LONDON VICTORIA TO CORFE CASTLE AND SWANAGE -- WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2016

PRINCESS ELIZABETH NO. 6201

UK Rail Tour London Victoria - Swanage - London Waterloo.

At the end of September a midweek railtour will leave London early Wednesday morning with Princess Elizabeth taking us along to the Heritage Swanage railway via Bournemouth. 

Swanage is a traditional Victorian seaside town, set at the heart of Purbeck and built around a beautiful bay sheltered from the north by Ballard Down and at the south, Peveril Point. 


Class M7 at Corfe Castle (left)



A prominent Victorian resident, George Burt, brought many old London Landmarks to the town including frontages and columns from such buildings as Billingsgate Fish Market and the structure of Wellington's Clock Tower. Swanage abounds with curious architectural landmarks, causing it to be christened Little London.

Route;

London Victoria d 08:45
Bournemouth d 12:50
Corfe Castle d 13:40
Swanage a 14:00

Swanage d 17:25
Corfe Castle d 17:40
Bournemouth d 18:45
London Waterloo a 22:15 (approx)

NB -- The train sets off from London Victoria, but terminates at London Waterloo on the return. So ensure you allow for the slight difference in location should you be expecting pick up or an onward connection.

The locomotive.

6201 was built in 1933 at Crewe Works and was one of 13 Princess Royal Class locomotives. She was built for the London, Midland & Scottish (LMS) Railway and was named after the young Princess Elizabeth, later to become Queen Elizabeth II.

During the majority of the locomotive’s working life, Princess Elizabeth - affectionately known as 'Lizzie' - hauled the famous Royal Scot train between London Euston and Glasgow Central. In 1936, inspired by competition and rivalry from the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) the LMS meticulously planned a record attempt. The intention was to beat the LNER’s ‘Six Hour Edinburgh Express’; a publicity coup was achieved when Princess Elizabeth successfully gained the record for the longest and fastest steam hauled non-stop passenger train.

Withdrawn in 1962, Princess Elizabeth was purchased by a private owner and the Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society was formed to support the engine. In 1976 the locomotive returned to the main line and has continued to haul rail tours, the Royal Train, and take part in events ever since. On 3rd June 2012, the locomotive had the honour of starting ‘The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant’ celebrations by sounding the Stanier Hooter whilst standing on Chelsea Bridge.

'HAYWARDS HEATH 175' SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2016

Haywards Heath 175
Dolphin Leisure Centre, Pasture Hill Road, 
Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1LY

OPENING TIMES:  SUN 10am - 5pm
ADMISSION:  Adults £5.00  Concessions £5.00   Family £10.00  

In Haywards Heath on 18th September the town celebrates 175 years of railway history. There will be several events and one of these is the model railway exhibition. Also there are branch line services to Ardingly, four Miniature Railways, and the Bluebell Railways Stepney in attendance

As part of the celebrations there will be a grand Railway Model Exhibition at the Dolphin Leisure Centre from 10am – 5pm on Sunday 18th September. The focus will be the Brighton Line and the many different trains which have run over the last 175 years; from the early London Brighton & South Coast to the arrival of electrification, Southern Railway, British Railways Southern Region, Network South East and the current return to Southern.

Local model railway societies will be displaying layouts that convey the atmosphere of bygone days in Haywards Heath as well as layouts from further afield.  Famous trains such as the “Brighton Belle” will be running, plus other electric units, Bullied pacific steam locomotives and diminutive “Terriers” and, of course, we’ll also be reminded of the freight traffic that used to feature at Haywards Heath.

Click on the link for the Model Railway Exhibition Guide 
GUIDE LINK

Take a train ride down memory lane…

For everyone who loves train rides, there’s more than just the Bluebell’s Stepney to purr over during Haywards Heath’s 175th Anniversary celebrations!


Departing on the hour every hour, from 11.00 am to 3.00 pm, you can take a round train trip to Ardingly on one of the ‘Thumpers’, a British Rail Class 201 (or 6S) six-car diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) – duly nicknamed because of the noise they made while in motion. These units were built with a narrow body profile to accommodate the restricted tunnels on the London-Hastings line, for which they were built.  Although passengers won’t be able to alight at Ardingly, they’ll have the satisfaction of knowing they’re the first travellers to ‘take the train to Ardingly’ for many a long day….!

Here's hoping that one day this journey can become a regular thing with a branch extension to the Bluebell Heritage Railway at Horsted Keynes.

The Ardingly return trip will take around 20 – 30 minutes and the fare will be £5 per head (free for young children), all of which will go to charity.

HILLINGDON RAILWAY MODELLERS AUGUST OPEN DAY -- REVIEW FROM SATURDAY Part Two

August Open Day -- Part Two ...

Having looked at the smaller scales in Part One we now switch focus to the main hall and the significant O Gauge test track. I have limited space to what I can bring down each time but try to vary the time and give my stock a bit of a run.

The first of mine to have a run was a BR (ex - LNER) Class C13 4-4-2 [No. 67417], I believe this was built from a Gladiator Kit but alas have no further details about the specific model, according to text books there are a number of class variations. 

Ran well around the impressive test track facilities albeit it's a little slow which is to be expected for such a model. Also it's pleasing to see how it goes given that it has spent such a long time in storage. 

I brought another O Gauge item to run and according to my notes this is a Class N5 in it's BR guise No. 69307. Again ran well although on a small number of occasions it did seem to 'jump' off the track might have struggled on the tight inside bend but it was okay everywhere else. 

Overall I was very happy with their performance though it's clear I need to give them a little more of a clean despite being securely stored. 

Plenty of other models being displayed and a nice variety of stock too, Steam, Goods, Diesel and Multiple Units too. I did like the EMU (think it's a 4-Cor model, happy to be corrected on that) which was then given additional SR coaches to run with and travelled really smoothly too, impressive if it's a kit and not a ready to run. 

SCHOOLS CLASS - 30923 'BRADFIELD'

CLASS 42 'WARSHIP' -- D815 'DRUID'

The collection of Warship classes was also attractive, and was a favourite Diesel during my youth along with the Westerns, I think because they appeared in a variety of liveries at a time when everything else was Blue. 

PAIR OF CLASS 42 'WARSHIPS' -- D816 'ECLIPSE' (Left) and D827 'KELLY' (Right)

Their next 'Open Day' will be held on Saturday 29th October.

HILLINGDON RAILWAY MODELLERS AUGUST OPEN DAY -- REVIEW FROM SATURDAY Part One

Enjoyed a wonderful day on Saturday at Hillingdon Railway Modellers open day, An event that was always well attended, plenty of interest in the three running tracks available. O Gauge, OO Gauge and not one but two N Gauge, one being an American Railroad layout with complete scenery and fiddle yard in about a 6ft x 2ft space. Sadly none of the photo's I took were of suitable quality to publish so will have to see if it's there next time and make up for it then. 



For now though here's a couple of the N Gauge Test track. 








They've added a couple of extra sidings to this but still has three circuits to test out on and it might be something I use in future. Still have a couple of N Gauge items and the beauty is they take up no space at all. 



I had taken some loco's to run as always and so made my way into the room that housed the OO Test Track as that gets full very quickly and the members do "hog" it to some degree so it was important to at least get a bit of a run for the three recent purchases of mine. 

I had recently acquired a pair of class 47s and a class 58 and I was pleased to find out that two were decent runners and one that will need a little work but at least seemed to be trying. 

Was particularly impressed with the Lima 47 as shown here, clearly has been repainted and given plenty of additional detail as the Lima models I remember were very plain. Runs really smoothly too and even acted as recovery loco for the "failed" Class 58. 

Always a good variety here on the Saturday and OO probably more than any scale as we have modern traction, heritage steam and London Underground stock as shown.

All lines in action, my pair on the inside, with a smart looking Motor Luggage Van (in jaffa cake livery) cruising along the middle road. 






That's the smaller gauges covered and Part Two will look at the O Gauge Track and photo's including a pair of loco's I took down to try out.