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Stoxnet Awards 2024 Driver of the Year 1st Tom Harris - 9 awards 2nd Craig Finnikin - 5 awards 3rd - Frankie Wainman Jnr - 4 awards Track of the year (Average RR Scores) 1st Northampton Shaleway - 7.66 2nd Skegness- 7.59 3rd Kings Lynn - 7.49 Meeting of the Year 1st October 26th Bradford 9.80 2nd September 14th Skegness 8.92 3rd August 24th Bradford 8.53 That's all folks. Here's to Season 2025... That's all folks - hope to see you

Photos of Andy Stott, Derek Green, Roger Warnes. Photos of Harry Steward, Austin Moore, John Wright, Dave Taylor, Steve Lewin, Peter Morton, John Brown, Dave Taylor. Photos of Vic Ryll, Dick Young, Glyn Pursey, Chris Carruthers, Graham Bunter. Newspaper cutting of Bert Lord. Photos from Aycliffe 20th September 1987. Updated results from Harringay 13th August 1954. Photos of Bill Wright and Royce Garton. Updated results plus a photo from Neath Abbey 17th June 1955. Local newspaper coverage of Wombwell 2nd August 1954. Photo and info of Eddie Wright. Photos of Eric Bolan, Ted Perkin , and Derek Walker.

1st March - Official Livestream - Be there live, or watch it live! Nothing beats being trackside and the sight and sound of being there, but if you can’t make it, the stream will feature a multi camera view and live commentary from the team that brought you Premier Sports footage and the team who have brought you our previous live streams! Any companies wishing to sponsor the Stream and have their logo/company name in the broadcast, please get in touch! A partnership costs £100 plus VAT and for this, partners receive: a) a free ticket to the meeting or a complimentary subscription to the live streaming b) an advert in the meeting programme c) an advert which will be played several times on the live stream d) £10 will be donated to the "Driver of the Day " competition which will increase the amount of money won by whoever is voted. You will also receive 5 votes for the Driver of the Day and also receive 5 entries into the draw for a free ticket for a forthcoming meeting. Anyone interested in becoming a live streaming partner should please email gr@norfolkarena.co.uk Fans looking to purchase the live stream will have the choice to pay the £12.99 or pay an enhanced fee of £14.99. The additional £2 is a donation to our driver of the day fund and will be combined with the donations from advance ticket sales. The link to the Stream is here -https://www.247.tv/live/ovalracing/video/1215447-2025-stock-car-season-opener-f2-stock-car-wcqr-saloon-stock-car-charlene-kingston-memorial-1300-stock-cars-saturday-1st-mar-2025-5-00pm

Stock Car Racing is Magic …over 70 years of Thrills Of The Century! Thrills, spills, racing, crashing and bumping the opposition out the way; is all part of the game and spectacle! The big and brutal F1 Stock Cars, loud and proud Stock Car action, will start their 2025 season right here and what a year of F1 action we have coming up at King’s Lynn; the biggest race of the year coming to King’s Lynn in September with the World Championship, a brilliant year of F1 racing incoming. Racing alongside are the superb bumper-antics of the Saloon Stock Cars racing for the Charlene Kingston memorial, the Saloons also have their World Championship at King’s Lyn in August and the awesome National MiniStox will be on the line up . . . who also have their Gold Roof race at King’s Lynn. A golden year at King’s Lynn kicking off right here. A great night of Stock Cars, not to be missed. As seen on Top Gear in 2022! Noise, colour, smell, friends, family and . . . awesome Short Oval Motorsport. It really has to be seen live to be believed. Event and driver booking details will be available closer to the time, the Spectator gate will open from 3pm, first race 5pm. The arena boasts great viewing all around (plenty of under cover viewing too!), FREE on site and overflow parking, disabled viewing, licensed bars, ample food outlets and other great facilities. Help the Drivers who Entertain you by donating voluntarily to the bonus fund when buying advance tickets and that will be awarded to the drivers with the most votes! Please do not park on the main road outside the Arena on race days; this is causing issues with traffic and resulting in a number of complaints. There is an onsite car park and an overflow parking field. Car parking at King’s Lynn is provided free of charge, please do use this. We would also to like ask everyone to be considerate of our neighbouring Industrial area and to park respectfully if using that space. Advance tickets are not necessary, but are recommended and cheaper than at the box office and are available now - remember kids 11 and under go free when booked in advance https://www.stockcar-racing.co.uk/ Lets get ready to rumble! Action packed entertainment for family and friends at the Adrian Flux Arena.

Additional info about Neath Abbey. Photos of Roger Bowyer, Paul Carter, Gordon Smith, Steve Bird. Updated results from Neath Abbey 17th June 1955. Photos of Warren Jackson, Pete Bashford, Lee Robinson, Peter Hobbs, Ray Scriven, Steve Williams, Kyle Gray. Photos from Coventry 5th November 1983. Photos from Belle Vue 24th September 1983. Photos from Belle Vue 26th September 1981. Photos from Sheffield 21st September 1981.

The Stock Car season will roar into life with our traditional Stock Car opener, Saturday 1st March, - on the billing are the always entertaining F2 Stock Cars in World Championship Qualifying action, the brutal fence rattling Saloon Stock Cars battle for the Charlene Kingston Memorial and now with added incentive as a World Ranking event too for this year, PLUS the sensational 1300cc Stock Cars. This is always a brilliant meeting and kicks off what will be another massive Stock Car Season in 2025 at King's Lynn. Event and driver booking details will be available closer to the time, the Spectator gate will open from 3pm, first race 5pm. The arena boasts great viewing all around (plenty of under cover viewing too!), FREE on site and overflow parking, disabled viewing, licensed bars, ample food outlets and other great facilities. Help the Drivers who Entertain you by donating voluntarily to the bonus fund when buying advance tickets and that will be awarded to the drivers with the most votes! Please do not park on the main road outside the Arena on race days; this is causing issues with traffic and resulting in a number of complaints. There is an onsite car park and an overflow parking field. Car parking at King’s Lynn is provided free of charge, please do use this. We would also to like ask everyone to be considerate of our neighbouring Industrial area and to park respectfully if using that space. Advance tickets are not necessary, but are recommended and cheaper than at the box office and are available now - remember kids 11 and under go free when booked in advance https://www.stockcar-racing.co.uk/ Drivers and fans flock to the Arena for this now traditional Stock Car session; lots of cars, lots of action – one great season opener! Lets get ready to rumble! Action packed entertainment for family and friends at the Adrian Flux Arena.

Hi there folks. Welcome to episode 5. In this one: Section 1: F2 pics from Bristol, Taunton, Skegness and St Day. Section 2: Out and About in Northern Ireland - Antrim Railway Station, Falls Road, Crumlin Road Gaol, Shankill Road. Section 3: Odds and Ends – Miscellaneous, Blackpool Transport Spot, Modern Traction, Furness Railway. Section 1 Bristol – Sunday August 4th 2024 – Final winner Dan Kent (976) It was the annual Pink Ribbon Trophy up for grabs. Pink front bumpers and bows Regular visitor Phil Mann Brian Shadbolt made an appearance Meeting info Taunton – Monday August 5th 2024 – Final winner – Jon Palmer (24) Lewis Geraty Kasey Jones looking good with a red roof Murray Jones’ son Jack was out in the ORCi Ministox Team Jones Phil Mann had a hefty crash in Ht.3 after tangling with Ben Goddard (895) Front corner and nerf rail to fix Jack Bunter was another to require front end repairs after Ht.3 The Taffy & Bryn Thomas Memorial Trophy The Taffy & Bryn Thomas Memorial Trophy was raced for across two race meetings resulting in bonus awards and additional prize funding for both fixtures. The trophy was hand crafted by former racer Richard Mumford and features drill rigs and F2 Stock Cars. The first phase saw the drivers race at the Mendips Raceway the day before. The prize money on that meeting final was doubled. This evening at Smeatharpe the prize money on the meeting final was also doubled. Points scored on the Sunday at Mendips (full meeting) and here at Smeatharpe (up to and including the Final) was factored on a multiplication system. The highest points scorer under the system at the end of the Final at this evening’s meeting won the Taffy & Bryn Thomas Memorial Trophy. The multiplier factors are: White x 6 Yellow x 5 Blue x 4 Red/Star x 3 There was grade awards – a brand-new tyre for the top scoring White, Yellow and Blue grade driver across the two meetings. Matt Stoneman was the victor pictured here with the stunning trophy Skegness – Thursday August 8th 2024 – Final winner – Aiden Grindey (355) Jak Marshall Notable at this meeting was a huge follow-in on Harley Thackra from Jake Wilson: The damage was substantial: St Day – Sunday August 11th 2024 – Final winner – Kieren Bradford (27) The Matt Westaway car required the porta-power Team Lindsay Alfie Brimble took his maiden win in Ht.1. He followed this up with victory in Ht.3, and a second-place finish in the Final. Richie Andrews was put in by Ben Borthwick during the GN Paul Rice won the GN Bristol – Sunday August 25th 2024 – Final winner – Neil Hooper (676) This Marina was in the car park Diff and prop work pre-meeting for Jamie Cocks Likewise for Matt Linfield Zach Linfield’s Junior Super Two The first of two front enders for Daz Purdy Julian Coombes was another to suffer the same fate Jordan Butcher sustained some l/h side damage A carbon copy of the first one for Daz In the battle for the track championship Dan Roots (776) fired Matt Stoneman (127) into the turn 1 fence Taunton – Monday August 26th 2024 – Final winner – Julian Coombes (828) First F2 meeting for Tiverton’s Angelo Carey. He had raced Bangers previously, and was using the ex-Jess Ward (86) car run by Craig Driscoll (12) Nowhere better to spend a sunny Bank Holiday. The pre-meeting Grand Parade passes by the crowd. All the Star men were in Ht.2 as the first race was for the White & Yellow Grade Series Final. Charlie Lobb & Paul Moss come to grief in the Consolation After fencing Harley Burns (992) in Ht.2 Sy Harraway felt the full force of a multi-car attack in the Final One of his attackers draws alongside Back in the pits the extent of the damage was plain to see The Final for the Club 21 Trophy was won by Julian Coombes. He had previously won it in 2016. Section 2 – Out and About Northern Ireland After a weekend at Nutts Corner a few days were spent in and around Belfast. We start at: Antrim Railway Station Antrim, county town of the same name in Northern Ireland, is located on the main Belfast to Derry line, constructed by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railways. Antrim Station opened in 1848, and became a junction for the Great Northern branch line to Lisburn in 1871. The Lisburn to Antrim branch closed in 1961, but reopened in 1974 by NIR, and recently lost its passenger service again in 2005. The branch line remains in use for empty stock and diversion trains. The BNCR station buildings, designed by Berkeley Dean Wise, all remain in fine order at Antrim. The NCC built signal cabin at the south end of the station was demolished in the mid 1980s and replaced by a newer structure adjacent to the level crossing at the north end of the station. The black & white pics that follow of the station are credited to ‘downmemorylane’ The year is 1933 and the station has not changed much over the years. The posters on the wall to the right are advertising Antrim Technical School. Also, one is concerning the sale of Small Farms and Farms of Land. Waiting for passengers in 1935 is a fine coach and a horse. In the background can be seen two porters either side of a lady with her bicycle. A mid-fifties view This is engine No.14. An NCC Class V 0-6-0 pulling goods southbound on the 26th June 1937. The train is called " Dunluce Castle " and was built in 1942 by the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow. Seen here at Antrim railway station in 1958. When it was withdrawn from service in 1963 it had completed 1,135,484 miles. This is on permanent display at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra. The NCC built signal cabin at the south end of the station was demolished in the mid-1980s. It was replaced by a newer structure adjacent to the level crossing at the north end of the station. The station had a cast-iron and glass canopy on the down platform, and a waiting shelter on the other. Still in use today, although the canopy has lost its glazing. The original footbridge was replaced in 2001. The old footbridge is still on site. It was built by Walter MacFarlane's Saracen Foundry in Glasgow. In the 19th and 20th centuries Glasgow was renowned for shipbuilding and engineering. Products poured out from Glasgow foundries and engineering shops to every country in the world. Walter Macfarlane & Co’s Saracen foundry manufactured cast iron products for clients all over the world to places such as India, Japan, Jamaica and more. The firm’s trade catalogues include designs for a huge range of grand ornamental pieces, like lampposts, drinking fountains, bandstands, gates and even urinals. Some of their work can still be found abroad, and in Glasgow such as the Saracen Fountain in Alexandra Park, within Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens, the Bailie Martin memorial drinking fountain at Arcadia Street, and even the lamp-post stands outside the Mitchell Library. Born in 1817 just outside of Glasgow in Torrance of Campsie, East Dunbartonshire, Walter Macfarlane started his career at a jeweller in Glasgow and later was apprenticed as a blacksmith to James Buchanan based in Stockwell Street. He acted as foreman at the Moses, McCulloch & Co. Cumberland foundry for ten years. He decided to set up on his own in 1850 at Saracen Lane, Gallowgate, in partnership with his brother-in-law MP Thomas Russell and businessman James Marshall. The foundry quickly diversified from plumbing parts into producing ornamental and sanitary cast ironwork. The expanding foundry moved to a site at Washington Street in 1862, before moving again less than ten years later to the former Possil estate, purchased from Sir Archibald Alison. The new foundry was huge, a 14-acre purpose-built foundry and showroom, with its own railway network and grand entrance gates at Hawthorn Street displaying the name Saracen Foundry. A whole new suburb named Possilpark was established for foundry workers, and the local population dramatically increased to around 10,000. The town council praised the ‘skill and intelligence’ of the site’s arrangement, although others were dismayed by the foundry’s pollution nicknaming the site ‘Fossiltown’. By the 1890’s some 1200 workers were employed at the foundry. Macfarlane’s had become the largest architectural iron founders in Scotland. Walter Macfarlane became involved in politics and was a city councillor before his death in 1885. His nephew, Walter Macfarlane Junior became a partner in 1880, and the firm eventually passed to his son, another Walter. Post war, and with the decline of the British Empire, the market for architectural cast iron fell sharply. In 1965 the firm was taken over, and the once proud Saracen Foundry buildings demolished is 1967. Sadly, the requisitioning of ironwork during the Second Word War obliterated many Macfarlane fountains, bandstands, and railings. Today, thankfully the firm’s remaining work is held with more regard. The impact of the Saracen Foundry on a whole area of the city and its global presence has left a lasting memory still preserved through the firm’s surviving works and catalogues. (Glasgow Life) Behind the stack of concrete sleepers can be seen the Translink Ulsterbus depot which adjoins the station Ok, let us now catch the train to Belfast. We’ll be having a walk along both Falls Road & Shankill Road. There are many murals painted on gable ends and walls along both of these thoroughfares. I have not included all my photos of these as some have graphic images and highly politicised words which I don’t feel is suitable for this forum. Both areas are not recommended to walk around after dark. We start with a look at Falls Road. The Falls Road is undoubtedly one of the most famous roads in Belfast, a Nationalist & Republican area that gained worldwide media coverage during an era known as The Troubles. 'The Falls' as it is locally referred to, showcases this era with stunning street art, otherwise known as the Belfast Murals. The artworks in the area deliver a message from a Republican perspective, from the past to the present day. Political events both locally and worldwide that Irish Republicanism either sees as injustices, or have shared political viewpoints in common are often expressed in these works of art. Early History The road originally began its life as a small country lane leading in & out of Belfast. The Falls Road inherits its English name from the ancient Irish phrase 'túath na bhFál'. Meaning, 'territory of the enclosures'. The size of the territory was equal to the Shankill civil parish and it included the greater part of today’s modern city of Belfast. Industrial Revolution With the turn of the 19th century heavy industry had arrived, with large linen mills being built nearby in Bedford Street & the Linen Quarter. During this time, Belfast had become the world leader in linen production, even being nicknamed 'Linenopolis'. The Falls Catholic population grew rapidly due to the new sources of employment, attracting people who lived nearby. With thousands of new jobs and opportunity, newly constructed housing began popping up around the Falls area for the influx of new workers, forming a tight knit community of narrow streets & terraced houses. The Civil Rights Movement In August 1969 several streets were burnt out just off the Falls Road, with six Catholics killed. Due to tensions of the civil rights movement taking off during this period, the British Army were drafted in to protect Catholics from future attacks. However, their heavy-handed tactics isolated many of the local residents. This event could well be argued as the beginning of ‘The Troubles’ and what unfortunately lay ahead. The Falls Curfew The following year, the British Army sealed off the Falls in what has become known today as 'Battle of the Falls'. Three thousand homes were sealed in for 36 hours while the army searched house to house for weapons. The curfew quickly turned into a riot with local residents after the use of tear gas which then progressed with guns being brought onto the streets by the local Provisional IRA, and live round exchanges being made with the British Army. The operation saw 337 people arrested, 78 people wounded and four local residents being killed. The incident increased support for the IRA, turning the Catholic community against the British Army. Over the next 30 years Northern Ireland experienced an era which is referred to as 'The Troubles'. Even though peace walls and lines had been erected to quell violence in what would become known as interface areas - 'troubled flashpoints', such as Cupar Way & 'The Peace Wall' separating both the Shankill Road & Falls Road existed. Tit-for-tat attacks and killings spread throughout the country with the Falls Road & Shankill experiencing some of its worst. The British Army kept a strong presence on the streets of West Belfast with an observation post on top of Divis Tower. Many people lost their lives during this era, until the ceasefire was signed by the IRA in 1994. The following year Bill Clinton the President of the United States visited the Falls Road to lend his support to the peace process, and what would later develop into the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. (Text & pics courtesy of City Tours Belfast) This mural entitled ‘Still Waters’ by Nomad Clan relate to Belfast’s ship building heritage, its linen and its rope industry. The wolf relates to the wildlife in the local countryside and the artwork also features a gay woman relating to Belfast being a city that banned gay marriage & struggles with women’s rights. Arrayed against the forces of the British Army (which are shown in armoured cars and in sniping positions in the foreground of the mural, along the whole length of the wall) are various symbols of Irish nationalism: Oliver Sheppard‘s 1911 statue of Cú Chulaınn dying; the pikemen of the 1798 Rebellion); the four provinces of Ireland; Érıu the mythological queen of Ireland/Éıre ; Easter lilies; the emblems of Na Fıanna Évreann and Cumann Na mBan on either side of a quote from (The Mainspring) Sean MacDiarmada “We bleed that the nation may live; I die that the nation may live. Damn your concessions, England: we want our country”; a phoenix rising from the flames of the burning Dublin GPO; the GPO flying an ‘Irish Republic’ flag; portraits of signatories and other rebels — (left) Padraig H. Pearse, Thomas J Clarke, Eamonn Ceannt, Thomas MacDonagh, (right) Countess Markievicz, James Connolly, Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas Plunkett. At the very bottom is a quote from the mother of Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly, Harriet Kelly: “We want the freedom of our country and your soldiers out.” A vibrant and colourful mural has brightened up the walls of an Irish language primary school on the Falls Road. Gaelscoil an Lonnáin have been enriching and contributing to Irish language education in West Belfast for over 20 years. Situated on the Falls Road, the school continues to grow with over 70 children enrolled, including at the naíscoil. Local renowned artist Marty Lyons created the stunning piece, which visually brings to life the rich history and culture of the Irish language for the kids and the community to enjoy. When he was painting it the kids had the opportunity to get involved with the painting and be a part of it. It starts with old mythology with the Children of Lir and Cú Chulainn and the history of the hedge schools right up to An Dream Dearg. The ‘Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum‘ which is across the street is named for Eileen Hickey, a Provisional IRA member who served time in Armagh prison; she died in 2006, one year before the opening of the museum (obituary at An Phoblacht). The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (amwu.org.au) sponsored this mural. A painted plaque adjacent to it reads, “Casement Memorial. In proud memory of the 10 Republican prisoners who died on hunger strike in “H” blocks of Long Kesh in 1981. “It is not those who can inflict the most but those who can endure the most who will conquer.” Terence McSwiney. Unveiled by Martin McGuinness, Sınn Féın MP MLA Minister for Education Wednesday 6/12/2000. Donated by AMWU, Craig Johnston State Secretary”. The plaque itself is in Carlton, Australia. Secretary Johnston is on the left in the back. The flag to the right is the flag of the Eureka Stockade. This mural joins others sponsored by Australian groups: A Bunch Of Live Wires (sponsored by the Electrical Trades Union) | Caırde Sınn Féın | Australian Aid For Ireland & Saoırse Melbourne. For the Electrical Trades Union The Bobby Sands mural: This is perhaps one of the most famous murals in Belfast. It depicts the image of Bobby Sands, who was a prominent nationalist figure during the Troubles. Sands is perhaps best known for being the first prisoner to die on a hunger strike for the Irish Republican cause. Since 1982 (and perhaps earlier) Beechmount Avenue in west Belfast has been known as “RPG Avenue”, after the rocket-propelled grenade launchers used by the IRA. This shows that the street still retains its unofficial name and also gives the names of various volunteers from A Coy, 2nd Battalion, including Pat McGeown, a hunger striker whose family intervened when he lapsed into a coma, and who was elected to Belfast City Council in 1993 and died in 1996 of a heart attack. We’ll take a walk along Shankill Road after our next port of call. Crumlin Road Gaol – Belfast’s Infamous Prison Crumlin Road Gaol first opened its gates to prisoners in 1846 and for 150 years was a fully operational prison. On March 31, 1996, the Governor of Belfast's Crumlin Road Gaol walked out of the fortified prison and the heavy air-lock gates slammed shut for the final time. During those 150 years the Gaol has housed murderers, suffragettes and loyalist and republican prisoners. It has witnessed births, deaths and marriages and has been the home to executions, escapes, hunger-strikes and riots. The story of Crumlin Road Gaol is not for the faint of heart as it is rife with violence, misery and mistreatment. Its history dates back to 1843, when construction on the building began. The prison was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon and took about two years to build, finishing up in 1845 and costing around £60,000 in total. The gaol was built to serve as a replacement for the County Gaol, which was a prison in Carrickfergus. The initial design for the Crumlin took a lot of inspiration from HM Prison Pentonville in London, which was one of the most advanced prisons at the time. As was common at the time, the prison’s design ‘encouraged’ the Separate System whereby prisoners were kept apart and in 1846 the first 106 inmates – men, women and children – literally marched 11 miles in chains from Carrickfergus Prison. Conditions were brutal and oppressive and impoverished children as young as 6 or 7 were held for petty crimes such as stealing food. In 1858 after being sentenced to 3 months, 13-year old Patrick Magee hanged himself in his cell. Lanyon’s original designs didn’t include a gallows, as until 1901 executions were held in public before crowds of up to 20,000 outside of the prison. After that, an execution chamber was added with the final hanging taking place in 1961 (not just at Crumlin Road but in Northern Ireland) of murderer Robert McGladdery. In terms of capacity, Crumlin Road Gaol was first designed to hold between 500 and 550 prisoners in cells that were around 12ft x 7ft in size. Throughout the years, this number grew and grew and, in 1971, when the International Red Cross carried out an inspection of the prison, it was discovered that there were a staggering 864 prisoners being kept there. This meant that conditions were incredibly cramped, with some small cells housing as many as three prisoners. As with many 19th century prisons, escapes from ‘the Crum’ were common despite earning the moniker of ‘Europe’s Alcatraz’, and during the century and a half of the prison’s operation, it saw some of Northern Ireland’s most famous inmates housed here. Former Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was held in solitary confinement for a month in 1924 for illegally entering Northern Ireland (and again for the same crime five years later); Loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader Ian Paisley was sentenced to 3 months for unlawful assembly in 1966; Republican Sinn Féin politician and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness spent time in Crumlin Road in the 1970s; Loyalist Michael Stone was incarcerated here and Bobby Sands was imprisoned there in the late 1970s. A tunnel connects the gaol to the historic Crumlin Road Courthouse opposite The Crumlin Road Courthouse was designed by the architect (and one-time Lord Mayor of Belfast) Charles Lanyon and completed in 1850, at a cost of £16,500. It was built in the Neo-Palladian classical style. The courthouse underwent significant alterations and additions in 1905. It is situated just across the road from the Crumlin Road Gaol and as mentioned is linked to it by an underground passage. Thousands of republicans and loyalists were tried in the courthouse during the Troubles. Among them was Mr Ervine, now P.U.P. leader and a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was convicted in his early 20s, when he was stopped by the security forces in a car containing a bomb. He was released from jail in 1980. Sinn Fein’s Martin Meehan has had five High Court trials here. In December 1971, he escaped from the jail after spending six-and-a-half hours down a man-hole covered in butter to keep out the cold. In the early 1980s, the courthouse was the scene of a number of infamous supergrass trials, many of which collapsed amid concerns about the credibility of the evidence. And in one 1983 case, 22 IRA suspects were jailed for a total of 4,000 years. Other trials, involving some of Northern Ireland's most horrific cases, including the Shankill Butchers' trial were held here. The courthouse closed in June 1998, after 150 years of continual usage. It was sold to local investor Barry Gilligan in September 2003 for £1. His plans for the courthouse included redeveloping it as a tourist attraction and a hotel but these plans never progressed. Planning permission was previously granted in 2004 to convert it into offices, and then in 2007 to a 161-bedroom hotel but these never materialised. On 12th March 2009, the courthouse suffered very significant damage in a fire and a series of further fires in August 2009 caused further massive damage to the structure, prompting questions into the cause and leaving the future of the building in question. Despite its current state, the courthouse remains one of Northern Ireland's best-known listed buildings and has been derelict for 17 years. In March 2017, Lawrence Kenwright, from the Signature Living Group, bought the site and announced plans to develop the listed building into a 60-bedroom hotel, and committed himself to spending £25m on the dilapidated courthouse but as yet no further progress is forthcoming. Superb ironwork on the gate hinges These pics credit to jtza: Back inside the gaol: A fine spiral staircase The Flogging Rack – Corporal punishment was inflicted with either a cat o’nine tails or a birch rod. The maximum number of strokes on a prisoner over eighteen years of age was 36, on a prisoner under eighteen years of age, 18 lashes. Cell door – This is an original wooden cell door A sliding block allowed the warder to shine a light into the cell while using the peephole to observe the prisoner. The centre of the door had a small hatch which enabled food to be passed through. However, this type of door had a number of faults. Mainly the hinges were too easily compromised as they opened inwards making it easy for a prisoner to barricade himself in. During the 1970s technical staff designed more secure doors which were adopted by many other prisons and became known as ‘Belfast Doors’. The Crank – This device was used as a form of punishment. It consisted of a drum and crank handle and was either freestanding or attached to a cell wall. The handle was connected to cogs inside which turned paddles through sand or grit. Warders could make the handle even harder to turn by tightening the cogs with a screw; hence their nickname ‘screws’. A ‘gyro’ or ‘tell-tale’ mounted on the top counted the number of turns. A prisoner was expected to turn the crank between 10,000 – 14,000 revolutions in eight and a half hours, approximately 20 turns per minute. This cell was used by the Prison Medical Officer Gaol Cell 1846 – Each cell is 12ft long by 7ft wide and 9ft 10 inches high. They originally had a water closet and fixed basin. They were constructed so that each prisoner had their own supply without the power of taking from another, a hammock or wooden bed, bed clothes, table, stool, books, shelves with comb, brushes, towel, soap and a gas light. Owing to frequent blockages and to prevent prisoners using them to communicate with each other all plumbing and water closers were removed and replaced by chamber pots, This led to the infamous ‘slopping out’ each morning. Gaol Cell 1970/80s – The start of The Troubles in 1969 and the introduction of internment without trial in August 1971 brought a sudden and dramatic increase in the prison population, which was to last for many years. Each cell was originally designed for single occupancy and an inspection report in 1849 recorded a capacity in the gaol of 320. However, during the 1970s and 1980s the prison population would reach nearly 1,400. It was not uncommon to find three prisoners to each cell. There was still no sanitation and chamber pots were still used. Controlled movement – Over time extra security measures were developed to control the movement of prisoners. Referred to by the prison officers as ‘Bacon Slicers’ and by the prisoners as ‘Grilles’ this system allowed an officer to control the movement of prisoners to and from C wing exercise yard. Punishment Cell – ‘The boards’ was the name given to a punishment cell, so called because of the rough wooden pallet used as a bed. During the day all bedding was removed leaving the prisoner with only a Bible, water container, mug and chamber pot. Padded Cell – Whilst ‘padded cells’ or ‘padded rooms’ were first used in asylum settings from around 1839 they became an integral part of many prisons. This padded cell was constructed in 1934 and would have been used to house prisoners deemed to be a high risk of self-harming, committing suicide or a threat to prison staff or other prisoners. Wing Kitchen – The gaol’s main kitchens in the basement were used to cook and prepare the meals before they were delivered to the wings in metal containers called ‘dixies’. These were kept warm on the hot plates in the Wing Kitchen. Wing Servery – Prisoners passed through here in small numbers to collect their meals before moving on the through ‘Grilles’ located on the far wall to the dining room/ canteen belonging to C wing. The Hangman’s Cell - In total, seventeen prisoners were executed by hanging at the prison. Originally the gaol didn’t have gallows and executions took place in the public view. A construction chamber was created in 1901, where hangings took place until the last execution in 1961. The basement drop cell beneath the trap door is one of the most haunted areas of the prison. This shows the trapdoor open below the glass inset. Crumlin Road Gaol is supposedly one of Belfast’s most haunted. The three main paranormal hot spots of the jail are the tunnel, the execution chamber and the D-wing. A phantom prison warden has been spotted in the B-Wing, and a dark entity is often seen inside one of the padded cells in the same wing. A man has also been seen walking through the C-Wing, which is home to the condemned man’s cell. Finally, a grey figure has been spotted on various occasions inside the tunnel over the years – even by staff members! Saracen Armoured Personnel Carrier as used by the British Army in Northern Ireland during The Troubles The FV603 Alvis Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier built by Alvis and used by the British Army. It became a recognisable vehicle as a result of its part in the policing of Northern Ireland. The FV603 Saracen was the armoured personnel carrier of Alvis’ FV600 series. Besides the driver and commander, a squad of eight soldiers plus a troop commander could be carried. Most models carried a small turret on the roof, carrying a Browning .30 machine gun. A .303 Bren gun could be mounted on an anti-aircraft ring-mount accessed through a roof hatch and there were ports on the sides through which troops could fire. Although removed from active service, it saw extensive use into the 1980s in Northern Ireland and was a familiar sight, nicknamed ‘sixers’, during “The Troubles”. At times, they appeared on the streets of Hull, a less-hostile atmosphere for driver training in a city of similar appearance to Belfast, and only a few miles from the Army School of Mechanical Transport. As a member of the FV 600 series, it shared a similar chassis with the FV601 Saladin armoured car, the Salamander airfield crash truck and the Stalwart high mobility load carrier. The chassis, suspension and H-drive drivetrain remained similar, but the engine, transmission and braking systems varied significantly. The Saracen was produced both with and without turrets fitted. As was the Humber Pig The FV1611 was a light armoured truck first introduced in the 1950s and used throughout the troubles in Northern Ireland and into the early 1990s, with some 1700 examples being produced. Converted from the FV1600 Humber 1 Ton Truck series vehicles, the design was originally intended to provide an armoured truck, but was adapted to fulfil the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) role. Initially issued to the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland the design was refined and issued on a wider basis to Army units, including airborne forces, deploying to that area from the 1960s onwards. The nickname of “Pig” was thought well deserved as the vehicle was not designed to support the weight of the armour and this affected the performance, particularly when braking. Given the increased security threat additional armour, including anti Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) screens were added with the subsequent design being nick named the “Kremlin Pig”. Another variant with with extendable riot screens was nick named "Flying Pig". A number of Pigs were converted to mount the Malkara missle system for use with airborne forces, and were named the Humber Hornet. The Pig was withdrawn from service in the early 1990s and replaced by the AT105 Saxon. Weight 10500 Ibs (Mk 1), 14300 Ibs (Mk 2) Length 4.93m (16ft 2in) Width 2.04m (6ft 8in) Height 2.12m (6ft 11in) Speed 40mph (64kmh) Range 400km (250mi) Crew 2+6 Wessex XR 529 'ECHO' as used in Northern Ireland. It is 65ft long, 15ft wide and has a top speed of 120mph. The Westland Wessex is a British turbine-powered version of the Sikorsky S-58 "Choctaw", developed under license by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters), initially for the Royal Navy, and later for the Royal Air Force. The Wessex was built at Westland's factory at Yeovil in Somerset. An American-built Sikorsky HSS-1 was shipped to Westland in 1956 to act as a pattern aircraft. It was re-engined with a Napier Gazelle turboshaft engine and first flew in that configuration on the 17 May 1957. The first Westland-built Wessex XL727, a Wessex HAS.1 first flew on 20 June 1958, and they entered anti-submarine duties in 1961 with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. The Royal Navy's anti-submarine examples (HAS Mk.1, HAS Mk.3) also used the Gazelle engine. The design was adapted in the early 1960s for the RAF, and later Royal Marines, to become a general-purpose helicopter capable of troop-carrying, air ambulance and ground support roles. In contrast with the HAS.1, it used twin Bristol Siddeley Gnome engines. These marks (HC.2, HCC.4, HU.5) had a single large exhaust on each side of the nose, the Gazelle-powered examples having a pair of smaller exhausts on either side. We head down Shankill Road now: The Shankill Road is a well-known predominantly Loyalist & Unionist area, that gained worldwide attention & press coverage during the Troubles. 'The Shankill' as it's locally known, is instantly recognisable when travelling out of town, or through the Belfast peace walls from the Falls Road. With red, white, & blue bunting, Union Flags and Loyalist murals almost everywhere you look. It is unquestionably one of the most well-known roads in Belfast, with stunning murals in honour of the Royal Family & local history adjourning many of the roads walls. Early History The word 'Shankill' comes from the Irish word - Seanchille, which means 'old church'. 'Bóthar na Seanchille' the road of the old church. At the turn of the 5th century, a church named after Irelands most famous saint, St. Patrick stood here. The area became a pilgrimage site and quickly became known as 'the road of the old church' - Seanchille. By the 16th century the road had changed shape and it became part of the main road north to Antrim from Belfast. This eventually became the modern-day A6. In the 19th century, the booming linen industry in West Belfast and around Bedford Street Linen Quarter resulted in massive population growth for both the Shankill Road and Falls Road areas. You can still see its influence branched off onto the smaller streets, with numerous streets being named after the country Belgium, which was the main source of flax supplies for the linen mills. The success of the linen industry was city-wide and not just confined to the Shankill area. Another big employer for those living in the Shankill was the famous Harland and Wolff shipyard. However, by the mid-20th century, both the linen and shipbuilding industries had declined resulting in unemployment and rising tensions between the Catholic community of the Falls and Protestant community of the Shankill. The Shankill & The Troubles The Early Days It wasn't until the 1960s that tensions escalated and The Troubles began, introducing this area of Belfast to the rest of the world and gaining the notoriety it still has today. The 7th of May 1966 saw the first attack from the modern UVF when a group of men petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub. Later that month a Catholic man, John Scullion, was shot by a UVF gang as he stood outside his west Belfast house on Oranmore Street and became the first victim of a conflict which saw over 3,500 lives lost over the next 30 or so years. In September 1971, the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) was formed, with most of its activities taking place on the Shankill. Its headquarters was also located there. Active between 1975 and 1982, the ominously named Shankill Butchers were responsible for the deaths of at least 23 people in mostly sectarian attacks and specialised in grisly cut-throat killings. It wasn’t just Catholics they targeted, however. Six Protestants were killed following personal disputes, and two Protestant men were accidentally killed sitting in a lorry after the group mistook them for Catholics. During this time, tit for tat attacks and rioting broke out between the tight terraced housed streets adjoining both the Shankill & Falls Roads. The British Army were called in to quell the trouble and erected the peace walls which are still in place today. With vigilantism taking place and each side getting organised into paramiltary groups, the peace walls were the best solution for keeping both sides apart. This set the tone for the next 30 years, this era is often referred to as The Troubles. Shankill Road Bomb 1993 Frizzell's fish and chip shop was the scene of one of the worst atrocities of The Troubles, on Saturday the 23rd of October 1993 two IRA men entered the chip shop at 271 Shankill Road carrying a bag with explosives inside. Above the chip shop was an office used by 'LPA' Loyalist Prisoners Association, and it was also widely believed to be the Shankill UDA's headquarters. The West Belfast brigades UDA Inner Council also met here regularly on Saturdays. The IRA wanted to wipe out the local UDA leadership, however the bomb exploded prematurely killing one of the bombers and nine innocent people, two of them children. The first location we come to is the 1st Shankill Somme Association Memorial Garden which can be found next to the Shankill Graveyard on the Woodvale Road / Shankill Road. The 1st Shankill Somme Association is a heartfelt tribute to the unwavering spirit of courage, sacrifice, and unity that defined the brave men of the 36th Ulster Division during the Great War. The association stands as a testament to their indomitable resolve, while also honouring the enduring memory of all Irish men and women who selflessly served and sacrificed throughout history’s most trying times, including WW1, WW2, and subsequent wars and conflicts. This Red Hand Commando mural serves as a tribute to prominent figures within the loyalist community, with an emphasis on remembrance, loyalty, and commitment. This serves as a memorial dedicated to No 4 Platoon, A Company, 1st Battalion of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). It honours the memory of those who served and sacrificed within this loyalist paramilitary organization. To commemorate the Shankill Protestant Boys Flute Band (SPB), which is deeply rooted in the Shankill community’s loyalist and Protestant traditions. A soldier playing bagpipes is prominently depicted on the left. He is dressed in traditional military attire, evoking a sense of pride, tradition, and remembrance. Behind the soldier is a map of Scotland and Northern Ireland, emphasizing the geographic and cultural ties. This text appears to be a poetic or reflective statement about the impacts of war and the sacrifices of soldiers, evoking a somber and contemplative tone. A mural to commemorate King William III (William of Orange) and his victory at the Battle of the Boyne on July 1, 1690. Featuring a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The artwork presents her in a formal, regal pose, wearing a crown, pearl earrings, and an ornate necklace. The background includes elements of the Union Jack flag, symbolising the United Kingdom. The overall design commemorates Queen Elizabeth II as a beloved and respected monarch, reflecting her legacy and years of service. This mural features a portrait of King Charles III in ceremonial military attire, showcasing his formal medals, insignia, and an admiral's cap. The backdrop includes a bold red field, the Union Jack, and heraldic elements such as the royal coat of arms and crown. It is a strong representation of loyalty to the monarchy, national pride, and tradition. World War I mural in commemoration of local men who died in the Great War. A brief detour into the Lower Shankill estate for the final three: “Remember With Pride”. Although the dates of his birth and death are given, Stevie “Top Gun” McKeag’s name appears only on the side-wall of this mural in the Lower Shankill estate. McKeag was the top assassin in the UDA during the 1990s, claiming at least 12 victims. Ulster Young Militants memorial showing the “Red Hand of Ulster”, a unionist symbol. Billy Moir, who died in May 2016, was a central figure in the Glasgow flute-band scene. The mural is dedicated to Billy and his wife Anne, is in the lower Shankill estate. “Dedicated to a mother & father of Ulster: William (Big Billy) & Anne Moir, in appreciation for their Dedication, Loyalty, Support and Friendship to all the people of the Shankill Road and their beloved ULSTER. In Glorious Memory, Lest We Forget, Quis Separabit.” Section 3 - Odds and Ends Miscellaneous: Not a good start to the week! An early start fully loaded with cars from Blackburn to Corby ended abruptly at junction 21a of the M6 where the M62 joins. With heavy and slow-moving traffic approaching the junction a couple of vehicles in lane two were oblivious to what was ahead. Needless to say an Audi A3 ended up hitting the corner of the cab. We ended up across the slip road coming on from the M62 resulting in closure of those lanes. The truck was mechanically ok to drive so advised to get to Lymm Truck Stop rather than wait on the motorway for recovery. Wards of Burnley’s trusty Scania 143M towed us back to Blackburn. The old girl is 35yrs old and still going strong Front corner damage Alongside the DAF CF 450 In North Wales A few pics sent from Stanton Ben of what he found on a look around an abandoned granite mine earlier this week: After a recent rockfall this gearbox/prop were half-buried On the side of a cattle truck were these old chrome car badges What better way to spend half a day than having breakfast with Graham Blundell at the Farmer’s Arms at Whitestake followed by a visit to Ray Witts: This ERF is 53 years old! Ray's old F1 bus which hasn't moved for a very long time! Jack is eager for the 2025 season to begin Transport Torre Road depot in Leeds A handsome Roe bodied Leyland Titan PD3/5 of Oldham Corporation, No. 109 (109 HBU) was new in 1964. It is from a batch of ten buses which were the last conventional double deckers and the only with front entrances in the town’s fleet. T E Short & Sons were a well-liked Halifax firm that specialised in Leylands. JX 6325 was a Leyland Hippo TSW8A, new in March 1938, and numbered 15 in the fleet. The picture was taken during World War 2, with headlamp and sidelight masks and white painted mudguards, and it draws a 4-ton trailer. In the background is a Morris 10cwt van. Is that a lighthouse mascot on the filler cap? A busy scene at the Watney, Combe & Reid Brewery in London on the 1st March 1949. This Beaver had a specially extended cab and was delivered five months earlier in October 1948. Watney, Combe & Reid had a large number of Leylands and, in the late 1940s many from the 1920s were still giving good service. Blackpool Transport Spot Looking back: Centenary 645 at Windy Harbour Caravan Park – October 2012 Brush 627 at Pleasure Beach – August 2012 Rocket at Gynn Square – August 2012 Coronation 304, OMO 8, Balloons 704, 715 and Brush cars 632, 259 at the former Duple Coachworks – September 2012 Centenary 646 at Paul Gaunt’s warehouse – October 2012 Brush 259 at Matthews Engineering, Marton – September 2012 Princess Alice at Rossall Square on the last Fleetwood to North Pier service of the day – 25th May 2013 Boat 230 ready to return to Rigby Road depot on the 6th May 2013 after working the last Fleetwood service of the May Bank holiday Twin car set 2 waiting for Princess Alice to be rewired at North Pier – April 2013 Standard 147 waiting behind Flexity 012 at Fleetwood Ferry – April 2013 Capturing a busy scene at the Ferry terminus in 1983, this depicts the view from the top of Pharos Lighthouse. Two Balloon cars (707 bringing up the rear with 722 leading) and a Brush car (637) wait for passengers returning from Fleetwood Market, while the Knott End Ferry has a lengthening queue of people waiting for the next sailing. Balloon 707 looks eye-catching in its all-over advert for Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens, but only carried this design for the one season. Brush 637 had been the first of its class to lose its air-operated sliding doors in 1964, and was fitted with non-standard folding platform doors, the shallow window apertures being to the same depth as the saloon windows, rather than extending slightly below them. The car had spent the previous winter on driver training duties, when it had been fitted with temporary saloon partitions to create ‘classrooms’, before returning to service in July 1983. The Pandoro container service (the name being a contraction of P&O Roll On/Roll Off) operated between Fleetwood and Larne from 1975 until 2004, when the route was taken over by Stena Line. The service ended altogether in 2010. Buffalo was a regular sight in Fleetwood, alongside sister ships Bison, Puma, Jaguar and Ibex, but was eventually scrapped in 2014. The lack of advertising on the Blackpool Belle dates this photo to between 1959, when the car entered service, and 1966, the last season prior to the fitting of Premium Bonds and National Savings illuminated roof boxes. Although difficult to make out, the background carriageway illuminations appear to be ‘Pantoland’, with scenes from Aladdin, Dick Whittington and Sleeping Beauty, which would further date the picture to no earlier than 1963. From the 1968 season, when the car gained fleet number 731, the Blackpool Belle advertised Haig Whisky and continued to do so until – and after – its withdrawal from service in 1978. Its last known use was on a TMS tour on 14 July 1979. Stored in Blundell Street Depot from 1981, 731 left Blackpool for the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in America on 18 March 1982. The tram crew are taking a keen interest in the activities of the photographer, but neither appear to be smiling for the camera! The ‘top deck’ of 731 was false, the car, built on the frame of Toastrack 163, remaining a single-deck vehicle post-rebuild. Note the fold-up steps at the entrance, adjacent to the first lifebelt. Like the Blackpool Belle, the rocket Tramnik One also entered service without any advertising when new in 1961. The car looked particularly effective in the dark, having no illuminated signage beneath its body frame to distract from the illusion that the rocket was in flight. The car lost its name in 1968 but gained fleet number 732 and sponsorship by Lucas Batteries. The Rocket subsequently advertised Crompton Lamps from 1973 to 1980 and is seen here sandwiched between 735 and 731 at Talbot Square. Four recent pics: Railgrinder and Unimog getting ready for a night’s work Twin Car 673 683 at Lakeside Kitchen - September 2024 A couple of the Tower in remembrance: The town’s thoughts were with the family, friends and fans of showbiz legend, Linda Nolan, who sadly passed away on the 15th January. She moved to B’Pool aged 3. Blackpool Tower was illuminated in pink as a mark of respect. (Pic credit to Dave Nelson) On the 27th January Blackpool Tower was lit up in purple to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) and remember the six million lives lost during the Holocaust. This year also marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Modern Traction In rather dreary weather a rail tour is climbing the 1 in 80 Borthwick bank heading to Tweedbank on 6th October. 47712 Lady Diana Spencer is disguised as 47711 Greyfriars Bobby. LORAM C4403 rail grinder at work on the Drax power station branch on 13th September. Rail Head Treatment Trains working from York are in the hands of Colas this year using Cl.66 and 37. On 13th October the 08.27SuO York Yard/­Hellifield via Harrogate and Leeds and return arrives at Knaresborough, with 66849 Wylam Dilly/66850 David Maidment OBE in charge The first run of the RHTT circuit from York to Hellifield via Harrogate and Leeds, which runs on Sundays only, operated on 6th October. Having just reversed at Hellifield goods loop 66850 David Maidment OBE/66849 Wylam Dilly head away from Hellifield to Skipton with the 08.27 from York Yard, returning to its origin via Leeds and Harrogate. On 14th October DRS 66430/66031 pass Kettlesbeck on the Little North Western route between Settle Jct. and Carnforth, heading for Preston, with the 11.30 RHTT working from Carlisle Kingmoor, which covers routes in Cumbria and north west England. A study of two Cl.66s at Eastleigh on 27th September. Coupled together are Freightliner 66413, which started life in 2006 as a DRS locomotive, and Colas 66846, which when new in 2003 was numbered 66573 and was part of the Freightliner fleet. After just a couple of weeks on RHTT duty these two Colas Cl.67s and their train look very work­ stained. 67023/67027 work the 11.07 Cheltenham Lansdowne Loop/­Swindon Transfer through Lydney. From Cheltenham 3S32 worked down to Severn Tunnel Jct. and then reversed to pass through Lydney, Gloucester and Standish Jct. to reach its destination. Freightliner locomotives 66507/66510 work the 14.24 London Marylebone­/Kings Norton OT Plant Depot RHTT at Kings Sutton on 17th October. Over the weekend of 5th/6th October, LSL’s beautifully prepared ScotRail push/pull unit travelled from Crewe to Scotland and back. Whilst in Scotland it traversed a number of lines, including the Borders line and the recently opened Leven branch. Colas 56105 hauls 6E43 10.05 Preston Docks/­Haverton Hill empty bitumen tanks away from Heaton Lodge East Jct and towards Mirfield on 18th October. 66303/66776 Joanne at Thurston on 11th October whilst working 3L10 08.36 Whitemoor­ Stowmarket shakedown run. As well as the Colas livery, RHTT duties have given Colas 66850 David Maidment OBE an appropriately autumnal look as it passes under the Midland Railway station canopy at Skipton on 13th October with 3S29, the 08.27 SuO York Thrall Europa­/York Thrall Europa working, via Harrogate, Leeds and Hellifield. Its neighbour in the numbering system 66849 Wylam Dilly is assisting at the rear. Bygone Times On 25th February 2015, DB’s 66053 passes Barnetby East signal box and heads through the station with a trainload of iron ore from Immingham to Scunthorpe. Also, on 25th February 2015, the semaphores on the western side of Barnetby dominate the scene as DB’s 60011 drags a train of oil empties bound for Immingham across the layout at Wrawby Jct. The gantries respectively control access to the Lincoln, Gainsborough and Scunthorpe lines, all of which diverge at the junction. EWS ­liveried 66023 approaches Barnetby with a train of empty ore hoppers from Scunthorpe to Immingham on 25th February 2015. The three routes which diverge at Wrawby Jct. can be clearly seen in the background. Furness Railway 20, visiting from Ribble Steam Railway, near Summerseat with the 10.35 Bury/Ramsbottom on 11th October. (Credit to Keith Sanders, Daffyd Whyles, Chris Powell, Richard Vitler, Stuart Warr, Derek Huntriss, Steve Batty, Keith Partlow, Julian King, Mike Robinson & Ian Pilkington for the above images) Furness Railway With the Furness Railway’s 20 featuring in the last picture above how about we pay a visit to the Furness headquarters at Preston Docks to see our latest progress: It has been a busy couple of weeks. Firstly, there was a big shunt around in the shed which allowed the chassis of 5643 to be placed over the pit where the driving wheel springs have now been fitted. Taking advantage of the empty centre road to do some sweeping up. 550 brand new firebox stays have arrived for Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 from the Williton workshop of the West Somerset Railway. Sixty stay holes require tapping out on the left-hand side of 5643’s firebox Trimming the stays to size and fitting them in readiness for caulking up. As will be appreciated, the tapping out of such a number of stay holes and fitting of stays is likely to keep working members busy for some while. This photo shows the top two rows of stays in place, below the silver paint line. Drilling out some more stays on Great Western Railway 0-6-2T No. 5643 Meanwhile, the main brake shaft has been refitted prior to the vacuum cylinder being fitted. Needless to say, if there are two trunnions to be fitted, the first attempt will see the trunnions the wrong way round, but all is sorted now! Tidying up the paintwork on the frames, attending to those odd areas that have been missed. The lockers that are located in the cab have been refurbished and are now gleaming. No dirty rags allowed in here! 5643’s main steam pipe has been away for shot-blasting and three of the engine’s driving wheel springs have had their holes re-bushed to give a better fit. They have then been re-fitted on to the locomotive. FR 20’s washout plugs have been removed and cleaned. Also, the ashpan has been removed for clean and paint. The Coventry Climax fire pump has had yet another overhaul, this time including a full clean, emptying of the fuel tank, and the fitting of new leads. This will hopefully reduce the lead time in getting this 70-year-old machine into action when boiler washouts are arranged. The conclusion of the Ribble Steam Railway’s Santa Specials coincided with Bagnall 0-6-0ST Courageous’ last day in service before a 10 year boiler overhaul. Another great video this time. Chris meets up with Rob and consequently F1s feature again: Last but not least we're all loaded for this Monday. Hoping for a better day than last week! Next time: Join me as we meet up with the lonely ghosts back in the woods, and underground for a triple bill of shadowy & eerie abandonment!

Hi there folks. Welcome to episode 4. In this one: Section 1: F2 pics from Taunton, Buxton, and Skegness Section 2: Out and About - Maenofferen Slate Quarry - Part 2 Section 3: Odds and Ends – Miscellaneous, Blackpool Transport Spot, Scenes from the Great Central Railway on Saturday December 28th 2024, Wrexham & Chester Bus Running Day on Wednesday January 1st 2025. Section 1 Taunton – Monday June 17th 2024 – Final winner Ben Lockwood (618) A decent crowd on hand to witness nearly 60 cars take part in this ‘school night’ WCQR. Long distance visitor Jason Ward Sy Harraway had bought the ex-James Rygor car Stuart Shevill Jnr assists with an engine change for Rebecca Smith Paul Moss was another with engine woes Race splits and instructions Front end damage for Tristan Smith in Ht.1 after he tangled with Johnny Whittaker in the pit bend Johnny with similar damage Heat 3 saw Sam Weston pushed half the length of the home straight by David Shearing before coming to rest in the pit gate. Back in the pits the pair shake hands before starting the repairs. 109 front end stripped down Kasey Jones had a diff let go. Jamie Jones, and Jess lend a hand. Buxton – Sat 6th (WCQR) & Sun 7th July (English Open) – Final winner both days Richard Bowyer (761) The smart Adam Rubery bus Jason McDonald - The 2024 Irish Open Champion Ex F1 driver Mike Heywood out in Heritage F2s Lined up for practice Chard’s Ryan Sheahan copped for a load of damage in his first race Not the biggest of crowds! The south-western pair of Kieren Bradford & Justin Fisher did both days Skegness – Thursday July 11th 2024 - Final winner Charlie Lobb (980) The Thursday of Speedweek saw the Scottish & Irish contingent arrive: Chris Burgoyne with Robbie Dawson behind Shea Fegan Graham Fegan Some well-turned-out Saloons: Calvin Blake Adam O’Dell Kyle Hegg Banger racer Blake Platts was in the 318 car 387 & H152 have a coming together in turn 3 Some hard-hitting action between 918 & 7: Gordon takes a look back at Wee Diddyman Both end it with the obligatory hand gestures! Section 2 - Out and About Maenofferen Slate Quarry – Part Two A couple of videos first showing many parts of the quarry that feature in the pics that follow: A Komatsu HM300 articulated dump truck remains A ‘game over’ chute if you fall down this Explosives were packed into these hand-drilled holes to blast the rock apart The way to more wonders of the site A year later and the H & S spoilsports had blocked this access The points lever which is featured in one of the above videos The rear side of the workshop The surface winding station for the underground section A faint mist rises from the depths Stanton Ben is standing on the steep incline to the below surface area A cable roller Let's head underground Looking back to our last sight of daylight for a while An old derailed truck remains I try for the quick way down to no avail! Left or right? We'll take the right-hand tunnel which diverges again further in Brew time! Steeply down to the next level Nice curves A rubber tyred truck remains Compressors, tanks for compressed air, and one of several air-hoists Another truck carrying a spare axle. Look how the left wheel of the spare has eroded away. This tunnel leads to the third lower-level incline The brake lever The winding mechanism THE BRITANNIA FOUNDRY, PORTHMADOG The Britannia Foundry was established beside the turnpike road over the Cob at Porthmadog, opposite the Ffestiniog Railway's Harbour Station in 1851. General Business The foundry's stock‑in-trade in the early days was slate working machinery for which it gained a good reputation. The only trouble with such machinery was that it lasted too well: in the 1890's after the end of the speculative era of slate quarrying, a flood of second-hand machines came on the market, and thereafter Britannia undertook mainly repairs and renewals for North Wales. New equipment was, however, built for the South Wales and Lancashire slate trade, and for export to Ireland, Canada and South Africa in the 1920's. So far as can be determined, Britannia supplied goods to every slate quarry operating in England and Wales at this period, with the exception of Penrhyn. Although Britannia has been implicated in the shipping trade of Porthmadog, surviving records indicate only a very slight involvement. Just two drawings survive: the first of a winch for an unspecified slipway; and the second of ironwork for a mast. The supply of ironwork for ship repairs was probably a part of the business which fell away very rapidly after about 1880. Apart from railway work, the foundry went into virtually every branch of iron working, and also employed two carpenters who were often so short of work that the management had to plead with customers to include some wood in their order. Glass was occasionally supplied, and sometimes the firm acted purely as contractors. One such case was the Pwllheli Granite Co Ltd who in 1929 were contemplating shipping stone from Porthmadog. It was suggested tarring Oakeley No.1 wharf to make a lorry road and to provide somewhere to dump the granite. There were lots of tramlines and turntables which could be used to reload the stone into wagons for tipping into the ships. Another instance was the installation of central heating in the local post office. One line which became a staple part of the business was road furnishings. Drains and manhole covers were supplied in large numbers, as were signposts. Most of the main roads in Caernarvonshire - particularly the A5 - have some of these signs. In short, nothing was too big or too small to be considered. Although the entire business was in 1936 valued at only £2,880 (buildings, fixtures and stock), the largest successful tender known was some £4,000 for re‑equipping the Nantmawr Quarry of the Chirk Castle Lime & Stone Co Ltd in 1930. The second largest was the construction of the top mill at Llechwedd slate mines at Blaenau Ffestiniog, for which £2,000 was tendered. At the other end of the scale came jobs such as re‑tinning a fish kettle. One item of the non‑railway work was the New Britannia Bracken Cutter, a type of mowing machine with Heath Robinson characteristics, of which only one is recorded as being sold. Railway Business Britannia Foundry's railway activities are linked in the context of the local railway scene. On the one hand there were the slate quarries operating on the nominally 2ft gauge; on the other, the stone quarries at Penmaenmawr, Lleyn and elsewhere tended towards 3ft 0in gauge. Each industry had its preferred styles of wagon. The stone quarries required heavy wooden tipping wagons, while the slate quarries had their own designs of slab, rubbish and finished slate wagons. It follows therefore that many of the designs tended to be, at most, the foundry's interpretation of the standard quarrying designs, varying only in detail from those built by other foundries. In most cases the customer simply ordered "wagons" or "wheels" in the sure knowledge that the company would produce what was required without any specification. Second-hand equipment formed a fair part of the business in the 1920's and 1930's, as did the purchase of scrap. In the case of wagon wheels, a standard exchange rate operated in the quarries: for every three old wheels sent to the foundry, they would supply one new wheel free. The demand for new wheels was considerable, even in the depressed inter-war years. Records exist of orders for 278 wheels in 1934‑36, and no doubt this figure does not tell the whole story. Casting work, of which wheels and pedestal bushes formed a major part, was normally done only on one day a week, and orders were usually accommodated during the rest of the week. Likewise, the company sometimes tried to encourage an order by saying that they were casting in a day or two and could thus promise rapid delivery. Standard designs of wagons were often made for stock, since a promise of prompt delivery might swing an order. It was common practice for a customer to approach both Glaslyn and Britannia, and sometimes the foundries each undertook half an order. This tended to involve each foundry completing its part of the work at the same time in order to load into the same railway wagon. Curiously, such co‑ordination between adjacent foundries was achieved by letter, suggesting that relations were not always of the best. Scrap rails were another part of the business. In 1936 Britannia loaded 87 tons of scrap from Croesor: six tons of rail in the shipment (from the Pantmawr incline of the Croesor Tramway) were purchased by Maenofferen slate quarry in September, while in July 2 tons had been booked to Llechwedd Quarry's account. The Pwllheli Granite Co Ltd at Minfordd was quoted for 2 tons of new 20lb bridge rail in January 1935, while in June 1933 Criccieth Urban District Council was quoted for flat bottom rails. In October 1934 the Merioneth Mining Co Ltd, which was reopening the Prince Edward gold mine at Trawsfynydd in conjunction with the Kingsland Property Co Ltd, forwarded a V‑skip to Britannia. It was too wide for the mine and was to be reduced to 2ft 6in width. This company was an impoverished concern which did everything by halves: in September 1934 they had asked for a quote for 72 rail dog spikes! Locomotive Work The supply of materials for the repair of quarry locomotives formed only a minor part of the business. One of the more interesting occurred during the re‑equipping of Nantmawr Quarry referred to above. The quarry forwarded in February 1930 a list of plant for sale at Bartley Reservoir, Birmingham, by Thos. W. Ward Ltd of Sheffield. Item 13 comprised: "Two "Muir Hill" 2‑ft gauge petrol locomotives, each having a 4‑cylinder "Fordson" engine; two‑speed gearbox, forward and reverse; radiator; brake to all four wheels; sanding gear." Firebars were frequently supplied, the Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co Ltd being the largest customer. Between November 1929 and March 1930 Britannia, under sub-contract from H. Owen & Son, Caernarvon, supplied Penmaenmawr with no less than 242 firebars for quarry locomotives. 50 were for HUGHIE and TIGER, 36 for PENMON and PUFFIN, 14 for LLANFAIR,, and 142 (to 23 different patterns) were unspecified. For Penmaenmawr's Trevor Quarry, there were quotes direct for 42 firebars for BETTY, and 48 for MARK, in June 1928. Other oddments include a quote on 18th March 1930 for firebars for the locomotive LLOYD GEORGE owned by the Ruthin Lime & Limestone Co at Denbigh. Oakeley Slate Quarries ordered four sets of locomotive firebars on 8th February 1930, while the Aluminium Corporation Ltd of Dolgarrog received a quote in August 1929 for turning six locomotive wheels to the same diameter. In December 1928 Llechwedd Quarry asked the price of a cast iron plate 5ft 1in by 1ft 8in by 3in, one side planed, for the front end of a locomotive. Finally, in July 1936 a fitter was at the Fairbourne Railway drawing the tubes from the "miniature locomotive". Probably the most important loco work on which the foundry was engaged in recent times was the Votty & Bowydd battery locos, three of which were built. The earliest reference to Votty locomotives is a quote of 25th May 1934 for a shed, which could not be made high enough for a locomotive. In the notebook for December 1936 it was noted that the disc wheels for the "loco" were 14 3/8in outside diameter (over tread?), 2” wide and bored for a 2˝in axle. Spur wheels were to have 70 teeth and the note "2 off" suggests that they were to make them; pinion wheels were to have 17 teeth and be 3 5/8in diameter. Confirmation of this comes in a letter of 11th December 1936 in which Votty urged delivery of the pinions and spurs for the battery locomotives. Incline Drums Incline drums, particularly those for powered inclines, were perhaps the most intricate and expensive of all the Britannia Foundry's products. Rollers and sheaves were among the subsidiary incline equipment for which repeat orders were regularly received. Most orders were for known railway operators, although an exception is the Mold Gravel Co, Rhual Quarry, Mold, which ordered incline rollers in December 1932. Surviving letters record a surprising number of new incline drums ordered between 1927 and 1936 - surprising, since North Wales must then have contained around two hundred abandoned inclines. Perhaps the costs of dismantling and re‑erecting exceeded the price of new equipment. Certainly, the prices for a simple gravity incline drum seem, by today's standards, very low. In 1929, the Corwen Slate Mining Co Ltd accepted a quote of £29 10s for a drum 3ft 6in diameter and 8ft long, to the same pattern as one earlier supplied to T.O. Williams, a quarry owner of Llanbedr, Merioneth. Prices rose rapidly as the diameter of the drum increased. In 1929 Carreg-y-Llam Quarries Ltd at Llithfaen were quoted £85 delivered for a drum 5ft 6in diameter, similar to one supplied in 1919 to Moel-y-gest quarry. The only powered incline known to have been equipped by Britannia during this decade is one at Maenofferen slate quarry where a new three-track incline was proposed in 1935. In this case, it is almost certain that the company purchased the electric motor from elsewhere and constructed only the mechanical parts. Wagons Surviving drawings include 27 different types of narrow-gauge wagons. Identification of the wagons built by North Wales foundries is hard since few carried makers' plates. In recent years, Britannia and Glaslyn took to stamping "E R O" and "C H W" on their wheels, many examples of which survive. This may well have been due to complaints from Votty & Bowydd quarries who bought from both foundries and had trouble with new wheels fracturing. They threatened to place their own mark on new wheels in order to identify the foundry responsible for the poor casting! Britannia continued to trade until about 1958 when the business was given up. The only major change up to that point was the erection of a large new steel-framed extension, probably to accommodate war work. The business was taken over by a firm from Wrexham who used Britannia as an overspill for their main factory and employed two men until mid‑1972. After being offered for sale for some years, the site was purchased for redevelopment in the form of holiday houses such as were recently erected near the Ffestiniog Railway Station. Demolition of the foundry began in November 1972. Part of the mechanism for the winding engine at the top of the incline This is basically the throttle for the winder. The slip-ring (or wound-rotor) induction motor used here works best with a high resistance across the rotor coils when rotating slowly, and no resistance when up to speed. The three plates, one for each phase winding of the rotor, were gradually lowered into the electrolyte tubs to get the thing going and withdrawn to stop it. It is a smoothly varying rheostat, often called a ‘liquid resistance’. Tunnels head in all directions An old sledge In here a shoe The firm situated in Wolverhampton specialised in the manufacture of battery charging equipment and associated products. It was acquired by the battery manufacturer Chloride and was subsequently known as Chloride Legg Ltd. A very steep descent to the next level Stanton Ben gives a sense of scale to this chamber. Wonderful colours are illuminated by our lights. Grease still remains on this pulley’s bearing With lights off it is pitch black A set of buffer stops A more complete wagon A newspaper from 1958 Calcite has found its way through the rock It has covered this old chain. Although it looks as if it is in liquid form it is as hard as the iron it covers. The remaining lower levels are flooded. To the right you can see a flight of steps descending. We will have to return with diving gear! The long slog back to the top A futile attempt was made to shift the seized truck! The angle of slope is shown to good effect. We are now two levels from the top It was hard going on the slippery and uneven slate Daylight at last Great views on our way back to Blaenau including a winding house in the foreground. This also features quite heavily in the video above. The incline below the wheel-drum is a long way down to the next level Coming into view is the adjacent Diffwys Quarry: Diffwys includes a mixture of above and underground workings. Diffwys is celebrated as the mam-chwarel (mother quarry) of Ffestiniog, in that it was the first quarry to produce for export rather than purely local needs around 1760 by Methusalem Jones of Cilgwyn quarry in Nantlle, in a lease to the Peniarth estate. In 1800 Diffwys was purchased by William Turner and William Casson, slate quarrymen and entrepreneurs who had worked in the Lake District. Output exceeded 5000 tons per annum in the 1820s when it was the dominant producer. George Casson (nephew of William) recommended selling the quarry in 1862 for the huge sum of £120,000, reflecting the considerable investment that had been made over the previous few years in steam-powered saw-mills. Production however declined and by 1892 the company was bankrupt and the quarry on the market, this time for £3,435. At this date it employed fewer than 200 men. Extraction at the quarry continued on a small scale until 1925. There is a unified series of tips and working levels (floors) on the south side of the quarry, still clearly visible and in varying states of preservation. Remains include gwaliau for hand-processing and a series of `integrated mills, those that include all the processes for producing roofing slate. Diffwys is thought to be one of the earliest quarries in the industry to use integrated mills. With a lack of a water supply of its own the mills made use of steam power from the 1850s onwards. The quarry has evidence of the use of internal railways and inclined planes, both counter-balanced and uphaulage. A refusal to use the Ffestiniog Railway meant that until 1860 all slate went out by cart to boats on the Dwyryd estuary. An incline connection to the Ffestiniog Railway was finally installed in 1864. Buckley Brick & Tile Co. Ltd was active from 1865 to 1963 The canalisation of the River Dee in 1737 provided an immense opportunity for the expansion of the manufacturing of bricks and brick-related items at Buckley as it provided, along with the growth of the railways, a quick and efficient way of transporting heavy goods out of Buckley. The former wooden and metal narrow gauge tramways became main gauge railways with many of the burgeoning brickworks having their own sidings. The twenty-five brickworks established between 1760 and the mid 1860s dominated the town: some were short-lived affairs but others flourished. Between them they produced a great variety of high quality brick products which were exported all over the world. By the start of the 20th century, there were nineteen firms in business. By 1950, this had diminished to eleven The last brickworks in Buckley was at Lane End: it had been established in 1792 by John Rigby and William Hancock. In 1956 it became the property of the Castle Firebrick Company who also took over several of the other brickworks. Butterley took it over in 1971 and at its closure, announced in February 2003, it was owned by Hanson’s. It had been one of the biggest and earliest in the area, and the last one to close in Buckley. The last chimney in Buckley was demolished at Lane End Brickworks on the morning of Friday 26th November 2004. It marked the end of a 250-year era of robust and prosperous industry for the town. On the route back we can take a look at Rhiwbach Quarry. Rhiwbach Slate Quarry, along with Blaen y Cwm, differed from all other quarries in the slate industry in one important aspect. The exit incline from the quarry for the finished product led up and not down. The classic balanced incline, by which the outward loaded slate wagons brought up the empty wagons by gravity, was not possible. The answer for the quarry was to build a substantial engine house to power the incline from the bottom, with the haulage wire passing around a sheave at the top. This engine house also powered the quarry machinery and the underground inclines. The remains of the engine house are a notable feature of the quarry with the tall chimney still an imposing sight. The quarry was started at the beginning of the 19th century on a site to the south of the later main workings. This area developed into a deep pit working which has now flooded. This part of the quarry was worked out by the 1880's and work transferred to the present site. The pit working here, started in the 1860's, was later developed extensively underground to encompass eight levels. Drainage of the underground workings was through a tunnel which began 350 feet below the surface and emerged onto the side of Cwm Penmachno. The entrance to this drainage tunnel may still be seen today. When the quarry first opened, the slate was taken down on horseback into Cwm Penmachno and eventually to the quay at Trefriw on the Conwy. Later the finished product was taken out in the opposite direction, around the shoulder of Manod Mawr and down to the Afon Dwyryd below Maentwrog. The Rhiwbach Tramway opened in 1863 and revolutionised the transport arrangements for the quarry. A wharf was opened in Porthmadog and from then on all slate went out along the tramway and down the Ffestiniog Railway. In 1908 the quarry started to use the exchange sidings at Minffordd to transfer their product to the national rail network. This quarry was one of the most remote in the industry and it was frequently cut off for long periods in bad weather. Because of this, the living quarters almost reached village status. The quite extensive remains of which includes family accommodation, a shop and a schoolhouse as well as the barracks for the single men. Although the quarry occupies a large area, the annual output rarely exceeded 6000 tons and it was closed down several times for quite long periods. Electricity was introduced to the site in 1934 which somewhat relieved the hardships of life at this remote location. The last workers at the quarry still barracked on site and this is believed to be the last quarry where this practice took place. The quarry finally closed in 1951 and all the machinery was removed. Nowadays, although much of the site is ruinous, there is still much to see. The impressive engine house, the entrance to the underground workings - now barred by steel girders, the extensive remains of the "village" area and the flooded pit workings. The view of the quarry from the top of the exit incline. The engine house with its chimney A fractured slate lintel just about holds on The remains of the living quarters at Rhiwbach. In addition to the normal complement of single men who barracked at the quarry during the week, it was also home to a number of families. The quarry even had a school and a shop. A rusting wagon The tower once carried a haulage wire from the engine house. There were a number of these towers in a line and they lead to Cwm End. The wire was the haulage cable for the underground incline. In this close-up view it shows that the cable has often slipped off causing deep grooves in the roller edge. (Pic credit to D Sallery) This wheel is near the bottom of the incline. It was used by the returning haulage wire from the top of the incline. The remains of a boiler This view looking back to Rhiwbach sure beats Saturday night tv! To round off the day we are back in Blaenau for the view in both directions of the former GWR line from the bridge on New Road. The same view thirty years ago - 1st June 1994 - Regular nuclear fuel trains were still running beyond Blaenau Ffestinog to Trawsfynydd. Odds and Ends Miscellaneous: Atmospheric conditions at work on the flight-line as a Tornado taxis: Snow falls as a Eurofighter waits its next call From my second job our S500 beauty ready for another year running from Blackburn to Corby and return: Eight years ago we lost this incredible human being: I used to live within 6 miles of the Starman and after doing part of the journey on an RT bus i used to walk to school past his family home in Brixton This is a classic and relatively unknown Bowie song Doncaster Minster 1850s splendour A fine example of the work created by the Victorian stained glass manufacturers The pulpit is one of the largest in England with only St Paul's and Westminster Abbey in London being bigger The organ is a magnificent five manual instrument installed in 1862 The font is made from Cornish Serpentine stone set on a fine Minton tile floor The Tower is 170 feet high and contains a peal of eight bells . The clock was built by Dent, the same company that built the 'Great Clock' (Big Ben) in the Palace of Westminster. Blackpool Transport Spot Happy New Year from Blackpool Sun 22nd December 2024 saw some very strong wind hit the Fylde Coast. Three span wires had come down between Bispham and Norbreck which stranded trams either side of this section. At Bispham we find Flexity 001 on the centre track. 016 stationary on the northbound track The service van turned up to switch off the overhead A little later trams resumed running from Starr Gate to Bispham, & Cleveleys to Fleetwood. A service bus ran between Bispham and Cleveleys. Prior to this they were turned back at Cabin. This is a rare occurrence and you hardly ever see Cabin on the destination indicator. The wind had peeled back the roof skin on one of the shelters where the beer monsters spend their days The Cenotaph near to North Pier was erected in 1923 There are some sculpture features on the Central Promenade in the shape of several huge swaying "tulips". With a high wind speed the long stems are flexible enough to allow the heads to sail across the sky. Here are three photos taken on Sunday by local photographers: The Flexity trams were not in service until about 1.30pm, which was a surprise as the snow was new and soft. It may be that there were issues with frozen points though hopefully advance knowledge of the weather conditions should normally instigate preventative measures: Starr Gate depot gates closed At some time around New Years Day someone had attached a bunch of red roses on the tram entrance gate at the Rigby Rd depot The Rigby Road depot fan. The bus garage is visible behind the fencing. Pic taken during the night courtesy of Adam Strong Some of the Heritage fleet stored inside. Will they run again? This stonework used to be above Blundell Street depot In situ in 1974 With no tram service folks were walking the tracks All is quiet between Bispham & Norbreck These three photos from 2013 show Balloon 701 with the snowplough attached, a reminder of what was used during heavier snow falls. What would have been the situation if Sunday’s snow fall had been heavier? I don’t know of a modern alternative. In a previous severe winter many years ago snow was dumped on the beach Another old photo shows OMO 7 stranded in South Shore Balloon 723 was the chosen one for snowplough duties some time ago 2nd March 2006 saw overnight snow with Balloons 702 and 708 making rare appearances. Both left Rigby Road depot around 0600 with 702 heading for Fleetwood, with 708 following as far as the Tower where it could reverse and head south to Starr Gate. Both did a full round trip and returned to depot. 702 left the depot again around 0900 heading for Fleetwood. Centenary 641 had failed and been pushed to Bispham by the following car where it was left on the centre track. 702 was coupled up on its return and towed the stricken car back to depot. Here it waits for the lights at Manchester Square. Ploughing through the slush on Lytham Road 702 tows 641 back to depot A fantastic action shot. Charge! Three Balloons act as a combined battering ram to clear the snow at Norbreck. Great Central Railway – Betwixtmas - Deltic Running Day - 28th December 2024 A day of Christmas services with BR Standard 5 73156 and Class 55 Deltic 55019 "Royal Highland Fusilier". Seating was at a premium on all services with many standing. A nice rake of goods wagons at Quorn & Woodhouse Leicester County Council Roller 73156 having just arrived tender first at Leicester North No.73156 was one of 172 Standard Class 5 locomotives built by British Railways Workshops between 1951 and 1956. The Class was designed for mixed traffic duties throughout the Regions of British Railways. The locomotive was one of nine examples built at Doncaster, emerging from the Plant in December 1956 and, together with four others (Nos.73155-159), was allocated to Neasden depot (34E) at the London end of the Great Central main line. The Class 5s were not the first BR Standard type to arrive; having been preceded in 1956 by a batch of Class 4 76XXX series tender engines and Class 4 tank engines 80XXX series. No.73156 arrived at Neasden on 6th January 1957, one day after No.73155 and the two supplemented some seventy other steam locomotives from nine different classes. The depot also serviced locomotives arriving from the North, particularly from Leicester Central. The Neasden Standard Class 5s took up various diagrams, including working the titled and other express passenger trains, The Master Cutler and The South Yorkshireman. Change on British Railways was constant. In terms of locomotives at Neasden, there were sixty changes between June 1955 and January 1957 (31 in and 29 out), but at an operational planning level the status of the Great Central was being challenged. A change of controlling Region took place in 1958, the through expresses were truncated, titled trains were lost, motive power became concentrated on B1s, V2s and Black 5s and Neasden became the London Midland Region’s 14D. As part of the planning No.73156 was re-allocated to Sheffield, firstly to Millhouses, but then to Grimesthorpe, the other side of Sheffield on the Midland route. At that time, the operation of the Midland route from Manchester and Sheffield to St Pancras was upgraded and the additional Class 5s were required to bolster the fleet of Jubilees, Black 5s and, on the Manchester line the recently transferred in Britannias. Millhouses supplied power for the Midland and cross-country routes; quite why No.73156 was re-allocated to Grimesthorpe is subject to conjecture. The locomotive worked from there over a period of twenty months from January 1959 and was the sole representative of the largest Class of a mixed traffic type at the depot. There was a night diagram that involved a fast freight trip from Rotherham to St Pancras, returning the following night as far as Leicester (Midland). In September 1960 No.73156 was on the move again. After a very brief period allocated to Derby, it was back to familiar Great Central territory at Neasden (until June 1962) then Leicester Central (June 1962 to March 1963) and finally, Woodford Halse (to May 1963). Declining traffic levels resulted in further re-allocations of power and No.73156 was sent south, to Cricklewood at the Southern end of the Midland Main Line. By that time the “Peak” (Class 45) diesels were well in charge of most through passenger services and No.73156 would almost certainly have been deployed on freight and parcels traffic until yet another move, in October 1964. By autumn, 1964 the Beeching Axe was being swung and organisational upheaval on the Railways was at a scale which would not been repeated until thirty years later. The duplication of routes was one of the targets and for all of its advantages the Western Region route from the West Midlands to London (Paddington) eventually lost its through express services, though not until 1967. After the GW route became a London Midland Region controlled route progressively out went the former Great Western locomotive types and progressively in came the more modern BR types including No.73156 (Leamington Spa, October 1964 to June 1965 and Tyseley, Birmingham, to April 1966). By spring 1966 steam activity was becoming concentrated on a few specific areas. The Standard Class 5s working on the London Waterloo to Weymouth route had another year in which to fully demonstrate their capabilities and in the North West of England, whence No.73156 was re-allocated for a final time; to Bolton (to November 1967). So, after a mere eleven years and some 325,000 miles in traffic the asset that No.73156 surely still was, had its card stamped “withdrawn”. The Supplies and Contracts Manager duly listed the engine details on an invitation to tender issued to scrap merchants and it was hauled to the scrapyard of the successful bidder; Woodham Brothers, Barry, South Wales, to join there some 230 other locomotives awaiting their individual fate. Of the 172 locomotives in the Class, five were to survive into preservation; 73050/82/96/129…. and 156. In the mid 1980’s a small group of like-minded individuals in Lancashire formed themselves into the North West Locomotive Action Group with the intention of purchasing for preservation a locomotive having connections with the North West of England: No.73156 was both suitable and available, albeit minus a tender and many components. To further the process and to provide some legal protections, a private limited company was formed; the Bolton Steam Locomotive Company Ltd. Purchase was affected in 1985, and the locomotive was moved to Bury, East Lancashire Railway. The locomotive was stripped; an inventory compiled of components available, a much longer inventory of components required, and protective attention given to the frames and firebox/boiler. Funds were raised by whatever means, but the scale of the task facing the group was such that the restoration was definitely in the long-term category. Although covered accommodation was initially provided at Bury, from the early 1990s the demand for workshop space increased and priority was given to owning groups who were more advanced or were able to appoint contractors to undertake work on their locomotive(s). The outlook for No.73156 was increasingly a concern. The NWLAG became the No.73156 Support Group and was developed to allow those who so wished, to contribute through means other than purchase of Shares, in return for a modest annual subscription. A new tender would need to be obtained, and it was equally clear that no BRIB or indeed any other type of BR1 tender was available for purchase. So, the decision was taken to build a new one from scratch(!), the only such case in preservation. Facilities were made available by a supportive enterprise and construction of the new tender underframe commenced. Also, of great help was and is the beneficial advice from participation in the BR Standard Locomotive Owners Group and pooling of resources for the production of patterns and aggregated requirements for purchasing castings. Demand for space under cover at Bury for projects with funding underwritten resulted in No.73156 being moved outside, where working conditions were, of course, very difficult. The valiant efforts of the Support Group were producing some cash, but the failure of a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the slow sale of Shares meant that whilst the heart was still willing and strong, the head needed to provide strong future direction. The principals agreed that the best chance for No.73156 would be to join forces with a heritage railway looking for additional motive power who would be asked to assist in the completion of the restoration, in return for which the restored locomotive would be made available to the host railway for a period of years of operation. The strong connection of the locomotive with the Great Central route and particularly with Leicester Central resulted in an informal discussion with the GCR regarding the future options for No.73156. Resulting from this, a meeting was held in 2001 with the Loughborough Standard Locomotives Group Ltd to discuss the terms under which No.73156 would be moved to the Great Central Railway. In essence LSLG act as custodians and provide non-financial support for the completion of the restoration of the locomotive with the Company providing the finance and a completely new tender. In return for the assistance and facilities at Loughborough, the Company has committed to a Running Agreement whereby No.73156 will be based at the GCR for the majority of the ten years following restoration. The cold temperature of the day made for a good show of steam. This was inside the leading coach! The loco runs around Getting ready for the off At the Leicester North buffer stops 55019 arrives The Class 55 locomotives were introduced between 1961 and 1962. 55019 was built by English Electric at the Vulcan Foundry. They were powered by two Napier Deltic engines, each producing 1,650 horsepower, giving the locomotive a total of 3,300 horsepower. The Deltics were primarily used on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), hauling high-speed express passenger services between London King's Cross and destinations in Scotland such as Edinburgh and Aberdeen. They were capable of reaching speeds up to 100 mph. 55019 was withdrawn from regular service in 1982 as part of the phasing out of the Class 55 locomotives. However, unlike many locomotives that were scrapped, 55019 was preserved due to its historical significance. It has been maintained in working condition and often appears at heritage railways and rail events across the UK. 55019 "Royal Highland Fusilier" is preserved by the Deltic Preservation Society. Scenes from the railway’s headquarters at Loughborough Central: It is the Deltic’s turn to run around The boiler heating van had been restored to operational condition. It was on the south end of the train but only operational on northbound trips so as not to interfere with the wonderful Napier sound from 55019. During the afternoon the Deltic ran into battery issues and had to be started from the generator in this coach luckily situated behind the locomotive. Plenty to see in and around the shed yard Class 08 13101 built in 1955 at Derby Works and allocated to the southern region before being allocated to Loughborough Midland in 1973. Arrived at the GCR in 1984. No. 78018 British Railways Standard Class 2 built at Darlington in 1953. Withdrawn in 1966 and arrived at the GCR on 8th November 2012 for completion of restoration. Entered service in October 2016. No.92214 British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 built at Swindon in October 1959. Withdrawn August 1965. Arrived at GCR on 10th January 2014. Withdrawn for major overhaul. No.78019 British Railways Standard Class 2 2-6-0 built at Darlington in 1954. Withdrawn 1966. Arrived at the GCR in 1998. Returned to steam in 2004. No.6990 “Witherslack Hall” Great Western Railway Modified Hall Class 4-6-0 built at Swindon in 1948. Withdrawn in 1965. Arrived at the GCR in 1975. Witherslack Hall is now in regular GCR service after returning from overhaul in 2015. Class 45 D123 “Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry” built at Crewe in 1961. Withdrawn 1987. Arrived at the GCR in 1998. Class 50 50017 “Royal Oak” built by English Electric in 1968. Withdrawn in 1991. Arrived at the GCR in in February 2019. British Railways Class 20 D8001 (20001) The first 20 Type 1 Bo-Bo 1000 H.P. locomotives arrived at Devons Road engine shed in the East End of London at the end of the 1950's. In the heart of Bow it was a sprawling site and became the country’s first all-diesel depot in 1958. Built as D8001, this Loco is the second of the Class built in 1957. D8001 spent many of its BR Service years based at Toton Depot working merry go round coal trains. D8001 was delivered new from Vulcan foundry to Devon’s Road Bow in July 1957 after numerous test trains up the west coast main line to Penrith. As the second locomotive in a pilot scheme of 20 locomotives, the locomotive was delivered in all over green, red buffer beams and oval buffers, the new type 1 locomotives being an instant success working local freight trips around East and North London. In September 1958 reallocation to Crewe occurred until a transfer back south to Willesden in October 1960, saw 8001 working amongst the trip freights, station pilot and ECS turns out of Euston and even the occasional passenger turn on the local services from Euston to Tring. In October 1969 8001 moved to Toton followed by reallocation to Tinsley a year later in October 1970, used predominantly on coal trains. There then followed a move north of the border to Haymarket in 1971 which was to be short lived as 8001 moved back to Toton in March 1973 and in March of that year was allocated the TOPS code 20001.In July 1975, 20001 was placed into stored serviceable status at Westhouses for a couple of months, before a return to service in October of that year back on coal trains. It was back to Tinsley again in November 1978 and in early 1980, 20001 entered Glasgow works for a general classified overhaul, returning to traffic in March. In mid-1984, the fitting of dual brakes and slow speed control was undertaken upon which a return to Toton for MGR work took place in September followed by a brief spell based at Bescot. During 1985 Toton starting semi-permanent pairings for 20’s and 20001 was paired for some time with fellow pilot scheme locomotive 20016. In 1988 20001 was finally withdrawn from BR service and used as a Toton training locomotive, on paper numbered ADB968029, but never displayed on the loco. 37714 began life as D6724 and was released to service from the English Electric Vulcan Works on the 25th August 1961, initially allocated to March Depot. It spent its early days on the Eastern Region with allocations at Stratford, Ipswich and March, renumbering as 37024 in 1974. In 1981 she was allocated to Gateshead for a period, before again returning to March. A series of moves followed through the late 1980s and early 1990s, the first being a move to Scotland in 1987 with the loco based at Motherwell and Eastfield. In 1988 she was transferred to Cardiff Canton and entered the HGR programme at Crewe Works that year, becoming 37714 on completion. In 1991 she returned to the Eastern Region at Thornaby TMD and was given her first name, Thornaby, at the 1992 open day - although this was short-lived and removed the same year. It was back to Scotland in 1993, where she found her first use on passenger services running the Sleeper in May 1995. In 1997 she was on the move again and became part of the EWS 37/7 pool based at Toton, transferring in 2000 to the EWS Special Projects pool, departing for Spain in 2001. In 2013 the locomotive was repatriated to the UK and started life with DRS. After some attention at Barrow Hill she was sent to Daventry as the SuperShunter at the DRIFT until late 2015 when she returned to Barrow Hill and store. The Heavy Tractor Group initially had the locomotive on loan in, effectively, warm storage and use from DRS in 2016, and the locomotive was purchased by the Group in 2017. A repaint into Trainload Metals livery was carried out at Loram UK, and the loco was named "Cardiff Canton" and dedicated to Paul Fairfax in a ceremony at the GCR. Since then she has remained in traffic at the GCR, cared for by The Heavy Tractor Group. 73156 heads down to take on water I came across this line of bricks close to the sheds. Stourbridge fire clay has a world-wide reputation, and its importance was in the manufacture of fire-bricks, glasshouse pots, and for a variety of other-purposes in connection with the industry. Its chief value consists in its resistant character, which enables it to withstand the highest temperatures without melting. Stourbridge Red & White Glazed bricks - Stourbridge Glazed Brick & Fire Clay Co. Ltd. In 1892, Thomas Clulee sold the Thornleigh Fire Brick Works and Colliery at Blowers Green to the newly formed Stourbridge Glazed Brick and Fire Clay Co. Ltd. which was owned by Fred Clark, his son, F.E. Clark & Thomas J. Hill. This new Company is listed at the Thornleigh Works, Holly Hall near Dudley. The Clark family purchased another brick yard in Moor Lane, Brierley Hill & this was one of the last yards to be built in the Black Country. In 1903 the company owned 40 kilns producing glazed bricks, glazed wall tiles, glazed patent partition bricks & sanitary ware, employing 350 workers. In 1935 the company was sold to S.G.B. (Dudley) Ltd. & is recorded at Blower's Green, Dudley. During the early 1960's, S.G.B. (Dudley) Ltd, in its turn became a subsidiary of Thornleigh Building Industries Ltd. which was then in 1966, taken over by a company called Five Oaks. This new company only lasted two years & went into voluntary liquidation, closing in 1968. This ended 150 years of fireclay production at the Thornleigh Works. The works in the late 1800s Industrial units cover the site today This map is a combination showing the site of the works and colliery with the current land use. The green lines show the alignment of the GWR Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Line including the branches into the works and colliery. The trackbed is now the Midland Metro. Wrexham & Chester Bus Running Day – Wednesday January 1st 2025 The annual running day took place once again from Wrexham Bus Station. Three routes were available: Wrexham to Chester Railway Station, Wrexham Circular, & new for this year Wrexham to Llangollen. The number of visiting buses was marginally affected by the heavy rain that fell overnight with some road closures. Nevertheless, there was still a varied choice to satisfy most folks in attendance: NLE 539 The RF was the standard single decker London bus during the 1950s and 1960s. It is a 30ft long, high-floor vehicle with a centrally mounted engine fitted underneath. The chassis is an AEC Regent IV, hence the code RF (Regent Four), and the body is by Metro Cammell, seating 41. A prototype was tried out on the country area 355 route from St Albans and proved successful. Production and delivery began in 1952. This class was used extensively on Central (red) suburban routes, in the London Transport country (green) areas, and Green Line coach routes. RF 539 was new in 1953 at St Albans garage. In 1959 she was modified for one man operation. During the years 1967-69 the vehicle was mostly in store with only occasional use. In 1970 she transferred to the London Country Bus Company and was allocated to the Grays, Essex garage. Withdrawn from service in 1972, she was sold to a scout group. The bus was purchased for preservation in 1978, and has had various owners. At Llangollen WHW 374H Bristol Omnibus 2062 is one of several surviving examples of the last style of ECW Express or Dual-Purpose body on the RELH chassis. They were quite often employed on the Bristol - Swindon 418 service where they guaranteed a swift and comfortable ride with that subdued but unmistakeable gentle RE whine from the transmission. YN67 YKY Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire 15305 - YN67 YKY Scania N250UD with ADL Enviro400 MMC body. Operates between Preston and Liverpool on the X2. Top deck view Wigan Bus Preservation owned G4515 | V515 DFT / B10 WBP - V515 DFT (B10 WBP) is an ex-Arriva Volvo B10BLE, with Wright Renown bodywork. It was a batch of 15 bought for Arriva Northumbria in 1999, numbered 4501 - 4515, this became top of the batch as their 4515. It has been at several companies, Morton's of Reading and Blackpool Coach Hire. It was bought from them in March of 2024. Believed to be the only Arriva B10BLE preserved, it's slowly being restored, and the plan is to have her fully retrimmed back to Arriva Bridge and painted into Cotswold stone. The bus retains the livery as bought, adopting it as ‘Show Livery’ Another WGP owned bus is 21158. She was part of a batch of 20 or so Voith Volvo B10BLEs, with Alexander ALX 300 bodies, bought at a similar time as the first batch of MAN 18.220 ALX 300s to compare. Stagecoach ultimately chose the MAN 18.220, and latterly the 18.240 as their go to low floor single deck across the country, making these rather unique within the Stagecoach fleet. New in the May of 1998, she was originally branded in Loliner Stripes, a brand designed specifically for low floor, easy access buses to be easily identifiable to the public. However, in early 2006 was repainted into Stagecoach’s generic beachball livery. After Stagecoach (around September 2013) 21158 was sold to Velvet Travel, where it received a full interior retrim with their moquette. Her time at Velvet was rather short lived, passing to Edward Thomas & Son of Epsom, Surrey in 2015. It had been used as a regular school bus, day in day out on an approximate 30 mile run, and did the Epsom Races. She had been well looked after by the coach firm and she drove back from Epsom to Wigan, a total of around 230 miles faultlessly. Crosville Motor Services' 1964 Eastern Coach Works (ECW) bodied Bristol RELH 530 (Gardner engine) Ulsterbus 2563 BXI 2563 Bristol RELL6G RELL-3-2720 - Alexander (B) B52F 780/3 new 6/1983; ex Citybus 2563 5/2001; w/d 2/2004; to Nu Venture, Aylesford 9/2004 Condition in March 2021 Sister bus BXI2564 was present at the 2024 Running Day 15305 waits on the stand for the 13:40 departure to Rossett Green RT4548 arrives back at Wrexham from Llangollen OLD 768 (London Transport RT 4548, 1954 AEC RT / Park Royal). One of a batch new as a green ‘country’ bus carrying an older body previously on an ‘SRT’ chassis. After its last overhaul, it became a Central bus, and was in passenger service until 1976, last at Southall Garage. After a short spell as a driver training bus, it was exported to Canada and had a second service life with Abegweit Sightseeing Tours, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, prior to its return to England in 2010. A nice line up On the stand at Llangollen The River Dee was in full force with the previous 24hrs rain A large tree trunk and branch was wedged under the Llangollen Bridge The Dee Side Café was dry within A deserted Llangollen station RT4548 heads back to Wrexham in the heavy rain DFG157 splashes to a stop at Llangollen. Crosville Motor Services Bristol FS 4227FM. The bus was new in May 1964. The Bristol Lodekka was a successful alternative to the previous form of "Lowbridge" double decker. The chassis was low, and a dropped rear axle allowed a level, step free floor in the lower saloon. The upper saloon could thus dispense with the side gangway and bench seats. Instead, a central gangway was provided with two abreast seats making it is easier for passengers to pass each other (and for the conductor to collect fares when the bus was busy) Back at Wrexham Bus Station and the sun makes an appearance Here is DFG157 at the old Wrexham Bus Station on 16th July 1965 Lined up next to F456 BKF Fareway Passenger Services started operations in February 1987, founded by four former Merseyside PTE drivers with an initial fleet of 13 of the PTE’s surplus double-deckers. It bought 10 new long wheelbase 85-seat Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Olympians in 1989, of which restored 165 (F456 BKF) was part of a second batch of five. Their size led to them becoming known as ‘Berthas’. The privatised MTL North acquired Fareway in 1993 and in turn became part of Arriva North West in 2000. Withdrawn with accident damage the following year, 165 was acquired and repaired by Isle Coaches of Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire and remained there until 2016. Steve Yeo acquired it for restoration and has overseen its return to original appearance. To finish Chris Allen creates the Monster Beast! The world's cheapest monster truck. An F1 makes an appearance around 10mins in: Next time: Scenes from Northern Ireland

Photos of Martin Heath, John Dowson, George Braithwaite, Sam Makim, John Dowson, Rob Mitchell, Murray Harrison, Les Spencer, Harry Smith, Paul Spooner. Photos from Aycliffe 18th October 1981. Photos from Blackburn 18th October 1980. Biography of Dick Zimmerman. Photos of Ian Platts, Tom Harris, Ray Tyldesley. Photos of Dave Schaap, Gosse Hoekstra, Henk Maris, Scott Joblin, Pieter Dogger, Steve Thompson, Neil Holcroft, Bas Stolk, Peter Bengston, Martin Wilkinson, Dan Squire, Jessy de Bruyn. Photos of Les Mitchell, Bob Gardner, Ted Harrison, Neil Brigg. Photos of Gary Walker, Eric West, Tim Warwick, Vic Wright, John Symondson, Colin Nairn, Ian Mawer. Photos of Rob Cowley, Jack Hesketh, Neil Pokorny, Rick Metcalfe, Aaron Cozens, Lee Smith. Mug shot and info of Geoff Barnett. Photos of Albert Holmes and Bob Cox. Photos from Rochdale 26th September 1982.

Sorry, numpty posted twice.

I've got one for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256773480004?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=WRzEX2KvSym&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=WRzEX2KvSym&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY As well as a few other stock car books if you check my other items

I've got one for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256773480004?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=WRzEX2KvSym&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=WRzEX2KvSym&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY As well as a few other stock car books if you check my other items

Remembering the drivers that we lost in 2024 DON HADDLESEY STU HEPPENSTALL BRIAN WALLIS MIKE HOLT MAC MACLEAN IAN DAFT GLEN PRIDMORE BOB HALL JON LANDER ALAN WARRINER TIM MANN CLIVE MORAN PHIL BICKNELL JIM SANDERS MELVYN CHAPLAIN BRIAN BEET DAVID BALMER SHAUN O'BRIEN BOBBY SCHUYLER

Photos from Rochdale 25th October 1981. Photos from Hartlepool 27th September 1981. Photos of Robbie Craig, Kev Smith, Pablo Brandenburg, Brian Tuplin, John Stirk, James Waters, Ben Lockwood, Derek Coleman, Sandor Mantje. Full programme from Bristol 12th September 1971. Full programme from Bristol 15th April 1974. Photos of John Lund, Craig Finnikin, Graham Moulds, John Davies, Nigel Watson, Mark Holt. Photos of Peter Penny, Chris Cowley, Warwick Ellis, Gaz Bott, Adam Bamford, Nigel Harrhy, Dylan Williams-Maynard, Mo Smith, Craig Haworth. Photos of Cecil Laurie at Northampton in 1959. Photos from Scunthorpe 19th November 1988. Photos of Alan Scothern, Nigel Harrhy Jack Toon, Simon Gill, Lee Mellor, Andrew Bowler. Action shot from Boston 10th October 1993.

Hi there folks. Welcome to episode 3. In this one: Section 1: Scottish & South-West F2 miscellany Section 2: Out and About – Maenofferen Slate Quarry – Part 1 Section 3: Odds and Ends: Blackpool Transport Spot, Furness Railway, Leigh 16 Section 1: Cowdenbeath – Sunday April 7th 2024 – Final winner Steven Burgoyne (674) Dennis Middler’s business Reece McIntosh A very smart WRC#49. Luke was up to #84 at this point. Shane Hector copped for a lot of damage in turn 3 Welding the rear corner on the 280 car Gary Walker made hard contact with the wall A turn 3 hook up with Liam Rennie and Stu Moss Jnr Another to hit the wall was Jason McDonald Taunton – Sunday April 21st 2024 – Final winner Matt Stoneman (127) Kasey Jones up to blue for one meeting. He was Superstar at the next meeting following the grading change. Guildford’s Jacques West Buster Jnr’s transporter had been refreshed The 2024 Irish Open Champion Daz Purdy rolled it on the home straight after hitting the infield barrier following a collision with Ryan Hinwood The diff blew in the 286 car during the first race Taunton – Monday May 27th 2024 – 40 cars - The Duncan Pike Trophy - Final winner Matt Stoneman (127) A very large crowd was present for this two heat format meeting. Heat 1 went to Matt Stoneman (127) after demoting Craig Driscoll (12) and Sam Weston (468) just before halfway. Jon Palmer (24) also made it past the pair close to the end. Matt Stone (510) led Heat 2 until 6 to go when Ben Goddard (895) and Dale Moon (302) came past. Moon took over up front and went on to win from Goddard and Kieren Bradford (27). Stone spun out of 4th place on the last lap. Stone briefly led the Consolation until tangling with Dean Hawkins (203). Charlie Fisher (315) took the lead followed by Julian Coombes (828). With these two battling over the lead Paul Moss (979) moved into contention but was unable to mount a successful challenge leaving 828 to take the win. Track conditions were very difficult for the Final after rain fell shortly before the race. A huge crash on the pits bend ripped half off Matt Linfield’s (464) wing off as Bradford was nearly sent into a roll. Goddard had taken the lead at this stage and was joined up front by Fisher who tried numerous times to challenge up the inside. Kasey Jones (286) was on a charge from the Superstar grade and demoted both with good use of the bumper to take the lead with 4 to run. However, Stoneman was close at hand and the pair engaged in a great battle until the 127 car was through to claim the win. The GN began with Harry Neath-Rogers (141) being fenced by Tommy Farrell (667), and Richard Andrews (605) hitting the fence hard going in backwards. Luke Johnson (194) led until passed by Driscoll, but Palmer was flying through the field and had them in his sights. Just after halfway the 24 car bumpered Driscoll wide to take a race winning lead. Stoneman made an impressive drive through the field from the lap handicap using the bumper to good effect to take second spot at race end. He had been assisted by the earlier yellow flags but it was still a mighty effort. He had nearly achieved the 50-point maximum. Today’s meeting was for the Duncan Pike Trophy JP had raced at Bradford the evening before St Day – Sunday June 16th 2024 – 31 cars - F2 Nationals – Winner Matt Stoneman (127) & meeting Final winner Paul Rice (890) There was a feeling of excitement in the air at United Downs Raceway on the back of the announcement that Autospeed had confirmed a 10-year lease extension for racing to continue at Cornwall’s last stock car circuit. 31 drivers were at the track for the first running of the F2 Nationals in Cornwall, which included 975 Graeme Leckie from Scotland and 501 Jason Ward (who was making his track debut), 578 Mark Gibbs and 618 Ben Lockwood from the North of England. Problems for 121 Vinnie Neath-Rogers in pre-meeting practice reduced the field by one, with a 2/3rds format deployed. The first race of the day was the Nationals Championship, with the drivers drawing their grade position out of the hat before being presented with their commemorative memento. The draw placed former Benevolent Fund Trophy Champion 126 Jamie Avery on pole with 605 Richie Andrews alongside, while Lockwood and 128 Jake Ralfs shared row two. After the grid was formed, promoter Crispen Rosevear addressed the crowd with the event signifying the celebration of the signature of the new lease, a sign of the magnitude of events on the horizon for the United Downs Raceway over the next decade and beyond. When the race began, Avery shot into the lead while Gibbs and Ralfs met the fence before reaching the green flag. With Ralfs stopped just short of the start line in a dangerous position, the race was suspended. As well as Gibbs and Ralfs, 259 Daz Purdy had also been sidelined with front corner damage while 27 Kieren Bradford and 979 Paul Moss limped to the infield with punctures. Avery made a good getaway at the restart and while Lockwood and 980 Charlie Lobb initially gave chase, 127 Matt Stoneman was quickly into second place. Stoneman's pace was such that he was able to catch and get by Avery by just the fifth lap, and he went on to record a commanding victory and land the stunning F2 Nationals trophy, handcrafted by the late Jon Padget, for the first time. The gap between Avery and Lobb ebbed and flowed, but Lobb was ultimately too far back to make a lunge on the last lap and Avery held on to second with Lobb completing the podium. Heat two featured half of the Nationals Championship qualifiers as well as the white and yellow graders who missed out. Ward was soon past the early leaders 235 Alfie Brimble and 510 Matt Stone, with Lobb and Leckie next through. It looked like Ward was going to be able to hold on, but he was baulked by some backmarkers, allowing Lobb to close the gap and nip through in the closing stages. Heat three saw another easy win for Stoneman who was already in third at the time of an early stoppage and it wasn't long before he hit the front. 27 drivers made it out for the Final, and with nearly half of them starting from the blue grade. Soon after the start 468 Sam Weston clambered over the bonnet of Andrews on the exit of turn four bringing out the caution. At the restart there was another pile-up amongst the blue tops with Borthwick ending up the worst off being collected by 302 Dale Moon at the start-line. Shortly afterwards on the back straight 931 Rebecca Smith was spun around and collected head-on by 979 Paul Moss, with significant damage to both cars. Sister Jessica had a minor incident with 676 Neil Hooper who collected a puncture as a result. Stoneman had moved past Lobb for third place at half distance and then Lockwood for second two laps later, but by then the race leader Rice had moved a second and a half clear at the front. The gap came down gradually over the closing eight laps, but Stoneman was marginally too far back to make a challenge to Rice's back bumper on the final bend, allowing Rice to take the win. Stone had his best showing of the afternoon in the Grand National, leading until almost half distance when Stoneman took over at the front. A covered stand now assembled on turn 3 Wakefield’s Jason Ward had made the trip to the south-west Whilst Graeme Leckie had headed down from Glasgow Craig Driscoll had a message for his critics on the front bumper Race splits & info Before the F2 Challenge race began promoter Crispen Rosevear thanked all those that had helped to win the battle to secure the new 10 year lease for the circuit The front half of the grid lined up The proud victor (Pic credit to Zoe Simpson-Thomas) The participants in the F2 Challenge Trophy race received a commemorative plaque. The magnificent trophy sits in the back of the winning 127 car's transporter. Tristan Smith and Ryan Sheahan came to grief in the third race Rebecca Smith and Paul Moss tangle in the Final Julian Coombes also involved Section 2 - Out and About: Maenofferen Slate Quarry Maenofferen Slate Quarry is a substantial and entirely underground slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog perched 1300 feet above sea level in the Welsh Mountains to the west of the Town. Maenofferen holds a significant place in the history of the slate industry in North Wales as the quarry provides considerable information for understanding the development and process of underground slate extraction, the above ground processing, and the onward transport of the slate via tramways and railways to the worldwide markets. Situated near the village of Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, Wales, Maenofferen Quarry has a rich heritage that spans over two centuries. Shortly after 1800, Maenofferen was first worked for slate by men from the nearby Diphwys Quarry and it formed part of the open pit workings in the area. These endeavours were not overly successful as transportation of the slate was problematic. It was not until the formation of the Maenofferen Slate Quarry Company Ltd in 1861 that the land and existing quarry were leased from the owner Lord Newborough. The quarry now began to see success. It’s output increased from 397 tons in 1861 to 8,600 tons in 1882, the fifth largest producer in the Ffestiniog area. In 1897 it employed 429 people and had a production output of nearly 14,000 tons, with almost half of those working underground. Two water driven mills were constructed on site, which contained 50 table saws and as many trimmers. In the 1890s electricity was introduced, and a hydroelectric station was installed in 1918. In 1928 Maenofferen purchased the Rhiwbach quarry, continuing to work it and use its associated Tramway until 1953. Like all slate quarries in North Wales, they experienced a decline in demand for slate post World War 2 due to new roofing materials becoming available. By 1972 the workforce had fallen to 60 men with an annual output of 1,200 tons. The quarry was purchased by the Greaves Family who owned the nearby Llechwedd quarry in 1975 together with Bowydd, which also incorporated the old Votty workings. During this time, they pioneered the use of wire saws in the extraction. Due to the position of Maenofferen, transportation from the quarry was an ongoing issue during its operation. During the early years, the Ffestiniog Railway was the quarry’s major transport outlet for its products, but there was no direct connection from it to the Ffestiniog’s terminus at Duffws. Instead, slate was sent via the Rhiwbach Tramway which ran through the quarry, incurring additional shipping costs that rival quarries did not have to bear. In 1908 the company leased wharf space at Minffordd, installing turntables and sidings to allow finished slates to be transhipped to the standard gauge railway there. In 1920 the company solved its high shipping costs by building a new incline connecting its mill to the Votty & Bowydd quarry and reaching agreement to ship its products via that company’s incline connection to the Ffestiniog Railway at Duffws. When the Ffestiniog Railway ceased operation in 1946 Maenofferen leased a short length of the railway’s tracks between Duffws station and the interchange with the LMS railway, west of Blaenau Ffestiniog. The slate trains continued to run over this section until 1962 when the line closed. This meant that Maenofferen was the last slate quarry to use any part of the Ffestiniog Railway’s route. The No 2 Incline down to the Rhiwbach Tramway was still operational in 1976 and was the last self-acting incline in operation. From 1962 slate was shipped from the quarry by road, although the internal quarry tramways including stretches of the Rhiwbach tramway continued in use until at least the 1980s. Underground production at Maenofferen ceased during November 1999 and with it the end of large-scale underground working for slate in north Wales. Surface production of slate recommenced on the combined Maenofferen site, consisting of "untopping" underground workings to recover slate from the supporting pillars of the chambers. Material recovered from the quarry tips is also recovered for crushing and subsequent use. The underground areas of the quarry now lay abandoned. Before we have a look around this amazing site this animated video gives a good insight to the layout: The pics: The former Ffestiniog Railway station at Duffws, open between 1866 and 1931 This view dates from 13 October 1977. That 1974 Fiat 127 in the foreground managed ten years grinding up and down the local hills. After closure it became public toilets, a role it still provides The view in the opposite direction In the area is this railway bridge on the road to Manod Quarry. It features in this short film: A BBC Documentary from the series "One foot in the past" from 1999 on the use of Manod Quarry as a store for the nation's works of arts during WW2. The same lonely road as in the film today Over the hill from Manod is the Cwt-y-Bugail slate quarry. It has been producing slate from 1840, and is currently the highest industrial site in the UK. Our route to Maenofferen starts along the Rhiwbach tramway. An abandoned weather station The remains of Blaen y Cwm Quarry The tramroad has been cut through the rock Another view of Blaen y Cwm Sleepers remain in this section Llyn Bowydd Reservoir is passed en route. This supplied water to the Maenofferen mills A wonderful embankment survives Water has been diverted A slate lined channel Slate has been used in this fence as well A lookout had been posted! The remains of a winding house Huge amounts of waste slate are all around Stanton Ben gives a sense of scale to the ‘big hole’ A smaller one hidden away in a quiet corner Rails still in situ at the entrance Dry at this point Not so here though The other end is very picturesque A bit more survives of this wheelhouse The brake lever Blaenau Ffestiniog far below Nature has taken over this abandoned quarry manager’s house Dropping down into the Maenofferen site We had descended the old incline in the left centre of the pic. Visible at the top are the remains of the winding house. This old bridge crossed a watercourse The workshops These dressing mills were originally powered by a waterwheel. From 1911 they were electrically powered initially by water turbines. A sign of the times The following pics are all from within the big sheds: A slate dressing machine A slate planer Compressor and cylinder Manufactured by Broom & Wade Ltd Broom & Wade The company's founder, Harry Skeet Broom, always considered himself lucky since he was born on the seventh day of the seventh month in 1875. He met his future partner, Jethro Thomas Wade, when both were apprenticing at Davey, Paxman & Co. in Colchester. The two decided to strike out and found their own company in 1898. Subsisting on any, and all odd jobs that came their way, they put the flourishing chair-making industries of High Wycombe in their sights. These were all manual industries, and the pair thought they were ripe for power machinery. At the same time, they bought a run-down foundry and started casting their own parts. This led to a contract with the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company to make bearing pedestals. They arranged a meeting with Alfred P. Sloan (later of GM fame) who was in London to wind up the London Hyatt office, and as a result became agents for the company. When Hyatt's was taken over by General Motors, Broom went to see Sloan in the U.S. and eventually found himself a director of Vauxhall, Frigidaire and Delco-Remy. At the same time, with a slump in the chair-making industry and subsequent decline in orders for their woodworking machines, Broom & Wade decided to manufacture a motor wagon which had some success, being exported to places like Turkey and Chile. They also tried for a military contract for a tractor, which they almost won. In 1910, a customer started to beat down B & W's price for a woodworking machine. Broom told him that if he insisted on such discounts he would no longer make machines for the chair making trade. The customer refused to back down, so Wade, clearly a man of strong convictions, burnt all of the drawings and patterns and moved the company fully into the air compressor market, beginning with machines for paint spraying in the furniture industry. Around 1913 Jethro Wade left the firm to concentrate on his own business of manufacturing deep well pumps. During World War I the company made steam-driven compressors for ship repairs and salvage work, and 4.5" shells for the navy. In 1928, the company bought a huge building in High Wycombe, northwest of London, that had previously been used to manufacture aircraft. This was adjacent to Hughenden Manor, the country seat of the Disraeli family. Soon afterward, they acquired the Chadwick Patent Bearing Company which made various pneumatic tools, which were added to the B & W line. They also designed a portable compressor for export to Germany to help with the major road building program going on there. The depression hurt business, but the company realized that their new "BroomWade" trademark conveniently rhymed with "British Made", so they ran the two phrases together on their machines to appeal to patriotism from their customers. This still didn't give them enough business, so they turned to the Russians who were in need of many kinds of equipment for their Five Year Plan. By 1938, the foundry was producing 50 to 60 tons of cast iron a week. The Second World War brought immense orders, as compressed air equipment was needed in virtually every arm of the services and in the civilian market. Workshop area increased more than 50 percent between 1937 and 1941, and most departments were working 6-day weeks, with two shifts in some machine shops. To keep production going during aircraft alerts, a spotter was located in a crows-nest above the highest point of the roof to look for bombers, and to sound a klaxon if any were seen approaching. The firm also made Churchill tanks, although their offer to do this work for no profit was turned down by the government. Following the war, the company turned back to civilian production, making items like a compressed air motor redesigned to run on steam for use in steaming out explosives in unexploded bombs. Exports expanded around the globe and business prospered. Harry Skeet Broom, who was affectionately known as "Pirate" for his deal-making, died in 1958 at age 83, still at the helm of the company. There were remarkable employee benefits, including soccer teams, an angling club, a charity fund, and the BroomWade Sports Club, built on land acquired from the Disraeli estate in Hughenden Park. Products included their base product, compressors: as well as various "Aro-Broomwade" air tools In 1968, the company merged with Holman Bros. of Cornwall to form the International Compressed Air Corporation. Four years later, it was shortened to CompAir, a name bought for £50 from the BroomWade apprentices who had come up with it for the title of their magazine. Following this, the company became CompAir Broomwade. By 1975, CompAir had become the largest manufacturer of air compressors and pneumatic equipment in the U.K. employing more than 8000 people in seven manufacturing locations in Britain and subsidiary companies in sixteen overseas markets. Things looked promising for the company. Air compressors were in big demand. It was said that whenever industry needed to blow, lift, push, rotate, hammer and squeeze, compressed air was the tool for the job. In fact, it was estimated that 10 percent of the electrical energy generated in the U.K was used to power compressed-air equipment. In spite of this things began to slide in the following decade, and BroomWade as CompAir became a football. In the early 1980's, CompAir was bought by the Imperial Continental Gas Association, following which CompAir operated as a separately managed enterprise. However, in 1985, CompAir was sold off to Siebe, Plc, based in Britain. (Siebe had been formed in the 1820's by Augustus Siebe, whose best known invention was the first diving suit.) In the ensuing decade, CompAir somehow became unprofitable. In 1999, Siebe and BTR Plc merged to become Invensys, and began selling BroomWade off in pieces. First to go was the BroomWade Instantair coupling business, acquired by Sheffield-based PCL in 2001. CompAir itself went on the block in 2002, sold to a British private equity firm, Alchemy Partners (Guernsey) Ltd., controlled by venture capitalist John Moulton, reportedly for £1. After investing £41.4 million, they sold the firm to the Gardner Denver Industrial Group in 2008 for £200.6 million. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner Denver has approximately 7000 employees, 1000 less than BroomWade had at its height. As for the old BroomWade factory, it closed down in the late 1990's and remained derelict for years. (It found one use as one of the locations for Tim Burton's 2005 film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) Eventually it was purchased by the Buckinghamshire Chiltern University College, which had planned to knock the buildings down and create a modern university campus. The college changed its mind and sold the property to the Wycombe District Council. The Council has plans to develop the site into a 260-home retirement village, Hughendens Garden Village. Unfortunately, this left the BroomWade Sports and Social Club up in the air, since the food chain Tesco claims to have purchased the land it stands on and was planning to build a new store there. The sports club claims that the land in Hughenden Park for the club was actually gifted to the Sports Club by the Disraeli heirs, before they gave the Disraeli mansion and grounds to the National Trust. This was somehow sorted out and is now the Magnolia Park Sports and Social Club. The driveshaft goes the full length of the building Anyone lost a boot? The waste slate conveyor belt also runs the full length of the shed In recent times there have been some supports added The electricity generating room The engineering workshops: Anderson Grice of Taymouth Engineering Works, Carnoustie, Scotland. The main products of the company were varieties of cutting machinery, but they also produced a variety of other mechanical devices including cranes and the Dalhousie motor car (1906 to 1910). 1875 George Anderson established the business at the Arbroath Foundry in Dickfield Street, Arbroath. He was an excellent engineer and familiar with the needs of the quarry industry. His foundry specialised in cranes, stone cutting and planing machinery. By 1886 the foundry had outgrown the Dickfield Street premises and larger ones were sought. Anderson began to relocate the business to the neighbouring town of Carnoustie where the former Taymouth Linen Works was vacant, located next to the Dundee and Arbroath Joint Railway. The move was completed by 1898. 1902 Arthur Grice became a partner to assist the ageing George Anderson. George Anderson and Co offered Grice's gas engine. Between 1906 and 1910 they built a small number of cars. The Dalhousie cars never achieved full-scale production. A main product of the company continued to be cutting machinery. They earned a worldwide reputation for their skills. Some of the uses to which Anderson-Grice products were put included salvaging German battleships from Scapa Flow, and building many harbour facilities in Britain and abroad. By 1922 Anderson-Grice Co concentrated on cranes. 1922 Directors: John Pate (Chairman), Wm. Pate (Managing), R. C. Mathewson. Employees: 250. Manufactures. — Stone and marble-working machinery, electric steam and hand cranes, locomotive overhead, travelling and derrick types and gas engines. A telegraph pole hangs on The fascinating binocular tunnels: The bizarre 'binocular' tunnels cut by Victorian boring machines A Scottish engineer, and a wealthy inventor teamed up to build tunnelling machines. Centuries of slate quarrying has left some extraordinary features across the Welsh landscape. Among the strangest of them all are twin tunnels shaped like binoculars that were dug by some of the world’s first boring machines. Their existence in Gwynedd’s vast slate mines is a story of Victorian ingenuity and, ultimately, heroic failure. Despite showing promise, the steam-powered tunnelling machines were unable to match the efficiency of low-paid miners equipped only with jumper sticks, hammers and gunpowder. In the mid-1860s, the machines were trialled at three mines. One was used to cut an opening to the Cookes level at Maenofferen, Blaenau Ffestiniog. Here, bizarre twin tunnels reach around 100 feet into the rock. Cut in 1864, they resemble a giant pair of field glasses. The first tunnelling machine was designed by Scottish engineer George Hunter, whose father James had developed industrial stone planing machines in Arbroath. Their industrial cutters were widely adopted by the slate industry – though James was to lose a leg in the process. It was described as “the largest machine of the kind yet made”. As the so-called “Hunter saw” was manufactured in Arbroath, the only way of getting it to the quarry was by sea, then by boat up the River Dwyryd, followed by a four-mile road journey and, finally, transport along a two-mile length of narrow-gauge tramway. To oversee its installation, George Hunter and his family left Arbroath for Maentwrog in the Vale of Ffestiniog. Here, he came to the notice of Sir William Fothergill Cooke, joint inventor of the electric telegraph who used his new fortune to buy a house in Aber Iâ, the present-day Portmeirion, near Porthmadog. As Sir William had invested heavily in Maenofferen quarry, and at Hafod Las quarry, Betws y Coed, he was keen to see if new technology could boost their profits. And as it happened, George had just patented a prototype tunnelling machine which, in trials in Arbroath, had cut a five-inch-deep ring in a stone wall in less than five minutes. Sir William promptly provided the finance for its construction and shipping. Essentially, the tunneller was a rail-mounted turbine that turned rotating cutters. For the cutting edge, steel bolts were used with sharpened, conical heads. The machine could be adjusted for a cutting diameter of between 5ft 6 and 6ft 6 – around two metres. The cutting head revolved slowly, at one to two revolutions per minute. Once moved into place, it was clamped in position. Typically, the machine would take about three to five hours to cut a 2ft deep groove into the rock. At this point, the cutting head was withdrawn from the newly-cut groove, and the whole machine was roped back to the tunnel entrance to allow miners through. They could then start hacking out the core at the head of the tunnel, a process that could take several hours. Only then could the machine be pushed back into the tunnel, clamped back in place and the next core cut. The first tunnel cut this way was at Maenofferen. It was a laborious operation. The key weakness was the inability to extract the core without the machine being withdrawn. Over the next few years, modified Cooke & Hunter borers were patented but the central problem remained. Sir William admitted as much: in one patent, he described how the machine was “idle for nine hours out of every 12”. His radical solution was to drive multiple tunnels in parallel. After cutting one bore, the machine would be moved to an adjacent rockface, and a second intersecting bore cut. Once done, it was moved a third adjacent rockface before being returned to the first: the idea being that it could be in constant use. For this, a cradle was needed to move the machine between each parallel tunnel. The process was tried at Maenofferen creating its telltale binoculars tunnel. Unlike the Cooke & Hunter stone cutting and dressing machines, which were adopted widely in the slate mines of northwest Wales, the tunnelling machines failed to justify their investment. In 1870 Cooke founded another stone-cutting company in London, shortly after withdrawing from leading roles in the Maenofferen and Bettws companies. Despite raising £40,000 in funding, the new company would fold within four years. By 1879 he was dead, leaving an estate worth a mere £17. George fared a little better, but not without heartache. Of his five children born in Maentwrog, three died, possibly due to typhoid. In a final effort to perfect his tunneller, he filed a patent in 1882 for a machine driven by compressed air. But the world had caught up and overtaken him. In 1880, work began on the first attempt to dig a tunnel under the English Channel. This used a superior rotary boring machine capable of cutting nearly half-a-mile a month. Despite the two bores reaching 2,110 yards in length, the project became plagued by fears of a subterranean invasion by the French. After a number of injunctions, it was finally abandoned in 1898. The Cooke & Hunter machines were consigned to become footnotes in the history of tunnelling. Part 2 to follow next time. This features the underground section. Section 3 - Odds and Ends: Blackpool Transport The Blackpool Tramway Extension Opens History was made in Blackpool on Thursday 13 June 2024 when, just after 10.40am, Bombardier ‘Flexity’ tram number 018 left Starr Gate Depot to travel along South Promenade. It turned right at North Pier into Talbot Square and along Talbot Road to the new tram station at Blackpool North railway station. This was to inaugurate the first extension to the Blackpool Tramway system since 1926, and the first time a tram had travelled in service along Talbot Road since the route to Layton closed in 1936. North Station was the terminus of the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad along Dickson Road from Gynn Square until this route was closed in 1963. The new extension restores this tram link with Fleetwood, Cleveleys and Bispham, running via North Pier instead. Construction of the new line to North Station has been protracted, with work interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and delays in demolishing the Wilko store to construct the Holiday Inn hotel on its site, which is also the site of the new tram terminus. Building work is still to be completed but the tram terminus is open and connected to North Station by a refreshed pedestrian subway under High Street. (Maybe it would have been better to bring the trams right onto the forecourt of North Station for a more convenient interchange?) Test running had been taking place for several months before the new route was officially opened to public service, including testing by Heritage trams to make sure that the transponders were operating the traffic signals and points correctly. Tram services at opening were every 15 minutes to North Station, with alternate cars coming and going north and south at Talbot Square, and a 30 minute service running directly along the Promenade and not turning into Talbot Road. This gave a 15 minute combined frequency along the whole route from Starr Gate to Fleetwood. This has now changed so that nearly all trams turn off the Promenade to reverse at North Station during the day, but there is no service here after 7pm! Three days after the official opening, the first passenger-carrying trip along the new line by a traditional Blackpool tram was made using car 700, the prototype “Balloon” car dating from 1934 when it was an open-top tram. This tram, although looking very traditional in its wartime green livery, has been modified with widened bodywork at the passenger entrances to allow it to call at the tram stations, so level boarding is possible but only as far as the central platform and not into the saloons as there are steps! At the inauguration celebrations, Blackpool Transport offered guided tours of Starr Gate depot and, for the lucky few, a chance to have a go on the tram driving simulator, which recreates the cab of a ‘Flexity’ tram along the route of the Talbot Road tramway including traffic signals and road junctions. The contrast between the modern controls of the ‘Flexity’ with an array of screens, switches and push buttons, and the simple controls of a 1930s English Electric streamliner with controller handle, brake handle, gong and sand pedals could not be greater! The pics: 010 & 015 were used for gauge testing in the construction phase Flexity 018 ready to leave Starr Gate stands alongside 010 At the terminus of the extension: It would have been better if it was titled ‘Blackpool North Railway Station’ At the buffer stops Behind the buffers is the tunnel through to the railway station. No doubt in time this will become the haunt of beer monsters & unsavoury characters. Within the first week there was a substantial pebble-dashing of the right-hand wall! The timetable which has changed a couple of times A few pics of the interior of 018: The digital readout was complete but for some reason cameras are not always able to read the full text. The camera system that is deemed necessary to fit to the Heritage fleet. Hence the withdrawal of those trams. Back to the prom down Talbot Road. At the wasteground to the right stood the original Blackpool North Railway Station. A wonderful building: Blackpool Standard tram car (either 158 or 159), standing outside Blackpool North Railway Station. The tram, one of two such 'Standard' cars converted into illuminated cars in 1959, ran until 1966. Of the two trams, 159 survives as a beautifully restored 'running' exhibit at East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville in Lowestoft (no longer as an illuminated car). However, 158 wasn't so lucky being acquired by the National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire, where it was broken up for parts. It would appear that the tram pictured was used for an enthusiast's tour of the system, prior to the closure of the 'street' routes in 1963. Furness Railway A further look around the Preston site: The Great Western Railway 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5643 has a radial truck spring lowered into position with the help of the gantry crane. In the shed we have Furness Railway 20 Constructed by Sharp Stewart & Co to order 440, this 0-4-0 tender locomotive was one of a batch of eight locomotives constructed for the Furness Railway. It was completed in 1863 and is the country’s oldest working steam locomotive. The rapid growth of traffic on the Furness Railway in the 1860′s resulted in these small four wheeled engines soon becoming obsolescent. In 1870 the first six of the class, F.R. Nos. 17, 18, 19, 20, 25 and 26 were sold to the Barrow Haematite Steel Co. at Barrow. 20 continued in traffic until 1960 when diesel locomotives were introduced. It had completed 90 years service at the steelworks, and just 3 years short of its centenary! Instead of being scrapped, the two-remaining former F.R. machines were presented to local schools. BHSC No. 7 stood in the grounds of the George Hastwell Special School in Abbey Road, Barrow for over twenty years, until it was purchased privately in 1983 and moved to the Steamtown Railway Museum at Carnforth in Lancashire. Following a grant of £97,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and contributions from other groups, the Furness Railway Trust were able to begin the overhaul of 20 in earnest. The stripped-down frames and motion were delivered to the Barrow-in-Furness workshops of Marconi Marine (V.S.E.L.) on 18th December 1996. After a total rebuild, including the construction of a new boiler and tender, the locomotive emerged two years later on 17th December 1998, resplendent in Furness Railway Indian Red livery. No.20 was due for a boiler washout The first job was to clean the firebox out Not a place to get into if you are concerned about confined spaces. Getting stuck halfway is another possibility. It has happened a couple of times! Fire bars removed Quite some time was spent giving the Coventry Climax fire pump yet another service in order to coax it into life. Saturday saw the fire pump in action, after a little more coaxing. A high-pressure jet of water is seen being directed around the foundation ring of the locomotive. Two other boilers on site were also treated to a washout. The bitumen freight traffic from Haverton to the Total Lanfina plant at Preston has ceased, the last train running onto the Ribble Steam Railway on Friday, 1st November. The occasion was not without incident as the inward train from Haverton slipped to a stand on Copy Pit bank and was 195 minutes late on arrival behind the Colas Class 56 locomotive, No. 56 105. The following is an article from 2016: The story of the Bitumen Trains: The 6M32 (loaded) and 6E32 (empty) bitumen trains between Lindsey Oil Refinery and Preston Docks always attract attention as they cross the country from coast to coast – not least because it is one of the few regular freight workings over the Copy Pit line. Just two days before Christmas 2004, the mothballed Preston Docks branch saw the return of regular rail freight operations after a nine-year absence in the form of a ten year contract to move 110,000 tonnes of bitumen a year from Total’s Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire to Preston’s (ex-Lanfina) facility for tar production. Damage to an overbridge on the branch in 1995 initially looked like it had brought the curtain down on the 149-year-old rail service to the docks, with the bitumen tankers diverted to the Total (ex-Kelbit) site on the Haydock branch, near Ashton-in-Makerfield. Happily, 1999 saw trains head back to the redeveloped remains of the once extensive Preston Docks rail system in the form of the Ribble Steam Railway (RSR), which was formed from the ashes of the Steamport Southport group. Significant repairs to the line followed over the next few years, including replacement of the busy level crossing on Strand Road with automatic half barriers, a new pipeline gantry over Leeward Road, and unloading equipment to connect the Total refinery after it had been severed from the railway. Four years later, in 2003, the first of two trials ran on September 29 as EWS machine No. 66084 brought a loaded set of TEAs from Lindsey. This test train was not without its problems, with the GM Type 5 struggling on the infamous 1-in-29 incline from the exchange sidings up to Preston station, resulting in Class 60s being diagrammed to power the heavy 1400 tonne trains when services restarted the following year. The load had proved difficult in BR days, with double-headed Class 31s and 37s mixing it with Class 47s in the 1980s on the heavier workings. The much more capable Class 56s took over in the early 1990s and continued after the changeover on Ashton services right up to the end of operations on the Haydock branch. A second trial took place on October 1, 2003, with No. 60012 providing the power for a set of the VTG-owned bogie bitumen tankers between Wigan Springs Branch and Preston Docks. Final approval to run freight trains was provided in August 2004. A series of route learning locos then visited the branch, and who could forget the surprising visit of Ian Riley ‘Tractor’ No. 37197 with fire-damaged Corradia No.175008 to the docks for onward road movement in November 2004. However, it was the turn of Brush heavy hauler No.60026 to kick-start Preston Docks’ rail-freight renaissance on December 23. Unfortunately, things did not go quite to plan, with malfunctioning discharge equipment resulting in the diversion of the loaded tanks to Ashton-in-Makerfield after Nos. 60088 (Mainline Freight grey) and 60091 (Trainload Coal) were sent to recover the motley collection of TEAs six days later. The return of bitumen trains to the docks had been intended to replace the services to Ashton, which was closed the following year and taken over by Hanson Aggregates. The service from North Lincolnshire quickly settled down to a two-or-three times weekly operation, operating as a loaded 6M32 westbound train and a corresponding 6E32 return, the latter powering its way over the Copy Pit route during daylight hours with a photographer-friendly departure in the morning. On the Preston Docks branch, Ribble Rail, a subsidiary of the RSR, worked the loaded set of 14 TEAs in two portions over the 1.5 miles from the small bank of exchange sidings to the refinery (the siding can only accommodate seven wagons), having left the discharged vehicles for the Colas (previously DB Schenker and EWS) locomotive to collect. This approach ensures a fast turnaround time for the main line engine of less than an hour. Ribble Rail often employs RSR Sentinels Enterprise or Progress on these trains, which traverse the well-known dual-use road and rail swing bridge. Built in 1968, the 0-4-0 shunters are long-term residents of the northwest town, three of the locos having been purchased by the Preston Corporation for working freight on the dock system. There is a 1965-built sister, Energy, a former Manchester Ship Canal machine that arrived in Preston in March 2004 (assuming the identity of the third Preston Corporation Sentinel), while other members of the extensive RSR fleet of former BR and industrial diesels have also seen use on the trains. While Class 66s showed their limitations during the trials in 2003, the enforced run-down of their Brush rivals in 2009 saw DB Schenker turn to the GM locos to cover the heavy trains as the Class 60 fleet was slashed to just a handful of working examples. The ‘Sheds’ monopolised 6E32 and 6M32 for the following couple of years, except in the autumn leaf-fall season when they were transferred to 51-ITT duties. But in 2011, the sight and sound of the eight-cylinder Mirrlees-powered machines returned to regular all-year-round bitumen train operation over the Pennines. The next big change took place in November 2010, with a radical overhaul of the appearance of the train. Out went the ageing batch of Metro Cammell-designed CAIB/VTG 825xx and VTG 83xxx 102-tonne bitumen tankers, replaced by an impressive fleet of new ICA-G bogie wagons (UIC code Zaefns, Nos. 35 70 7790 000-29) assembled by Axiom Rail at the former Marcroft Engineering site in Stoke-on-Trent. Designed by Lloyds Register Rail with the tank barrels and underframes manufactured by Clayton Commercials, the contract for the new tankers was signed in the summer of 2008, with delivery originally being planned from April 2009. The long delay was an embarrassment to the operator Total and the owner, VTG Rail UK. The wagon lessor had specified an innovative design that would offer a higher level of insulation to keep the bitumen between 160-180° more efficiently, as well as a new design of external heating coils that make cleaning the interiors a simpler and safer process. The design also called for TF25 track-friendly bogies, a new valve system, which meant that workers no longer had to access the tops of the wagons to open the ‘manlids’, and a package of weight saving measures that would increase the payload to 74 tonnes. The wait was worthwhile, however, as the stylish black tanks – with silver strapping and yellow saddles – instantly became one of the most attractive freight trains on the network. The last revenue-earning run of the life-expired TEAs took place on November 26, 2010, as ‘Tug’ No. 60019 Pathfinder Tours worked the 6E32 empties back to the refinery at Lindsey. The ICAs took over the following week, with both Class 60s and 66s powering the new wagons over their first month or so, with sometimes as few as seven vehicles forming a train. The usual maximum number of wagons is 14, although 15 (thus a 1500 tonne train) have been formed occasionally, testing the GM power to the limit. Currently, one of the Brush machines, usually one of Immingham’s ‘Super Tugs’, is just as likely to be in charge of the bitumen workings, which now run as often as four times weekly. However, there was a notable change from the norm on July 11, 2011, when route learner Class 59/2 No. 59205 L Keith McNair visited the Preston Docks branch with the 6M32 service some four-and-a-half-hours late after rescuing No. 66061, which had failed on the climb to Copy Pit summit. The return service is the most favourable towards photographers. This departs the exchange sidings with the Ribble Railway in Preston at about eight o’clock in the morning. Shots of the eastern end of the sidings are available from the A59 Guild Way overbridge. Views along the rest of the branch are difficult, but not impossible. The first obstacle for 6E32 is the long crossing at Strand Road (A5072), which is passed after a call to Preston power box. After the steep climb to Preston station, where the RSR shunter jumps off, the bitumen empties join the West Coast Main One. The trip under the 25kV wires is short and none of the overbridges afford outstanding views. After the run to Farington Curve Junction, where the service climbs over the WCML to join the line to Blackburn at Lostock Hall Junction, there is a feast of opportunities for photographers for the remainder of 6E32’s journey east. This route was opened by the Blackburn & Preston Railway in the summer of 1846, with the line extending to Burnley in September 1848 under the auspices of the Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington & Colne Extension Railway. By this date both companies had been absorbed by the East Lancashire Railway. With plenty of overbridges along the route to Burnley there are numerous chances to catch the empties in action. 6E32 is usually recessed in the loop at Blackburn Bolton Junction for around 45 minutes, while it can also be looped at Gannow Junction in Burnley to allow Northern Rail passenger services to pass. Opened on November 12, 1849, by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (previously known as the Manchester & Leeds Railway), the Burnley to Todmorden line over Copy Pit summit connected the L&YR with the ELR, creating a direct route from Preston through Blackburn and Accrington to the Calder Valley route via Summit Tunnel, a few miles west of Hebden Bridge. A decade later, the LYR swallowed the East Lancs, creating an extensive empire north of Manchester that stretched from Blackpool and Liverpool in the west to Leeds, Hull and Doncaster in the east. In its heyday, Copy Pit featured six stations at Burnley Manchester Road, Townley, Holme, Portsmouth, Cornholme and Stansfield Hall, all closing, apart from the Burnley halt, between 1930 and 1958. While Copy Pit itself is steeply graded, with a punishing three-mile section of 1-in-65 to the 749ft summit, the Calder Valley actually features better gradients overall than the competing London & North Western Railway Standedge route via Huddersfield. There are three tunnels, at Townley (398 yards), Holme (265 yards) and Kitsonwood (290 yards). In the dark days of the early 1980s, Copy Pit, the northernmost branch of the Calder Valley line and one of three remaining routes across the Pennines, almost joined the Woodhead in oblivion. Local passenger services between Todmorden and Rose Grove had been withdrawn in the mid-1960s, while regular freight traffic had almost disappeared by the end of 1982 – by which time just a Preston Deepdale Speedlink service used the line. The move of the National & Provincial Building Society (which became part of Abbey National in 1996) from Burnley to Bradford saw a passenger service reintroduced, and the diversion of freight off the Settle & Carlisle route (also then slated for the axe) meant the threat of closure was lifted. Nowadays the passenger services over Copy Pit are supported by West Yorkshire Metro east of Hebden Bridge. The eastbound DMU between York and Blackpool North stops at Burnley Manchester Road at around 52 minutes past the hour, while the corresponding return makes its halt at 35 minutes past the hour. The eastbound climb to Copy Pit is a touch easier than the opposite direction and 6E32 traverses the line at just the right time to take advantage of several classic shots, none more so than the view of Lydgate Viaduct. There are also good views available of the early-morning 6F70 cement service from Clitheroe, as well as the loaded 6M32 bitumen service in the summer months. Other freight trains do run, but the operation of most of them is subject to frequent changes and irregular service. The train joins the Calder Valley at Hall Boyd Junction, which has several good road bridges providing excellent vantage points in both directions. This location is set to change dramatically as Network Rail is reinstating the north to west curve as part of its Northern Hub project, allowing direct Burnley to Manchester Airport services. After a booked stop in the loop at Heaton Lodge Junction (west of Mirfield), the train completes the first stage of its journey to Healey Mills, still in former L&YR territory. Both the stations at Hebden Bridge and Sowerby Bridge are good for photography, but it is the area around Mirfield that has the most notable opportunities to record the progress of the empties. Crew changes used to take place at the now-closed Healey Mills yard, but these are now done at Wakefield Kirkgate station instead. 6E32 passes the former hump yard just after midday, with the road bridge at the east end and several bridges down the line in Horbury still enabling iconic shots of the transformation of trans-Pennine motive power and trains over the years. Taking the Knottingley line at Wakefield Kirkgate (Calder Bridge Junction) and the main line to Doncaster at Crofton West Junction, the bitumen service then joins the former Great Northern Railway at Adwick Junction to bypass Doncaster, where it meets the Great Central (ex-Manchester Sheffield & Lincs Railway) at Hatfield & Stainforth. This far east, with the clock nearing 13.30, photography of the train becomes difficult. The most popular view of 6E32 is paralleling the wide Stainforth Keadby Canal at Crowle, in North Lincolnshire. There are other locations, especially where the line turns south-east, but the flat landscape and paucity of overbridges makes life difficult. East of Scunthorpe, the empties from Preston Docks are on the freight ‘racetrack’ to Immingham Dock, ticking off the popular enthusiast hotspots at Barnetby, Melton Ross and Brocklesby in quick succession before finally completing its journey to the huge Lindsey Oil Refinery just before three o’clock in the afternoon. The three Sentinel diesels The empty tanks will be leaving for the last time soon Around the workshops: Courageous Ribble Steam Railway-based Bagnall 0-6-0ST No. 2680 Courageous made its first ‘light engine’ test runs in the yard at Preston Riverside on 29th Jan, becoming the first locomotive to return to steam in 2014. The locomotive is now in regular service on the line. The locomotive has undergone a lengthy restoration by its current owner from near-derelict condition. The locomotive was built by W G Bagnall at its works in Stafford, emerging in 1942 as the first member of the Company’s standard 16” class of 0-6-0STs, it was immediately shipped to the Birchenwood Gas and Coke Co works near Stoke-on-Trent and put to work, being named Birchenwood No. 4 upon its arrival. In fact, such was the speed of its despatch from the Bagnall site that there was no time for official works photographs of the locomotive to be taken. Works photographs in fact show locomotive No. 2682 ‘Princess’ helping to perpetuate the myth that the latter was the class prototype. No. 2680 worked at Birchenwood until its closure in May 1973, becoming the last locomotive to work at the site. It was initially purchased for preservation by Sir William McAlpine and moved to Market Overton, but little work was done, and it was sold once more, moving to the North Norfolk Railway, where it was dismantled for an overhaul that never took place. Several more changes of ownership took place and the locomotive’s condition gradually deteriorated, with many parts being lost in the intervening years. When the current owner acquired the locomotive in February 2009, most of the cab fittings were missing, together with almost all the external pipework and a myriad of other components. Many of these have had to be manufactured from scratch or acquired from other sources, adding significantly to the workload. Nevertheless, a small but dedicated team, led by No. 2680’s owner has rebuilt the locomotive from a condition akin to that of an ex-Barry wreck to a pristine working machine within five years. Seven examples of the Bagnall standard 16” class were based on the Preston Corporation system at the Albert Edward Dock, which at the height of operations in the 1950s comprised some 26 miles of track. The locomotives include the aforementioned No. 2682 Princess, delivered in 1942, along with Nos. 2838 Energy, 2839 Perseverance, 2840 Enterprise, 2891 Progress, 2892 Courageous and 2893 Conqueror, all of which arrived on the system between 1946 and 1948. Steam ended on the dock in 1968, and three new Rolls Royce powered Sentinel 4wDM shunters, Nos. 10281, 10282 and 10283, arrived to replace the seven Bagnalls. With No. 2680 now having a long-term home at the Ribble Steam Railway, which operates on the last surviving part of the former Preston Dock system, a decision was taken to finish the locomotive in the guise of one of the six lost Preston Bagnalls, and when it emerged from the workshops it bore a pair of newly-cast Courageous nameplates, together with a pair of tank-side ladders identical to those fitted to its namesake. The chimney-top ‘halo’ type spark arrestor and the correct pattern of steam-heat equipment has also been fitted. A boon to heritage passenger operation, steam heating apparatus was originally employed on the locomotives to heat Geest banana vans to assist with the ripening process after the crop had been unloaded at the dock. Caliban ‘Caliban’ was completed by the Peckett works in February 1937 for Courtaulds, Preston. On 2 May 1973 ex-Courtaulds large Peckett 0-4-0ST Caliban hauled the first trains on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway Arrived at RSR 14th July 2015 Courtaulds was a manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world’s leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds plc and Courtaulds Textiles Ltd. ‘Caliban’ worked at a large rayon production facility, called the Red Scar mill, Preston. The main product was tyrecord. It employed around 4,000 people. It was decommissioned in 1980. The process involved at the Red Scar mill was twofold: the production of industrial yarn—viscose yarn—and textile yarn. The industrial yarn, which comprised about half of the operation, was used specifically for tyres. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the proportion of cars imported from abroad had substantially increased. That had a direct impact on companies whose main life was in supplying the British car industry. The figures show the penetration of imported cars into the United Kingdom. In 1974 that represented 30 per cent, by 1978 it had risen to no less than 56 per cent. The tyres were imported “on the hoof”—on the car as it arrives—and part of the market is therefore closed to the British producer. There was the tragedy of the British motor car industry itself. The potential market should have been greater, but the fall in passenger car production in Britain between 1976 and 1978 was no less than 110,000. The Red Scar mill was greatly tied to the success of the British tyre-making industry. On closure 2,600 people lost their jobs. The locomotive was preserved, being taken to Steamtown Carnforth when its working life at Courtaulds was over. Alan Middleton and John Houghton, who at the time were respectively secretary and chairman of the Lancashire Railway Circle purchased Caliban from Courtaulds. ‘Caliban’ was saved and made her way north to the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. She is now in the care and restoration of the Furness Railway Trust at Preston. The locomotive is currently in a non-public area whilst her restoration continues. L&NWR Covered Carriage Built by the L&NWR at Wolverton in 1913. It was purchased from Wolverton Works where it was being used, then numbered DM395081, as a cell truck for transporting battery cells within the works complex. The vehicle was transported by road to Haverthwaite. After the discovery that some of these vehicles were used in circus trains, No.11010 has always been known as the Elephant Van. It arrived at Preston in 2009. Fluff Fluff was the Lakeside Railway Society’s first locomotive – bought by the Society to haul works trains on what was to become the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway from the Steelworks in Barrow-in-Furness. In due course the Furness Railway Trust was established and took over all the Society’s assets, including the little shunter. The locomotive spent three years on display outside Vintage Vehicles Shildon – the “other” museum in Shildon, County Durham, next door to the NRM’s Locomotion, but has now moved to the Trust’s home base, the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston. Fluff is not currently stored in a publicly accessible area – and work continues to restore the locomotive to working condition – however after detailed investigations it has been discovered that the locomotive’s power unit is beyond economic repair, so efforts are underway to locate an appropriate replacement. Another old carriage is being used as a store pending its complex refurbishment Number 4979 Wootton Hall is one of an illustrious line of named locomotives of the Great Western Railway. The class was the standard mixed traffic design on the GWR, handling express passenger and heavy goods trains. As befits a jack-of-all-trades, it had a varied career with the Great Western and British Railways (Western Region), serving in the West Country, the Midlands, South Wales, London and Oxford. Wootton Hall came into Furness Railway Trust ownership in 1994. For the first twelve and a half years in FRT ownership, the locomotive was stored at the Lytham Motive Power Museum – having passed along Blackpool Promenade en route from its previous home at Fleetwood! Having had to take its place in the restoration queue behind first Furness Railway Number 20, and then its fellow Swindon stablemate, GWR 0-6-2T 5643, a small team has continued to carry out preventative maintenance. The opportunity has also been taken to purchase items when funds or opportunity allow. This is a sensible policy: many items found on Great Western Railway engines were standardised, and so it was sometimes possible to get something for Wootton Hall at the same time as purchasing a similar part for 5643, for less than we would have to pay were we to order the two fittings separately. We have also kept our eyes open for other one offs: for example, the FRT has obtained the original GWR safety valve bonnet and clack valve cover from a local collector. Most of the cab fittings, apart from the brake valve and lubrication control valve, have now been obtained. These items have been paid for by small donations. A steam fountain, blower valve and steam lance valve have been manufactured in Gloucester and are now in safe storage. Other purchases include the air pump lubricator bottle, two pepper pot valves for the vacuum system, some cylinder drain tap cocks, and two whistle mountings. A quantity of steel bar has been bought at Preston to manufacture oil feeders and parts for the safety valve – these are jobs that can be undertaken in the RSR workshop. Prices are being sought for some of the smaller valves in the cab and around the cylinder block. A new solid copper top to the chimney is being made – to replace the copper plated steel original which has understandably rusted away. A similar copper cap already adorns the chimney of 5643. Wootton Hall was moved to the FRT’s new workshop at the Ribble Steam Railway in October 2014. Immediately work began to remove the badly wasted tank and coal space of the tender; a replacement will be built in due course. It is intended to overhaul the tender first, which can then be made available for hire, whilst attention turns to the locomotive itself. The locomotive is in a non-public area at present. The story of Leigh 16: Leigh Corporation bus no. 16 (KTD 768) is a very rare vehicle. It is the only representative of a Lowbridge type bus, which has a body constructed to reduce overall height of a double decker and allow passage under low bridges (but not too low – the height is 13’6”, as opposed to the usual one foot more). This involves having a sunken side gangway on the offside of the upper deck, with a step up to the long bench seats for four, with resulting lower headroom on the right of the lower deck. The downside to the lowbridge layout is the sunken gangway on the offside of the upper deck, and the rows of bench seats for four people. It makes it awkward for passengers to get to and from the seats on the left side of the bus, and difficult for the conductor to take fares. Passing each other in the gangway is not easy. Downstairs, the gangway intrudes into the ceiling of the upper deck and passengers seated below it have to remember to duck their heads when getting up to avoid a bump on the head! Memories of this may have long gone! Leigh 16 is built on a Leyland Titan PD2/1 chassis, and the bodywork is by Lydney Coachworks of Gloucestershire. Lydney was a small-scale bodybuilder in the early post-war era. Production was limited, with the local Red and White bus company being the main customer. Leigh 16 is the sole survivor of a batch of 12 delivered in 1949/50, the only ones for Leigh with this bodywork. There are very few Lydney-bodied buses surviving, and not many former Leigh Corporation buses either, so this one is now unique. It’s not clear why Leigh ordered bodywork from Lydney but maybe post-war availability was an issue. Externally the bus is in good condition, and also good mechanically, but it is let down by the interior. The condition of the seats on Leigh 16 has long been a cause for concern, as the original leathercloth covering has deteriorated after years of use and subsequent lack of care and attention to the point where restoration is impossible, and reupholstering of the seats is the only option if this bus is to see any further passengers. The lower deck seats (cushions and backs) have been sent away to a local upholsterer for recovering. Replacing like-for-like with leathercloth was too expensive but a leather-look synthetic material in dark red, which looks similar has sufficed. The pleats have been reproduced and the cushions and backs are stored in the bus waiting to be fitted. The seat frames have been repainted the seat frames in readiness but before the seats can be refitted, more work is needed to the lower deck. The ceiling requires repainting as the existing paint is peeling, the side panels need cleaning, and the seat top rails need chroming. The floor covering is a light-coloured material and is probably original, and so it needs careful cleaning to restore its originality. The metal wearing strips need repainting. When all this is done, the seats can be fitted and that will be the lower deck completed. Attention will then turn to the upper deck, with much of the above being repeated while the seats are away for reupholstering. Next time: Part two of Maenofferen

Malcolm Lumsden filmed it . He’s on Facebook

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Hi there folks. Welcome to episode 2. In this one: Section 1: South-west, and Scottish F2 miscellany Section 2: Out and About – The DAF Museum Section 3: Odds and Ends: Lancaster Canal, Furness Railway Trust, Blackpool Transport Spot Section 1: Bristol – Sunday March 31st 2024 – Final winner Jamie Avery (126) Here are some pics from the day: Jon Palmer tried it without the wing for this meeting but could only manage an 8th place in the Consolation. After spinning Gordon Moodie out in the Final multiple cautions bunched the field up and left 7 and 647 behind the 24 car. At the restart a combined hit from the Scottish pair saw the Plymouth man cannoned into the turn 1 fence and out for the day. Team Burgoyne The mud is from the Skegness pits on Good Friday Charlie Doe was taking part in just her 3rd meeting. She had not raced any other formula before this. A pit scene under a blue sky for a change Lined up for practice Charlie Lobb hit the fence in practice which put him out for the meeting Aaron Vaight on the grid before he had an abrupt end to his meeting A turn 2 pile up ended his day Ben Bate was one of those involved. He was able to fix his car though and is at the ‘level’ area for set up. Aaron drives his battered car back Right side damage Bonnet and wing Guinchy and Tim (Aaron’s dad) look on as the car is winched into the transporter. They headed back to Ormskirk straightaway to get the car repaired for the Crimond/Cowdie weekend coming up. In the Consolation Stu Moss Jnr was another to suffer damage As was Ben Bate in this turn 3 crash Back in the pits repair work for the second time today on 161 The Jack Bunter car took a hit to the side The damaged 876 car is carried back The team start the repairs Engine problems meant that the 461 car was unable to race 390 got damage all around Phil Mann decided to miss the Final knowing there was likely to be a lot of damage. He changed the gearing ready for Taunton the next day. The GN saw Guinchy forced off-line in turn 3 and hit a stationary car Dan Baker was that unlucky stationary car The Matt Stoneman car needed a lift back as well Crimond – Saturday April 6th 2024 – Final winner Gordon Moodie (7) The annual WCQR drew a larger than normal turnout with the visiting drivers boosting the numbers. The memorial stone at the entrance You will not see this sign at any other track! The grandstand roof came adrift in the winter storms The grandstand itself was also blown over twice Wartime remains: The David Smith Welfare Unit! A first visit for the Smiths. Owing to damage from the previous weekend’s Bristol meeting Jess was on mechanic duties for Rebecca. A rare chance to see Robbie Dawson as he tends to stay local these days Jason McDonald 387 Jon Hodgson Lana Middler’s Micro F2 wing Half shaft trouble for Jack Bunter Prop out for Steven Burgoyne Luke dives in with the magnet to remove shredded half shaft splines from the diff with Tom Bennett (213) in attendance The back straight spectators getting a birds-eye view of the blue top grid draw for the Final The top three in the Final. The 100 car’s rear tyre let go on the slow down lap fortunately On the podium and the pace truck Section 2 The Daf Museum The DAF Museum is housed in an old brewery dating from 1884. The museum illustrates the history of Van Doorne's Automobile Factory (DAF). The permanent exhibition consists mainly of DAF vehicles including prototypes and produced sports cars. Furthermore, the museum houses a large collection of trucks. The pics: Nearby is the very smart Eindhoven Centraal Railway Station The VIRM One of the most iconic trains on Dutch rails. The VIRM is a double decked train that was first ordered in the 90s to run between different regions, called the "Regiorunner". The series 186 is an electric locomotive of the Bombardier TRAXX F140 MS2 type, intended for the passenger trains of NS Hi-speed and later NS Reizigersand & NS International. In 2008 a number of leased locomotives came to the Netherlands. This fleet was reinforced from 2014 with new locomotives of the same type that were purchased directly by the Dutch Railways through an urgent order. A Volvo FM 500hp 10x4 tipper working opposite What treasures await us within? The ground floor is the commercial vehicle section and focuses on old trucks, including lorries, buses and special vehicles. DAF B 1500 C-533 The production of truck and bus chassis started almost simultaneously. When a chassis was delivered, it was sent to a coach builder for a custom-built coach body, in this case BOVA. AKU, a manufacturer of artificial silks bought the coach in 1956 and used it to take its staff to and from the production plant. In 1969 the coach went to Vredenstein, the tyre manufacturers where it was once again used to transport staff. It was also used to accompany cycle racing teams. Finally, BOVA bought the coach in 1997 and sent it to Switzerland for a complete restoration. On 6 August 2003 it was donated to the DAF Museum. A 1966 DAF T 1600 DA This tractor was handed over to a haulage contractor south of Eindhoven and remained in active use as late as 1986. The company started operating in 1890. By the time lorries appeared the company used various makes of truck. Since 1966 they have been using DAF products exclusively. The cab was stretched by an outside supplier supported by the local DAF dealer. This was welcomed by the drivers on long hauls who were able to use it as a sleeper cab. In 2013 the owner decided to donate it to the museum where the volunteer staff restored it to perfection. A 1968 DAF A 1900 DS In 1962 the A 1900 series was the new top model in the medium weight range. The higher output of its turbocharged engine made the trucks suitable for use with drawbar trailers. This truck was restored in the DAF dealer’s workshop at Bergen-op-Zoom. It was nicknamed after Mr Cyriel van Putte the salesman that accepted the truck in part exchange after 20 years. A 1968 DAF A 1900 DD This rigid of 1968 vintage was one of the first in a long line of DAF trucks that saw service with the company. The front PTO powers the Faun rotating drum waste disposal body. Mr Leo van Gansewinkel started his company in 1964 in a small town not far from Eindhoven. Nowadays it is a multinational company that employs 7,500 staff and operates 1,000 trucks that collect waste from 120,000 companies. Waste is no longer waste, but a source of new materials and energy. A 1968 DAF A 1902 DS The A 1902 concrete mixer chassis first appeared in 1962 and could take a 4m drum. The drum was powered by means of a front PTO connected to the front of the crankshaft. The truck was used for stationary work during the construction of a pier on the North Sea coast. When the truck was donated to the museum it had only covered 400 miles! A 1969 DAF A 2400 DK The 2400 series with its modified cab and receding roofline for greater comfort and a better view of the road appeared in 1965. From 1968 DAF fitted the new 11.6 litre DK engine. Loven Trucks of Heerlen is one of the oldest Dutch DAF dealers and to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020 Leo Loven decided to buy this 2400. Originally it was a Belgian tractor chassis which was later converted to a rigid truck to carry flour. Its livery is reminiscent of the DAF tipper lorries used by a local quartz sand quarry run by relatives of grandmother Loven. A 1978 DAF FT2800 DKS This tractor unit was number 54 in a limited edition of 500 trucks produced in 1978 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of DAF trucks. The owners used the tractor unit in combination with a livestock trailer for the domestic haulage of pigs. International transport to Germany and Belgium followed later. When new DAF Trucks used it to carry out tests on the rear axle air suspension system. It clocked up 754,178 kilometres in service. A 1978 DAF FA 700 DE In 1971 DAF, Magirus-Deutz, Saviem and Volvo agreed to share the development of components for a new series of lightweight trucks. The official name for this cooperation was ETD, European Truck Design, unofficially it was referred to as the ‘Club of Four’. The partners were to sell the trucks under their own brand names and through their own dealer networks. DAF introduced its F700-900 series at the end of 1974. This FA 700 used to be a municipal tipper truck. A 1979 DAF FT 2800 DKS For the F2800 series the existing tilt cab was widened to 241cm and placed higher on the chassis to restrict the intrusion of the engine in the interior. The large front screen with its three wipers was characteristic for the series. The new DKS engine made it possible for DAF to comply with the demand for 7bhp/tonne. DAF was the first manufacturer of truck engines to make use of turbo charging in combination with inlet air cooling, which has since 1973 become the industry standard. Inlet air cooling (intercooling) lowers the temperature of the combustion air so that a higher weight of air can be fed into the cylinders for more power and a lower fuel consumption. This 2800 was operated by a company in Minden, Germany. A 1980 DAF FT 2300 DHU From 1976 the F2300 series filled a gap between the F2200 and 2800 series. For the first time air suspension on the rear axles became available. Air suspension guarantees a constant chassis height and a greater degree of stability. It also facilitates as the chassis height can be lowered by means of a control valve – on the left in front of the rear axle. This tractor unit belonged to Campina, a large dairy group. A 1984 DAF FT 3300 DKX The 3300 DKX was designed for high payloads, high average speeds and lots of pulling power. Visar, the electronic instrument that measures the actual fuel consumption and indicates the optimal gear selection was a standard fitment. The ‘Space Cab’ set new standards for interior space, for the first time drivers had ample room to stand upright and change. Between 1984 and 1994 this tractor unit covered 1,000,000 kilometres on journeys to and from Italy. Then, from 1994 until 2007, it covered another 1,000,000 kilometres on domestic trips. A 1987 DAF FTG 95 During the development stage, customers, drivers and mechanics were interviewed to find out what the market needed. Therefore, the F95 series was a new development in which DAF applied electronics for the first time. Various cab versions were offered, ranging from day cabs to Super Space Cab. The new series was introduced in August 1987 during a show in which dancers pieced together a wire model of the new star truck under ‘black light’. The music for the show was specially composed for the occasion. The DAF F 95 was ‘Truck of the Year’ in 1988. A DAF 95 380 ATi A 1992 DAF FA 75 The 75-85 series made its first appearance at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1992. In order to find out what the market wanted, customers and drivers had been extensively interviewed. The cab with its low Cw-coefficient was specially designed for this series. The difference in width between the front wheels and cab was compensated for by the cab door ‘wings’ so that there was no need for protruding mudguards. A 1993 DAF VD 400 EN The crew cab model first appeared in 1988 and could accommodate 6 -7 persons. This VD 400 was bought new in 1993 by an Eindhoven company that later sold it on to a firm at Rijen. A 1997 DAF FT 95.430 XF Low Deck The new 95XF proved to be a huge success for DAF with 10,000 chassis sold before the end of 1997. To comply with the demand for more power the all new 12.6 litre XF was developed with power outputs up to 483 bhp. The new DAF Engine Brake with its braking power of 394 bhp made for fast, yet safe descents. ‘Low deck’ tractor units are meant to pull semi-trailers with a maximum interior height of 3 metres. The fifth wheels are mounted at heights of 93 or 95 cm. A 2004 DAF FT 85.430 CF Space Cab In the early ‘80s DAF conceived the idea to develop three series of vehicles with three different cab shapes: LF (Light Forte) for urban distribution, CF (Compact Forte) for national transport and XF (Extra Forte) for long distance haulage. The chassis of the CF series is identical to that of the XF, but the cab sits lower as drivers on national haulage have to get in and out more frequently. The CF series is built lighter for more payload. The Space Cab allows a standing height of 1.85 metres on the engine tunnel so that the driver can change comfortably at the end of a working day. This truck was retired together with its regular driver after more than 1,260,000 kms. The 95.500 was available as a 4x2 tractor or drawbar rigid, with LHD only, though the Super Spacecab was available on 11.6-litre engined models. The 95.500 is now a very rare truck. In September 2010, DAF introduced a hybrid LF45 at the IAA 2010 in Hannover. The LF Hybrid has a 118 kilowatt diesel engine combined with a 44 kW brushless electric motor, which has a permanent magnet and is placed in line between the clutch and the automatic transmission. The electric motor is powered by 96 lithium-ion batteries of 3.4 Volt each, weighing a total of 100 kg. The battery pack allows the truck to drive for about 2 kilometres with the diesel engine turned off and to store energy from braking for future use. Something smaller: A 1959 DAF 600 De Luxe The Variomatic system: A 1960 version was exported to South Africa A 1968 DAF Shelette In the 60s beach cars were extremely popular, especially along the Riviera. Giovannai Michelotti worked not only for DAF, but also for other manufacturers, such as Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Fiat, BMW and Triumph. He built a number of beach cars for Fiat (Spiagettas). When the wealthy Greek shipowner, Aristotle Onassis, and his wife Jackie Kennedy Onassis learned about this type of car they decided they wanted one but it had to have a fully automatic transmission. They did not hesitate and opted for the Variomatic transmission and this Shelette based on a Daffodil was delivered in 1968. The car travelled the seven seas aboard the Onassis’ luxury yacht. On arrival in a harbour the car was lifted off the yacht to serve as a runaround car. All in all approximately 80 cars of this type were produced on DAF or Fiat platforms. A 1968 DAF Siluro The DAF Siluro is a prototype that Giovanni Michelotti developed on the basis of a DAF 55 Coupe. The Siluro (Italian for ‘torpedo’) was one of the first cars with a so-called wedge-shape. This two-seater has the four cylinder 1,108cc Renault engine in combination with the Variomatic transmission. After the car was shown at the Geneva Car Show in March 1968 it was forgotten until shown on the stand at Club Nederland in 2005. A 1969 DAF 44 De Luxe Combi 167,902 were built up to 1974 A 1971 DAF 55 De Luxe A 1972 DAF 44 De Luxe A 1970 Yellow Racing Team Camel/DF 2 Litre Proto A 1974 DAF 33 van One for the Postal Service A 1974 DAF 66 1300 Coupe A 1980 Volvo 66 1300 GL version Volvo had purchased one third of Daf Car in 1972 A 1946 DAF single-axle trailer bus After World War 2 large numbers of buses were needed to restore public transport. As trailer buses could be made available much sooner than foreign bus chassis the Dutch Railways placed an order with DAF for 270 trailer buses in 1946. The tractor units were ordered from Crossley in Manchester. After three years the semi-trailers were replaced by ordinary buses. Philips, Daf and various other firms in the Eindhoven region made use of these trailer buses to take staff to and from work. A number of trailers ended up in Eastern Germany. A 1967 DAF YA 616 Fitted with a 204 hp Continental R6602 gasoline engine this became the standard heavy artillery tractor of the Dutch armed forces. Between 1959 and 1968 1,270 trucks were produced in various versions. The trucks had two 200-litre petrol tanks sufficient for a range of 400 kms. The one in the museum supplied the field artillery and was originally fitted with a Hulo crane used for loading and unloading ammunition. The standard “civil” Hulo crane now fitted was used to load and unload bricks. A 1952 DAF A 10 Van The DAF A 10 van first appeared in 1950. It could also be supplied as a chassis-cowl. Customers were not only large retail organisations, the Dutch Post Office, and police forces, but also small firms. This van was in use with the Eindhoven police force. A DAF A 16 BB 475 This petrol-engined truck was built in 1962 and remained stationed in Groningen until 1979. Its ladder reaches a working height of 39 metres which makes it still one of the tallest in the country. On retirement the truck was bought by a company that used it for tree pruning and building cleaning purposes. A 1963 DAF TB 160 DD In 1958 DAF started the production of the tram-bus chassis (TB) with the entrance in front of the set-back front axle. This type of bus was laid out for a one-man operation. A 1964 Formula Junior fitted with a 4 cyl Ford Cosworth 998cc and Variomatic transmission. A 1965 Brabham BT 15 A 1967 DAF Pony truck A DAF 55 This car was entered in the 1993 London-Sydney Marathon A 1972 Moretti-DAF A 1992 Williams FW 15 C CVT A 1965 DAF 32 De Luxe A 1963 DAF 30 Daffodil A 1972 DAF 33 De Luxe A 1974 DAF 66 1300 Marathon A 1965 DAF P-40 GT The P-40 GT is one of several prototypes. This beautiful coupe, faintly reminiscent of Porsches, Alfa Romeos and BMWs of the day was a 1965 design by Giovanni Michelotti. Regrettably his design never made it to the production stage as a study had shown that the numbers would be too low and consequently the financial risks too big. A 1968 P500 In 1967 Studio Michelotti was asked to design a ‘large’ DAF. The project was dubbed P500. Meanwhile DAF had started negotiations with Renault for the supply of the 1,289cc engine for the new car. This engine was a larger version of the 1,108 cc engine that was used in 1958. Within a year Michelotti presented a design that was in perfect harmony with the spirit of the times. It was a spacious 4-door car with a length of 4.3 metres. The first 4-door DAF ever! As the negotiations with Renault had stagnated it was decided to use a Simca engine for the time being. Initially a 5-speed gearbox was used. Before long it was decided to make use of a De Dion rear axle in combination with a Variomatic transmission to which a differential had been added. A configuration that was to be used on the later DAF 66. Michelotti made several designs for the interior of the car. It was mainly based on the (serious) financial risks that introducing a completely new model would entail. However, a lot of experience was gained that would prove to be useful when working on later models. The De Dion rear axle for instance was used on the later DAF 66 and the work on the styling contributed to the development of the later DAF 77 (Volvo 343) A Paccar MX 13 Euro 6 6-cylinder diesel engine with drive line This engine complies with the Euro 6 standard because of its Unit Pump Electronically Controlled (UPEC) fuel injection system. Fuel is supplied to the cylinders via separate electronically controlled fuel pumps that work at a pressure of 1,500 bar. A ZF Intarder is mounted between gearbox and rear axle to slow the truck down on long descents without the use of the service brakes which stay cool. The model displays are magnificent: The board room The original workshop and tooling has survived: I can highly recommend this superb collection of all things DAF 👍 Odds and Ends A stroll around the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal and surrounding area The Lancaster Canal was originally built to connect the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to Preston, Lancaster and Kendal. The southern section later became part of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the tramway connection over the Ribble valley was abandoned in 1864. The northern reaches of the canal were closed when the M6 was built across it in three places. The canal now runs from Preston to Tewitfield. This section we are on close to Tewitfield is non-navigational. 200 years ago this would have been busy with boats plying coal and limestone up and down the ‘Black and White Canal’ A dry overflow channel Part of the sluice gear remains The exit tunnel for the overflow This overflow has been blocked to prevent sheep entering The lock wall is still in good shape A set of lock gates. This type were used between 1819-1942. At Saltmire Bridge. This is a listed structure and was constructed in the very early 1800s. We leave the canal now and head over the nearby fields: This one contains a superb iron water pump. It remains from the medieval village of Dalton which had been abandoned in around 1830. The magnificent 145 yard long Capenwray Viaduct comes into view It was constructed in 1867 by the Furness and Midland Joint Railway. It is situated between Carnforth and Borwick on the line from Carnforth to Wennington and Hellifield. Well reinforced How about this gem of a medieval packhorse bridge? It spans the River Keer A wonderful scene We are close to the canal again and here is the remains of a crane which loaded stone from the Wegber Quarry onto the canal boats On an 1814 map In the village of Borwick is Beck House Farm. It actually dates from the early 1800s. The rear wing has some re-used rebated and chamfered window surrounds dating from the 1600s. The 1681 RB above the door has also been re-used from an earlier property. Furness Railway Trust Welcome to the Furness Railway Trust where I spend most Fridays. The FRT owns Britain's oldest working standard gauge steam locomotive, Furness Railway Number 20, 20's younger sister BHSCo Number 17, GWR duo 0-6-2T 5643 and 4979 'Wootton Hall', Austerity 'Cumbria', and Barrow steelworks shunter 'Fluff'. The engineering base in Preston is at the Ribble Steam Railway but the locomotives and carriages are found at heritage railway sites nationwide. Let’s have a look at what has been happening this past few weeks. 5643 is under its ten year overhaul at present: Cylinder liners removed New ones ready for machining One of the pistons Reassembly of the radial truck A view of 5643’s newly cleaned and painted chassis, now lowered onto the wheels. We are just awaiting a shed shunt to get the frames over the pit before fitting the remaining two springs. New axle pad oilers have arrived for the driving wheels Applying some red oxide to 5643’s cab roof. Followed by green undercoat Grinding off the stay heads on the firebox in preparation for the stays to be replaced. Tapping out the main steam pipe flanges More pics from here next time. Blackpool Transport Spot Blackpool has been named the second-best place in the UK to visit for a winter break. The study put Blackpool just behind Edinburgh, but ahead of places like Liverpool, Manchester and York. Blackpool's Christmas By The Sea is running daily, barring Christmas Day, until 5 January. With the Illuminations continuing once again until January the town is busy at weekends. The lights switch on drew a large crowd Christmas By The Sea (Pic credits to Gregg Wolstenholme) Following the opening of the tramway extension to Blackpool North Railway Station (more on that next time) the Western Train made an early morning test run to gauge clearances: As well as an evening run: The tram's history Introduced in 1962 and modelled on a train from a western film, the Illuminated Western Train Tram attracted long queues in its heyday as seaside visitors waited for a ride. It was withdrawn from service due to old age in 1999 and for some time was under threat of being broken up for scrap. Thanks to the Lottery Heritage Fund, between 2007 and 2009, this national icon was completely rebuilt and fully restored to its authentic 1962 condition externally, whilst internally, the carriage was returned to its 1928 appearance. It is also the very first Blackpool tram to be fitted with wheelchair access, which has been incorporated into the rebuilt locomotive without altering the external appearance of this historic vehicle. A ride on the tram is a trip down memory lane for Blackpool’s locals and visitors alike. From the very outset of the project, Blackpool Transport Services received over a thousand letters from the public through a Gazette appeal, hoping to carry on the tradition of a ride on the Western Train Tram. Sir Cliff Richard travelled on the tram to the ABC Theatre in Church Street to reopen the theatre and launch the first summer show there in 1963. He said at the time of the Lottery Grant announcement in 2007: “It’s hard to imagine Blackpool without its historic trams and, without initiatives such as this, they could one day be lost for ever. Like thousands of others, I have fond memories of my trip on this famous tram and think it’s fantastic that a whole new generation will be able to share the experience.” The date of these two photographs is 31st May 1963. The famous occasion when Sir Cliff featured in the opening ceremony of the ABC. From an idea to a reality At the time, television, albeit black and white and poor definition, was still the latest wonder, with many people still aspiring to TV ownership, or at least TV rental. One of the most charismatic children’s programmes was Casey Jones, which took the then highly popular Western genre and built a series of weekly railway-based dramas set in the Old West around the eponymous train driver and his young son. The new tram took the Casey Jones train as its popular template whilst as its starting point it used a 1928 Pantograph Class tramcar, newly withdrawn, which with its high clerestory roof looked very like a late 19th century American railway coach. The cabs at either ends of the tram were replaced by open balconies and half of the Western Train’s structure was complete. At this time, Blackpool Transport had just introduced its fleet of Twin Car trams, having purchased a dozen sets of electrical and air control couplings, permitting the use of unpowered trailers. A spare set of couplings were used to link the Pantograph-derived coach to an all-new railway locomotive body which was constructed from the remains of a withdrawn 1934 single deck tram. Other than the chassis and rear saloon, little survived of the 1934 tram but the essential outline of an American 4-4-0 locomotive and tender was created to tow the coach, with passengers riding in both the coach, and the loco tender. How the illuminated tram came to life All of the Blackpool Illuminated Feature Cars have been built on the frames and chassis of earlier trams and the Western Train is no exception. The motor unit or “Locomotive” towing car is built on the chassis of a 1934 English Electric Railcoach ,which has retained many original interior design features from window level down. The trailer or “Carriage” was little altered from its original appearance save for the removal of the driving cabs. It is one of only two remaining vehicles of its type out of an original fleet of ten and is now the only remaining one in Blackpool. Internally, even more of the original survives and the interior fabric was restored to “as built” condition. In 1962 Seen here in daylight during the 1963 Summer Season on the Promenade on a limited-stop service. ABC Weekend Television were the first to sponsor an illuminated tram. You can see logs on top of the tender from where springs the trolley pole. Here it is seen on a Circular Tour along the Golden Mile. The brass bell would ring out as it travelled along - clang, clang, clang! A great pic outside Rigby Road depot showing this largest and most memorable illuminated tram. The smoke-stack, cow-catcher and brass bell can be seen in good detail. The driver sits in the glass-fronted ‘smoke-box’ and uses the traditional controller and air-brakes. The train can be driven in reverse from the trailer when returning to the depot. 95 passengers in total can be carried, 35 in the tender and 60 in the carriage. In Rigby Road depot in 1974 The current conservation work has included bodywork repairs, a full repaint, and a rewire. These pics are from 2020: In the paintshop at Rigby Road. This is due to be demolished to make way for electric bus charging points! Millenium 718, Balloon 723 & Brush 631 having at wash at Rigby Road. The tram service suffered disruption on Monday 21st October when Flexity 018 suffered a pantograph failure whilst heading southbound at Stanley Road, Fleetwood: The oldest Flexity 001 being made ready to tow the newest Flexity 018 back to Starr Gate. Balloon 723 at North Pier siding F736, 723 & 717 at Starr Gate 723 & 717 head to head Some pics to show just how stunning the feature trams look: The Western Train at the North Station terminus of the new extension. On a rare trip into Fleetwood. The location is on Lord Street. Late at night – The deserted Fleetwood Ferry stop Ready to head back to Blackpool At the Pleasure Beach loop alongside the stylish F736 HMS Blackpool. The tram is modelled on the Royal Navy warship of the same name and is based on a 1928 Pantograph tram chassis. It first ran in 1965. A duo of brilliance! A superb reflective shot by Gregg Wolstenholme It is farewell as we say goodbye to Blackpool’s last Atlantean. It left Rigby road this week onto pastures new and into preservation. LATE NEWS: This bombshell was announced last night from the Heritage Operations: Following a thorough review, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our Heritage Tram Tours. Operating the Heritage Trams alongside our modern fleet has become increasingly challenging, with issues such as depot space, tram movements, general safety and maintenance conflicts making it difficult to continue running the service effectively. This decision was not taken lightly, but we believe it is the most practical step to support the evolving needs of our business and maintain the overall efficiency of our operations. As part of our efforts to future-proof and safely grow our core tram network following the North Station extension, we are introducing advanced safety systems, including the Obstacle Detection Assistance System (ODAS) and the Collision and Overspeed Monitoring and Prevention Assistance System (COMPASS). These technologies are essential to maintaining safety, especially during busy times such as the summer, illuminations and festive seasons. The systems also allow us to improve operational efficiency and ensure the sustainability of the network. The Heritage Trams are a cherished part of Blackpool’s history, and we fully recognise their importance to the community, however, ensuring the ongoing safety and sustainability of the service has become increasingly complex. This pause provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of Heritage trams within a modernised and safe tramway network. By reassessing their operation, we aim to explore new ways to honour Blackpool’s rich transport heritage while maintaining our commitment to a safe, efficient, and future-focused service. We are dedicated to finding innovative opportunities to honour and showcase Blackpool’s iconic tramway history, and we thank you for your understanding as we work towards this. What a kick in the teeth for all of us involved! This will negatively impact the town’s tourist trade for sure. With the exception of the Flexitys all of those pictured above (and the fleet within Rigby Road) are at great risk of heading for the breakers yard irrespective of the statement's hollow words regarding their future. The outcome of the survey on the Rigby Road depot roof has still not been publicised over a year after it was closed and now we know why. Next time: Join me on an underground odyssey

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Welcome to the 2024/25 Off Season Write Ups folks. In this first one we have: Section 1: South-west F2 miscellany Section 2: Out and About – The search for Churn station. Section 3: Odds and Ends - Barking Bus Garage Open Day - Blackpool Transport Spot Section 1: Taunton – Sunday March 24th 2024 – 46 cars An explosive start to the Taunton season saw Josh Weare (736) and Adam Pearce (460) engaged in a hard-hitting feud which was a legacy of a 2023 incident at Mendips: The 736 car came off worse in this exchange Josh contemplates the incident whilst his dad and brother start the repair Josh carried it on in the GN by ramming Pearce on the infield which incurred the wrath of the officials. That man Pearce again. In turn 2 on top of the Luke Johnson (194) car. Weston-super-Mare’s David Rudall (507) alongside. Others to get in bother with race officials were Ben Borthwick (418) and Dale Moon (302) who took to some post-race shenanigans in the pit bend taking it in turns to ram each other numerous times. A good meeting for Charlie Guinchard (183) saw him claim the Final win, and 2nd in the GN from the lap handicap. Young Kasey Jones (286) continued his winning ways with victory in Ht. 1. He had made his debut at St Day the previous week where he claimed Heat and Final wins. This promoted him straight up to yellow for this meeting. He also won the GN by retaking the lead from non-other than Jon Palmer (24) on the last bend. However, Kasey was docked ten places for not starting at the back of his grade. St Day – Good Friday March 29th 2024 An early season WCQR here at United Downs saw 49 cars in the pits. This was the best car count in Cornwall since the World Semi Finals day in 2019. Gordon Moodie in attendance Saloons also on the bill - Fellow Scot Stuart Shevill Jnr A new car from NI visitor Matty Stirling The traditional grand parade Guinchy was driven around by Stuart Shevill Jnr Ant Jenkins captures the scene The man on the mic does a double take An amusing conversation by the look of it Ollie Hertzog had travelled down from Salford The 7 car was plagued with a drive-train issue which saw Gordon fail to score any race points Orange and Silver line up A clutch-start Final came to an early halt with this back straight incident. Paul Rice (890) finds Sam Weston (468) a bit close for comfort but still manages a smile. Bryan Lindsay and Jessica Smith also involved Now to disentangle them A webbing strap and plenty of manpower does the trick Interlocked wheels on the 390 and 663 cars Back in the pits work commences on the 468 car Kasey Jones (286) was on a charge again leading his heat comfortably until being held up by a back-marker which allowed Charlie Lobb (980) to spin him out for the win. Charlie also took the Final win after diving between Jones and Avery in a turn four sort out near race end. Section 2: Out and About: Churn Station: This was one of the most challenging to locate owing to the dense undergrowth and very few remains. It was 30C+ which made for an arduous day coupled with swarms of flies feeding off the blood seeping from my thorn slashed arms! Churn is located just south of Didcot on the old Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line. The Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway (DNSR) received its Act for construction on 5th August 1873. The Didcot-Newbury section came into use on 13th April 1882, followed by the Newbury-Winchester part on 1st May 1885. Churn Station was a small and very isolated single platform halt with access only via an unmetalled downland sheep track. It was built as a temporary stop to accommodate a competition held by the National Rifle Association in June 1888 who had a rifle range nearby, and it was used subsequently by many annual military camps. There was no road access, and trains did not call after dark. The timetables stated "Stops to take up, or set down on previous notice being given to the Station Master at Didcot. Evening trains call during daylight only." Trains were timetabled to take 14 minutes to arrive after departing Didcot. It also served Churn Down, a remote part of the Berkshire Downs. The nearest village was Blewbury, two miles north, which was already served by the Upton and Blewbury Railway Station. The station buildings consisted of no more than a simple wooden shelter and basic lavatories. In order to provide deliveries of goods for the camps a small siding was built at the southern end of the station. A brick shelter replaced the wooden one in later years. Churn Farm is under Churn Hill so that is where the Churn ranges, and halt get their name. There is a photo of George V there reviewing the troops. It is bleak in summer too! Financial difficulties prevented the planned route to Southampton being completed and the company had to use existing lines from Winchester. The DNSR was absorbed into the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1923, but heavy freight traffic was sent by less steeply graded routes. During World War II these routes were congested on many occasions, and it was decided to double much of the DNSR. The line was closed to through traffic during the daytime from 4th August 1942 to 8th March 1943 to speed up the work. Provision had already been made in all the structures for double track at the time of building. The line became an essential link between the armament and military equipment suppliers of the Midlands and the South Coast ports before and after the invasion of Europe. Prior to D-Day 16,000 military trains were operated over the line. On the way up Boham's Road from Blewbury there is a considerable gradient. This was the reason why double-headed giant American locos were required to pull the massive military trains up the 1 in 106 gradient from Upton & Blewbury Station. The section south of Newbury was closed to passengers on 7th March 1960. The station closed in 1962, and the entire line was closed to passenger traffic. Freight operations ceased in 1966. The pics: Not another human being or property to be seen. A stunning blue sky though. The first bridge over the track bed No access at this point as the undergrowth was over head-height A lot easier decades ago The same view a little closer to the dogleg in the fence line It is even worse in the other direction! This second bridge gives better access The bridge code Our search begins A platform edge comes into view The remains of the brick shelter can be seen The shelter visible in this view from the past Southwater bricks remain from the shelter Listed as the Southwater Brick, Tile, Terra Cotta, Pipe & Clay Co. Ltd at 52, North Street, Horsham in 1915. In the early 19th century Southwater was predominately a collection of large estates divided into leased farms. Whilst mixed agriculture provided a lucrative industry for centuries, much of the population of Southwater originated from the workforce of the brick industry and the arrival of the railway, which opened in 1866. The site was located on land originally named Andrews Farm which dates to medieval times. The farm was sold in 1890 and became the Southwater brickyard owned by CJ Mills. The site was taken over by Sussex Bricks and Estates Co. in 1907 who changed their name to Redlands Bricks Ltd in 1958. At the peak of production, the brickworks manufactured 18 million bricks a year and employed 100 men. It was reported that Southwater bricks were used in the building of Christ’s Hospital, Victoria Station, RAAF Woomera Range Complex, London sewers, and many London air raid shelters in World War Two. The railway yard in Southwater served the brickyard and was closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching cuts. The brickworks closed in 1981 after producing 1,000 million red engineering bricks from Southwater clay. The brickworks chimney was blown up by a lucky resident who won a fund-raising draw. The site is now a country park. The site is very overgrown as the remains of the platform edge show The brickwork of the platform is more prominent here A winter view some years ago of the platform edge As it was in 1967 There was not a lot remaining but it was still a worthwhile day. Section 3: Barking Bus Garage Open Day Stagecoach London held an Open Day at Barking Garage on 23rd March 2024 to celebrate the garage's centenary. The garage building was open between 1100 & 1600 with visiting vehicles on display. In addition, there was a running day on routes 62 and 145 which both pass the garage. Barking Garage was one of two opened by the London General Omnibus Company in January 1924. This was to serve a local population increase created by the building of large housing estates at Becontree and Dagenham by the London County Council. The garage is currently operated by the East London subsidiary of Stagecoach. It stands prominently at Fair Cross on the corner of South Park Drive and Longbridge Road and is a relic of the days when bus garages occupied prime sites in the towns they served. Its original entrance was on the corner of South Park Drive and Longbridge Road. The garage was extended in 1931, and again more recently. Two adjoining bungalows were purchased and demolished and the land used as a parking area. Barking had the dubious honour of operating the last of the RT type buses on route 62 on 7 April 1979. The garage operates on routes 62, 145, 167, 169, 179, 362, 366, 462 and N238. The bus allocation is 68 ADL Enviro 400s including MMC (Major Model Change) & 41 ADL Enviro 200s including MMC Barking Garage - Jan 1925 March 2024 Barking garage exterior with an NS-type bus emerging on route 126. 1926 - This corner entrance/exit was eventually closed off and the side access brought into use Interior of LT Barking garage in 1936. A number of buses (seen in three-quarter rear offside view) are parked in the docking area; they are, left to right, three LT-types, registrations GX5210, GX5346, GX5216, a single deck DA-type, EV5909, another LT, GW5384, and an unidentified vehicle. M-type bus, GP3480, stands apart from the others, midground left. The interior of LT Barking bus garage in October 1936. A large number of double and single deck buses are parked in the docking area, principally ST, LT and T-types. A tiled inspection pit can be seen in the left foreground. 1947 - The garage gardens Here is a shot of RM7 at the end of March 1979 in Barking Garage. In March 1979 surplus standard length Routemasters were drafted to Barking in readiness for the conversion of London's last RT route 62 over to Routemaster operation. The evening before the conversion newly arrived RM7 was seen inside the garage having just been transferred from Norbiton garage following service reviews on their routes 65 and 71 that had come into effect the previous day. It is being prepared for its new role on Barking's routes 62 and 87 and awaits fitting of the appropriate blinds but still bears its Norbiton NB allocation code. (Thanks to Bob Hoskins for the use of his photo and his words) Another shot of RM7 A very busy scene at a previous Open Day many years ago A wonderful line-up inside the garage I came across this superb photo of a line-up of Routemasters in an unidentified garage. The lone figure shows there used to be pride in doing the job right. The pics from the day: Not far from the garage is this 800-year-old church which was built in the grounds of the existing Barking Abbey. While the Abbey has long since vanished, the church still remains. The name Barking came from the Anglo-Saxon Berecingas, meaning "the settlement by the birch trees". In AD 735 the area was Berecingum and was known to mean "dwellers among the birch trees". The Abbey itself was founded even earlier, in AD 666 by the Saxon Lord Erkenwald, but then demolished in the 1540s during the reign of King Henry VIII. Today only the Curfew Tower remains standing alone at one end of the Abbey grounds, although an outline of some of the buildings is visible. It is difficult to believe that this “country church” is surrounded by major roads and sits next to one of the most depressing high streets. On the way to the garage you pass Barking Railway Station which has a reputation at night with locals for theft, harassment and stabbings. Police data reveals there was a total of 267 crimes reported in April 2023, and 2,636 in the last 12 months. Barking Town Hall built in 1958 Scenes within the garage: EGO 426 ventured out at the end of the day The bus wash In the servicing bays All electric AEC Routemaster / Park Royal - New to London Transport in March 1966 as RML2440 22/12/72 delivered new to Aldenham Works. DMS 550 is a remarkable survivor. An old London bus that spent her short service life in London's East End. In fact she only spent about seven years in service, the rest of the time being spent parked up in various depot's yards. Dennis Dart SLF with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork. This vehicle was originally based at Bromley Common Garage before transferring to Catford Garage. L/h - LT Leyland Titan T21. Centre - Blue Triangle Leyland Titan / Park Royal T22, WYV 22T. R/h - The LT Gold Jubilee livery Leyland Titan OHV747Y originally T747 featuring "Leyland Bus Builders of London's Buses for over 50 Years" London Transport RF539 (NLE539) is an AEC Regal IV with Metro-Cammell 41 seat bodywork that was new in April 1953 for Country Area services. It passed to London Country Bus Services in January 1970 and after withdrawal in 1972 it was sold to a Scout Group before being acquired for preservation. Tucked away all day was ADL Enviro400MMC 12400 (YX16 OHS) freshly attired in 1930s-style livery. AEC Regent 3RT8 Park Royal new into service at Cricklewood garage RT2177 - A 75 year old 1949 AEC Regent III Green on red! PF Collection (former Ensignbus Vintage Fleet) Green Line RT3232 (KYY 961) had operated route 62 after the ending of RTs in 1979, so it was good to see on route 145. Star turn! Utility Guy G351 (HGC 130) bringing a Guy back to route 145 for the first time since 1949. This vehicle was a 1946 Guy Arab II. As a highly original utility bus G351 was saved after its second life with Burton-on-Trent Corporation Transport, by which time utility buses were very few in number and mostly rebuilt to some degree. AEC Routemaster / Park Royal - New to London Transport in June 1959 as RM5 A 2017 Electric/Diesel Wright Routemaster passes 397 CLT which was new to London Transport in January 1963 as RM1397 RM 1397 was withdrawn from London service in 1987. After operating for Magicbus Glasgow, and Mansfield and District, it entered preservation in 1993. Blackpool Transport Spot Flexity 016 with its new advert for Coral Island - Mar 30th 2024 A great line up at Bispham Flexity 009 at a flooded Harrowside early 2024 Rigby Road depot looking forlorn April 2024 Bolton 66 and 717 at Starr Gate depot ready for the 2024 season At Rigby Road A wet day in Fleetwood! Standard 143 in the fitting shop The disused tracks led to Blundell Street Depot This atmospheric photo from days long ago shows Works Car 2 at Rigby Road, with Blundell Street Depot in the background Next time: A close look at all things:

Skegness, 16th November 2024 Driver Of The Day - 220 Will Hunter

Photos of Peter Penny, Chris Cowley, Warwick Ellis, Gaz Bott, Adam Bamford, Nigel Harrhy, Dylan Williams-Maynard, Mo Smith, Craig Haworth. (Thanks Andy J) Photos of Cecil Laurie at Northampton in 1959. Photos from Scunthorpe 19th November 1988. Photos of Alan Scothern, Nigel Harrhy, Jack Toon, Simon Gill, Lee Mellor, Andrew Bowler. Action shot from Boston 10th October 1993. Programme from Long Eaton 9th November 1974.

Pics in the gallery. Many thanks to all who contributed photos this season 👍