HPMRS RAILDATE 31 Mar 06

News

RAILDATE: the weekly newsletter of the Hursley Park Model Railway Society: http://www.ibmhursleyclub.org.uk/ss/hpmrs/

BOOK NEWS

Kestrel's busy start to the year comes to a conclusion with the release of its third title in as many months...

The Torrington & Marland Light Railway by Rod Garner

Set in rural North Devon, the Torrington & Marland Light Railway was developed to move products from the Marland Brick and Clay Company's works at Peters Marland to the LSWR railhead at Torrington station for onward distribution to Barnstaple and beyond. Devon is a county rich in industrial history, and a full account of this, one of the best known of its narrow gauge clay lines, is long overdue.

Author, Rod Garner has amassed a vast amount of material on the railway and on the clay works that were the reason for its existence, much of it seen here for the first time. In addition, he traces the origins of the light railway back to its earliest days, and includes details of the idiosyncratic locomotive designs of its original promoter, John Barraclough Fell.

Renowned for its wooden viaducts and trestles, in addition to its unusual motive-power, the Torrington and Marland Light Railway has now passed into history, but in this book it is resurrected for anyone who was not fortunate to see it in its heyday.

Rod Garner has been a railway enthusiast all his life, having been born within sight and sound of the great railway works at Crewe. He now lives in Torrington, and this is his first railway book.

The Torrington & Marland Light Railway by Rod Garner Softback: 104 pages, with 75 illustrations and 20 drawings. ISBN: 0954485971 Price: £14.00

Full details are on the kestrel website: http://www.kestrelrailwaybooks.co.uk

You can order copies from Kestrel, *post-free in the UK* at:

Kestrel Railway Books P.O. Box 269 Southampton SO30 4XR

NETWATCH

Eastleigh Works closes today. RIP.

A mini-feature, including pictures of the last stock to leave the works under its own power, has been added to the Southern Electric Group website:

http://www.southernelectric.org.uk/features/eastleighfin.html

On 23rd March, 34067 and 76079 attempeted to haul a 13-coach commemorative Somerset and Dorset steam special up the bank from Exeter St David's to Exeter Central. Both lost adhesion, and while the driver of 34067 applied sand and broguht his loco under control, the driver of 76079 did not. The results of what could have been a calamatous episode can be viewed here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pOqqf-cbqQk

The tour was cancelled at this point; the train returned to St David's, and passengers were transported back to Minehead by scheduled servcice to Taunton and bus from there.

Annotated contents of the "Tenterden Terrier", the magazine of the Kent and East Sussex Railway (1973 to 2005, issues 1-98), can now be viewed and searched on the Colonel Stephens Museum website. There is a significant amount of Southern Railway-related content:

http://www.hfstephens-museum.org.uk/pages/terrier/terrier_index.htm

There is a link to the K&ESR online shop for ordering back issues (subject to availability).

Issue 45 (April 2006) of "West Somerset Express", the unofficial online newsletter of the West Somerset Railway, is available from the West Somerset Express homepage:

http://trainsferriesbuses.co.uk/westsomersetexpress.html

The Pullman Society:

http://www.thepullmansociety.org.uk/home.html

The Mark One TSO coach 3924 which had been at Coventry Railway Centre since withdrawl from Waterloo to Exeter services by BR in October 1986, has now moved to the 'Puffing Billy' pub in North Devon. For more information on 3924 go to:

http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=1272

Power car M50397 which is at Coventry Railway Centre was endangered. On 14th September 2005 the centre stated, "Time is up for this vehicle", and on 26th October 2005 the owners, Park Royal Vehicles, came forward and agreed that the car had to leave by 28 February 2006. It is intended that M50397 will leave the Coventry Railway Centre by 30th April 2006, and be moved for restoration at Ammanford, 13 miles North of Swansea, on the Amman Valley Railway. More information about this scheme is here:

http://ammanvalleyrail.netfirms.com/

Railway Vehicle Preservations, the historic carriage restoration group based on the GCR, and who are shortly to successfully complete the restoration of BEAVERTAIL® observation car 1719E, has announced that a new agreement has been reached that will see the other Beavertail car (1729) also restored to running order. 1729 has been in long term store at Carnforth, but RVP Trustee Gordon Maslin has been negotiating its purchase for some time. The vehicle has now passed to RVP under an agreement which will see an RVP member fund its subsequent full rebuild. The project, and future use of the vehicle, will be managed by RVP Ltd. Detailed examination (and removal of asbestos) has already taken place, and a schedule of work is now open to tender. 1729 is to be restored to its original 1938 condition with the original sloped end; it will be outshopped in the striking blue "Coronation" livery. This will be the ideal complement to 1719E which is being restored to its 1960 condition with modified observation end. In this way both phases in the life of these historic vehicles will be represented. Once complete, 1729 will be available for use on suitable preserved railways. RVP's existing appeal for 1719E guarantees its use on the Great Central Railway once completed. The operating base for 1729 is to be determined as restoration proceeds, but the possibility exists of bringing the two together on the GCR at some point in the future. Full details of the progress of this project is at:

http://www.rvp-ltd.co.uk

A fascinating website at that maps the intricate network of railways and waggonways that once covered the North-east:

http://www.geocities.com/waggonways/

A Yahoo discussion group that discusses the movements of railway vehicles by road:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/road_gen/

Paul Biggs' photos of the Great Central Railway 1960s Steam and Diesel Gala:

http://paulbiggsgcrailway.fotopic.net/c903911.html

The Dennis Bus Owners Association:

http://www.dennisbusowners.co.uk/

The James Hall Museum of Transport has buses, trolleybuses, trams, trucks, railway locomotives, cars - in fact, just about every form of transport ever used in South Africa:

http://www.jhmt.org.za/open.htm

UK Airports Passenger Figures - 2005

Total 2005 Total 2004 % Heathrow 67,913,153 67,342,743 0.85% Gatwick 32,775,695 31,466,523 4.16% Manchester 22,402,856 21,249,676 5.43% Stansted 21,998,673 20,910,842 5.20% Birmingham 9,381,425 8,862,388 5.86% Luton 9,147,776 7,535,614 21.39% Glasgow 8,792,915 8,574,999 2.54% Edinburgh 8,456,739 8,017,547 5.48% Bristol 5,253,752 4,647,266 13.05% Newcastle 5,200,806 4,724,263 10.09% Belfast Int. 4,824,271 4,407,413 9.46% Liverpool 4,411,243 3,353,350 31.55% East Midlands 4,184,319 4,381,108 -4.49% Aberdeen 2,853,741 2,635,653 8.27% Leeds/Bradford 2,609,638 2,368,604 10.18% Prestwick 2,407,789 2,163,168 11.31% Belfast City 2,237,219 2,091,221 6.98% London City 1,996,397 1,674,807 19.20% Southampton 1,835,784 1,530,776 19.93% Cardiff 1,779,208 1,887,621 -5.74% Jersey 1,499,801 1,527,375 -1.81% Guernsey 907,710 944,640 -3.91% Durham Tees 900,035 788,382 14.16% Exeter 847,544 621,624 36.34% Bournemouth 836,856 499,236 67.63% Isle Of Man 805,955 773,583 4.18% Coventry 719,473 462,368 55.61% Inverness 626,284 551,018 13.66% Doncaster 600,907 0 n/a Norwich 545,554 447,879 21.81% Humberside 460,930 531,277 -13.24%

Other UK Airp 2,467,320 2,204,162 11.94%

Total UK 231,681,768 219,177,126 5.71%

And finally... Heard recently on the London Underground:

While stuck in Aldgate station, the tube driver apologised for the delay due to "a number of trains in the area".

You don't say...

IN THE NEWS

Isle of Wight community rail route: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/4840718.stm

Wire damage causes rail problems: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/4851882.stm

East End hails Crossrail review: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4841892.stm

No promises on Devon and Cornwall rail services: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4855264.stm

Babbacombe Cliff Railway back on track: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4859682.stm

Bicester North's £42,000 revamp: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4854336.stm

Borders railway return deadline defended: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4850306.stm

Greenpeace's nuclear rail fears: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/4860640.stm

Driver blameless in rail crash: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4854074.stm

Bus and rail fares increase in NI: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4847046.stm

Wrong type of airport: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4857962.stm

TV and Radio

Events

See Mainline Steam Tours page for up-to-date info on many of these tours, and others, often with timings.