advantage of this in its publicity.
The route was difficult to construct
and expensive to maintain and with the
electrification of the rival LNWR route between
Euston and Manchester in the 1960’s this more
than anything else became the catalyst for
consideration as to its long term future. This
was the time of the Beeching era and closures
but despite this the Beeching report did not
envisage total closure but rationalisation but
the inevitability came when Barbara Castle as
Minister of Transport sanctioned closure and it
all came to an end in 1968.
We no longer have the route as a railway,
albeit in part only, but what we do have are the
many books and photographs of the railway
and a specially produced DVD ‘Derbyshire
Main Line’. This was produced by your writer
when working with Regional Railways which
includes a cab journey between Derby and
Matlock, a similar journey over Peak Rail and a
view of the former railway taken from a Land
Rover when driving over the route between
Bakewell and Chee Dale including passage
through the tunnels albeit at a time when the
tunnels were closed off. So even today you can
still ‘ride the line through the peak’
Stuart Smith
Golden Valley History
The railway often quotes the ride through the Golden Valley, but what and where is it?
Here our archivist Dudley Fowkes provides a brief insight.
Photos: Alan Calladine
Historically Golden Valley was known as
Knowts Hall taking its name from the ancient
house of that name that still stands. Much of
the land on which the village was eventually
built was on the outer extremity of the Zouch’s
Alfreton estate - the ‘New Lands’ - hence
Newlands Road.
One of the first acts of the newly-formed
Butterley partnership in 1790 was to take a long
lease of 63 years of all the coal and ironstone on
Leigh Hoskins Master’s (the eventual successor
to Zouch) Codnor Park estate. This included
the series of small pits - centred on Exhibition
Pit - that were located on the slopes above what
became the hamlet of Golden Valley.
The pits were linked to the Cromford Canal by
an inclined plane now obliterated by as a result
of levelling over the years. The isolated stretch
of the Cromford Canal that still survives in
the village contains the eastern portal of
the Butterley Tunnel the collapse of which
effectively cut the canal into two detached
sections in 1908.
The houses at Golden Valley were built
initially to accommodate the workers at these
pits and by the time of an inventory of the
Butterley property made following the death
of Benjamin Outram in 1805, the hamlet of
Spotlight
Golden Valley History (continued)
Golden Valley was said to consist of ‘a piece
of land (4 acres) with 20 workmen’s dwellings
and a small warehouse and crane’. These
houses were the familiar ‘Stone Row’ built of
local sandstone that was renovated to a high
standard by the Derbyshire Historic Buildings
Trust in 1978 as a blue plaque on the eastern
end of the row records. The row was at one
time condemned
as unfit for
Photo: Dave Bevis
human habititation but, after renovation,
the properties became much sought after
with two original cottages converted into
single dwellings. The generous garden plots
stretching down to the residual canal added to
the attraction.
As the Butterley Company’s enterprises in the
area continued to expand - brick works, coke
ovens etc., - further rows of houses - now of
local brick - were added. The Forge Manager’s
Book of the 1840s records that these were
largely built by a local builder Joseph Evans at
a cost of £40-60 each. These were also gutted
and renovated by DHBT and have again
become highly desirable residences.
What now constitutes the present-day village
was completed by the addition of modern
terraced housing in keeping with the earlier
Butterley Rows and the village’s status as a
Conservation Area.
The other Riddings Junction
I expect most of the readers of this magazine
will know Riddings junction, the eastern
terminus of our line. But how many would
realise that was another junction of the same
name? This other junction was Riddings in
Cumbria on the now defunct Waverley route.
Riddings Junction opened four months
after the opening of the line between Hawick
and Carlisle on the 1st March 1862 and
considering its remote location the station
was surprisingly large with a moderate
sized goods yard. There were two facing
platforms on the main line, the down
platform being an island with Langholm
branch trains using the outer face. The main
station building was on the up platform and
was brick built on a stone base. The building
was unusual as it had two floors with only
the upper floor facing onto the platform.
The station had the normal ticket office and
public amenities.
The station itself was sited on the Liddel
Water valley floor at the end of a 500 yard
long steep dead end road and at the start
of the long climb up Liddesdale to the
railway’s summit at Whitrope. There were
no villages for miles around only isolated
farms and hamlets. Before the station opened
it was going to be called Canobie Junction. It
closed to passengers on the 2nd January 1964
some years before the entire Waverley route
closed in 1969.
The main station building survives although
it has been substantially altered. The whole
former railway site is now part of Riddings
Farm.
A train from Carlisle stands at
Riddings Junction in 1962.
Photo: Joyce Barker
Reflections
Desborough Collision
50 years ago on the 3rd July 1963 a collision occurred at Desborough south of Market Harborough
between a class 4 up express freight train and the 1205 class 1 Manchester to St Pancras train
for which a copy exctract from the report is appended below in addition to a map showing the
location.
SIR.
I have the honour to report for the information of the Minister of Transport, in accordance with the
Order dated 3rd July 1963, the result of my Inquiry into the overtaking collision between a passenger
train and a freight train on that day at about 3.49 a.m. between Desborough & Rothwell station and
Glendon & Rushton station on the Midland route of the London Midland Region, British Railways.
The 1.0 a.m. Class 4 Up express freight train from Birmingham (Lawley Street) to London (Brent)
had stopped in the section because of brake
trouble; this had been overcome and the
COLLISION between DESBOROUGH
train was about to start when it was struck
and GLENDON, 3rd July 1963
at about 40 m.p.h. by the 12.5 a.m. Class
1 Up passenger train from Manchester to
St. Pancras which was travelling under
clear signals. This train had been wrongly
admitted into the section by the combined
fault of the signalmen in the signalboxes on
either side.
The heavy and solid diesel locomotive of
the passenger train crumpled the brake van
and last four wagons of the freight train
before it stopped 62 yards ahead of the point
of collision; the bogie brake van behind the
passenger train engine was little damaged in
the course of the not very severe retardation
over this distance. and the rest of the train
was virtually intact. Only two of the 70
passengers were hurt, both slightly, and the
guard of the passenger train also suffered
minor injuries. The guard of the freight
train heard the passenger train approaching
and escaped.
Both lines were blocked by debris, and it
was necessary to take the passengers by bus
from Desborough to Kettering. the station
south of Glendon, after the rear part of
the passenger train bad been drawn back.
The passengers were able to continue their
journey southwards from Kettering in a
train leaving at 6.38 a.m. Recovery and
repair work was put in hand promptly; the
Down line was opened at 12.50 p.m. on the
4th July and the Up line 31/2 hours later.
The weather was dry but hazy: it was not
yet daylight.
Bookends
Bookends
THE SOMERSET & DORSET LINE FROM ABOVE
Published by Ian Allen. Price £25.00
THE INTERCITY STORY
Published by OPC. Price £35.00
One of Britain’s favourite railways the Somerset and Dorset
which closed in 1966 has seen many titles published in
commemoration and celebration of a somewhat unique and
closely run railway. The famous Ivo Peters albums depicting the
glorious days of the route and its trains are well covered and
more recent titles have covered the route under the ‘Then and
Now’ portfolio.
A more recent title now shows the former railway from above
this being aerial photos of the line, or what remains of it, today
seen from the air. It would appear to be a series of volumes
as the first volume deals with the section between Bath and
Evercreech Junction. The book covers most of this section all in
colour and with brief description as the railway looks so very different from the air to that which
we are used to seeing. For those with a love of this delightful and now sadly lost line and as a
companion to the other titles published on the same subject, it is a noteworthy and somewhat
different look at a much loved line.
This recently published title tells for the first time the story of
‘InterCity’ between the years 1964 and 2012. Inter-City was a
term introduced by British Rail to publicise and focus on the long
distance express traffic. With it came a new logo, new branding
and colour scheme.
This new book starts by examining how a vertically integrated
inter city railway was fragmented into a number of businesses
that were put up for sale or franchise. It then traces the ongoing
progress of the original inter city routes as they became seven
fully independent train companies. The final chapters address
the key question of whether these inter city passenger businesses
delivered a better or worse set of products some twenty years
later and explore where these diverse businesses are likely to be
leading in the next twenty years.
The book is profusely illustrated and brings the inter city story
right up to the present day.
THE LAST DECADE OF BRITISH RAILWAYS STEAM
Published by Haynes. Price £30.00
ELECTRIC AVENUE
by Keith Roberts. Price £10.99 plus £2.00 p&p
The ever ongoing publication of railway books across all
spectrums never ceases to amaze especially when one thinks
that over the years almost every subject matter has been
covered and documented. However the stream of titles never
seems to stop or be tempered and a recent new title ‘The Last
Decade of British Railways Steam’ has hit the shelves and is a
personal photographers personal journey and that person being
Gavin Morrison. This full colour album covers all regions of the
then British Railways and gives an reminder of the variety and
diversity of steam trains between the years 1959 and 1968. The
book also has a very useful index of all the locations covered.
This book will complete any enthusiasts library as a momento
of the days of steam albeit in its twilight years.
We continually hear of new developments with electric cars in today’s media, but electric vehicles
have been around since the beginning of the 20th century.
Of course we are all familiar with the traditional milk delivery vehicles, and Job’s Dairy used to
operate a large fleet of them. The biggest manufacturer in the UK, makers of Morrison-Electricar
is the subject of a new book by Keith Roberts called ‘Electric Avenue.’
It covers the history
of this business from
its beginning in 1890
up to closure in 1982.
This book will appeal
to those who have
had direct contact
with electric vehicles
or, have an interest in
this nostalgic subject.
EAST COAST MAIN LINE DISASTERS
Published by Pendragon Publications. Price £17.50
There have been many titles published about railway disasters since
the really authoritative title ‘Red for Danger’ which focused across the
national scene. This title however concentrates on those on the East
Coast main line across the whole spectrum of driver error, signalman
failures, weather, technical and cause unknown.
There is a considerable amount of text supported by some quite
unique photographs depicting the various scenarios and those with
a special interest in east coast matters should find it useful and
informative reading. No doubt a similar case could be made for
future titles relevant to other routes!
The book is available
direct
from
the
author:Keith Roberts,
2 The Causeway,
Sketty,
Swansea
SA2 0SX
The views expressed in regards to the books on these pages
are those purely of the Editor upon reviewing each title.