Whitby and the North Yorks Moors Railway

Great Western Railway

My travels began with the railways, the LMS and the GWR. South Wales and Cardiff and the West Country. Also my love of ships and the sea was born in Cardiff and the Bristol Channel steamers to Weston and Minhead and Illfracombe.

Railway poster art

They inspired us and instilled that want to go further than our own home territory. The initiated the wander lust that saw me travel the world

Out of the ordinary

Ambiance of the past

Birmingham Moor Street station

Classic stations

Much effort went into the design and decoration of many stations. Here the interior of Birmingham Moor St

April 1912

April 1912 and a scene at Southampton Docks with Titanic preparing for that fateful maiden voyage

Railway holiday posters

So inviting those railway holiday posters of the past

Old Railway posters

Here we see some railway posters from line that have been preserved or are the lines on which preserved steam loco's run

Railway Models

Some excellent art created from the railway modelling world

Top left S & D 2 8 0, top rt  Midland 2P, bottom left Royal Scot and bottom rt Princes Royal

Birmingham Snow Hill Station

Grateful to Messrs Waddingtons games for this very good depiction of Birmingham Snow Hill. We see the GWR did not build an over arch But covered its platforms leaving a gap between for steam exhausts, smoke etc to escape

Manchester Central Station

Closer to my own childhood was Manchester Central. Look at that roof and it's span. It is of course now the G-Mex centre just behind the Midland Hotel and beside the Bridgwater Hall.

Birmingham New St Station

Here we see the magnificence of the railways in the form of the great stations. Birmingham had a number of stations but the two larger were New St seen here and of course the GWR Snow Hill station. At New St the railway cut the city centre in two and the city fathers decreed that it should not be a complete cut. So New St station had a very wide overbridge which linked the two halves of the city as well as providing access to the many platforms. New St was a mix of London North Western Railway and Midland Railway, each ocupying its own side of the station, hence Midland side and LNWR side. Of course from 1924 they both became the London Midland and Scotish Railway

The magnificent steelwork supporting the great glass roofs must have seemed like miraculous creations to the people of the mid 18th century.

Woody Bay Station Quiet

Here some video of Woody bay without the trains so you can see the layout. Do remember to pay them a visit at http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/

There is a growing display of static exhibits well worth a veiw.

A Railway with a difference

Here is the Funicular railway between Lynton and Lynmouth. The towns are about twenty minutes drive from Woody Bay and of course were the terminus of the Lynton and Barnstaple railway.  A truely spectacular journey up the mountain side to the town of the Lyn on top from the mouth of the Lyn below



Posters

Courtesy of my visit to Woody bay I publish a few more of the railway posters on display there.

J1 0 6 0 GNR tender engines and J50/51 tank

Ivat J1 locomotives, again a regular sight on the Queensbury lines. designed for fast freight they were excellent on passenger work too. At grouping Bradford was allocated four of these excellent engines. They could often be seen pulling summer excursions to Bridlington and Scarborough

Cylinders (x2):	(inside)	18x26in.
Motion:		Stephenson
Valves:		slide
Boiler:	Max. Diameter:	4ft 8in
	Pressure:	175psi
	Diagram No.:	7
Heating Surface:	Total:	1250 sq.ft.
	Firebox:	120 sq.ft.
	Tubes:	1130 sq.ft. (238x 1.75in)
Grate Area:		19 sq.ft.
Wheels:	Coupled:	5ft 8in
	Tender:	4ft 2in
Tractive Effort:	(@ 85% boiler pressure)	18,427lb
Wheelbase:	Total:	37ft 8in
	Engine:	16ft 3in
	Tender:	13ft 0in
Weight (full):	Total:	89 tons 16cwt
	Engine:	46 tons 14cwt
	Tender:	43 tons 2cwt
Max. Axle Load:		17 tons 4cwt

J 50/51 arriving Queensbury with a goods in the fities shortly before closure of the line.

Intended for the West Riding, the initial J50 and J51 allocations were to Ardsley, Bradford, and Copley Hill. These engines were used for local goods and coal workings, with shunting at intermediate yards. There were also used for shunting the larger West Riding marshalling yards. During the 1920s, they were also occasionally used for passenger work, and for banking duties.
All of the J50s survived to Nationalisation (1948), when the allocations were to Ardsley, Bradford, Copley Hill, Doncaster, Colwich, Frodingham, Stratford, Woodford, Annesley, Sheffield, St. Margaret's, and Eastfield. Most were still allocated in the West Riding, with lesser numbers further afield.

		J50	J51
Cylinders (x2):	(inside)	18.5x26in.	18.5x26in.
Motion:		Stephenson	Stephenson
Valves:		Slide	Slide
Boiler:	Diameter (max):	4ft 5in	4ft 2in
	Length:	10ft 1in	10ft 6in
	Diagram No:	11	12
	Boiler Pressure:	170psi	175psi
Heating Surface:	Total:	1119 sq.ft.	979.85 sq.ft.
	Firebox:	103 sq.ft.	111.4 sq.ft.
	Tubes:	1016 sq.ft. (213x 1.75in dia.)	868.45 sq.ft. (175x 1.75in dia.)
Grate Area:		16.25 sq.ft.	17.8 sq.ft.
Wheels:		4ft 8in	4ft 8in
Total Wheelbase:		16ft 3in	16ft 3in
Tractive Effort:	(at 85%)	22,963 lb	23,636 lb
Length:		32ft 2.5in to 33ft 4in	32ft 2.5in to 33ft
Weight:		56t 6cwt to 58t 3cwt	56t to 56t 16cwt
Max. Axle Load:		19t 5cwt to 20t	19t 5cwt to 19t 16cwt
Water Capacity:		1500-1520 gallons	1500-1520 gallons
Coal Capacity:		2t to 5t 5cwt	2t to 3t 10cwt

GNR 2 8 0 class goods

Firstly may I say thank you very much indeed to all of you who visit my humble page. We have crossed the 1000 hits mark today.

A far less frequent visitor to the Queensbury lines was GNR's 2 8 0's and 0 8 0 long toms. Very heavy goods engines they were the real workhorse of the GNR

GNR J4 and J6

Typical locomotives running on the Queensbury lines in the early part of the twentieth century would have been J 4 and J5 tender engines along with the N1,2 tank engines.

Holmfield Stanier 8F

Here we see Holmfield station which was the next station up the line from Ovenden. Here  a line branched over to King Cross where there was access to the canal system down the hill. I always felt Halifax suffered in the late 18th century because of lack of access to the canal system. The nearest access being Calder Hebble. From Holmfield the GNR to Queensbury went on to Strines cutting and the one and a quarter mile tunnel beneath Illingworth moor which can be seen at the back of the mils.

The Licky incline

Always a challenge the 'Licky' was often the slowest stretch for the Devonian home bound for Bradford

Those GNR N type tanks

                           These first two are Ovenden and the last one is Holmfield

Halifax North Bridge

North Bridge goods yard, now Sainsbury's car park

North Bridge station, now a car park where they hold the Sunday car boot sale

Car booters beware of the Ghost trains

LMS Jinty 0 6 0

The workhorse of many railway companies was the 0 6 0 class tank and tender engines. The LMS jinty was typical of the class and probably the most seen of all loco classes, every major staion had one, two or more.

80002 at Keighley

Howarth on a summer Sunday

We are blest with some beautiful countryside here in Yorkshire and of course plenty of preserved railways. The Kieghley and Worth Valley railways is always worth a visit, always plenty to see and lots going on. There are museum's at Ingrow and Oxenhope and the main workshops are at Howarth and the missus can have a look round the Bronte parsonage if she has had enough of locomotives.

Visit online at http://www.kwvr.co.uk/

Busy day at Blue Anchor WSR

Takes a little time, I started filming as it was leaving Minehead I think (joke), be patient and you will reap it's rewards

Big boys toy trains

Just another summer Saturday on the West Somerset Rilway. Well I was very lucky. Don't foget to visit them at http://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/

They were undoubtedly big boys present that Staurday with the Duke and Braunton along with S&D 88

BR Class 4 Locomotive

The class was designed at the ex-LNER works at Doncaster which was also responsible for building 25 of the 115-strong class. The remaining 90 were split between Horwich and Derby Works.
The last in the series, No.76114, was also the final steam engine to be constructed at the 'Plant' (as Doncaster works was known). The Standard Four Mogul was essentially a standardised version of the LMS Ivatt Class 4, and was primarily intended for freight use.
Although a BR Standard the class did not have the same design of wheels as the Swindon-built 82XXX and 77XXX Class 3 engines which also had 5-foot-3-inch (1.600 m) driving wheels, yet all three locomotive classes share the same cylinder casting.
The cylinder covers of engines built early in the programme of construction were fitted with "screw-in" type pressure relief valves. From September 1955 revised cylinder covers were introduced for renewals incorporating "bolt-on" type pressure relief valves.^[1]

With its 5-foot-3-inch (1.600 m) diameter driving wheels this sixth of the BR standard designs was clearly biased towards freight working. An axle-loading of only 16 tons 15 cwt meant its route availability was virtually unrestricted. Batches were allocated to every BR region except the Western.

The above from Wikepedia

Many thanks to Bluebellnutter at en.wikipedia for the above picture of a class 4

BR Class 5 locomotives

The British Railways Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0 was one of the standard classes of steam locomotives built by British Railways in the 1950s. 172 were built, essentially being a development of the LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 ("Black Five").

The Black Five had been the most successful mixed-traffic type in Great Britain. Construction of the Black Fives had started in 1934 and continued past nationalisation to 1951. A new set of 'standard' locomotives was to be built by British Railways, based on LMS designs and incorporating modern ideas.

In particular, the Standard design incorporated features designed to make disposal easier: a self-cleaning smokebox and a rocking grate removed the necessity for crews to undertake dirty and strenuous duties at the end of a long shift.^[1]

The design work was done at the ex-LNER Doncaster Works but the bulk of the construction was done at Derby Works. The locomotive featured a Type 3B boiler almost identical to that of the Black Fives. A higher running plate, slightly enlarged driving wheels (from 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m) to 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m)) and a standard cab were the most obvious visible changes.
The first of the class, 73000, was outshopped from Derby in April 1951 and 30 were in service by January 1952. There was then a gap in construction before Derby resumed building its remaining 100 engines. 42 were built at Doncaster, starting in August 1955 and finishing in May 1957, with Derby's last engine following a month later.
Thirty engines, numbers 73125 to 73154, were built with Caprotti valve gear and poppet valves. One of these engines (73129) survives today at Butterley, and along with BR Standard Class 8 are the only engines with Caprotti gear left in Britain.

Many thanks to Wikepedia for the above.

Many thanks to Tagishsimon for the above of a Class 5 arriving at Virgina Water station

The BR Standards

The BR Standards were the 'new engines' of my childhood. A Brit was a superb sight but most often it was a class 4 or 5.

GWR Hall class

The Hall class fulfilled a long-felt demand for a versatile engine with wide route availability, capable of handling anything from freight to express passenger.  The engines designed by Charles Collett, were based on the Churchward 'Saint' class but with smaller driving wheels, and production of the Hall class started in 1928 - more than fulfilling the traffic departments wishes.  Essentially this was the first genuine mixed traffic class to enter service in the UK and the concept was emulated by other railway companies, notably with the LMS and their ubiquitous 'Black 5' 4-6-0.  In all, 259 were built, including Hawksworth's modified version, which a better performer than the original version.  Improvements included better superheating and draughting of the fire while there were several other detail differences to improve the strength of the frames and reliability of the class. 

The GWR Kings

By 1926 the demand for a locomotive still larger than the 4-cylinder Castle was becoming apparent and the CME was instructed by the Great Western's General Manager Sir Felix Pole to proceed with the design and construction of a Super-Castle, capable of hauling heavier passenger expresses on the Great Western between Paddington and Bristol, the West of England and the Midlands at average speeds around 60 mph. The 4-6-0 design which emerged from Swindon works in June 1927, eventually known as the King class, took on dimensions never previously seen, and represented the ultimate development of Churchward's four cylinder concept. They were the heaviest (136 tons), and had the highest tractive effort (40,300 lbs.) of any 4-6-0 locomotive ever to run in the United Kingdom.

In all thirty Kings were built at Swindon works, in two batches in 1927-28 and 1930. No. 6024 King Edward I was completed in the second batch (Lot 267) of ten locomotives on the 30th June 1930, for a cost of £7,500, and was set to work•on the 5th July 1930. It completed 237,871 miles before its first heavy overhaul in January 1935, averaging over sixty thousand miles in service for each of its first five years.

Apperly Bridge Station.

Yes it is in Bradford, just. Apperly Bridge Station on the midland line through to Leeds and Shipley.

Bradford Exchange Station

A typical dreary day of the past before the clean air act. Bradford Exchange station with Fowler tanks waiting with local services.

Holdens 1500 class B2 locomotives

Precursors to the B17 on the GER before grouping was Holdens 1500 class known as the B12.