Midland Railway

Midland Railway: Open Day 28 August 2010

When Clive Hanley and I arrived at the Midland Railway Centre for an Open Event with an intensive timetable, we were disappointed to discover that the locomotives consisted of a 3F, 47237, in "Thomas the Tank Engine" livery (am I allowed to use those words without permission from the controlling company?) and a DMU. There was no point in relocating to the GCR as they had a "Postman Pat" day, so we had to make the best of things. Fortunately the site has a number of attractions including the sheds and the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, not to speak of some very friendly volunteers who allowed us to film in Swanwick signal box and the Princess Royal Trust sheds where 73129 is undergoing a re-tyre. Many thanks to the signalman at Swanwick and Colin at the Princess Royal Trust.

You Tube (10 mins)

47327 at Swanwick, Golden Valley, Swanwick and Butterley Reservoir; DMU at Swanwick; 73129, 80080, 80098 at the Princess Royal Trust

Midland Railway: Vintage Train Event, 22 August 2009

The Vintage Train event featured guest locomotive, 0-6-0 saddle tank Sir Berkeley from the Middleton Railway. Built by Leeds based Manning and Wardle & Co in 1890 the small engine was surprisingly powerful, hauling the vintage train for the whole day, although some emergency spanner work was necessary to address a minor injector problem. Accompanying the old engine was Standard 5 73129, with its 'state of the art' Caprotti valve gear.

The day, which promised so much with bright early sunshine, looked to be going the way of all our railway days as cloud built up towards lunch-time. However, this cleared quickly leaving us to enjoy a beautiful afternoon. Clive, whose presence at home was required for a visit from his in-laws, missed out! Maybe it is he who is the weather jinx after all! As ever the volunteers on the railway were extremely friendly, and the signalman at Swanwick kept me up to date with the test score.

You Tube: 10mins

14 July 2007 First Visit

Clive and I enjoyed a memorable visit to the Midland Railway Centre where we received a very warm welcome. Standard 5 4-6-0 73129, with the Caprotti valve gear, was the engine in steam.

The centre at Swanwick contains a museum dedicated to the Midland Railway, a large collection of steam and diesel locomotives, engine sheds and carriage and wagon works and is the home of the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust.

Many thanks to Mal, Paul and Roy who let us join them on the footplate for a trip up the line and made the day such a special one. Paul produces videos on "You Tube" under the guise of "trainmadpaul"

This clip shows the departure from Hammersmith adjacent to the scenic Butterley Reservoir. (5.4mB)

NB Unfortunately, after letting me down when filming at a wedding last week, my desperately unreliable Canon XM2 chose the return trip to fail again. I am beginning to think that Canon should stick to producing their superb still cameras and leave video to manufacturers who know what they are doing!

Many thanks to the signalman at Swanwick who allowed us photograph from the signal box balcony. Here we see the arrival and spirited departure of 73129 from Swanwick Station (5.1mB)

73129 steams powerfully under the disused gantry on the west side of the Swanwick complex. (2.2mB)

The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust Collection: 46203 Princess Margaret Rose and Royal Special Saloon Number 45000. The external shot of the saloon is courtesy of Clive Hanley. (5.0mB)

Many thanks to Brian Radford who allowed us to photograph the inside of the Royal Special Saloon. This impressive coach was built at Wolverton in 1920 for Sir G H Claughton, Chairman of the LNWR. Later used by Josiah Stamp, President of the LMS, Prince Edward and Winston Churchill, it was regularly used on the Royal Train after the War. It would appear that the bathroom and some of the bedroom fittings are of a much later date!

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