Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i Steam World

(Part one appeared in Steam World January 2024) It was in my second stint at Ian Allan Ltd from 1979 until I came north to edit Steam World in 1992, that I came to know and form a close working relationship with artist and photographer George Heiron. It might sound harsh that we had nicknames for some of our most prolific contributors but they were terms of endearment born out of respect and frequent – at times continuous – contact with them. George Heiron, the west country artist and photographer was one with whom I had almost weekly contact during the 1980s. Quiet and unassuming, with a strong ‘Bristol’ accent, ‘High-rise’ was always keen to fulfill a brief for a painting or to provide illustrations for books. Our books department…

Australian rock band AC/DC famously sang abouta highway to Hell. It's doubtful that the song was inspired by the A17, which links the East Midlands to Norfolk. But whenever I'm on it, the lyrics immediately spring to mind. This trunk road runs between Newark-onTrent in Nottinghamshire and the outskirts of King's Lynn in Norfolk. What makes it such a nightmare is that it crosses the fertile Fens of Lincolnshire and West Norfolk. This area is a food factory without a roof. Vegetables, fruit and flowers are grown here in huge quantities and they all get moved by road. That's a lot of lorries and tractors. Throw in holidaymakers and caravanners and those 62 miles of mostly single carriageway ona summer's day… well, spending eternity in the presence of Beelzebub and…

FIVE TIMES FIVE = ‘H16’ These five tank engines were food and drink to me as a Surrey spotter back in the early 1960s (as they were to me, too!– Ed). At the time, their history did not interest me because I just wanted to underline more numbers in my Abc than my school chums. I've written enough times about my local spotting haunts, but less so about the classes that I used to see regularly. I, therefore, decided it was time to turn the spotlight onto the ‘H16’ 4-6-2Ts. Robert Urie was Chief Mechanical Engineer for the London & South Western Railway from December 1912 until 1922 and in those ten years, he only introduced five new classes. No doubt improving some of predecessor Dugald Drummond's designs and the…

More on Bristol captions George Heiron's wonderful photograph of Bristol Temple Meads (Steam World 439) was almost certainly taken on a Summer Saturday (the express locomotives all carrying reporting numbers) and in the early 1950s (the ‘King’ still has a single chimney). It is also a reminder of how easy it was for trains to get delayed then. Train 815 was the 6.55am from Wolverhampton (Low Level) to Paignton that was due to arrive in Exeter at 12.17pm. In 1952, I saw it on nine of the times it ran. On seven, it had a ‘Hall’ 4-6-0, Nos. 4964, 5931/83. 6923/30/94, and 7901 appearing. On July 19, ‘Castle’ No. 5008 Raglan Castle was in charge and on September 6 it was ‘Grange’ 4-6-0 No. 6854 Roundhill Grange. Train 130 was…

‘V2S’ – SEEING DOUBLE Gresley designed and authorised the construction at Doncaster of the first five ‘V2’ locomotives in 1935, with the unusual 2-6-2 wheel arrangement, at least unusual for this country. The first engine appeared in 1936, painted black and un-named. But before leaving the works, it was suggested to Gresley that it should be named ‘Green Arrow’ after the LNER's fast freight overnight delivery service. After some initial tinkering with the number and position of the nameplate, No. 4771 Green Arrow entered service in LNER green passenger livery, the condition in which it is preserved today at Danum Gallery Library and Museum in Doncaster. No 4771 was allocated to King's Cross and spent much of its life working the afternoon express goods trains from King's Cross Goods to…

STEAM IN NORTH WALES North Wales is perhaps best remembered for its narrow gauge railways but Paul Cooper presents a trawl through the archives of photographer Ken Vernon to remind us of what the main lines in this area used to be like Ken Vernon was a keen railway enthusiast who worked in the photogravure department at Sun Printers in Watford. Spending all day using this photomechanical process to print photographs, naturally generated a keen interest in imaging and photography and he attended work-related classes in the late 1940s. Ken consequently becamea keen photographer and took some 500 or so large format B&W photos from 1946 to 1951. There then appearsa gap until 1964 when he invested ina top of the range Rolleiflex and devoted all his photography to colour…

A TRIBUTE TO FRANK HORNBY…

Part 1 was published in SW439, January 2024 The trials in March and April 1955 set Ta pattern of operation: three Ivatt ‘4MTs’ working trains of 44 wagons, loaded with coke for the iron and steel works in Lancashire and Cumberland, which were experiencing a post-war boom. Those Ivatt ‘Moguls’ would then return trains of up to 50 wagons to the North East for re-loading. But ASLEF's nationwide strike that May disrupted this new system. The impact of this strike on the wider finances and prospects for the railway nationally was considerable, but the immediate issue was that it delayed the move to longer and heavier trains over Stainmore at a time when demand was high. Coke traffic with double and triple Ivatt ‘4MTs’ restarted on June 15 1955. Kirkby…