On January 25, 1955, the British government announced the end of steam on British railways. Here is some Wikipedia info. The anniversary is this Friday. Does anyone remember this? How long did it take for steam to be removed from normal usage? I had not heard about this before and did not know there was a formal announcement that ended the use of steam. Thanks.
Fascinating. I had not known this before. Seems as though some times, here in the USA, it sort of quietly went away. Other times, there was a formal company announcement. But nothing national was planned or foretold. Boxcab E50
BR actually kept building steam until 1960. In retrospect, this doesn't seem so smart. The last-built steamer, Evening Star, was withdrawn from regular service in 1965! But then again, many of their early diesel classes had very short lives. By 1968, several were already being withdrawn. Not every railroad that sets a date makes it, of course. In the 80s, India set a goal of 2000 for elimination of steam. They succeeded, with the exception of the Darjeeling Himalayan and Nilgiri Mountain railways, and I'm not sure how "real" those are anymore. Turkey is a strange case. They ordered their last steam in '52 and first diesels in '53 - then built two 2-10-0s in 1961. It wasn't until '67 or '68 that they officially decided to eliminate steam. They repreatedly set a date and failed to make it; steam lingered until the early 90s.
Ironic, considering that the Tornado A1 built from scratch for the last 18 years was just fired for the first time this month and passed boiler inspection. 53 years after the official end of steam, we have a rebirth in the UK. :tb-biggrin:
Jim- Is there a web site for that endeavor? I'd forgotten all about it! Would love to check in. Maybe see an archive of progress photos? BoxcabE 50
Tornado is due to make it's first run on national rail lines at the end of this month, with a more regular commerical runs starting in February. She's also now resplendent in Apple Green livery as opposed to horrid grey you may have seen before. The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust booking details here... Diary of Main Line Tours
Forgot to say that the last day of steam operation was July 4th 1968, although BR did run one final special train one week later. When the locos arrived back after running the trains they were immediately withdrawn for scrapping.
in Sept.1964, while I was in the U.S.Army stationed in Germany, I took a weeks leave and went to England. I toured London and then took a train to Salisbury since I wanted to see Stonehenge. I stayed at a small "mom & pop" hotel in Salisbury which was adjacent to the GWR main line. My room overlooked the tracks. There was still a good deal of steam still running at the time, unfortunately I ran out of film while shooting pix at Stonehenge and my budget was too limited to allow me to buy any more film. The hotel also had a "public house" and a number of railroad men came to the bar to have a drink or two(off duty of course!). The owner of the hotel/bar was a Freemason and his lodge held their meetings at his place. The railroaders were lodge members. I enjoyed looking out my hotel window at the parade of steam going by! It would seem to me that the British preservationist societies are more advanced than we are in their efforts to promote "alternative" motive power. CT
Sounds like you had a good vantage point and an interesting time Charlie. We are lucky in the UK to have many preserved railways which runs both steam and diesels. Plus many special charter trains using both forms of power regularly run on the main lines. The Nene Valley Railway is the preserved line nearest to me. This was my last visit to a steam gala. http://alansgallery.fotopic.net/c1367649.html A 1940's theme gala at the North Norfolk Railway last year: http://alansgallery.fotopic.net/c1584946.html And a diesel gala at the Mid Norfolk Railway the next day: http://alansgallery.fotopic.net/c1585117.html
Alan, what are the crank-handle looking things at rail height in front of the front bogies, sand delivery tubes?
Hank, not sure what you mean, but they are either guard irons (stone guards) which are there to knock small objects off the track before they get under the wheels, or they will be sanding pipes.
Alan, what I'm questioning is shown on both the newly built 60163 and on the 1306 Mayflower. In the 60163 top photo, the silver crank handle looking pipe(?) directly above the rail, in front of the right front bogie wheeel, next to your left shin. (Also in front of the left front bogie on the opposite side of the engine from you.) In the 1306 Mayflower second (nearer to camera) photo, the same configuration and location as with 60163, however painted black.
Hank, they are the guard irons. All locomotives have them, including diesels and electrics. They will deflect small objects, but not larger ones. They are on the frames if the locomotive has no bogies, also on tenders for when running in reverse, as seen here (painted red).
Here are some on the Mallard. Has big ones and little ones too. Not exactly a Cow Catcher but similar.
Yes Russell, the big ones are mounted on the frames and the small ones on the bogie frame as the frame ones would not be above the rails on a curve. The big ones are a handy mounting place for the cylinder drains.
