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Trains of thought - Editorial
Thoughts on the St Combs passenger service - John Macnab considers changes in passenger stock used on the branch from Fraserburgh, and muses on a push-pull era that might have been.
The life and times of GWR ‘Star’ No 4056 Princess Margaret - The last ‘Star’ class 4-6-0 to remain in traffic with BR was regarded by some Bristol men as their best ‘Castle’, Andrew Wilson explains why.
Station life - New Forest recollections - Tom Rayner recounts a conversation with Joe Young, who worked as a station porter at Brockenhurst, Sway and Holmsley.
STEAM DAYS in Colour - 194: Steam on the Cambrian - Barmouth to Pwllheli - Shown in both Western and London Midland Region days, this line is rarely far from the coast and is much loved by holidaymakers.
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West Coast roots - The Wigan Branch and its connections - Parkside on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway was the origin of the first public railway to Wigan. Stanley CJenkins MA and Andrew Kennedy trace its evolved form as part of the West Coast main line, and considering the multitude of links as part of the L&NWR.
A ‘V2’ to the rescue - Failures of locomotives on titled trains occurred occasionally, Chris Andrews tells how a ‘V2’ saved the day for ‘The Flying Scotsman’.
Reviews
Tail Lamp - readers’ letters
Cover: Immersed in a winter wonderland, British Railways Standard ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No 82031 has just passed the rail-served granite quarry on the approach to Minffordd with train 2M94, the 12.45pm Pwllheli to Birkenhead (Woodside) passenger service on New Year’s Day I 962. This view proved to be the Locomotive Club of Great Britain’s photographic competition winner for 1962. John Carter
Contents page photo: Only three Great Western ‘Star’ class 4-6-0s remained in service beyond 1954, these being Nos 4056, 4061 and 4062, No 4056 Princess Margaret, withdrawn in October 1957, features in this issue of the magazine. The penultimate ‘Star’ to remain in service, No 4062 Glastonbury Abbey, was withdrawn in March 1957 and is seen resplendent in BR livery, on shed at Old Oak Common in September 1955 when allocated to Swindon.
In this issue of Steam Days we take a look at the life of the last Great Western ‘Star’ class 4-6-0 to remain in traffic, No 4056 Princess Margaret, whose life ended in October 1957 after 43 years of service. The only other ‘Star’ to remain in service until 1957 (March) was No 4061 Glastonbury Abbey. I was fortunate to have started my trainspotting days as long ago as 1942, so seeing many of the ‘Stars’ in action was always a bonus for me.
No 4003 Lode Star, one of the original ‘Star’ class engines, started its preserved life in Swindon museum, but is now housed in the National Railway Museum at York. Sadly this special iconic locomotive is too precious to ever be steamed again; we believe it has cracked frames anyway.
Going back to my early spotting days I was fortunate to see many ‘Star’ class 4-6-0s at Worcester and the two particular services that I would see them working at Worcester (Shrub Hill) station were the 10.10am and 2.10pm trains to Paddington. Old Oak Common and Worcester-based ‘Stars’ passing through Worcester were also used on the 8.23am and 4.45pm Paddington to Wolverhampton services in GWR days, and the ‘Star attraction’ for me was Worcester’s Nos 4007 Swallowfield Park and 405 I Princess Helena.
In the 1940s, at a time when footplatemen were often allocated the same locomotive to maintain and drive, my sister Margaret was courting a red-headed Welsh engine driver whose locomotive was Great Western ‘Star’ No 4040 Queen Boadicea, and I recall one Sunday afternoon when she wanted to see him, he said he could not, as he was on duty. ‘But you are not on duty to 6 o’clock’, she said. ‘Yes’, he replied, ‘but I need to go to the engine shed at 4 o’clock to clean my engine’ - those were the days!
Regular ‘Star’ visitors to Worcester were the ‘Knights’, Nos 4012 to 4020, and I was once offered the nameplate and cab-side number plate off No 4018 Knight of the Grand Cross for £2,500 but I could not afford it at the time; I did later possess the nameplate off ‘Star’ No 4042 Prince Albert, but this is no longer in my possession, like many of my other railway collectables that I had to sell during difficult times for me.
We must not forget the ‘Star’ class locomotives that were converted to ‘Castles’ in the mid- to late 1920s (long before our time). These were Nos 4000, 4009, 4016, 4032 and 4037, and between 1937 and 1940, before my spotting days, ‘Stars’ Nos 4063-4072 were also rebuilt to ‘Castles’ and renumbered 5083-92. Of these ‘Castles’ my favourite was No 4016 The Somerset Light Infantry, Prince Albert’s, due to its three-line impressive nameplate with the regimental crest below the name. This nameplate can now be found at the Somerset County Museum at Taunton. Until February 1938, No 4016 was named Knight of the Golden Fleece. Enjoy your read and your own special memories.
