Chasewater Railway Coal Train day.

The annual Coal Train Day held at  Chasewater Railway, will be on Sunday June 23rd this year. See the attached poster for details.

Lickey Bank

The steepest main line incline in Great Britain is the Lickey Bank in Worcestershire with a gradient of 1 in 37 over 2 miles, between Bromsgrove and Blackwell. Heavy laden freight trains and some passenger services need assistance to negotiate the climb. This assistance known as banking, is carried out by means of one or more locomotives, coming behind the train and pushing from the rear. In 1919 a locomotive designed by James Anderson was built at Derby Works by the Midland Railway, specifically to work on this gradient.

Based at 21C shed at Bromsgrove, and known as Big Bertha or Big Emma, the 0-10-0 weighed 105 Tons, and had a tractive effort of 43,300 lbs feet. Given a No of 2290 initially, it was changed to 22290 when taken over by the LMS in 1947. One year later the No was changed again when British Railways was formed, and became 58100. Big Bertha was removed from service, and scrapped in 1956 being replaced by 9F No 92079 (photo copyright of Ben Brookshank)

This 2-10-0 standard heavy freight loco worked the line until the demise of steam in 1966, and was replaced with class 37 diesel locomotives.

Even today some freight trains need a banker to assist on the Lickey, which is provided by class 66 locomotives.

Easter at Chasewater Railway

Easter Running Service Alterations

We have been able to run an inspection train today (Wednesday 27th)
for the first time since the severe weather began that we have
encountered recently. After inspecting the line and taking into account
the on-going conditions we have decided to make some changes to upcoming
services to help us ensure everybody’s safety and enjoyment.

Friday 29th & Saturday 30th of March

Diesel service using North British Loco D2911
 
Trains leave Brownhills West at 12:00 pm 1:30 pm & 3:00 pm only.

Sunday 31st & April 1st

This is to be confirmed, depending on what weather we encounter in the
next few days. It is possible that we may have make changes like
substituting the planned steam engine for diesel instead or even cancel
some trains if conditions dictate. Unless conditions improve it is
unlikely that the narrow gauge will be operating.

Our Easter Egg Hunt, gift shop, Museum, bric-a-brac, Model Railway and
The Sidings tea room and Bella’s Waggon, hopefully will be unaffected so
should as normal. Please remember we may make short notice changes if
conditions improve or deteriorate as necessary.

Please do come along if you can make it. Any updates will be posted on
here asap and the railway look forward to welcoming you soon.

Sir Winston Churchill’s Funeral.

Sir Winston Spencer Churchill died on January 24th 1965, in his home at Hyde Park Gate, following an earlier stroke. It had previously been agreed by Queen Elizabeth the second that when the great man died, he would be honoured with a state funeral, normally only allowed for royalty. This honour had been bestowed on him, along with his knighthood, in recognition of his actions as prime minister during the second world war. The secret plans for his funeral had been known as Operation Hope Not. The 90-year-old ex prime minister who had resigned in April 1955 aged 80, due to ill-health, had requested that he be buried at Bladen Churchyard in Oxfordshire, close to his birthplace in Blenheim Palace.

His body lay in state at Westminster Hall for 3 days, where 321,360 people paid their respects to him.

Crowds of people lined the route, as the gun carriage with the coffin, made its way to St Paul’s Cathedral for the service.

A 19 gun salute and a RAF fly past occurred as the cortege made its way to Tower Hill, where the coffin was piped aboard the launch Havengore.

A  journey along the Thames took them  to Festival Hall pier, which then proceeded to Waterloo Railway Station, where a special train awaited, hauled by the Southern Region Battle of Britain Class No 34051, Winston Churchill.

It carried a special headlamp code for the day, in the form of  a V, to signify Churchill’s famous victory salute.

The funeral train, driven by Alf Hurley, with fireman James Lester, then made its way to Handborough station, with the coffin inside the hearse van No S2464S. This was the nearest station to St Martins Church Bladen, where Sir Winston was laid to rest

The Locomotive No 34051 Winston Churchill, is preserved in the National Railway Museum at York, and still carries the special headlamp code.

The hearse carriage which transported the coffin, is operational and is based at Swanage Heritage Railway.

Easter at Chasewater Railway.

Why not take a visit to Chasewater Railway this Easter, where a full programme is planned over the weekend. Steam hauled trains on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

The service on Good Friday and on Saturday will use one of our Diesel powered locomotives.

The 5 Star rated Sidings tea rooms will be  serving hot and cold meals over the whole of the festive season with an excellent carvery on Easter Sunday.

There will be an Easter Egg hunt on Sunday & Monday organised by the Railway’s Junior team of volunteers.

The narrow gauge miners train will be running also on Sunday and Monday weather permitting.

The accredited Railway Museum will be open on Saturday, Sunday & Monday, with a large display of Railway and mining memorabilia.

Humber Steam Ferry

The Humber Steam Ferry ran between Hull and New Holland across the Humber Estuary, using coal-fired paddle steamers, with crossings taking 20 minutes each way.

The service commenced in 1841, and in 1848 was purchased by the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln Railway. In 1897 the M S & L changed its name to the Great Central Railway, which later formed part of the London North Eastern Railway, one of the Big 4. On January 1st 1948 the railways were nationalised, and the newly formed British Railways had responsibility for running the ferry. In 1965 another change of name, when British Railways became British Rail, who continued to operate the ferry until it closed on 24th June 1981, when the Humber road bridge was opened.

A total of 20 vessels worked on the route during its operating years, including the 1948 built, diesel-electric paddle vessel Farringford, which was in use until the closure of 1981.

The last steam-powered paddle steamer to run across the Humber ( and indeed the UK) was the Lincoln Castle.

Built in 1940 on the Clyde for the LNER, the ferry was 200ft long, 33ft wide, and weighed 598 tonnes, with a carrying capacity of, 20 cars and up to 914 passengers. It was taken out of service in 1978 with major boiler problems, and became a floating bar and restaurant in Grimsby.

It as now been bought by a preservation group for restoration, with a view to run it for passenger day trips on the Humber Estuary.

Attempt to break Mallard’s speed record.

The current speed record for a steam-powered locomotive is held by Gresley A4 Pacific No 4468 Mallard.

This achievement of 125.88 miles per hour was gained on July 3rd 1938, on the East Coast Main Line at Stoke Bank near Grantham.

A group known as The Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR), are preparing and converting an oil-fired steam locomotive to use Bio-fuel for steam generation. Their project 130,as it is called is to make the loco The worlds cleanest most powerful passenger locomotive, with the number 130 signifying the mph they hope to achieve.The loco chosen for this project is a 1937 Baldwin class 3460 with a wheel arrangement of 4-6-4.The only one of  the class of six to survive, 3463 ran on the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and was preserved on display in the Great Overland Station in Topeka Kansas.

The 323 tonne loco with a tractive effort of 49,300 lbs ft was donated to the CSR group in 2011, and is to be moved to a Minneapolis engineering site by 2013. Their project  is expected to take up to six years to complete, and it as been estimated that it will cost 3.3 million pounds.

The bio-fuel to be used for producing the required steam will be a solid fuel, similar to coal, but will produce less smoke, gases and ash.

Diesel Locomotives naming ceremonies.

Two special events took place during the 2009 two-day Diesel Gala, at Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway. Both took place at Furnace Sidings on Sunday July 26th, when two ex main line diesel locomotives belonging to Les Emery from Brownhills in Walsall were named.  Class 31 (31203) No D5627 was named Steve Organ G.M., who was the former General Manager at Chasewater Railway in Brownhills, where the loco was restored.

The photo, by Peter Nicholson,shows Les Emery on the left shaking hands with Steve Organ, in front of the class 31 locomotive. with Pontypool & Blaenavon board member Alex Hinshelwood standing behind them.

The second loco to be named was the Southern Region Class 37, No 37128. This Electro-Diesel was re-named O.V.S BULLEID C.B.E., after Oliver Bullied, a former Southern Region Chief Mechanical Engineer, a name the loco had previously carried, between Sept 1991 and July 1996. This locomotive worked in preservation at Chasewater Railway before Les Emery moved it along with the Class 31 to Pontypool & Blaenavon in March 2008.

The photo by Peter Nicholson, shows Les Emery on the left, shaking hands with the Bullied Society President Mr John Fry, with Alex Hinshelwood on the right hand side.

Les Emery was a working volunteer and board member at Chasewater Railway for many years before moving to Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway.

Steam Locomotive Winston Churchill.

This steam locomotive was built by Manning Wardle from Hunslet in Leeds.

  

Given the works No of 2025 the 25 foot long, 0-6-0 loco was one of the last ones built by this West Yorkshire Engineering Company, who ceased trading in 1927. The locomotive was supplied new to Cadbury Cake Division of Blackpole in Worcestershire, becoming their No 7. It was sold to Guy Pitt & son from Dudley in 1946, to work on the Pensnett Mineral Railway.

This railway ran from the Staffs & Worcester canal at Ashwood, to serve a  number of Collieries and factories in that area. The locomotive was donated to the Black Country Museum in the 1970′s and spent many years on static display in Pensnett Trading Estate, near to where it used to work.

It was then moved in 2012 to the Black Country Museum in Dudley, where it sits proudly outside their main entrance.

The last locomotive to be built by Manning Wardle, was No 2047, supplied new to the Rugby Cement Company. After its working life, it was on static display at Kidderminster, on the Severn Valley Railway.

In 2011 the loco was moved to Bridgenorth for assessment, with a view to return it to steam.

BR Standard Pacific 70000 in 15 inch gauge.

In 1960 a private customer commissioned Longfleet Engineering of Poole in Dorset, to build a 15 inch gauge steam-powered locomotive of BR Standard Pacific, 70000 Britannia.

Work on this quarter full size loco  ceased in 1965 when the customer passed away, and all the components were put up for sale. Mr Harold Reeve  of Bembridge , Isle of Wight purchased the loco, but unfortunately the parts were  stored for twenty years untouched.

In 1986 it was eventually sold, and all the components moved to TMA Engineering of Tyburn Road in Birmingham.

It was the assembled and completed to a very high standard of engineering.

On completion in June 1988 the 3 ton, 18 foot long locomotive, steamed and ran extremely well on a short test track at the works of TMA Engineering.

After a short stay at the National Railway Museum at York, the loco moved to its present home at Conwy Museum, in Betws y Coed, where it is steamed and run on specific dates throughout the season.