Royalcouple
visitDufftown
WhiskyLine
PRINCEEdward andhis wi fe Sophie took
atripint he cab ofaDMU while visiting
the K eith &DufftownRailwayonJuly 2.
Theroyal couple,making their first
trip north of the border sincebeing
giventheir newScottish titles of the
Earland Countess of Forfar,visited
Glenfiddich inDufftowntocelebrate
the 50th anniversaryoft he world’sfirst
whiskydistillerycentre.
Aftertouringthe distillery’s
production facilities,they visited
Dufftownstation and met theWhisky
Line’s volunteers,befor eunveilin ga
plaqueto marktheir visit.
TheCountess sa tinthe driver’s seat
and sounded the hornasthe DMU set
off forKeith.TheEarl andCountessof Forfar
unveil theplaqueatDufftown
stationonJuly2.KDRWritetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. eritagerailway.co.uk 29
‘Sunken’ Simplexdiesellocomotiveruns
againonthe coastwhere it ‘drowned’
ByRobin JonesALOCOMOTIVE thatsurvived the
catastrophic 1953 floods on the
Lincolnshirecoastand helped build
manyoft he p roperties therehas moved
under itsownpower forthe first time in
more than 45years.
The2ft gauge‘Skegness Simplex’is
owned by the LincolnshireCoast Light
Railway HistoricVehiclesTrust,which
wasgiven it by one of its trustees who
had boughtitmanyyears afteritl ast
ran, priorto the closureofSkegness
Brick worksin1 976, whenits plant
and machinery–including its internal
railway –was soldat auction.
Built by MotorRail Ltdin1947,
the dieselwasdelivered newto
Mablethorpecontra ctor WGC
Hammond,who used itto move
skip-loads of spoilto strengthen
the sea defences inMablethorpe,
Trusthorpe and Sutton-on-Sea.It
would have beenworking there
during the floods thatkilled 43
people inMablethorpe,when it
wassubmerged under seawater
and sand.However ,itwas retrieved
by its owners and is believedto
have worked on strengthening the
Mablethorpe sea defencesto prevent
anyrecurrenceoft he flooding.
In 1964 itwassold to the
Mablethorpe Brick andTile Company
of Alford Road,Mablethorpe,and then
sold again in 1970to CF Rawlinson of
the Skegness Brick andTile Company.
It wasboughtata uction in 1998by
the LincolnshireCoast LightRailway
Trust’s treasurerPaul Walkinshaw.
Therailwayowns afurther five
Simplexdiesels used in agriculture
and industryinLincolnshireand a
priv ateowner has anotherat its base
in the SkegnessWaterLeisureParkawaitingrestor ation.Trust chairman
RichardShepherdsaid: “The‘Skegness
Simplex’hasalways been specialto us,
as it worked withinacouple ofmiles
of whereour railway is locatedint he
SkegnessWaterLeisurePark.
“Atits first location inMablethorpe
and then in Skegness,itliterally
helped build thetowns –manyoft he
bricks and tiles of which thecoast’s
hotels,shops,restaurantsand homes
areconstructedweremovedbythe
old loco. It’s atangiblereminder of
whatwas once an importantindustry
in the area.”
Followingyears ofrestor ation,
volunteers recent ly fixed up a
temporaryfuel supply and carefully
towed the locomotive, proving
the chains,clutchand gearboxstill
function.Afte rashortdista nceitwas
found to be possibleto prime the fuel
pump and the engine struck up.
The‘Skegness Simplex’thentowed
Sark,the locomotivethathad moved
it,back to the shed.Itn ow requires
painting,brakes,cooling system,
exhaust and bonnetsrefittingto
returnthe engineto runnable
condition, and is intendedforuse as
ashunter.The‘SkegnessSimplex’ is towedwith
volunteer PeterBalderstonatthe
controls,bySarkbefore successfully
startingthemotor forthefirsttime in
45 years.MIKENEWBOLD/LCLR