Indholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2022 i Traction

Welcome Although the cover date of this issue of TRACTION is January and February 2022, publishing schedules dictate that actual publication date is well before the end of 2021. I’d like therefore to wish all our readers and advertisers an enjoyable Christmas and a successful 2022. In this issue we look in some detail at four very varied freight operations in different parts of Britain. The first is an example of the now virtually extinct ‘trip’ freight train. David Ratcliffe takes us on a journey from the former Speedlink hub at Warrington to Horwich to visit a variety of locations in Lancashire. Moving south, Nick Gerrard looks at coal train operations on the branch to Norton Colliery near Stoke-on-Trent. On the south coast John Dedman guides us through the surprising…

Norton Colliery Branch: End of an era Nick Gerrard remembers a freight only Staffordshire branch line. The opening of the North Staffordshire Railway’s new branch along the Biddulph Valley in August 1860 came with high hopes of substantial freight and passenger traffic. The latter never really materialised but the amount of freight carried grew rapidly as small, shallow mines were replaced by mines producing great volumes. By the turn of the century coal extraction had become centred on three collieries: Victoria (Biddulph), Chatterley Whitfield (Chell) and Norton and by 1947 they collectively produced 1,863,598 tons and employed 5,546 men. However, the mid 1970s witnessed marked changes as coal traffic from Victoria and Chatterley Whitfield ceased, leaving a one-mile, double track stretch of line from Milton Junction to Norton Colliery (Ford…

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A day trip to Crewe - 23rd April 1967 J. Crosse recalls an an enthusiasts’ coach trip starting from Bristol in April 1967 with Crewe as the prime destination. This trip was of interest both for diesel and steam fans as there was still a considerable quantity of steam motive power to be found in this corner of North West England. The journey to Shrewsbury probably occupied well in excess of three hours in those days so everyone was glad to pile off the coach and into the steam depot there which was host to 16 steam engines, a 2 car DMU and an interesting selection of diesel power: D268/90, D316 D1801, D1944 D3028/35/49, D3194, D3970 D5006/77/88/9, D5140/5 D7060 12052 Northerly progress was continued via Wrexham to visit Croes Newydd…

Letters www.traction-magazine.co.uk E-mail: steverabone@hotmail.com Editorial postal address: 120 Churchill Road, Middlesbrough TS6 9NS EASTFIELD STYLE Being from North East Scotland, the memoirs of an Eastfield secondman are particularly enjoyable. I would like to offer a slight correction to the article in TRACTION 265. With regard to the painting of 47712 into large logo livery and its subsequent naming, the loco did not receive a yellow plated headcode initially. It had the black domino headcode alongside large logo for a few days, prior to being recalled for fitting of nameplates prior to the naming ceremony. It was at this point it received a plated yellow headcode panel. My late brother Andrew Hoskins captured the loco on film on 23rd April 1981 at Invergowrie working 15:35 Glasgow Queen St to Aberdeen. DEREK…

To Horwich and back David Ratcliffe looks back to the days of local freight trains before the demise of Speedlink. In contrast to the railfreight scene of today, which is dominated by block train workings, prior to the demise of Speedlink services in July 1991 the network still hosted a considerable number of mixed wagonload freights. Some of these ran between the main yards, while others comprised simple feeder trips from a yard to a single customer, but a handful of workings had rather more involved itineraries. Amongst these was the daily Speedlink that ran from Warrington to Horwich and back via Wigan and Westhoughton. Booked to leave Warrington’s Walton Old Junction yard at 07:55 each weekday, the freight, whose reporting number was changed from 6P83 to 6P82 in 1987,…

Cement trains around Southampton in the 1980s John Dedman recorded on film many of the cement workings that could be seen around this port city. In the 1980s there were three cement terminals in Southampton. Blue Circle had a terminal in the Down Yard which is now the location of the South Western Railway Northam Traincare Depot. This was served by services from Northfleet and Westbury. Tunnel Cement and Rugby Cement both had their terminals in the Southampton Up Yard, Tunnel Cement was served from Tring and Rugby Cement was served from Halling. Services varied slightly over the years but there were about three trains a week to each terminal. Blue Circle ran services to Poole and Hamworthy at various times. All these services had ceased by the end of…

Frost Precautions S. G. Allsopp describes some of the problems experienced at diesel depots in the winter months. British railways and the weather have fought constant battles ever since railways were invented. The weather usually wins. Sunshine buckles rails; snow clogs points and, if of the ‘wrong’ type, damages electrical equipment; obscures signals; and in cold weather everything freezes. Despite the experience with the LMS and SR designed prototype main line diesel locomotives and growing fleets of diesel multiple units and diesel shunting locomotives, little consideration was given to frost protection on the Pilot Scheme diesel locomotives or on those produced immediately afterwards. The DMUs and diesel shunting locomotives used ethylene glycol antifreeze in their engine cooling systems. This anti-freeze solution has searching properties, finding weak spots and marking them…

Northern Ireland Railways from 1970 to 1976 Jonathan Allen reviews the story of Northern Ireland Railways, with an emphasis on the early 1970s when railway staff struggled heroically to maintain a service in the face of unimaginable difficulties. Photographs by the author unless otherwise shown. There were some disadvantages to living in Northern Ireland during the 1970s. Public transport suffered badly from the politically inspired ‘troubles’ which began in 1968. Hardly a week passed without a railcar firebombed, a railway station destroyed or a section of the line attacked. Police and army were everywhere and, in an attempt to protect city and town centres from car bombs, watchtowers and security barriers appeared with searching of both vehicles and pedestrians. There was virtually no night life – cinemas, pubs and transport…

Modelling the UKF PWA wagons Living in Harrogate, James Smith knows that UKF PWA vans were frequent visitors there and decided to model a few of these distinctive wagons to provide something a little different on his layout. in partnership with To model these wagons, the Lima/Hornby pallet wagon provides a great starting point. Of the four main batches of the PWA prototype, the Lima model appears to be based on the final Procor-built batch from 1975. There seem to be some differences between the various batches but, without proper drawings and plans being available, I decided to keep it simple and employ the old ‘if it looks right, it is right’ mantra. The first three wagons were picked up from EBay relatively cheaply and I added a couple of…

The Lavant Quarry gravel flow Steve Stubbs describes an unusual freight working which he photographed in West Sussex The location of Chichester in West Sussex, just outside the South Downs National Park, does not immediately jump to mind when considering freight ‘hot spots’ on the railway network, particularly those in South East England. However, this location on the former Southern Region was somewhat of an oasis for rail freight, as it played host to a unique and longstanding flow that ran for many years prior to its very sudden demise. Lavant, a small village approximately 4 miles north of Chichester, sits on rich gravel beds composed of flint material laid down during the Cretaceous geological period. Flint is an extremely hard type of rock that is vitreous (glass like) in…

Carlisle to Shap before electrification Gavin Morrison has searched through his photo archives to present a selection of diesel locomotive images from the time before this section of the West Coast Main Line was electrified. The northern approach to Shap was less demanding operationally than that from the south, and also ran through less spectacular scenery, but there were still several worthwhile photographic locations.…

D1062 Western Courier’s Return to Traffic Following an absence of nearly two years, having been withdrawn from service in the late summer of 2019, D1062 ‘Western Courier’ made a triumphant return to traffic, hauling the Severn Valley Railway’s Pioneer Service on Sunday 11th July. The day featured double ‘Western’ haulage, with duties shared between D1062 ‘Western Courier’ and D1015 ‘Western Champion’. ‘Champion’ started the day with the 09:35 departure from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth. Returning to Bewdley, the crowds gathered as ‘Courier’ appeared for the first time in nearly two years and took over the service, departing with a roar from both Maybach engines with the midday service back to Bridgnorth and return to Kidderminster. Both ‘Champion’ and ‘Courier’ then topped and tailed for the final round trip to Bridgnorth, ‘Champion’…