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BASINGSTOKE & DISTRICT RAILWAY SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER May 2011 Vol. 39: No 5

Visit us at www/bdrs70d.co.uk

Chairman Secretary Joint Editors

David Brace Alison Bown Sandra & David Brace 48, Hatch Lane 5B Melford Gardens 48, Hatch Lane, Old Basing Basingstoke RG22 5EZ Old Basing, Basingstoke, RG24 7EB Tel: 01256 819401 Basingstoke, RG24 7EB Tel: 01256 323958 e-mail: m.bown@tiscali.co.uk Tel: 01256 323958 e-mail: david.brace@twang.co.uk e-mail: see Chairman’s email

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS to be held at Wote Street Club, Basingstoke Centre normally at 8pm.

Wednesday 11th May STEAM IN FIFTY COUNTRIES - Hugh Ballantyne Wednesday 25th May COLIN’S 45 YEARS OF RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHY - Society member Note change of speaker Colin Metcalf will show us the highlights from his years with a camera. as John Chalcroft is Radiating from his Solent heartland, we will travel far and wide and recovering from a include a few ships, buses and planes. Of particular interest will be a serious illness section entitled “when things go wrong” and a few digital movie clips. Wednesday 8th June GOSLING’S MOST RECENT GALLIVANTS - Society member Paul Gosling will once again show us where he has been and what he has photographed since his last presentation early last year. As we have come to expect there will be subjects and locations to satisfy all tastes Wednesday 22nd June NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR - After explaining the War Office Locomotive Society’s efforts to preserve a WW1 Hunslet 4-6-0T, Kim Winter will present rare archive film from the Imperial War Museum and National film board of Canada. You will see Baldwin 4-6-0s, Dick Kerr and Westinghouse petrol locomotives and many other items of interest.

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who could give a railway-based presentation. This Newsletter is produced by the B&DRS and is issued free of charge and for the interest of its members and of the Society’s friends

J15 0-6-0 65462 and a Class 156 DMU on each side of the level crossing dividing the North Norfolk Railway from th e national network at Sheringham. Photograph taken by Howard Ray in March 2011

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EDITORIAL I am pleased to say that, with the exception of the overseas trip to Holland, activities have slowed down over the last month and I can sort of enjoy a quiet retirement for a few days at least. Last week I attended my first Rail User Group Liaison meeting with South West Trains and Passenger Focus. We had two interesting presentations. The first summarised SWT’s submission to Network Rail on the draft London & South East Route Utilisation Strategy. This was a topic for which I had prepared an input to RailFuture’s submission and I am pleased to say that SWT agreed with one of my suggestions for how to deal with the predicted gross overcrowding on routes into Waterloo by 2030. Both SWT and I had suggested that continental style double-deck trains might be a viable alternative to train lengthening. The costs of providing the additional capacity by any means will require a very substantial sum of money, well in excess of the moneys currently committed to enhancements. It will also take a substantial time to realise and the pressure will be to start spending by 2020 if the network served by Waterloo is not to grind to a halt by 2030. In this scenario enlarging the structure gauge may be more economic than lengthening platforms and all the signalling alterations that this would require. Up to now, double deck trains have been ridiculed by quoting Bulleid’s attempt (who built urban emus to the present structure gauge). Our trip to Holland illustrated just how much capacity can be obtained for both suburban and long distance trains using double-deck stock with a sensible loading gauge. Within 50 miles of Waterloo the number of tunnels can be counted on one hand (similar to Holland) and many lines are on embankment where there tend to be less over bridges. The second topic was the latest Network Rail reorganisation where devolved responsibility for maintenance, renewals and enhancement will be achieved at route level. The new chief executive of Network Rail, David Higgins (ex Olympic Delivery Authority), wishes to reduce the extended lines of communications and make people further down the line responsible. One of the two trial areas will be our Wessex area. The new route infrastructure director (Richard O’Brian with whom I have worked in the past) will be responsible for these new roles as well as current operations, signalling etc. The idea is that the responsibilities for all work on the network is brought closer to the customers - passenger and freight operators. We shall see. Finally there is to be a re-signalling of the Salisbury to Exeter line in the next year with much transferring to our own new control centre in Basingstoke and the resulting loss of the remaining signal boxes on the route. No increased capacity is planned but the changes will not preclude this if demand increases over the 35 years that the renewed equipment is designed to last. David Brace

OTHER SOCIETY MEETINGS Meon Valley Locomotive Society June 14th AGM plus “The Vice-Chairman Entertains” The Railway Club of the New Forest May 20th “MHR - The Watercress Line New Video” Dave Yaldren June 24th “Steam in the 60s - from slides by the late John Bailey” Bert Moody Oxfordshire Railway Society May 11th “Preserved Railways of Great Britain” Gerald Siviour Newbury & District Transport Group May 20th “Historic Transport Miscellany” Steve Wimbush June 17th “Longmoor Military Railway + Tanks by Rail” Dr Mike Walshall Reading Transport Group May 11th “Transport Films (BTF and narrow gauge) Alan Willmott May 18th “Railways Overseas” Jim Ballantyne May 25th “Members’ Evening”

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REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS MEETING ON 13TH APRIL 2011 The National Rail Vehicle Collection The Society was invited to hold this meeting at Milestones Museum, Basingstoke and to enjoy a presentation by Anthony Coulls, Senior Curator of the Rail Vehicle Collection of the National Railway Museum (NRM). Anthony’s illustrated talk described the NRM policy for accepting railway vehicles into the national collection and the preservation and display of over 300 items. The two main locations for these items are of course York and Shildon, but a large minority are positioned at railway heritage centres and museums around the United Kingdom. In particular, the curators try to locate items in the area of the country in which they originally worked. They try to do this so that they can educate a much wider audience about railways and their history. The local example is the 0–6–0ST Woolmer, built exactly 100 years ago for use on the Longmoor Military Railway which is now back in Hampshire and currently residing in the Milestones Museum. Mr. Coulls is obviously extremely proud of this particular item as it was the first locomotive to come out of the restoration workshops in Shildon. This is an activity that has been developed at the North East venue and now employs three apprentices who are all learning engineering, painting and sign-writing skills, which have almost been lost to the area. The presenter explained the policy employed by the NRM in accepting items into the national collection in that a Conservation Management Plan is created for each possible exhibit. This not only takes into account the cost of preservation and conservation, but the importance of the item in history, as well as its own history. Whilst there are some modern items in the collection (SR EMU’s and diesel locomotives for instance), Anthony suggested that it will not be long before they will have to consider safeguarding even more modern traction examples before they may become lost to history. Although this was a very-well attended meeting, and those present were invited after the talk to walk through the museum and imbibe at the Baverstoke Arms, the fact that most of the evening was spent in a classroom environment and there was not the emphasis on Woolmer that I was anticipating, I feel that this event could easily have been held at our normal meeting venue. Malcolm Bown MEETING ON 27TH APRIL 2011 Members’ Quartet Evening 4 members of the Society each gave a presentation lasting about half an hour on a railway subject of their choice. We started with Justin and Terry Foulger giving us a digital presentation of a wide range of standard gauge preservation railways in the UK. The pictures were all taken in the last two years and included an eclectic mix of steam, diesel and electric trains thereby demonstrating that the UK is probably without equal in the world for the variety and extent of preserved railways. The second talk was by a relative newcomer Chris King-Smith. His subject was the Hornby 0 gauge clockwork railway representing the Tendring 100 Railway from Colchester eastwards to Clacton and Walton. This railway only operates a few times each year (at Stubbington) with many members bringing their own extensive rolling stock and operating a very intensive timetable. At each of the stations modelled the relevant operator had to do all things including driving, shunting and signalling. Local goods trains had to be made up containing specific wagons to be forwarded elsewhere. One of the highlights of the show was a high speed run around the circuit viewed from a wagon with a camera mounted on it. After the break we continued with Bob Williams showing us slides of his favourite route -The Woodhead - linking Yorkshire with Lancashire. Bob visited it whilst it was still open and operational, with an excursion and after closure. His illicit shots inside the tunnel were of particular interest as were a number taken from signal boxes showing the double headed coal trains hauled by Class 76s.

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BDRS ANNUAL DINNER This year’s dinner was held at “The Sanctuary” at the top of the town, near the Post Office. Although only 13 members and friends attended, the evening was very enjoyable and many of us thought it was one of the best meals for a long time. Thanks to John Clark for organising it as usual and we look forward to next year’s dinner. Make sure you attend - otherwise you will not know what you missed! David Brace

SUMMER COACH TRIP A further reminder to members:-

The Isle of Wight on Sunday June 26th 2011 We will have our normal coach and driver Tim and the price will not only include The Isle of Wight Steam Railway or Osborne House but will include a mini cruise down Southampton Water as we shall be taking the coach over to Cowes and around the island. Prices are kept down to a competitive £26 for members, £28 for guests and £20 for juniors. Participants may also ride on the national Island Line from the interchange at Smallbrook Junction to Ryde Pier Head and/or Shanklin (at your own cost). The Isle of Wight Steam Railway will have a special weekend with 40 hours of continuous operation through Saturday night until 22.00 on Sunday. There will be refreshments, including a real ale bar. Please contact me for a form (£10 non-returnable deposit required at the time of booking) John Clark

Addendum to Meeting Review 9 th March 2011 Those members who were present at the meeting on 9th March, which was a presentation on the Mountain Railways of Peru by Brian Johnson, will no doubt remember his pictures and comments about the foggy weather and poor air quality in Lima. In an article in the Travel section of the Daily Telegraph of 19th March, writer Hugh Thomson gave a rather different account, and I quote: “Lima must have one of the most fabulous sunsets in the world. It helps, of course, that the city faces due west across the Pacific, so the setting sun can flood into the beaches and pick out the last surf-ers elegantly essaying a few lines. Up above on the cliffs para-gliders spiral past the windows of the nearby hotels, many of which have infinity pools on their rooftops. It is best to see the city in the summer, between December and April, as during the winter a grey fog rolls off the Humboldt Current and it’s a far less appealing proposition”. The article was accompanied by numerous pictures of the city with glorious blue skies. So there you have it. Be warned – go to Peru in their summer months. Malcolm Bown

The final presentation of the evening was by committee member Tony Wright who gave us a slide presentation of a Railway Touring Company tour of the narrow gauge railways of Sardinia in 2002 and featuring a number of steam hauled charter trains. Little known to many, the scenery is splendid and almost Alpine in character. One route from Arbatax even incorporates a spiral as well as many viaducts and bridges. Tony was fortunate enough to enjoy cab rides as well as many photographic run pasts. The weather was also kind so his pictures did full justice to the trip. This reviewer visited the island in 2009 when the temperature was in the mid 30s and everywhere was scorched so it was good to see it so green earlier in the season. Thanks to all the presenters for providing such a varied and enjoyable evening and for keeping to time! I hope we can repeat the format next year. David Brace

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RETURN TO SWITZERLAND When I booked my recent trip, back in the long hot summer of 2010, the idea was to see some snow. Little did I realise, of course, that I would be waist deep in the stuff throughout most of December, without leaving my own back garden. Fortunately, an agreement with Today's Railways to pen something on the Bern area intervened, so I spent most of the time in lowland Switzerland. Bruce decided not to travel this year. Just as well, perhaps, as this would have been our thirteenth trip together. I was therefore spared another account of his ever lengthening life history and it was noticeable that the prawn crackers did not mysteriously disappear in quite the same way. When there was a need for an eye to be kept on the luggage he was, of course, sorely missed, as he was when I bought my Swiss Pass without the benefit of the two travelling together 15% discount. More of that in a moment. A blow by blow account of the journeys made will not be provided. A "details" sheet is available if anyone is particularly interested. Suffice it to say that in four days I was able to cover the whole of Bern's extensive S-Bahn system, both the BLS standard gauge and RBS metre gauge elements, and most of the secondary lines, both SBB and independent, that operate in conjunction with it. There was also time to sample Bern's recently much extended tram network, to take a short cruise, to ride no less than nine funiculars and to further my researches into Chinese gastronomy. A surprising variety of fit-for-purpose and fairly modern stock is employed on S-Bahn, Regio and RegioExpress local services, mainly EMU but with occasional loco-hauled workings. On the main lines, SBB traction is now predominantly Class 460 with, seemingly, fewer locos in advertising liveries. Stock is both single and double deck, and is often worked push-pull. The loco is sometimes mustered in the middle of the train, which then runs with two driving trailers. An interesting variation to the north and west is the Class 500 tilting EMU, although these do not currently operate via Bern. Also experienced was ex-Cisalpino ETR 610 tilting trains (rather clunky) on EC services between Basle and Milan, the TGV on the daily Bern–Paris working and the ICE on services between Interlaken and Berlin. Late in the day, ICE stock is somewhat surprisingly used on lightly loaded internal services between Basle and Interlaken. Within Switzerland there are no TGV or ICE (or any other) compulsory reservations or supplements. The funiculars exhibited considerable variation in age, length, gradient, design of car and general characteristics. Of particular interest is the Funiculaire Neuveville–St Pierre in Fribourg. This facility opened in 1899 to link together the two eponymous neighbourhoods of the city. It was managed by the Cardinal brewery from 1901 until 1965, when the city of Fribourg became the sole shareholder. Since 1970 it has been integrated into Transports Publics Fribourgeois. The funicular is a listed monument and unique in Europe in that its water ballast system utilises waste from the city. This becomes very obvious to anyone without seriously congested nostrils. It is the last surviving "water" ballast funicular in Switzerland. Over time there have been several proposals to modernise it but these have never been implemented. The funicular remains much as it was at its opening, with the original cars. It retains its Riggenbach rack for braking, increasing the complexity and interest of the "points" at the passing loop. Heritage apart, the funicular's statistics are modest. St Pierre is at an altitude of 610 m. The 121 m long, 1200 mm gauge line drops down 58 m to Neuveville at 552 m, with a 55% maximum gradient.

RBS metre-gauge ABe 4/12 Seconda EMU No 70 is seen at Unterzollikofen with an S9 service for Bern, just over 5 km distant. The single platform terminus sees 63 arrivals and departures each day.

Car 1 of the Fribourg "water" ballast funicular makes its descent to Neuveville, the operator no doubt long-since immune to the aroma. The same may not be true for the workers in the background, seen employing climbing techniques while stabilising the cutting.

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The journey time is about 2 min, with each lined green car accommodating 20 persons, 10 in each of the two compartments, one semi-open and the other enclosed. The funicular operates daily from 09.30 to 19.00, and additionally 07.00 to 08.15 on weekdays. It runs every 6 min, according to demand. A single ticket costs CHF 2.30 but the Swiss Pass is honoured. The upper terminus of St Pierre is situated about 500 m from the station, an easy 10 min walk. During the last two days I transferred to Chur via Brig, Andermatt and Disentis. This took me over the spectacular Lötschberg summit route, gave time for a detour down to Göschenen and back and, a first for me, up the amazing zig-zag from Andermatt to the 2044 m Oberalp Pass. All of this was seen in glorious weather, a marked change from the pervading mist and gloom earlier in the week. On the next day, in similar weather and with a good covering of snow, I was on familiar ground, taking in St Moritz, Alp Grüm, Filisur, Davos, Klosters and Landquart. Travel on the Bernina line was in the new Allegra units, which are capable of hauling a surprising number of trailers. All in all, a good trip, other than the weather in the first part of the week. A return is needed to obtain the necessary photo coverage. A word of praise for easyJet; their flights between Bristol and Geneva were early in both directions. SBB, BLS, RBS and the other transport providers lived up to their reputation for excellent timekeeping. Only during the afternoon peak was there anything approaching crowding. In conclusion, my usual analysis, including a value for money appraisal. I travelled a total of 2189 km in conventional trains of 9 categories, operated by 10 companies and with 21 different classes of traction, 6 locos and 15 EMUs. In addition I made 18 funicular transfers and 23 links by bus, trolleybus, tram and ship. Had I bought tickets locally for the journeys undertaken, the minimum cost would have been CHF 950.40. This equates to about £679. The 8‑day Swiss Pass covered all travel with two minor exceptions – one funicular required payment of half fare and it was not honoured on the Bern Plattformlift. It cost £240, so a saving of £439 was achieved, a "benefit ratio" of 2.8. By coincidence, this is exactly the same as last year, when the ticket was cheaper but the distance travelled was correspondingly less. I exchanged money in three places. An analysis of the transactions is revealing. At Bristol airport I bought CHF 120 at a reasonable exchange rate, but was charged £5 in commission and £4 in other charges. The effective rate was £1 = CHF 1.20. At Geneva airport, £100 bought me CHF 145, from which CHF 5 was deducted. The effective rate was thus £1 = CHF 1.40. At Chur station ticket office £80 bought me CHF 115, less CHF 4 in charges, giving £1 = CHF 1.39. The moral is clear – exchange your currency at your destination! Bristol airport – we will be doing no further exchange business!

AUSTRALIA 2011 My ill health in 2010 had precluded my ability to visit Down Under that year, so 2011 was going to be primarily a visit to my family in Brisbane. However, to go that far and ignore trains could not be contemplated, and so the itinerary was planned to see action in the Adelaide area and the Hunter Valley lines in New South Wales.

Dry Creek, alongside the engine shed and the main running line to Perth has been a favoured spot on many previous occasions, but this time was less rewarding, providing only the odd shot of something different on the shed, and only three freights. But that might have been because I had been spotted by security walking across tracks to photograph one new type of loco when nothing was moving, and a little van appeared telling us to go since we were allegedly on private property – even though no signs showed this. Well one has to be kicked off other than in the UK!

But the Hunter Valley was much more exciting. Not only had new classes of locomotive been introduced since my previous visits there, but new operators and their associated liveries were also on show. Coal trains to Newcastle are huge, on average loading to virtually 100 wagons of 100 tons capacity, stretching for

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INDIAN HILL RAILWAYS PART 2 Our first day and a half were rail-less as we travelled to Amritsar, visited the closing of the border gate at Attari and visited the Golden Temple. By lunchtime on the second day the enthusiasts amongst us were looking forward to a broad gauge train ride from Amritsar to Ambala on the way to Delhi. It was not to be! As we entered the station we were informed that all trains were running very late due to a derailment the previous day near Delhi.Our train would be at least 3¾ hours late, probably more. This would mean that we would not arrive at our next hotel in Chandigarh until midnight. As we explored our first major Indian station our guides planned to procure two mini buses within 30 minutes and this was when we first became aware of Indian optimism as the 30 minutes became two hours! Never mind, our exploration of this main station showed a typical scene with people, parcels and animals everywhere. Photography and track walking was fine, nobody seemed to care. I nearly lost an arm fighting to buy a platform ticket that I did not even need. Our 4 hour road journey to Chandigarh introduced us to Indian driving standards and if I said “Whow, that was close!” once, I said it a hundred times. Nevertheless we made it in time for dinner. Next morning we transferred by coach to our first hill railway at Kalka. En route we stopped at a roadside restaurant to pick up our packed lunches and were rewarded with a plinthed Ransome & Rapier (Ipswich) stationary engine and a live camel offering rides. At Kalka, the broad gauge and narrow gauge termini are end to end with common platforms running the full length of the station but with separate facilities on each. Of notice were the broad gauge buffer stops by Ransome & Rapier, very similar to those noted in Barcelona recently. Part 3 of this article will deal with the Kalka to Shimla hill railway so we now jump forward 3 days to when we returned from Shimla to take the night sleeper. At 10pm we left our “express” from Shimla to join the broad gauge “Kalka to Howrah Mail” This comprised some 18 coaches with a single electric locomotive. I believe that further coaches were

1.5 kilometres, and with 2, 3 or 4 locos on front depending on what gradients in the mountains have to be negotiated before reaching the easier road from Maitland to the coast. The 4 track main line from Maitland carries regularly passenger services plus a number of intermodal services to Brisbane, which are also multi headed, loading to a typical 85 container flats.

A trip to Muswellbrook, about 100 miles inland was extremely good value for money, about the equivalent of £12 return trip (all the fares are subsidised and as a result the trains are very well used). Although this station was no good, I returned to Singleton, which yielded some nice shots. The two track line is being widened to three in this area, anticipating the increase of the current 100 million tonnes of coal being exported mainly to China, to about twice that volume by 2016. The open cast mines are immense, and two large power stations with a lake for cooling water have been built just to provide power for the mines themselves!

The rest of the time (apart from a lost morning when I had to go to hospital after getting out of my seat for the next station stop, and wrenching the ligaments behind my replacement knee) was spent at stations, which I had not previously visited. Beresfield, in particular, was a very worthy candidate, and the picture shows 3 class 92s of Pacific National with a loaded train for Newcastle.

See next years Cable’s Railway Year for more shots in full colour. David Cable

HYDRAULICS IN THE WEST This is the title of my latest book and it is now on sale. It covers the period 1958 - 1972 and many of the pictures have never been published before. The book covers the branch lines in particular and starts at Taunton and Honiton so both Western and Southern regions are included. Classes featured are type 2 D6300s, Hymeks, Warships both of the D600 and D800 series and a few Westerns. David Cable

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added during the night. The train would take us via Delhi Jn (where our packed breakfasts would be loaded) to Tundla Jn (near Agra) arriving at about 10.45. The distance was about 470km in about 11 hours. The preparation for bed in our two tier bunks in the single 2nd class air conditioned coach was enlightening. I cleaned my teeth with bottled water on the platform before boarding. Our bunks were separated by a simple curtain from the corridor and the 4 bunks opposite us also had a single curtain separating them from the corridor. The bunks were occupied by 4 noisy Indian business men who talked to 1am and then snored the rest of the night before leaving us at Delhi. The coach was locked overnight by our attendant and we had 4 toilets, 3 Asian squatters and one European! At Delhi Jn we could stretch our legs before tucking into our packed breakfast as there was a 30min stop. This was one of the busiest and scruffiest stations encountered and I returned to it a few days later. As soon as we left “Chai” was on offer to accompany our breakfasts, Chai is hot milky sweet tea in an urn and can be bought from the seller for the princely sum of 5 rupees (7p)! I found it quite thirst quenching after the difficult night. A similar brew of coffee is also sold on board as well as cold bottled drinks from a bucket. Our Indian friends had left us so we occupied their space by raising the two upper bunks and we could then observe Indian life revolving around the railway. The end doors were generally open so one could photograph passing trains, infrastructure and people. We saw no one riding on the coach roofs - the 25kv overhead lines prevented that! On arrival at Tundla Jn we were greeted with the sight of donkeys being driven along our platform to collect parcels. After the obligatory sightseeing around Agra we were given a chance to visit Agra Fort station immediately alongside the famous Red Fort. 30 minutes there was quite an education. Whole families seemed to be camping on the platforms, feeding their offspring and with the women jumping down on to the track to access the train water supply taps in the 6’. There was a big mineral train in one platform awaiting a clear signal so numerous people just clambered over and under the wagons to get across to the opposite platforms. Dogs and monkeys scavenged for scrap food amongst the unmentionable rubbish on and between the sleepers. Our indefatigable tour leader led us in true style across the tracks to save using the footbridge! Well, it was a hot day! After this we continued train-less for a further 18 hours whilst we eat, slept and visited the Taj Mahal before dawn. From Agra we split, with the ladies generally going to look at more temples etc whilst we men returned to Delhi by coach in order to visit the Delhi Railway Museum. The distance is only 204km but it takes over 5 hours by road. The road parallels the main rail route between the two cities and so a reasonable number of passenger and freight trains were seen. A short essential needs break was taken at a road side café (Country Inn Resort, Kosi Kalan conveniently about 100km from Delhi), the choice being dictated by the presence of a plinthed steam locomotive (and a camel giving rides!). The locomotive is an F class 2-8-2 2'6" gauge locomotive No 721, ex. Barsi Light Railway. To be continued David Brace

A mineral train in Agra Fort station with the Red Fort in the background. Typical scene with people and dogs on the track

Donkeys on the platform at Tundla Jn as the next train arrives

A plinthed North British Locomotive at a roadside café between Agra and Delhi.