Haworth on a late summer's busy day

It is amazing how nature has taken over the old

station at Haworth

 

 

Haworth was essentially a small mill town, now it

is very rural. With of course the wonderful history

of the Bronte sisters and the books they wrote.

 

The 'Chinese Engine' at the NRM York

Chinese Government Railways Steam Locomotive 4-8-4 KF Class No 7

The Chinese locomotive is the largest single locomotive in the museum - over 15 foot tall and more than 93 feet long. These locos were the largest single-unit locomotives ever built in the UK. It was presented to the museum by the Chinese Government in 1981.

 

 

Steam Locomotive, Chinese Government Railways, KF7 class 4-8-4 No 607, designed by Colonel Kenneth Cantlie, built by Vulcan Foundry in 1935, withdrawn in 1981

Stanier Black Five 45305 Alderman Draper

Here 45305 was having a spell at the NRM

 

 

A superb engine and saved because it was the

cleanest of three due to be scrapped at Drapers

in Hull

 

The last of the line Evening Star

Frome Mick Higgins visit to the NRM York

 

 

Many thanks Mick Higgins

London Brighton and South Coast Railways Gladstone

LBSCR Gladstone showing where the crest was

places when conveying Queen Victoria

 

 

I am sure the Queen had a much grander conveyance

to and from the station

 

 

NRM York

The National Railway Museum York

You will have a very good day out

 

 

Ancient, Stephensons Rocket

 

And modern, Class 31 Diesel locomotive

 

 

The heraldry of the railways

The royal crest carried by Queen Victoria's train

 

 

Sir Winston Churchill

 

The luxury of the Pullman's

 

Somewhat better than our present day mundanety

King Edward VII saloon at the National Railway Museum.

Queen Victoria refused to allow any of her trains to travel more than 40mph in daylight and 30mph at night. It is said that she had a special signal installed on the roof of one of her carriages so she could instruct the driver to slow down if she felt he was going too fast.

 

 

Edward VII (1841-1910) took an active interest in the design of his carriages. He requested this be styled similar to the Royal Yacht.

 

LNWR King Edward's Saloon (LMS) No. 800 - 1977.

Number: DS050167-19783

 King Edward VII's Royal Saloon. Built in 1903.

 

 

LNWR King Edward VII's 65'6" Saloon  in LNWR plum & spilt milk livery; designed by C A Park of the LNWR and built at Wolverton, 1903. The LNWR did not number it's Royal coaches. At the National Railway Museum York

 

 

The above are from the lens of Mick Higgins

 

 

Sorry about the reflections

 

 

 

 

NRM York Get up close see what the driver saw

 

 

See the engine from the drivers position, get on the

footplate

 

 

London Brighton & South Coast Railway, 0-4-2 No 214, "Gladstone", designed by William Stroudley, built at Brighton in 1882, withdrawn 1927.

 

Steam Locomotive, Midland Railway, 4-2-2 No 673, Midland Spinner, designed by S.W. Johnson, built at Derby in 1897, withdrawn in 1923

 

Compare with complexity of the Southern Railway

and a Battle of Britain Pacific

The National Railway Museum York

We are undoubtedly well blessed with one of, if

not the finest railway museum in the world

 

 

York is a wonderful city with lots of history to see

and you can easily spend a day in the NRM alone

 

Always lots to see and exhibits do change

LMS Princess Coronation Class 'Duchess of Hamilton'

A few more from Micks visit to the NRM at York

 

 

LMS streamliner 'Duchess of Hamilton'

 

Some said they looked like a bathtub

upended with go faster stripes

 

However they did speed up the Euston Glasgow

service though the Princess Royals did their fair

share of that work too.

 

Many thanks Mick Higgins

 

 

B of B pacific 'Sir Winston Churchill' and the funeral train

 

The project to reunite Sir Winston Churchill's funeral train has been achieved. Staff at Locomotion; the National Railway Museum at Shildon prepared the carriage that carried his coffin for its historic journey. The newly cosmetically restored parcel van is now playing its part in the national events marking 50 years since the his state funeral.
The workshop team at the Co Durham museum moved Southern Railways goods van S2464S from the workshop where it has been undergoing comprehensive restoration work for the previous 3 months to transform it back into its 1965 condition, ready for its journey by road. On loan from the Swanage Railway, which brought it back from the US, it now takes pride of place in a display of the funeral train at the York National Railway Museum. Churchill's Final Journey (30 January -3 May) and will tell the moving story of the state funeral using archive TV news footage and a variety of personal recollections of the steam hauled funeral train.

 

 

Millions of people around the world watched the former prime minister's state funeral on January 30, 1965, in which his coffin was placed into the South Railway parcel van S2464S.

Following his death, the train carriage – which once carried basic goods such as vegetables and newspapers - ended up in Los Angeles before being brought back to the UK in 2007.

 

 

Waterloo station January 1965

 

Top four pictures by Mick Higgins bottom two

Hulton Getty images

 

Electric traction on the Sheffield Manchester route through Woodhead

How well we remember these running up from

Sheffield and through the Woodhead Tunnel to

Manchester.

 

 

Many thanks Mick Higgins

 

London Brighton and South Coast Railway No 214 'Gladstone'

Almost as if it has just arrived with the Royal

train

 

 

William Love the driver

 

Queen Victoria returns from Osborne

 

 

Frome the lens of Mick Higgins

LNER 'Mallard' the fastest of them all

Once again at the NRM York. Mallard now alone

but of course the fastest steam locomotive ever.

 

 

Once again from the lens of our roving reporter

Mick Higgins

Great Western Railways 'City of Truro'

Here at the NRM York, now retired is City of Truro.

The first locomotive to top 100mph though sadly not

an official record as it was simply timed by an

enthusiast on the train at the time. The run was down

Wellington Bank in Somerset

 

 

Picture by our roving reporter Mick Higgins.

Bradford railways Caledonia St crossing

There were very few level crossings on the railway

into and out of Bradford but one such was just south

of Lancashire and Yorkshire Exchange station. most

line leaving Bradford to the south went through

tunnels under the area of Bradford called Broomfields.

As the line climbs to the south it comes level with

the surrounding district and a level crossing was

situated at Caledonia St.

 

 

 

Below a map of old Bradford showing the Caledonia

St crossing. The line has come south out of Exchange

station. Adolphus St Station can also be seen which

was the original Lancashire and Yorkshire station

for Bradford.

 

 

Bolton Abbey Station then and now, past and present. Yorkshire Dales Railway

This view of Bolton Abbey Station in the 1920's

 

 

Here once again in the early part of the 20th century

 

Here in decline in the 1960's. The line had been

closed and the track lifted

 

Reborn. Bolton Abbey station now.  

 

 

Completely rebuilt

 

Bolton Abbey station now reminds us of those

days past

 

It certainly takes me on a trip back in time

 

The food and the tea/coffee is great too

 

Very well done to all concerned in the resurgence

of the Embsay Bolton Abbey Railway