NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD

A 'golden hour' -  by Gary Thomas

Manchester Variety - report by Graham Breakwell

Cambrian Corner - with Ken Robinson

Merseyrail 777

Roll Britannia

197 doings 

From Dave Sallery's archive: Lein Amlwch

Looking Back: Staffordshire branches part 1 - by David Pool

On 14 June 1981 there was an excursion from Chester to the Churnet Valley, sponsored by the North Staffordshire Railway Museum at Cheddleton, who were hoping to reopen the line. The freights in this area were infrequent, so it was a good opportunity for photographs.

Similar excursions had run in 1980, but these are not well documented. I went first to Leek Brook Junction, which was a good location for a photograph, and eventually a DMU arrived with a “Churnetrail” headboard. It was a mixture of Class 108, 101 and 104 cars, but I only managed to record M51950, M50320 with M50519 on the rear. I think there were six cars in total, but if anyone can clarify this I would be most grateful. Note the sand on the tracks, which had come from the freights from the Oakamoor Quarry owned by British Industrial Sand.

I photographed the excursion at Cheddleton, and decided I should return to this area another day to explore the other line from Leek Brook Junction to Caldon Low. The quarry was named Caldon Low, as had been the Halt, but the nearby village is Cauldon, and today the spelling Cauldon Lowe is usually seen.

The quarry is about a mile from Waterhouses, which was the end of the narrow gauge Leek and Manifold Valley Railway from Hulme End, which closed in 1934, and the end of the branch from Leek Brook Junction. I had found a good location for a photograph at Winkhill, once a station near the end of the branch, and on 18 August 1981 a limestone freight arrived from Caldon Low behind 25 224, the typical motive power at that time. Note the gangway doors on the cab front which were seldom used and often removed.

A few years later on 19 August 1987 I returned to Cheddleton, where 47 331 was heading for Oakamoor with empty sand hoppers. The driver is getting the token from the crossing keeper, and the spectators have probably been visiting the museum and stored stock, since the Churnet Valley Railway was not able to use the branch for its trains until 1996.

Later in “Dutch”livery, 47 331 could be seen at Warrington Arpley on 20 May 1999, when it was about to depart at 09:25 with 6J70, the Chirk logs.

During my visit in August 1987, I had photographed a light locomotive at Ipstones between Leek Brook Junction and Caldon Low, which would be returning later from Caldon Low. After seeing 47 331 at Cheddleton I cut across to Winkhill , where I saw 31 247 returning with the freight. There would be severe speed restrictions on the line descending to Leek Brook Junction, and I had plenty of time to get to an overbridge on the line to Stoke. This was the site of Wall Grange and Longsdon Station, which had been closed in 1956 when passenger services had been withdrawn, but the platform was still visible.

Narrow gauge steam briefly reappeared at Hulme End on 18 June 1988, when permission was given to lay a temporary track for a short length of miniature railway on the footpath which uses the old trackbed. I cannot recall which model engineering group was involved, but the locomotive used was a scaled down model of one of the original locomotives, No2 J B Earle. I think the gauge was 10.25 inches, which would make it one third full size, but I can’t confirm this. The train is returning from the end of the track at Apes Tor.

By 2010 there had been many changes in the fortunes of the railways in the district. Caldon Low and Oakamoor both had ceased to use rail traffic, and the Churnet Valley Railway had bought the leasehold of the line between Leek Brook Junction and Froghall, enabling trains to be run. An organisation called the Moorland and City Railway had been trying to reopen the Caldon Low site and resume rail freights to Stoke, having purchased the line from Leek Brook Junction in 2009 on a 150 year lease.

The Churnet Valley Railway then obtained their permission to run trains occasionally beyond Leek Brook Junction towards Caldon Low. The opening day for these trains was 13 November 2010, with the guest locomotive 71000 Duke of Gloucester top and tailing with 8F 8624. I tried for a shot at Bradnop, at the top of the steep section from the Junction, but misjudged the effect of the cutting, which caused the train and locomotive to be buried in steam! At Winkhill the returning train made a better picture, but 8624 and 71000 were then tender first, and I had to settle for a “record” shot.

Twenty years earlier there was no problem with too much steam when photographing 71000 on 24 July 1990 returning from Holyhead to Crewe, and the background is unmistakeable.

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