Brechin gets turntable and restores canopy
FORTY years after the last BR train left Brechin, the Caledonian Railway (CR) has started rebuilding the station's canopy.
The last train over the freight-only line on May 2, 1981 was a farewell railtour from Edinburgh, including Class 122 ‘Bubble Car' No. 55000, now based at the South Devon Railway.
By this time the Brechin Railway Preservation Society, formed in 1979, was already established in the goods yard – but BR had removed most of the glass and lead from the canopy to prevent theft and vandalism by the time the group took over the line.
Reconstruction
The first section of the canopy around the station building is now being reconstructed, and the railway hopes to complete this by the time it reopens in the summer.
The £40,000 cost of this initial stage of the project was partially met by a £10,000 appeal for funds, and a £17,500 grant from the SVCO Third Sector Resilience Fund towards initial maintenance to protect the platforms and building.
Jon Gill, chairman of Caledonian Railway Brechin Ltd (CRBL), said: “The National Timber Group (Scotia Roofing and Rebrand Timber) provided significant additional support, and a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund allowed us to release railway funds to meet the remaining project costs.”
Later, it is planned to extend the structure to its original length, costing a further £300,000, of which £200,000 will be needed to cast 43 new columns.
Meanwhile, a turntable formerly situated at Ashford has moved to the CR for restoration.
It has been acquired from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (G/WR), where it had been in storage since it was recovered from Ashford at Easter 1982.
G/WR press officer Ian Crowder said: “There was a proposal to put it at Cheltenham Racecourse behind the signalbox, but it would have taken up a lot of car parking space.
“We could potentially build a new one in the future, but it was deteriorating and bits were missing, so we decided it was better to give it a new home if anyone wanted it.”
A site for the turntable at the CR is yet to be decided, but in addition to turning rolling stock to even out tyre wear, it could be used for incoming main line locomotives on railtours if the line's long-term ambition of extending to Montrose comes to fruition.
“It was a case of, if we don't get it, someone else will or it'll go for scrap,” said Jon.
Although one of the 65ft turntable's end sections has already been scrapped, he added: “All the important bits are there – including the vacuum pump and the motor, the centre casting and the wheels.”
Built by Cowans, Sheldon & Co of Carlisle to order No. 9195, the turntable was installed in 1931 when the Southern Railway constructed a new steam shed at Ashford.
The depot, coded 73F under BR, closed to steam in June 1962 but remained in use for diesels until 1968 when it became the South Eastern Steam Centre. This venture folded in 1976 but one engine based there, Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35028 Clan Line, is believed to have been the last locomotive to use the turntable.