Hughs Crab L&Y LMS

And here's another.

How does he do it. They are so realistic.

LMS

Yes it's a model

Superbly done. No idea of the author but if you see it and you know please let me know

Fowler 4F the business end

Lovely engine well cared for

Be an engine driver.

Well many of us did 

Midland Railway 1641 0-4-4 tank

Typical of the branch line locos that served the early KWVR

Keighley station in times past

Possibly Edwardian times 

Fowler 4F at Oxenhope

Once again they always seemed like real engines coz they had a tender.

We were easily impressed as children.

Kept in very fine condition on the KWVR 

http://www.kwvr.co.uk/

The 'Bahamas' Appeal

Lets get this jubilee back on the rails in this Queens Jubilee year

Still on view in Oxenhope's exhibition hall. Go along and take a close up look at his very fine loco

The Buffet Car

A cup of tea was very much in order as we waited for the steam train

Oxenhope has done another superb job with this restored Buffet car

Do visit them at http://www.kwvr.co.uk/

Railcar.

Not steam I know but was sharing the load yesterday at Oxenhope

A superb restoration job 

Yesterday at the Kieghley and Worth Valley Railway

Derby 4f was on steam duty. 

So often the workhorses of the LMS both local goods and passenger

The Metropolitan lines

We tend to think of London Metropolitan lines in terms of the underground but many other areas of the capital were served by surface trains

Skipton in BR days

Still a bust station today. Here we see a cross country express probably Nottingham Glasgow with a local paused on the other side of the platform. 

Could have been a local from Bradford or Leeds or indeed from Ilkley passing Addingham, Bolton Abbey and Embsay before Skipton.

Remember to visit them at http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/ 

Skipton in LMS days

Skipton was of course a major service point for Scottish expresses transiting the Settle to Carlisle section

Here a Duchess class backs onto her train after servicing

Ilkley was the destination

Ilkley was the play place of the woolen towns in my childhood. As well as the moors, all have heard of Ilkley moor from the famous song, there was and still is a super Lido with gardens and a very large open air swimming pool 

The river has many lovely walks and of course the Cow and Calf rocks 

Addingham and the Skipton to Ilkley line

Addingham was the next station down from Bolton Abbey. 

As can be seen from above the railways crossed the main road on an overbridge before entering Addingham station. Would it be possible to build a new station to the left of the over bridge and see the connection from Embsay and Skipton a little further. I believe the track-bed is still intact from Bolton Abbey, even though the bridge was demolished years ago. 

LNWR Southern region

This photograph was taken in 1861 of a "Bloomer" locomotive and tender at Wolverton. In the background you can see the back of the second station and refreshment rooms.

These new locomotives could reach speeds of 60 mph on their own and run at average speeds of 36 - 38mph with train loads. By the standards of the day they were very fast and the phrase "express train" entered the language. Not all of these engines were built at Wolverton but they were developed and built under McConnell's regime at Wolverton and perhaps brought a little bit of glamour to Wolverton's production history.

In 1985 a replica "Bloomer" was built and installed in Milton Keyne's central plaza. Over the years it deteriorated and in 2006 was moved to Wolverton for restoration. I don't know the status of the project.

A replica is under construction at Tyserly

Visit the site at  http://andrewstransport.smugmug.com/Britishheritagerailways/Birmingham-Tyseley-Locomotive/17847856_tPdBnj/1364878639_cXcFDTG#!i=1364878639&k=cXcFDTG

Of course do support their magnificent work

I am grateful to Wolverton past for the text and the LNWR society for the picture.

"For some years after the amalgamation of 1847 the London and North Western Railway was organized in two separate divisions, each with its own locomotive superintendent, and works. The practice of the Southern Division, at Wolverton, under J. E. McConnell, was the very opposite of that of Trevithick and Allan, at Crewe. The latter used the very smallest engines that would do the job, whereas McConnell 'built big', and put machines on the road that were generally ahead of their time. Technically his various 2-2-2 express locomotives were characterized by large boilers, and great freedom in running; but externally they created interest by having all the bearings inside. It was a time when Mrs Amelia Bloomer was advocating certain rather startling changes in female attire that shocked Victorian society, and McConnell's new engines, with all their wheels exposed, were immediately nicknamed the 'Bloomers'. There were three varieties: the original 'large' class of 1851, which is illustrated; a smaller variety, introduced in 1854, and three engines of 1861, which were known as the 'Extra Large Bloomers'. No less striking was the livery of the Southern Division -- in its vivid scarlet. One has only to compare the Crampton engine London and one of ihe Bloomers, with the Allan 2-4-0 and the Lady of the Lake to appreciate the astonishing contrast between the contemporar styles of Wolverton and Crewe Works."

My thanks to 

Nock, O. S. The Pocket Encylopaedia of British Steam Locomotives. Illustrations by Clifford and Wendy Meadway. Poole: Blandford Press, 1964. 

LNWR Bloomers

In 1860, the Southern section of The LNWR Mainline was faced with a miscellaneous collection of small engines. To counter that problem, locomotive superindendant J E McConnell designed a series of powerful express engines: Small, large and extra large Bloomers. These engines performed prodigious feats, including running the 133 miles from Euston to Stafford in 140 minutes start to stop including the steep climb up Camden Bank. These engines were so good that they were still hauling express trains 20 years later. At that time, F W Webb thought them so good that he spent time and money bringing them up to date, rebuilding them with new boilers and cabs. They then lasted another 10 years.

The nickname Bloomer comes from a certain ladies undergarment which appeared at the same time – the McConnell Bloomers unashamedly showed all their wheels.

Victoria Station

Here we see Victoria station in those heady days of speed

Holden's 2-4-0's

Often employed on the fast trains to Harwich and of course the Yarmouth holiday traffic

Before my time though. They must have been heady days as the speed of travel increased with mind boggling rapidity.

2P's at rest

And of course they looked like real engines

LMS 2P

LMS Serving Industry

The GWR served the south Wales coal fields

Here we see the LMS posters 

Great Western Railway ships

My real interest in ships however was nurtured by the GWR and the big ships at Cardiff 

The Great Eastern Railway

Childhood holidays took me to many parts of the country and non less memorable were holidays in East Anglia

Visits to Harwich and Parkstone Quay to see the ships be a very memorable highlight for a would be sailor man

Somerset and Dorset 2-8-0

Midland inspired and designed but in Great Western territory or so the Great Western always thought

The S&D was jointly run by the LMS and the Southern Railway

GWR outside frame locos

Derived from the changeover from broad gauge the GWR produced many standard gauge double frame locomotives. 

Here the London to Worcester express made up of late 19th century clerestory coaches 

GWR Dukedogs or 3200 series

Several early double framed locomotives were converted using parts from two main class's. They were to become the Dukedogs, having Duke class boilers on Bulldog class frames.

The GWR 3200 Class (or 'Earl' Class) was a design of 4-4-0 locomotives for passenger train work. They were one of the last steam locomotive classes to retain outside frames 

The first, prototype, conversion retained its Duke number and name (3265 Tre Pol and Pen), but the others took new numbers in the 32xx series (3200-3228) and were given the names of Earls. These names were removed in 1937 and re-applied to Castle class locomotives. All these locomotives were renumbered 90xx in 1946.

These locomotives were in regular use on the Cambrian line in the 1950s. They were one of the few classes light enough to be permitted on the wooden Barmouth bridge.

Frequent sight at Shrewsbury where 3217 is pictured

City of Truro

The most famous of the GWR3700 series of George Jackson Churchward

And thankfully preserved, the other 19 were all scrapped.

GWR 3700 series City class

Of course City of Truro was not a one off.  It belonged to the 3700 class of locomotives designed by George Jackson Churchward.

Here we see another member of the class on the duty for which they were designed, fast passenger expresses.

Here City of Bath. 

The GWR 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 locomotives. Ten of the twenty locomotives were rebuilt from William Dean 'Atbara' class engines, being converted in September 1902 and the rest following in 1907–1909. The other ten were built new during 1903 at Swindon. The whole class was gradually replaced and all but one scrapped in the period 1927–1931.

The Great Central Railway

The great central was the last railway to enter London, having it's terminus at Marylebone

LNWR Experriment class locomotive

The LNWR Experiment Class of was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by George Whale

They were an extended version of the Precursor class, with slightly smaller driving wheels. Experiment was built in 1905 and a total of 105 were constructed up until 1910. The LNWR reused numbers and names of withdrawn locomotives, with the result that the numbering system was completely haphazard. A 19" express goods with smaller driving wheels was also built from 1906. From 1911 a super heated version 'the Prince of Wales class was built

LB&SCR Atlantic with a boat train

Very similar to the Great Northern Atlantic's. Well they were designed by brothers

Carlisle Citadel station

GWR 'Manor' class

Great Norther Railways 'Atlantic' class

Serving the Midlands, Midland Railways compound

GWR Pick up goods

Well over half of the GWR's profits came from goods. Here the ubiquitous 'pick up goods'

Railway vehicles

There was always a varied assortment of Vehicles owned by Railway companies

Parcel vans being among the most common

But heavier road vehicles were needed for larger goods shipments which were door to door

GWR Falmouth

Not from Holidays this time but work. I worked on many New Zealand Shipping Co's ships which often dry docked at Falmouth 

British Railways posters

The growing affluence of the fifties and sixties tempted holidaymakers further afield

L&NWR poster for Morecambe

A favorite destination

Not only Blackpool but Morecambe and Heysham were holiday destinations for many from the industrial cities.

With the lakes just across the bay it was the favored destination of many and of course the home of several Bradford Mill barons. As indicated by the club trains rum for such who commuted to their mills and offices