The RCTS: Then and Now
BY 1966 the sands of time were running out for steam. The Western Region was already fully dieselized and the Southern Region would soon be reduced to Bulleid Pacifics, British Railways Standards and a handful of Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2Ts.
Each month The Railway Observer’s lists of withdrawn locomotives seemed to grow but undaunted the RCTS’s regional rail tour, committees were still planning mouth-watering specials. The two ‘Longmoor’ trains run on April 16 and 30 were no exception.
The RO for March 1966 announced that the freight-only Bentley to Bordon branch was scheduled for closure on April 4, and that from that date, all rail traffic to and from the Longmoor Military Railway would be routed via Liss. Acknowledging the significance of this closure the Military Authorities agreed to accommodate a final through special over the LMR, including the Hollywater Loop. Motive power between Waterloo and Woking on April 16 was ‘U’ class No. 31639 and ‘N’ class No. 31411. British Railways agreed to allow Army Department ‘WD’ 2-10-0 No. 600 Gordon to haul the eight-coach train from Woking to Liss, where 0-6-0ST No. 195 backed on to the rear allowing the special to set back into Liss (LMR) station. Here Gordon ran round and coupled up to No. 195 tender-first for the run to Longmoor Downs station. 0-6-0ST No. 196 worked two trips round the Hollywater Loop and after which Gordon came on the rear, with No. 195 at the front in charge to Bordon via Whitehill. At Bordon the passengers alighted as No. 195 was uncoupled, allowing Gordon to shunt the stock into Bordon (Southern Region) station. With the passengers on board, No. 600 headed down the closed branch to Bentley and then to Staines via Aldershot and Ascot. Here Standard 3MT No. 77014 was waiting to run to Windsor and Eton where Nos. 31639 and 31411 were to work the last leg to Waterloo. Despite the snow of the preceding days and the dull and overcast skies, the tour was a resounding success and also oversubscribed, enabling the RCTS’s London Branch Rail Tours Committee to arrange a repeat on April 30. Unfortunately ‘N’ No. 31411 was unavailable and was replaced by ‘U’ No. 31791. This time the weather was a glorious early spring day of sunshine. Gordon came on at Woking and No. 195 at Liss. Duties on the Hollywater Loop were shared by 0-6-0ST No. 195 and diesel shunter No. 878 Basra, each running one circuit. Again Gordon worked as far as Staines but as 77014 was stopped for repairs 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73114 Etarre was substituted and at Windsor and Eton the two Maunsell Moguls took over for the run into Waterloo. Today the RCTS cannot run such specials owing to route rationalisation and standardised itineraries. The RO, however, still reports on the tours that are run and the photographic coverage is second-to-none. The society’s photographic archive, however, does allow the interested reader to search for pictures of rail tours in the 1950s and 1960.
Unlike the BR motive power used on the tour, three of the four LMR engines survive, though it is hard to imagine any of them ever having a starring role in a railtour in the 21st century – although any such activity would still be reported in The Railway Observer.