STEAM RAILTOURS RETURN - WEST SOMERSET STEAM EXPRESS SATURDAY 25th JULY

With various easing of lock down measures now coming into effect we hope to see the return to some of the heritage railways, and rail-tours too. This is one I would have really wanted to get on board with as it would take us up to the West Somerset Railway, and a return trip to Minehead where I've not been for well over 30 years now. Last time here was a family holiday with my late father, and although I don't remember much of the railway, the smell of steam action never leaves you and from the recent pictures it appears they have really improved things here. A permanent connection to the mainline at Taunton surely cannot be that far away, they do have an improved connection here though and regular excursions and visiting locomotives have been a feature in Somerset for some years now. 

The West Somerset Steam Express
Saturday 25th July 2020
This series of trains from London Paddington to Minehead features haulage by two steam locomotives in one day. An express steam locomotive will haul our train from London Paddington to the West Somerset Railway at Bishops Lydeard. The Heritage Railway will then provide a steam locomotive to haul our train to Minehead and back. This provides a truly fascinating day out travelling through beautiful scenery to the Bristol Channel coast.
We leave London Paddington at around 08:05, steam hauled by Princess Coronation class steam locomotive No.46233 Duchess of Sutherland and stop at Slough and Reading to pick up more passengers. At Reading we join the Berks and Hants line which runs through picturesque rural countryside. We pass the celebrated Newbury Racecourse before making our final stop for passengers at Newbury station. We continue westwards, travelling beside the tranquil Kennet & Avon Canal, and climbing steadily to Savernake Summit. We pass through the Vale of Pewsey, with views of one of the famous 'Wiltshire White Horses' as we approach Westbury and continue through undulating agricultural countryside to Taunton.

Soon after leaving Taunton, we arrive at Norton Fitzwarren, where we transfer to the West Somerset Railway (WSR), the longest Heritage Railway in the country. We continue to Bishops Lydeard, where a WSR steam locomotive will take over our train for the remainder of the journey to Minehead. The WSR runs along the edge of the Quantock Hills between Bishops Lydeard and Watchet where it meets the coast. The line then turns inland to Washford and returns to the coast at Blue Anchor, passing near to Dunster with its magnificent castle, and terminating at Minehead.
On arrival at Minehead, there will be more than two hours to explore this delightful Bristol Channel seaside resort, where the railway station is close to the beach. A WSR steam locomotive will haul our train from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard, where our main line steam locomotive will take over for the return journey to London Paddington. The train will stop at Newbury, Reading and Slough to set down passengers on the return journey.

Approximate timings shown

Station	Outward	Return
London Paddington	08:05	23:20
Slough	08:40	22:35
Reading	09:15	22:10
Newbury	10:05	21:40
Bishops Lydeard	13:00	19:05
Minehead	14:40	17:15

O GAUGE GCR 4-6-0 CLASS B2 / B19 CITY OF LINCOLN. Also known as a "SAM FAY"

Great Central Railway Class B2 (Sam Fay)
[4-6-0] No. 424 'City of Lincoln'

Background

Classified as B2 by the LNER, they were reclassified as B19 in 1945 to make room for the Thompson B2 class. The first locomotive, No. 423, was named "Sir Sam Fay" after the Great Central Railway's General Manager, and the class would often be referred to as 'Sir Sam Fays'.

B2 Class 4-6-0 No 424 built at Gorton in January 1913, becoming LNER no. 5424. Allocated new to Gorton, it was sent appropriately to Lincoln in 1936 but moved again in 1942 to Immingham from where it was finally withdrawn in November 1945.

Dad's Model 
Thankfully I still own this model which was built by my late father Geoff Tyler a very experienced modeller across a variety of scales but spent many happy years creating excellent replica's in miniature in 7mm/O Gauge. Very sadly I don't have the exact details of the kit used, build notes, I really wish I had more information on some of his work. Reseach suggests that both Gladiator Models and Leinster produce O gauge (7mm scale) kits of the B2 'Sir Sam Fay' class, and I would suspect that Dad would have used Gladiator kits as I know that he did others in their range. At least I still have some of his excellent models and able to run them when I can at the Open Days at Hillingdon Railway Modellers. 

Pictures so far not doing it justice so one day in the not too distant future we hope it will be possible to get out and give it a test run at the next available open day, sadly these have not been possible for obvious reasons but as soon as we can we shall get out and take some much better pictures. There will be opportunities at the next available open day at the Hillingdon Railway Modellers club of which Dad was a member so will take this along for a run around their test track and make sure i can update a few pictures of it in action. 

In the meantime I'll leave you with these few.

Seen here on the Hillingdon Railway Modellers O Gauge Test Track

JUNE UPDATE -- SUMMER TOURS CANCELLED, ONLINE EXPERIENCES INSTEAD

Last month we were looking at future events around the south east, now we are into June and with some easing of the lock down beginning to show thought we'd take a look at a few Museums and locations around the country that although currently closed would be worth a trip and visit sometime in the not too distant future. A trip up to York is long overdue for me and a visit to the National Railway Museum tops my list although there is plenty more to see in the old Roman City too. Hoping to do a trip to Newcastle as well so maybe a day or two in York before continuing up to Geordieland would be a good long weekend whenever possible. Other locations in the north are the Crewe Heritage Centre, which would also be a good stopping off point on way to Llandudno, to get us within another train service to visit the Ffestiniog Railway. We shall bring more when we have a bit more awareness of re-opening schedule for Museums.

National Railway Museum York
Was planning a trip here in 2020 which obviously is unlikely now with both social distancing and the prospect of travelling issues still.  https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/
The NRM is also a part of the Science Museum Group and they have a lot of useful online resources available here -  https://learning.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/learning-resources/  Games and activities to keep the young (and not so young) amused.

Crewe Heritage Centre
The land that is now home to the Heritage Centre was once the entrance to the original Crewe Works site. (pic below)

The Crewe Heritage Centre is nestled between the Crewe-Chester and West Coast Mainline on the site of the original Crewe Locomotive Works, it was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, on 24th July 1987 to mark the 150th anniversary of the first train to arrive at Crewe Railway Station in 1837. In 1989 the council handed the running of the museum over to the newly formed Crewe Heritage Trust who continue to operate the museum to this day.  https://www.crewehc.co.uk/

East Anglian Railway Museum
https://www.earm.co.uk/
The East Anglian Railway Museum is based at the Chappel & Wakes Colne Railway Station, a working station on the the Gainsborough Line that links Marks Tey in Essex with Sudbury in Suffolk. 
Interesting fact; Britpop legends Blur played their first concert right here in the Goods Shed to 150 people in 1988.  They returned in June 2009 for the first show of their reunion mini-tour.