“Singin’ on the Train”

 

“Singin’ on the Train”

Carlton Male Voice Choir at the Severn Valley Railway, Saturday 16^th August 2025

This was quite an organisational feat and a carefully choreographed operation mounted by the heritage line. Seven male voice choirs from different parts of the country descended on the SVR for a feast of sound. That was in addition to a lot of chuffing from steam loco No. 4930 Hagley Hall and some serious throbbing and whirring from diesels D1062 Western Courier and the “Teddy Bear” Class 14, all providing interludes between the performances and transport to the various singing venues.

The wonderful recreation of a Great Western Railway country terminus at Kidderminster provided the focal point of the day, both starting off and later winding up the event under the glass canopy, which certainly didn’t detract from a sound quality angle. The Engine House at Highley, which serves as the SVR’s large exhibits museum, provided venue number two for the choir, and after that it was all aboard once more to the end of the line at Bridgnorth for a further performance on the station approach. Then it was straight back to Kidderminster for the finale, eventually involving all the choirs together.

By the end of the day, members of the Carlton Male Voice Choir had sung for a total of one hour thirty-six minutes and forty seconds, during which time they had run through twenty-seven different songs, according to their brief. That was in addition to any impromptu entertainment that was likely to break out in transit. There was even the possibility of a few more numbers at the end of the day for those who stuck it out for the advertised Afterglow repertoire session at the King and Castle pub on the station site, by which time participants would have been on active duty for over nine hours. With at least two hours outwards from Nottingham and the same back home again, that certainly counts as a full day out by anyone’s standards.

Our little party of fans tracked the Carlton crew throughout. The canopy above the concourse at Kidderminster station softens the direct sunlight and provided a splendid location for the initial set. At this point, I made a diversion to the adjacent Kidderminster Railway Museum for the Preview of the Guild of Railway Artists’ annual Railart exhibition, to which I had also coincidentally been invited and which I'm happy to recommend. It is open until Sunday 28^th September. Two old friends greeted each other in front of the pictures in the hall. “Hello. How are you getting on?” “Oh, I’m fine, thanks. Haven’t been to hospital since yesterday.”

I caught the 2.00 from Kiddy to catch up with the choir, who were having their lunch at Highley prior to singing at 2.45. Oh dear. We were going to be late away but no explanation was provided as to why, so I found an attendant. “An issue on the dining car, sir. Soon as we sort it, we’ll be off.” I envisaged one of the cake-stands I’d seen being carefully loaded on board on a trolley in preparation for afternoon tea collapsing and spilling scones and eclairs all over the carriage floor. By this time the habitual moaners in our carriage were going into overdrive and the guard was getting it in the neck about how a missed connection at Bridgnorth was going to ruin the rest of their lives. The guy opposite me started recording the encounter on his mobile phone, which momentarily struck me as quite a good idea, though actually I’m not that brave. The whistle was blown and the flag finally waved at 2.17. We were back on track and I would be at Highley in time for the choir’s next performance, after all. A uniformed SVR volunteer hurried through the coach armed with a dustpan and a long brush, more or less confirming my cake-stand theory.

After the Highley performance there was still time for a cup of tea or an ice cream before catching the 16.06 to the northern terminus. There is a nice café up the stairs at the Engine House, along with a spacious balcony to watch the trains go by. The Western diesel did the honours to prove the point, while we chatted outside with some members of the choir. The railway was new ground for them, but they were appreciative of the beautiful scenery in the Severn valley and the professionalism of the set-up on the railway, which like most heritage lines depends largely on the goodwill of volunteers of all ages for its continued survival. They were pleased to have been well-received and thought they had done enough to be invited back to what has apparently now become a regular part of the railway’s annual calendar.  

Onwards again to the early evening slot at Bridgnorth in the courtyard at the front of the station. The railway has extended the adjoining pub and refreshment area here in recent times and picnic tables are provided for just such moments, during this warm summer of ’25. Local bikers, dog walkers using the footbridge to the nearby town centre and regular pub-goers enjoying an early evening pint were amongst the crowd being serenaded and it was striking how appropriate the song selection process had been and how pleased the largely spontaneous audience was to hear so many recognisable offerings. Main man, Ian, skilfully switched from conductor to presenter and back again. His relaxed and friendly demeanour won the audience over with ease. Right on cue, drinks magically appeared for the two soloists, then it was back on board the train for the last leg of the journey to Kidderminster.

Our day out was coming to a close. The rest of the family headed for the nearest chip shop, which happened to be opposite the station. The board outside showing opening times thoughtfully announced its “Gluten Free Wednesdays!”, except that it was Saturday, so a long wait for gluten-free batter if that was a requirement. We had chosen, instead, the first pub serving food that we came to on Kidderminster’s urban fringe, so we can recommend The Swan at Blakedown for some excellent pub grub, friendly and speedy service and all at a reasonable price. Our excursion was complete. On the drive home, I wondered if Ian - or anyone else for that matter - had noticed my enthusiastic rendition of the “Oh-Oh-Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh” in the bridge of the choir’s version of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. I was pretty sure that it was impressively in tune, throughout, as a matter of fact.

Railart 2025

The Guild of Railway Artists’ annual Railart exhibition at Kidderminster Railway Museum on the Severn Valley Railway was opened by Les Ross on Saturday 16^th August. Les made his name as a DJ in the Birmingham area. He is a life-long railway enthusiast and has his own Class 86 electric locomotive, which operates charter trains on the West Coast Main Line. Sixty-six paintings by contemporary railway artists were listed in the colour catalogue for the exhibition, which runs until the 28^th September. The display includes work by GRA fellows, John Austin, Malcolm Root and Philip D Hawkins. Notably, this time Rob Rowland also made it to the top table, which welcomes visitors as they enter the exhibition from the top of the staircase. Rob’s painting, Shut Lane, Moor Street, Birmingham, is high-lighted on the back cover of the catalogue.

New Book - Railway Blogger

Railway Blogger is a light-hearted series of articles representing the highlights from a decade of blogs first posted on this site. It contains over 200 blogs and is well illustrated with both colour and monochrome images. There are 219 pages and it retails at £10.00. 

 

France Revisited

Its some time since we had last been in France. Staying on a French campsite was something we did a lot of in times past, but a generation on, we were now back again. Although we had driven down to Aquitaine, thoughts naturally turned to our nearest railway line. This was the overhead electrified single line up the peninsula from Bordeaux to Pointe de Grave, which is the ferry port for Royan across the mouth of the Gironde estuary. Modern, colourful, 3-car EMUs brought part of the family to meet us at our local station of Soulac sur Mer. The next station north from here was at Le Verdun. Former freight branch lines peeled off from here to the nearby harbourside, as well as to the inner estuary, but the abundance of rusty rails suggested a serious lack of use in recent times.

“And the winner is….”

Art UK recently ran a competition with Railway 200 to celebrate the best artistic depictions of the railway. They scoured the resources at the NRM and provincial art galleries nationwide to come up with their top two hundred entries. These were then whittled down to a top 20 by public vote and subsequently the winners were announced after further voting from the shortlist. The winner was Train Landscape by Eric Ravilious. Second was Rain Steam and Speed by JMW Turner and in third place was David Shepherd’s Service by Night.

Art UK do a great job in bringing a vast array of original artwork to the public view via their website and many artists have given permission their work to be included there. However, in this instance its worth mentioning that a lot of extremely good railway artwork was presumably excluded from the process because it is not on public display or owned by galleries around the country. Consequently, contemporary work of high order by Barry Price, Don Breckon, Rob Rowland and Barry Freeman does not feature, and even some reputable historical figures like James Tissot have been overlooked.   

Nevertheless, I enjoyed sifting through the list and finding artists who were new to me and some attractive paintings that I would otherwise be unlikely to have come across. As for the winner, the back story is fascinating and can be followed online. If you want to see the real thing you need to go to Aberdeen Art Gallery, where, UK Art added on their web page, “it has now been placed on public display”, suggesting that maybe it had been languishing in a vault somewhere until the spotlight had suddenly descended on the Granite City - but perhaps I’m doing them a dis-service here.

“When a man is tired of London….”

 

Not yet, anyway! Primarily this time for Neil Young at Hyde Park, and after escaping from the heat outside with JMW Turner at Tate Britain the next day, we ended up at the redeveloped landscape behind Kings Cross and St Pancras stations. I never got to 34A Kings Cross sheds, nor the portals of Copenhagen tunnel and its surrounding streets where the Ealing Comedy, The Ladykillers, was filmed. It’s also taken us some time to get there after renewal, though I’d been told it was well worth a visit.

The land north of and between the approaches to Kings Cross and St Pancras had been railway land since the mid-nineteenth century. The goods yards and sidings of the Great Northern Railway included warehouses, gasometers and coal drops, where goods trains arrived from the Yorkshire collieries on the upper levels and dumped their coal onto the carts [and later the lorries] below. Coal also went to make coal gas, which was stored in grey, cylindrical gasometers, once a common feature of most towns and cities. Coal was also distributed along the Regents Canal, connected to the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice, beyond Paddington station.  

In a major renewal programme begun at the start of the present century, the old has been impressively incorporated into the new in a series of imaginative designs. The canal provides a leisure walkway and barge rides, the gasometer frames are now wrapped around modern apartments, high-tech’ office blocks provide employment, and the coal drops, themselves, have been preserved and adapted to attract top-end retailers, bars and restaurants. The tree-lined square that sits between the canal bridge and these redevelopments has plentiful seating, an outsize TV screen [showing an embarrassingly one-way Wimbledon ladies final on the afternoon that we were there], paved areas with fountains to the delight of the children getting thoroughly soaked on a hot summer’s day, outdoor art displays – currently a summer seaside photographic exhibition, and all surrounded by lively bars and cafes. I found the whole scene most uplifting. What a triumph it is, showing just what can be done where there is a determination to retain important elements of our built history and at the same time bringing new opportunities to formerly run-down inner urban areas and successfully breathing new life into forgotten corners of our old cities. 

   

Colwick

 In April 1969, we called in at Colwick on our way home from overnights at youth hostels in Lincoln and Grantham. If my memory serves me, there was nothing on the sheds except one diesel shunter. The former sprawling yards that had been a hive of activity in the days of steam just a few years beforehand were silent and deserted. Many of the former sidings were then replaced with a retail park and the old shed site is now a Lidl. A couple of years ago, however, Boden Rail Engineering developed a facility adjacent to the Netherfield lagoons wildlife reserve, at the end of a spur connecting the new sheds to the Nottingham to Grantham line just before the Trent crossing. Railway maintenance had returned to Colwick. As with Leeds Midland Road depot, as a visitor one is hardly made to feel welcome. The same warning signs, gates and robust high fencing surround the site, which is also physically closed off at its single track access point on the spur. Boden Rail looks after Colas locomotives from classes 37, 56 and 70. Two superfluous Class 60s, Nos. 60057 and 60075, are also parked up there. Nos. 37099 and 56087 were also visible on recent visits. 

Leeds Midland Road Freightliner depot

They really don’t want you at the sheds these days. The resolutely high and sturdy fencing, the closed and locked gates, the no parking zones, the CCTV cameras, the warning notices and the double-yellows on the road round about the entrance, all serve to make you feel like an intruder, as your eyes search for convenient gaps in the fence big enough to take a picture through. It’s a world away from a leisurely visit to the sheds as it was in the sixties, when part of the fun was to get round without getting caught, ticked off or thrown out - a necessary game to be played in the quest for numbers. It’s a non-starter these days. These places are secure fortresses today sealed off from the world outside, as those inside protect their assets from graffiti artists, vandals and thieves. It’s sad that its necessary, of course, but I get where they’re coming from. The world has changed but we have lost something along the way. The innocent spotter and photographer has become a figure of suspicion. It makes you feel almost guilty to be there, at all, snooping around on the periphery at the weekend, where it appears from the outside that 7-day working is largely also a thing of the past. At least you could park the car near the entrance to Leeds Freightliner depot. There was no sign of life through the bars, but the stored Class 70s that had prompted my visit were there and a line of them could just about be viewed from the other side of the bridge after a short walk through the rain on an overgrown footpath strewn with rubbish as far as a brief gap in the foliage. Even with binoculars I couldn’t make out the numbers I was separated from by two sets of railings. I’m assuming that one of those in the middle distance was No. 70013, which according to other peoples’ online records has been parked up there for years, even though its place in the line has changed from time to time. Confirmation from elsewhere that I actually saw 70013 yesterday would help me rescue an otherwise rather depressing sojourn.

  

Leicester Diesels 6 June 25

Rather quiet outside UKRL at Leicester this morning. Class 69 No. 69010 lurking round the back and 57 No. 57303 leaving the depot light engine going south.

Birthday, to you

We headed for the National Trust’s estate at Longshaw and walked to the top of Padley Gorge, well-known for its ancient oak-wooded valley that hosts some interesting summer visitors. We heard wood warbler [with the help of the Merlin App] and common redstart had also been spotted. Patience was eventually rewarded with excellent views of a pair of pied flycatchers. Wandering down the road to Hathersage after lunch, an attractive little place overlooked by the millstone grit outcrop of Stanage Edge, we spent half an hour on the station. The Edale route between Manchester and Sheffield was busy, with Class 66-hauled stone traffic to and from the quarries at Tunstead, near Buxton, finding paths between the longer distance TransPennine units and the Class 195 local passenger services that link the two cities. After that, it was a dip in the modestly heated but very refreshing and well-run lido at Hathersage, bathed also in low sunlight. The Peak District looks fabulous when the sun is out. It was a great way to celebrate a birthday.

   

Market Drayton

There is a fundamental attraction in visiting a town I’ve not been to before, even, as on this occasion, when the station has long been closed and been replaced by a supermarket. The Wellington to Drayton Railway opened as part of the GWR in 1867 and closed to passengers in 1963 and freight in 1967. I had listened to trains on it in the 1950s, whilst enjoying a farm holiday with the family at Cold Hatton, but even though I marched my mum under a hot summer sun to Ellerdine Halt, I never saw anything pass by. I put it down as an early exercise in learning to deal with frustration.

The Shropshire Union Canal got there before the railway and there are some half-timbered Tudor style buildings, but Market Drayton seemed a little sleepy yesterday, kind of half-hearted and resigned to a lesser role than previously. The centre has its share of a tattoo shops, bookmakers, vaping outlets and empty units, in common with so many market towns around the country today. We found a warm welcome at Ford Hall Farm’s café, but others we sampled in the town seemed underused, uninspired, and when the lights went out and one half of the double-door was locked on the dot of 4’o clock, we knew that afternoon teatime was emphatically over, and that kind of summed it up, really. 

       

Nuneaton 28 March 2025

Varied traffic on a bright and breezy day. Classes 37, 56, 57, 66, 68, 70, 88, 90 all represented. Time they got round to fixing the men’s toilets on platform two, though, and the canopy between 4 and 5, as well, where jacks are in place to hold up the roof and it’s therefore still partly cordoned off.

Taking the breakfast train

We were at the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire yesterday for our first lads’ train day on the heritage line. It was also the first time we had experienced a meal together in the dining car. This took the form of a cooked breakfast and Staffordshire oat cake combo that certainly did the job. The CRV has got it right in terms of the visitor experience. Plentiful, attentive and cheery staff served us well throughout the day. The day rover ticket allowed a second trip during the afternoon. We relaxed in our own compartment further up the train, while the hefty American 2-8-0 No. 6046 made light work of the gradients at the top end of the line. To top off the day, we all enjoyed a splendid Indian curry, once we’d found the lively Black Lion pub, hidden away above the main A520 road near Cheddleton to the south of Leek. 

   

Making Music at Toton

Last time I went to Toton bank I didn’t see anything new. This time, I thought I’d give mid-week a go instead of the previous weekend trips, which proved to be a good move. I’d not seen any Class 92s at Toton before, but here was 92011 sticking its head out of the depot and mostly hidden by other locos. Turns out it is called Handel. Two days later we are at the Minster in Southwell for a midweek concert performed by musicians from the Minster School. Second up is “Where e’re you walk” by Handel, unerringly and movingly sung by one of the youngsters. I have a soft spot for Handel [though certainly not all of it]. Every Christmas, I play sections from the Messiah that particularly appeal to me, including “He shall feed his flock” and “I know that my redeemer liveth”. In all 3 cases, it strikes me that Handel must have been a genius, writing such beautiful, melodic songs 300 years before Paul McCartney. It just seems like its such modern music to me. I know little about classical music [as by now you may have already decided] but I’m not aware of anything remotely as interesting coming before Handel, and yet to say that these songs strike a chord is a massive understatement for me. He must surely have recast the mould. On Wednesday, it carried all the way to the bank overlooking Toton MPD. I also copped 3 sheds.

         

Penistone Coal Drops

This Grade II listed site in the centre of Penistone is earmarked for redevelopment by a local company, who want to create offices, retail and hospitality outlets on derelict former sidings, alongside the old track bed of the Woodhead trans-Pennine route, which crossed the main road into the town centre on a bridge which still stands at this point. Protected from removal since 1988, the redeveloped site will incorporate the arches of the stone-built coal drops as well as the surviving nearby building that is described as the signal house.

Doncaster, for the first train day of the year

 

It was a bright sunny day for a return to Doncaster. My train from Retford and heading for York was delayed because “a train has hit an obstacle on the line”, we were informed, but only by 17 minutes, so presumably not too big an obstacle. This is still a Class 91 powered diagram, it seems. Locomotive hauled freights were actually few and far between, hardly surprising given the intensity of the passenger train traffic on the ECML and cross-country routes.