The Darlaston Family Web Pages
This Web Page is Railways50yr.htm (Last revised 20th
February 2009)
N.B. Photographs may take a while to download!
All photographs © Robert Darlaston
A. B.R. souvenir which cost me ten shillings in 1965!
Railways Fifty Years Ago
A memory of trains in the 1950s:
A
In the 1950s, labour
shortages meant that steam locomotives were often deplorably filthy, but
several loco sheds, especially on the Western Region of British Railways, made
a point of keeping a small stud of main line engines in “showroom condition”
for principal expresses. Notice the
burnished brass and copper and the sunlight reflected on the polished
paintwork. Even the buffers have been
polished, but having come into contact with other rolling stock, have lost most
of their shine. This splendid appearance
is a credit to the cleaners of Cardiff Canton depot, where the locomotive was
allocated. It was a joy in those days
to watch a Great Western express pass by:
the locomotive and its train (especially when in the old G.W.R.
chocolate and cream carriage livery) complemented the landscape which it
traversed, quite unlike most modern trains which flaunt a garish colour scheme
at variance from the countryside which they traverse.
Contents:
West Midlands, Wales and the South
and Southwest; also the last Slip Coach
1953: 5900
and 6840 at Tyseley loco shed, Dean Goods 2474 at
1955: 9022
at Hatton; Talyllyn and Ffestiniog
1956:
Steam at Four Oaks, T9 at Hamble,”Terrier” at
1957:
Stechford, B1 at Castle Bromwich, 5036 and 4108 at Acocks Green, Birmingham
Moor Street traverser, 7929 at Hatton North,
Lickey Bank, Lyme Regis, Weymouth Quay, City of Truro at Birmingham Snow Hill, Swindon Works (incl 6017 and
4358);
1958: last
train Abergavenny – Merthyr, 9004 at Dovey Junction, Blaenau Ffestiniog GWR,
Ruabon, last train Longbridge – Halesowen, South Devon including 1463 at
Brixham;
1959:
Swindon Works (92202 under construction), 5048 on the Bristolian, ‘Super D’ 0-8-0 at Dudley Port, Jubilee, unrebuilt Patriot
and Princess Royal at Stechford, New
Street, 4573 at Cheltenham Spa St James, Slip coach at Bicester with 6001.
My other railway pages can be accessed by clicking on the links below:
Railways.htm (Birmingham Snow Hill in 1953, Three West Midlands GW branches and South Wales in the 1950s)
Railways2.htm (Brecon and Mid-Wales; Somerset & Dorset, GWR and LSWR lines in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall: 1957-62)
Railways3.htm (the
Railways4.htm (Birmingham area LMR; Boston, Peterborough, and Lincoln; GWR in North Wales; the Southern: 1961-63)
Railways5.htm (the decline of steam; Southampton,
Birmingham GW, North Wales,
Trams.htm
(the last days of
If our Home Page is not listed to the left of this page, it may be accessed here: www.robertdarlaston.co.uk
Fifty Years Ago
Railway Scenes from 1953 to 1959
First: a selection from 1953 to 1956:
My very first railway photograph: it’s 7th July 1953 and GWR 5900 Hinderton Hall stands outside Tyseley
shed, freshly cleaned,
prior to working and afternoon express from
Snow Hill.
This photograph was taken with my brand new
Kodak Brownie Box Camera on the occasion of a school tour of Tyseley shed.
Another photo taken at Tyseley on 7th
July 1953: 6840 Hazeley Grange at the
rear of the shed, adjacent to Warwick Road.
I soon learned to tell a Grange from a Hall by the raised frame over the cylinders.
The same afternoon 4052 Princess Beatrice was outside the shed, prior to making its last
journey to Swindon Works for breaking up:
foolishly, I missed the chance of photographing it, deciding that,
unlike 5900 and 6840, it looked rather scruffy.
GWR 2474 at Hereford with a short freight on
23rd July 1954. This loco
was built in March 1896 and withdrawn in April 1955.
Another GWR survivor: 4-4-0 9022 at Hatton with a brick train from
the east
A GWR Weekly Season, a Platform Ticket and a
Third Class Single
A few Welsh narrow gauge
scenes 1953-56:
GWR 2-6-2T no 7 at Devil’s Bridge with an
afternoon train to Aberystwyth in August 1953.
GWR 0-6-0T 822 at Welshpool with a train on
the freight line to Llanfair Caereinion in June 1956. Welshpool main line
station building is at the left.
Both these lines are now preserved.
Abergynolwyn station on the Talyllyn Railway
which was the first line to be preserved, being taken over by an enthusiast
organisation in 1951.
The loco is no 3 Sir Haydn which operated on the Corris Railway until that line
closed in 1948. The photograph was taken
on 15th August 1955.
It is salutary to realise that the
attractive young lady at the left, who seems to be taking a photo of the two
young children by Sir Haydn, is now
probably a silver-haired grannie.
The Ffestiniog Railway closed in 1946, but in
1955 enthusiasts started the long task of restoring the line. Here no 2 Prince (built in 1863) stands with a train at Portmadoc on 16th
August 1955, less than two weeks after the loco’s return to service.
Maespoeth Junction engine shed on the Corris
Railway in August 1955, seven years after closure. The Forestry Commission has taken over and
young Darlaston is vainly searching for any railway relics which might have
been overlooked.
Two GWR 4-6-0s, shown up to advantage, with
paint and metalwork suitably polished:
GWR 5050 Earl
of St Germans lifts the heavy 8 am
One of the last GWR Stars, 4061 Glastonbury Abbey turns onto the North
Warwickshire line at Tyseley with an excursion from Birmingham Snow Hill to
The start of steam’s decline:
The first service in the
Ivatt 2-6-2T 41370 at Chester Road with a
Four Oaks to Birmingham New Street rail motor train on 25th February
1956,the last day on which services were steam operated.
41224 in the bay at Four Oaks with a train
for Birmingham New Street.
A week later: a
A Southern Selection,
taken on the family’s annual holiday in 1956:
Ex-LSWR T9 no. 30537 near Hamble with the
5.15 pm Bitterne to
Ex-LBSCR “Terrier” no. 32650, built in 1876,
at
The loco is fitted with a spark arrester for
the protection of the timber viaduct across
Ex-LSWR no. 30377 near Marchwood with the
4.8 pm Southampton Central to Fawley train on 3rd September
1956. Note the post-war ‘pre-fabs’ at
the right.
O2 class 0-4-4T W17 Seaview arrives at Ventnor with an Isle of Wight Railway train from
Ryde Pier on 4th September 1956.
Next:
a yearly selection beginning in 1957:
We begin sequence early in
January at my local station, Stechford,
on the old LNWR line from Birmingham New Street to Euston.
The up Midlander passes Stechford behind 45742
Note the gas light and the
flower beds, the typical LNWR blue-brick platform, and also the LNWR water tank
at the platform end.
Washing blows in a garden
in Frederick Road and is about to be covered in smuts!
For railway enthusiasts in
the
= = = = = =
Next, views on the old
Great
At Acocks Green we see 5036 Lyonshall Castle (without a smokebox numberplate)
emerge from a January mist with the 9.18
On 25th May 1957
GWR 2-6-2T 4108 pauses at Acocks Green with a local from Moor Street to
Leamington Spa.
At Moor Street, 3101 is
seen on the loco traverser on platform 3.
The traverser has long
gone, but otherwise the view here today is little changed.
Left: En route to Hatton, the view near
Right: The view inside Hatton North Junction signal
box with a down express approaching.
Note the GWR First Aid box mounted on the door.
7929 Wyke Hall is about to diverge to the Stratford-upon-Avon line at
Hatton North Junction with the West Midlands Holiday Express from Snow Hill to
Porthcawl, also on 2nd August 1957.
7929 was the last of 330 Halls
to be built and was then only six years old.
= = = = = =
There were also trips
locally on the London Midland Region lines from New Street, and here are a
couple of pictures on a Summer Saturday on the Lickey Bank. Returning holiday trains from the West
Country queued south of Bromsgrove and were admitted to the bank in turn. As each one cleared the summit, so the next
would leave Bromsgrove. Each train took
about seven minutes for the two-mile climb at 1 in 37. The train engine would often take a rest for
the climb, leaving the work to the former G.W.R. pannier tank locos which by
then banked most of the trains.
LMS 4F 0-6-0 44424 struggles with a long
train of holiday-makers returning from Bournemouth West to Nottingham via the
The fireman has piled coal onto the fire in
an attempt to build up steam so that this freight loco can keep its heavy train
moving – but they will be lucky to exceed 40 m.p.h., which won’t please the Devonian express following close behind!
45663 Kempenfelt
brings the northbound Devonian (Paignton
to Bradford Forster Square) up the bank towards
Both photos were taken on Saturday, 17th
August.1957.
= = = = =
The family summer holiday
early in June 1957 was spent in Dorset, giving me chance to see the elderly
London & South Western Railway 4-4-2T locomotives still working the
Axminster – Lyme Regis branch, as well as having my first encounter with the
Southern Railway’s “air-smoothed” Pacifics. We also visited
30583, built in 1885, arrives at Lyme Regis
with the branch train from Axminster on 10th June 1957.
The branch line closed long ago, but 30583
lives on at the Bluebell Railway in
34016 Bodmin
waits at Axminster with a
This engine was subsequently rebuilt without
the streamlined casing and is now preserved on the Mid-Hants Railway
My mother watches as 1367 starts the
Paddington boat train away from Weymouth Quay on 12th June 1957 with
the former GWR ship St Julien
alongside
= = = = = =
Early in 1957 the Western
Region of British Railways removed from the
3440 City of
6017 King
Edward IV, built in 1928, newly-overhauled outside Swindon Works on 16th
June 1957.
The loco had just been fitted with a double chimney
to improve its performance.
Left: veteran GWR 2-6-0 4358 (built 1914) at
Right:
0-6-0 ‘Dean Goods’ 2538 (built 1897) at Oswestry on 1st March
1957. 2538 was withdrawn only a few
weeks later. With 2516 (now preserved)
they were the last survivors of their class and had been retained principally
for working the Abermule – Kerry branch line which had recently closed. In the early 1950s Oswestry shed was home to
a fascinating collection of locos, including also the last Duke 4-4-0s,
Cambrian Railways 0-6-0s and 2-4-0Ts, the latter retained for the
= = = = = =
Most of my photographs in
South Wales are on the page Railways1, but here is a 1957 scene from
Llantrisant on the main
With its brass and copper-work shining
nicely, 4988 Bulwell Hall approaches Llantrisant with the 9.30
= =
= = =
We
move on to 1958: a year when the
retrenchment of the steam locomotive and of branch lines sadly moved up a
gear. The first weekend of the year saw
the closure of a Welsh outpost of the old
Here
are some photos taken on that day, 5th January 1958.
An all-female audience turns out at Clydach to
watch the last train climbing steadily up the 1 in 38 towards Brynmawr on its
way to Merthyr.
Two children look in fascination at the
ceremonial wreath on the smokebox of 58926 during a pause at Dowlais High
Street station.
I
wonder where those two are now, and do they remember gazing in awe at an LNWR
Coal Tank?
58926 and 49121 at Ebbw Vale High Level with
the last passenger train.
A lady climbs a wall to secure a good photo and
men in hats, fresh out of Chapel, look on with suitably solemn expressions.
As evening falls in
The sketch map shows the
curious railway geography of Merthyr and Dowlais, omitting certain freight-only
lines.
Dowlais had four
stations: Central (‘C’ on the map), High
Street, (‘H’), Cae Harris (‘CH’), and Dowlais Top (‘T’).
Dowlais lies near the 1250’
contour, whereas Merthyr is about 500’ above sea level, giving rise to the
circuitous route taken by the railway.
The lines had been built
principally to serve the coal and iron industries, but the elimination of those
activities has largely been followed by the railways.
All the lines shewn on the
map were open for passenger services in 1950, but by 1965 all had closed except
the Merthyr –
There are no longer any
rail freight services to Merthyr and district.
and further north in
4-4-0 no.9004 at Dovey Junction with the
12.15 Barmouth to Machynlleth train on 11th September 1958
Blaenau Ffestiniog in the rain: GWR 0-6-0PT no 9669 arrives with the 11.50
from Bala on 15th September 1958
GWR 4912 Berrington
Hall arrives at Ruabon with the 4.30 pm
Another
branch line closure of 1958 was an attractive route on the western outskirts of
This line from Longbridge, on the Midland
Railway’s line to
Some
long-gone scenes from
Colour
photography was very expensive
in the 1950s, but here are two taken in August 1958:
A view from the carriage window of a
Steam hangs in the evening air as a
Kingswear to Exeter St David’s train sets off alongside the Dart estuary behind
a GWR 4-6-0.
The classic lines of GWR 2-6-2T 4178 near
Churston with the Kingswear portion of the Royal
Duchy from Paddington on 3rd September 1958.
This line is now a preserved steam railway.
Two
4150 at Moretonhampstead with the 5.10 pm
train for Newton Abbot on 4th September 1958. Note the typical Brunel-style overall roof
in the background.
0-6-0PT 3606 near Cove Halt with the 9.30
Exeter St David’s – Dulverton Exe Valley line train on 6th September
1958.
Children talk to the driver and my parents
look on at Brixham as 1463 waits with the auto train for Churston on 5th
September 1958.
1959
began with a school trip on 13th January to Swindon Works and
Inside
The pioneer Hall class loco, 4900
It is a murky winter’s evening as
The Bristolian
was the world’s fastest steam train, running non-stop to Paddington in 105
minutes at an average speed of 67 mph.
Fifty years on and trains are only four minutes faster, although they do
now stop three or four times en route to London.
Scenes
on the
LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 45742 Connaught passes Stechford with the 8.50 from Euston to Birmingham
New Street and
The coaling plant at Saltley depot (21A)
with 4-6-0 75009 at the left and a 3F 0-6-0 at the plant. A wagon can be seen on the hoist.
LNW 0-8-0 49099 approaches
45111 sets off from Birmingham New Street
with the 3.53 pm to
Engineering work on the
Unrebuilt Patriot class 4-6-0 45533 Lord
Rathmore passes Stechford with a diverted parcels train.
4-6-2 no. 46200 The Princess Royal, looking very grubby and clearly in poor
mechanical condition, lethargically approaches Stechford with the diverted up Ulster Express
Tickets from LMR Birmingham area stations
Evening
in
GWR 2-6-2T no. 4573 waits at Cheltenham Spa
St James with the 7.15 pm to Kingham on 25th September 1959.
The
last slip coach service
Slip coaches were a nineteenth century
development whereby a carriage was uncoupled from the rear of an express train
at speed as it approached an intermediate station, enabling such destinations
to enjoy the benefits of ‘fast’ arrivals.
They were widely used throughout the country until the First World War,
but on a reduced scale thereafter.
Suspended once more during the Second World War, only the Great Western
Railway revived them afterwards. In the
early 1950s there were about a dozen slip coach services each day on former GWR
lines, serving such destinations as Didcot and Reading (from up trains) and
Westbury, Taunton, Princes Risborough and Bicester (from down trains). Gradually, they were replaced by additional
calls by expresses, until, by 1959, only one such working survived, shewn
below, which was discontinued in September 1960. Disadvantages of the slip coach were the
need for specially equipped carriages, a pool of guards trained to operate the
braking mechanism, and the need for special arrangements to return the carriage
to the starting point for its next working.
Bicester was the location of the last slip coach service. Two trains left Paddington for
A GWR King
approaches Bicester North at speed with the 5.10 pm Paddington to
The slip coach has already been dropped from
the rear of the express and can be seen some way behind as it coasts to a halt
in the station. The rear vehicle of the
4.34 Paddington –
A closer view of the slip coach rolling
gently to a stop on the through line.
A few moments later 6001 King Edward VII backs onto the now
stationary slip coach before attaching it to the front of the 4.34 Paddington –
Note in the last picture the special slip
coach tail lights at the left of the carriage and also the large warning bell
at both ends. The vehicle is number
W7374, built in 1948. It has a guard’s
slip compartment at each end and is shown carrying the late 1950s Western
Region chocolate and cream livery with the BR crest on the side. There was one first-class compartment
(seating six) and four second- (originally third-) class compartments each
seating eight passengers. Note that in
the few seconds which elapsed between taking the first and second photos, the
up platform to main line signal has been lowered, ready for the 6.0 pm Banbury
to Princes Risborough stopping train.
Bicester station is still quite smart today,
but there have been many changes. The
through lines have been removed, the footbridge has lost its roof, the goods
shed has gone, and the semaphore signals have been replaced by colour lights. The GWR Kings
and Castles which thundered through
at over 80 mph have been replaced by diesel multiple units which mostly stop at
the station which is now busier than at any time in its history.
My itinerary on this trip appears
below. I used a pre-booked Circular
Tour Ticket, which offered a discount of 10% off the ordinary single fare. Apart from witnessing the arrival of the
slip coach at Bicester, the tour included a delightful trip from
B’ham New
Street dep
10.27 (LMS Black 5 loco)
Worcester
Shrub Hill arr 11.26 dep 12.00
(
Princes
Risborough arr 3.41 dep 4.10 (GWR 0-6-0PT 64xx)
Bicester arr 4.46 dep 6.25 (GWR King
6001)
B’ham
Snow Hill arr 7.55
A most satisfactory day’s travelling!
My other railway pages can be accessed by clicking on the links below:
Railways.htm (Birmingham Snow Hill in 1953, Three West Midlands GW branches and South Wales in the 1950s)
Railways2.htm (Brecon and -Mid-Wales; the Somerset & Dorset line, GWR and LSWR lines in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall: all 1957-1962)
Railways3.htm (the
Railways4.htm (Birmingham area LMR; glimpses of Boston, Peterborough, and Lincoln; GWR lines in North Wales; a few shots on the Southern: all 1961-1963)
Railways5.htm (the decline of steam, including the Southampton line, Birmingham GW, North Wales, Stroud Valley and Manchester Victoria: 1964 -1968)
Trams.htm (the last days of
If our Home Page is not listed to the left of this page, it may be accessed here: www.robertdarlaston.co.uk