Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Steam Days

Summer is upon us and, in the halcyon days of steam, what better summer adventure for a railway enthusiast could there be than to head to the seaside steam-hauled for your holidays. Epitomising the romance of that era was the Great Western Railway’s most famous train the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, first introduced some 120 years ago this month. In this issue Peter Kerslake takes us back to July 1954 when the ‘Cornish Riviera’ ran with a special headboard to celebrate its first 50 years, ‘The Limited’, as it was to become known to Great Western men, being a morning departure from Paddington to Penzance, a journey of more than 300 miles. Today you can catch the 10.03 from Paddington, and some 4 hours and 57 minutes later your train will…

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. REX KENNEDY, EDITOR…

The lure of Scotland is strong for many of us and, as I booked my summer holiday in south-west Scotland for 2024, surfing the net for travel and countless accommodation options, and looking to see what attractions might be to hand as days out from base, I began to think about such planning in the early days of British Railways, and unearthed some ephemera to consider the options available 75-years ago. For long distance travellers, it was a case of writing away for the myriad of service details and availability, or dropping by at a larger railway station to see if anything could be found there. While the colourful promotional posters adorning stations tended to be for resort destinations that were within relatively easy striking distance – so not necessarily…

Undoubtedly the premier service of the former Great Western Railway, the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, or ‘Riviera Express’ as it was initially entitled, began life on Friday, 15 July 1904 when at exactly 10am Dean ‘Bulldog’ class 4-4-0 No 3450 Swansea left Penzance for London, the locomotive working as far as Plymouth, with its train and fresh engine from there due into Paddington at 5pm following a journey of 305 miles and running via Bristol. The empty stock for this inaugural up service had been worked down to Penzance the previous day and comprised five clerestory-roofed coaches together with a ‘Dreadnought’ dining car. It was headed from Paddington by Churchward ‘City’ class 4-4-0 No 3433 City of Bath working to Plymouth, from where a replacement engine took the stock on to…

This article is dedicated to R E ‘Bob’ Burroughs of the Isle of Wight Railway Retention Association, who fought so hard to keep the railway at Ventnor open. To me, Ventnor station was ‘love at first sight’. I can still vividly remember as if it were just yesterday, the train bursting out of the tunnel into the fresh sea air. To this day Ventnor has left a very special deep impression on me, and its unique setting is something that once experienced, will never be forgotten. Charles Dickens, the great Victorian novelist wrote, ‘Ventnor, the prettiest place I ever saw in my life, at home or abroad.’ Ventnor station was indeed the prettiest railway station that I have ever been to. It was nestled into a quarried-out chalk down situated…

In the March 2024 issue of Steam Days we presented an introduction to the Crewe Works pilot locomotives story which centred on the steam fleet (so to 8 October 1966) and included the comings and goings of representatives from no less than 24 classes within the dedicated fleet, some 94 engines playing a role, complete with accompanying photographs of most of the classes. This follow up extends the period of coverage to include the ‘changing of the guard’ to a brief era of dedicated diesel pilots, but also it offers an insight into locomotives known to have been commandeered to help out but not officially joining the allocation, while the changing scene is evident from year-on-year accounts of the works’ allocation, as well as moments in time for both allocations…

By a pure coincidence, in July 1964 I was hauled by 10 different steam locomotives that collectively represented all five post-Grouping origins, vis: one Great Western Railway, one Southern Railway, three London, Midland & Scottish Railway, two London & North Eastern Railway and three British Railways. As it is now 60 years since this memorable month of my travels, this seems a suitable time to recall these journeys. Wednesday, 1 July On this, the last full day of term at Reading University, I had a most memorable excursion with a fellow student on the Somerset & Dorset route. I had long heard of this famous line and had discovered much about it recently from my friend, who once lived in Bath and knew the line well. It was a perfect…