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Contents Listing - Articles & Features in this issue
The 'Granges' — the GWR's most useful engines - Keith M. Beck
Turning to Tourism in the 1860s - Ken Norman
LNER motive power depot modernisation - National Railway Museum photo-feature
Railways in the Vale of Clwyd - Trefor Thompson
The Great Bear — success or failure? - Richard Jones
Local trains in the 1950s - Photo-feature by Brian Morrison
The Clogher Valley Railway - T. P. McDevitte
Article Snippets
Editorial:
AS THIS magazine closed for press it was learned with some relief that the threat of a strike being inflicted on British Rail's passenger and freight customers had receded (although not vanished completely) thanks to National Union of Railwaymen Guards voting against industrial action in the wake of BR's determination to introduce 'one-man' train operation. Problems of this nature bring into sharp focus the problems facing the railways today.
All over the country road-haulage contractors continue to bite substantial chunks of BR's freight business whilst the long-distance coach operators doubtless rubbed their hands together with glee as Jimmy Knapp's unmistakable tones prompted thoughts of a complete stoppage. Proposals at Didcot power station by the CEGB to move away from rail transport of fuel altogether in favour of a huge fleet of daily lorry traffic spotlight the need for the railways to compete favourably, although the idea defies logic in many ways: it will certainly create havoc environmentally and make life very uncomfortable for neighbouring residents. The notion of a train without a Guard is a particularly significant breach with tradition and yet this development seems inevitable if the train is to survive the threat from the lorry.
Major changes of this sort prompt an ever-deepening interest in the ways of the past and in Trains Illustrated 57 we explore another series of investigations into how our railway ancestors were 'getting there'. Locomotive interest is focused on the ways of Swindon, and as GW150 draws to a close Keith M. Beck investigates the claim that the 'Grange' 4-6-Os — now sadly extinct — were the GWR's most useful motive power, while Richard Jones looks afresh at Churchward's unique and intriguing The Great Bear, Britain's first (and the GWR's only) Pacific.
Welsh historian Trefor Thompson outlines the history of the now-extinct railways of the beautiful Vale of Clwyd, between Rhyl and Corwen, while Ken Norman looks at the Furness Railway's far sighted programme of tourist traffic, which played an important part in the railway's finances when its traditional mineral traffic started to wane in the 1860s.
T. P. McDevitte recalls the rustic appeal and charm of Ireland's Clogher Valley Railway while our quarterly dip in the National Railway Museum's archives looks at the LNER's locomotive depot modernisation of the 1930s, with the construction of mechanical coaling plants. These towering monuments to steam traction became famous landmarks and guided many a young locospotter through the backstreets of many towns to the engine shed, whether they had a permit or not! Few decades have seen such pace of change as the 1950s and in his photo-feature 'Local trains in the 1950s', Brian Morrison recalls how, firstly new steam designs, and subsequently dieselisation, changed the face of that most familiar mode of transport, the local passenger train. Even in the mid-1950s there was little to suggest that in many places the change would be short-lived. Within 10 years, not just the local trains, but the very right-of-way itself would have gone, vanished back into the landscape, almost as if it had never been there.
Throughout the 1950s Trains Illustrated reported this changing scene in detail, indeed, so closely did it reflect the progress of BR that in 1962 its title was changed to Modern Railways. Subsequently the Trains illustrated banner reappeared to cover various specific aspects of railway history and preservation on a quarterly basis. In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to present Trains Illustrated as a quality package at an attractive price, and it is with regret that we have to announce that it has proved impossible to maintain these ideals for 1986. Rather than rationalise the product, it has therefore been decided that Trains Illustrated should cease publication, with this issue being the last. We thank all readers and contributors for their support over the years. However, the Trains Illustrated name will continue to live on, as we shall be producing reprints of original Trains Illustrateds of the 1950s and 1960s during 1986. Four such reprints are planned and will be available at a price of £1.00 each.
AS THIS magazine closed for press it was learned with some relief that the threat of a strike being inflicted on British Rail's passenger and freight customers had receded (although not vanished completely) thanks to National Union of Railwaymen Guards voting against industrial action in the wake of BR's determination to introduce 'one-man' train operation. Problems of this nature bring into sharp focus the problems facing the railways today.
All over the country road-haulage contractors continue to bite substantial chunks of BR's freight business whilst the long-distance coach operators doubtless rubbed their hands together with glee as Jimmy Knapp's unmistakable tones prompted thoughts of a complete stoppage. Proposals at Didcot power station by the CEGB to move away from rail transport of fuel altogether in favour of a huge fleet of daily lorry traffic spotlight the need for the railways to compete favourably, although the idea defies logic in many ways: it will certainly create havoc environmentally and make life very uncomfortable for neighbouring residents. The notion of a train without a Guard is a particularly significant breach with tradition and yet this development seems inevitable if the train is to survive the threat from the lorry.
Major changes of this sort prompt an ever-deepening interest in the ways of the past and in Trains Illustrated 57 we explore another series of investigations into how our railway ancestors were 'getting there'. Locomotive interest is focused on the ways of Swindon, and as GW150 draws to a close Keith M. Beck investigates the claim that the 'Grange' 4-6-Os — now sadly extinct — were the GWR's most useful motive power, while Richard Jones looks afresh at Churchward's unique and intriguing The Great Bear, Britain's first (and the GWR's only) Pacific.
Welsh historian Trefor Thompson outlines the history of the now-extinct railways of the beautiful Vale of Clwyd, between Rhyl and Corwen, while Ken Norman looks at the Furness Railway's far sighted programme of tourist traffic, which played an important part in the railway's finances when its traditional mineral traffic started to wane in the 1860s.
T. P. McDevitte recalls the rustic appeal and charm of Ireland's Clogher Valley Railway while our quarterly dip in the National Railway Museum's archives looks at the LNER's locomotive depot modernisation of the 1930s, with the construction of mechanical coaling plants. These towering monuments to steam traction became famous landmarks and guided many a young locospotter through the backstreets of many towns to the engine shed, whether they had a permit or not! Few decades have seen such pace of change as the 1950s and in his photo-feature 'Local trains in the 1950s', Brian Morrison recalls how, firstly new steam designs, and subsequently dieselisation, changed the face of that most familiar mode of transport, the local passenger train. Even in the mid-1950s there was little to suggest that in many places the change would be short-lived. Within 10 years, not just the local trains, but the very right-of-way itself would have gone, vanished back into the landscape, almost as if it had never been there.
Throughout the 1950s Trains Illustrated reported this changing scene in detail, indeed, so closely did it reflect the progress of BR that in 1962 its title was changed to Modern Railways. Subsequently the Trains illustrated banner reappeared to cover various specific aspects of railway history and preservation on a quarterly basis. In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to present Trains Illustrated as a quality package at an attractive price, and it is with regret that we have to announce that it has proved impossible to maintain these ideals for 1986. Rather than rationalise the product, it has therefore been decided that Trains Illustrated should cease publication, with this issue being the last. We thank all readers and contributors for their support over the years. However, the Trains Illustrated name will continue to live on, as we shall be producing reprints of original Trains Illustrateds of the 1950s and 1960s during 1986. Four such reprints are planned and will be available at a price of £1.00 each.
