That was the year that...
Narrow gauge news stories from the archives and their legacy...
From 50 years ago
Ffestiniog Railway (1ft11½in gauge) ‘Blaster Bates’, the well-known demolition expert from the north of England, has inspected Garnedd Tunnel. Whilst the actual opening up of the tunnel presents few problems for him, he feels that the spoil removal on such a cramped site would be difficult, and agrees that the simplest and easiest course of action is to divert the trackbed back on its original alignment outside the tunnel, where the improvement to the route can be done without affecting the operation of the railway. (NGN, Aug 1972) One of those ‘what ifs’ from the days when heritage importance often played second fiddle to the basics of operating a steam railway! Of course no blasting out was done to improve the very restricted loading gauge of the 180ft long tunnel and the route wasn’t diverted either, but in 1968 the trackbed was dug out to drop it a few inches and allow the FR’s new ‘Barn’ carriages to pass through, making reopening to Dduallt possible. It’s an interesting conundrum – today blasting the tunnel would be seen as appalling but one could argue that routing the track round it would be restoring heritage, just older heritage... Brockham Museum Surrey The two ‘Resilient’ class Fowler diesels arrived from APCM Cliffe, Kent on 8th July. These are the only 2ft gauge Fowlers in this country at present and are nos 21294 and 21295 of 1936. Their large size and weight of 6 tons necessitated the use of two low-loaders but both were well utilised as each conveyed one of the wooden-bodied tipping wagons as well as a good quantity of rail. (NGN, Aug 1972)
As the picture from the collection of the late Dave Billmore shows, the two locos were rather the worse for wear, having been dug out by hand from the bottom of a pit at the chalk quarry... One, 21295, was restored after the Brockham collection relocated to Amberley in the 1980s – it runs today as ‘Peldon’. The other, 21294, went to the Great Bush Railway and then Leeds Industrial Museum where apparently it was dismantled – can anyone update us? Sheppey Light Railway Leysdown-on-Sea, Isle of Sheppey, Kent (2ft gauge) This is the latest pleasure line to come into operation, being opened to the public during May. It is a well-constructed line with a raised platform and is a very good example of what can be done even with limited space.
Present motive power is Motor Rail 8711 which was delivered by Alan Keef... Trains consist of four open carriages on sprung skip chassis. A fare of 5p is charged for both adults and children for the ride which comprises a run out from the station, round the caravan site (which is well laid out with trees) returning to the station where there is a run-round loop for the loco. This is an attractive little line well worth a visit. (NGN, Aug 1972) It may well have been ‘an attractive little line’ but clearly the Sheppey Light Railway did not last very long... Having never heard of it, the editor did an online search and could only find references to the standard-gauge Sheppey Light Railway, which was described as “perhaps Colonel Stephens’ most successful light railway,” but which closed in 1950. The description in NGN suggests the 2ft gauge line was inspired in name only by its standard gauge predecessor – can our ever-knowledgeable NGW readers come up with more information, even perhaps pictures, of this railway? Extracts from Narrow Gauge News, the news journal of the Narrow Gauge Railway Society – for more details of the Society and how to join up, go to www.ngrs.org.uk or see the advert on page 45.