Preserved Railway Miscellany

The Middleton Railway

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of visits that I have made to the Middleton Railway, which is surprising considering that it is my nearest preserved railway.
My latest visit was prompted by the presence of L&Y Pug 51218 on the railway for their enthusiast weekend on 26th September 1998.
In this recording the Pug, on two coaches has left Moor Road and passed under the M1 motorway and is on the steep gradient up to Middleton Park Halt approached with a final few seconds of very solid thrash!

On the next train heard from the lineside about ¼ mile from the Middleton park terminus was No. 385, a Hartmann 0-4-0T from Denmark and No.1 'Lucy', a vertical boiler 0-4-0T built by Cockerill.

The South Devon Railway

Thanks to some very cheap tickets courtesy of Virgin Trains I was able to pay a first visit to the South Devon Railway on 11th March 2000.
It was nearly all good news that day since the SDR were having a weekend running a 2 train service and charging half fares in the hope of encouraging more working members.
Not quite such good news was that one of the 2 locos out that day was a J94. Well, you can't have everything and the other loco was Pannier Tank 1369 which is heard in this recording departing from Totnes Riverside with its 2 coach train.

The Foxfield Railway

For years people have been telling me that I really should visit the Foxfield Railway during one of their Gala events. Now that I've been I can see their point - but I wouldn't recommend going for the ride which is pretty dire. Although the current passenger line includes a section at 1 in 33 this is taken, as is much of the rest of the route at not much more than 5 mph this railway is not one to visit if you are trying to get maximum mileage!
The reason for going is to see the demonstration freight trains climbing the bank from Foxfield Colliery to Dilhorne Park. At it's steepest the gradient on this section is 1 1n 19 and AVERAGES 1 in 29.
One slight drawback for me is the fact that all the locos on the line are Industrials which, on a standard gauge line, do very little for me. However, now that I've seen and heard them at work here I'll concede that they do have their place. Not that I wouldn't prefer to see the L&Y Pug, a Jinty or even a 4F on the railway!
Anyway, have a listen to this recording, made on 21st July 2001, of the Bagnall 0-4-0ST 'Harwarden' which is heard with a train of 6 21T hoppers and a brake van part way up the bank from Foxfield Colliery near an accommodation crossing where the gradient eases slightly.

Recorded on the same day near Dillhorne Park as rain begins to fall two locos, the Beyer Peacock, which appears to have no name or number and No. 6, an 0-4-0ST built by Robert Heath reach the top of the bank from Foxfield Colliery with 6 16T mineral wagons and a brake van.
Nice to hear some loose coupled wagons for a change.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway

On Sunday 6th August 2000 the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway was not doing well for motive power and could only manage one steam loco for a two train service. The other loco in use being a Class 47 diesel. However, the good news was that the steam loco in use was 0-4-2T 1450 on a five coach train.
This on-train recording was made departing from Gotherington.

The Churnet Valley Railway

In view of the motive power difficulties the Great Central Railway were having at the time they were not doing themselves any favors when they allowed the Churnet Valley Railway to borrow 8F 48305.
This loco was operating trains on 13th August 2000 and is heard in this recording leaving Consall.
Perhaps the vigorous start is something to do with the Brass Band which was performing at this station. In my opinion there is nothing like a good Brass Band and, yes, you've guessed, this was nothing like a good Brass Band! It wasn't that they were really bad, they were just sufficiently bad to set the teeth on edge. Fortunately they were taking a break when this recording was made. Perhaps the driver was keen to get away before they started again - I know I was.