Innehållsförteckning för December 2023 från Steam Days

The September 2023 issue of Steam Days included the article ‘Interesting Carson-Rail services of the past’, which in Scotland included the Strathcarron to Kyle of Lochalsh operation that bypassed the Strome ferry; it was operating by 1910 and continued through to 1957. Further south, about 62 miles as the crow flies (113 by road, and a staggering 293½ miles by rail in steam days, and even longer now) there is another carson-rail local service to consider, albeit very short-lived, and really in this case the larger story of a railway bridge across Loch Etive gives us a wider perspective worthy of study. The location is Connel Ferry in Argyll, and its bridge was provided for the Ballachulish branch line, a much-loved route that has enjoyed a fair amount of coverage…

At its birth on New Year’s Day 1948 British Railways inherited a traditional railway at a low ebb. Many consider the ‘Big Four’ era to be the heyday of Britain’s railways and in terms of promotion and the best expresses there is a case for that, but in truth in 1923 the enlarged GWR and newly formed LMS, LNER and Southern Railway picked up the pieces of a post-war run-down operation. Then, while weathering the depression and suffering the rise of country motorbus services taking business, they only had 16 years 8 months of everyday operation before Government control began again as Britain found itself in another world war. At length, the ‘Big Four’ ran their railways for the next 8 years and 29 days but as part of the…

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Stretch your mind and imagine a broad gauge railway operating over 48 miles in two countries, that earns its revenue from cattle trains and freight, that makes use of a small railbus and a railcar for just three return passenger trains a day, and runs a fourth passenger service in one direction only in the form of the last steam-hauled mixed train in the British Isles. That was the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway (SL&NCR) until it closed in 1957. The cattle would be loaded into wagons at diverse locations in the west of Ireland and then be brought to a hub at Collooney, with other wagons being loaded there. Then they would be formed into goods trains and trundled east across the border as far as Enniskillen, and…

There is hopefully not a steam enthusiast in the UK today who is not aware that Flying Scotsman celebrated its centenary this year. Surprisingly, in the performance arena this much celebrated engine was a ‘shy animal’, in the post-war era at any rate. One notable exception was right at the end of its career when B J Holliday had the honour of timing this Gresley ‘A3’ Pacific from Peterborough to London (King’s Cross). To use an ‘Allenism’ after the famous performance author Cecil J Allen, the ‘officiating genius’ was Charles Willers. Although not having the stellar reputation of either Bill Hoole or Ted Hailstone in the realm of performance, there were a number of good runs recorded behind this driver and his effort with No 60103 Flying Scotsman certainly provided…