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Meetings are held on Wednesdays at 7.45pm at the Wote Street Club, Basingstoke:

9 MAY: DAVE PENNEY, the Managing Director of Chiltern Railways will talk to us about RUNNING A MODERN RAILWAY.

23 MAY: 29 YEARS ON THE NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS RAILWAY with IAN FOOT. Ian, who has had various roles on the NYMR, will give a talk which includes a short history, a description of the line and running to Whitby.

13 JUNE: THE SEVERN RAILWAY BRIDGE DISASTER OF 1960 with ALAN HAYWARD. Alan describes the history of the Sharpness bridge, the longest railway bridge in England, completed in 1879, with particular reference to the mechanism of the disaster.

27 JUNE: RIVER KWAI RAILWAY-THE TRUE STORY with PAUL WHITTLE. Paul will cover the story of the railway’s construction and examine the many differences between actual events and those portrayed in the famous film.

May 2018 Vol.46 No.5

The Society would be pleased to hear from anyone who could give a railway-based presentation.

For more information about the Society please visit us at : www.bdrs70d.com

Our secretary can be contacted on 01256 331002 or by e-mail at: secretary@bdrs70d.com

Articles for the newsletter should be sent as Word documents to bdrsnewsletter@yahoo.co.uk

This Newsletter is produced by the Basingstoke and District Railway Society and is issued free of charge and for the interest of its members and of the Society’s friends.

2-8-2 No 19 017 of 1922 graced Platform 11 of Dresden Hauptbahnhof during the Dampfloktreffen

- Steam Festival - visited by the Society as part of this year‘s European trip. Richard Green

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EDITORIAL

First it was Bi-Mode; now it is ‘Tri-mode’ trains.

Electric multiple units built by British Rail in the late 1980s are to get a new lease of life on some GWR routes from next year but which routes was not mentioned in the short article I read. The former Class 319 Thameslink units, which are dual voltage and were constructed by BREL in York, are being fitted with two MAN diesel engines, leading them to be dubbed 'tri-mode' by GWR. The Class 769 'Flex' units will run as four-car trains, gaining WiFi and power sockets, as well as air cooling equipment and a revised layout which will allow more space for luggage.

Seven new West Midlands stations could help 2022 Commonwealth Games

Proposals to build seven new stations in the Birmingham area have been identified by West Midlands Trains (WMT) as part of its plans for the Commonwealth Games in four years time. As the Australian Games come to an end, WMT has unveiled its plans to be a core part of the next games in Birmingham in 2022, aided by new trains, more electrification and station upgrades. These will include the rebuilding of Perry Barr, which will be the nearest station to the Alexander Stadium and the Athletes' Village. University will also be given a major upgrade, while the Cross City Line itself will have extra capacity.The potential sites for new stations are Darlaston, Willenhall, Kings Heath, Moseley, Hazelwell, Merry Hill and the West Midlands Safari Park. All will depend on feasibility assessments. As with the Olytmpic Games in London, mobility is going to be central to the Games’ success and WMT say that they want to make every possible effort to help people travel in and around Birmingham and its sporting and social venues.

828 targeted at Ropley

I am sorry to have to report that, according to the 'Railway Adventures' website, on the night of 17 April 2018, parts of Class S15 locomotive no. 828 were stolen from the Ropley Works on the Mid-Hants Railway. The parts are valued at £20,000 and comprise:

· Injectors 11mm Gresham and craven x2

· Clack valves x2

· Ross pop safety valves 4″ x2

· Drivers brake valve

· Marine big end shells 4x halves

· Coupling rod bushes x6

· Unknown pipe quantity.

· Slide bar oil pots x5

· Stuffing box valve x1

This is where I found this snippett - https://www.railadvent.co.uk/category/mid-hants

Ooops!

The reassuring part of this tale is that it proves that the newsletter is being read. No sooner had the April edition been published when a missive came in to point out that, in my editorial about seeing Class 66736

319364 at Manchester Piccadilly in February 2018

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Wolverhampton Wanderers at Eastleigh, I did not appear to know my LNER B1s from my LNER B17s. It is true that I probably don't but what brought the discrepancy about was a failure to go back and consult my Ian Allan Combined abc reprint after I had proofread my final draft. The same applies for the 'x's in my piece on Thameslink’s automated train through London where again, in my haste to get the newsletter to our website and to the printer, I did not go back to check the route of the Thameslink train that I had been travelling on. For the record, the lady in question got on at City Thameslink after I had got on at Farringdon and I believe she should eventually see a more frequent service in an attempt to ease the overcrowding on Thameslink trains.

Who will be next to go under?

Many of us will have read how new franchisees make promises to introduce new services, run more trains, get rid of old and not so old rolling stock, buy or lease new trains and so on and everything looks bright. Enthusiasts such as ourselves perhaps rue the loss of older trains which we have got so used to over the years whilst at the same time we eagerly await seeing our first Class 800 or Class 707. But then the bubble of positivity begins to deflate: 63% of Virgin East Coast’s trains were late in March apparently; season tickets have dropped by 8% in the last year and demand on commuter routes has dropped by 10% on Fridays as more people work from home. Did the franchisees take these issues into account when telling the Department for Transport (DfT) how much money they can make and how much they can put in the government's coffers?

Has franchising lost its way I wonder? First Group and Trenitalia have recently withdrawn from the bidding for the East Midlands franchise leaving just two bidders and, given some of the reports coming out pouring cold water on the successful franchisees' announcements as to how much better things will be when they take over, should not Network Rail be in the loop somewhere? Then there was South Western, our new local operator, making promises about extra services and new trains when along comes Network Rail and says that track and signal problems would worsen if South Western's proposed big increase in services went ahead. Network Rail has also put a damper on Greater Anglia’s promises to boost services including their intention to run four trains a day between Norwich and London with a journey of just 90 minutes.

Weaker than expected revenues could leave some operators vulnerable to collapse if they are unable to run their proposed faster, longer and more frequent services, a problem inherent in our franchising system where bidders get greedy and then struggle or fail to deliver. This is not new, of course, having seen GNER go down the pan. Network Rail are reported as saying that improvements affecting Greater Anglia and South Western are scheduled in the next year. So who is at fault? Would the bidders have toned down their ambitions if Network Rail had made clear what was achievable? Unlikely I think. It seems like an interminable blame game to me with Network Rail getting most of the flak because of infrastructure problems and delays. It is clear that Network Rail have a lot to answer for but are the DfT wising up to the games franchise bidders play?

To quote from the article I read: "We are heading for a real implosion towards the end of the year" and now South Western Railway’s performance is to be independently reviewed along with Network Rail under the chairmanship of Sir Michael Holden with completion expected in Summer 2018.

DONATED MAGAZINES TONY WRIGHT

A large collection of various magazines, including bound volumes, has been donated to the Society. They are as follows:

Railway Magazine:

Unbound: November 1963 – December 1985 complete

Bound annually: 1986 – October 2015

Backtrack:

Unbound: Vol.1/1, Vol.1/3, Vol. 2/1 and Vol. 2/4;

Bound: Volumes 3 – 14

Bylines:

Volumes 1 - 9 complete (Vols. 1 & 2 have six issues, Vol. 3 has nine issues and from Vol. 4 onwards all have 12 issues.

Vol. 10 missing issue 1 (11 in total), and Vol. 10 missing issues 3, 11, 12 (9 in total).

Talyllyn News: Nos. 55, 56 and 61 – 68 (September 1967 to December 1970)

Industrial Railway Society Bulletin: 61 issues between No. 789 and No. 954 (May 2006 to March 2015)

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Railway Scene (lots of worldwide information): 30 issues, 2/69, 5/73 to 6/77 and Nos. 61 – 65 (July 1969 – June 1982)

Great Western Echo: Spring 1990 – Spring 1994

Also a number of RCTS Railway Observer and SLS Journal from the 1960s and very early 1970s.

All of the magazines are in good condition, especially the bound volumes. If anyone is interested in any of these at a cost of £2 per bound volume or 10p per individual copy please have a word with Tony Wright or Andy Fewster. If there is no interest the magazines will be donated to the Mid-Hants Railway (if they are interested) or disposed of.

TRAIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD – FERROCARRIL AUSTRAL FUEGUINO (FCAF) THE BOWNS

A cruise to the southern tip of South America gave us the opportunity to travel on the Southern Fuegian Railway, otherwise known as the Train at the End of The World, or in Spanish, Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino.

Ushuaia is situated on the heavily forested island of Tierra del Fuego in southern Argentina. In 1884 an Argentine penal colony was opened in the town and wood as well as other materials were needed for building, heating and cooking. The governor of the prison applied for permission to build a railway to access the timber and the first 1000mm gauge railway was opened in 1902 using oxen to pull the wagons. The railway was built with wooden sleepers and wooden rails. This lasted only a few years and by 1909 the track had been re-gauged to 600mm and steam locos were employed.

As more and more timber was required the railway was extended from Ushuaia into what is now a national park. Life was obviously hard in such a latitude where it is not uncommon for it to snow even in the southern summer. However, it is reported that prisoners would volunteer to work on the railway or in the forest cutting timber as it was better to be outside in fresh air than in a dark and cold prison.

In 1947 the prison was closed and in 1949 much of the line was blocked following an earthquake resulting in complete closure in 1952.

The line was abandoned for 40 years until 1994 when the local authorities decided to try to revive it as a tourist attraction when Ushuaia was being developed as a holiday destination and cruise port stop-over. It was rebuilt to 500mm gauge, a 2-6-2T oil-fired steam loco acquired from Winson Engineering Co. in Daventry, along with three diesel shunters and two oil-burning Garratt locomotives, one built in Argentina and the other from South Africa. The British loco., built in 1995, Is turned out in green and named “Camila”. The Argentine loco was built in 1994, painted blue and is named “L. D. Porta” after Livio Dante Porta an Argentine engineer, and the South African loco is in red and named “Zubieta” after an Argentine naval engineer who promoted tourism in Tierra dl Fuego.

The present line starts from a point 10kms. west of Ushuaia and runs for 7kms. up the Pico Valley into the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The main station is appropriately called The End of the World Station and is the location for all ticket sales and administration, as well as the location of the railway workshops and carriage sidings.

On the day we visited, three trains were run to accommodate cruise ship passengers as well as other tourists, it being the time of the summer school holidays in South America. (Hint: don’t visit when a cruise ship is docked). As the train departed some old engine boilers and other locomotive parts could be seen sitting in a field to the right of the track, presumably parts from the earlier operation. After approximately 15 minutes we arrived at the one intermediary station, Estacion Cascada La Macarena, where, as the

L. D. Porta at Estacion Cascada with a diesel

loco on the train the background

Welcome to the Train at the End of

The World.

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name implies, there is a scenic waterfall. More importantly from a railway perspective the single track line is tripled in the station area to enable all three trains to stop for some 15 minutes whilst travellers detrain and take photos of the trains, locos, and also the waterfall if one so wishes. As the trains are made up of carriages in green, blue or red, travellers are expected to rejoin the same train for the continuation of their journey.

The trains then continue into the National Park where there is evidence of tree stumps remaining from the original tree cutting over 100 years ago. It was suggested that the height of the stump re-flected the time of year that the tree was cut: the higher the stump, the deeper the snow. Our train continued for a further 30 minutes until we arrived at the final stop in the National Park, again ap-propriately named “El Parque”. Here there are three platforms giving further photo opportunities.

Considering the economic state of Argentina, fares are quite high. An adult fare (single and round trip are the same) is AR€850 (approx. £33) for standard class which works out at about £4.71 per km. if you only go one way, as we did. First class and Premium class are available, the latter costing AR€1800 or £69 (£9.85 per km.) One thing we quickly learnt from our visit to Argentina is that it is a cash society, credit cards not being readily accepted. If you go for this train, take plenty of cash! We watched in amusement as a husband in a restaurant handed over wads of notes when it came time for him to pay for his four children and two adult meals. Paying with cash was not a one-off occurrence.

Once at La Parque you have a choice of either returning on the train, or being picked up by coach as we were, and taken into the National Park to see more scenery and wildlife. Even though we were not given much time to explore the railway facilities we enjoyed the trip and if you are ever in this part of the world it makes a pleasant afternoon out.

Tree stumps in the nationalpark left after trees

were felled for building the railway around 1900

Zubieta at Estacion Cascada

All pictures by Alison and Malcolm Bown

Two trains ready to depart from the End of the

World Station.

DRESDEN DELIGHTS (PART ONE) RICHARD GREEN

Noun or verb, it matters little. Dresden was found to provide more than sufficient interest to occupy the 15 BDRS members who participated in the society's recent 29th European foray. I was once again given sole responsibility for the weather and by making our requirements known at an early stage achieved virtually continuous blue skies and sunshine.

On Thursday 5 April twelve members travelled from Basingstoke or Hook to Waterloo for transfer via the Jubilee Line (heavily congested due to an earlier "customer incident at Dollis Hill") and DLR to London City Airport. Here, we rendezvoused with the Norfolk contingent. Flying from London City was a first for several members of the group. Our Embraer 190 certainly exhibited an impressive rate of climb, followed by a fairly smooth flight to Prague. The Airport Express bus transported us quickly and cheaply to the

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main station. With bags in the left luggage office, we enjoyed a two hour photo session before taking the EC258 Kopernikus to Dresden.

We were in first class accommodation, naturally, but we spent much of the journey in the adjacent restaurant car, which provided excellent meals at astonishingly low prices. The route down the Elbe valley was undeniably scenic but it was dark before arrival in Dresden. Our hotel was just across the road from the station. Here we met with the final member of the group who had travelled overland.

On the Friday morning, 6 April, after a sumptuous breakfast buffet, we attended the Dampfloktreffen – Steam Festival – held at the railway museum near Dresden Plauen. This was the reason for the earlier than usual travel date. Numerous locos were in steam and were constantly moved under their own power on the turntable. Health and Safety restrictions were minimal – usually little more than a length of rope held by two grimy volunteers, which was respected by all.

In the afternoon we used the FreeCityTicket provided by our hotel to cross the city by tram to the north-eastern quarter, Dresden's most affluent area and the location of two historic "hillside railways", a conventional funicular (single metre gauge track with passing loop) and a unique suspended funicular. Both top stations afforded stimulating views over the River Elbe towards the city beyond. Our evening meal was a Chinese/Mongolian buffet at a restaurant conveniently adjacent to the hotel.

On Saturday 7 April our focus was on two 750 mm gauge railways.The Döllnitzbahn, a former freight-only operation, was accessed from Oschatz, about 67 km to the north-west of Dresden, with a double-deck push-pull train outbound and an emu return. Motive power on the narrow gauge was an unusual 1-Bo-1 ex-Austrian diesel-electric. This was a Ferienzeit (holiday time) service providing a 20 km run to Glossen and return. The train was not well patronised. They must have been glad of our custom.The line features steam on special occasions.The diesel service seems to adhere to steam timings, giving a lengthy water stop – for us a photo stop – at Mügeln, the headquarters of the line. Some members were able to make a brief shed visit on the return run.

A CD diesel-mechanical railcar 810 589-2 at

Prague main station.

Siemens Vectron 193 214 on hire from ELL by

RegioJet at Prague main station.

Guest loco 4-8-4T 477 043 on the turntable at

the Dresden Dampfloktreffen.

The unusual Döllnitzbahn 1-Bo-1 diesel-electric

is seen at Oschatz.

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The Weißeritztalbahn, in contrast, is a 100% steam operation. It was accessed by a 10 km S-Bahn transfer to Freital-Hainsberg, in Dresden's south-west suburbs. The line climbs 350 m in its 26 km length, with gradients of up to 3.5%. In 2002 the line was devastated by the "flood of the century", leaving its future in serious doubt. The northern section, as far as Dippoldiswalde (15 km), was reopened in 2008 but it was not until 2017 that reconstruction was completed to allow through running. A spectacular run. We were privileged to experience it so early on in its new phase of life. Our evening meal was at the hotel.

Our schedule for Sunday 8 April was simple. Mainline steam in the morning and more narrow gauge steam (or an Elbe cruise) in the afternoon. Several steam specials were running over the weekend in connection with the Dampfloktreffen. We were booked on the Tharandter Rampe. This was one of the shorter runs – just 40 km each way – but with the promise of being the most spectacular. The train of ten coaches was hauled by a Class 52 2-10-0 with a Class 44 2-10-0 banking. On the climb from Tharandt (14 km out, 208 m asl) to Klingenberg-Colmnitz (25 km, 436 m asl) the special was paralleled by a freight train of ten hopper wagons headed by a Class 50 2-10-0. There was continual overtaking, with much stimulating sound, as all three locos worked hard as they ascended the 11.7 km long ramp, a climb of 228 m with gradients up to 2.7% (1 in 37.5). For many in the group, this was the highlight of the weekend. I myself much prefer a clean, colourful, quiet electric job.With an earlier return than expected, some members had an additional photo session on the station. Others visited the Großer Garten to travel the 5.6 km long, 381 mm (15") gauge Parkeisenbahn. Meanwhile, the ladies took a three hour cruise on the Elbe, followed by a daring ascent of the Frauenkirche dome. All photos by Richard Green. Part Two will appear in the June newsletter.

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

11 April: A Rambling Railwayman’s Recollections with Geoff Burch

Tonight was Geoff’s third visit to the Society in recent times, returning to enlighten and entertain us with more tales from his long and varied and mainly railway career spanning from 1961 to 2009. With the later years of his career spent delivering training, Geoff was very much at ease in front of his audience tonight.

His previous session with us ended with him about to transfer to Woking as a second man. He was 21 years of age and impatiently waiting for his 23rd birthday when he would qualify as a driver. In the meantime he worked with Class 33s, 73s and 74s before passing as a driver in 1969 and working on 4 SUBs, 2 HAPs, 2 BILs and 4 COR Nelsons. Driver training on Cromptons and Electro-Diesels followed soon after. His first appointment as a driver was at Effingham Junction for a year before returning to Woking to drive spoil and stone trains, then REPs and Cross Country 47s. He had driven the very last Class 33 push/pull from Waterloo to Salisbury.

In 1987 Waterloo Training School beckoned and it was not long before he was appointed senior instructor there training drivers on Class 319s, the Gatwick Express and Class 456 emus and, at Salisbury, Class 158s and 159s. Privatisation in 1994 brought a period of significant change and saw Geoff take voluntary redundancy after 33 years service to British Rail. Soon afterwards he began an 11 year IT training career with Surrey Police and 10 different job titles but in 2005 he took he opportunity to join Southwest Trains as part of their training team in Basingstoke where he stayed until retiring in 2009.

It was clear that Geoff had thoroughly enjoyed his railway and Surrey Police careers as evidenced by the numerous tales he had to tell. Many of his stories were very amusing and made us chuckle but, given his time on the railways, it was inevitable that others would bring home the impact on drivers, their families and colleagues and the public at large of railway accidents, large and small. This was a down-to-earth session from a man with railways in his blood and I sensed that he hasn’t finished yet.

25 April: The British Transport Police since 1948 - Company Servant to Queen’s Officers with Steve Beamon of the BTP History Group

The BTP is a national special police force that polices railways and light-rail systems in England, Scotland and Wales. Seventy five percent of the Force's funding comes from Britain's privatised train

750 mm gauge 2-10-2T No 99 1777(1953) takes water at

Kurort Kipsdorf.

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companies.Before the establishment of the BTP in 1949 railway policing could be traced back to 1824 and the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In the earliest days the railway policeman’s duties included signalling, issuing tickets and law enforcement there being no formal local authority based police forces until 1856. The many railway companies employed their own staff. In 1922, a myriad of railway companies, canal companies and road haulage firms had been brought under the auspices of the BTP and, later, the London Passenger Transport Board also came under their jurisdiction. Then along came the British Transport Commission Act 1949, the cornerstone of the BTP now.

Steve gave us pen pictures of the BTP Commission's first four chiefs of police and had worked the current postholder, Paul Crowther. He explained how the first training college at St. Cross, Tadworth had developed and operated from 1948 until 2010 and that the first HQ for the force had been established in Coronation Road, Park Royal in 1959 until 1983 before moving to Tavistock Place from 1981 until 2005. It is currently in Camden. In 1962 the British Transport Commission was disbanded and the word 'Commission' was dropped from the name of the force, which became the British Transport Police. British Road Services and Inland Waterways were no longer within the BTP’s jurisdiction and in 1984 Associated British Ports decided it longer required the BTP’s services. As the years passed the needs and demands of modern society would have a significant impact. Trams in the Midlands and Croydon in 1999/2000 placed new demands upon the force; in December 2001 jurisdiction includes anti-terrorism; Police Community Liaison Officers with power to arrest arrive in 2004, and, from 2012, jurisdiction was extended to include the setting up of firearms units

Interspersed with plenty of anecdotes and concluding with a lively question and answer session, tonight's meeting came at railways from a different angle and prompted points from the floor. Steve had his own experiences to refer to bringing a personal touch and, the service being what it is, humorous situations abounded tempered very much by the impact of responding to crime and accidents. Pretty sobering at times but a different and enjoyable evening nevertheless.

MEETINGS OF OTHER SOCIETIES

Meon Valley Locomotive Society: 7.45pm,Church Hall, Free Street, Bishop’s Waltham

8 May: 60 years of Railway Photography by Brian Jackson

12 June: AGM followed by Four Seasons – Steaming Through the Year by Simon Foote

Newbury and District Transport Group: 7.30pm, Kennet School Library, Stoney Lane, Thatcham

21 May: Signalling with talk, films and photos with David Canning

18 June: Trains Buses and Ships in 2017 with Justin and Terry Foulger.

Railway Club of the New Forest: 7.30pm, Mclellan Hall, Lymington Community Centre, Cannon Street, L ymington 18 May: Railways of Hampshire (including remains of closed lines) with Stephen Bigley

29 June: More Confessions of a Narrow Minded Enthusiast with Colin Brading

Oxfordshire Railway Society: 7.30pm, Seacourt Day Centre, Seacourt Road, Botley, Oxford

9 May: Construction of the Channel Tunnel with Peter Harrison

13 June: The Oxford to Worcester Line in the 1960’s & 1970’s with Howard Quayle

RCTS Solent Branch: 7.30pm, Railway Institute, Romsey Road, Eastleigh SO50 9FE

16 May: Southern lines in Devon and Cornwall with Mike Pym.

RCTS Woking: 7.15pm, United Reformed Church, White Rose Lane, Woking

22 May: Rail Care - Customer support in an emergency with Richard Davies from South Western

Reading Transport Group: 7.45pm, Church House, Church Street, Caversham, Reading

For programme visit - readingtransportgroup.weebly.com/

Southern Counties Railway Society: 6.45pm, Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road, Southampton

19 May: Gosling's Gallivants 2017 with Paul Gosling

16 June: AGM followed by Members' slides and digital images

WHERE AM I?

Well done Brian Jeffery, Dave Orchard and Alan Norris for identifying my location as Campbell Road bridge, Eastleigh before the loop line was installed, looking towards Southampton Airport Parkway Station with the depot to the left.

This shot is exactly what I saw. Any takers?