THE LASTSTEAM-WORKED PUSH-PULLTRAINSON BR
When British Railways published its 1955 modernisation plan, it set in motion the replacement of pushpull trains with DMUs on many steam-operated branch and rural lines. While still at school,
This in turn led to the mass withdrawal of the steam engines involved.
An example were the ex-North Eastern 'GS' class 0-4-4 tanks, first introduced in 1894. Many were push-pull fitted, two of them by BR, which inherited more than 100 of them. The final 10 were withdrawn in December 1958: six of them had been pushpull fitted (there is currently a project to build a new 'GS').
A rare Scottish example of push-pull working was the 'Wee Arrochar': a train that ran between the ex-North British stations at Craigendoran and Arrochar and Tarbet. -
They were worked by ex-NBR 'Cl5' class 4-4-2 tanks, first introduced in 1911, three of which were push-pull fitted, including two by BR. Two of the three - Nos. 67460 and 67474 - were the last of the class to be withdrawn in April 1960.
Despite the introduction of many more DMUs, in 1963 steam push-pull services could still be found on BR's Southern,
Western and London Midland Regions.
The age of the engine used varied widely between regions. On the SR it dated from the 1900s, on the WR it was the 1930s, while as mentioned above the LMR's engines dated from the 1940s and '50s.
Although in 1963 I was still a schoolboy, I started to track down the last steam-worked lines, starting in the south and west of England. Most of these were threatened by the Beeching Axe, with the remaining push-pull trains a particular attraction. In 1964/65 I extended my travels to Wales, the East Midlands and northern England and managed to cover most of the remaining push-pull services. This feature briefly describes the background to the engines and rolling stock still in use along with my journeys on them.
1. SOUTHERNREGION
IN 1957 the SR received 10 new Standard '2MT' 2-6-2 tanks but, although the classwas designed for push-pull working, the region continued to use its pre-Grouping 0-4-4 tank engines. These initially included ex-LSWR Class M7, ex-LBSCR Class D 3 and ex-SECR Class H 0-4-4 tanks.
Initially, the engines were used mainly on the services of their original companies, but the Class D3 tanks were withdrawn in November 1953 and their services taken over by 'M7' and 'H' class tanks.
The ex-LBSC sheds at Three Bridges and Tunbridge Wells (West), then in the SR's Central Division, received batches of both classes. Until 1959 the coaches used were also of pre-Grouping origin, but in 1959/60 20 two-car sets were created from Maunsell brake composites and open seconds, and numbered from 600. They were used across all three of SR's operating divisions.
Three ex-SECR push-pull services, by then in the SR's Eastern Division, all worked by Class H tanks, were withdrawn during 1961: from Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst, from Dunton Green to Westerham, and Gravesend to Allhallows. In addition the line from Maidstone (West) to Paddock Wood, which had been push-pull worked, was electrified at about the same time.
From the beginning of 1963 the Southern Region's lines west of Wilton were taken over by the Western Region, which soon replaced the remaining 'M7s' working from Yeovil (Town) and Exmouth Junction sheds with ex-GWR engines and trailers. & these services were operated by the WR they are described here as part of that region's services.
In Kent, Tunbridge Wells (West) shed closed in September 1963 and its allocation of tanks transferred to Three Bridges. Here, they continued to work the remaining push-pull trains to East Grinstead (High Level) until the end of the year.
The three last remaining Class Hs at
Three Bridges were withdrawn in January
1964, while some of the 'M7s' and push-pull sets were sent to the SR's South Western Division at Bournemouth to assist with the few remaining push-pull workings there.
My first journey on an SR push-pull train was on April 14, 1963, when I travelled behind 'M7' No. 30379 from Brockenhurst
to Lymington Pier and back. Sadly, the weather was appalling and quite beyond the capabilities of my basic camera.
By this time 'Oxted' line DEMUs had taken over most services between Victoria,
East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells. On July 26, however, following a tip off from my uncle, who was an SR signalman, I caught one of the last push-pull workings from Oxted, the 4.04pm to Tunbridge Wells (West) via Hever, hauled by Class H 0-4-4 tank No. 31263.
On the same day, the 4.47pm from Tunbridge Wells (West) to Three Bridges was hauled by 'M7' No. 30055. When Tunbridge Wells (West) shed closed in September 1963 five ofits Class Hand five 'M7' tanks were transferred to Three Bridges. Here, they worked the remaining push-pull trains to East Grinstead (High Level) until the end of the year.
The last Class H tanks to be withdrawn in January 1964 were Nos. 31263, 31518 and 31551, but three of its 'M7' tanks Nos. 30029, 30053 and 30133 - went to the SR's South Western Division and survived for a few more months. No. 31263 was among the last of its class at Three Bridges to be withdrawn in January 1964 and is now preserved on the Bluebell Railway.Eight pushpull sets, including No. 604, also went to the Western Division.
My first trip to the SR in 1964 was on March 6 when I travelled from my home in Bath to Broadstone, where I changed trains. I planned to catch the 12.26pm from Bournemouth West to Brockenhurst because during 1963 these trains were also worked by 'M7s'. I was out ofluck as my train, the 12.26pm from Bournemouth West, arrived behind Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No. 76019, although it was hauling a Maunsell push-pull set.
At Brockenhurst, however, I found 'M7'
No. 30052 waiting to push the 1.52pm to Lymington Pier and back. Slightly more than a month later, on April 25, I arrived at Wareham in the hope the Swanage branch would still be worked by an 'M7'. I was in luck as 'M7' No. 30053, which I had seen at Tunbridge Wells in July 1963, stood in Wareham's bay platform with the 4.37pm to Swanage. Had I planned to catch the 6.28pm I would have been hauled by Standard Class 3 2-6-2 tank No. 82028 instead!
These were the final days for the class as all were withdrawn that May. Their final demise was linked to the dieselisation, from May 4, of the Brighton to Horsham trains using 'Hampshire' DEMUs. Brighton shed was then able to transfer six Ivatt tanks to Bournemouth. After a spell in the USA,
'M7' No. 30053 is now back home with the Swanage Railway.
After push-pull working ended on both the Swanage and Lymington branches they were worked for a time by Ivatt '2MT' 2-6-2Ts and Standard Class 4 2-6-4Ts. The Swanage branch closed in January 1972 while that to Lymington was electrified.
2. WESTERNREGION
COMPARED with the Southern Region, the Western Region's auto-fitted tank engines and coaches were relatively modern.
During the 1930s, GWR chief mechanical engineer C B Collett designed three new classes for these workings, all based on earlier designs.
The first, the '54:XX' pannier tanks, appeared in 1931, while '64:XX' 0-6-0 pannier and '14:XX' 0-4-2 tanks were built from 1932. The main difference between the two 0-6-0s was the diameter of their wheels, which were 5ft:2ins and 4ft:71/2in, respectively.
Apart from much older auto-trailers, including those built for the Welsh Taff Vale and Barry Railways, the most modern then in use had been rebuilt from GWR steam rail-motors, the last six of which were not converted until 1936 (one has since been converted back to rail-motor No. 93 by the Great Western Society).
Between 1951 and 1954 BR built 45 new trailers at Swindon to the design of
F W Hawksworth, while in 1953 it fitted 14 ex-GWR '4575' Small Prairie tanks for autoworking. These engines mainly worked in South Wales, including on trains from Pyle to Porthcawl and from Porth to Maerdy.
The many auto-worked lines in South Wales were replaced by DMUs from 1958, a fate which soon befell many other Western Region services. These included trains on the Staines branch and between Bourne End and Marlow, west of London; the Brixham branch and from Plymouth to Saltash in Devon; and from Lostwithiel to Fowey in Cornwall. Elsewhere the auto-services from Totnes to Ashburton (part is now the South Devon Railway) and around Monmouth were withdrawn in 1958 and 1959, respectively.
Further losses occurred in 1962 when trains from Wrexham to Ellesmere Port were withdrawn in September, while those between Plymouth and Launceston were officially withdrawn from December 31, although severe weather led to their short-lived extension. The auto-fitted pannier tanks and trailers made redundant by dieselisation and closures around Plymouth soon received an unexpected extension to their lives, on the former Southern services taken by the Western at the beginning of 1963.
My first journey in search of ex-GWR auto-trains was on February 11, 1963. That day travelled from Brimscombe to Gloucester (Central) pushed by '14:XX' tank No. 1424, one of a fleet of similar engines shedded at Gloucester (Horton Road).
At the time the trains provided a frequent and popular service between Gloucester and
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IChalford. had noted the distinctive little trains while trainspotting at Gloucester several years earlier. They were to become the last such operation on former Great Western lines. On August 29, 1963, using a 'West of England Rover' ticket, travelled behind
No. 1421 along the Exe Valley from Exeter
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