Clun Castle’s swansong
COMES OUT TOP
MICHAEL WHITEHOUSE recalls his first-hand experiences of running ‘his’ Clun Castle on the main line alongside fellow celebrity ‘Castle’ No. 4079, and how it all ended 50 years ago… or so it was thought.
By the 1960s, Caerphilly Castle had been preserved for the nation’s museums and fully restored by Swindon craftsmen, effectively to original condition. She was one of the agreed 20 or so steam locomotives to be kept by the state for the education of future generations. Enthusiasts clamoured for representatives of more classes to be saved, but appreciated that the deal for a ‘Castle’ to be kept had been done. All they could do now, while some of the class still worked out their days on top link services, was to spend all the hours God sent watching, photographing and riding on the remaining active class members while they could. And nobody did that more than Jack Hancock. Jack was the Western Region’s locomotive inspector, based at Wolverhampton. A good friend of his was Trevor Bailey, who was in charge of the travel section of Ian Allan Ltd. Trevor had suggested to Jack that Ian Allan should promote a railtour in 1964 from London to Plymouth and back, on the GWR main line, to celebrate locomotives of the ‘Castle’ class and give them a final fling to demonstrate what they were made of before the class was withdrawn. Gerard Fiennes, the WR’s General Manager, supported this plan, so the search was on to find three ‘Castles’ fit for the job. It was decided to select eight suitable ‘Castles’ with no more than 40,000 miles on the clock since overhaul. The shortlist comprised: Nos. 4079 Pendennis Castle, 5054 Earl of Ducie, 7008 Swansea Castle, 7023 Penrice Castle, 7025 Sudeley Castle, 7029 Clun Castle and 7032 Denbigh Castle. The Paddington to Worcester route was chosen for testing as ‘Castles’ were still regular performers over it. No. 4079 was chosen for the initial run to Plymouth, No. 7029 for the more difficult hill climb back to Bristol and No. 5054 for the race back to London. The aim was 100mph. But two of the three engines chosen remained in original condition, without the 1950s improvements effected by Sam Ell and Ivor Huddy at Swindon, to ensure ‘Castles’ could work turn and turn about with the diesel-hydraulics then being introduced and, if required, run up to 100mph. Due to her early design and age, No. 4079 Pendennis Castle had not initially been considered, despite her
claim to fame in the 1925 locomotive exchanges, often promoted by publicity conscious Sir Felix Pole. But Mechanical Foreman Day, who had given the locomotive a valve examination, repeatedly voiced the opinion that she could be the best of the lot and, on the strength of a test run from Swindon to Bristol, she was selected. May 9 1964 was not to be her finest hour, but it did save her skin. Clun Castle was ‘nobody’s engine’. She was regarded as weak even on delivery new to Newton Abbot. However, Harold Cooke, who prepared No. 7029 for the May 9 run at Plymouth Laira, took a different view. Given 18% rather than 15% cut off used by most drivers, “she would run like a flying sewing machine. It is the secret of 7029.” So she was very carefully prepared for the train. And she had received all the Ell and Huddy modifications to her front end draughting: four‑row superheater and double chimney. May 9 1964 proved the turning point in ‘Clun’s’ career, and gave her a future which has been built on ever since.
Perfect storm
May 9 1964 was an historic day, even though the magic 100mph proved elusive. The weekly notice contained special instructions: “The ‘Great Western’ is to be signalled 4‑1‑4 ‑ must run ‘strictly to time”. The train was made up of seven coaches, 243 tons tare, and each engine was double‑manned by firemen. Jack Hancock rated the chosen engines as follows: Nos. 5054, 4079, then 7029. ‘Pendennis’ was ready at Paddington, looking in mint condition; paintwork shining and brasswork polished. Aptly, the driver’s surname was ‘Perfect’. After Reading, the climb from Bedwyn to the hilltops of Savernake Forest reduced speed to 60mph, but the next 18 miles on a falling grade are ‘Castle’ racing grounds and No. 4079 took full advantage, reaching 96mph by Lavington. There, the firebars melted so she was unhooked at Westbury. It was discovered later that some of her firebars were porous and the high‑heat Ogilvie coal got the better of them. No. 5054 failed to achieve the ‘ton on the near‑level main line back to London; reportedly owing to high winds and many of the carriage windows being open. She managed 96mph, a top speed which became the flavour of the day. Sadly, Earl of Ducie went for scrap. ‘Clun’ also reached 96mph, but her performance on the Devon banks won the day and saved her life. Exhaust beats were like gunshots and the white feathers from her gleaming safety valve bonnet showed her superb steaming. Passenger Jack Trounson wrote: “at Whiteball the sensation was almost overpowering. Every seat was occupied by people carrying stopwatches, calculators and speed tables as the scenery flashed by. Just before entering the portal, the shadow of the engine cast by the western sun showed two plumes of steam still maintained after 23 long miles of climbing and two miles at 1‑in‑115. “The drop in speed was no more than from 75 to 67mph and we went over the summit with the lever at 25%.” ‘Clun’ beat City of Truro’s 1904 point‑to‑point record from Plymouth to Bristol and the crew believed they would have done the magic ‘ton’ down Wellington bank but for the civil engineer’s speed restriction at the foot of the bank. Sadly, the crew had not been informed that the restriction had been lifted just for the special… if they’d known this they could actually have done 100mph.
The ‘greyhound’
Clun Castle went on to greater things. She hauled the last Western Region steam trip from Paddington to Cheltenham
on November 27 1965 and so became the last of her class in service. Pendennis Castle was bought for preservation by Mike Higson and received a ‘bottom end’ overhaul and full repaint in original colours at Swindon works. A contemporary report in the railway press after her maiden run in private ownership at 90mph (!) laid out how the future of main line steam was viewed at the time: “It is difficult to predict her future with any accuracy. The steam era folded up on the WR so rapidly that her career must of necessity be short. It can, however, be said that somehow, somewhere, she will be properly looked after.” Jack Trounson and John Southern, two Cornishmen, took a similar view of Clun Castle as they had been tremendously excited by her great exploits on May 9 1964. By instinct, Trounson regarded No. 7029 as a greyhound. They established a fund to preserve her, following in the footsteps of Bristol Bath Road enginemen who wanted to do the same. But in those days the asking price of £3,000 was a lot of money, even for a record breaker, and the amount could not be found. The Cornishmen appealed to the nascent Dart Valley Railway to help. Maybe she could be displayed in the embryonic museum in Buckfastleigh’s goods shed? DVR Directors Pat Whitehouse (my father) and John Evans put up the balance of the money and Clun Castle was placed in trust in private ownership on January 1 1966. But what should be done with her? ‘Clun’ was still in good working order and still in demand for enthusiast special trains. So it was decided that, as BR was still willing to operate her, she might as well earn her keep, at least until the DVR museum was ready for her. As Pat Whitehouse had already developed a good working relationship with Tommy Field, the shedmaster at Tyseley in Birmingham, No. 7029 moved there. Tyseley was no stranger to special train workings. From engines the for early Stephenson1950s, it Locomotivehad provided Societymany GWR special trains promoted from Birmingham, especially the well known annual trip to Swindon Works hauled by the last examples of ‘Bulldog’, ‘Saint’, ‘Star’, ‘County’ and ‘King’ classes. Furthermore, several DVR-bound tankengines had come to Tyseley to stay, be repainted and even run in regular BR service until the preserved line was reopened. So, Clun Castle came to live in what remained of the passenger roundhouse, and in good company, with the few remaining locomotives, such as panniers and several ex-LMS ‘Black Fives’, all still earning their keep. Owing to the good relationship Pat Whitehouse enjoyed with the Tyseley depot staff, ‘Clun’ was steamed for some family enjoyment from time to time. When I came home from school for weekends, No. 7029 was put in steam for me to drive up and down the depot track under the eagle eyes of a spare driver. At 16 years old, it was a great way for me to gain an insight into how to drive a steam engine! Pat was a Director of Cubitts, an international construction company which held its board meetings in London. He was in the habit of catching the 4.10pm ‘Blue Pullman’ from Paddington and, when convenient for everyone, he would get off the train at Banbury, walk down to the shed, don his overalls and climb aboard Clun Castle, which had been sent down light engine earlier in the day to return with the empty car flats freight train to Washwood Heath. Much better to footplate one’s ‘own’ engine on the way home. A few people got to hear of this and some pictures started to appear. Eventually, Western Region head office heard about it too, so that was the end of that!
‘Clun’s’ exhaust beats were like gunshots and the white feathers from her gleaming safety valve bonnet showed that her steaming was superb.
Tyseley portrait
‘Pendennis’ and ‘Clun’ were destined to come together one more time to run special last trains. Ian Allan and the SLS were still active on the railtour front and both marked the end of through services on the GW’s northern main line from London to Birkenhead, scheduled to cease on March 5 1967. No fewer than four specials were run over the weekend of March 4/5. On the Saturday, Pendennis Castle ran the ‘Birkenhead Flyer’ and Clun Castle ran the ‘Zulu’, both from Banbury to Chester, with bulledup ‘9Fs’ taking the trains on to Birkenhead. On the Sunday, Clun Castle and a Tyseley ‘Black Five’, No. 44680, ran from Birmingham Snow Hill right through to Birkenhead and back. No. 7029 earned more fame on the return run as she had by then hauled the last through train back from Birkenhead and the last steam passenger train into Birmingham’s Snow Hill station. Both ‘Castles’ were steamed again at Tyseley shed on the following Monday, together with ‘K4’ No. 3442 The Great Marquess which Viscount Garnock had sent down from Leeds so that Terence Cuneo could paint them inside the shed. This resulted in the famous Castles at Tyseley portrait. When returning to Birmingham on the last trip from the north west, No. 7029 stripped a thread on her inside valve motion, but still raced back, although effectively only working properly on two cylinders, and limping home to Tyseley. Fortunately, she was fixed up on the depot. It was just as well - Gerry Fiennes had, by then, moved to be General Manager of the Eastern Region and had written to Pat Whitehouse suggesting Clun Castle came over to the ER in the summer of 1967 for a ‘jape’, together with Flying Scotsman and Sir Nigel Gresley, both by then also preserved. Clun Castle ran well over the East Coast Main Line to Newcastle and over the Settle-Carlisle, based at both Peterborough and York and being well looked after by their home teams, following in the footsteps of Pendennis Castle in the 1925 exchanges. Now Clun Castle was no longer ‘nobody’s engine.’ But, in 1968, the BR steam show was over. There was very nearly a third meeting for ‘Pendennis’ and ‘Clun’. For a very short while, Pat Whitehouse became the custodian of both Nos. 4079 and 7029. Mike Higson became obliged to sell No. 4079 in 1967 to raise funds, and offered her to Pat who accepted and duly wrote out a cheque. However, within a week, Higson was back on the phone. He had received a better offer and wanted the money. Pat shrugged his shoulders. What would he do with two ‘Castles’ anyway? He agreed that Higson could tear up his cheque. ‘Pendennis’ was bought by Bill McAlpine and John Gretton and moved first to Didcot, then Market Overton and then Carnforth. By that point steam was back on the main line, run in a joint venture between BR and the Steam Locomotive Operators Association. But ‘Castles’ were frowned upon, owing to their restricted route availability and haulage capacity, so there was little work available, and getting any of it would involve tough negotiations.
Return from exile
There could have been a further meeting and final homecoming for the two by-now famous ‘Castles’. Once BR had declared the end of steam, several owners of preserved
main line engines had some big decisions to make. What would they do with their engines, and where would they keep them? Over a dinner meeting, there was a discussion between most of the locomotive owners about the possibility of housing all their engines at Didcot as a final resting place for old express steam engines. But that was not to be. I went to the dinner meeting with my dad, and even at the young age of 16, took the view that to travel from my home to Didcot to see our engine was too far when compared with the 20-minute drive to Tyseley on a Sunday afternoon. Yes, life is made up of strange choices and this proved to be a wise one for No. 7029 in the long term, but we had to put up with ignominiously keeping Clun Castle (and ‘Jubilee’ Kolhapur) in the Tyseley coaling stage when BR knocked the roundhouse down in 1968, before summoning up the courage, effort and negotiating skills to remain at Tyseley, take over part of the depot and develop it as a steam railway workshop for the future. We kept our hand in the game. Clun Castle hauled the first ‘return to steam’ railtour in June 1972, after BR relented and relaxed the steam ban for a trial year. Tyseley and other depots proved themselves, and the main line movement went from strength to strength. While ‘Pendennis’ was sold and exported to Australia (it would
‘Clun’ continued to fly the flag on the main line for ‘Castles’
return in 2000), ‘Clun’ continued to fly the flag on the main line for ‘Castles’, and indeed majored in the 1985 GW150 celebrations, hauled the last train out of Birmingham’s Moor Street terminus station and featured on some BRsponsored Sunday luncheon trains from Marylebone to Stratford-upon-Avon. By then, No. 7029 had been joined by several other class members rejuvenated from Barry wrecks as more glass ceilings were broken. The main line movement continues to gain its spurs and in May 2014 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1964 ‘Castle’ swansong runs with two runs over the South Devon banks by Nunney Castle and Earl of Mount Edgcumbe; the latter picking up the baton from No. 7029 and attaining the fastest point-to-point run from Plymouth to Bristol! By the 1990s, both Nos. 4079 and 7029 needed major repairs before they would run on the national network again. But both engines are receiving this attention, so there may yet be the opportunity for the Alpha and Omegas of the famous ‘Castle’ class to get together again for a celebration. There now also seems to be the prospect of four main line ‘Castles’ working from Tyseley, if we raise the required funds. One day they could be joined by others for a ‘proper’ great gathering of ‘Castles’... You can become part of the journey with ‘nobody’s engine’. While Clun Castle is nearly ready for main line service once again after probably the heaviest overhaul of her life, we are looking for sponsors for the final push (see News) or email clun@vintagetrains.co.uk Why not become part of our future - and who knows what she might achieve in her next innings?