December 2011 Edition On Shed
"Preserving the steam locomotive legacy- and more- on film"
Front Page
Bittern Action Wide Angle @ 10mm (C) Roni
Contents:
Welcome..and site news.(including Fred Dibnah, CHLG,VSLC)
Steam Tube Photographic Highlights
Steam Tube Video Highlights
On This Day in Railway History
Christian Wolmar-November 2011 Newsletter..plus video interview exclusive
Claude Hamilton Locomotive Group (CHLG)
"Portrait of an Engineer"(1954)
Tornado-The Story So Far
UK Mainline Steam (December 2011)
Transport Select Committee HS2 Report
Lhasa to London by Rail: Part 4 - Trans-Siberian Railway
For The Modeller..(Warley NEC Show
"Snow"(1963)
Welcome...and site news.(including Fred Dibnah, CHLG,VSLC)
A warm welcome to all our readers to this December 2011 edition of "On Shed"
We include a feature on a new build project (Claud Hamilton Locomotive Group) in the hands of an aspiring group of young engineers (average age 19)...and include news on a personality from the recent past , Fred Dibnah. The CHLG will hope to leave a similar mark on the preservation movement as Fred Dibnah undoubtedly did. We wish them success with their project, and will offer all the encouragement we can muster..until "Phoenix" rises from the ashes!
We are delighted to welcome our latest members...15 were added to our ranks in the last month.. bringing us to 723 worldwide members. In addition, our Facebook page, which keeps everyone up to date with the latest uploaded photos and videos to Steam Tube , has a following of 2,309, and our Twitter page has 732 followers. We appreciate your support, and are grateful for the proper respect and language being used when commenting.......enough said...
In the past month we have made contact with The Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre, owned by Leon and Jan Powsney. Leon, who now is available for talks on...guess!!..,is contributing a piece for inclusion in our forthcoming Yearbook. We shall look forward to that, Leon. And if you live local to Bolton, and can make up a small party, then a tour of the Fred Dibnah property can be arranged. (See their website for details..)
Additionally, we are pleased that OfficialDibnah is following us on Twitter (compliment returned!!)
This is the Twitter name of The View From The North, the production company responsible for the Fred Dibnah TV series over a period of seven years. You can buy the various TV series here .
Here is a trailer from Excalibur Productions, along with their note...
"Excalibur Productions brings you this trailer for our forthcoming presentation of Fred Dibnah: The Lost Years. When the BBC stopped filming what the late steeplejack and television personality Fred Dibnah amusing called "The Fred Dribble Saga", the great man himself asked us to film the continuation of it. The result is now finally completed and features the story of his life with Sheila, his charismatic widow, his later work and passion for his back garden, his final chimney drop, and his battle with cancer.
This series was screened in March 2011 in Bolton at the Central Library Lecture Theatre. The turnout was somewhat disappointing but we are still hoping to acquire some television interest before releasing the series on dvd. Thank you for your patience. Do continue to leave comments. The more positive comments about wanting to see the series, the better chance we will have of getting it screened on television. Thanks".
Series created by Nick Wilding, with filming and editing by Tristan Haley, Kathryn Johnson, Mark Standley, Jode Stansfield, Gabriel Wilding.
Trailer edited by me, Gabriel Wilding.
Music used in trailer - Keen Enough - by Gavin Courtie and Liz Radford of Notepad Music.
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The Hengist project features on our homepage banner.
But there is another project that you may be interested to know about.....The Claud Hamilton Locomotive Group, whose aim is to "build and operate a standard gauge Great Eastern Railway 4-4-0 D16/2 "Claud Hamilton" steam locomotive No.8783 to be named "Phoenix". The CHCG say "While the team is admittedly young (7 key members of the team -total age 134 years- average age 19 ), we are all enthusiastic when it comes to railways and steam locomotives. We decided to set about building a brand new D16/2 as its one loco that has always caught our imagination, and one we would all like to see working once again. A Claud is GER/LNER most elegant and handsome class of loco at the time and one that really should have been preserved"
Rolleston Junction
D16, 62568 heads a passenger train at a mystery location. Loco has a 40A shedplate for Lincoln and is passing milepost 13. At the rear of the train is a section / distant signal. Visible on the full size scan is a junction signal (between telegraph pole and bush). By T. Baxendale.(C) Kerry Parker
This group is associated with an Australian new build project..the Victorian Steam Locomotive Company whose aim is "to build and operate a Victorian Railways, Vauclain compound cylinder, V class, 2-8-0. The locomotive is to be numbered V499 after the class leader, however it is intended to be a representation of the V class collectively rather than a replica of this original Baldwin locomotive. This will allow the VSLC to have the locomotive in up to four different liveries, from Baldwin green to plain black, if we wish to alter as time goes by."In addition, we include Steam Tube Photographic and Video highlights for the last month, details of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee HS2 report, UK mainline steam schedule for the month ahead, Christian Wolmars latest newsletter and open letter to Justine Greening (Transport Secretary), an exclusive Steam Tube interview with Christian Wolmar (with Tony Wood), a 1954 film clip "Portrait of an Engineer", a video wall "Tornado-The Story So Far", an excellent travel documentary along the Trans Siberian Railway with Chuck and Judith, and a reminder of what winter brings....the celebrated BFI film "Snow"
Enjoy..............
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Steam Tube Photographic Highlights (16,830 images to see...)
Steam Tube Video Highlights (3,456 videos available to view)
On This Day in Railway History
December
Events(December)
(1928)GWR starts series production at Swindon of "Hall" Class 4-6-0, of which there will eventually be 339
(1942) Ian Allan publishes his first book, ABC of Southern Locomotives
(1944)The Union Pacific Railroad takes delivery from Alco of Class FEF-3 4-8-4 No 844, the road’s last new steam locomotive.
Events(unspecified date)
(1946)Vulcan Foundry(Newton-le-Willows), builds 120 Liberation Class 2-8-0 steam locomotives to Ministry of Supply order for the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to supply to Eastern Europe..
Dated
2 (1955) Barnes Rail Crash:due to signal error and consequent fire. 13 people killed, 35 injured
3 (1927) Official opening of London Post Office Railway.
4 (1957) Lewsham Rail Crash.Steam train passes a red signal in the fog and ploughs into the
back of an electric train, killing 90.
10(1937) Castlecary Rail Accident, Scotland (35 dead, 179 injured)
12(1988) Clapham Junction rail crash leaves 35 fatalities and 500 injured.
19(1973) Ealing Rail Crash. Train derails, killing 10 people and injuring 94.
24 (1965) Cessation of steam operation on the East Coast Mainline..
26 (1962) Coppenhall Junction crash..Signal passed at danger, 18 people killed.
29 (1967)The first steam locomotive powered train operates at Illinois railway Museum using a Shay locomotive.
30 (1941) Eccles rail Crash; Collision in fog kills 23.
31 (1947) Last day of operating as GWR,LMS,LNER and Southern before nationalisation.
31(1932) Last steam powered "Southern Belle" operates on Southern Railways.
Christian Wolmar-November 2011 Newsletter
Dear subscriber
In another hectic month, tragically cycle deaths have proved to be the dominant theme. The massive increase in cycling over recent years inthe capital has, up to now, not led to a significant rise in cycling deaths.However, there has been a spate recently, and significantly this has led toheightened media interest, whereas in the past this was ignored.
I have written about this on my blog, but also for the next issue of Surveyor magazine, where I have new monthly column which will allow me to address wider themes, rather like the one I used to do for Transport Times (which, incidentally,seemed to have become something of a cheerleader for Philip Hammond until he was despatched to Defence).
While on the subjectof Mr Hammond, his transfer suggests yet again that this government, like so many of its predecessors, does not take transport seriously, despite the high profile of the issue, made higher incidentally by the plan for HS2. I have written an open letter to the so-far silent – sensibly – Ms Greening in Rail here and it will be fascinating to see if her arrival marks a change in tone, if not policy, from her ‘end the war on the motorist’ predecessor.
October and the beginning of November have been particularly busy on the journalism front – as well as getting 10 out of 11 chapters of my new book off to the publishers – and so there are a few extra entries on the website. The other issue which dominated transport was the suggestion of increasing the speed limit to 80 mph made by Philip Hammond to the adoring crowds at Conservative Party Conference. The basis for this was very shaky and after I blogged about it, and wrote about it for Railand in my new columnfor Surveyor, the issue was picked up by The Times following the M5 disaster in Somerset, which resulted in this column.
On the railways, the Commons Transport Committee has issued a fairly equivocal report on HS2 which I will be analysing in the next issue of Rail. It offers,as expected, something to both sides in the debate. The other two new Rail columns on the site are an open letter to Justine Greening and anassessment of the impact of Philip Hammond’s remark about the railway being a ‘rich man’s toy’ which unfortunately in the way of these things was out of date before the magazine hit the newsstands.
I continue tweeting like a canary, and indeed my tweets and responses have often stimulated considerable debate. Follow me @christianwolmar.
It’s coming up toXmas, so if anyone wants a bundle of signed copies of my four rail history books – Subterranean Railway, Fire & Steam, Blood, Iron & Gold andEngines of War - three hardback, one (Subterranean Railway) paperback – for just£30, plus £5 postage and packing – as a present, please pay by PayPal or email me for the address.
I am speaking at Cambridge University Railway Society this Friday and at Alton, with my oldfriends from the Mid-Hants Railway Preservation Society on Thursday November 24 at Alton.(Video interview below) The previous day I will be chairing the afternoon session of theGovnet conference on Smarter Cities at the QE2 centre in Westminster. And watchout for me on University Challenge, the Graduates over Xmas as I will be representing Warwick University in a mini competition being screened by BBC2,Paxman and all.
And do get your friends and colleagues to sign up to this newsletter which is now going to nearly 2,000 people.
Christian Wolmar
And an open letter to Secretary of State for Transport
Dear Ms Greening,
First off, congratulations in your rapid rise to a Cabinet level job and I hope, after reading this, you won’t be regretting your decision to accept the post. However, I thought in a spirit of helpfulness, I would set out a few isshoos (as Tony Benn used to call them) on the railways that you will be facing over coming months.
I’m sure that your civil servants will have been briefing you in great and copious detail but, and how can I put this delicately, they cannot be entirely trusted to be the impartial innocent souls that they present themselves as being. It is, I must confess, rather difficult to know where to start. You have been left rather more hot potatoes than can be found at the average bonfire party.
Your predecessor may have presented himself as a safe pair of hands who kept a steady ship and all that sort of thing, but in fact, he has left you with a bulging in-tray out and a lack of clarity about where Conservative transport policy is going, other than his obsession with business cases and what he perceived as the needs of the economy. Possibly, you might want to take a wider view of your brief. I know you have taken far more interest in public transport than your predecessor, even meeting the head of the District Line to discuss your constituents’ problems (there’s a great photo online) and that suggest you may have a more rounded view than a man, who at his first meeting with me, asked why trains always get priority at level crossings.
The transport brief is a very full one, and there is so much going on in terms of the railways that for you to become au fait with the finer details will take some time which, in truth, you do not have. I only have space to deal with rail in any detail, but just a word on other aspects of transport policy. It is clear that there is no strategy on aviation given that Hammond seemed to want both more of it and yet was not suggesting anyway to accommodate this rise given the ban on south east runway expansion. That’s one hot potato. (Don’t be fooled into thinking that high speed rail will diminish demand for either air or road travel.)
Indeed, as for roads, do you really want to be responsible for a rise in deaths thanks to Hammond’s ridiculous decision to end funding on speed cameras and, more recently putting forward the idea of an 80 mph speed limit (read my previous Rail column on this), all under the ridiculous banner of ending the non-existent war on the motorist. That’s a second hot potato. Then there’s a good half dozen sizzling spuds in the railways, some of which will burn your hands if you don’t try to decide quickly what to do with them. Let’s get one easy one out of the way, can you revisit the decision to give the new rolling stock order for Thameslink to Siemens rather than the home-based but foreign-owned Bombardier? It was a decision handled particularly badly by Hammond because the reasons he gave for awarding the contract to Siemens were not convincing. However, given the Treasury’s interest in cutting expenditure, in all likelihood if you looked at it again then there would be the same outcome. Therefore only announce you are doing so if you can see a way forward to make a change.
Here’s a more difficult one. The McNulty report into the efficiency of the rail industry was entirely hijacked by Hammond. The conclusions make no sense in terms of the analysis, and indeed are almost farcical – an industry that suffers from too much fragmentation and a diffuse decision making process, should have yet more bodies imposed on it to, well, further complicate matters. At the centre is a body called the Rail Delivery Group, a body which despite being chaired by the excellent Tim O’Toole of FirstGroup is clearly struggling to find exactly how it is going to be the midwife for better ‘delivery’. Just take a look at the minutes of meetings on its website and you will see what an uphill struggle it faces. The latest set includes the gem: ‘There was particular interest in the DfT’s emerging thinking on franchising and how that would affect the RDG’s priorities’. I think they call that navel gazing in the real world. The truth is that the RDG and all who sail in her is a distraction from the fundamental mess created in the rail industry by the misguided method of privatisation and its rapid implementation.
Railways are an integrated business and the creation of myriads of interfaces has led to a wholesale expansion in the industry’s cost base which, unfortunately, cannot be mitigated without the type of major structural reform which every transport secretary has shied away from because it would mean admitting that the whole thing has been a terrible mistake. Is there anything you can do about it? I’m afraid I doubt it – don’t believe a word about costs being able to be reduced by the arbitrary total of £1bn by the end of the decade. There is no road map for this destination and, while you will no longer be in Marsham Street by then, you will face the consequences of this cost escalation because it will impact on Network Rail’s ability to invest in rail enhancements. So press Network Rail and the RDG to, at least, offer you a few positive examples of ways they are saving money.
OK next one is HS2. Hammond has done well to make route changes which have ameliorated some environmental concerns but this is a controversial project that is now attracting more flak from within your own party. Setting aside the overall question of whether it is worthwhile, on which you probably cannot make a decision as it is a key Coalition policy, there are numerous questions over the detail. Probably the key one where a change might be possible and would be popular, is the issue of why the line needs to be designed to 400kph (250mph) which is ridiculously fast given the short distances involved and given that most high speed lines operate at 300kph. Not only does that increase the cost of building and operating it, but also means the alignment has to be straighter, and therefore more environmentally damaging. The problem is that the business case depends on this high speed, which highlights the ludicrous nature of this methodology (read my columns passim) but again probably best not to go there.
OK, if you are still with me – two big ones left. The two F words, franchising and fares. You are going to be immediately faced with a lot of issues on franchising. You have been saddled with a policy that says most franchises should be for 15 years but there has been no proper explanation of why. Supposedly it is to attract investment, but that is dependent on a complicated formula to ensure that franchisees get some of their money back for long term investments they have made.
Shorter franchises are said to be bad because there is no commitment, longer are problematic because if there is no break po
December 2011 Edition On Shed
