Marcus' Model Railway Journey

14th April 2023

U Class loco to visit Cotswold Festival of Steam in May​

Maunsell SR ‘U’ Class 2-6-0 Mogul No. 31806 to visit 12-14 May 2023​

Steam loco 31806

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) has announced that a 97-year-old Southern Railway (SR) 2-6-0 light passenger steam locomotive completes the roster of visiting engines for its Cotswold Festival of Steam in May.

The locomotive is SR ‘U' Class 2-6-0 Mogul No. 31806, and is appearing courtesy of the Swanage Railway and JMB Locomotive Services.

‘U' Class 31806 will provide Southern Region company for the railway's resident Southern Railway rebuilt Merchant Navy Class Visitors to last year's Cotswold Festival of Steam had the opportunity to experience SR-rebuilt West County Class 4-6-2 No. 34028 ‘Eddystone', which like 31806, appeared thanks to the support of the Swanage Railway.

History

The Southern Railway reached Cheltenham via the former Midland and South Western Junction Railway from Andover via Swindon, Cirencester and Andoversford.

At Cheltenham, the SR trains originally used the former Midland station at Cheltenham Spa but latterly Cheltenham St. James, with the locomotives serviced at Cheltenham Malvern Road depot.

31806, which is known to have visited Cheltenham, is one of Richard Maunsell's attractive and successful light passenger engines introduced in 1928.

The design took many principles from Churchward's Great Western locomotives, including long-travel valves.

The first twenty, including 31806, were rebuilt from Maunsell's ill-fated ‘River' (‘K') Class 2-6-4Ts. T

he ‘U' Class's development and construction was accelerated partly as a result of the Sevenoaks railway accident on 24 August 1927.

The fifty members of the class were built (or re-built) at Ashford, Brighton, and Eastleigh.

31806 was re-built at Brighton in 1928 from a 1926 2-6-4T – ‘K' Class No. A806 ‘River Torridge'.

The class gained the nickname ‘U-Boats' after the submarine warfare of the First World War.

Locomotive A806 entered service in 1928 and by the time of nationalisation in 1948, it had spent time at Nine Elms (9E, circa 21 March 1932), Basingstoke (BAS, 1939), Redhill (RED), and Guildford (GFD) sheds.

The ‘U' Class numbering was rationalised when the final batch of ‘U's were constructed between 1932 and 1934, which resulted in the ‘A' prefix being dropped and replaced with a ‘1'.

Records indicate that A806 left Ashford Works paint shop on 1 September 1932, wearing the number 1806.

By December 1934, the locomotive had acquired the rather distinctive ‘half height' smoke deflectors.

In 1945, 1806 underwent minor repairs at Guildford (GFD) and the loco remained there until after nationalisation.

It left the paint shop on 1 April 1949 renumbered as 31806 and wearing BR Mixed Traffic Black livery.

In 1953, a new 4000-gallon tender was fitted replacing its original as-supplied 3500-gallon tender.

31806s BR motive power depot allocations since 1948 also included; Basingstoke (70D), Faversham (FAV), Nine Elms (70A) and Stewarts Lane (BAT).Faversham (FAV), Nine Elms (70A) and Stewarts Lane (BAT).

As the 1960s approached, it became evident that a number of the class were suffering from cracks in the lightweight frames and worn out cylinders.

In September 1957, having covered nearly 836,000 miles, 31806 travelled to Ashford Works where it was fitted with a ‘new front end' which comprised of a new blast pipe, chimney and BR type 4 cylinder blocks.

In addition, its tender was swapped back to the same 3500-gallon type with which it had been supplied in 1928.

The locomotive returned to traffic on 1 November 1957.

Records indicate that the last modification made during its SR/BR career was the fitment of the Automatic Warning System (AWS).

This work was carried out at some point between 1957 and April 1963, when it returned to Guildford (70C).

Its successful career ended when it was withdrawn at Guildford shed on 5 January 1964 after 34 years and seven months of service, by which time it had covered nearly a million miles.

Later, in 1964, it was sent to Woodham's Scrapyard at Barry, South Wales, where it remained for over twelve years.

Steam loco 31086 with goods carriages

The locomotive was rescued by John Bunch for preservation at the Mid-Hants Railway in October 1976.

Restoration began three years later in 1979 ,and 31806 was returned to service in April 1981.

After ten years of service at the Mid-Hants Railway, its boiler ticket expired, and the locomotive remained out of service pending overhaul.

31806 eventually re-entered traffic on the railway in 2011. In 2014, it moved to its current home at the Swanage Railway, where its boiler was overhauled two years ago and where it and forms part of the railway's resident fleet.

In 2018, it hauled the first mainline passenger train between Yeovil and Weymouth for the first time in fifty years.

In 2020, it was the first steam train to run on the Swanage Railway as it prepared to reopen after the Covid-19 lockdown.

The ‘U-Boat' has proven to be easy to maintain, efficient, and is very popular with the locomotive crews and visitors alike.

The engine is the oldest of the four ‘U' Classes in preservation and the only ‘River' rebuild still in existence.

Festival

Tickets for the Festival are available on the GWSR website.

With up to eight steam locomotives running, it will offer an action-packed timetable of trains, including goods trains and shunting demonstrations.

The locomotive and carriage and wagon workshops will open their doors for rare behind-the-scenes visits and other activities will take place at the railway's stations.

The opportunity to travel with the only operational ‘U' is not to be missed!

The ‘U-Boat' is the fifth visiting engine to be confirmed.

The other four are:

Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75014 Braveheart, appearing courtesy of the Dartmouth Steam Railway,

Great Western Railway ‘Castle' Class No. 4079 Pendennis Castle, appearing courtesy of the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre,

L&Y ‘Pug' No. 11243, appearing courtesy of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Trust based on the East Lancashire Railway,

Standard Class 2 2-6-0 No. 78019, appearing courtesy of the Loughborough Standard Locomotive Group and the Great Central Railway.

14th April 2023

A Question of Scale at ETHNON RAIL

My layout is using the oo gauge scale which is also known as 1:76 scale.

Which is approximately - 4mm to 12 inches.

You may remember Phil and Bob - https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/topic/9195683/post-10571585

Well here's Phil lying down with some rulers and a 5p (the 5p coin is currently the smallest coin in UK circulation) and 1p coin to give you an idea of size.

14th April 2023

I thought I'd put my new camera to the test

Kerria Bush

Grape Hyacinth

Pieris

Pieris Flower

Snakes-head Fritillary

Cowslip

Tess (at max zoom = 30x optical - possible camera shake)

The Ash tree is starting to leaf and flower

Pigeon on my neighbours roof - (30x optical zoom)

15th April 2023

Warwickshire rail centre hosts Network Rail Major Incident Training​

Porterbrook, Network Rail, emergency services and others test preparedness plans​

Long Marston exercise

Porterbrook’s Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre has hosted Network Rail’s major incident training involving multi-agency partners and emergency services, to exercise the response to a major incident on the railway.

During two separate weeks in March, over three hundred people took part in the Network Rail National Emergency Response and Validation Exercise, representing Train Operating Companies, DB Cargo, British Transport Police and Home Office Police, Ambulance Services, Fire Brigade, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport, Cabinet Office, Office of Rail and Road as well as Network Rail, with members of the general public volunteering as passengers and casualties.

Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre is Porterbrook’s 135-acre rail connected site in Warwickshire.

Since taking over the site in June 2021, Porterbrook has spent over £5m to modernise and enhance the facilities which include a 3.5km test track loop, rolling stock storage, an upgraded Asset Management Facility, and a training centre.

Long Marston Exercise

The Porterbrook Long Marston operations team played a significant role in organising and delivering the event.

The exercise sought to replicate a mainline incident involving a train and a road vehicle, aiming to test the response of Network Rail and its partners.

The exercise also involved video uplink communications with regional responders and the command structure.

Ben Ackroyd, Chief Operating Officer at Porterbrook said:

“The railway has an excellent safety record, and while we all hope that we’d never have to deal with real emergency incidents such as this, it is important to be as prepared as possible. We are pleased that Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre and the Porterbrook team have been able to support the industry and the Emergency Services to do that.”

15th April 2023

Network Rail fixes embankment on Ipswich-Lowestoft line​

Further work to follow in the summer​

Network Rail has stabilised and widened a mile-long embankment on the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Lowestoft to the north of Martlesham.

The top of the embankment had been slipping, causing important signalling equipment and signage to gradually fall down the bank, potentially affecting the future safe and reliable running of the line.

The stabilisation work means that worn-out track on top of the embankment can now be replaced.

It also allows Network Rail to provide a footpath for railway workers on the embankment, which will give better access for maintenance.

WATCH:
Click link to watch video: https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/84rwcu5s96

Engineers worked over thirteen consecutive days, from Saturday 25 March to Thursday 6 April, with buses replacing trains between Ipswich and Saxmundham.

The track replacement work will be carried out over ten consecutive days between 16-25 August, when buses will replace trains.

Network Rail and Greater Anglia have thanked passengers for their patience while the work was carried out.

Mark Walker, Network Rail Anglia route infrastructure engineer, said:

“We’re really sorry that passengers had their journeys disrupted over 13 consecutive days, but we needed extended access to the railway to stabilise this steep, high embankment and avoid sudden disruption or closures. We’ll be back in August to do much-needed track replacement on top of the embankment, which is also crucial to keeping trains on time. We are building an East Suffolk Line that is fit for the future.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said:

“I’d like to thank passengers for bearing with us during this improvement work, which will help us to continue operating a punctual train service along the East Suffolk Line. Our new trains are already providing a very good service on the route and this engineering work will help ensure we can continue to deliver high standards of performance on a consistent basis and provide a more comfortable journey for passengers.”

15th April 2023

More Rolling Stock Ordered for ETHNON RAIL

I saw these and I couldn't resist them............

R40167 Hornby OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) Midland Pullman Mk3 First Open M41183 - Era 11​

16th April 2023

Eurostar Celebrates 5 years of Sustainable Services​

Eurostar are celebrating 5 years of high speed sustainable services from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Since April 2018, over 1.6 million people have travelled between London and the Netherlands which is equivalent to 10,000 plane loads.

83,000 tonnes of CO2 has been saved as one flight to Amsterdam from London is equivalent to 7 Eurostar journeys.

Eurostar have recently added a fourth daily service in September last year to keep up with growing demand.

Travellers from Brussels to the UK or the Netherlands has increased by 106% since 2018.

Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO at Eurostar Group, said:

“As we celebrate five years of high-speed rail connections between London and the Netherlands, we are proud to be the greener way to go. There are now up to 18 daily services between Amsterdam, London and Paris, which is testament to the ever-growing demand for seamless high-speed rail connections as a sustainable and convenient alternative to air travel. As Eurostar Group, we want to carry 30 million passengers a year on all of our routes by 2030, and the continued growth of our Dutch routes will play a huge role in helping us deliver on these ambitions.”

Wilbert Lek, Managing Director at Rotterdam Partners, says:

“The launch of the route to the Netherlands and the addition of a fourth direct train service last year supports us in our mission to promote sustainable travel to both business and leisure customers. We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with Eurostar and to keep welcoming British visitors and businesses to our city.”

16th April 2023

Ruislip Lido Railway to welcome visiting steam locomotive for its gala​

On 13th and 14th May, the Ruislip Lido Railway will be holding a Gala weekend, when visitors can find out what it takes to run the railway and how it maintains its locomotives.

The railway is Britain’s longest 12-inch gauge railway.

In an exciting first for the railway, Christopher, from the Littlehampton Miniature Railway, will be operating during the weekend, which will be the first time the railway has hosted a visiting steam locomotive from another railway.

Trains will run every 15 minutes, from 11:00 to 1500 on Saturday, 13th May, and from 11:00 to 17:00 on Sunday, 14th May.

On both days, a three-train service will be in operation, with Christopher operating along with the railway’s own steam locomotive Mad Bess and one of its diesels.

No. 6 “Mad Bess”

In another first for the railway, visitors over 14 will have the chance under supervision to become a ‘Driver for a fiver’ and take control of diesel locomotives John Rennie or Bayhurst for a 750-metre run along the line to Wellington Junction and back.

No. 9 “John Rennie”

The railway’s usual open-day attractions will be on display, as well as a chance to visit the workshops and yard area at Woody Bay, with staff on hand to explain what we do and answer any of your questions.

In the yard all available locomotives will be on display for children and adults to look at and sit in, as well as track maintenance vehicles with descriptions of what they are and what they are used for.

At Woody Bay the shop will be open selling must-have railway items.

The Turntable Tea Room at Willow Lawn will be open for refreshments, and there will also be a small display of pictures and other information.

Normal fares will apply, and rover tickets will be available which provide unlimited travel on each day.

16th April 2023

More Rolling Stock Arrived for ETHNON RAIL

I ordered the Blue Pullman DMU set last week.

It came in a rather large box.

From one box to another.........

The box art, side.

The box art, back.

Click on image to zoom.