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No. 467
MAY 19 -
JUNE 15 2017
revealed: steam’s
main line future
exclusive interview
with Network Rail
Chairman Hendy
Unveiled:
The ‘SECRET’
GWR collection
PRICE £4.25
Big 1968
farewell
for Oliver Cromwell
‘UNION’S’ FINAL
COUNTDOWN...
Where to see
Cameron’s ‘A4’
this summer
YORK’S 4‐4‐0 GIVEAWAY
‘Why the ‘T3’ but not the Japanese Bullet train?’
- former shadow secretary calls for NRM answers

Issue 467 • may 19 - june 15 2017
CONTENTS
A classic 1930s
Southern Railway
scene, courtesy of
the Bluebell Railway.
Maunsell ‘S15’ 4-6-0
No. 847 is at Fireslip,
north of Horsted
Keynes, on April 18.
jon bowers
on the cover
No. 60009 Union of South
Africa exits Gisburn
Tunnel during its trial
run on April 26.
john cooper-smith
Regulars
watch steam
come to life
for more great
clips turn to p56
News
6 News
COVER ❖ NRM under scrutiny over ‘T3’
COVER ❖ 60009 returns to main line
❖ Vision unveiled for Great Hall
COVER ❖ ‘Great Britain X’ - full report
COVER ❖ 1968 gala for ‘Cromwell’
28 New-Build News
What next after Beachy Head?
30 industrial news
36 irish newS
38 narrow gauge NEWS
Features
42 nrm giveaways
Which other steam locomotives have
been de-accessioned?
50 the hidden hundred
A closer look at one of preservation’s
largest rolling stock owners
62 sir peter hendy on steam
COVER
An exclusive interview with Network
Rail’s chairman on steam’s future
68 L’ULTIMO TRENO
Steam’s last gasp in Eritrea
84 A LIFE ON THE FOOTPLATE
Carlisle driver Gordon Hodgson reflects
on a career spanning nearly 60 years
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57 gallery
72 DOWN MAIN
A proactive approach by Network Rail
could be crucial for main line steam
78 TOP LINk
Full analysis of Tornado’s 100mph run
and Pendennis Castle in 1965
91 MAILBAG
94 Book and gift Reviews
108 last year of the big four
Exploring a Southern byway with a
veteran ‘M7’ 70 years ago
114 Return Ticket
115 Tail lamp
inside track
27 Railways recruiting
83 Railways recruiting
96 bodmin & wenford railway
Chris Hatton tackles the issue of
recruiting younger volunteers
Guide
99 Events DIARY
100 Main Line Diary

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NEWS FOCUS
NRM could face Parliamen ta
‘giveaway’ of unique LSWR ‘T 3’
Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins asks why the National Railway Museum has ‘given away the family silver’.
HE National Railway Museum
T may have to explain its
policy on locomotive disposals
to Parliament, following its
controversial decision to give away
LSWR ‘T3’ 4‐4‐0 No. 563 to the
Swanage Railway. The Adams
locomotive moved to Dorset in April
(SR466).
Kelvin Hopkins, former Shadow
Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport, and Labour MP
for Luton North, has declared his
intention to press for answers
from the NRM in the House of
Commons, if he is returned to
Westminster following the General
Election of June 8.
The pro-steam politician attests:
“I believe 100% in historically
important artefacts being owned
by the nation. That the ‘T3’ has
essentially been privatised without
public consultation is a serious
matter which needs further
investigation. They are giving away
the family silver.”
Kelvin Hopkins, an unashamed
lifetime railway enthusiast, says
in a letter to Steam Railway: “This
That the ‘T3’ has essentially been privatised
without public consultation is a serious matter
which needs further investigation
is now the perfect opportunity for
the NRM to set the record straight
and, more importantly, clarify with
absolute detail and transparency
what the policy will be in future in
terms of due diligence, because
the most worrying aspect of this
episode appears to me to be
the speed, after announcement,
with which the gifting of the ‘T3’
occurred.
“The Museum should not simply
be guided by its own ethics policy,
it should stick to every letter of it
if it involves disposal of a national
asset to the private sector.” (See
Mailbag, page 92).
in brief
••
Vandals hit Telford
Vandals caused an estimated
£5,000 worth of damage at the
Telford Steam Railway on April
12, smashing windows in several
vehicles, including unique Mk 1
Lounge First Corridor No. 13360
and newly arrived Mk 2 Brake
Second Open No. 9406.
••
Blaenavon carriage shed
A three-road carriage shed is
being built at the Pontypool
& Blaenavon Railway, capable of
holding 15 Mk 1 vehicles. It will
enable operational coaches and
wagons to be kept under cover,
freeing up space in the yard. The
site has been graded and ballast
laid in preparation for new track.
••
813 for East Lancs
Port Talbot Railway 0‐6‐0ST
No. 813 is to make its first visit to
the East Lancashire Railway on
June 3/4, for the ‘Small Engines
Weekend’. Also in operation will
be L&Y 0‐6‐0 No. 52322, Hudswell
Clarke 0-6-0T Gothenburg and
diesel shunters.
••
Full circle for Richard
Richard Jones has been appointed
as the West Somerset Railway’s
new Head of Operating, 40
years after he joined the line as
a volunteer in 1977. He previously
held the role of Operations Officer
at the Keighley & Worth Valley
Railway, and has also served as
General Manager of the Bodmin
& Wenford and Swanage Railways.
GWR livery BACK ON 1369 - but not as we know it!
After its spell in BR black livery to
partner Beattie well tank No. 30587,
Weymouth and Wadebridge
pannier tank No. 1369 has reverted
to GWR livery… with a difference.
For its final day in service at the
South Devon Railway on May 9,
the Collett ‘1366’ was given the
green livery and silver lettering
of today’s main line passenger
operator Great Western Railway.
The train operating company gave
permission for its colour scheme
- normally applied to its fleet of
High Speed Trains, DMUs and
new Hitachi units - to be used on
No. 1369 for just one day.
The contrasting theme of ‘GW
past and present’ continued with
the application of a ‘Z48’ reporting
number to No. 1369’s smokebox -
marking May 9’s anniversary of the
famous Ian Allan ‘Great Western
High Speed Railtour’ of 1964.
With its boiler certificate now
expired, No. 1369 is in the queue
for what, it is hoped, will be a
relatively swift overhaul. Its place in
the SDR operating fleet will be filled
by ‘Small Prairie’ No. 5526.
Collett ‘1366’ 0‐6‐0PT No. 1369
in the livery of today’s train operator,
next to the Great Western Main Line
at Totnes Riverside on May 9.
CALLUM WILLCOX
12 • Issue 467 • MAY 19 - JUNE 15 2017

tary questions to explain
T 3’ 4-4-0
Declaring his intention to
consult on the issue with York’s
own MP - whoever that may be
after the General Election - Mr
Hopkins stressed: “There are
many questions that need to be
answered. Why are they keeping
the Japanese ‘Bullet train’, and
getting rid of the ‘T3’? Is the NRM
somehow saying that the ‘T3’ is no
longer relevant? To me, seeing it
at the museum was always a real
‘wow’ moment - and now that has
been lost.
“If the Museum has space
issues, surely long-term loans are
the solution? And how much is
the ‘T3’ worth? We need to know
how much it was insured for,
because it is now off the books
- and someone else has benefited
from it.”
Kelvin Hopkins was elected MP
for Luton North in 1997 and has
increased his majority at every
election since.
NRM: no national collection ‘clearout’ under way
The NRM has told Steam Railway
that no locomotive and rolling stock
‘clearout’ is under way, in response
to a concern raised by former
director Steve Davies (SR466).
It has also said there has been
no change in the NRM and Science
Museum’s policy on disposals and
that it follows Museum Association
guidelines on transparency.
SR asked: Following the disposal
of the ‘T3’, what other locomotive
or rolling stock disposals from the
National Collection are presently
under discussion or ‘in the
pipeline’? Please give full details,
including the identity of prospective
recipients, in line with the Museums
Association’s guidelines on
Guaranteed paths can be
secured to ensure that steam
does not get squeezed off the
main line, confirms Network Rail
Chairman Sir Peter Hendy.
In an exclusive interview
with Steam Railway, Sir Peter
says that “in the next year to
18 months” space needs to be
reserved in the timetables, to
allow steam to continue on an
openness and transparency.
NRM: We follow the Museum
Association’s guidelines on
openness and transparency and
publish details of all significant
decisions affecting the Collection.
However this does not extend
to providing details of ongoing
discussions regarding the
management of the Collection.
We publicise disposals after the
decision to dispose has been
made by our Board of Trustees.
We believe this is in the spirit of
the guidelines, which emphasise
that disposals occur for curatorial
reasons.
SR: Is the de-accessioning of
the ‘T3’, less than a year after the
‘save space for steam’ says NR chairman
increasingly crowded national
network and run into and out
of London.
The plans will apply to the
East and West Coast Main Lines,
and the newly electrified Great
Western Main Line, as well as
secondary routes, he adds.
He comments: “If we don’t do
this now, in the years between
now and 2025, everything’s
de-accessioning of North Staffs
Railway 0‐6‐2T No. 2, indicative of
a change in NRM policy in favour of
gifting National Collection exhibits
to third parties (where previously
the policy was of fixed-term loans)?
NRM: There is no change in the
National Railway Museum and
Science Museum Group’s policy
on disposals at https://group.
sciencemuseum.org.uk/policy/
group-policies
SR: Talking to Steam Railway last
month, former NRM Director Steve
Davies MBE raised the question
of a locomotive and rolling stock
‘clearout’ by the Museum. Is this
what is happening? If so, why?
NRM: No.
going to be so full that such an
opportunity won’t be there.”
It follows a summit in early
April on the topic of main
line steam, in which gauging
problems, and the impending
need for controlled emission
toilets on all trains, were also
discussed.
For more, see pages 62-67
and ‘Down Main’, pages 72/73.
‘T3’ No. 563 is dragged into Corfe
Castle by a diesel shunter soon after
its arrival at the Swanage Railway on
April 12. As reported last issue, the
‘Purbeck Line’ hopes to return the
Nine Elms-built 4‐4‐0 to steam.
ANDREW P.M. WRIGHT
‘King’ and
‘Railmotor’ up
for Old Oak bash
Didcot Railway Centre’s ‘King’
No. 6023 King Edward II and
steam ‘Railmotor’ No. 93 are
the first two exhibits requested
for the Old Oak Common open
day on September 2.
As reported in SR465,
train operator Great Western
Railway is planning a
gathering of GWR engines for
the event, titled ‘Legends of
the Great Western’, and likely
to be the last open day at the
former 81A depot before the
site is used for High Speed 2’s
West London station.
Like its previous forays
onto the national network
for branch line shuttles at
Southall and in Cornwall, the
‘Railmotor’ would be towed
to and from Didcot over the
Great Western Main Line.
Issue 467 • MAY 19 - JUNE 15 2017 • 13

Cut off
in his prime
Main line steam driver GORDON HODGSON was within weeks of completing 60 proud
years on the footplate - but in July last year he failed the medical - and in an instant, his
career was over. Here he tells DAVID WILCOCK of the despair he felt at that moment,
and reflects on the highs and lows of nearly six decades of ‘marriage’ to the railways.
84 • Issue 467 • May 19 - JUNE 15 2017

GORDON HODGSON - PART ONE
For almost 40 years, since the 1978 revival
of main line steam in the North West,
Carlisle engineman Gordon Hodgson has
been one of the stand-out names in the
‘top link’ of men who drive and fire our
steam charter trains, week in, week out.
A proud and articulate professional who began his apprenticeship
as a fireman on the Waverley Route as long ago as 1957, Gordon’s
‘oneness’ with a locomotive and his predilection for ‘driving to
the full’ has been a trademark long acknowledged by footplate
colleagues, and one certainly appreciated by enthusiasts.
At just 5ft 6in in his stockinged feet, there have long been jokes and
banter among footplate colleagues about him needing a stepladder
to get the regulator handle down from the roof, but Gordon’s record
speaks for itself: holder of the ‘Blue Riband’ for the fastest run to Ais Gill
summit with a Class 7 engine, fastest recorded time between Carlisle
and Shap summit with 12 coaches, the highest sustained power output
(2,900bhp) up Beattock (all, coincidentally, with the ‘A2’ class ‘Pacific’
No. 60532 Blue Peter) and many more besides.
Locomotive fitness and efficiency may be variables, but the name
Gordon Hodgson on ‘A4’
Union of South Africa at
Hellifield on March 30 2013.
EDDIE BOBROWSKI
I came back home from the
medical, and I’m not ashamed to
admit it, I had a good old cry
‘G. Hodgson’ on a steam crewing notice has been the nearest you
could get to a guarantee of exhilarating, polished performance.
As he says: “There’s a fine margin between using and abusing an
engine, but for me, express locomotives should always be driven at
full regulator, to get the maximum benefit out of superheat.”
In July last year though, Gordon’s name suddenly disappeared
from West Coast Railways’ crewing roster. There were no reports
to say he had been ill - and retirement for a man so passionate
about steam and so staunchly wedded to the footplate was quite
unthinkable. He was simply there one minute, and gone the next.
Some days later, the grapevine brought the news that Gordon,
then 77, had failed his six-monthly medical - on his hearing. His
footplate career - just six months short of 60 years - was suddenly
at an end. That he was still as fit as a flea, demonstrated the mental
agility of men half his age, and walked England’s
highest fells on his days off, counted for nothing.
Devastated
Friends and followers met the news of Gordon’s
enforced retirement with sadness and sympathy,
but to the man himself, it was a devastating, lifechanging
thunderbolt. It felt as though the bottom
had fallen out of his entire world.
“I came back home from the medical, and I’m
not ashamed to admit it, I had a good old cry,” he
admitted when I met him at his Carlisle home a
few weeks ago. “It wasn’t how I’d expected to retire
from the railway. I was so hoping to get that 60
years in, at least.
“I always knew that the hearing in my right ear wasn’t as good as
in my left, but I never had any fears or qualms about the medical.
The doctors used to say to me that considering the environment
I’d been working in - on a noisy footplate over so many years - my
hearing was generally better than might be expected.
“The practical test involved hearing someone speaking at a
certain distance away, and checking that I could use radios and
telephones without any difficulty. I’ve got a hearing aid, and that’s
fine when I’m working a diesel - but it was useless on a steam
engine because there’s so much ‘percussion’ and echo in the
receiver that it’s difficult to differentiate one noise from another.
Everything was being drowned out.
“I asked the doctor if I could take the test again - but he said
no. He was sorry, but he had to draw the line somewhere. I was
devastated. I’d expected to pass the practical test again - but as the
doctor said, if anything happened as a result of my hearing - any
incident - it would come back on him, and he would be out of a job.
“During previous medicals, some of the doctors had asked me
how long I intended to continue on the footplate. I always said that
I’d carry on for as long as I still felt capable, confident and happy
doing it - but the moment I felt uncomfortable doing it, I’d stop.
I never reached that stage.
“One of the biggest disappointments was losing the last year on
the Settle line, following the major landslip in the Eden Gorge near
Armathwaite, in February last year. Sixty or seventy per cent of my
work was on the Settle & Carlisle.
It hardly looks like a shed about to close, but this was Carlisle Canal, taken
from the coaling stage on the last weekend before the locomotives were moved
to Kingmoor on June 10 1963. The fulsome variety of engines in steam includes
‘A4’ No. 60012 Commonwealth of Australia, ‘A3’ No. 60100 Spearmint, ‘V2’
No. 60816, ‘B1’ No. 61099 and, just visible out of steam on the far road of the
straight shed, ‘Britannia’ No. 70020 Mercury. Also identifiable in the frame are
‘Black Five’ No. 45195 and Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42187. Peter J. Robinson
Issue 467 • MAY 19 - JUNE 15 2017 • 85

Gordon Hodgson’s first firing turn was on a Gresley ‘K3’
2-6-0 over the Waverley Route to Hawick. No. 61885
heads an afternoon Carlisle-Edinburgh goods on the
ten-mile climb from Newcastleton to Whitrope summit
in autumn 1952. E.E. SMITH/RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON
Footplate fix
“Footplate work is a bit of a drug really. One of the biggest things
that I’ll miss is the companionship of other railwaymen, not just on
the footplate, but the mechanical staff, the fitters - everyone. The
railway has often been described as one big family, and that’s how it
has always felt to me.”
You wouldn’t have to speak to too many railwaymen at the sharp
end of today’s main line steam activity in the North West to learn of
the special regard in which the name Gordon Hodgson is held. His
pedigree, professionalism and prowess almost suggests that he was
born into a railway family. Actually, his father was a roads foreman
with Cumberland County Council, though he tragically died in a
motorcycle accident when Gordon was just a lad of 11.
The young Gordon Hodgson grew up ‘in the sticks’ at
Hutton‐in‐the-Forest, a rural hamlet some seven miles north west of
Penrith, noted for its historic country house.
The other ‘cab’ in
Gordon Hodgson’s life,
is the driving seat of his
1966 model V4-engined
Saab 96. When he
bought it 47 years ago,
in 1970, it had done just
48,000 miles - but in
taking it all over
Europe, he’s been
‘round the clock’ three
times, and the present
mileage reads 345,000.
How many miles he’s
done on steam
footplates over the past
60 years though, can
only be guessed at.
DAVID WILCOCK
Most of his childhood was spent helping out on the two farms
either side of the cottage where he lived. He remembers it as “an
idyllic upbringing, away from the pressures of life”. Many years later,
when asked by his wife Rachel what his favourite toy had been as a
kid, his straight answer was “a Fordson tractor”. He’d been driving
one since the age of nine, for as he points out: “there were no health
and safety regulations on farms then.”
Farm work was pretty much the only real employment to be had
locally, so when Gordon left school at 15, he became a farm hand.
“I didn’t have ambitions to join the railway then,” he explains, “but
from an early age I was smitten by steam traction and the power
of them. Bill Dowthwaite, a family friend who ran an agricultural
contractors business, used to take steam engines and threshing
machines around all the farms, and occasionally we’d go for Sunday
tea at the Dowthwaites.
“There would usually be a threshing engine in steam, ready to go
out on Monday morning, and we used to trundle down the
field outside his house on one of these traction engines. It
was great fun, and my interest in steam grew from that.
“I really liked farm work, but by the time I was 18
I could see the prospects for progression weren’t brilliant.
Nearly all the farms around us were tenanted, and
belonged to the Hutton House estate, and I could see
myself still being a farm worker at the age of 65 - so
I thought I’d try the railway.”
There was, though, another motive for Gordon to ‘try
the railway’. He was approaching the age of compulsory
national service in the armed forces… and he knew
railwaymen were exempt. Like many boys of his age, he
found the prospect of two years in the Army less than
appealing - so he wrote to British Railways in Carlisle, and
declared his hand. He wanted to make his career on the
footplate as a fireman, and ultimately as a driver, he said.
86 • Issue 467 • May 19 - JUNE 15 2017

GORDON HODGSON - PART ONE
A3 ‘Pacific’ No. 60068
Sir Visto, one of the four
long-serving Canal ‘A3s’,
undergoing maintenance
on one of the two
straight roads at the
north side of the
roundhouse in early
1962. PETER J. ROBINSON
I gave some thought to taking the
£300 severance, but I thought that
even driving a diesel was better than
digging holes for the gas board
Clean start
He could have been directed to any of the four steam sheds still
active in Carlisle then - but it was to the former North British shed -
Canal - which provided the ‘south end’ motive power for the Carlisle
- Edinburgh Waverley Route - that he was despatched, starting there
as an engine cleaner exactly a week before Christmas in 1956.
“I was very fortunate in one way,” he reflects, “because I was
already 18 and old enough to go firing, whereas most of the cleaners
- there were about 20 of us - were only 16 or 17. Because of my age,
I skipped at least a year of cleaning, and got my first firing turn after
only five or six months.
“It was a Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1957 - I hadn’t even
been passed out for firing - but the Running Foreman came to me,
told me one of the booked firemen had reported in sick, and asked me
to go out with his driver on a freight to Hawick. I don’t remember too
much about it, except that it was a Canal ‘K3’ 2‐6‐0 - possibly (6)1916 or
(6)1938.” Gordon’s first turn on the shovel passed off without incident.
‘UNOFFICIAL PRACTICE’
“I was always dead keen to go firing,” he explains. “One of the
cleaning shifts we used to work was 6pm to 2am, and shortly after
we finished, there was a goods train - the ‘02.42 North’, waiting in
Canal yard to go to Hawick. On a number of occasions, I’d join the
driver and fireman on the footplate, and they’d have me firing - a
bit of ‘unofficial practice’ if you like - and then we’d work back from
Hawick on another freight.
“Sometimes I’d get to fire over the whole trip. Usually, the booked
firemen didn’t argue much - they were happy to let you take over -
and I got to know and understand quite a few engines this way.
“On the semi-fitted trains, we usually had a ‘K3’ or a ‘B1’ or,
if your luck was really in, you’d get a ‘V2’. They ran through to
Edinburgh, though we’d change over at Hawick with St Margarets
or Haymarket men, and they’d take the train on to Niddrie yard, or
wherever (Millerhill yard hadn’t then been built).
“Funnily enough, my first official firing turn over the Waverley,
after being passed out by the inspector, wasn’t on a Canal engine - it
was on ‘Clan’ 4‐6‐2 No. 72002 Clan Campbell - a very rare visitor
from Polmadie (Glasgow). What brought it to Canal, I never knew.
“I can’t remember another occasion when a ‘Clan’ worked over
the Waverley line. A lot of enginemen didn’t like them, but I got to
know them when I was later transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor (12A),
and I quite liked the way they handled. I never had a problem with
a ‘Clan’. I actually wrote an article for the lads who are building the
new ‘Clan’, Hengist, and I gave a talk at their AGM in Carlisle, based
on my brief experience with the class at Kingmoor.”
The Canal shed that Gordon remembers in the latter half of
the 1950s was a busy depot, but nonetheless had that sense of
‘family’ to it. The allocation comprised some 50 engines and 200
sets of men, who covered not just the Waverley Route but also the
Newcastle & Carlisle - mostly coal trains, working opposite the men
from Blaydon - the Silloth branch, which was among the first to start
using Derby lightweight DMUs in place of steam, and the Waverley
Route branch from Riddings up to Langholm.
Canal’s working fleet in those days included half a dozen ‘B1s’, a
similar number of ‘K3s’, a dozen ‘J39’ 0‐6‐0s, a couple of ‘D49’ ‘Shire’
4‐4‐0s (Nos. 62732 Dumfriesshire and 62734 Cumberland), a single
‘D49’ ‘Hunt’ (No. 62747 The Percy) and a handful of LNER ‘N15’ 0‐6‐2Ts
and LMS ‘Jinties’ - the latter two types being three-shift engines which
worked around the clock in Canal goods yard. But the stars of the show,
as many readers will know, were the four Gresley ‘A3’ class ‘Pacifics’
shedded there, principally for working express and semi-fast (limited
stop) passenger trains over the Waverley.
Between Gordon starting at Canal in December 1956 and the
withdrawal of the ‘A3s’ for scrapping in 1961 and 1962, the four -
Nos. 60068 Sir Visto, 60079 Bayardo, 60093 Coronach and 60095
Issue 467 • MAY 19 - JUNE 15 2017 • 87

‘A3’
No˙ 60095
Flamingo waits
to take over the
Down ‘Waverley’ from
‘Black Five’ No˙ 44883
at Carlisle Citadel on
June 15 1959. T.G. HEPBURN/
RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON
Flamingo - were a constant, though as he recalls: “If one was just out
of the works, we could expect it to be nicked. If the Haymarket men
got their hands on it, we didn’t see it again for a good while!
“There were two firemen in the Edinburgh link who didn’t fancy the
work. One didn’t get on with his mate and preferred to go off fishing,
while the other preferred to spend his time working in the corner shop
in Carlisle that his wife owned - the railway was just a hobby for him -
so I would swap turns with them both, a month at a time.
“When one had finished on the Edinburgh jobs, the other was just
coming on to them - so for a good eight weeks out of ten, I was able
to fire on the Waverley passenger turns!
“Our ‘A3s’ had all been converted to the double Kylchap blastpipe
- but a good ‘V2’ over the Waverley banks was just as good as an
‘A3’. I used to rate the ‘V2s’ - terrific engines. We didn’t have any
allocated to Canal, but we regularly got to work those allocated to
St Margarets and Haymarket, though those from Dundee were the
best-maintained of them all.
Full set
“We saw quite a few ‘A1s’ and ‘A2s’ as well over the
Waverley, and also the rebuilt ‘P2s’ - Earl Marischal,
Mons Meg, and Wolf of Badenoch. Once the ‘A4s’ were
cascaded down off the East Coast Main Line, we
would get to use them too - nearly every day - so I got
to work all of the LNER ‘Pacifics’.
“We had some interesting visitors to Canal as well in later years;
I remember quite a few ‘Britannias’ and also a number of WDs
which had worked down from Scotland on a variety of freights.”
These were happy years for Gordon - but profound changes were
already looming on the horizon.
He recalls: “There had been rumours about closure flying around
for years, but the final nail in the coffin was the opening of the big
marshalling yard at Kingmoor, which meant that Canal’s yard work
was transferred there, along with all the freight work from Upperby.
“Until then, we had seven marshalling yards in Carlisle - our
own, Dentonholme, the North Eastern yard at London Road, the
Maryport & Carlisle yard at Currock, the Midland yard at Durranhill,
I got to
work all
of the LNER
‘Pacifics’
North British ‘N15/1’ No. 69186 outside Inverurie Works awaiting redelivery to
Edinburgh St Margarets shed (64A) following an extensive overhaul and repaint
on June 25 1957. As a young fireman, Gordon Hodgson worked extensively on
these 0-6-2Ts in the goods yards around Carlisle, and on trip freights between
the yards. BRIAN MORRISON
the LNWR yard at Upperby, and the Caledonian yard at Kingmoor.
A lot of the work I did when I first started firing was trip working,
transferring freight from one yard to another.
“Once the closure of Canal was confirmed, a lot of
the lads got paid off. BR was offering £300 a man for
voluntary redundancy - a lot of money then. Many lads
took up the offer because there was plenty of alternative
employment in Carlisle at that time; they were building
the M6 motorway, and also a new rocket-testing site at
Spadeadam, on the Newcastle road by Gilsland.
“I’ll admit, I gave some thought to taking the £300
severance - but I really enjoyed working on the railway,
and to be honest, I thought that even driving a diesel was better than
digging holes for the gas board! One of the good things though was
that many of the lads who left did come back to the railway, filling the
vacancies we then had for guards.”
For Gordon, the sadness of Canal’s closure, on June 23 1963,
was balanced by his transfer to Carlisle Kingmoor (12A) - a big shed
(including fitters and labourers, there were more than 1,000 men
employed), covering different routes, including the Caledonian (West
Coast Main Line) over Beattock, the Glasgow & South Western route
to Glasgow - and the Settle & Carlisle. SR
●●
You can read the second instalment of Gordon Hodgson’s story in
a forthcoming issue of Steam Railway.
88 • Issue 467 • May 19 - JUNE 15 2017

A FATHERS’ DAY
to remember
From the thrill of driving a steam locomotive to the simple pleasure of a good DVD,
Steam Railway’s guide to Fathers’ Day gifts has got it covered
ROGER McDERMAID
Driving a steam locomotive was the dream of
many a schoolboy. Although the days of steam
have passed, it is still possible to enjoy the sight,
sound and smell of a locomotive at work on
preserved railways across the country.
This Fathers’ Day, why not live the dream with
a driving experience on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway or the
East Lancashire Railway?
Or, if the footplate isn’t your thing, take a relaxing ride in a
quaint and quirky carriage through the dramatic countryside
of Mid-Wales on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, or
perhaps sample the delights of vintage road vehicles at the
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
You can look the part too with a Flying Scotsman
gentleman’s messenger bag from The Bradford Exchange,
perfect whether you’re out on the lineside, working
on the footplate or watching the scenery roll past your
carriage window.
Even in June, sometimes the weather can turn ‘British’, so while
the rain may keep you at home, it certainly won’t dampen your
spirits. The offerings available from GB Productions, covering
the latest main line and preserved railway steam, can be enjoyed
whatever the weather. What better way of rounding off a day of
enjoying and indulging your hobby to the full?
Whatever you do, have a great Fathers’ Day.
the days of steam have
passed, But it’s still
possible to enjoy the sight,
sound and smell of a
locomotive at work
103 • Issue XXX • XXXXXXXX XX - XXXXXXX XX 20XX