Heritage lines prepare to reopen
Easing of lockdown rules has allowed railways to make plans to welcome the public again.
THE announcement regarding the relaxation of lockdown rules, allowing the leisure industry to cautiously reopen from July 4, has enabled the UK’s heritage railways to start preparing for a resumption of operations, writes David Russell.
Various different approaches are being taken, with some hoping to restart as soon as possible, but others are taking a more cautious approach. At all lines, however, the experience is likely to be somewhat different to what people have been used to previously.
One of the first lines planning to reopen is the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway, which was looking to restart on July 6. Screens have been put up in the carriages between seating sections and capacity is being reduced.
Two days later, the North Norfolk Railway was due to begin operating, using a single steam loco working two round trips – pre-booking is advised.
The Mid-Hants Railway made plans to reopen on July 11, with pre-booking also necessary. During lockdown,
Type 4 No. 47579 had been run twice a week to keep track circuits clear and deter trespass, then in June ‘Hoover’
Lion
No. 50027 Lion undertook a number of driver training and proving runs. When it reopens, the MHR will run round trips from each end of the line with cleaning in between each run.
Other lines have been busy making sure everything is in top-top shape for when they do reopen, like this team hard at work at Harman’s Cross on the Swanage Railway in June.
EVR DIESELS
The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is due to recommence operations on July 25 and will operate three round trips at weekends using only compartment stock hauled by diesel traction. Trains on July 25/26 are due to be hauled by Class 14 No. D9537, with ‘Crompton’ No. 33103 Swordfish rostered for the following weekend and the ‘Teddy Bear’ again on August 8/9.
All journeys will start at Wirksworth and will consist of one round trip with no break of journey allowed. Passengers will need to book online or over the phone, and tickets costing £30 will be sold to cover use of an entire compartment (for up to six people). No day rover tickets, normally used by enthusiasts wishing to spend a day riding behind a loco, will be available. This is understandable in the circumstances, as lines do their best to restart while keeping social distancing regulations. Other lines have intimated that similar policies are likely to be introduced when they reopen.
Other lines that have declared their intention to begin operating public services on the weekend of July 25/26 include the Great Central Railway and Embsay & Bolton
Abbey Railway.
NO RUSH BACK
Not all lines are planning to reopen so soon, however. The East Lancashire Railway says all services are suspended until at least the end of July, while the Spa Valley plans to reopen in midAugust using DEMU No. 1317. The
West Somerset Railway has stated
“The board has come to the reluctant conclusion that it is just not realistic or financially feasible to fully open the railway near the end of the 2020 season, even if it is permissible.” It is considering whether to operate trains at Christmas or over the New Year period.
One thing is for sure – to ensure their survival, heritage lines need to be supported to enable them to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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THIS June saw the Middleton
Railway in Leeds pass a remarkable milestone, as it notched up 60 years of heritage operation.
The first standard gauge train to be operated by unpaid volunteers left Moor Road at 4.45pm on June 20, 1960, hauled by Hunslet diesel No. 1697, which was built locally in Leeds in 1932.
That same diesel 0-6-0 is still operational at the line today as LMS
No. 7051, meaning it could haul a ceremonial special – albeit with no passengers – on June 20, leaving today’s Moor Road station at 16.45 and doubling up as a crew assessment trip prior to a planned reopening to the public in August.
The train was waved away by Matthew Youell, son of the railway’s founder the late physics lecturer Dr
Fred Youell, who led a team of Leeds University Union Railway Society members in saving the line in 1959. Inspired by the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog railway revivals, Fred was keen to join the railway preservation movement and the Middleton, the oldest continuously operating railway in the world, became ‘his’ project.
Tram No. 2 was acquired from the then recently closed Swansea & Mumbles Railway, and this arrived on the line in two halves mid-June 1960 (see opposite). It was reassembled and used for passenger trips on the line in the week beginning June 20 that year.
Volunteers then ran mainly freight services to various engineering firms along the route until the early 1980s, but since then it has been a fully passenger operation.
A RAILWAY PIONEER
Built in 1758 to take coal from Middleton pits into Leeds, the Middleton Railway claims a number of railway firsts. It was the first railway authorised by an Act of Parliament, the first to use commercially-successful steam locomotives (from June 1812) and the first standard gauge preserved railway – predating the Bluebell Railway’s first public services on August 7, 1960, although unlike that line, it was never part of the national network.
John Alcock
The first train in 1960 marked the start of Leeds University’s rag week, and during that time the line carried around 7700 passengers, showing that a heritage railway could attract paying customers. Three months later it reopened to goods, with trains being worked by students between lectures.
Locos and stock were initially based in the Dartmouth Yard of engineering firm Claytons, which has now been built over for a trading estate, although a section of track towards it remains as the ‘Dartmouth branch’. The M1 was extended into Leeds in the early 1970s, creating a new tunnel for the line just south of Moor Road station, where the impressive collection of industrial steam and diesel locos – many with a Leeds connection – are now based.
Normal operations are between Moor Road and Park Halt, but the Balm Road branch is still used on special days, although the main line connection has been out of use since 1990.
■ The Middleton Railway has launched a £25,000 emergency appeal in a bid to cover overheads while the line had been closed during lockdown and unable to generate vital income. Donations may be made at www.gofundme.com/f/ covid19-safeguarding-the-future.
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