Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

ByGeoffCourtney

MANGAPPSRailway Museumowner
John Jolly iscelebrating theworking
venue’s 30th anniversarybyunveiling
an expansion projectthatwill propel
the E ssex visitorattraction into amajor
playeronthe preservation scene.
Under the scheme,onwhich
work has already started, covered
spacefor locomotiveand rolling
stockrestor ation and servicing will
be doubled,the museum will be
substantiallyextended,and anew
carriage shedconstructed.
Thefirst partoft he £1million
projectist he new three-road 150ft
long carriage shed on whichwork
has proceededat apacethatenables
it to be already in partial use.This
will befollowedbya60ftextension
to the locorunning shed and an 80ft
four-roadextensionto the site’smain
museum, which is hometo awidely
acclaimedrailwayana collection.
Other elements of thework willbe
improved public and disabled access
and alterations to the museum’s
three-quarter-mile standard gauge
track layout thatwill allowmore
frequenttrains forvisitors.John
is also promising additionsto his
locomotiveand coaching stock fleet
and railwayana collection.
Themuseum, near Burnham-on-
Crouch,wasfoundedby John and his
wifeJune in the summer of 1989 as
MangappsFarm Railway,‘farm’being
dropped 12years laterasf armi ng

took aback seatand has now

disappearedcompletely.

Thecollection ofex-BR diesel

locomotivesgradually increased,

and nowincludes Class 31s

Nos.31105 (ex-D5523) and 31233

(D5660), Class 47 No.47579 (D1778),

four Class 03 shunters andaClass 04.

No.47579,namedJames Nightall

G.C,iscurrently on loanto the

Mid-HantsRailway.Thereare also

twoindustrial steam locomotives,

twoindustrial diesels,and a

selection offormer BR multiple units

and LondonTransportTube stock.

Other stock includes morethan 80

carriages and goodswagons,making

it one of the mostcomprehensive

collections on anyUKheritage

line,with theformer including

representatives of the GER–the

oldest of which date from 1864 –

LNER, LSWR,GNR, SECR, GWR and BR.

Amongst John’s collection is a

caboose,built by the CanadianPacific

Railway in 1981, and so important

is it to the museum the heightof

the doors of the new carriage shed

is 16ft1in,toe nable this pieceof

NorthAmerican railway historytobe

accommodatedundercover.

Themuseum’s railwayana

collectioncomprises thousands of

items,and includes nine GWR, LMS,

LNER andStandardnameplates, and

currently spreadsover 10,000sqft of

floor space.

As he surveyed theredevelopment

gathering pace, aproud John,

who described the projectast he

equivalenttoarelaunch,recalled a

quotehemade toHeritageRailway

just fiveyears ago,when the museum

wascelebrating its silver anniversary:

“Westartedsmall and have grown

steadily.Whilewewill never bealong

line,nor have afleet of big engines,

we thinkthatint erms of interest and

variety, we can equal,ore vensurpass,

manyoft he‘big’heritagerailways.”

With the 30th anniversaryofi ts

founding having arrived, along

with theworkmen, digger trucks

and construction equipment,

thatpride has taken on an even

deeper meaning.

Meanwhile,John is gearing upfor

alargereunion offormer Stratford

railwaymen, which is being held

at the museum onAugust 17, as

reportedlastissue.

“I am lookingforwardtoit,”hesaid.

“One of the things thatgot me into

railwayswereSaturda ytours of the

shed andworks in around 1957/58.

Also,some of ourvolunteers hereare

ex-Str atford men.”

Clas s25s D7612andD753 5approachHoodBridgewiththe

2T0611.40amBuckfastleighto TotnesRiversideservice

onJuly20, duringtheSouthDevonRailway’sgolden

anniversarydieselgala,whichalsofeaturedguestClass31

D5518fromtheAvonValleyRailway.DWVHUNT

Spaceformore:Thethree-roadcarriageshedbeingbuiltatMangappsRailway

MuseuminEssexaspartofamajorexpansionprogramme.Inset:Theinterior

oftheshed, whichisalreadyinpartialus e. Nearestthecameraisan ex-North

East ernRailwayperisha blesvan,builtabout1900,thatin1 943wasco nverted

intoarecti fiervanandlaterastoresvan, inwhichguiseitsatina sidin gat

NorwichThorpeformorethanfourdecadesbeforebeingacquiredby JohnJolly.

Behi ndthisvetera nisa1929 LNERGresle yteakcoac h,andthena1921LSWR

brakethird.JOHNJOLLY

Majorextension will propel

Mangappsintothe bigleague

26 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway

NEWS

IN BRIEF

➜PLANSbythe NationalTrustfor

Scotlandforanew permanentsnack

bar in the visitors’car park serving

theWest Highland Extension’s

GlenfinnanViaduct–amagnet

forHarryPotter fans–havebeen

approvedbyHighlandCouncil.A

new car parkwasapprovedlastyear

to cope with an estimated2000 daily

summer visitors who arrivetoview

the viaductandWest CoastRailways’

‘J acobite’ steam servicepassing

over it.

➜AVINTAGElamppost from a

disused plot of land in nearby

West Bridgfordwill be used

in the GreatCentralRailway

(Nottingham)’sreconstruction of

East Leakestation.Thelamppost

resembles the original onesat the

station andwasrecovered with

the aid of Simons Developments

Ltd, which is buildinganew Lidl

stor eand houses on the site.