Innehållsförteckning för August 2022 från Steam Days

That’s a 26% saving when you pay by direct debit STEAM DAYS I have been a railway enthusiast since 1942, and together with my two sons, Ian and Andrew, since March 1993 have provided a record of Britain’s railway scene when steam ruled supreme, from the 1800s until the end of steam in 1968. With a focus on line histories, train spotters’ memories, technical information, railwaymen’s reminiscences and nostalgic photo-features, our purpose is to bring back those halcyon days. With our subscriptions you can get your magazine delivered straight to your door every month, with a superb saving on the cover price. We hope to welcome you soon to the Steam Days family. 12 print issues for £44 Direct debit (26% saving) 1 year credit/debit card for £51 2 years credit/debit…

One of my character traits is a yearning for an era which I never lived in, and thus engendering an interest in history in general. It was in 1990 at the age of 17, when I began to get interested in train timing on the contemporary scene, and this broadened from the current scene back to the steam era, which at this period was less than three decades before. I say this as many readers will be aware as one gets older, time seems to diminish and three decades feels like one at most on the chronology scale! The Northamptonshire town of Kettering was blessed with some of the fastest schedules in the United Kingdom during the steam era with regard to services to and from the capital. This reached…

Lancashire is generally regarded as an area of great industrial conurbations interspersed with huge swathes of desolate moorland. However, this north-western county also includes a low-lying coastal region between the Pennines and the Irish Sea. The Lancashire coast is in fact quite varied, with the areas around Southport and Blackpool transformed by large scale resort development but other parts surprisingly remote, for example the desolate moss lands between the Wyre and Lune estuaries are under-populated and rarely visited by outsiders. Although virtually dead-flat, the area is not without interest; the sea is never far away, and its white-washed cottages and farmsteads are reminiscent of Ireland or Cornwall. In earlier days, the inhabitants of this remote district earned their living by fishing and salt production, salt being obtained by the evaporation…

The LMS prepares for war Sir: I found this article very interesting – Steam Days, September 2021 – particularly the section covering the construction of the bridge across the River Eden near Etterby Junction, Carlisle. The photograph is the first I have seen of the bridge under construction. From the mid-fifties and throughout the sixties I spent most of my spare time around this area trainspotting and fishing. I still live nearby so popped down to have a look round and take a few photographs. I was very interested in the construction methods used as, having spent the whole of my career in civil engineering, I had worked on many projects using similar methods. On those projects where concrete piles were installed, the piles were always driven to the set…

Four days into their travels and with the exception of arriving from London (Waterloo) via the Southern route through Exeter and Okehampton to Plymouth (North Road) on Sunday, 29 May 1960, friends Leslie Freeman and Jim Harrold had spent two full days away from Southern metals, instead traversing the former GWR lines of Cornwall. However, setting out from a new base in Plymouth, the itinerary of Wednesday, 1 June was mainly over Southern Region (ex-London & South Western Railway) lines, commencing with a journey from North Road to Okehampton by the 8.25am departure; it eventually becomes the 10.30am service from Exeter to Waterloo (arriving at 2.15pm). Bulleid ‘West Country’ class Light Pacific No 34107 Blandford Forum was at the head of four corridor coaches and made a steady ascent towards…

Back in the early 1960s, before the onset of mass car ownership for all, most annual summer holidays entailed a trip on the train to reach the desired destination. Add into this equation the fact that your father worked on the railway, and we have a wonderful scenario for a memorable holiday – so when the news was broken by their father to three eagerly expectant brothers that the summer holiday for 1962 was going to be a trip from Gloucester to Oban, via London and an overnight trip from Euston, the summer holidays just couldn’t come around fast enough. The day of the adventure eventually dawned on Friday, 24 August when we were collected by taxi and taken to Gloucester (Central) station to catch the 12.07pm train up to…