Hymeks

I saw all but 7 of the 101, Type 3 Hymeks. Built by Beyer-Peacock, they were introduced in 1961, continuing the Western Region’s “go it alone” attitude to diesel hydraulic transmissions. I quite liked them because they were different from anything else around at the time, though nowhere near as exciting as the named Warships and Westerns. John Dyer’s photo shows a brand-new No. D7004 at Swindon on 22/8/61 and my shot at Exeter St David’s has D7027 heading west on 31/7/65. They were all withdrawn by 1975, although 4 examples have been preserved.

English Electric Type 3

John Dyer’s single picture of an English Electric Type 3, No. D6726, was taken at Doncaster sheds on 30/4/62, two years after the class had been introduced. What remarkable survivors they have become. Now known as Class 37, or Growlers, there were 309 of them altogether. Like John, I have just one photo from BR days, showing class leader D6700 on Stratford sheds on Boxing Day 1966.

Look East

Our latest trek took us through Cambridgeshire to Suffolk. At Sudbury, the old station was replaced by a new platform on a different site further from the middle of town, thus freeing up land in the centre for other uses - as at St Ives, Fort William, Looe, etc. The rail route to Bury St Edmunds, an attractive town with ancient abbey remains, cathedral, gardens and quirky side streets on a medieval grid-iron pattern was abandoned, and so Sudbury is now at the end of the branch from Marks Tey, where the main line links it to London Liverpool Street.

I was wondering how I had managed to avoid the delight that is Ely for all this time - also with an impressive cathedral surrounded by parkland, a vibrant Saturday market, the Jubilee Gardens dropping down to the River Great Ouse, the distinctive Maltings building, a riverside arts centre and the award-winning Peacocks Tearoom. The surprisingly busy railway crosses the river here and top and tail Direct Rail Services Class 37 No. 37059 and Regional Railways liveried No. 37425 Concrete Bob obliged on a short freight.

Building Bridges

During the railway age, coal mines, ports and cities were linked together in many lucrative ventures. However, that extraordinary optimism and willingness to invest also spread into many predominantly rural areas with sparse populations, connecting modest-sized market towns by way of a string of villages. Viewing some of the amazing edifice that have survived closure up close, one gets an idea of how extraordinarily bold the driving force must have been that inspired them.

The iconic Royal Border bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed is still very much in use, of course. From the quayside, I did not have the full vista to aim at, unlike the many paintings and photos of trains crossing the river between Scotland and England that have often been viewed from raised positions on the Tweedbank side.

The area we were staying in around Coldstream lost its railway connections decades ago, though many of the associated structures remain. The NER’s Alnwick to Tweedmouth route, The NER’s Coldstream to Kelso branch, the NBR’s line from Kelso to St Boswells, the Waverley route between Carlisle and Edinburgh and the NBR’s Roxburgh to Jedburgh branch have all long gone, leaving some distinguished structures behind and many traces of the former track bed.

The 1850 Roxburgh Viaduct on the former Kelso branch is exceptional. Built on a curve across the River Teviot, it is a category A listed building. It is possible to walk its length, though an original metal footbridge strung from its piers at a lower level has been temporarily removed for maintenance. At Mindrum on the Alnwick to Cornhill branch the splendid station house is a private residence, as is the nearby goods shed.

    

Here comes the sun

Low autumn sunlight lit up these two freights heading up the Trent valley just eight minutes apart late yesterday afternoon. 66781 was hauling power station coal and 60011 was heading for an oil distribution depot. With so much fossil fuel heading directly for the sun in the run up to COP 26, I’m sure there’s a message for us all in there somewhere, I pondered, as I went home to switch on the gas central heating.

The Heatherslaw Light Railway

The HLR was opened in 1989 as a tourism project on behalf of the local landowner, Lord Joicey, who wanted to promote the undoubted attractions of the Etal and Ford estates near Cornhill-on-Tweed. The 15” gauge line was built on a former saw mill site at Heatherslaw, Northumberland, making it England’s most northerly steam line.

The two and a quarter mile track runs alongside the River Till as far as Etal, where the castle ruin is looked after by English Heritage. In 1513, the castle was captured by James IV of Scotland on his way to fight the English at Flodden Field, which turned out to be not such a good idea. James himself was killed and it is thought that as many as 14,000 soldiers [in total, from both sides] lost their lives. Cycling along the valley side where such slaughter had once taken place, much of it in the boggy land at the foot of the slope to our right, was quite a sobering experience.  

Reaching Heatherslaw, we were hauled by Lady Augusta, an 0-4-2 tender locomotive, commissioned from the Ravensglass and Eskdale Railway, who then subcontracted out the actual construction to the Kirklees Light Railway. The destination of Etal also boasts the excellent Lavender Tearooms, where we took a light lunch in the garden, bathed in autumn sunshine. The relative tranquillity of the present at such a moment seemed somehow more marked after those stark reminders from the past. Then we headed back over the formerly troublesome border on the River Tweed at Coldstream. Nothing stays still for long, I mused. This border may become an issue once more before long. In reality, of course, we had already left a trouble-free existence behind the moment we left the tearoom.

The Lauder Light Railway

This ten-mile branch line left the Edinburgh to Carlisle Waverley route at Fountainhall and worked its way rather circuitously to Lauder, via the one intermediate station at Oxton. It was short-lived as a passenger experience, opening in 1901 and losing out to rival buses by 1932. Freight continued under LNER and BR until final closure in 1958.

We were with friends who were visiting members of their family at Oxton. It turned out that the house that we were all heading for is called Lynend, which was just the sort of clue I have become used to chasing up. I was given further encouragement by our Ordnance Survey map of the area. The railway passed the station master’s house, which is still in use as a private residence. Alongside it is an ex-LNER cast iron no trespassing sign.

The formation then crossed the road via a level crossing at the foot of the family’s driveway. Although there are no visible signs of its exact course from here, the alignment appeared to lead us up the garden path, quite literally, through the back garden and up a slope - suggesting a degree of subsequent landfill - towards a gap in the trees beyond.

The admirable website, Disused Stations, filled in most of the remaining questions. Later that afternoon, we cycled part of the former track bed at the Lauder end of the line, though there is no trace now of the former terminus station. The site lies behind the petrol station and Co-op next to the A68 main road at the north end of the settlement. We made it in time for a quick browse round the lively Flat Cat café and art gallery, which - unlike the railway - was still open, but only just!

Making a beeline for Wansford

If you were to shoot off on a lengthy journey down the A1 and had to choose a convenient pit-stop, then Wansford station on the Nene Valley Railway certainly has its advantages. It was a non-running day when we called in but the café was open and doing steady business from an enterprisingly lengthy menu. We settled for coffee and a wander round the site. Battle of Britain Class No. 34081 92 Squadron was lurking in the shed adrift of its cab, which was visible at the back of the yard. The “new” station building and HQ, with its even more recent extension [since our last visit, anyway], is well appointed and the café staff and the NVR volunteers who were present could not have been more welcoming.

Making a beeline for Bedale

If you were to embark on a lengthy journey up the A1 and had to choose a convenient pit-stop, then Bedale station on the Wensleydale Railway certainly has its advantages. The town has a wide and bustling main street, worthy of further investigation. On the station, the Platform One Café is excellent - especially the coffee and the raspberry flapjack. There is only one platform at Bedale station, so choosing a suitable name obviously did not require too much deliberation. The station building has been lovingly restored and we were given a warm welcome. There are even picnic tables provided on the platform.

The shuttle service to Scruton at this time of year is provided by a Pacer unit – a type once derided but now rapidly approaching iconic status. At the other end of the desirable traction continuum, our previous visit here in 2019 coincided with one from Tornado, which was photographed running round it’s train at Redmire, before taking us to Leeming Bar and back.

The Bedale and Leyburn Railway Company opened in 1856 and was taken over by the North Eastern Railway soon afterwards to become part of the trans-Pennine route, joining the East Coast Main Line at Northallerton to the Settle and Carlisle Railway at Garsdale. It closed to passenger traffic in 1954, though limestone continued to be taken from Redmire to the steelworks on Teesside until 1992. The line was reopened for tourists by the Wensleydale Railway Association in 2003. Trains stopped at Bedale once more from 2005 and the station buildings returned to life in 2009. The signalbox on the other side of the level crossing is a Grade 2 listed building.

Photos with thanks to Chris Priestley

Baby Deltics

Introduced in 1959, there were only ten of these Type 2 English Electric diesels built at Vulcan Foundry. They had all been withdrawn by 1971. I saw 3 of them, but not D5907, which was photographed by John Dyer at Cambridge on 7/5/62, alongside a fine old Eastern Region coach.