A look back at 1938 and the RCTS’ first enthusiast tour with GNR No. 1
This month marks 80 years of the private railtour. PAUL CHANCELLOR explains how the RCTs and the stirling ‘single’ made enthusiast history.
Marking anniversaries is the stock-in-trade of railway magazines and preservation organisations. While 25, 50, 75 and 100 are favoured numbers, 50, 80, 90 and 130 are all relevant in 2018 to the story of the birth of enthusiast railtours.
Starting 130 years ago, in 1888, it was the time of the first outbreak of rivalry between the East and West Coast routes in what became known as the ‘Race to the North’ – who could get from London to Edinburgh in the fastest time. With a traditional London departure time of 10.00am, prior to the races of 1888, the scheduled arrival in Edinburgh via the East Coast was 7.00pm while West Coast route users did not get to the Scottish capital until one hour later. By reducing stops, engine changes and generally going faster, around 90 minutes was carved off the running time, with the earliest East Coast arrival being recorded at 5.27pm and the West Coast achieving 5.38pm. A subsequent truce involved an agreement that the scheduled arrival times be 6.15pm and 6.30pm respectively. Peace then reigned until 1895 when the famous battle to arrive first at Aberdeen broke out. One of the locomotives used on the East Coast in 1888 was Great Northern Railway 4-2-2 No. 794, a type better known to today’s enthusiast as a Stirling ‘Single’. While No. 794 went to the scrapheap, the GNR decided to preserve one of the type, this example, appropriately, being No. 1. Following the grouping in 1923, this locomotive was housed in the museum at York. Ninety years ago, in 1928, a small group of railway enthusiasts based in Cheltenham decided to form a society, the primary purpose of which was to exchange information with each other about what was happening on the railways. The railway periodicals of the time tended to cover items with a lot of technical detail but did not carry much information about daily happenings on the system. This newly formed group took the title of the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society and published a monthly newsletter which, in 1929, came out under the title of The Railway Observer. (A plaque has recently been unveiled at Cheltenham station to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the society.) The RCTS grew rapidly in the pre-Second World War era, gaining members throughout the country.
OVER-SUBSCRIBED
1938 marked the 50th anniversary of the first ‘Race to the North’ and seems to have been the catalyst for the LNER to bring No. 1 out of retirement and return it to steam to allow it to go on display at various stations. Here, we must let The Railway Observer of
October 1938 take up the story using extracts from an article entitled ‘Down Memory Lane’ by H.J. Stretton-Ward.
“The publicity run of June 30 was the first intimation most enthusiasts had that the engine was running, and the general feeling among railwayists [sic] when they picked up the morning papers of July 1 and saw the photographs, was one of the most intense disappointment that the proceedings had been kept so secret and that they had no opportunity of seeing the old engine and train. “The general reaction at the time was… one of pained reproach… that the old ‘Single’ should have been made a pressmen’s holiday without an opportunity for the genuine enthusiast to worship at the shrine.”
The engine duly went on display at various stations and was reported as being in the paint shop at Doncaster at the end of July. Meanwhile, the worthies of the RCTS had not been idly standing by and the August issue of The Railway Observer announced a “Special Run Behind GNR No. 1” departing King’s Cross at 1.15pm on Sunday September 11 going to Peterborough with return scheduled for 7.19pm. Tickets cost the princely sum of 5/- (25p). The enthusiast railtour was born, and was duly over-subscribed.
The October RO continues: “Sunday 11th dawned somewhat misty and gave promise of a fine September day. A party of those of us intimately concerned with the trip attended at the shed to witness the final preparations of No. 1 for the deeds of derring-do ahead and attended to the fitting of the RCTS headboard. “What a picture met our gaze! We passed through the murky, smoky atmosphere of the shed to come out into the rapidly strengthening sunlight, and then suddenly, sharply, accentuated against the dark and grimy background, stood No. 1, spotless and resplendent… Cameras were busy for a while, but soon it was time to make our way to King’s Cross station. “As each ticket holder passed through the barrier his ticket was scrutinised and the ticket number ticked off in the organiser’s book… The LNER, with the consideration which was to become even more apparent as the day progressed, had arranged for the train to wait at the far end of the platform with as much as possible ‘out of doors’ for the benefit of photographers. “Enthusiasm reached fever heat when it was seen that the road was set and our departure signalled and, at length, we were under way! The engine was beautifully handled and we passed into the tunnel, steadily gaining speed all the time.
LAST HURRAH
“We had expected a crowd at King’s Cross to speed us on our way, but we had not expected the amount of interest our progress was to provide en route, and as soon as we came out of the tunnel knots of spectators became more and more frequent, and as we ran through the suburbs practically every vantage point provided another group of figures, many waving at the train in a most enthusiastic manner. One of our guests returned feminine waves, but masculine ones he treated with lofty disdain.” Stretton-Ward continues his wonderfully descriptive account, commenting on highlights such as the vicar who had rushed from his church service, and a race with a car on the Great North Road which, in fact, was carrying a ‘cinematic photographer from the LPTB’ who recorded the event for posterity. A water stop was made at Huntingdon before a dash to Peterborough with
69¼mph being recorded at MP67 between Abbots Ripton and Peterborough. Peterborough station must have been crammed as 1,800 platform tickets were sold during the layover there, while those lucky enough to have booked early enjoyed tea at the Great Northern Hotel. During speeches, the invited railway press expressed their gratitude to the RCTS as the society’s activities ‘stimulated reader interest’.
On the return run stops were made at Biggleswade and Hitchin. Returning to the RO report it concludes: “We rolled into King’s Cross Platform 1 with member number 1 aboard the engine, a little ahead of time, and so ended what many consider to be the most important and eventful fixture in the history of the society. There was, of course, the usual crowd, now greater than ever, to meet us, and the station in the vicinity of the train was thronged for some time.
“And so we, who had spent the day together travelling down ‘memory lane’, parted and went our diverse ways. And as
I turned out of the station I almost expected to see the old line of hansom cabs and growlers, and the newsboys with placards about Suffragettes and Home Rule for Ireland. But alas my dream was rudely shattered. Taxis, trolleybuses, noise, rush, bustle, war and rumours of war. ‘Memory Lane’ lay far behind, and before stretched ‘Reality Street’. The placards now say ‘Germany Mobilising’, ‘France Mobilising’ and ‘Crisis’.”
It must indeed have been a depressing prospect for those taking part in that tour upon their return to King’s Cross and the trip with No. 1, and it would be another 12 years before such an event could be enjoyed again (see page 85). Yet No. 1 had started something special; something that would eventually lead to privatisation’s multimillion-pound railtour revolution.