Innehållsförteckning för Vol 36 No 11 - November 2022 från Backtrack

I had intended a conventional (by BT standards) editorial this month but a ‘complete failure of bells and instruments’ – in the form of a computer crash – has meant that the opportunity and time to write one has not been available, so once again we have another pictorial introduction. A colour feature on the Hope Valley line linking Manchester and Sheffield through the Derbyshire Peak country on pages 644-646 includes a 1987 colour photograph of the entrance to Totley Tunnel and our editorial picture is of the same scene around 60 years earlier, with Midland Railway 2P 4-4-0 No.382 about to plunge into its blackness. The name of the tunnel and the date of its completion are helpfully inscribed above it, while the sign denoting its length as 6,230…

The Hundred of Hoo line To continue with the history of the Hundred of Hoo Railway on to the Isle of Grain, the line was opened in 1882. It ran for eleven miles from Hoo Junction, around three miles east of Gravesend, across the Hoo Peninsula and over a creek on to the lonely and malaria-ridden Isle of Grain (the local authority continued to issue sprays to kill the mosquitoes until the 1960s). Opposed by Rochester Corporation, General Steam Navigation, oyster fishermen and, naturally, the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, sanction to build the line was obtained. The engineer was George Furness, who had been responsible for the construction of the West Somerset Railway. The line across the Isle of Grain was relatively level, but before that a gradient of…

An intriguing headline that, isn’t it? Well, that was how it appeared in the Aberdeen Evening Express in late 1959 and I fully intend to enlighten you on what happened to cause that to be printed. Firstly, however, I need to show where the event happened. When I was still at school I was intrigued to learn that one of my cousins was going on holiday to Apple Friday. It later turned out that this was his (four-year-old) interpretation of the name Aberfeldy. Aberfeldy is actually a small town in the northern part of Perthshire, being well known for ‘General Wade’s’ bridge across the River Tay, the river being well known for salmon fishing. The bridge was designed by William Adam as part of the network of military roads created…

Together with the Weatherhill and Crawleyside stationary engine-worked inclines, by the beginning of the twentieth century only the self-acting inclines at Stanley, Eden Hill and Waldridge – known as the Pontop inclines – remained of the original series of self-acting and stationary engine-worked inclines that ran for a significant amount of the length of the Stanhope & Tyne Rail-Road which opened in 1834. Either by the introduction of locomotive working – generally involving improvements to the permanent way – or by deviations, the original character of much of the line had changed but the two stationary engine worked inclines at the line’s extreme western end and the three self-acting inclines which served the North West Durham coalfield retained their original character for their long working fives. When the eastern half…

At the beginning of the nineteenth century political and social power in Britain lay largely with an hereditary elite consisting of men whose wealth was based on their ownership of land. This elite included a small and highly class-conscious group of titled aristocratic grandees often enjoying vast landholdings and wealth and power on a corresponding scale. Somewhat lower in the social hierarchy but generally sharing the same values and attitudes was a larger layer consisting of smaller but still socially prestigious landowners. They can be loosely described as the ‘squirearchy’ and they exercised much influence, acting as Justices of the Peace, for example, in what was still a predominantly rural society. The ascendency of the tiny landowning elite had become established over time and their power was almost absolute throughout…

London area steam sheds provided an attractive hunting ground for the East Anglian train spotter in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were within easy reach of home and, significantly, enabled one to see locomotives of all four English railway regions in the same day. In the 1950s, there were reckoned to be 19 main BR locomotive depots in the Greater London area. The London Midland Region gave access to five: Willesden, Camden, Devons Road Bow, Cricklewood, and Kentish Town. The Eastern Region had six: Stratford, King’s Cross, Finsbury Park, Hornsey, Plaistow and Neasden (the latter transferring to the London Midland Region when the Great Central main line changed Regions in 1958). The Southern Region had six: Nine Elms, Stewarts Lane, Bricklayers Arms, Hither Green, Norwood Junction and Feltham.…

Twenty-five years ago, after returning from a visit to the Australian railway museum at North Williamstown, Victoria, my father was looking at the photographs I had taken there and commented “Where were these built?” a rhetorical question because he could see as plain as I that a majority had been constructed in Britain or to British designs. Apart from North America, most (but not all) of Europe and Russia, and certain areas of Asia, until about 1925, and in some cases after that date, the world’s railways were largely operated by locomotives which had originated in British workshops or were designs which clearly referenced British forms. Astonishingly that is actually an understatement, for British manufacturers, such as Beyer Peacock, North British and others, had an enormous percentage of the export…

I’m not sure whose idea it was to have a trip to Woodford and Hinton but having decided it would make a good day out, the next question was, which way should be go? An invitation to join us was given to our friend Geoffrey Webb from Bedford who had a greater depth of knowledge of railway history than the rest of us put together and we knew that as a non-driver Geoffrey might welcome an opportunity to visit some out of the way places – which proved to be right. The 17th May 1980 was the day chosen for the trip. We would be going in Peter’s trusty old Land Rover, but I insisted on doing the driving so that Peter could have a day off from his work…

The nineteen-part Locomotives of the LNER became the definitive history of the ‘Big Four’ railway company’s fleet and was published between 1963 and 1994. The research and publication were a remarkable and sustained voluntary endeavour by members of The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (the RCTS), an effort that commenced long before the first book appeared. As we approach the 2023 centenary of the London & North Eastern Railway’s formation, the RCTS is now reissuing the whole series. It has been re-imagined to take advantage of new opportunities that digital archiving offers. The aim of this article is to celebrate the original work and the people who made it happen. The RCTS remains Britain’s leading railway society and it is now a registered charity with educational objectives at the forefront…