The 1500 Class

The ten chunky Hawksworth 0-6-0 panier tanks were actually built in 1949, after the GWR had become the Western Region of BR. A less conventional GW design, they were best known for their role shunting express passenger stock at Paddington station. I never got to the London terminus in the age of steam so the only one I have seen is No. 1501 - in her preserved form on the Severn Valley Railway. John Dyer caught up with No. 1505, awaiting attention at Wolverhampton Stafford Road Works in 1962.  

Rubbish Pictures

In my limited experience, selling one’s own books is not easy, especially in niche areas which are already very competitive. Just one of the stumbling blocks has been the quality of the photographs and two retailers have complained very directly that the photos were rubbish. They were right, of course.

As a thirteen-year-old schoolboy interested in trains, cash was a constant issue, even though my parents were as generous as they could be. In reality, it meant making a choice between train spotting trips, photography and railway modelling. I chose spotting, sold my train set [spending most of the £5 on sweets] and made do with some very basic cameras. My folks used this Ensign Ful-view for holiday snaps and I set forth in 1962 with a Kodak Brownie 127, fairly swiftly followed by a Kodak Coloursnap 3, itself rapidly replaced with a Halina Rolls. Don’t ask me why. None of them were any good - or maybe it was just me. It wasn’t until the 1970s that I began to make any noticeable progress [with an East German Practika] by which time it was too late to record the last years of steam in the way I would have liked to.

Being too “picky” about the “pic’s” in my books would be to miss the point, though. They recorded moments in time that help to tell a story. Indeed, they were an integral part of the story. I was born too late to take full advantage of the steam era, but I’m so glad I was born early enough to be there. As a special treat, I thought I’d include here one or two of the poorest railway photos ever to make it into print. Each one has something to say, even if I’m the only one who can make any sense of it.      

The GWR 1400 Class

I remember being intrigued in the very early 60s by some photos of the Tiverton Junction to Hemyock branch that were probably in Trains Illustrated magazine. A 1400 Class in an attractive rural setting was shown picking up the milk tanks from the local dairy in a short, mixed rake of passenger and freight rolling stock. All, presumably, part of the efforts to provide London with its daily “pinta”. It offered such a contrast - as local services go - to our own Wirral to Liverpool EMUs.

These neat little Collett 1P 0-6-2 tanks were introduced in 1932 for light branch line working. My own introduction to them was at Gobowen on the Chester to Shrewsbury main line in 1962. From here they worked the Oswestry branch and I photographed No. 1458 about to leave the junction station.

They were also used on the push and pull auto-train on the former Cambrian Railway’s route from Ellesmere to Wrexham Central and John Dyer photographed them in both locations. No. 1432 and No. 1458 are featured, both in 1962. The Ealing comedy film, the Titfield Thunderbolt, brought the 1400 Class to a wider audience, sharing the limelight with the ex-Liverpool and Manchester Railway survivor, Lion.

With particular thanks to John Dyer

Robert Adley

My friend, John, has drawn my attention to a book he has recently re-visited - In Search of Steam 1962-68, by Robert Adley. I did not know that in his quest for a parliamentary seat, Robert Adley had [unsuccessfully] contested the 1966 general election as the Conservative candidate for the Birkenhead constituency.

He was also a renowned train man, of course, an advocate for the railways in general, a photographer and an author of a series of railway books, who sadly died as a relatively young man. The extract John passed to me shows that while Robert Adley was in town to organise his election campaign, he also found time to get down to the Mollington Street sheds a number of times - between 8/8/65 and 7/5/66, at least - and that he befriended a number of railwaymen in the process.

We went around ourselves on many occasions during that period, though the dates of our visits did not coincide with his. Like us, he appears to have always been granted access, though we never tried it on other than on Sunday mornings, when it was quiet. We were never denied access by the foreman, however, and so we never had to “bunk” them as we were more than happy to do elsewhere.

County Class

The GWR Hawksworth County Class 4-6-0s were introduced in 1945 but had all been withdrawn from service by the end of 1964. They were frequent visitors to Chester when we were spotting there in the early 1960s, and I eventually saw nineteen out of the thirty locos in the class. None were preserved, though a replica of No. 1014 County of Glamorgan is under construction. John Dyer took these photos of No. 1013 County of Dorset and No. 1025 County of Radnor at Chester and Ruabon.

The Earl

On 19/7/61, we visited Oswestry works with the school railway society. It was a Wednesday and surely, therefore, too early for us to have broken up for the summer holidays. I’m wondering if this was interpreted as an end of term treat to reward us for all our hard work [or not, as in my case].

John Dyer took his picture of Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway 0-6-0T No. 822 The Earl prior to her receiving attention in the works. By the time we reached the W&LLR, in June 1970, The Earl had re-joined No. 823 The Countess and they had both assumed their original [rather than their BR] numbers, as W&LLR Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

LSWR No. 563

Adams T3 Class 4-4-0 No. 563 was built for the London and South Western Railway at Nine Elms in 1893. She was withdrawn from service in 1945, eventually becoming an exhibit at the Clapham Transport Museum, before moving to the NRM at York and from there to Shildon.

In 2017, she was donated to the Swanage Railway where it is intended to restore her to working order. Updates on progress can be found on the website www.563locomotivegroup.co.uk

John Dyer photographed No. 563 at Eastleigh works on 26/4/60.