Remembering railway author and engine owner Peter Nicholson
MARCH 24 saw a memorial day held in honour of the late railway author, journalist, photographer and locomotive owner Peter Nicholson. It was organised by his family and held at the Westonzoyland Pumping Station, near Bridgwater, in Somerset.
Peter, who worked for The Railway Magazine since 1999, died on October 30 last year, aged 75, following a long illness, as reported in issue 313.
The 2ft gauge Westonzoyland Light Railway was a place that Peter really treasured, and he based his Lister railtruck locomotive and skip wagon there, also convincing the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust to relocate its Lister railtruck and collection of 2ft gauge wagons to the site run by the Westonzoyland Engine Trust (WZLET) from the now-deserted site at Washford on the West Somerset Railway.
He also contacted several locomotive owners he knew well to see if they were interested in attending the railway-themed events, including Brian Faulkner’s collection of Lister railtrucks and Graham Morris with his Kerr Stuart Wren 0-4-0ST No. 4256 of 1922 PeterPan, which is due to make a return appearance at this year’s railway gala on August 26 Bank Holiday Monday.
In Peter’s memory
The memorial day featured many highlights in Peter’s honour, including passenger trains with his old locomotives, FC Hibberd Y-type Planet No.1830 of 1933 Boothby, named after the Boothby Peat Company, in Cumbria, where Peter purchased it from in 1968. The oldest-surviving petrol Hibberd, RA Lister railtruck No.6299 of 1935, is now owned by WSLET trustee Jason Keswick, who purchased it from Peter in 2017. It was once used at John Board, Portland Cement and Lime Works at nearby Dunball. The locomotive arrived onsite in 2017 following a major restoration carried out by Jason, which included sourcing a new JAP engine after discovering the original was seized solid.
Another of Peter’s old locomotives also now owned by Jason is the museum’s most recent arrival, Ruston and Hornsby 20DL No.235711 of 1945. Peter purchased it from Hills and Bailey in Llanberis, and then sold it to Alan Keef in 1998, who in turn sold it to the Devon Railway Centre in 1999, thus reuniting it with the rest of Peter’s narrow gauge collection based there.
The DRC sold the locomotive to Jeremy Martin, of the Richmond Light Railway, in 2017. It recently sold it to Jason, and a full restoration is to be undertaken shortly.
Extension and more
The WZLR plans some new developments in the future, including the extension of the 2ft railway to the site entrance, as well as a Clyse mechanism to be displayed outside the locomotive shed, which will then be landscape for some new railway signage to be installed. There are also possible plans to build a second locomotive shed due to the 2021-built one being now full of the museum’s resident locomotives.
More highlights during the day were a memorial flypast by the Middlezoy Aerodrome volunteers and the launch of Peter’s memorial bench donated to the museum by his family and un veiled by one of his oldest friends, Robin Willes.
A commemorative headboard was also made for the event and saw use on Peter’s former locomotives Hibberd No. 1830 and Lister No. 6299, as well as the WZLET-owned Motor Rail Simplex No.40S310, which were used on the passenger trains throughout the day, including a tripleheader that both passengers and photographers enjoyed.
About 65 people attended the memorial day, including some making their first-ever visits to the ‘hidden gem’ of railways in Somerset!