RE-ENACTING BUCKFASTLEIGH OPENING TRAIN – 50 YEARS ON
Pannier No. 6412 and ‘auto-sandwich’ recreate Dart Valley Railway’s inaugural train of 1969.
I THINK WE’VE PUT ON A GOOD SHOW, AND WE’VE HAD A LOT OF VISITORS
DICK WOOD, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Afour-coach autotrain has run on the South Devon Railway for the first time in almost five decades to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the line’s reopening.
‘64XX’ 0-6-0PT No. 6412 was sandwiched between two pairs of autocoaches for the first day of the SDR’s nine-day golden jubilee event on April 6 – 50 years and one day since it worked an autotrain in the same formation to reopen the Ashburton branch under Dart Valley Railway auspices.
Colin Harmes, who was one of the firemen on the first trains of April 5 1969, was once again wielding the shovel on the Collett engine, while long-serving Dart Valley and SDR footplateman Allan Cash was at the regulator.
The recreated Inaugural Special had even been due to depart at 11.15am, the same time as the 1969 working – although in the event it did not leave until 12.05pm owing to delays that had begun when No. 6412 had to substitute for visiting classmate No. 6430 on an earlier train.
Many other things did not go according to plan for the event – not least the list of visiting engines, which had originally included two more former Dart Valley machines, ‘14XX’ 0-4-2T No. 1450 and ‘64XX’ No. 6435. However, the Bodmin & Wenford Railway was unable to release the latter; and in spite of the SDR sending spare parts from classmate No. 1420 to the Severn Valley Railway, a valve and piston overhaul on the former could not be completed in time.
In place of No. 1450, the SVR sent ‘15XX’ 0-6-0PT No. 1501 to make its debut on South Devon metals – turning the event into something of a Hawksworth ‘pannier-fest’ as another guest was ‘94XX’ No. 9466, courtesy of Gwyneth Maude, sister of the late Dennis Howells.
The non-appearance of No. 6435 meant that the SDR was unable to run four separate autotrains on April 12 as planned – but the recreated Inaugural Special did mark the first four-coach ‘auto-sandwich’ on the line since the early 1970s. The SDR also chalked up a preservation-era first on April 6/7 by running trains throughout the night.
Dick Wood, the SDR’s PR & Business Development Manager, commented: “Every railway in the country has had this experience – you put down on paper what you’d like to have and that can change right up until the last minute.
“But I think we’ve put on a good show, and we’ve had a lot of visitors – there was a sea of well-wishers on the platform and footbridge to see off the re-creation of the Inaugural Special.”
Another ‘first train’ re-creation was due to take place for the second weekend of the event on April 13, with ‘Small Prairie’ No. 5526 closely replicating the official reopening train of May 21 1969, which was hauled by No. 4555. Officiating on that occasion was none other than infamous BR Chairman Dr Richard Beeching – but for the anniversary event, the celebrity guests were to be local BBC anchor David Fitzgerald and Falklands War veteran Simon Weston CBE.