Evening all. We've been out walking today! We arrived in Whitby last night and, following a pleasant overnight stay at Raithwaite, we had planned to walk from Grosmont to Goathland today along the 'Rail Trail'. This route follows the North Yorkshire Moors Railway quite closely and takes you through some lovely countryside. It was a beautiful sunny day and I felt we had been very lucky with the weather. We arrived at Grosmont at around 11am and having parked up in the station car park we wandered up onto the platform to watch the next departure. At the head of the train and providing a very attractive sunlit sight was Thompson B1 4-6-0 No61264...
61264 is of course the sister to the other preserved B1: 61306 "Mayflower": of which I had the pleasure of crewing many times when I was younger. The 4-6-0 got the "Right Away" at 11:30 and duly stormed away up the gradient towards Goathland and beyond. A very sunny Grosmont station was then left quiet. From here, NYMR trains can run along the preserved route to Pickering or cross-over onto the main line to Whitby or Battersby. Steam trains to Whitby run daily from Grosmont in the summer I believe...
"Grosmont Station"
We walked over the level crossing before turning right and walking through the pedestrian side of the Grosmont tunnel. This brings you out at the rear of the engine shed and workshops. The NYMR have a viewing gallery above the running shed and also allow you to walk around the side of the shed to reach a gate which looks into the works. From the gated area I snapped the 1918-built Q6 0-8-0 No63395 which was resting in front of the visiting S160 from the Churnet Valley. There were four steamers out today on the railway...
"Engines At Rest At Grosmont Shed"
We walked back through the tunnel before turning right and heading steeply upgrade. The Rail Trail is a 3.5-mile route to Goathland and the first section involves climbing up and over the Grosmont Tunnel. You gain a surprising amount of ground fairly quickly and we were soon looking down over the station from the summit above the tunnel...
Having reached the top of the tunnel, the path descends back down towards the lineside. The route follows the track bed of George Stephenson's original Whitby & Pickering Railway of 1836; a once horse drawn line. The tunnel through to the engine shed was also once part of this system I believe. The path drops down alongside the engine shed once again and from there we spotted Gresley K4 Class "The Great Marquess" on shed...
The full North Yorkshire Moors Railway shed complex...
The countryside along here is just beautiful. The greenery was lovely to see...
Coming away from the engine shed, the Rail Trail joins the NYMR lineside for a short distance. Right on cue, Black Five No44806 rumbled towards us with a train from Pickering. 44806 was built at Derby in 1944 and was purchased by the NYMR in 2013 after spending many years of her preservation life on the Llangollen Railway...
Leaving the lineside, we continued on towards Goathland...
It took us a couple of hours to do the steady walk. The route is well regarded as being ALL uphill in this direction and indeed the final gradient up to the village takes it out of you! The walk was however very pleasant and very varied. Lush trees and greenery would change to open fields before turning into dark wooded areas on the banks of hidden streams...
Wooded rivers would break up the green landscape for a moment before you continued back into the trees...
In a clearing, not too far from Goathland, the final gradient begins. Its quite a climb up here and we did admittedly have to stop for a "blow up" (a sit on a bench in our case!) before continuing on towards the summit. In the days of the horse drawn wagons, this gradient had to be worked by a counterbalanced weight system to haul the loads up the hill as the horses simply couldn't cope...
The gradient continues on for some time and, having crossed a road to reach the final ascent to the village, we wheezed over the top and sauntered into Goathland. Goathland enjoyed TV fame as the base of the television show "Heartbeat". It was called Aidensfield in the show and the area still draws people to the village under the banner of 'Heartbeat Country'. The TV series included many shots of the NYMR and the village itself was used heavily for the external shoots...
"Goathland Village"
We bought a little vintage tin in the Aidensfield (Goathland) shop before wandering down towards the Garage on route to the station...
With the sun continuing to shine and the temperature still fairly strong, we decided we needed some liquid refreshment after our climb to the village. For those not feeling sympathy, we don't do a lot of walking so this was a big thing for us! We enjoyed a drink outside the Aidensfield Arms, again made famous by Heartbeat...
Thirsts quenched, we wandered down towards Goathland Station where we purchased two Single tickets to Grosmont. We thought about walking back and, perhaps if it hadn't been so hot, we might have done. Goathland station was also used during the filming of Heartbeat but in recent years it has gained fame in the Harry Potter film series as "Hogsmeade"...
We enjoyed an Ice Cream from the station cafe whilst waiting for the train to arrive. Sods law, the train was hauled by the Class 25 Diesel "Sybilla"...
"Can't Win Them All"
We boarded the BR stock behind the Class 25 for our short ride to Grosmont, forming the 2:50pm train. The next train up from Grosmont was hauled by the BR Standard Class 4 Mogul No76079 which duly barked into the platform making a right noise! The gradient up into Goathland is 1 in 49 I believe and it certainly made the 'Pocket Rocket' make her voice heard. You can't help but appreciate the effort put in by the loco's up here...
With 76079 out of the section, the 25' was given the "Right Away" and we duly departed down grade towards Grosmont. The full route of the NYMR is 18 miles between Grosmont and Pickering and we'll be riding the entire line tonight on the Diner: I'm looking forward to that! The diesel took us gently downgrade back to base whilst we surveyed the scenery we had just walked through out of the carriage window. The B1 was waiting to take over the service as we pulled into Grosmont...
"Returning To Grosmont"
I finally managed to get an unhindered shot of the B1 No61264...
Having left the train at Grosmont and captured the B1 alone, we wandered back to the car for the journey back to Raithwaite. We hadn't got long before we needed to be back for the Diner and so we headed off without haste. The B1 was simmering at the head of the stock near the level crossing as we passed. What a lovely railway and a very nice walk along the Rail Trail. Cheers all, Sam...
Hi all. This weekend myself and Maisie were off to the North Yorkshire Moors and, on route, we decided to have a wander around York. As any self-respecting railway enthusiast knows, York is home to the wonderful National Railway Museum and no outing to the city would be complete without a visit. The NRM is the central home of the National Collection and welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. This would be, if memory serves me right, my sixth visit to the museum and we arrived at around 11am. Having passed through the reception area (the NRM is FREE to enter) we sauntered down the steps into the Great Hall. The Great Hall includes the turntable area and a varied selection of beautiful engines rest peacefully at its border. The items on show within the museum are moved about periodically and this varies the display for the onlooker. The last steam locomotive built for BR: the 9F No92220 "Evening Star": was posed not far from the much older 1901-built SECR Wainwright D Class 4-4-0...
Two beautiful GNR examples were resting on the other side of the turntable. These were the amazing Stirling Single No1 and No990 "Henry Oakley"; the small-boilered Atlantic by Ivatt. 990 is the smaller version of the C1 4-4-2 which was complimented later on by the larger boiler type of which No251 is the sole survivor. The engines certainly made an impressive sight stood alongside each other...
"Stirling Single No1 and Ivatt Small-Boiler C1 No990 Henry Oakley"
Next to the GNR engines was "Lode Star"; GWR No4003 of 1907. She is the only remaining Star Class 4-6-0. The NRM is an interesting place to look around mainly due to the fact that it shows the development of steam. The GNR for example adopted the large wheel of the Single before moving on to the Atlantic's. The Great Western however found success in the Star's and nothing really changed in terms of development until the end of steam on the Western region. The Castle's and King's were developments on the Star's to some degree, but retained the crucial basics that other companies were determined to evolve from. For example, the change from Stirling No1 to "Mallard" is quite considerable, but the Star to the Castle shows very much sister-like similarities. Here is the immaculate cab of "Lode Star": its just beautiful...
We wandered into the next section of the Great Hall and into the "Flying Scotsman Story". This exhibition talks all about the famous engine and the famous train she and her shed-mates once pulled. One thing that was missing was "Flying Scotsman" herself but, through a small window, I did spot her. The familiar cab side and tender boxes were spotted, plus the number 60103. Almost every person was walking by this window without even noticing and I guess that was the idea. The A3 was there being prepped for a railtour this weekend and was not on public display. Interesting it was to think how people were spending so much time talking about the famous pacific and she was actually, unbeknown to them, only feet away. She was by no means close enough to photograph but she was definitely there. In the NRM workshop, work was continuing on A4 Pacific "Sir Nigel Gresley". The big blue engine is usually based on the NYMR at Grosmont but her current 10-year overhaul is taking place at York. A few hands were busy on the frames, needle-gunning away the old paint as surface preparation...
"Gresley A4 Pacific No60007 Sir Nigel Gresley"
From the works gallery we wandered through into Station Hall and admired the other coaches and locomotives on view. The Royal Train rolling stock is always worth a look. Returning to the Great Hall on our way out, we passed No2500; Stanier's chunky three-cylinder 2-6-4 tank engine. I hope they get this one going one day...
The Great Hall was now filling up due to the upcoming turntable demonstration, starring the 'Ugly Duckling': the Q1 Class 0-6-0. Those Q1's are strange looking workhorses...
"The Bulleid Q1 Class On The Turntable For The Demo"
It had been a brief but very pleasant visit to the National Railway Museum and I do very much enjoy it there. Its lovely to see such immaculate engines sat around being enjoyed by so many. One thing I will say though is that I was a little disappointed with the way certain engines were exhibited. The Terrier "Boxhill" is a good example, sat away in a corner somewhere in a corporate area. I know you can't display everything, I understand that, but there are wagons taking up valuable indoor space which could be utilised by locomotives. Lets face it, the general public probably want to see locomotives not wagons. Anyway, less moaning. After the NRM we wandered around York and had a nice afternoon shopping. From there we continued on towards our stop-over destination near Whitby. The main reason for the weekend up here was to visit the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and finally 'tick it off' the list. We were passing the Grosmont area on route to Whitby at around 6:30pm and so I decided to drive down (and down is the word - it must be a 1 in 3 into the village!) to the station to check it out. The Friday evening Diner was simmering in the platform under a tranquil sky...
At the head of the "Kingsthorpe Pullman" stood 1937-built LMS Black Five 4-6-0 No45428 "Eric Treacy". Eric Treacy was a railway photographer and former Bishop of Wakefield. The Black Five was simmering away to herself, awaiting the off at 7:15pm...
"Black Five 4-6-0 No45428 Eric Treacy"
It was a very nice atmosphere at Grosmont. The Black Five was simmering quietly away to herself with nothing but the sound of birdsong and evening pub chat from outside the Station Tavern. Having looked at the 5MT, I jumped back into the car and we continued on towards our hotel at Raithwaite Hall. We'll be travelling on the Diner tomorrow night and, of course, I'll be posting about it in due course. Cheers all, Sam...
Hello. At the end of each July, the Welland Steam Rally has been providing an action packed heritage weekend in the shadow of the Malvern hills for 52 years now. The rally includes a lot of the usually expected attractions as well as a number of working displays, showing off various skills and trades of yesteryear. Amongst the countless road going exhibits, there are two demonstration railways: one standard gauge, one 2ft gauge. Statfold's Vertical-Boilered 0-4-0 "Howard" had been invited down to the Worcestershire site for a weekend on the 'Road Making' demonstration and volunteers from the SBR were sought to crew the engine. Myself & JB were asked and kindly accepted the invitation. This morning, not long after 6am, we were off in the direction of Welland in JB's much loved 1982 Land Rover Defender. John has been at the helm of the 3.5-litre V8 beast for over 25 years now and the spotting of the machine is always a giveaway of his presence! It was my first ride out in the Defender and we had a good trip down...
We arrived at the rally site at not long before 7:30am, having encountered very little traffic. Having rowed with Security (I think they thought we were impostors!) we finally managed to get in, escorted by one of the organisers. Parking was thankfully very close to the engine which we discovered waiting patiently on the 2ft gauge track...
"The Discovery of Howard"
Neither of us had been on "Howard" (formerly "Paddy") before and so a good look around the machine was necessary prior to lighting up. Thankfully, yesterdays crew of James and Ian had left the engine in a very fit state and so John soon had a blaze going. The engine carries a 'thimble-tube' (water tube) boiler, unlike the much more common smoke-tube examples. The fire sits below the water filled tubes with quite a low firehole door. With some good, dry wood on the grate, "Howard" soon began crackling away...
I came to Welland on my first visit two years ago and found it to be a very pleasant and varied event. I think its fair to say that we were both looking forward to the days proceedings. Once the wood had taken hold, some hefty lumps of Welsh steam coal were placed strategically on top. The tender contained a vast amount of slack and so, with only an embryo fire, I decided to play it safe and mine for the lumps. "Howard" steamed up gradually alongside a very nice Portable engine which was being used to work the stone crusher. Portables were used for stationary steam power, providing motion to the selected implement via the flywheel belt...
"Howard And The Portable"
With the fire now being left to "sort its life out" as Batesy would say, I set to with the oil cans. The engine is also vertical on this quirky locomotive and I believe it is derived from a steam launch. There are two cylinders, providing downward motion to a cross-shaft which then chain drives the leading axle via two fairly chunky sprockets. Power to the rear axle is then transmitted via the outside connecting rods. The oiling points are mostly pots with trimmings. I used all of my contortionist skills to bend my arms into the various positions required to oil the engine before, upon completion, realising that there is a fairly handy trap door (with No6 on it) to allow full and easy access. "Grand". Anyway, with the engine oiled and steam raising nicely, JB decided that some snap was required. I duly returned with two hearty breakfast cobs which JB, in his usual tone, didn't particularly enthuse over! I thought it was just what the doctor ordered...
With steam gently climbing towards the full working pressure of 120psi, "Howard" was prepared for movement. The vertical engine has both drain cocks and valve chest drains, all four of which worked as a team to successfully coat the rails in oil and condensate. Thus, the first trip: with myself on the regulator for John's amusement: provided some heavy slipping as the 0-4-0 protested to the rail condition. With the weight moving steadily, we struggled up the gradient and eventually ceased progress not far from the top. Having dropped back down gently with the handbrake on, the wheels began to dry off a little. The second trip was much more successful and "Howard" romped up the incline towards the top. The gradient is fairly strong on the demo line, we reckon 1 in 50 at the foot and so its a good chuff to get moving before easing back and chugging along merrily. JB was in his element as he showed me how it was done...
"JB Driving 'Howard' On The Road Making Demo Line"
But his interest soon changed to nearby goings on and out came the camera...
Whilst JB did his all-important filming of proceedings, I chugged gently back and forth on the regulator. The process for the day was simple. The loaded tipplers would provide stone (when/if required) to the stone crusher which was being worked by the Portable. The crushed stone would be loaded into a barrow and raked out in front of the F-Type roller which would then roll it to make a road. The ensemble was completed very nicely by period signage, barriers, tooling and overalls and it all came together to provide a very pleasant atmosphere. Here is a short clip taken behind "Howard" by JB as I drive up the incline on another demo run...
The weather was very mixed. The morning was warm but overcast with a very positive change near dinner time. The sun came out as we enjoyed a tea break...
I had a quick look around the show before returning to relieve JB. The engine was steaming very well on minimal fire and the trusty Weir pump was very handy for filling the boiler at an exciting rate when required. JB then went off for a walk around before returning half an hour later bearing gifts...
JB had commented that he had held up his Ice Cream to the enlarged picture of the '99' adorning the Ice Cream Van window before proclaiming "Its Shrunk!". With a possible Trade Descriptions case quashed, we returned to the job in hand. A bright yellow JCB soon appeared and loaded the second tippler with stone, pretty much doubling the load. It was all part of the fun...
"Loading The Second Tippler"
For the rest of the day we continued as we were. We chugged up the hill before coasting back down. The vertical engine arrangement allowed us to drive the engine in traction engine fashion, using the reverser to provide 'engine braking'. The handbrake on "Howard" is of similar use to one fitted to a canoe and thus, without the aid of the piston compression, we'd have probably ended up in the next field after a sharp descent. A conventional engine may not have took to the arrangement as well as this engine did. The Aveling roller is spotted below, with the stone we previously provided being rolled out...
Though we spent the majority of our time with the engine, the 'one-man' operation allowed us to enjoy the show for brief periods as well. The following pictures have been included for your interest but can by no means do justice to what was on offer at Welland 2016. First off, the other Statfold machine visiting the event was the very popular Erie Steam Shovel. Driven by SBR owner Graham Lee, the engine was busy excavating all weekend. A sizeable crowd was drawn by its unusual and very noisy operation...
Down in the Fairground, a beautiful line-up of immaculate Showman's engines were standing Guard. This was only half of them if that...
The late Len Crane's beautiful Fowler Crane Engine impressed me very much with its interesting load: billed as a brand new Lancashire boiler. This load certainly showed just what Road Locomotive's of this size were meant to do...
Naturally there was the typical miniature contingent. Some of the engines on display are regulars at our annual rallies...
Later on in the day I watched the miniature engines parade into the arena. I counted over 30 engines on display, of course there could have been more that didn't come to the line-up. Seeing a line-up like this provides me a Busman's Holiday!...
"The Sunday Miniature Engine Parade"
On the standard gauge demo line the most unusual Dubs Crane Tank from Foxfield was trundling up and down giving Brakevan rides. Built in 1901, this 14" cylinder 0-4-0 worked for Shelton Iron & Steel Works in Stoke-On-Trent. She was used for various lifting operations around the works; lifting locomotives and wagons back onto the track for example. The Dubs survived in active service there until 1968 and now enjoys regular active use on the Foxfield. These crane tanks, like the road going variants, show the advent of the first mobile cranes...
Naturally there were also many other working displays such as Wood Sawing and Threshing...
Not far from us, this beautiful Fowler Ploughing Engine was working in tandem with a similar example to provide the Ploughing display...
There was far too much to see for my words and images to do justice: it really was a great show. I couldn't help but think how one could lose probably more than a full day around here. As well as everything mentioned there were many classic cars, tractors, motorcycles and lorries as well as stalls, trade stands, stationary engines, military vehicles and more.
Anyway, after a good walk round in the warm afternoon sunshine, I returned to the railway. John was still steaming merrily back and forth up and down the demo line. As he fancied another cuppa', I took over the regulator. I stopped at the top of the line for a chat with a gent interested in "Howard". This was the view looking back...
"Howard" was certainly getting alot of interest. The quirky looks of the locomotive and the interesting livery seems to really age her. The machine was actually made in 2007 from some odds and ends that the previous owner had to hand. The chassis is from a diesel shunter I believe, whilst the engine is from a steam launch. Many people certainly thought the engine was much older than she actually is. The vertical engine is smoother in operation than you'd think, once you get the weight moving. With the bark of the chimney, the squealing of the lightly laid track and the sights and sounds of the stone crusher, you could have been fooled into thinking we were on a real quarry railway. Here the engine is captured in the display area, dropping back towards the loading point...
"Welland Steam Rally Road Making Display"
The attractive livery really adds to the aged look of this fairly young engine...
After a few more chugs up and down with the loaded stone tipplers, it was time to park them up and uncouple them. Once unloaded, the 0-4-0 hissed gently forward before being screwed down ready for disposal. The engine and the Erie will be off back home to Statfold tomorrow after a most enjoyable weekend in Worcestershire...
"A Last Look At Howard"
It had been a very pleasant day crewing "Howard" on behalf of the SBR at Welland. This unusual engine is surprisingly pleasant to drive and is much stronger than she looks. The rally itself had also been most successful and apparently 35,000 people attended over the 3-day weekend. I must thank JB for his amusing company and of course the ride in the Landy, as well as of course Statfold Barn for giving us the opportunity to come and do the job. Another most enjoyable experience. If you've ever wondered where "Howard" hides at Statfold, you'll find her steaming around the lake in the garden! Cheers all, Sam...
