Riding Yorkshire's Final Steam Trains

by Keith Widdowson

  8

  THE ALNWICK ADVENTURE

  WHILE THE MAINSTAY of this book is about my journeys in Yorkshire, with readers’ permission I’d like to enact the writers’ license and relate one of my forays elsewhere within the North Eastern Region of British Railways. Although, in Chapter 5, I detailed the fact that Tweedmouth (more pertinently the sub shed at Alnmouth) provided K1 Moguls for the Alnwick branch, in the spring of 1966 I was unaware of that fact. Persistent rumours were circulating amongst us haulage bashers that the Alnwick branch shuttles (as compared with the through-DMU services from Newcastle) were steam operated and were the preserve of the 1949-built Peppercorn-designed K1 Moguls to boot. The branch was a long way from any other steam passenger-operated areas in the North East and with no other friends/colleagues having visited to confirm it we, Alan (another SR devotee) and I, made the decision to investigate. We were the guinea pigs – we could be wasting our valuable time. Such was the search-and-find scenario we encountered back then.

  With hope in our hearts, and Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night topping the charts, we set forth out of Kings Cross on Friday 17 June 1966, a week after the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part commenced regular broadcasting, on the 23 45 Kings Cross to Newcastle. This train, readers may recall, was the same one I had travelled on nearly two years previously when venturing north for the very first time. Back then Newcastle was awash with LNER steam, but by June 1966 it was the centre of a diesel-infested area. It wasn’t looking at all promising and after a two-hour connectional wait we headed the 34¾ miles north with Type 4 D353 to the branch junction station of Alnmouth. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but boy did this one pay off! Waiting in the adjacent bay platform was Tweedmouth’s K1 62011 with the 07 50 departure for Alnwick. This 3-mile-long branch, opened in 1850, was continued through to Coldstream, a junction station on the Tweedmouth/St Boswell line, in 1887. To avoid the wrath of the land-owning Duke of Northumberland, whose Alnwick Castle has been subsequently used as Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter films, a somewhat expensive diversion requiring a tunnel and viaduct at Edlingham was constructed – the relocation of Alnwick station nearer the town centre being undertaken at the same time. Passenger traffic over the sparsely populated and somewhat circuitous section beyond Alnwick, however, was unable to compete with local bus services and the line closed to passengers in 1930. Retained for freight the line was breached midway at Iderton by a storm in 1948 – the remaining stub south to Alnwick closing completely five years later.

  The Alnwick branch timetable. All the through workings to/from Newcastle were DMU operated. The remainder, until our day of travel of Saturday 18 June 1966, were steam operated.

  Alan and I had made the long trek north to the 3-mile branch off of the ECML at Alnmouth on a wing and a prayer – persistent rumours circulating amongst the enthusiast fraternity conjecturing that the branch trains were steam operated. Unaware that Tweedmouth shed, where the branch locomotives were allocated, was closing to steam the following Monday, we were fortunate in catching steam on the branch at all. With my head hanging out of the window this shot shows 1949-built K1 2-6-0 62011 (cleaned by the MNA) bringing the 07 50 ex-Alnmouth into the somewhat dilapidated terminal station of Alnwick. (Alan (Nobby) Hayes)

  BR-built mogul 62011 prepares to return to Alnmouth with the 08 09 departure – she was one of the final four representatives to be withdrawn from Tyne Dock in September 1967. Later that day, as a finale before the branch line’s dieselisation, 9F 92099 was turned out, but even had we known that it would have been a long wait! The branch itself succumbed to complete closure in January 1968.

  The somewhat overgenerous ‘new’ Alnwick station, by now in a somewhat neglected condition, provided a wonderful backdrop to photographs taken on the day of our visit when the K1 was running round her two-coach train.

  With only the one steam locomotive in circulation and, having successfully completed our mission, just over half an hour later found us returning south from Alnmouth on a bone-shaking Metro-Cammell bog cart en route to the then steam Mecca of the West Riding. We were, at the time, completely unaware of the fact that 18 June was the last day of steam-operated services on the branch – 9F 92099 being turned out for the afternoon/evening shuttles. Earlier that year, reports in The Railway World revealed, V2 60836 en route home from York to Dundee was ‘borrowed’ by Alnmouth shed to help out during a shortage of power for the shed’s diagrammed coal trains. Not being suitable over certain routes she was put to work on the Alnwick services.

  Tweedmouth and the sub shed at Alnmouth closed to steam on that day. Three months prior to our visit a notice of the branch’s closure had been posted with that very weekend being its final day. Strong local opposition, although initially thwarting BR’s plans, was eventually disregarded and services ceased in January 1968. Although quoting heavy financial losses was it more than just coincidence that an expensive bridge would have had to have been constructed for the line to be carried over the proposed Alnwick bypass? The somewhat ostentatious station, however, remains to this day albeit in use as a retail outlet containing, amongst other shops, one of Britain’s largest second-hand bookshops. A group of volunteers calling themselves the Aln Valley Railway Society has (at the time of writing, 2015) commenced running passenger trains over a short section of the original trackbed midway along the branch.

  Arriving back into Leeds just before midday we came across Manningham Fairburn 42189 working the 10 39 ex-Sheffield forward to Bradford Forster Square only minutes later. A stroll across to Exchange found Mirfield’s Black 5 45208 ready to depart for Wakefield with the 13 05 portion. Although she still had a 56D shed plate on her boiler, I suspect Low Moor (to where she was officially transferred within weeks) had already purloined her. She was in such fine form that, by arriving into Wakefield Westgate six minutes early, we were able to dash through the subway just making an (on paper) minus two-minute connection into a returning Bradford portion. Why the hurry? A rare appearance of an Ivatt 4MT ‘Flying Pig’ on a passenger train – Wakefield’s 43070 being turned out for the 14 16 arrival into the Exchange that day!

  Oh what a joy these portions were – back-to-back runs with two named (my first!) B1s was to follow; 61240 Harry Hinchcliffe and 61022 Sassaby, neither of which saw the year out. Taking into consideration their comparative rareness throughout the country I think I appreciated catching runs with the few remaining LNER B1s more than anything else. Our good fortune, however, was to suffer a temporary blip at that point with nearly an hour spent at Shipley waiting for a portion ex-Leeds City – disappointingly producing D1767 on a train normally steam operated! Anyway, having decided to return south once again via the ex-GC routed 22 50 Manchester Central/Marylebone, there was just time to catch one further Fairburn, Wakefield’s 42196 being caught out to Halifax on the 19 10 departure. This was a Bradford Exchange portion detached at Wakefield Westgate off the 15 25 Kings Cross/Leeds Central, which reversed at Bradford Exchange for an 8-mile extension to Halifax. These somewhat unusual once-a-day workings were nectar to the steam follower as 99 per cent of them would be steam worked. It wasn’t the greatest steam-mileage weekend but with a K1, a Flying Pig and two ‘namers’ I wasn’t going to complain.

  Mirfield (a depot with no passenger work) allocated Black 5 45208 at Bradford Exchange on 18 June 1966 with the 13 05 portion for Wakefield Westgate. A bountiful 842 of these LMS 4-6-0 5MT ‘maids of all work’ were built – 45208 at Armstrong-Whitworth in 1935. She was transferred to Low Moor from where she was withdrawn upon that shed’s closure in October 1967.

  Having made a tight cross-platform connection at Wakefield off the previous train, once more we shuttled back to Wakefield Westgate where, after arrival with the 15 05 portion ex-Bradford Exchange, we see B1 61240 Harry Hinchcliffe. She is about to be detached – a second locomotive pulling the portion back into the sidings before then propelling it onto the Leeds Central to Kings Cross train. Always grateful for a ‘namer’ this 1947-built locomotive was
to be withdrawn from Wakefield just six months later.

  Extract from notebook.

  9

  WHERE ARE THOSE

  ELUSIVE JUBILEES?

  BY THE SUMMER of 1966, with the Beatles topping the charts with their tenth hit – Paperback Writer – a mere nine NER-allocated Jubilees remained. Having already obtained runs with Kolhapur and Sturdee I began deliberately blitzing train services they were likely to be working in a bid to catch runs with the other seven. If I didn’t know where any particular locomotive was then an exchange of information at about 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning with ‘platform enders’ at either Bradford Exchange or Leeds City soon rectified the shortfall in knowledge for that day. Having ascertained, if known, which Jubilee was working what train, plans for the day’s activities were made. If you had missed or were unable to catch the outward working then, failures permitting, you could home in on the return later that day. And so, on that last Saturday of June, Paul and I, having travelled down on the Barrow ‘kippers’ and had several runs with Black/Standard 5s and Brits over the WCML, found ourselves at Blackpool’s North station.

  Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism with the arrival of the railways during the 1840s. The railways made it much easier and cheaper for visitors from the industrialised regions of Northern England to reach Blackpool, which by 1881 had a population of 14,000 complete with all the trappings expected of a seaside resort, e.g. promenade, sandy beaches, piers, fortune-tellers, public houses, trams, donkey rides, fish-and-chip shops, the tower, illuminations and theatres. By 1901 the population of Blackpool was 47,000, and its place as ‘the archetypal British seaside resort’ was secured. By the 1960s, however, the attraction of the sunnier climes of Spain and Italy had supplanted Blackpool’s status as a leading resort and Britons, using their increasing prosperity, began holidaying abroad. Nevertheless Blackpool’s urban fabric and economy remains relatively undiversified and continues to attract millions of visitors every year – albeit, these days, mostly by road.

  As an aside, not long after the end of steam in 1968 I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to attend a performance by one of the top pop stars of the time, Cilla Black. Not having booked a seat I had to stand at the back – after which, due to the absence of returning overnight trains, I went in search of a B&B. Having developed a post-steam crush for her – she having been portrayed as single to promote record sales amongst males – I was devastated upon learning of her betrothal to her manager months later! I have returned to Blackpool, taking my wife and daughter to see the illuminations, on a couple of occasions since – deliberately selecting the comfort of the long-disappeared loco-hauled services.

  Anyway, I digress. Back to 1966 and there were still a fair number of holiday extras run by BR, all dealt with, resulting from the money-orientated sale of Blackpool Central’s prime site, at Blackpool’s North station. Having espied Wakefield’s 45694 Bellerophon at the head of the 13 25 departure for Yorkshire when arriving a mere eighteen minutes prior we were late onto the train itself, unexpectedly having to obtain regulation tickets from the booking office. This was somewhat farcical as other than us there were only three people in the first two coaches! This eight-coach train was booked 1¾ hours non-stop to the Calder Valley station of Hebden Bridge. After passing through Poulton-le-Fylde, where passengers could then change trains for Fleetwood, the next notable junction (to Blackpool’s other station – the South née Central) was Kirkham & Wesham. This location was to become much frequented over the following eighteen months because conveniently situated next to it was a public house where most summer Saturdays in 1966/7, after a hard day’s chasing on WCML metals, all us haulage fanatics congregated.

  Blackpool Central – closed later that year because the ground became too valuable to keep under Beeching’s ‘must make the railways pay their way’ axe. On 22 July 1964 Carlisle Upperby’s Patriot 45527 Southport and Newton Heath’s Black 5 45339 prepare to depart with returning holiday extras. I was more intent on line coverage that day and failed to appreciate the rareness of a ride with one of the few remaining Patriots – she was withdrawn that December.

  Blackpool North, the station that dealt with all the holiday services after the Central’s demise, sees Wakefield’s Jubilee 45694 Bellerophon awaiting departure on 25 June 1966 with the 13 25 for Bradford Exchange/Leeds Central. It was the first day this Summer Saturday train ran that year and was the commencement of my attempt in hunting down all the remaining nine required Jubilees allocated within the North Eastern Region.

  We had come out of Preston on a portion off of a London train and had one-and-a-quarter hours to neck as much frothy northern beer as we could while comparing catches and sightings prior to a Liverpool-bound service calling to collect us over imbibed gricers. Continuing with our Jubilee journey, having taken water at Lea Road troughs, most of which I am sure ended up over the first coach, we then passed through the station of Preston, which in just over two years’ time was to witness steam’s final booked passenger train. Preston was centrally positioned for a steam basher and many many hours were spent waiting for whatever was running to appear – very few trains failing to call there. Always on the lookout for mates wherever we travelled it was of necessity to lean out of the window and if espying some friends point to the front and shout ‘see what we’re behind’ (or words to that effect) as loud as possible!

  Now taking the Blackburn route eastwards, we passed the hallowed ground of Lostock Hall MPD. This shed was destined to become one of the last three in Britain at which steam was to be located and (if the publisher allows me a follow-up book) can be dealt with in a north-western companion to this. Onwards we went and after Blackburn and Burnley, and having battled the 1-in-68 incline to the 749ft-high Copy Pit summit on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border, breasted at 19mph, we then attained the max of the journey – 54½mph between the Calder Valley station stops of Hebden and Sowerby bridges. With the Jubilee taking the main train through to Leeds, we decided to travel in the three-coach Bradford portion – being detached at Halifax. Fairburn tank 42108 was duly waiting, coupled up and then a twenty-minute delay ensued while a tail lamp was found! This delay meant that instead of travelling back to Bradford out of Leeds Central on a steam service we had to suffer a DMU. Even this train was late and arrived into the Exchange station at 17 10 vice 17 05, resulting in a tight cross-platform connection to catch Fairburn 42055, which was on the 17 10 portion to Wakefield. The Low Moor driver, however, kindly waited for us (the guard had already given the right away) after shouts from us to ‘hold on a minute mate’ from our DMU which, luckily for us, arrived in the adjacent platform.

  The working arrangement for the southbound portions at Wakefield Westgate, in order for attachment to the main Leeds Central/Kings Cross train, was as follows. After the Bradford portion had come to a stand a second locomotive would draw it back into a siding, await the arrival of the Leeds service, and propel it onto the rear. On this day Ivatt Mogul 43137 performed that shunt so, never sure when any steam movement, whether shunt or long distance, might be the only chance of haulage with that particular locomotive, we jumped back aboard and claimed a run with her – only to find she then proceeded to work the next detachment for Bradford off a Kings Cross/Leeds service on which we planned to travel on anyway!

  Another Fairburn tank, Low Moor’s 42177, was waiting at Bradford to take the train on to Halifax but was eventually cancelled due to the non-appearance of a guard – I never did obtain a run with her! That was enough of the NER that day and, with a running total of nine new haulages (and most importantly one of the required Jubilees), we headed off to Manchester for what became my final homeward-bound journey over the ex-GC.

  The following Friday a valuable day’s leave was taken. Why? Well the 13 27 Fridays and Saturdays only (FSO) train from Manchester Victoria to Edinburgh Waverley had commenced running and it was a steam chaser’s delight. A total of six locomotives, if you include the bankers up Shap and Beattock, were
caught on this 222-mile journey. Although the main thrust of the weekend was the NER Jubilees, we were always on the lookout for unusual short-dated workings, the likelihood of them being steam worked being a high probability. We (Bob and I), having arrived into Edinburgh over an hour late at 19 40, travelled north to Kirkcaldy to board the 19 45 Friday Only (FO) Aberdeen to York. This train ran for just three Fridays and, unaware that it was a one that required regulation tickets, we nearly weren’t allowed to board until producing the ever-reliable passport to most problems – our BR identity cards! Ferryhill (Aberdeen) fortuitously turned out one of their Black 5s and, after she handed the train over to the inevitable Brush 4 at Edinburgh, we settled down (stretched out in a compartment) for several hours sleep en route south to York. We didn’t have to attempt to stay awake as the train terminated there and sure enough we were shaken awake upon arrival by the guard.

  A photograph taken by window hanging out of the 08 20 Bradford Exchange to Bridlington shows Fairburn 42177 tackling the incline out of the terminus with the 08 20 parallel-timed portion departure for Wakefield (en route to Skegness). It was Saturday 2 July 1966 and often, during those summer Saturdays that year, the train crews co-ordinated their exits at photographers’ behests.

  A second shot of the Skegness service – the lighter train getting away to Bowling Junction the quickest. This Derby-built (1948) Fairburn tank 42177 escaped my clutches because on the day I was about to travel with her the train she was to work was cancelled due to a guard shortage! She was withdrawn from her home depot of Low Moor that December.