I was only… 85 miles from Holyhead

(To the 'Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa' tune obviously…)

Sign at Chester station showing distances to London and Holyhead, 25/6/14

This sign hangs on the wall between platforms 3 and 4 at Chester station, now orange in colour I suspect that it was once painted London Midland Region maroon and over the years the weather has taken its toll…

Its location, high on a wall beside the fast line through the station probably means that it will never be repainted again and so it lingers on, a reminder of the days when railways still erected signs like this one, of little or no use to the railway itself and of only casual interest to passengers using the station.

(The dead bird will probably be there for a while too…)

Industrial Action - Hunslet 0-6-0ST 2705/1945

Industrial locomotives have become something of a passion of mine in recent years and although some are still used by industrial concerns most have now passed into the hands of the preservation movement.

One such locomotive is BEATRICE at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway, a Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-6-0ST built in 1945 as works no.2705.

Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-6-0ST BEATRICE (works no.2705 of 1945) at Bolton Abbey station, 1/6/14

BEATRICE came to Embsay from Ackton Hall Colliery near Pontefract in West Yorkshire and is shown as still being located (and in use) there in 1976 in the Industrial Locomotives book published by the Industrial Railway Society in that year.

Recently overhauled and returned to steam, BEATRICE was in action during my visit on 1st June, easily handling her load of five BR Mk.1 carriages on the 1 in 100 climb out of Bolton Abbey station.

Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-6-0ST BEATRICE (works no.2705 of 1945) at Embsay station, 1/6/14

In addition to views of the wonderful North Yorkshire countryside the E&BAR has an interesting collection of industrial locomotives and a number of beautifully restored vintage carriages that form Stephen Middleton's Stately Trains fleet that have appeared in a number of film and television productions and is well worth a visit.

Southern units… In Rugby!

Having spent a bit of time in the Brighton area recently I quickly became accustomed to seeing Southern's fleet of Class 377 'Electrostars' plying their trade along the south coast and up to London and back.

What came as a bit of surprise though was seeing two such units as far north as Rugby under their own power this week!

Class 377/7 'Electrostar' 377703 at Rugby, 11/6/14

Eight five-car Class 377/7s have been built by Bombardier in Derby with dual-voltage capability allowing them to run on both 750V DC third rail and 25kV AC overhead power supplies.

Dual-voltage Class 377/7 'Electrostar' PTSO 65604 (377704) at Rugby, 11/6/14

The units are due to enter service later this year but are currently undergoing mileage accumulation runs on the West Coast Main Line in pairs with 377703 and 377704 in action on Wednesday.

As an aside, Bombardier recently celebrated completion of their 1000th vehicle for Southern in the form of MSO 70707 which is included in unit 377707.

WD 820, D-Day veteran…

I’m a bit late with this piece given that the 70th anniversary of The Normandy Landings was on Friday but better late than never eh?

Drewry Car Co. 153hp 0-4-0DM WD 820 stands at Caverswall Road station on the Foxfield Railway on 25/7/12

WD 820 was built by Vulcan Foundry in 1941 (from mechanical components supplied by the Drewry Car Co. and frames, wheels and bodywork supplied by English Electric) as part of an order for the Ministry of Supply. Overhauled at the Longmoor Military Railway in April 1944, WD 820 (then numbered WD 30) and three sister locomotives, WD 29, WD 32 and WD 33 crossed the English Channel during Operation Neptune, better known as D-Day, and was one of two locomotives actually landed on Utah Beach!

When relieved by larger locomotives in August 1944 WD 30 was posted further inland, taking up shunting duties around Bayeaux and was renumbered as 70030.

Returning to the UK in 1946 the locomotive was overhauled at Baguley’s works in Burton-on-Trent before being posted to the MoD depot at Bicester where it was renumbered again as WD 820 in 1952. A further tour of duty abroad to Germany followed from 1958-1969 at a British Army of the Rhine (BAoR) depot.

Upon returning to the UK (again) it was posted to two Royal Ordnance Factories, the first being at RoF Birley in Co.Durham and then RoF Radway Green in Cheshire before finally being preserved in 1992.

The photograph was taken during a visit to the Foxfield Railway that Dad and I made in 2012 and at the time I don't think that either of us recognised the significance of this tiny diesel that was tucked away in a corner…