Steamed Up in UK! - West Somerset Railway and other locomotives

Getting Steamed up in the UK!

Images from West Somerset Railway and others
Created: 11 November 2000. Updated 14 May 2011, Other pages updated separately

The one image that epitomises steam rail in the UK, the Ribbleshead viaduct on the Settle - Carlisle ra8lway

As a kid on Merseyside, I would skip a ride on the "lecky" (electric) train to Bidston station in Birkenhead, where the steam train line crossed, and "skip" rides on the steam passenger trains which ran through Bidston from Seacombe Ferry, Wallasey. The track is now the M53, near enough. Oh, I loved those days! I spent a day, a while back, on the West Somerset Railway - brilliant! Well worth a visit. (Link above) Every since those little kid days I have loved the smell and romance associated with the Steam Days. Enjoy these images with me. The US locos were sent to me from Chris (Arky4). Many thanks. More images added. Now into 2 pages. Feb 2011: Since I started this section a grandson, Rowan, was born in 2007 and he now surfs You Tube looking at video after video of trains.

Now this is a strange one and is listed in the Steam World November 1996, as a mystery. The image is taken above Warminster in 1937. It clearly shows two "mystery" containers on the sidings. I believe them to be Army orientated but could be wrong, does anyone know what these two carriages are?

(1) Jubilee 4-6-0 Leeds to Manchester 8 July 1967
(2) Britannia 70014 "Iron Duke" Returning to Wales from Scotland Rugby Special 5 Feb 1967
(3) City of Lichfield Duchess Pacific 46250 August 1955
(4 & Below) North East Railway Notice boards

	Dinmore Manor arriving at Blue Anchor Station enroute to Bishops Lydeard, on the West Somerset Railway on 8 July 2001. Alongside is a Diesel passenger train of approx 60s vintage I believe, heading for Dulverton and Minehead. Image looking southbound.			Dinmore Manor Steam Locomotive at Blue Anchor Railway Station on July 8 2001. Image looking northbound.
	Dinmore Manor July 8 2001			Dinmore Manor July 8 2001
	A nice image of the Dinmore Manor, looking back along the platform at Blue Anchor. July 8 2001.			Inside the signal box at Blue Anchor. Note the "ships wheel" type gate wheel. This is used for closing off the road with the gates as seen in the bottom left of the picture.
	Taken by my daughter Lorna - The Dinmore Manor approaches Blue Anchor July 8 2001			Crossing the roadway, Dinmore Manor enters Blue Anchor railway station
	and pulls into the station. 1960s vintage Diesel on the other platform			In the far background is me, taking some shots of the Dinmore Manor. This taken by my daughter Lorna.
	Station Platform sign at Blue Anchor			And the same at Bishops Lydeard, at the eastern/northern end of the line
	Dinmore Manor enters Bishops Lydeard at the end of her journey from Minehead			A great view of the 4-6-0 wheel layout of the Dinmore Manor - Signal Box to the rear behind the tender.
	Earl Bathurst 5051	4936 Kinlet Hall at Minehead	Dinmore Manor July 2001	July 2001	Advertisements placed on railway platforms in the days when adverts could get away with "anything" as noted on the cigarette advert for Park Drive "for pleasure"

					May 31st 2006




These following images are taken from copies of Steam Days, dated in the 1990s. Published by Red Gauntlet, Bournemouth BH4 8ZA England. And from Steam World, Peterborough, PE2 9NP, also published in the 90s. Also below, the Dart Railway, Buckfast, Devon in May 2002. Also some more of West Somerset Railway, one of the best railways left in the country.
	Steam Days Sept 96. Crossing the Pennines , across Bouch's Belah viaduct between Kirkby Stephen and Stainmore Summit. July 18 1959. Blackpool North to Newcastle. A pair of Moguls 78016 and 76024. Photo by Robert Leslie.			Sept 96. Steam Days. Smardale Viaduct (now restored) on the Kirkby Stephen - Tebay section. Crossing on 3 August 1957 is the Darlington - Blackpool Ivatt Class 4 Mogul 43050
	Sept 1996. Steam Days. This image is of Ivatt Class 2-6-0 No: 43126 crossing Durham Viaduct 19 August 1961 pulling the Blackpool - Newcastle train.			Brighton Station captured on film on 20 May 1965. Loco is the 4MT 2-6-4T 80142 on platform 7. Note the telephone booths in the foreground! 3 weeks later steam vanished from this division. Photo taken by a carpenter engaged on roof repairs. Sept 1996 Steam Days
	Looking more like a scene from children's book "Thomas the Tank Engine" this is the Bluebell Line on the South Coast. This image taken on 15 Sept 1963 shows a Caley 4-2-2 Single No: 123 and a L&SWR T9 4-4-0 No: 120			Atlantic Class 32424 "Beachy Head" at Brighton on 5 October 1952. (Sept 96. Steam Days)
	Southampton Terminus 26 June 1957. The Cunard Liner Ivernia is in the background. Loco is a M7 0-4-4T No: 30376. These were used for station "pilot" duties			(Steam Days Dec 1998.) 4 Pacific Class 4495 Golden Fleece takes on water just north of Peterborough when taking the Flying Scotsman southbound on 4 July 1938
	A4 Pacific Class 60014 Silver Link heads north with the Flying Scotman in September 1960. (Steam Days. Dec 1996.)			(Steam Days. Dec 1996.) Summer 1958, No: 44873 curves around Perry Barr North Junction, Birmingham heading for Walsall. Loco is a Bescott Black 5. This was taken not far from Bescott Stadium, home of Walsall FC. The M5 now runs through here
	Great Western "Hall" 4963 Rignall Hall going through Solihull, Birmingham on 14 June 1958. Wolverhampton-Hastings.			Steam Days Dec 96. South Coast excursion returning to Coventry-Birmingham New Street on 17 July 1964. A very smartly turned out Black Five No: 45322.
	Taken in the mid 50s, this Jubilee Class 45646 "Napier" is pulling the Hull - Liverpool Express past Lady Anne Crossing, near Batley, Yorkshire. It is a fairly safe bet that this is the route I used when my parents moved from Hull to Wallasey, Wirral (now Merseyside) back in late 1949 and I was still in "arms", maybe even the same train.			Possibly my favourite of all locos, the Britannia Class. This one is pulling the Red Dragon. She is a 4-6-2 No: 70018 Flying Dutchman. Taken in August 1959. (Steam World May 1998)
	This superbly atmospheric image is also of a Britannia. This is the Oliver Cromwell No: 70013 in Yorkshire on October 28th 1967. (Steam World. May 1998)			Scene is the tunnel from Liverpool Lime Street, Right is a Black Five No: 45156 on April 20 1968. Alongside her, the future of British Rail, a blank featureless future! (Steam World. May 1998.)
	9F 2-10-0 0n 1 September 1962 at Charwelton (Steam Days Sept 1996)			Stanier 8F 2-8-0 48476 (Lostock Hall) and 5MT 4-6-0 73069(the kast operational standard class ) Standing at Manchester Victoria 4th August 1968 waiting to take over the RCTS "Farewell to Steam" Special (Steam World May 1998)
	Steam on the roads! July 3 1966 Ivatt 2MT 21-6-2T 41298 backs along Commercial Road in Weymouth, Dorset. The Garage sign advertises a Car Wash for 2/- (2 shillings) and a vacuum for 6d as well as Esso Novelties always on sale. (Steam World May 98)			The 1105 Walsall - Hastings nears Kensington Olympia on 8 Aug 1959. 4-4-0 30914
	A 2-6-0 tackles the 1/56 gradient to Talerddig Summit on 20 August 1966. 76038 pulling a 4MY 4-6-0 (Steam Days Oct 1996)		Dart Railway, Buckfast, Devon - May 2002
	The Waiting Room and Ticket Office at Buckfast, Devon on the Dart Railway. The world famous Buckfast Abbey is about 5 minutes drive away.			Great Western Railway Rolling Stock at Buckfast, Devon
	Like an image through a time warp, the entrance to the Dart Railway, Buckfast, Devon			Even the Warning Signs have that "Jeeves & Wooster" image about them. Dart Railway, Buckfast, Devon
	Steam Train Arrives at Buckfast Railway Station. Buckfast Devon. Dart Railway			Bideford on 23 May 2003, rolling stock on a dead ended track
	Bideford on 23 May 2003 - track goes nowhere			Steam Train thunders past Corfe Castle on the Swanage Line, Dorset
				Severn Valley	North Yorks Railway run to Whitby
	Superb image of a signal box at Hoylake Station, Wirral, click here for the original site			Bidston Station, Wirral 1920s - not a motorway nor house in sight!
	Bidston Station, Wirral 1920s			Seacombe Ferry Railway Station early 50s?
	Seacombe Ferry Railway Station. Seacombe Ferry to Liverpool in the background			Minehead 05/03 http://steve-huddy.fotopic.net
	Blue Anchor Summer night http://steve-huddy.fotopic.net			Crowcombe 34022 Exmoor. Image: http://steve-huddy-fortpic.net
	BR standard Tank 80136 Image: http://steve-huddy-fotopics.net			Image courtesy of Steve Huddy - 6412 in 1976
	Image Courtesy of Steve Huddy			Small prairie 5553 arriving at Blue Anchor with an up train including the Quantock Belle's buffet car.
	Left: 92203 Black Prince almost at the summit of the climb from Bishop Lydeard to Crowcombe Heathfield.		Train in Devon taken by daughter in 2009
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		< Trains Illustrated Feb 1954 Front & Back

Two railway locomotives which were lost with the ship carrying them to the Western Front, have been discovered 150 feet down on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. The 100-year-old locomotives, built in Leeds, are the only two remaining examples of their type. There are plans to raise them and eventually to put them on display in a museum. The locomotives were sunk while being shipped to France in 1917. "Grenville" and "Torridge" were working on the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway when they were requisitioned by the Government in 1916. "Gotterdammerung," the ship carrying them, was torpedoed at the entrance to the Bristol Channel and its wreck was found off the coast of North Cornwall.

In Nov 2010 I replayed an old tape I had of a recording from the TV concerning the WSR. They were discussing the potential marriage of the line from WSR to Taunton and BR. Contradictions abound. In one voice the WSR tell us that their safety training is passed by BR then BR state that any trains coming into the national network (eg: Taunton Station) must be manned by BR for safety reasons! Rubbish! This is Trade Union speak. The olf platform and line, still there, do not cross the national lines at all. This merge still have not taken place, and probably never will.

Click on the signal to visit a superb WSR Site from which I "borrowed" a few images

West Somerset Railway - an unofficial site full of information and photos of the West Somerset

Black Five 45156 coming out of Liverpool Lime Street - April 1968, the old and the new - the last year of steam

Sutton Coldfield Station, near where I now live, date unknown. Ex-LMS 'Stanier' 2-6-2T No 40080 stands at the station on a local passenger train from Lichfield bound for New Street.
Number 40080 was a member of Stanier's least successful designs being to heavily influenced by Derby with poor internal steam passages and travel design.
It was built in March 1935 at Crewe and lasted in service until September 1962 when it was withdrawn from Willesden and scrapped in January 1963.

LNER A4 Gresley Pacific 60019 'Bittern' glides through Water Orton, Birmingham with The William Shakespeare charter yesterday afternoon.
The loco is currently disguised as 4492 'Dominion of New Zealand' and is running with two tenders.
http://loco-park.blogspot.com/2011/05/back-to-blue.html