Taken by Graham Holroyd
Middleton Railway's Victorian Gala will be held on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th July 2016, and will feature three VCT steam locomotives. Also some services will be run on the afternoon of Friday 15th July
On Friday 15th July you can get a taste the Middleton Railway gala by riding Bellerophon and a mixed train at 2pm, 2.45pm, 3.30pm and 4.15pm. After the last train approx. 4.45pm there will be an opportunity to photograph all three VCT locos and possibly other gala stars 'on shed' at Moor Road. The best part is, the cafe and shop are open and a ticket to ride all afternoon is just £5 Adult and £2.50 child! Come down and avoid the weekend crowds."
Work on the Midland Railway Composite carriage is now centered around fitting out the compartments - a long painstaking job. Stuart Mellin continues to use his skills, as can be seen in the photos.
Vintage trains will run on 7 Sundays, this year. These are:
5 June, 19 June, 3 July, 17 July, 31 July, 7 August and 21 August.
The Metropolitan Brake Third 427 will be based at Oxenhope to work with the three Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway carriages and the Taff Vale 0-6-2 tank. The Chatham Third Brake 3554 and the Great Northern Railway six wheel Third Brake 589 will be working Ingrow to Keighley shuttles with either the London and North Western Railway 0-6-2 Coal Tank, or Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 tank Nunlow, working out of the museum each of the days.
Sir Berkeley will be shown in a feature about the Middleton Railway, on the "Made in Leeds" channel, on Monday 4th April from 6.00 to 6.30pm. Made In Leeds can be found on Freeview 8, Sky 117 and Virgin Media 157.
Swallows and Amazons, starring Kelly Macdonald, Andrew Scott, and Rafe Spall, was filmed in July 2015 using two VCT carriages, and will be released on 19th August 2016. Chatham 3554 was used for interior shots. The First Class Met 509 was used in the train and, at one point, had a fight staged on its roof!
The locomotive has been undergoing winter maintenance at Foxfield and is currently awaiting new brake pull-rods. Once these have been manufactured and the brake valve overhauled, the engine can be test steamed ready for his adventures for the year. The engine is visiting the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway at Ludborough on 1st to 3rd May, and will also be in steam there on Sunday 15TH May.
Then on July 16th & 17th, the engine is starring in a very special event at Moor Road on the Middleton Railway. As a “Thank You” to MRT for allowing SIR B to disappear for considerable periods of time and also working long hours to get the engine ready for the filming contract, we have agreed to allow the engine to visit MRT without any hire charge being made [MRT will be paying transport!]. Subject to everything working well, this event will see ALL of the Trust’s three locomotives together for the first time in many years! BELLEROPHON & SIR B will be hauling trains at Middleton, whilst “LORD MAYOR” will be on display during the day and all three locos will be posed together each day.
Our Manning got his 5 minutes of TV fame late last year when the TV series “Jericho” was screened – I don’t remember viaducts and green fields when we did the filming!! Since thaen the engine has been winterised and a few small jobs carried out for routine winter maintenance. The loco passed his steam test and is now available for traffic. This will be his last year in traffic before withdrawal for a full 10yr exam and overhaul, during which the smokebox will need replacement, along with a retube and some minor boiler work. The engine will be going out in a blaze of glory in July [He actually retires in October, but we are partying early!] when he takes part in Middleton’s Victorian Gala on 16th & 17th July. We will be pairing the two working VCT engines during both days and VCT members will be given free entry on production of a valid Membership Card. The engine will be taken out of service at the end of the 2016 season and then go on display at Moor Road’s Engine House until work has been completed on “Brookes No 1”, at which time he will go into works for his 10yr overhaul, expected to take around 18 months to 2 years, all being well.
Normally stationed at Ingrow, our little Hudswell will, all being well, take a trip to his birthplace for the MRT “Victorian Weekend” on 16th & 17th July so we can display ALL our steam locos together for the first time in many, many years. LORD MAYOR will be displayed outside the Engine House for most of the day, but will be posed with our other two locos each day for photos to be take. This is a very special occasion as the engine hasn’t been in Leeds since 1969 when he left for KWVR, so we are hoping it will draw some people along!! The engine will only be absent for a short period as he is an essential part of the museum’s attractions, particularly for children, so this is a very special occasion and we hope members will come along and see all our engines together.
The three day Winter Steam Gala will be using two of our carriages on the Vintage Train. Bulleid 1469 and Chatham 3554 will be in action.
After spending several weeks in the VCT workshops, Drewry Car OLIV has now returned to the Middleton Railway. Ian Dobson has provided two photos of OLIV, before and after Chris Smith's handiwork.
The photo on the left was taken on 6 May 2015 and the right hand one on 19 August 2015.
The Foxfield Railway recently completed restoration of two ancient North Staffordshire Railway Coaches (The Knotty). Both are 4 wheel Thirds , numbered 61 & 127. They date from late 1870s / early 1880s. Over the weekend of 27/28 June they were on hire at the Churnet Valley Railway so ran on genuine North Staffordshire track, and Bellerophon was brought in to pull them. Photos by Donald Horsfield.
