SOUTHERN STEAM RECREATED

Railway preservation has managed to recapture many childhood memories for PETER ZABEK. But there are a few five-digit numbers still to underline, not least a ‘schools’ he missed way back in 1962.

Preservation turning back the clock

Isn’t it funny how we often remember the things we missed more than those we experienced?

One such memory that stands out for Peter Zabek is hurriedly dashing across London on October 7 1962, only to miss the departure of ‘Schools’ No. 30925 Cheltenham at the sharp end of the RCTS ‘Sussex Special Rail Tour’. His booked seat was left empty as far as Brighton, where he caught up with the train.

However, that’s also where Cheltenham uncoupled, leaving it to a series of LBSCR tank engines to take the tour forward to Seaford, Newhaven and back to the ‘Smoke’.

Since that sore experience, ‘Zab’ has made up for other lamented Southern chases, albeit almost exclusively from the lineside: a ‘Q1’ on a local train and a ‘King Arthur’ on a semi-fast, among others reproduced on these pages that, once again, highlight how convincing these re-creations can be.

For Peter, a stickler for all things BR, that day in 1962 might have represented the last chance he’d have of seeing the post-1948 liveried ‘V’ class on the Southern, as it has spent the majority of its preserved life in

Malachite green following preservation in the National Collection. But the prolonged absence of No. 30925 in its BR green state, or an authentic* post-1948 ‘Schools’ for that matter, is something that Peter says he – and others of his Baby Boomer generation – “still hanker for”. Happily for them, if not universally approved, came last month’s announcement that the engine would revert to its final condition, thanks to a partnership between owner the National Railway Museum, custodian the Mid-Hants Railway, photocharter organiser Timeline Events and contractor Heritage Painting.

The project still requires help from Steam Railway readers to make it possible (see panel), but the work is now well on the way to completion – something that epitomises the saying that good things come to those who wait

– even if it’s taken 57 years.

* No. 30926 Repton has run in BR green in preservation, but only with its Americanised, enlarged tender.

A sight we may not see again is a working ‘King Arthur’, let alone one in BR green (SR488). Unique surviving ‘N15’ No. 30777 Sir Lamiel saunters across Swithland Reservoir on May 1 2008 with the Great Central Railway’s former train of green Mk 1s – a scene that could pass for one of the reservoirs near Wraysbury in Surrey.

Oliver Bulleid’s telescopic-looking ‘Q1s’ were ostensibly austerity goods engines. However, they weren’t an uncommon sight on passenger trains, especially in the Surrey/Sussex region. The National Collection’s sole-surviving ‘Charlie’

No. 33001 rounds the curve at Rock Cutting, between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes, in early 2000, during its memorable stay at the Bluebell Railway. It is now an exhibit at York.

ALL PICTURES: PETER ZABEK The magical allure of Purbeck on a calm September morning invites you into this 2013 scene of Maunsell ‘U-Boat’ No. 31806 dashing across Corfe Common on the Swanage Railway. The engine was visiting from the Mid-Hants Railway but is now a permanent fixture in Dorset.

An engine that made a welcome return to action in June was the Urie Locomotive Society’s ‘S15’ No. 506, wearing the often maligned and underrated Bulleid-era wartime black. In 1997, however, the 1920-built 4-6-0 appeared in BR’s own version of plain black, pictured on the 1-in-60 climb between Alton and Medstead & Four Marks.

The Bluebell Railway is best known for its branch line atmosphere, but certain angles sometimes suggest a more grandiose heritage. Giesl-fitted ‘West Country’ No. 34092 City of Wells eases a uniform train of 1950s ‘blood and custards’ away from Horsted Keynes on July 10 2017. Return visits to its home turf are rare for the ‘Volcano’, which is now owned by the East Lancashire Railway.