Innehållsförteckning för November 2021 från Steam World

Like many other writers in Steam World, my railway travels and adventures in the 1960s were the result of my time in the Armed Forces, as I travelled round the country from base to base and on leave, visiting friends and family across the UK. I joined the Royal Navy almost straight from school aged 15 in early 1964 and served until early 1972. My childhood was spent in Callander in Perthshire on the Dunblane to Oban line and my upstairs bedroom window at 91 Main Street looked over to the line as it entered Callander from the South. ‘Black Fives’ and BR Standards were the order of the day – still my favourite classes to this day! I spent many, many hours at the station with my school pals…

Way back in 1959,1 was a registered British Railways fireman at an ex-LMS locomotive shed, 41D – formerly 19C – Canklow. I had almost five years’ experience on anything between LMS ‘1Fs’ and ‘8F’s in the main, with a few journeys on LMS ‘Garratts’ and BR ‘9Fs’. Of course, I can’t miss out the superb ‘Black Fives’. ‘The loco with long legs’, we young firemen thought, as opposed to the small-wheeled engines. Redundancies of shed staff were creeping in at this time and, with only a few years of BR employment behind us, it saw us lowly firemen being loaned out on some days to Mexborough or Staveley Barrow Hill engine sheds. I don’t remember being given any expenses to cover the cost of riding my Tiger 100 to either…

• Gavin Morrison Steam Photographer – My Favourite Pictures From The BR Era 0150 £35 (including p&p). Be the first to get a copy by pre-ordering now, we’re taking advance orders via the Steam World website, go to www.steamworldmag.co.uk. All pre-publication orders will be delivered post-free in bespoke cardboard protective packaging. Orders will be despatched week commencing November 22.…

I began train-spotting on the Western Region around 1962 when I was 15 years old, first at Iver and later at Reading. My notes from a couple of days by the lineside at Iver in August 1962 were featured long ago in Steam World but concentrated mainly on passenger traffic. However, by that time, only Worcester line trains and a few extras or diesel failures were steam-hauled. Despite the ‘mixed traffic’ specification of the diesel-hydraulics, however, most freight traffic continued to be steam-hauled. The freight traffic itself was certainly ‘mixed’ with today’s block trains of aggregates, oil and containers still well into the future. With the aid of some photographs by the late Don Lovelock, plus one or two from my own collection, here’s a look back at the variety…

As we looked eagerly over the railway lines to the west of Colne station, we saw a train reversing over the viaduct, the crimson and cream carriages gleaming in the morning sunshine. As it edged slowly towards us, we could also see steam from the locomotive and then we saw the number, 45700, and the curved nameplate, Amethyst. It was 8am on Saturday June 27 1953. A few days earlier, a near neighbour, Clifford, who was a few years older than me and who knew about the local railway scene, had asked if I would like to go to our nearest station to watch the London train depart, and so we had walked about a mile to see what was known as the ‘8 o’clock namer’ because it was one…

I stood on Platform 1: it was Carlisle Citadel station and the chill wind was a sharp reminder that winter’s icy grasp had yet to relinquish it’s hold to the onward march of Spring. The icy wind stirred the dust at my feet into mad whirligigs and rustled my oil and soot begrimed boiler suit as it tried – with some success – to penetrate to the very skin. My mind at this moment was still in a turmoil with recent memories of the previous hours which had brought me steadily north from Crewe South marshalling yards to my present environment. The occasion had been the opportunity to work with one of man’s most glorious creations – the steam locomotive. I travelled in the cab of BR ‘Britannia’ 4-6-2 No.70044…

Returning to the theme of holidays – as we now seem to be seeing light at the end of the tunnel (and it’s hopefully not, as one song puts it, ‘the light of an oncoming train’) – the Isle of Wight is of course not the only British holiday isle worth a look for any self-respecting railway enthusiast. The Isle of Man, once the ‘go to’ destination for North West England, retains a lot of vintage steam action, albeit all narrow-gauge. It was of course immortalised (if that’s the right word) in song by troubadour and proud Lancastrian George Formby – best performed with a knowing wink – who won the ‘Tourist Trophy’ (at least on film) in 1935. Until 1966 the summer-only train ‘The Manxman’ would bring passengers up…

I experienced many wonderful sights while trainspotting during the 1950s and the 1960s; one that I recall took place over the weekend of Saturday August 30 to Monday September 1 1958. I and four other teenage trainspotters from my home city of Portsmouth had decided to take advantage of a coach trip emanating from York Way (next to King’s Cross station) to Doncaster, visiting engine sheds en route. The organiser was Mr Ernie Middleton, secretary of the North London Trainspotters’ Club. We opted to set out on what was to be a most memorable trip by catching an electric unit to London (Victoria) from my local station of Fratton, late on the Saturday afternoon. Noted at Fratton was Western Region ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No. 4962 Ragley Hall, while at Chichester…