SteamoutlinelocomotiveBazalgetteandtheRoyalArsenalNarrowGauge
Railway’sfirstcarriage.RANGThefirstpassengertrainto passbeneathGasworksBridgesince1965 washauled
by Barcla y0-4-0STNo. 2261of1949, seenhereheadi ngatrainfromOswestryon
July13.PHIL BRADLEY/CHRCambrian opensextension at Oswestry
ByGareth EvansCAMBRIANHeritage Railways(CHR)
hasopenedasignificant295-yard
extensionto its operational passenger
line in Os westryand hasremovedthe
last major obstacleto running trainsto
Weston Wharf.
Onceregarded as an impediment
to the re-opening of theformer
CambrianRailwaysMain Line south
from OswestrytowardsLlynclys,
Gasworks Bridge,which takes the
railway under the B4579road,has
been the subjectofamajor civil
engineering projecttoe nable trainsto
pass under the steelgirders thathelp
to supportit.
Thehonour of hauling the first
passenger trainto pass beneath
Gasworks Bridge sinceJanuary
1965 fell to residentBarcl ay 0-4-0ST
No.2261of1949onJuly 13.
Itstrainload ofwell-wishers enjoyed
their journeyto the occupation
crossing alongside the premises of
Travis Perkins,befor ereturningto
Oswestryfor refreshments in CHR’s
popular Bufferstearoom. CHR general
managerRobWilliams said:“Although
not asignificantdistance, work
to achieve this latest phase of the
extensionwassizeable.
“Itmeans the last major
infrastructureobstacleto reach
Weston WharffromOswestryhas
beenremoved.
“The work at Gasworks Bridge
involved the line ofrailway being
movedtothe centre of th etrackbed
and the lowering of theformation.The
task wasmade morecomplexbythe
presenceofasewer andagas main
crossing the lineat this point.
“A furtherconstraintwas th eneed
to retain the supporting steelgirder
structure, which has been in place
sincethe bridgewaspermitted
to carry 44-ton trucks on theroad
above.This elementoft he project
wasdelivered thanksto support
from ShropshireCouncil,which owns
the line.”
As forthe future, Robsaid: “The
aim isto deliverarailwayof1¾miles
between Oswestrystation and theStonehouse BreweryVisitorCentre at
Weston Wharf, providingasignificant
economic boostto the area.
“Our team ofvolunteers are
cont inuing their goodwork bothat
weekends and during theweek on the
extension. Newrail and sleepers are
in placeonafurther quartermileof
line towardsWestonWharf–it awaits
final ballasting.
“The projectisb eing deliveredbyCHR with supportfromOswestry
Town Council and theEuropean
DevelopmentFund.”
Passenger trains arenow operating
along theextension onweekends in
August.
Jointticketing isavailableforboth
ajourney in Oswestryand at CHR’s
other operation at Llynclys, four miles
south of Oswestry, wherepublic
services arealso runningat weekends.Dawn of thecapital’s
latest heritage line
ByRobin JonesLONDON’S newest heritagerailwa yhas
carried its first passengers.
The2ft gaugeRoyalArsenal Narrow
Gauge Railway (RANG) is being built
to take visitorsto the Crossness
PumpingStati on inBexley from the
car park800 yardsaway.
Twoyears ago,the London
Borough ofBexley granted planning
permissionforthe project, which had
its beginnings inaThinkTank session
to enhancethe pumping museum.
CrossnessPumpingStati on was
designedby the MetropolitanBoard
of Works’chief engineer Sir Joseph
Bazalgetteand architectCharles
HenryDriverfor th eeaster nend of
the SouthernOutfal lSewer .Built
between 1859 and 1865, as partof
Bazalgette’sredevelopmentoft he
London sewage system, itfeatures
spectacular ornamental cast ironwork
thatarchitectural scholar and art
historianNikolausPevsner described
as“a masterpieceofengineering–a
Victorian cathedral of ironwork”.
To access the pumping station site
over marshland,buildingcontra ctors
Lucas &Aird, laid a2½-mile standard
gauge line fromPlumstead.The
course of thatrailway, which was
secretlyrelaid at the startofWorld
WarTwo,remainssubstantially intact
today, andisl argelyfollowedbyRANG,close to the routeoft he 18in
gaugeRoyalArsenal Railway.
Thenew line’s traincomprises
1986-builtrestoredSevern Lamb
steam-outline 4wDHBusy Basil,which
wasrenamedBazalgetteby SirPeter
Bazalgette, chairman of ITVand
presidentoft he Crossness Engines
Trust.The locomotivepreviouslyran
on the now-closedBygonesVillage
Museumrailway at Fleggburgh
in Norfolk.
TheCrossnessTeam volunteers,
who restored one of the largest
rotativ ebeam steam engines in the
worldin2003, began track-laying
on December 28 lastyear.RANG
operated its first passenger serviceon
June 23 andasecond on July 21 on a
320-yard section of track,while workon extending lineto the entrance
stationat LowerWebster’sJunction
cont inues,with aNovember target
date forcompletion of this section.
RANG wasawarded agrant
of £30,000 from the ENOVERT
CommunityTrust forthe purchase and
restor ation of the locomotiveand to
build an engine shed.
Theteam has in its possession 28
tons ofrail from theformer railway
at the MinistryofDefenceEastriggs
ammunition depot near Gretnato
completethe line.However ,itn eeds
to ra ise £9000to acquirepointsand
also to co nstructaplatformand a
ticket office.
Therestor ation ofasecond carriage
is plannedto take placeoverthe
wintermonth s.14 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway
NEWS
IN BRIEF
➜GWR Old OakCommon
sheds nowgone
HS2hascompleted the clearanceof
the GWR shedsatOld OakCommon
asworkcontinuestopreparethe
wayfor the project’sWestLondon
‘super-hub’.
Thesitewill be occupiedbyanew
station, designedtolink HS2 with
Elizabeth line(Crossrail) services
toHeathrowandcentralLondon,
and trainstoWales and theWest of
England,and it will be one of the
busiest interchanges in the UK.➜SevenShildonstructures
in need ofrepairs
THEScienceMuseum Group,which
ownsLocomotion:TheNational
RailwayMuseumatShildon, has
submitted planstoDurhamCounty
Counciltorepair seven buildings
within the ShildonConservation
area, namely theWelcome Building,
Soho House,SohoCottages (Nos.
and 4),Soho Shed,theGoods Shed,
theParcel Officeandthe BlackBoy
Branch Buildings.The buildings arein
apoor stateofrepair duetoahistoric
lack of maintenanceoverseveral
years and some havebeen closedto
the public duetotheir unsafenature.READTHESE ISSUES AND
HUNDREDSMOREIN THEclassicmagazines.co.uk/rmarchive